Terri's Tuesday Tip of the Week - December 26th

A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives. - Jackie Robinson

There is incredible power in the arts to inspire and influence. - Julie Taymor

You never know when a moment and a few sincere words can impact a life forever. – Zig Ziglar

Last week, I recapped my New York City excursion and want to highlight one thing that I did not discuss.  Lynette Lewis did not set out to directly influence my life, but she changed the trajectory of my life because she pursued her purpose in life and her dreams.  What is also interesting is that I have a friend in Texas that heard me speak about personal purpose statements a number of years ago in my small group and she texted me about her personal purpose statement the Sunday I was leaving for New York.  Lynette Lewis has not only impacted my life, but also the many other people that have read my blog and attended the small group I led.   

We live our lives day to day and should strive to accomplish our purpose in life.  Based on my experience, we will not know until later in life or we may never know who we have impacted.  If you need a good movie to remind yourself of this, watch It’s A Wonderful Life.  George Bailey changed so many lives in Bedford Falls, but did not know until Clarence (the angel) revealed it to him. 

Tomorrow, is the first blank page of a 365 page book.  Write a good one. – Brad Paisley

CHALLENGE:  I love the above quote from Brad Paisley because we are about to embark on another year.  2018 is going to be awesome and we have another opportunity to continuing writing our story and impact people’s lives along the way!

Terri's Tuesday Tip of the Week - December 19th

He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how. - Friedrich Nietzsche

If you have a strong purpose in life, you don't have to be pushed. Your passion will drive you there. - Roy T. Bennett, The Light in the Heart

Your purpose in life is to find your purpose and give your whole heart and soul to it. - Gautama Buddha

When I moved back to Texas in 2006, I had no dreams, goals or a vision for my life.  A couple months after I moved back, the church I was attending had a lady’s conference and the speaker was Lynette Lewis who had graduated from the same college I did.  During that conference, she told her personal story of waiting until 42 to marry the man of her dreams and how she used her personal purpose statement to remind herself to press forward in life and not “fret” over the fact that she had not met the “right one”.  Listening to her, I was energized.  I read her book Climbing the Ladder in Stilettos: ten strategies for stepping up to success and satisfaction at work and then wrote my own personal purpose statement.  After contemplating the direction I wanted my life to head towards, I started learning about goals and decided I wanted to get involved in politics (look where that took me!).  Through the years, I have continued to follow Lynette Lewis by reading her blog, listening to podcasts, etc.

Fast forward to November 30, 2017.  As I was going through email, I saw one from her announcing a quarterly event in New York City called Love Your Life where the topic was going to be “Turning Your Passion into Your Profession”.  At first, I ignored the email and went on doing various things.  However, I kept seeing this email in my Inbox for a couple days and thought about attending.  After a week of contemplating, I decided to go.  One of my “40 Before 40” ideas had been to see New York at Christmas, so I decided I could two things with one trip.  (I posted my Christmas in New York pictures on Facebook in my 40 Before 40 albums!  I still love Tiffany’s on Fifth Avenue.) 

Back to my story…I drove to New York City on Sunday December 10^th and did sightseeing that Sunday night and on Monday December 11^th.  Around 4pm on Monday, I started questioning my sanity because I drove to New York City to attend an event where I would know absolutely NO ONE!  After receiving a text from my sister, I left my hotel and walked the half mile to the location.  Walking in, I was still questioning myself, but within 10 minutes of arriving, I met the nicest lady named Teri and we had a great conversation.  Additionally, I met a dance student who is originally from Washington, D.C. and is attending school in New York City.  She was fun to talk with because she could completely relate to my frustration with traffic. 

The program consisted of two women who found their passion and incorporated it into their professions.  After the program, I waited to talk to Lynette.  I asked her if she remembered speaking at the church in Austin, Texas and she said she did.  When I told her what an impact on my life she had, she gave me a big hug and was so excited that I had driven up from Washington, D.C. to attend.  Thinking about the evening as I was getting ready for bed, I realized all my fear and anxiety had been for nothing because I learned so much and had a great experience.

CHALLENGE:  If you do not have a personal purpose statement, I highly recommend that you take time to create one.  To learn more about how to create a personal purpose statement, check out Terri’s Tuesday Tip of the Week on December 8, 2015, email me and I can provide a plethora of documentation or check out Lynette Lewis website listed below.

Resources

http://www.lynettelewis.com/

Lewis, Lynette. (2006). Climbing the Ladder in Stilettos: ten strategies for stepping up to success and satisfaction at work. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, Inc.

Terri's Tuesday Tip of the Week - December 12th

Create a vision of who you want to be, and then live into that picture as if it were already true. - Arnold Schwarzenegger

Over the last couple of weeks, Terri’s Tuesday Tip has discussed how to conduct a personal year-end review and challenged readers to find something good out of every “disappointment”.  Now that we have completed those thought provoking activities, it is a great time to start thinking about what to accomplish in 2018.

As we are all busy with Christmas shopping, traveling, finishing tasks to complete our 2017 goals, it is important to take time to think.  John Maxwell said:  

Thinking is hard; that’s why so few do it.

Taking time to think provides the opportunity to clear our minds of the craziness around us, forget our accomplishments and disappointments of 2017 and only focus on what we desire to do next year and the rest of our lives.  A great place to start is to do what Diana Ross suggested:

Instead of looking at the past, I put myself ahead twenty years and try to look at what I need to do now in order to get there then.

I started this process a couple weeks ago and have taken a lot of time to think.  It has not been an easy process because there are so many uncertainties in my life right now.  However, this process has allowed me to think about the “what ifs” and dream about a future that is not on the path I had originally planned.

CHALLENGE: Take 90 minutes over the next week to think about where you want to be in twenty years.  Write it down.  Start thinking about what goals you will need to create for next year to accomplish that dream in twenty years. 

40 Before 40 Update: I accomplished #25 and #26 and am currently in the middle of working on the next few.  To view pictures of my different activities, here is the second Facebook photo album I created: https://www.facebook.com/terri.flow.3/media_set?set=a.10154855339932294.1073741853.598657293&type=3&pnref=story

Terri's Tuesday Tip of the Week - December 5th

There are more tears shed over answered prayers than over unanswered prayers. - Teresa of Avila

Some unanswered prayers are only because God doesn't want to do something for us. He wants to do something through us. – Bill Johnson

Character is both developed and revealed by tests, and all of life is a test. - Rick Warren

Last week, I provided a template for completing a personal review of 2017.  As I was writing that blog post, I reminisced back to a Tip I wrote on January 17, 2017 (https://tuesdaytipoftheweek.blogspot.com/2017/01/terris-tuesday-tip-of-week-january-17th.html), which discussed how we should have some type of memory or reminder when things occur in our lives that move us toward our dreams.  By having these reminders, it provides us encouragement to keep pressing toward our dreams.  When I wrote that blog post, I remember calling my mom and asking her what I would do if my dream was not fulfilled by that event/milestone in my life.  At that time, she said I had no idea how that dream would be fulfilled and that the concept of having reminders was beneficial.  She told me I would deal with the outcome when it happened. 

The outcome came about three weeks later when that situation fizzled.  HOWEVER, I learned a great deal from that circumstance, which agrees with this quote:

Sometimes I thank God for unanswered prayers.  You live and you learn. – Unknown

Pain and tears are never easy, but I can assure you that other opportunities have come along.  That reminder was helpful in encouraging me to keep pushing towards my dreams and goals.  

Our deepest life message often comes out of our deepest pain. – Rick Warren

CHALLENGE: Even though my dream was not fulfilled the way I thought I wanted it to be in January 2017, I learned so much from that experience. 

As you are reviewing the “disappointments” of 2017, find something good that came out of each one. 

40 Before 40 Update: I accomplished #24 over the weekend.  To view pictures of my different activities, here is the second Facebook photo album I created: https://www.facebook.com/terri.flow.3/media_set?set=a.10154855339932294.1073741853.598657293&type=3&pnref=story