Probably like you do when you go away, when I travel, I get inspired.  I'd say 90% of the time, the inspiration comes like this: I get the idea or spark to push on the gas pedal, to launch, to do, to create. It's worked great for me over the years. It's helped me to continue to step up for my clients in a rich way as well as for the movement I'm growing:

Feeling authentically free; the woman and mom movement!

The seven + trips I take a year both domestically and internationally, to me, gift or move me into true inspired action.

But this was different…

Recently, during my 2.5 week to the high and lowlands of Peru, I received something altogether different. I got "don't launch in late September, move it to January…take more time to heal from the loss of your brother and pour yourself into your writing and on getting your book out there."

I listened.

So, as a woman who listens to her intuition and gut (especially when she travels), that's exactly what I'm doing. As I posted on facebook today, "Your gut is one of the best coaches you'll ever not pay. Listen to her, especially when she whispers. She'll be easier to hear the more consistently you take her advice."

So…here's what I'm doing:

• I'm focusing on launching my book instead of launching my new Mom-focused program (but stay tuned as February will ring in one KICK BOOTY mom-focused business and life program!). Now, this is just it…listening to your gut or not pushing on the pedal in one area doesn't mean you can't "push it" in another. Monday I was on a plane to Jen Sincero, author of You Are a Badass, to work on the final touches of my book proposal. Twas awesome.

• And instead of sharing that new program with you as I probably would have been doing…I will, instead, be sharing with you five pieces (day 1, day 2, day 3 and two sharings for day 4) that I shared with friends on facebook. They are writings around four of the two+ weeks of my Peru trip. I will share one now below and the other four in separate emails so be on the lookout…

I hope you enjoy this first short and sweet sharing and that it inspires you to decide where in your business and life you could also be pushing down on the gas pedal in a different direction OR taking a yogi breath altogether so when you come back you're even stronger. And if we're not connected yet, here's my personal page where I would welcome you as my friend 🙂 I share similar musings every week: www.facebook.com/michelle.ghilotti.mandel:

Today's gem: Hearing the native language spoken by the Incas. We were told there was not a bad word found in Quechua. The worst one possibly being (you're) "chubby."

 

That which is endearing always makes you pause, smile and think.

I can't wait to share Day 2 with you.

Until then, enjoy your business, enjoy your life!

Life is good,

p.s. {INVITATION FOR MOMS OF THE MGI COMMUNITY} Transform work-life chaos into life-work bliss and join me in the Joyful Mama Revolution. My interview will air August sometime (stay tuned for the exact date). If you enjoyed the piece above then I'd love for you to join me on this juicy summit. I just recorded my interview yesterday and think you'll get a kick out of it not to mention a lot of great takeaways on branding your life AND business. Get the free deets here:

As mentioned in my sharing a couple of days ago, two weeks ago I left to enjoy a wedding anniversary trip, my brand tour (two stops in Amsterdam and London) and a trip with a girlfriend to Budapest. It was a delight (always a delight) to mix business with pleasure. The anniversary and girlfriend trip were brilliant bookends to a week of work abroad. I've included a couple photos below of the two brand tour stops below…

And guess what I was chasing the entire time while I was away? And guess what I'm chasing even when at home?

A feeling. To continue growing and experience what we call "success" in my business, I am chasing a feeling. And I find that when I do, I get to where I want to be quicker.

For me, to know what to move towards in my life or business means getting clear on how I want to feel in my business and chasing that. It's the simplest, most connected way I've experienced to get to where I want to be…and to get there with as little bruises as possible, also in record time.

Specifically, to me, being successful is feeling freedom…so when I think about the new programs, projects, people or products I want to create in my business, I ask myself how that particular thing will help or won't help me keep moving towards this feeling of freedom…

It helps me in business decisions all the time and everyday.

That's why saying YES to a brand tour was quick and painless (not that it was without "work" or effort, of course)…it was a fast decision because it was moving me towards that feeling of freedom that I constantly want to feel. I love travel and love having a portable business so I chase (literally chase) that reality. But it comes in the form of feeling as much as it comes in the form of a tangible goal.

Do you want freedom too? Do you want a portable business?

Better yet, how do you want to feel in your business every day and how could you chase that feeling more? In doing this, it will change the quality of your work, I do promise that.

How could you make it your job to chase THAT. Again, it's great and very necessary to have goals (and by the way, as I tell my Success Mastermind group, the more specific goals, the better!) but in chasing the feeling you want to bring in, you'll likely be meeting those goals too. It's a great one-two punch. With my brand tour, this is indeed what happened…I chased the feeling AND I also met my tangible, "black and white" goals.

I shot the following video for you as I was headed to Flemings Hotel to host my boutique brand workshop experience. Watch it here ;-). I think it will continue to give you more food for thought on the topic of a business that "travels well" and that contributes to my feeling of freedom…

By the way, I should probably also mention that I also love to chase the feeling of spontaneity (just ask my husband or son) and this is why I shot this in the back of a London taxi cab. A couple things caught my eye and you'll hear why:

 

So, how do you feel right now?

Are you more motivated to chase the feeling? AND maybe even a business that "travels well"?

Here's my three-part challenge to you:

• Tell someone what you plan on doing in the next month to move your business from home-based to freedom-based! The more you share, the more you will be moved to actually DO.

• Name the feeling. What top two feelings are YOU chasing in your business? Post the names of these feelings up in your office where you will walk by them 30x a day and put a sticky note in your wallet where you will see it too!

• The next trip you go on, make your goal to check out the various entrepreneurial or networking groups there are in that town or country. Make a meeting with the lead of the group if you can! Ask questions, listen, see how you may be of support to them…and then let it go. Stay in touch and see what doors open. All it can take is one decision, one chat, one confident woman after what she really wants in this life to actually make it happen.

Speaking of feeling, here's a client's post on facebook around her feeling at an MGI London tour stop. I'm a firm believer that her feeling was only a mirroring of the feeling I bring which comes from, you guessed it, following what it is that I truly want to be doing in my business.

If you remember one thing from today's sharing let it be: create what you want to be a part of through feeling. You will be that much happier, so much more engaging and will be growing your business a record speed! Here's Valencia's sharing on good ol' Facebook:

I had an amazing day today attending Michelle Ghilotti Mandel Brand Tour To Brand You Event in Mayfair, London and I am still feeling the energy of her incredible and empowering training delivered with true passion, beautiful energy, beautiful presence, a pure heart and authenticity! Super amazed at the level of super highly valuable content and training materials she packed into 4 super action packed hours! Thank you so much Michelle for an incredibly elegant and super stylish training event! Truly loved it! Xx
~ Valencia Mole, London, England

Here is a photo from that London stop:

And one from the Amsterdam stop:

In short, follow the feeling and you'll be following what it really is you want to do in your life and business.

Enjoy your business, enjoy your life!

Life is good,

p.s. If you have a city that you'd like to see an MGI brand event organized in, let us know! Hit reply and let me know. (www.mgibrandtour.com) In the meantime, follow the feeling. Follow that glorious feeling of success (whatever that means to you) to the completion of your goals.

[In love with being human] Today is my eighth piece of 12, in the name of celebrating 12 years in business, sharing part of my story through entrepreneurship and book-writing, especially as it pertains to life, motherhood, love, growth and gratitude.

I’m off to celebrate this dozen by continuing my 12-city Brand Tour to Brand You. Dear Amsterdam and London, I can't wait to see you two again.  

And there are other reasons I celebrate…
• I celebrate a marriage that has grown as much as I have emotionally and spiritually, for 13 years now. {Toast to you soon in Casablanca, Yoshie
Josh}
• I celebrate that a book I've been ready to birth for over two years now is finally on its way. {xo Paula }
• I celebrate a  boy who is as independent as he is healthily interdependent. {Love you, Nolie Roll}
• I celebrate 40 by stretching in yoga and outside my comfort zone every day, hence, maybe feeling a lot younger {See you in Budapest, Rachel , let's dance as if we were in Argentina again}.

In love with being human…
If I was the type of woman to use a phrase like YOLO, I'd say it now. Heck why not: YOLO.

~> As far as we know, it really is the only one.

Celebrate yourself. No one will do it as mightily as you.
Business the way you want. You'll get more of it that way.
Love hard. Life is so much softer on you when when you throw caution to the wind, open your heart and give them all you've got.
Find the color, the joy and song in the every day, whether your trip is to the grocery store or to that safari you've been wanting to take in Kenya.

Create what you want to be a part of + live your life:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9RSXJUG8Sa0

Life is good,