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How would you revise YOUR Facebook post?? (Personal and business growth tip)

A few days  ago, I posted this on facebook:
 

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Are you in a similar season?
 
I think of my client Jackie B. whose tagline is a combination of the words coming up in this next sentence: I’m stepping into the new and next…
 
Is this you? Or is your version maybe “I’m SO looking forward to the new and next”?
 
If you feel either inside of you then maybe just maybe you’ll find a sister in this sharing.
 
Let me tell you a bit more around my experience to make this sharing even more relevant.
 
I’m a driven and dedicated to the task/dream/purpose-oriented person, always have been. And ideas are always flowing. I am motivated to create anew (to create what I want to be a part of). In fact, this would even get me into trouble when I was younger. My parents wanted me to do more sitting/being yet I always wanted to create, write, read and plot, ALL the time. In essence, I found my joy in seeing what I could create the opportunity for…I found excitement in my passions an in what was next, in what I could create or think up!
 
After the loss of my brother in May of 2013, I hit a creation wall (in a past sharing, I shared with you, my MGI community that my 22-year-old brother, Dino, passed away in a car accident two days after college graduation. You were so supportive – thank you so much, again).  

It was devastating for the soul, the seat of our creativity and creation.
 
I also hit an even larger wall in knowing what was next.

And, in addition to the obvious grief, I had also hit upon the startling reality that I had put my love of writing, a creative lifeline for me, on hold.
 
How do you put love on hold?
 
You don’t really.

You can try but it’s unnatural.
 
Why?

Well, you’re meant to do what you love. It is meant to find you and stay with you…
 
Here’s the thing: I hadn’t even noticed I had put my passion or love of writing (aka: finishing my book proposal) on the back burner because I had been moving on so many other things. You may be there too…churning out great work in the world and not able (willing?) to stop long enough to reflect on if it’s the genius work you’re meant to be doing or the work that will make the biggest impact on the lives of those who need you.
 
So maybe my parents were right. Action is great and stopping long enough to ask and then wait to hear the wise answer is greater. Of course, the yogi in me has known this now for over nine years and I do stop, often, however, at times, we still need the reminder.
 
Say hello to your YIN and YANG.
 
Action is necessary and so is making/having the time to hear what it is that you’re actually meant to authentically be doing in that very next action.
 
I’m happy to report that I’ve consistently made more room for my writing. Its healing power and love have flowed, as our deepest passions do, to all the right places.

Delish.
 

So, all this said, I realized, of course, that I forgot to include a very important part in my sharing on Facebook the other day. Here's how I might revise it:

10711711_10152262702830806_948595765_nNow, let's review…let's take a moment…

Is it time for you, too, to honor where you’ve most recently been (give yourself more of what you need) so that stepping into the new and next is that much more empowered, fruitful and enjoyable?
 
What is your love, your passion? And how can you include more of it during the week?
 
Because we can continue to move and create, that’s our nature as women who love to birth anew, however, honoring the now and what we need in order to fill back up so we can give from that overflow is the key to opening the door on true business and personal growth…
 
To step into our new and next we must be focused in what ways this “new and next” includes that which is a lifeline for us.
 
What makes it all flow for you with more grace?
 
What is healing to you?
 
Is your love and lifeline writing as it is with me?
More fun dates with your children?
Evenings completely free to listen to music and read?
6am meditation?
6am yoga?
Singing?
Dancing?

 
Live your yoga.
 
Incorporate more of what naturally wants to ooze and flow from you.
 
It’s that passion that will power all parts of your and your support of others forward!
 
Ah, breathe it in: your passion-filled life that fills, fuels and feeds you so you can be a larger part of filling, fueling and feeding others. 😉
 
On this gorgeous Friday, here’s to honoring your now AND stepping into your new and next.

Sending you all my love…

Life is good,

michelle-black-sig-md-light


 

 

 

p.s. If we're not already connected on Facebook, let's dance: www.facebook.com/michelleghilotti

FREE Training, ATTRACT: Be You But More Like Beyoncé (brand personality POW)

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Announcing an MGI-original, FREE brand training, "ATTRACT: Be You But More Like Beyoncé" on September 2nd.

Create the biggest expression of you, create your BRAND. Mm hmm.

ATTRACT: Be You But More Like Beyoncé

Tuesday September 2, 2014

11:30am Los Angeles/2:30pm New York/7:30pm London/8:30pm Paris

Register for the free training here: https://michelleghilotti.com/ptssignupcall.html

This is also preview call for Photography to Success, an MGI-original program for kick-booty women entrepreneurs wanting to tell their story in a compelling way via their photographs.

WHAT TO EXPECT
I will be covering the following topics during our hour together…

• What authentic branding is and why the six and seven-figure entrepreneurs you look up to (and Beyoncé, Oprah, Ellen, Bethenny and Lady Gaga!) have been so successful doing it.

• How not to just share but STRUT your stuff on the catwalk of business communication when it comes to social media, blogging and company newsletters.

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• The #1 creative strategy for your brand and marketing communication (it's not what you think. This will answer so many of the questions I get around how visible you have to be and HOW to put it all together).

• What GREAT and powerful branding is all about. It's an F word :-}

• The four elements you need to focus on in your brand communication (stop doing 12 things and just do these to expand your reach and your impact!)

• What you need to whip-up a brand story.

• What polarization has to do with growing your business to new heights.

EXTRA CREDIT ~ because we all deserve even more…
As "extra credit" at the end of the training, I'll be gifting one seat to Photography to Success, MGI's newest kick-booty program! As a preview call, I will also be telling you more about the program and how you too can create press-stopping, head-turning images, even if your photographer is not a "story-telling" brand photographer (nine out of 10 photographers are not brand experts so you MUST (must!) set them up with your brand essence, brand personality & shot lists).

We will be doing all of this in PtS and more.

I can't wait to share this LIVE training with you and help you tell your genius and unique story through your brand photography.

It's time to attract your ideal everything…

Be you but more like Beyoncé. 😉

SIGN UP for the call here: https://michelleghilotti.com/ptssignupcall.html

Life is good,

michelle-black-sig-md-light

 

 

 

p.s. Can't wait to dance into this learning with you on September 2nd! Sign up now: https://michelleghilotti.com/ptssignupcall.html

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Day 4, Part 2 of 2 Definition of marriage & our shaman-led vow renewal Ceremony at Machu Picchu! (PHOTOS)

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We said we'd only get married once. We white-lied.

 

Friday, Day 4 of 4, Shaman-Led Vow Renewal in Machu Picchu.
 

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Marriage, technically defined, is a "combination or mixture of two or more elements." This is the best way to describe why it's worked and wowed us over the years. There are many different elements ("…two or more elements") that have contributed to our lasting connection.

 

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Josh and I are very different. He's air, I'm water, he's more introverted, I'm more extroverted, he enjoys planning, I'm more spontaneous and I could go on (this trip alone was half planned and half completely left open…in fact, we didn't know we were headed to the Amazon tomorrow morning until a few days ago).


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All this said, we are also so very much the same.

We love to talk, to be physically close and we enjoy creating special moments for one another on a regular basis. We also consistently let the small stuff go. We love to love those around us, to be a part of their joy and we each chase the new and find exploring very sexy, even when we happen to do it without the other person. If it helps to complete the picture, he was a Philosophy major and I minored in Hopeless Romance.

See? Different but the same.

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Beyond that, as our Shaman-led ceremony highlighted on Friday, the unexplainable is just that. There's a deeper connection that's not of this world and lucky us, we were whisked away to this place (think Jetsons without all the robotic contraptions) in this shamanic ceremony.

 

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We're so happy to have taken Nolan with us for the magical ride and to, in many ways, have toasted to the lucky Inca and Mandel number three (http://on.fb.me/1yhrwt4). It's really worked…and wowed us.

Under the hot Andean sun, the Shaman took us through vows both in Spanish and in Quechua, the endearing Inca language I mentioned in a previous sharing (http://on.fb.me/1nodwWd). We understood the beautiful Spanish words that yogi flowed, of course, and anything we didn't understand in Quechua, we felt.

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The last couple years especially, I've been helping Nolan tap into that inner knowing, "that" feeling. Showing him, as much as one can, to make decisions that are in alignment with who he really is not who others want him to be. What do you *think* you should do turns into what do you *feel* in here (I point to his gut) you *want* to do? The gut comes from a place of truth and love and the mind, many times, answers from a place of fear and separation.

What he experienced in our renewal ceremony and really throughout this entire trip so far is just that ~ a feeling into, love and connection. That's all there is. This 'feeling into', love and connection grows crazy happy marriages, children into conscious, giving adults, triples businesses, feeds friendships and helps you understand all languages, even when you've never heard the words before.

Because the truth is that all languages, just like Quechua, were meant to be languages of love, of connection and support. We've made them and our words hurtful, that which cause separation, however, they were not intended to be that way. They were meant to lift one another up.

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Friday was one of the more beautifully expressive days in my marriage to Josh and in my days of being Nolan's Mama. I'll end by sharing this ~

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After the ceremony, Josh told both Nolan and I that the ceremony was one of the highlights of his life. With a huge smile on his face, he continued by telling Nolan that he can't wait for the next 13. Nolan stopped dancing. Huh? Just another 13? FOREVER, Papa. It's forever.
 
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And so it is…
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If you missed Day 4 part 1 and would like to read it, kindly click here.

I hope you've enjoyed the sharing of this trip the last week. As I teach clients…it's really all connected. Life is business, business is life. They each instruct each other and when we give ourselves the permission to flow in and out of both, it all gets even more interesting…

Thank you for allowing me to share in this way and I hope it inspired you to share and express your authenticity as well…it's what we're here on this beautiful planet to practice.

Until we meet again, enjoy your business, enjoy your life!

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Life is good,

michelle-black-sig-md-light

 

 

 

 

Day 4, Part 1 of 2 Hiking in the Andes: Machu Picchu selfies & loss.

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Friday, Day 4 of 4: We saw the sunrise at Machu Picchu today. As we were heading up, I thought of my brother Dino's beautiful life and, as I often do and have done on this trip, gave thanks for it. He had an incredible 22 year journey which I know he's simply continuing up in VIP…
 

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We appreciate that Nolan keeps Uncle Dino's spirit alive by being himself; as comfortable in his own skin as Dean was: dancing on a whim, having a witty line for almost anything and making friends wherever he goes.

Which leads me to Nolan's idea for the trip: take selfies with as many llamas, alpacas, dogs, cats, cacti, horses, donkeys and sheep as he could. This is what inspired the posed selfie shot we took below.

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Along with selfie'ing, this early Friday morning also brought gifting. Nolan gave our trek guide and friend Ozzi The Hobbit after having finished it. Ozzi was incredibly touched, as was I.

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Today's gem: Teaching Nolan about "see you later" and how much love, life and truth there is in saying it. It made his separation from Ozzi much easier. We were happy to have answered a peaceful "No, honey" to the question "Do I *have* to say goodbye to Ozzi today??" They had become great friends. In fact, we've never heard Nolan be so conversant with anyone.

There's something…

…something about travel and being in nature for multiple days, nurtured by the Andes and Andean sun (when she decided to pop her head out) that connects you so fully with those around you. We all felt it in our own way and I know it filled our hearts (and lungs) right up.

To top it off, and because the world is generous if you believe her to be, we closed out the special day by connecting with Dino's dear, dear friend John Rupers for dinner in Cusco. What are the odds? Oh that's right: Wherever you are in the world is exactly where you're meant to be.

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We laughed, spoke of him all throughout and toasted to his life. As John so beautifully stated, we remembered how our Dino Delight "never wasted energy." He loved and lived his 22 years with very little attention paid to the small stuff. Because so much of it is, indeed, small stuff…

Spend it loving, living, traveling, selfie'ing, gifting, smiling, connecting to what's true…for you, for those you love and even those you don't know you love…yet.

If you missed Day 3 and would like to read it, kindly click here.

I can't WAIT to share Day 4, Part 2 with you.

Until then, enjoy your business, enjoy your life!

Life is good,
 

michelle-black-sig-md-light