Start With the End in Mind…

Stephanie
Below is a beautiful post from my friend Stephanie D. Riggs, who works with elderly and hospice patients.
I’m reminded of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, and reading the section on thinking of the end in mind, literally changed my life. It was one of the first times I pondered this concept of values, mission, purpose, legacy. A couple of years later I resigned from the corporate world and have pursuing my mission since, and helping others do so as well.
When you reflect on the possibility of dying tomorrow or in a month or in a year, it puts everything into perspective. The first time I realized my own mortality, I was 30 and the thought of potentially dying spurred me to write my first book in just 3 weeks. It was divinely inspired and I just kept writing until I finished!
What am I here for? I knew a book could be part of leaving my legacy. That was a precursor to my company and method Mission Based Branding.
Who are you called to be? What are you called to do? Read on…
・・・
Repost by Stephanie D. Riggs: When I ask my hospice patients about their regrets there’s never mention of frustration over not being the skinniest or prettiest, or wishing they had more money, fame or status. Instead, these are the top 5 regrets of the dying:
1) I wish I had the courage to live a life true to myself instead of the expectations others had of me.
2) I wish I hadn’t worked so hard.
3) I wish I had the courage to express my feelings more often.
4) I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends even with the distance and the passing of the years.
5) I wish that I had let myself be happier- because happiness IS a choice.
Everyday, take a moment to sit at your deathbed and see what your dying self has to say about your Life. Is there anything that needs to change? ✨
Do you know there’s something more to your life, but you’re just not sure what that is? Would you like to step up, step into your mission and share your message with the world Now (or eventually)?  If so, schedule a Discovery Call  with me and I can help you gain clarity. To your mission! -Alexandra

Don’t Give Up Your Weekends Working

When I was a kid, I remember a family member talking about how terrible it was to be in entertainment or hospitality because “then you’d give up your weekends working.” I think we were either talking about being performers or restaurant owners or both, but deep down I think it was a way to dissuade me from becoming Gloria Estefan!

Well, it stuck. What a shitty view to put on a young person. Do you see how we unknowingly self-sabotage ourselves sometimes based on other people’s screwed-up belief systems?

Subconsciously this taught me two things:

1) You shouldn’t follow your passion

2) You can’t work on the weekend and enjoy your weekend at the same time

Gloriaestefan_ahoyI enjoy food and singing, so I have no doubt I could have been a successful performer AND restaurant owner like Gloria Estefan. Instead I studied finance and became a banker because that was the “right thing to do.” It was safe. It was boring. And eventually I became dissatisfied and unfulfilled.

It’s not surprising that I struggled financially when I finally became an entrepreneur following my passion and working in something I enjoyed (at all hours of the week and weekend) because of underlying belief systems including that damned weekend killer.

But so many times I’ve proven that statement wrong. For example, I worked as a publicist for theaters and entertainment venues in the evenings and weekends and loved it!

Today I love working with Missionpreneurs.

This week, after long days of work, I’ve spent extra time in the evenings coaching mission-driven startups who are pitching their businesses this Thursday at a pitch competition at Venture Cafe Miami (@VentureCafeMia). Even though I’m doing it pro-bono, I enjoy it, I’m excited about it, I love helping them and I feel invested in their success. It doesn’t feel like “work” (and in this case, I’m not even getting paid).

I’ve often asked my clients and colleagues, what would you do if earning income were not necessary. After the usual “travel for a year,” most people want to do what they love and contribute. For me, I’d be doing what I’ve done today AND tonight — mentoring, empowering and supporting other mission-driven entrepreneurs and leaders.

Follow your passion and do what you enjoy even if you have to work during the evening, during the weekend, during lunch breaks, during your mani and pedi, or giving the mani and pedi…

This is your life.

If it makes you feel good, you certainly shouldn’t live your life by someone else’s standards.

By the way, it isn’t too late to course-correct and start on that path now. I did it at around 30. You can do it at any age.

Shoot, now may even be the right time to become the next Estefan.

 

Do you have a problem working evenings or weekends? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Alexandra’s mission is to inspire, empower and support you to #BeTheMission! She is Founder & CEO of Latina Founders and Mission Based Branding Institute communications agency and training platform for impact businesses and entrepreneurs. This reformed banker turned “Missionpreneur” is also a speaker, author, writer, arts and culture lover, traveler (5 continents and counting!) and citizen of the world! Follow her musings at @OnAMissionAlex.

How to Find Inspiration & Why I Went On Sabbatical to Spain!

Recently, several people have asked me where I find my inspiration. I’ve written so many books, you have so many ideas, where do you find it?

Inspiration to me is tapping into your intuition, your divine inspiration is like God tapping on your shoulder and you can either listen or ignore it.

Here are a few steps you can follow to tap into this inspiration:

  1. Meditate - “Listen to be present to Listen”That means that you you can use your sense of hearing to become present to your surroundings and your body. Then once you are more present (not in your mind), you can begin to listen to answers from your intuition, God/Universe.
  2. Get Away – Take some time to yourself or go on sabbatical like I did
  3. Try Passions – Do something you’re passionate about that taps into your creative juices
  4. Ask – You’ve heard of Ask & You Shall Receive–ask God for inspiration

I dive deeper into all these areas in the short Facebook Live video. Take a listen now for the full lesson:

 

How do you find your inspiration? Share with us in the comments below.

Be Perfectly Imperfect

Photo of me at templar castle, Peñiscola, Spain
Photo of me at templar castle, Peñiscola, Spain
Perfection doesn’t exist. It’s an illusion. Just do and be your best.
 
How has trying to be perfect impeded your growth or held you back?
 
I’ve struggled through this need to be perfect throughout my life, feeling that I had to change myself or be something else because I sought approval from other people. It’s affected everything from my career choices (I used to be a former banker), to relationships, to my body image.
Trying to be “perfect”, essentially something I’m not and can never live up to, has been a huge form of pain. Fitting a mold others’ put on me has caused me to go into professions and industries that were not mission-driven. Living up to others’ expectations, and also expecting those expectations on others has hurt countless relationships, personally and professionally. Even the need to be perfect caused a delusional tug-of-war in my mind that created guilt in the form of a distorted negative body image and even led to an eating disorder when I was a teenager. 
Perfectionism–AND lack of being perfect–has been a convenient form of self-sabotage. Apart from everything else I’ve mentioned, it’s kept me small, blocking the creative flow and preventing me from stepping up into the highest and fullest expression of myself. 
 
Again, perfection is an illusion. I choose now to be perfectly imperfect and rather strive to do and be my best, which I do every day. 
How about you? How have you tried to be perfect and how has it affected your creativity and authenticity? What helps you move past this?
Please share in the comments below.
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