this is for anyone who has ever had trouble making a decision

Source: Uploaded by user via Lisa on Pinterest

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A lot of people get tripped up when they have to make a decision about their life.

Maybe you are one of those people.

You are great at making decisions related to your career, or relationship… but for the life of you making financial decisions, or decisions about trivial things like picking a spot for dinner, and you are all tied up like a big messy knot.

That’s twisted and totally messed up!

Did you know that making decisions can be fun, easy, light, empowering, confidence-inspiring, and can even give you energy?

The solution is aligning your head and your heart….with your thoughts, your words and your actions. Take notice of your thoughts, actions and words and when they are all in sync versus when you think something, then say another thing, and act in a different way. What happens?

When those three things are OUT of alignment, you are probably feeling really uneasy, nervous, unsure, lacking confidence, second-guessing yourself, feeling initimidated, low energy and just plain ole negative.

However, when the three align… what you think, say and do are all dancing to the same beat… you will experience a rush of confidence, a feeling of ease, happiness, joy, comfort, burst of energy, and you will become a positive magnet. Decisions come easy, your body will mimic how great your heart feels, and you will radiate.

A few steps to get your started:

1. Write down the feelings you want to have after you make a big decision. For me its confidence, energy and trust.

2. Take note to how your body feels when you are making a life decision. Call to mind a recent experience you had. Jot down on paper how you felt. What happened to your cells? Your skin? Your heart rate?

3. Listen to your body signals. This takes a bit of practice but try and read the signals that your heart is telling you. Are your palms sweaty? Your stomach in knots? And your heart racing? Or are you calm, cool and collected? THESE SIGNALS ARE WORTH THEIR WEIGHT IN GOLD!

4. Practice. If something doesn’t feel right, practice identifying where things went off….was it your words that were off (should you have spoke up?) or maybe it was your actions that weren’t in line with your head and your heart? I like to draw this out in the form of a triangle, and label each point: thoughts, words, actions. Go over the scenario in your head keeping your pen on the point of the triangle that felt right and draw a line to the other points that also felt right. The key is to make a triangle. This will help you identify the point that felt off and move forward in working on this aspect in a future scenario.

What is your experience with making decisions? How do you feel when you know you’ve made a great one? Can you feel it in your bones that it’s right? Do you second guess yourself? What is your experience? Tell me below in the comments section!

a weekend in photos {4.15.12}

Weekend started with a girl's night out, here with my bestie Lisa Marie (you might recognize her from the beautifully decked out spaces at Anthrolopolgie Rock Center)

Muddled raspberry cocktails... what?? It's girl's night!

Proceeded by The Fray concert at Radio City - they brought down the house {big time}!

Time to revamp the wardrobe a bit for spring! Loving the new colors of the season! #MIXandMATCH

Saturday road trip home for Greek Easter! Harlow's spring wardrobe got revamped too, to match her mama!

Highlight of my weekend... inheriting Yia Yia's (greek grandmother) wedding band that was given to her by my Popouli (greek grandfather). Such an honor and I will cherish this special gift forever. ♥

My other princess got her spring cleaning as well! Lookin' spiffy!

I've always wanted an (herb) garden.... *BEFORE*

Balcony garden success! *AFTER* (peppermint- left, and then sage, basil, rosemary, parsley and lemon verbena - right two) Can't wait to get my cooking on!

Sunday night baseball... not a bad view... at Yankees Stadium

Great way to end the weekend... with a "W" -- let's go Yankees!

my day at the beach with the lovely and talented noa green

Okay ya’all…I am extending myself way outside of my comfort zone right now. It’s for the greater good, and I can already feel myself
growing a little bit more, as we speak.

Today I’m sharing some fun behind-the-scenes footage of my photo shoot in Manhattan Beach, California with the AMAZING and TALENTED photographer Noa Green.

It’s a true miracle to tame the fears of a camera-phobe such as myself, yet Noa made me feel so incredibly comfortable, confident and excited. I forgot we were taking pictures at all! We had a BLAST!

Noa is an inspired, empowered and fearlessly talented photographer, and I am [shamelessly] pointing you over to her new site, http://www.noa-green.com. It is soo delicious over there, a feast for the eyes…So go check it out!!

And while you’re here…watch the video of our day, spotlighting a photography experience like no other. ♥

A special thanks to all of the talents that were lent to this project by Creative Director/Designer Geada Ford, Cinematographer Creighton DeSimone and Director/Editor Bryan O’Connell. You are all rock stars! Sheer. Talent.

A few more from the day…

What did you think of the video?! Leave your comments below, like it,or just share the love.

a small anecdote about when to start when you are attempting to do it all

Source: mth2011.tumblr.com via JaneLYG on Pinterest

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This is a lesson for passionate people who aspire to do MANY great things with themselves and their careers, but yet are sometimes stifled by that very same desire.

From a young age we are taught that if you have a dream, you can make it happen. I agree. However, what if you have MANY dreams and you want to make all of them happen? Then where do you start? Which one is the best to start with? How will you do everything at the same time? Is it really possible to do, be and have everything that you want? I wondered.

These are questions that I found a bit paralyzing a few years ago, post-college, when I wanted to start to make something of myself and make a difference. I had so many ideas, passions and dreams that I wanted to put them all into action. I would get an idea, and think of everything that I wanted to create around the idea, and then get SO overwhelmed with how to make that idea great and still do everything else I deemed important. I worried and stressed about every action and how it would affect my overall plan. Admittedly, I was being a control freak over my life.

The problem was this, I struggled to define myself and what was important to me and in turn I projected those thoughts and feelings of self-doubt on all of my ideas and plans. This was not helping my cause any.

That same week, at my breaking point, I had a perspective-changing conversation with my mentor and it went something like this. [[There is a BIG lesson coming, stay tuned]]

I confessed “Beth, there are SO many things I want to do and I am so anxiety-ridden with where to start. I want to do everything and I want it all to be great but there are just not enough hours in the day. I have no idea where to take my career because there are so many competing priorities that I feel going in one direction will limit me to do the other stuff. I want to be a writer, author a book (one day), a speaker, a coach, a workshop facilitator, a teacher, a motivator, on the radio, maybe tv, have a magazine column, help people, influence, make a difference, all of this but I don’t know how or where to start. I’m exhausted and confused by the mere thought process of all of this…Help!”

She said “D, plain and simple. You CAN do it all, just not at all ONCE.” BAM! Lightbuld off. Aha moment. Call it what you want. I was enlightened.

She suggested starting with one area or goal and making it amazing. Pouring all of my efforts, “me”-ness and love into the project and that the rest will happen organically.

Desperate for relief, I took her advice, and alas, she was right! And four years ago, this month, this very blog was born. An outlet for my ideas, the brainchild of my craft, my medium to connect, learn, listen, experiment and just be me.

Since I let go of the control to do it ALL, I’ve been able to be more open to opportunities with less attachment to the outcome. In the time since then I was asked on a handful of radio guest spots (and had a blast), I graduated from a coach training program and get to partner with amazing people (on the regular), I created The Empowerment Circle (where I get to facilitate workshops and support amazing people), and was asked to be an inspirational keynote speaker at a university conference (such an amazing experience!). I am SO far from achieving all of my dreams, or even at the level of sharing my gifts with the world. But, hey, I am a heck of a lot farther then I was a few years ago. The difference now is also action. Better yet, consistent action.

I eliminated the fear and anxiety of doing everything (and doing it all perfectly) and instead defaulted to action-mode and putting myself out there, consistently. I told myself, and still tell myself, there is nothing more powerful then believing in yourself and your gifts, and then taking action.

The big juicy lesson: Once you hone in on your efforts and focus on ONE goal at a time, doing it really well and giving it your all, opportunities will open up to you that you could have never controlled. Best advice I’ve ever gotten, “just start somewhere, RIGHT NOW.” If you don’t start, you won’t be in the game at all. And that doesn’t sound like any fun now, does it?

100% = YES!

T A K E
A C T I O N
T O D A Y!

Source: Uploaded by user via Jessica-Lynn on Pinterest

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What are you waiting for???

how letting go allowed me to embrace uncertainty

Ever since returning from my holiday vacation in the Bahamas, life in NY has been a bit of a whirlwind. As I sat down to prep some goals for “Create Your Great Life” and “The Empowerment Circle” this year, something inside me said “D, be still for a moment and take a step back.” Last year was all about growth for me, and leaps and bounds mentally, emotionally and physically in my life and business. As 2011 came to a close, and 2012 kicked off with a bang, I decided to listen to my inner guide (as Gabby Bernstein would say) and connect with myself.

My intuition is freaky (and awesome) that way. It sensed that the universe wanted me to slow down and clear some space in my life for something that was about to take form.

A few weeks ago I learned that my Yia Yia (that’s Greek for grandma!) was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer. This was a quick and shocking diagnosis and I don’t think I was prepared for it. Yia Yia and I are very close (I lived in her house for 2 years post-college and to date she was one of the best “roommates” I’ve ever had. My family even teases that I’m Yia Yia because of the traits that I embody like her, things I’m proud of like her even-keeled nature, ability to care for others and capable and strong persona.) None the less, this news was a shock. A few months ago, my healthy and vibrant 78 year old grandmother was fine, and now stage 4 cancer? Its been a lot to grasp.

I’m sharing this so publicly because this has been an interesting time for me and I’ve learned a lot. It feels like a lot of things in my life had some advance warning of this, and knew I would need time and space in my life to gather the strength to face the unknowns ahead with Yia Yia. It’s also forcing me to slow down, prioritize and let some “control” over life, go…in order to really be present in the moments to come.

Last week I went down to Texas to see Yia Yia in the hospital. A native New Yorker, she spends the winters in Dallas with family, her grandkids and great grandkids and was there when she was hospitalized and eventually diagnosed. Although I was scared to see Yia Yia in the hospital, it was an amazing few days.

The universe had my back, and took care of everything in my life (work, bills, clients) and there was this glorious space that was present that I haven’t had in a long time. I met my brother and sister down in Dallas, and we were greeted by my cousins, their wives and adorable babies. Their love, and support, coupled with that Southern Hospitality made for an amazing weekend and allowed us to be present with Yia Yia, each other and take in all of the moments without having to think, or stress, or plan, or worry. It was all taken care of. And it was magnificent.

We’ll know more about Yia Yia’s prognosis in the coming weeks, and for now we are praying for ease of mind, and strength in her soul. And I appreciate all of the kinds words, thoughts and prayers I have received from all of you, all around the world.

A planner and control-feign by nature, the biggest lesson for me this week was to “let go.” Letting go, allowing the universe to work its magic, and leaning on others for support created the perfect environment for finding peace and harmony during this uncertain time. Had I not let go, the truly beautiful moments of family, love, laughter, togetherness and strength may have been missed.

Asking for help and love and support is not always easy in life, though necessary in life.

I learned this weekend just how important it is to ask for what we need in life. I experience the magic first-hand and what I received was a beautiful moment in time. I realize that we can’t always find answers to why things like this happen in life, so unexpected. But, what I know for sure, is that had Yia Yia not been sick, we all would not have come together (from New York, Delaware, California and Dallas) to have that experience. And, in a way, this weekend gave me more strength, hope and optimism for what’s to come, and I believe it gave that to Yia Yia too.

Here is a picture of Yia Yia from October (and my dad) in Brooklyn at my apartment from brunch:

Here is a picture from this weekend, of my sister and I and Yia Yia’s great grandkids!

And, here is one of James, Lexie and I on our last day in Dallas:


Do you have a similar experience? What did you do that helped? Share your comments below!

30 Things to Stop Doing to Yourself

I loved every word of the post from Marcandangel.com below and wanted to share it on here. Its a worthy part of your 2011 reflection exercise to reflect on the things you want to stop doing, and leave behind in the current year as you move on to the year ahead. For me…as I truthfully reflect on 2011, its got to be numbers 8, 12, 19, 23 and 26 (you’ll know what I mean shortly, read on). Although, at one time or another it was everything on the list below.

I do have to acknowledge myself for the numbers that I just breezed past while reading and realized “Hey! I’m not that girl anymore! Way to go!” I can recognize the areas that I’ve grown and feel proud, and this is another key element of it all. So if you decide to read below, don’t be a self-hater and try to take on all of the advice at once. Acknowledge yourself for the ones you skip and realize that you don’t need any work in that area of your life. It’s okay to pat yourself on the back once in a while. Make sure to be kind to yourself too, you have plenty of time to take on all of the numbers below. Something tells me you’ll know where to start…

XO
♥ D

30 Things to Stop Doing to Yourself

Article written by Marc at Marcandangel.com

When you stop chasing the wrong things you give the right things a chance to catch you.

“As Maria Robinson once said, “Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending.” Nothing could be closer to the truth. But before you can begin this process of transformation you have to stop doing the things that have been holding you back.

Here are some ideas to get you started:

1. Stop spending time with the wrong people. – Life is too short to spend time with people who suck the happiness out of you. If someone wants you in their life, they’ll make room for you. You shouldn’t have to fight for a spot. Never, ever insist yourself to someone who continuously overlooks your worth. And remember, it’s not the people that stand by your side when you’re at your best, but the ones who stand beside you when you’re at your worst that are your true friends.
2. Stop running from your problems. – Face them head on. No, it won’t be easy. There is no person in the world capable of flawlessly handling every punch thrown at them. We aren’t supposed to be able to instantly solve problems. That’s not how we’re made. In fact, we’re made to get upset, sad, hurt, stumble and fall. Because that’s the whole purpose of living – to face problems, learn, adapt, and solve them over the course of time. This is what ultimately molds us into the person we become.
3. Stop lying to yourself. – You can lie to anyone else in the world, but you can’t lie to yourself. Our lives improve only when we take chances, and the first and most difficult chance we can take is to be honest with ourselves. Read The Road Less Traveled .
4. Stop putting your own needs on the back burner. – The most painful thing is losing yourself in the process of loving someone too much, and forgetting that you are special too. Yes, help others; but help yourself too. If there was ever a moment to follow your passion and do something that matters to you, that moment is now.
5. Stop trying to be someone you’re not. – One of the greatest challenges in life is being yourself in a world that’s trying to make you likeeveryone else. Someone will always be prettier, someone will always be smarter, someone will always be younger, but they will never be you. Don’t change so people will like you. Be yourself and the right people will love the real you.
6. Stop trying to hold onto the past. – You can’t start the next chapter of your life if you keep re-reading your last one.
7. Stop being scared to make a mistake. – Doing something and getting it wrong is at least ten times more productive than doing nothing. Every success has a trail of failures behind it, and every failure is leading towards success. You end up regretting the things you did NOT do far more than the things you did.
8. Stop berating yourself for old mistakes. – We may love the wrong person and cry about the wrong things, but no matter how things go wrong, one thing is for sure, mistakes help us find the person and things that are right for us. We all make mistakes, have struggles, and even regret things in our past. But you are not your mistakes, you are not your struggles, and you are here NOW with the power to shape your day and your future. Every single thing that has ever happened in your life is preparing you for a moment that is yet to come.
9. Stop trying to buy happiness. – Many of the things we desire are expensive. But the truth is, the things that really satisfy us are totally free – love, laughter and working on our passions.
10. Stop exclusively looking to others for happiness. – If you’re not happy with who you are on the inside, you won’t be happy in a long-term relationship with anyone else either. You have to create stability in your own life first before you can share it with someone else. Read Stumbling on Happiness .
11. Stop being idle. – Don’t think too much or you’ll create a problem that wasn’t even there in the first place. Evaluate situations and take decisive action. You cannot change what you refuse to confront. Making progress involves risk. Period! You can’t make it to second base with your foot on first.
12. Stop thinking you’re not ready. – Nobody ever feels 100% ready when an opportunity arises. Because most great opportunities in life force us to grow beyond our comfort zones, which means we won’t feel totally comfortable at first.
13. Stop getting involved in relationships for the wrong reasons. – Relationships must be chosen wisely. It’s better to be alone than to be in bad company. There’s no need to rush. If something is meant to be, it will happen – in the right time, with the right person, and for the best reason. Fall in love when you’re ready, not when you’re lonely.
14. Stop rejecting new relationships just because old ones didn’t work. – In life you’ll realize that there is a purpose for everyone you meet. Some will test you, some will use you and some will teach you. But most importantly, some will bring out the best in you.
15. Stop trying to compete against everyone else. – Don’t worry about what others doing better than you. Concentrate on beating your own records every day. Success is a battle between YOU and YOURSELF only.”

Read the rest 16-30 and full article here: Full Article at marcandangel.com

CREDIT: Full article written by Marc at Marcandangel.com HERE

Photo by Rob Brucker

is your email inbox sucking the life out of you? put an end to the madness.

Are you tolerating your email inbox? When was the last time you went through your one (or many) email inbox(s) to de-clutter and respond to outdated emails. We all do it, we see an email, we access whether to read now or later, respond now or later, or if at all. Somehow or another, the emails pile up and soon we have hundreds of unarchived and unanswered emails. Logging in each morning to tackle the new ones that have accrued starts to feel like a daunting task and can be sucking the life out of you before you even open one up.

This is not right, and it is certainly not a part of the great life, and I know how it feels. On any given day I am juggling 4 email accounts (one personal, one for spam and two businesses). In an effort to stay organized, sane, relaxed and even proactive I’ve got a few tricks up my sleeve.

Some TIPS for reigning in the wild horse that is your inbox!

1- TOUCH IT ONCE: Your time is very valuable and how you manage it is in direct relationship with how happy and successful you will be. No more wasting time managing your inbox. When emails come in, try the TIO rule. My inbox(s) only show emails that need attention (this week) as well as new emails that come in. I apply the TOUCH IT ONCE rule to all emails. Action: When they come in I respond, archive, flag or delete…on the spot! No maybe or wishy washy save for later action. Let’s be serious, your time is too precious for that.

2 – BECOME A PRO ORGANIZER: Create 3 – 5 important categories of folders that are relevant to your life, i.e. FUN, BILLS, TRAVEL, YOUR HOBBY, YOUR SIDE JOB. Then assign sub-folders like WORK, PERSONAL and FOLLOW-UP to help keep each area of your life organizes. Apply rule #1 touch-it-once, when emails come in by assigning them a folder right away. Then, pick one day a week to review each FOLLOW-UP folder. Benefit: Yesterday I went through an old follow-up folder labeled “prospective clients” and had some free time to see what those prospects were up to. And, guess what?! A few of them turned into new paying clients!.

3 – RUTHLESSLY DE-CLUTTER: Meet the delete and archive button and become very good friends with them. You know as well as I do that a good chunk of what makes it to your inbox is very irrelevant to your well-being, happiness and success. Think about it. We all have mindless subscriptions, coupons and offers that make it in there, especially ones we don’t even look at, use or need. Do yourself a favor….go through and unsubscribe to at least (5) emails that come your way daily or that annoy you when you seen them. Next, get in the habit of deleting unnecessary items from your inbox that are sort of just floating in there hanging out. Archive the rest into your new folders, and assign an action to the rest: Delete, Follow-up, Archive, Respond, Take Note, Take Action, Pay, Answer, etc.

This is simplicity, automation, and less work on your end at its best! All of this takes a few minutes to set-up, and re-organize, though once you do you the benefits are limitless! Not to mention, now you’ll have time for all of the stuff you’ve been putting off… like valuable “me” time, self-care, fun activities, working out, travel and more!

Xx
D

a proud moment for me

This past weekend I had the distinct honor and privilege to visit my alma matter, The University of Rhode Island, as a guest at The Public Relation’s Society (PRS)conference called “Going the Distance.”

What a blast!

It was so incredible to be in a room of such wonderful, passionate and empowered pre-professionals and undergrads. Even more so, it was an extremely special experience for me, because during my tenure at URI, I was a co-founding president of the student organization. PRS is particularly close to my heart because it what my first dabble into business and organizational development. In many ways, the lessons I learned through the first (3) founding years of PRS, served me tremendously while starting my first business back in January of 2009.

It all started with a group of dynamic students who saw a need, and band together all of their time, efforts and energy to fill it. And, WOW, did that pay off! To be able to visit the school after all these years, as a conference guest speaker, proud alumni, and co-founding president, it was truly an amazing experience to see our vision, still alive and thriving through the current and future members sitting before me.

This week I spoke about Integrity, Success, Problems (losing the excuses), and Goal Setting. Here are a few pics from the talk:

PRS in the beginning…

Break the mold!

DLE doin’ her thing…


URI Alum, other speakers, panelists, and friends!

I should let you in on a little secret…

You may be wondering where I’ve been for the past 2-3  months (especially if you have been reading for the past 2+ years  you know I’m a frequent flier when it comes to blogging).

Well…

I should let  you in on a little secret: Over the past few months my mind and business have been undergoing MAJOR construction. In order to better serve  you, my purpose and to share myself EVEN MORE, I felt that I needed to up the anti in the “vulnerability” category.

I’ve decided that there is SO much that I want to share with you, and at the moment, CreateYourGreatLife.com just isn’t doing this any justice. I have learned a tremendous amount over the last year alone, and I am READY to share that with you, right HERE right now.

Immediate changes, CreateYourGreatLife.com will be undergoing a “facelift” to reinspire me and share my message with you in a juicy and delicious way. Second, I will be getting my hands a lot dirtier and exposing it ALL, step of the way.

For the time being, we will live here on CreateYourGreatLife.com but soon, I will unveil DeAnnaLynnEnglezos.com and I can’t sit still in anticipation, ready to share with you! What that really means? I will be speaking to you MUCH more often and with a REAL look into my daily life, thoughts and business with the hopes to empower you to do the DREAM work you were meant to do, and LIVE your great life each and every day, like I am.

Consider this a compilation of all that has lead me to this point and continues to fuel me in my personal life, and career. Here, they coalesce. An intimate look at what is in my head, how I live my life, what inspires me, and what’s challenging me. In addition to quotes, photos, stories, questions, thoughts, tips and resources.

I’m thrilled to give you this bird’s eye view into my life (and heart), share my personal philosophies, questions, challenges, successes, travel and take you step-by-step along the way with me. As you know, it is my mission to seek out and experience life in the happiest, healthiest and most meaningful way I can. And, as I do, I will share it with you.

To that, I raise my glass, and cheers to this ‘great life’ journey.

Oh what a great life it is…