New Years Sale on Unfolding Your Life Vision Kit

Since January is the perfect time to envision your year and beyond, I’m offering a sale on the Unfolding Your Life Vision Kit.

Now through Saturday, January 8th (9pm Pacific), you’ll get 15% off your order by entering the code VISION2011.

Yesterday afternoon I put together my collage book for 2011. My word for the year is Shine so I made it out of sparkly gold paper, light blue for Right-Brain Business Plan, and a dark sage green for Artizen Coaching. I included words and images to help me focus on health, exercise, eating more veggies and raw food, my book launch, creativity, expanding my business, money and abundance, spirituality, connection, and more.

Here’s a peek at what I put together. I get so inspired when I look at it. It’s going to be a fabulous year!

Inner Muse Group Coaching starts January 26th

2009 is here!!!  Are you ready to go after your big dreams yet tired of going it alone? Yearning for connection and support from likeminded, creative women? Willing to take risks and be truly seen for the magnificent human being you naturally are?

Monday evenings from January 26th – March 2nd, I’ll be leading the Inner Muse Group Coaching Playground. Join me and up to six other amazing women for six weeks of intensive and inspiring group tele-coaching.

We meet over the phone and online so you can participate from anywhere!

Benefits to You

Through your active participation in this program you’ll:

  • Awaken your Inner Muse and access your own creative brilliance
  • Gain clarity on your core values and future vision
  • Develop an action plan for accomplishing your goals
  • Enjoy a fun and engaging structure to hold you accountable and support you along the way
  • Have a safe space to discuss obstacles, be challenged to your next level and to celebrate your success
  • Get the guidance and support of an experienced certified coach and the perspectives and collective wisdom from the circle

Through expressive arts, creative assignments, reading, self-reflection, journaling, connection and sharing discoveries, you’ll awaken your inner muse and craft a plan for your life vision.

What a past group coaching participant had to say:

“Having Jennifer as our group coach provided the support and guidance needed to maintain the momentum and focus of our quests. Jennifer holds creative space with clarity and curiosity which allowed us individually and collectively to move at our own pace and reach our goals. Partnering with Jennifer was a key factor in reaching my goals.”

— Cynthia Runberg B.S., Master Certified Coach (MCC)

Start 2009 off in full color by joining now!

Find out more and register here. Special pricing through January 16th and payment plans available. Give your Inner Muse the space and support to grow, play and move your dreams into action!

AEDM Day 30: Right-Brain Business Plan ’09 Part I

Today is the last day of the Art Everyday Month challenge! What an awesome month of creativity, exploration and play. I also love the community and new connections this challenge fosters!

Right-Brain Business Plan 2009

During the final two days of AEDM 2007, I invented my Right-Brain Business Plan, so it was only befitting that I use the last day of AEDM 2008 to start my new Right-Brain Business Plan for next year!

Right-Brain Business Plan 2009

Part of what I envision is making a broader impact on the creative entrepreneur community and women in business.  While I’m putting myself out there, I want to honor my values of fun/play, authenticity/trusting myself, peace/harmony, and beauty/creativity/expression.

Right-Brain Business Plan 2009

One of my big accomplishments this year was hiring a Virtual Assistant.  I’ve really enjoyed the extra support so that I can focus on the more strategic and profit-oriented aspects of my business.  In 2009, I want to continue that process and develop more streamlined systems so I can work smarter and expand my business in new and exciting ways.

Also, I’ve had a blast this year with creating The Right-Brain Business Plan e-Book and the Unfolding Your Life Vision Kit.  Next year, my goal is to finish my first book and get started on the other two that have also been percolating!  I also want to develop new innovative products and services to offer.

Plus, I want to continue increasing my media exposure. Would love to be back on The View From The Bay and to get on The Martha Stewart Show to demonstrate an Unfolding Your Life Vision collage book, along with other TV, print and online venues!!

Right-Brain Business Plan 2009

Last year, when I set my financial goals, I didn’t realize this, but I focused just on the actual amount rather than also including what the money would actually get me.  While I’ve come pretty darn close to my goal, I know I can dream bigger for next year and beyond!  Since money is not what drives me in running my own business, I brought into my vision more aspects of the lifestyle I want to be living.  I think that’s something that really came home for me when I participated in a money circle earlier this year.

I look forward to fleshing out the details of my plan like I did last year.  That’s really where the rubber starts meeting the road and the vision can come to life!  I also just ordered a book that just came out earlier this month called The Creative Entrepreneur: A DIY Visual Guidebook for Making Business Ideas Real by Lisa Sonora Beam.  It looks right up my alley and I bet it’ll give me more ideas for detailing out my 2009 Right-Brain Business plan.

All of this creating and art visioning during AEDM has inspired me to revisit the new letter from the future I started writing a few weeks ago.  That will give me additional insights into my plan and I’m sure I’ll now have more things to add to my letter!

The end of the year is a great time to start thinking about what you want the next year to be like, so I hope you’ll do some visioning and planning, too!  Please let me know, I’d love to see!!

AEDM Day 26: Family Collage

No, I don’t have a bun in the oven!  Nor is there one planned for anytime soon.  However, when I was pulling magazine clippings for my values collage cards earlier this month, I happened to come across several Asian-American babies, kids and moms (and a dad!).  I figured I’d grab them while I could since it’s rare to see faces like me in the mainstream media (although it’s getting better).

I’m still not 100% sure I’m ready to take the parenthood leap (and who ever is?!)  I love my quiet mornings where I get to wake up without an alarm clock.  I worry that being an HSP would make motherhood ultra-draining.  Plus, Brian and I are used to living pretty independent and flexible lives (which include lots of sleep and a deep involvement in our work).  Life is good.  Sure, we’ve talked about having a family… in the future.  When I look at this collage, I see a vision that’s fun, creative, loving, connected, healthy and joyful, so that makes the whole idea a little less scary.  And it reminds me of the magic of childlike wonder.

Last week, I was in Montclair after my dentist appointment and I walked by this super cute storefront called The Tulip Grove.  I’m going to a friend’s baby shower this weekend, so I figured I’d go in and get a gift.  This is not just a baby shop, it’s also a community/education center complete with a classroom for workshops and support groups.  I was talking to the store owner because I love to connect with local entrepreneurs and it turns out that I met her business partner last year at a Ladies Who Launch event.  I remember her talking about this vision she had to create a destination spot for new moms.  It was awesome to see how beautifully her vision came to life!  And I love knowing that should the time come for me to need a resource like that, I know where to go!

Oh, and one other random thing about my collage… The strawberry is actually scratch n’ sniff!  I just had to cut it out cuz it smelled so good.   I used to have a scratch n’ sniff sticker collection when I was a kid, so it seemed appropriate for this piece. 🙂

AEDM Day 19: Book Sell Sheet Part II

So, I kept the commitment that I made in yesterday’s post to spend the afternoon today doing work related to the book.  I printed out drafts, organized my book binder and did some writing.  I also did the second side of the future book sell sheet.  I based it on the format of the other examples my book coach provided me but added a creative touch.

Feels good to have made more progress on my project.  And as luck would have it, our guest speaker at the SF Coaches meeting talked about the process she went through writing her book.  She had a friend call her each morning to hold her accountable!  She also shared how she helped her clients finish their books and other creative projects by simply taking small steps.  It could be just writing one paragraph each day and then slowly working up to a page per day.  Or spending 15 minutes a day painting.  Before you know it, you’ll be farther along that you every thought you could be!  I like that approach.

AEDM Day 18: Book Sell Sheet Part I

We just had our Ladies Who Launch Oakland member meeting tonight.  I invited bestselling author and publishing expert Jennifer Basye Sander to give us insider tips on how to get published.  Writing and publishing seem to be in the air.  On Thursday, I’ll be participating in a call “Ask the Author: Writing/Coaching” through the Creative Artists community that I co-lead on the Co-Active Network.  Plus, several of my clients happen to be working on books and I’m slowly plugging away at my own book.

A couple of months ago my book coach suggested that I do a visionboard-esque sell sheet for my book to help inspire me.  She sent me a few examples of traditional sell sheets and encouraged me to make one with my own creative flair.  So, that’s what I took on for my art for today.  I’m also working on the back side that has more details like bio, media and marketing highlights and testimonials.  Last year, I made a fake book jacket and that manifested in being featured in two books this year.  So, I’m hoping that by creating this visual reminder for myself, I’ll be more focused on my writing and finishing the rest of the draft.

I enjoy writing when I allow myself to jump in and be in the flow.  It’s just a matter of making that time and energy commitment.  As I reflect on passing the AEDM half-way point, I notice that I habitually save the art for the end of the day.  No wonder why, under normal day-to-day circumstances, art-making falls by the way side.  Same with the writing.  It doesn’t happen unless I carve out time on my calendar (and turn off my e-mail!!).  So, tomorrow I’m blocking out noon to 4:00pm to spend on writing and book-related work in preparation for my weekly 9:00am Thursday check-in with my ever-so-patient book coach.

P.S. – The Tuesday Kiss the Paper posts are up.  My question to the sisters this week was, “What do you wish for your sister?”

AEDM Day 4: Having Fun With Values

What an amazing and historic night!!

Earlier today I finished my 10th collaged value card. I’ve been having so much fun exploring my values in a visual, tangible and creative way that I just had to create a card to honor my value of fun and play!

fun, play, enjoyment, experiential, in the body

Fun / Play / Enjoyment / Experiential / In the Body

Those colorful striped tights remind me of the whimsy, adventurous spirit and independent spunk of Pipi Longstocking.  When I was a kid, I used to love watching Pipi Longstocking. I wished I had her crazy sideways braids and her unusal strength!

I also found a super cute image of a beagle to remind me of how fun it is to cuddle and play with Emmett.

values

I’ve been really enjoying interacting with my value cards – which makes sense considering “experiential” is an one of my values!  Today, I placed my deck of cards on an easel by my computer.  I choose to display my value card of grace, elegance and flow as I spent a good part of today writing.  It reminded me of the ease and flow I enjoy when I’m in my creative groove.

visual values list

I also played around with using my cards to see how well certain aspects of my life stack up against my values.  This spread here shows all of the values I’m honoring by working on my book. I’m looking forward to using this visual process to help me make future decisions, assess my commitments and align with what brings me most alive.

AEDM Day 2: More Collaged Values Cards

I finished three more collaged values cards today.  Again, I was only going to do one and then I just got caught up in the fun!  Turns out I was honoring my values of creativity and flow :).

risk-taking, stretching, branching out

Risk Taking / Stretching / Putting myself out there / Accomplishment / Excellence

peace, tranquility, harmony, inner life, meaning

Peace / Harmony / Tranquility / Inner Life / Meaning

learning, personal growth

Learning / Personal Growth

As I look at today’s cards and my cards from yesterday, I’m reminded how sometimes core values may actually conflict with each other and how they can all be interconnected as well.  For example, when I put myself out there (like I did for my TV appearances), I might disrupt my sense of peace and tranquility for a bit but I’ve usually challenged myself to learn and grow so afterward I feel great!  Another place where my values sometimes rub up against each other is around creativity/expression and my need for at least some order, structure and efficiency.  My value of creativity ranks higher than my value for structure, though, so usually that wins out.  I know structure and efficiency are important to me though, because when they’re not there in some form I get frustrated.  The key is having awareness and making conscious choices about what values you’ll honor in any given moment.

I’m really enjoying this process of exploring my values in a visual and more tangible way.  I hope you’ll make some of your own!

Day 1: Art Every Day Month 2008 Starts Today!

Art Every Day Month

I can’t believe it’s already November!  That means Leah Piken Kolidas’ Art Every Day Month challenge has begun. I’m excited to explore art and creativity in new exciting ways each day.

For my first project I started creating collage cards for each of my core values strings.  I just wrote an exercise about these values cards in a chapter of the book that I’m working on, so I wanted to experiment with it a bit.

Values are what’s most important to you.  When you’re honoring your core values, you feel totally alive, authentic and aligned.  When your core values aren’t being met, you’ll probably feel frustrated, angry or resentful. When you’re faced with a decision, it’s helpful to see how well the different options honor your core values.  Once I have my completed deck of values cards, I’m going to practice using them to make decisions in a visual way.

I planned to just make one card per day for the next several days, but I just got really in the creative flow so I ended up doing four tonight!   They are collaged onto 5×7 pieces of card stock

beuaty, creativity, expression

Beauty / Creativity / Creating Beauty / Style / Inspiration / Self Expression / Uniqueness / Emotions

grace, elegance, flow

Grace / Elegance / Flow

Breath, Spaciousness, Groundedness

Breath / Spaciousness / Groundedness

structure, efficiency

Structure / Efficiency (Yes, I actually used labels from my p-touch because it’s just oh so satisfying!)

I’m looking forward to making more values collage cards tomorrow!

The Vision Board Book Launches

The inspiring book “The Vision Board: The Secret to an Extraordinary Life” by Joyce Schwarz launched today.  The book features nearly 100 artists’ vision boards from around the world and outlines a process for envisioning and living the life you truly want.  I’m one of the featured artists with full color images of my wo-manifesto, Right-Brain Business Plan and a workshop participant’s Unfolding Your Life Vision collage book gracing the pages.

Joyce somehow found me online earlier this year and asked me if I wanted to be featured in the book. Of course I said, “YES!” In fact, about two years ago I wrote in my Ladies Who Launch expanded vision that I created my own book on visioning that included images, collages and paintings made by me and my clients.  I’m currently plugging away at my book so it’s super cool to have the opportunity to be part of this project along side some of the teachers from “The Secret!”

I hope you check it out!!!