1. Take a 10-30 minute walk every day. And while you walk, smile. It is the ultimate anti-depressant.
2. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day. Talk to God about what is going on in your life. Buy a lock if you have to.
3. When you wake up in the morning complete the following statement, ‘My purpose is to ______ today. I am thankful for______________’
4. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less food that is manufactured in plants.
5. Drink green tea and plenty of water. Eat blueberries, wild Alaskan salmon, broccoli, almonds & walnuts.
6. Try to make at least three people smile each day.
7. Don’t waste your precious energy on gossip, energy vampires, issues of the past, negative thoughts or things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment.
8. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a college kid with a maxed out charge card.
9. Life isn’t fair, but it’s still good and can even be great it’s up to YOU!
10. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.
11. Don’t take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
12. You are not so important that you have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.
13. Make peace with your past so it won’t spoil the present.
14. Don’t compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
15. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.
16. Frame every so-called disaster with these words: ‘In five years, will this matter?’
17. Forgive everyone for everything.
18. What other people think of you is none of your business.
19. GOD heals everything – but you have to ask Him.
20. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
21. Your job won’t take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch
22. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
23. Each night before you go to bed complete the following statements: I am thankful for ______. Today I accomplished _____.
24. Never go to bed angry.
25. Remember that you are too blessed to be stressed.
26. When you are feeling down, start listing your many blessings. You’ll be smiling before you know it.
Hi Ladies,
Well here we go the New Year is just around the corner and I want to give you the best advice I can for the New Year. Make the decision today that in 2012 you are no longer going to allow FEAR to rob you of what you want. Fear is a dream destroyer and can rob you of everything if you let it.
The best way to push through it is to simply face your fear whatever it may be. The moment you face it head on it all of a sudden has no power over you. You can say to yourself “I can do this,” “this is easy for me”. All of a sudden you will feel that that fear is gone it’s really that simple. In this New Year expect just a little more of yourself push yourself and decide that you are going to reach your goals.
Start writing down what you want in your life put it on paper and read it every day. Take five minutes to also write down what you are thankful for. By doing this you will start to attract more opportunities into your life. Being thankful is the key really to having it all.
Never stop believing in your dreams and remember when you are writing out your goals make sure to have a short term goal like over the next two months I am going to drop 12 lbs but this year I plan on dropping 25 and running a half marathon! Why not dream big go for it whatever that challenge may be for you just go for it. Never put limits on your thinking.
Be careful not to share your dreams with people that are what I like to call “dream killers” they are not interested in watching you reach your goals. Use your inner guide and be smart about who you share these things with. Also make sure that you are not crushing someone else’s dream by making comments like “you can’t do that”, or “that will never work”.
Be respectful and always be the voice of encouragement.
This Year watch your word they are more powerful then you realize. Start to listen to the things that you say. Really make this year 2012 your best year yet! Say each morning “today something wonderful is going to happen to me.” I have new opportunity’s coming to me every day. My body is healthy and strong and I am Happy! Speak these powerful words over yourself and bless others with the words that come out of your mouth.
I happen to know a young lady that from the outside you would think she had it all. Big house, money, and beautiful family she seems to have the life that most people would do anything for and she has a loving husband. I had a chance to witness this woman’s vile rage and just how incredibly miserable she really is and it was heart breaking. For some reason she can’t seem to find it in herself to be happy. You see it’s just like the old saying “money can’t buy you happiness or class” it’s so true. This is not to say that everyone with money is not happy because that’s simply not the case. What it means is that we all are responsible for our own peach of mind, happiness and fulfillment. You can’t look to anyone else for that it must come from inside of you. No matter what situation you are in always try to see that good and make wise decisions on how you can change or transform the negative. See your cup as half full instead of half empty.
This is your year for greatness go after it all with wild abandon and decide that no one or anything will hold you back or stop you from having the life that you have always dreamed of. Remember life is short and we only get one shot to make it great.
Have a blessed Holiday and be thinking of what you want as January rolls in.
I believe in you!
To your massive success in 2012
Tara Brooke
Over the summer I paid special attention to simply having fun! With my twins, like all children, they completely live in the moment and I decided to do the same. We went Jet Skiing, Rock climbing, had tickle time at the park, feed the ducks at least 3 times a week, went to Disneyland, Sea world, and we had Halloween in Maui (Hawaii) it was an amazing summer and one that I will always remember! Fun to be honest can be had every day at any given time you certainly don’t have to fly to Hawaii to have it and you don’t have to spend money all the time as well just like happiness, FUN is a choice!
Like every parent out there I also have times when I feel overwhelmed by raising young children. I decided long ago that I was going to raise my kids without not a nanny! I made the decision to only have the number of kids that I really felt I could personally handle and for us that number was 2 and since we have boy/girl twins it was perfect for us! Now with that said let me say that I am not against help if you are a working mother! I also don’t think there is anything wrong with taking time away from your kids for yourself and your husband. I have a great baby sitter and I count on her to help me when I need her. However I don’t count on her to raise my kids there is a huge difference. I never wanted to look back and think wow I never got up with my kids, put them down at night read stories to them gave them baths all of these things that are all part of parenting. I had help the first year with my twins that I absolutely had to have but after that it’s been my husband and I enjoying it all and sometimes pushing through the rough days. I am far from perfect and when I write all of my blogs I always discuss things that are going on in my life and I use my words as a reminder to myself as well.
Just like you there are good days and bad days high’s and low’s but I also realize that every day that passes by my kids are bigger and become more independent so I try to enjoy every day and encourage myself to have FUN!
Make sure that you are spending a good portion of your day laughing and try to let things slide if you can. I am not talking about your daily routine or allowing your kids to completely slack off but really they are children and they will get into things You can decide which battles to win and which ones to let go!. Remember this is YOUR life and these are your moments to enjoy it won’t mean that things are perfect all the time but you can find joy in even the smallest moments so look for them every day! Another was to instantly feel better and have more fun is to do something for others. Instantly you feel good about yourself. Below are a list of affirmations that you can say out loud every day to yourself when you are getting ready. The more you say them the more you will believe them and the happier you will feel. Once you feel happy then you are able to relax and have FUN!
As we now set our sights on the Holidays let’s all choose to have fun, not stress out about the little things and simply enjoy yourself. If you are one of the millions of Americans that has been hit hard financially and you are having a more difficult time staying happy and allowing yourself to have fun just know one thing this time will pass. I completely understand where you are at because I have experienced it in my life but the good news is you can still choose to be happy and work hard to rebuild. You are certainly not alone and with the New Year just around the corner I would encourage you to start building up the WISH LIST and set your goals high for what you plan to accomplish in the New Year! You can do it!
Blessing’s to you all!
Your daily Affirmation’s:
1.I love myself
2.I am a good person
3.People like me
4.Great opportunity’s come to me everyday
5.I am healthy and happy
6.I am living in total abundance
7.I am in the best shape of my life
Note:
The key here is to understand that you are amazing that you have great strength within you. The idea is not to be perfect you will never reach perfection, none of us will thank goodness because what would we have to build towards once we reached that?
The idea is to be your BEST to strive for a higher standard. You can either make things happen or watch others make things happen.
I believe in you shoot for the moon you really do have everything to gain and nothing to lose if you simply BELIEVE and take ACTION
Hi Friends as Thanksgiving approaches it’s such a wonderful time to take a close look at what you are most thankful for. Now I know this last year or maybe several years has been extremely difficult on our economy and that hits home with so many Americans losing their homes, jobs and it may seem like the future looks bleak. Here is the good news, Americans have always been able to pick ourselves up and dig in deep enough to turn the tide around. Keep the faith!
This economy will turn around and Life as we know it will continue to get better and better.
Make a list of all the things that you are thankful for and really mean it. Are you healthy and your loved ones healthy and thriving? At the end of the day this is what really matters most. Remember that money comes and goes and you can always rebuild. If you find yourselves in the rebuilding mode then I applaud you and encourage you to not lose hope and keep on going. Your hard work and tenacity will pay off. If you are a parent this is a great time to allow your children to learn the importance of being debt free and establishing a great work ethic. Explain to them how life can change in a moment and that it’s not how hard you fall but how high you bounce back. Money certainly doesn’t equal happiness we all know that but at the same time there is absolutely nothing wrong with wanting it all and striving for a better and more comfortable life for yourself and your family.
I witnessed extremely difficult financial hardships as a young girl in our family and I can tell you the truth is you have more strength then you may realize and as hard as it was to mover all the time and be constantly changing schools month to month what doesn’t break you certainly can make you stronger. I grew up with a motivated attitude and I was able to allow my dreams to soar. So if this is you trust me when I say it won’t last forever your attitude right now is what will make or break you!
Start building that dream wall, again your strength comes from within and if you can believe it and you back that belief with a strategy and game plan you really can have it all!
I am thankful for my Health the unconditional love I receive from my amazing husband who is my soul mate. I am thankful for my amazing children that inspire me and also allow me to step back in time and enjoy a wonderful childhood through their imagination. I am thankful for my parents, siblings and friends that I can count on and except me for who I am. I am also thankful for all of you that read my blogs seeking new motivation and that are serious about having the BEST life possible.
My Wish for you is that you thrive in Love, Health and that every great opportunity would come your way. That times of sadness and miss fortune would pass you by and that above all you would grow to LOVE and ADMIRE your strengths and grow daily in your confidence and knowing that YOU alone have a special gift and talent that can affect us all.
On this Thanksgiving season may love find you and keep you well!
Hello Girls,
Okay because many of my readers are just under 30 years old and turning 30 is just around the corner I had to write about this. Many of you are now looking right across the street at 30 when it used to be blocks away right? Well 30 is here baby and you can’t stop it so why not embrace it? Lighten up I promise as someone that already passed 30 it only gets BETTER!
Now let’s start with the most important things on your mind right now. If you are not married then getting married is HUGE for you. We all make mental notes as to when certain things in our life are going to happen we dream about these moments right?
Usually we have it completely worked out in our heads that by 30 we will be married enjoying our career while at the same time coming up with unique or matching first letter names of our future boy and girl bundles of joy that are on the way.
While I also had my list of to do’s by a certain age I want to make it perfectly clear to you that if you have not met these goals yet don’t despair it will happen for you.
The first thing to understand is that you don’t absolutely have to do anything at a certain age this is really pressure that we get from friends, parents of society. If it hasn’t happened yet it will!
If you are in a relationship that you feel in you gut is not going to lead to marriage and you are nearing 30 then you need to let that relationship go. Move on, I have watched so many women give up a decade on a relationship that they knew wasn’t going anywhere and at 40 when it ended they were pissed off and bitter.
Don’t let this be you. I always talk about being honest with “you” and I do this because it’s the most important part of staying true to yourself. I know that ending something that you are comfortable with isn’t easy but believe me it’s a Jagged little pill to swallow knowing that years are gone and you can’t get them back and what’s worse is that these years are by far the most precious to a women.
I have several close friends that allowed the wrong men to steal those years away now they are faced with the realization that they may never have the children that they dreamed of.
I am also not a believer in living together before you are married and I know its sound really old fashioned but you want a man to sweep you off your feet he should know by 1 year if you are the one and living together makes it too easy for years to go by without the commitment of marriage. Pretending to be married is still just “Pretending”. I can go on and on about that one but I want to stay focused on what this blog is about.
Next on your mind if starting a family and I know many of you want to be a “young Mom” I get it so did I. But here’s the thing we all know that women are taking better care of themselves today and having healthy baby’s a tad bit later in life. It’s not the end of the world. Instead of concentrating on the time decide to look at it from a different perspective. That new way of thinking sounds something like this. Well now that I am 30 I know who I am and I have much more confidence. I am ready to be a great wife I have worked out all the things that went wrong in previous relationships and I’ve owned up to those things and have changed. I am now ready to be a mother because I have a better understanding about the world and what I can contribute to it. You have to be your own cheer leader sometimes and decide that you turning 30 is going to be GREAT
That now you are ready to make all of your dreams come true. Once you start thinking like that then you will walk differently you will be happier people will notice that something is different a change of perspective can do so much!
With every age I hope to thrive and allow myself to grow and get better. I certainly am not going to put a date on myself that says after this age I am no longer valuable. I work hard daily to live in the moment, take care of myself and the ones that I love.
I don’t want to look back on my life and think well my 20’s were fun but after 30 it all went downhill. That sort of thinking is really for losers.
Be all you can be now and continue to love each moment you have. Count your blessings instead of you lines and laugh as often as possible. It really does heal.
I believe in my heart that there absolutely is someone out there for each of us and that every person on the earth is beautiful to someone. They say to the world you may be just another person but to a person you are their world. Start to believe that and you will see that things will come to you. Make sure that you are doing your part each day in honoring yourself taking care of your body, eating right and always try to see the cup as half full.
Write to me if you have any questions about this topic. I would love to hear from you.
Live your life to the fullest and happy birthday to all you ladies about to turn 30! My best years to date have been in my 30’s
To your success,
Tara Brooke
Hi friends, I felt like it would be appropriate to write today about all the changes that we are going through as a nation. Obviously we have all felt on some level the pressure that has swept through our lives with the real- estate markets, lack of jobs, stock market ups and downs (mainly down) and the ongoing increase of costs for gas and food. We all know that inflation is inevitable in all areas. What makes all of these things worse is the fact that our country’s lack of leadership is now showing up and America has now lost its triple AAA rating a truly sad day for all Americans.
So many individuals and families that I speak with are barely hanging on right now and my heart truly goes out to them. However here is what I do know, we are a country of people that have amazing resilience and passion. You can come to this country with nothing and with the right wits and drive about you, you can have it all. A slice at the American dream. We know that there is no other place like America on earth. If you are willing to do the work and have the vision you can make all of your dreams come to pass.
When I look at the current state of things I am reminded that these are the eve’s and floes of how life is. Just like there are good days and bad days in each of our life things do and can turn around for the better. I want to encourage you that no matter what you are going through now the circumstances of our country and your life can and will change for the better.
There are far too many wonderful, amazing and talented people here in our country with heart although we may have taken a fall we can and we will stand back up and be stronger and wiser in the future. We are all taking accountability as a country for the mistakes that have happened with regards to the accumulation of debt but I do believe that we will find a way to work ourselves out of this mess.
Keep your spirits high in every way possible I would encourage you to limit watching the news to much bad information will bring you down. Make sure that you are taking time to fill yourself up with positive things. Make a list of everything that you are grateful for. Begin to fill your mind and the words that you speak with love and positivity. I would also encourage you to tap into your spiritual life. This is something that is very powerful and can provide you with great comfort. Having faith can truly move mountains.
Make sure that you are surrounding yourself with positive people. Each person is going through their own unique struggle and sharing those things is fine but I would caution you not to dwell on the negative. Instead look at all the area’s that you actually have the power to change and make any adjustments possible. If it’s financial take a real hard look at where you can make cuts to take some pressure off. Remember that this is only temporary. Don’t get attached to “Stuff” material things can always be bought again.
Keep making a dream list of what you want and spend time whenever you can, visualize your life changing for the better. Say out loud everyday as many times as you can that “the right opportunity is coming to you today”
If you are a parent I would consider sitting down with your kids and explaining to them (if they are old enough) what is happening in the world in a gentle way and how they can also be aware and help in ways. The idea is not to scare them but to bring awareness to things. This can serve as a great lesson for young people and believe me kid’s love to help. They love to feel like they can contribute and there are so many ways for them to help. I know I am teaching my kids about recycling and also giving. Before we go out to purchase new toys we always go through the ones that they are not playing with and we put a box together and take it to the church.
Kids understand so much and making them feel a part of the solution can really help them develop self-esteem not only that but so many kids today grow up with a sense of entitlement and this is a great time to teach them lesson’s about the trials of life.
Done with love and care it’s a GREAT thing.
Remember that the only things that we can count on is change so when you are feeling low from the realities of life take a moment and reminds yourself that this too shall pass get outside for a brisk walk and listen to some good music. Hug your family and kids, love on your pets and find joy in the little things.
Life is a journey and that path always has its fair share of hills and rocks but even so it makes the path of beauty so much richer and rewarding. I wish you all the best of health and I hope that every blessing and opportunity finds its way to your door.
With Love and Gratitude,
Tara Brooke
Hello ladies,
Well over the weekend I decided to go through some boxes and try to organize things that I had put off. As I began looking through the box I found some old pictures and that’s always fun right?
Well as I laughed at a few and had a flashback of that time with my family and friends I was also completely horrified to stumble across some pictures of myself. Now I know that we all have those moments of bad hair day and “Oh my Gosh can you believe I wore that”? But what I found went way beyond that. The pictures were of my 24th birthday party and there I was happily married living in my dream house in Newport Beach Living “The Life” with my family all around and I looked TERRIBLE! I had allowed myself to get so thin when I saw the image I instantly felt scared for the women in the picture and then I realized it was me! Not only was I scared for her but I felt so disappointed in myself that I would allow that to happen.
I sat there studying the image and thought where my mind at was during this time, clearly I wasn’t as happy as I had thought. I knew I had to write about this because it’s so important.
For whatever reason and I allowed myself to fall victim to becoming so thin I think a size 2 would have fallen off of me and I am close to 5”10.
Here’s the good news it didn’t last!
I consider myself to be very strong and in shape physically. I am one of those women that actually love to work out and I remember that back then I allowed myself to skip the gym way to often and I wasn’t focused on eating the best. My husband and I traveled all the time so I was enjoying and clearly not paying attention to really caring for myself, I have always had a super-fast metabolism so for me working out at the gym keeps the muscle on and really does keep me from being ultra-thin.
I know that I certainly wasn’t aware of it but for me my early twenty’s served as sort of a “lost time” when it came to knowing exactly who I was. I had been modeling and taking care of myself since I was a kid and suddenly I was married and had another person to consider. Although we both made changes for our relationship I definitely had a bit of an identity crisis.
As I began to mature and not focus solely on myself things became better and better.
I remember a very famous photographer shooting my husband and I during his book cover photo shoot and she had shared with me that while she was younger (at this time she was in her early 50’s) she had always loathed her legs. She said she was always aware that they didn’t look good or live up to her ideal; in fact she would always go out of her way to cover them up. Decades would go by and she too was looking at old photographs of herself and stumbled upon some pictures that brought tears to her eyes. She began to tell me about realizing how really beautiful her legs were and she broke down. She was devastated that all those years she had been blessed with beautiful legs and she never knew it!
She had allowed herself to create a negative association in her mind about her body and it grew out of control and it would be years later that she would finally be set free but of course by then she was no longer a youthful girl, the time had passed.
Here is the point I want to make to you, we are all beautiful with strong gifts and talents some of us have a physical beauty that others make a BIG deal about but even then the most beautiful women in the world also have insecurity’s they too fall victim to self-criticism in fact more times than not you will find out that these women have even more insecurity’s about their looks because “ the world” puts such a high price tag on looking good that they feel they have to hold on to it as tight as possible and it can become a negative obsession.
Here’s the good news it doesn’t have to be that way. We can all enjoy what we have and also decide to make it better but in healthy ways.
I for one LOVE food and I would rather spend more time at the gym and be able to enjoy a wonderful meal out with my husband and splurge on dessert then force myself to “go without” all the time. Now this doesn’t mean that I abuse my body by eating high calorie food all the time but believe me If I want dessert, I am having dessert!
If you find yourself constantly self-criticizing yourself today is the day to recognize it and begin to stop that behavior. We all will have good and bad days but you need to LOVE the body that god gave you and treat it right. Instead of loathing something you can’t change start to work on the things that you can change. Go to the gym, take a yoga class, look at what you are eating and find ways to add in healthier choices. It’s not about deprivation its more about self-discipline. I know when I have worked out I just feel better all around. My mental state is just as important to me then how much I weigh. In fact I NEVER get on the scale. I always go by how my close is fitting as a gauge.
Remember it’s not about being SUPER SKINNY; it’s about being healthy and loving you.
Take time every day to tell yourself in the mirror that you love who you are and be thankful that you have a strong and healthy body that can do amazing things. Maybe you need to take on a new challenge for yourself. Just know that we all walk through life having good days and bad days we ALL have moments of not feeling like we look great I don’t care who you are these feelings are universal. As women we are so hard on ourselves but I watch women all the time do everything they take care of their families, many of them work and have to run their households they really “DO IT ALL”. So decide today that you are going to encourage YOURSELF the way you would someone else that you love.
Be good to YOU!
XOXO
Tara Brooke
Hi Ladies,
Well summer is officially here. If you are like me you are as busy as ever especially if you have kids that are out of school. My 3 and half year old twins keep me busy from about 5:00am until they go to bed at night around 8:30. I admit that I am definitely one of those women that wants to be the best at everything I do. I feel it’s really important to eat right, work out, cook healthy meals for my family have my house looking perfect all the time and of course have an amazing relationship with my husband. All these things I TRY to do but frankly we all fall short in these areas sometimes.
I wanted to write this for all the women that can relate to wanting to be the best all the time and simply help them understand that we will have amazing days where we seem like super heroes and then of course other days were if you asked our family’s we may seem more like the villain. We are human and we take on the pressure of being Perfect to everyone all the times when really once and a while we need to cut ourselves some much needed slack and just relax and take care of ourselves. So if that means that maybe all the laundry doesn’t get put away or the house isn’t perfect so be it. There is always tomorrow and when these days happen don’t to feel guilty. Maybe you didn’t work out the entire week you had one thing after the next happen you may have felt bad and then other days you were swamped at the office and over loaded and you just were too tired to hit the gym.
News flash we all do this now and again. When I find myself blowing things off that I know help make me feel better like working out its usually because I have committed to many things and I need to readjust my schedule and take some things off my list.
So many of my girlfriends are amazing moms and when I watch them I always think “wow they are so together”: yet if you ask them they don’t feel the same way. They always feel as though they are falling behind and not keeping up and most of the time they don’t think that they are doing enough. It’s a never ending cycle.
So if this is you relax tell yourself today that you LOVE YOU, and that you are doing an amazing job. Look in the mirror and be proud of who you are. If you find that you have flaked off at things that are important to you start a list of what you need to accomplish each week and just get back on track. My husband always likes to start things on Monday’s. It like the day of renewal from the weekend and it’s a fresh start each week. Don’t allow yourself to just completely loose track get back into what you love but no need to beat yourself up.
We live in very busy times and we women keep our plates full.
Enjoy your family’s make time for yourself and some girlfriends and above all smile and look for the joy in each moment.
Life is short have fun and don’t sweat the small stuff.
Have a beautiful day.
XOXO
Tara
Hi Ladies,
Today I want to talk about how to handle frustration and disappointment in your life. [READ MORE]
