Tag: resolutions

Authentic Success in the New Year ~ with a little help from Liz Gilbert

by Chantal Pierrat

If you’re like me, you get a warm feeling when you read Elizabeth Gilbert’s Facebook posts. She is a true role-model – not simply because she is a successful New York Times best-selling author, but because her she is constantly examining what success really means for her.

Whether she’s sharing her rituals, her favorite moments, her missteps, her lessons learned (and relearned) on the path to authentic success, she does it with an endlessly endearing sense of humor about herself that is so totally relatable it feels like it’s coming from a best-loved big sister.

As the clean slate of the New Year approaches, and New Year’s resolutions lists loom large on our social media feeds, I find tremendous comfort in the Grace&Fire podcast conversation we had before the first Emerging Women Live. Here are some of the things Liz said that stand out as I begin to gently shape my intentions for 2015:

“Curiosity is given to you, but your response is your job, and whether you take responsibility for that curiosity is your job.”

“I think that destiny is a kind of contract between human beings and the Mystery. Things are put before you, situations occur, and then you decide what’s going to be made of it.”

“Instead of forging forward into the vast forest with no idea where you’re going, go back a mile…

When was the last time something felt inspiring to you? When was the last time something was exciting to you? Return to that and then be gentle with it. Don’t take it by the neck and try to interrogate answers from it about what you’re supposed to do. Go back to that spot and sniff around. Put your hand on the ground, feel where it was warm, and see if there’s a little small overlooked clue near there that you somehow missed.”

“I think everyone is trying to play the grand, final scene of the big opera, but really, it’s the scavenger hunt that’s the most interesting…

Eyes on the ground, looking for that four-leaf clover, looking for that little scrap of paper hidden under the next rock, trying to find the clue. Because it is just a series of very small, almost invisible clues. And there’s a level of trust that develops where you just believe.”

Happy New Year, everyone! We wish you joy and an inner knowing on your path to authentic success!

To listen to the full Grace&Fire podcast conversation, just click here: “Elizabeth Gilbert – Creative Curiosity: Discovering Wisdom in the Details of Our Lives”

OR Download the EW App to listen to all of our Grace&Fire podcasts on the go:  For iPhone click HERE. For Android click HERE.

Want even more Elizabeth Gilbert? Join us for EWLive15 where she’ll share not only a keynote speech, but an intimate onstage conversation with Brené Brown. We can’t wait! Reserve your space in the inner circle now.

Juicy Bites: Crafting Meaningful and Powerful Intentions in 2014

by Chantal Pierrat

This week in Juicy Bites, discover:

  • How to start a 2014 “Happiness Jar” practice with Elizabeth Gilbert
  • Children’s book editor Ursula Nordstrom’s witty approach to New Year’s Resolutions
  • The benefits of resolving to be more generous in 2014
  • 10 TED Talks to inspire achievable, process-based resolutions
  • Why 2014 will be the year of mindful living

At the end of this post, we encourage you to join us for a conversation. This week’s Juicy Bites question for you, dear emerging women, is:

 

1. End of the Year HAPPINESS JARS! via Elizabeth Gilbert

“Happiness comes in the sideways moments, the humble moments,” says author Elizabeth Gilbert. Making those moments tangible, something you can hold in your hand on a rainy day, can be a powerful practice. In this post Gilbert explains how to start your very own 2014 Happiness Jar to celebrate the simple moments in life that otherwise might be forgotten.

“They are almost always nearly invisible moments when suddenly I just felt in my bones the very best aspects of my humanity — gratitude, peace, hope, contentment.” – Elizabeth Gilbert

Continue Reading …

2. How Ursula Nordstrom, Beloved Patron Saint of Childhood, Did New Year’s Resolutions via Brain Pickings

Children’s book editor Ursula Nordstrom had a witty approach to New Year’s resolutions. Half a century later, her funny and compassionate take on trying to better herself is still relevant and worth thinking about when styling our own resolutions.

“My New Year’s resolution is to be more loving. I don’t know how it will work out as I have been quite loving up to now with some disastrous, or at least misunderstood, results. Anyhow, I will try even more love and I will let you know what happens. So far not so good. But then it is only the second day.” – Ursula Nordstrom

Continue Reading…

3. A New Year’s Resolution Worth Making via Psychology Today

Lisa Firestone, Ph.D., has a radical idea for 2014 New Year’s Resolutions. Instead of fueling our inner critics with rigid goals meant to produce better versions of ourselves, Firestone suggests we turn our attention outward. In this article, she explains the benefits (not just to others!) of resolving to be more generous.

“Let’s stop buying into the notion that we need to be fixed. Instead, let’s resolve to do the one thing that’s been scientifically proven to make us happier, more fulfilled individuals – let’s shift our focus outward and become more generous.” – Lisa Firestone

Continue Reading…

4. Your TED-inspired New Year’s resolutions via TED Blog

Need some help making your meaningful and achievable New Year’s resolutions? Watch these TED Talks for ideas on making process-based changes in the way we think instead of focusing on specific desired outcomes.

“The perfect tools aren’t going to help us if we can’t give and receive fearlessly.” – Amanda Palmer

Continue Reading…

5.  Why 2014 Will Be The Year Of Mindful Living via The Third Metric

One of the world’s largest marketing communications brands has declared that 2014 will be characterized by a movement toward mindful living. This article explores why trendsetters, search engines, thought leaders, corporations, and scientists all seem to have mindfulness on the brain.

“What the culture is craving is a sense of ease and reflection, of not needing to be stimulated or entertained or going after something constantly. Nobody’s kicking out technology, but we have to regain our connection to others and to nature or else everybody loses” – Soren Gordhamer

Continue Reading…

We are excited to start a conversation and learn more from YOU, dear emerging women. Please join in with a comment below: