Let the Haters Hate

One of my favorite sayings is -- “when people show you who they are believe them.”   I like it because it says that what people do is often more telling than what they say. 

 As you navigate ways to Live. Love. Do ®  -- we at The Living on Purpose Project want you to challenge you to acknowledge the people in your life who support and uplift you.  We also want to shed light on those who try/want to bring you down – The Haters. 

This week we’re saying goodbye to everyone who expects or hopes that you fail or who delights in your missteps and mistakes. We are sharing inspirational quotes and images to inspire you to remove these negative people from your thinking and your life. 

Let the Haters hate!  Then remind yourself that the haters are not stronger than the amazing co-workers, friends, and family members who have your back and encourage you to pursue your goals and dreams.  Focus on the positive and soon you will find that your success drowns out haters and everything and everyone else.

Can You Really Sleep Your Way to Success?

In an effort to shake things up, we are highlighting non-traditional changes to the way that we sleep! Yes, sleep. Studies show that sleep can be instrumental in achieving your dreams.

Follow us all week on social as we talk about a few ways to refocus your sleep health. It is our hope that in refocusing your sleep health, you will have more renewed energy and passion to thrive in your personal life and in your career.

Here are our (5) five best tips for breaking up with bad sleep routines.

Are you up to our 5-step sleep challenge?

Step 1: After you get home from work, change into your PJs or comfy clothes. The mere act of taking off your “work” clothes and putting on new ones sends a signal to your brain to relax and unwind.

Step 2: Stop looking at your phone an hour or two before bed and let your natural melatonin lull you to sleep.

Step 3: Take some time to reflect on the week and smile about all the good things that happened. Let all the good things energize you for next week. You got this!

Step 4: Stick to water if you’re thirsty in the middle of the night.

Step 5: Wear socks to bed. According to the National Sleep Foundation, warming your feet before you go to bed helps give your brain a clear signal that it’s time to go to sleep.

This week take a minute to think about how you can dump your junk sleep and find ways to use rest and relaxation to be your new superpower. Enjoy your rest!



Fighting Fear and Facing Failure to Become an Entrepreneur

You have a unique talent. Something that you were born to do and can do better than anyone else. Do you know what your special talent is? It may be something that you currently do without getting paid or something you want to do moving forward but you simply need someone to give you a chance to shoot your shot.

This week we’re looking at how to find the courage to market your talent and/or your creative ideas to become a successful entrepreneur. We hope to educate everyone that working for yourself and/or creating a new business venture may be easier than you may think. It all starts with believing (and then working to prove) that your idea meets an untapped need.

Jeff Bezos started Amazon because he wanted to create an “online bookseller” for people all over the country, particularly in middle America. He combined his talent for numbers and seeing what others could not and his simple idea into a hugely successful business. Although you may not create the next Amazon, you may have the ability to create a successful business. Finetune your talent. Reach out to others who have a need for what you can do or bring to the table. Put that simple but great idea down on paper. Finally, face your fears and the reality that you will fail at some parts of the process.

This week embrace and develop your entrepreneurial spirit and take steps towards developing your business or big idea.

How Often Do You Choose Happiness?

This week we’re bringing attention to “happiness.”  Despite what you might think, happiness develops from a series of tiny choices that you make every day, such as what you wear, how you find moments to breathe and relax, and even what you listen to or watch.  Although you do not control everything that happens -- you always have a choice to embrace happiness.

If you are wondering how to choose happiness when you are facing challenges or adversity, we suggest one simple idea.  It is possible to dislike your current circumstances while choosing to be happy about other aspects of your life. 

Here are the top (3) three ways to create and feel greater happiness.

1.    Tell yourself EVERY day that happiness is a choice. Find ways to write it into everything that you do.

2.    Smile. Spend quality time with family and friends. Share what you have, do, or know.  By simply doing these things every day, you will create a shift and feel happier.

3.    Embrace new ideas and ways to do things differently.  Seeing things from a new vantage point or perspective can sometimes open the door to appreciation and gratitude and in time happiness.  

Choose happiness if not all day – choose it every day.  Even when everything happening to and around you is falling apart – choose just one thing to be happy about.

Making Moves and Connections to Create Change

Want to create change and connect with others quickly? Start today and every day this week with a big “hello.” This one-word conversation starter will enable you to relate to and with others in any life or career setting.

As we head to social this week, we’re sharing candid advice and tips for making new connections to help boost your career readiness and advancement.

1. After greeting others with a warm hello, give others a compliment. Give others sincere words of acknowledgment or appreciation. It’s an easy way to endear yourself to someone new.

2. Take time to celebrate the tiny details about others.

3. Ask great questions — Sometimes the best way to connect with others is to ask questions. “What cause do you care about?” And, “what occupies your time?” are great conversation starters for any audience

4. Be yourself — trying something new is brave – so is being yourself. Relax and do the one thing you can’t fail at – being yourself.

5. Be kind — Remember you’ll make a greater impression with kind acts and words.

Making career moves starts with making new career connections. Find new ways to meet and engage with others in a meaningful way. Remember dreams don’t expire. They simply sometimes change for those who are brave enough to answer the “call” from others.

Motivational Words of Wisdom to Energize and Inspire

We all have “monsters” that live in our minds (and perhaps under our beds). Thoughts and memories that are scary and hard to leave behind.  The only way to face them is head-on by replacing fear and negative thoughts with positive words and confidence.  

This week we’re heading to social to share GREAT quotes to help you stay motivated and energized this week and this Spring! Here are some of the diverse quotes that will make anyone pause and hopefully embrace a new point of view.  Find strength from others’ wisdom and experience.

1.     “Whatever it is your heart desires, please go for it. It is yours to have” -- Gloria Estefan – singer, songwriter, actress, and businesswoman on doing what you love.

2.     “Do not anticipate trouble or worry about what may never happen.” -- Benjamin Franklin – author, inventor, and founding father of the United States on fear.

3.     “Those who are successful overcome their fears and take action. Those who aren’t submit to their fears and live with regret.” -- Jay Z – musician and businessman on success.

4.     “Instead of waiting for opportunities to be handed to us, we need to create them. We need to advocate for ourselves.” -- Sarah Thomas – American football official and the first woman to officiate an NFL game.

(3) Three Ways to Learn from the Past and Create a Brighter Future

Although you cannot change the past, we all can learn from every experience and every encounter. This week we are continuing our look at the challenges of making a successful career transition. Here are (3) three simple steps to help you embrace a new perspective on things that do not go as planned and how the past can help you create a brighter future.

Step 1 - Make a list of your (5) five biggest “mistakes” - Create a comprehensive list of (5) five things that you wish that you would not have done.  Identify at least (1) one thing that you learned from each situation AND one thing that you would do differently next time.   

Step 2 – Identify the (5) five most difficult potential challenges that you will face going forward. Use the knowledge gained from the past, think strategically of the (5) five biggest situations that you will need to successfully navigate and how you can approach them in a new way.

Step # 3 – View life as a series of experiments and not as ‘success vs. failure.’ Remind yourself that you will try numerous things in your life, career and business that will NOT work out on the first try. Remember to try and try again. Eventually you will achieve your goals one experiment at a time.

Life is 90% about how you respond to what happens. Take time this week to embrace a new way of thinking when it comes to learning and growing from the past.    

Moving on from a Career Mis-Step, Side-Step or Step-Backwards

Whatever you call it, we all have career missteps. Situations where we simply try to move forward but then move to the side or even take a step back away from our goal. This week we’re sharing amazing tips to dust yourself off and get right back in the saddle again.

Remember that the future holds opportunities that will be amazing and awesome. Continue to believe in yourself and your dream. Here are a few of our best tips to keep you motivated along the way:

1. Think about what or who motivates or inspires you – then spend more time doing that thing or being with that person/people at least once a month.

2. YOU have the power to make changes and take risks…one step at a time!

3. A great way to get over your fear of networking is by taking baby steps. Even if you are not comfortable initiating conversations – you can practice your “connection” skills to let yourself engage in talking with people who try to strike up a conversation with you.

4. Measure success by hours. We often try to meet work deadlines or personal goals, but some days these things just don’t go as we planned. When you need a boost - pick ONE hour in the day that celebrates what went well and reflect on what you did that was awesome.

5. Make today the day you restart your life and career in a big way. Little shifts can make big shifts and big shifts create real change.

6. Tell yourself that failure is just part of the process. Life is about progress, not about perfection.

7. What words would you use to describe yourself? #Positivity #self

This week remind yourself you are on a unique journey and that it’s not about reaching one single destination. -- “Life is a journey, not a destination. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Learning From the Mistakes and Appreciating Things No Always Going As Planned

This week we’re tackling mistakes and how we can learn from them and one day even see them in a new light. Truth is, no matter how much we plan for it or want it – sometimes everyone loses. The key to dusting yourself off and moving forward is about leaving your “loss” behind and promising yourself that you will never make that mistake again. Then move on and don’t look back.

Some of the smartest people on planet earth not only learned from their mistakes but credit things not going as planned as the reason they discovered something new. Face your biggest fears first. Then move forward knowing that you can conquer anything if you face it head-on.

Here’s to a week full of celebrations about the past and to creating a brighter future.

Leveraging Your Professional Skills to Make a Hugely Successful Career Leap

Successful people don’t wait for the right qualifications to apply for a job. They simply make a huge leap of faith and play the “cards” they were dealt. In the process, successful people learn how to masterfully leverage their skills and experience from another time in their life or career. Showing us all that anyone can use past experience to help create new success.

This week join us as we take a look at simple ways to re-focus, re-set, and re-charge. We challenge you to spend the next 7 days switching your focus from the experience you lack to the skills you possess and want to project to others moving forward.

Tip 1- Focus on what you can learn from every aspect of each project. The more you focus on learning, the more exponential growth you’ll have in your career.

Tip 2 - Make a list of your 20 greatest professional skills. You may need to highlight your skills at some point and having this list available is helpful.

Tip 3 - Highlight your career-related skills to yourself and others. Ensure that you include these skills in your resumes, interviews, and networking opportunities.

Experience is important, but it’s your skills that make you attractive to companies and organizations. They want to know what you bring to the table and how you can help them. Sometimes we must face fear or step outside our comfort zone to get where we want to be. But, it’s worth it!

Unconventional Wisdom That I Learned from Others

Over the years, I have been a quick study of people. I have found that we are all experts at some aspect of human nature. Some are experts at the art of observation and do amazing things on social and in IRL that position them as much bigger players in a much bigger pond than they actually are.

After years of experience and delivering results, in time, your track record will speak for itself.

In the meantime, here are three of some of my personal unconventional wisdom that I have learned from working with an amazingly diverse and large group of people from all walks of life.

The Nickname

Almost every celebrity, successful influential, and powerful person has aliases only known by their industry and/or their “team.” You may know actors Robert De Niro and Anthony Hopkins; however, in the halls of SNL and their personal tight inner circles, everyone calls them Bobby D and Tony, respectively.

The Leverage

Know the preferred names of the movers and shakers in your life. I don’t suggest that you use it at a first meeting or right away. I suggest this. When you meet someone in the same industry who actually knows this person, use the opportunity to inquire how “fill-in-the-nickname-here” is doing using their preferred moniker and not the name known by the best of the world.

The Great Question for The Famous, The Infamous, and High Network Individuals

I have learned so much about how to talk to and engage a wide range of people in a diverse range of conversations. Working with some of the world’s biggest celebrities and brands, I’ve also mastered the art of discretion. So, I will pass along a great question YOU can ask them at a planned or chance meeting.

Start the conversation with a brief compliment followed by a concise sentence about yourself. Then ask, “what interesting things occupy your time these days.” Remember “how’s work and what do you do for a living” do not really apply to most extremely wealthy individuals in the that same way they may apply to others.

Follow us all week on social for bold personal branding advice to inspire and expand your professional and personal goals and digital (social) network to the next level. “Act as if” for as long as you need to and never forget to pay attention to all “expert advice” that people reveal in what they think, act, do or believe around you. Live. Love. Do. ™ and try your best!

ASK PATRICE – The Importance of a CYA File and Key Things To Keep in Mind If You Are Fired?

This Wednesday, we are featuring an “Ask Patrice” that focuses on how to navigate a supervisor who doesn’t like you -- or worse – who may want to fire you! We are sharing our best tips for creating and maintaining a C.Y.A. file, working with Human Resources, and maximizing your rights as an employee.

When you leave your current or next job, hopefully, you are the one calling the shots. However, if the writing is on the wall that it’s time for you to leave -- prepare and protect your best interests by being smart and strategic. And, even if you are let go, you will find in time that you can learn from every experience and every individual.

Finding Simple Ways to Love Your Life, Career and Others

As we celebrate Valentine’s Day this week, we are heading to social to share our success tips for creating and finding more love in what we do. Life and love are about taking chances when opportunities appear. And, although pursuing what you love may not always go as planned -- most really great risks are well worth taking. We want to encourage you to take these “love” risks in hopes of doing what really matters to you.

This week show yourself some professional love and work towards making a brighter and bigger career move. Go on interviews often. Connect with an old friend or colleague. Take a Digital Marketing course. Do something new to help expand the ways and people who can connect you to what you love to do.

Staying Positive When Stuff Happens

No matter how much a situation stinks – try to embrace the challenge head-on. If you acknowledge the problem, give yourself a little time to get angry, then dust yourself off and try, try again. There are plenty of opportunities to grow and learn from every life experience, including the negative and the unexpected. If you remain open-minded, especially when things go wrong, you might find some unexpected lessons and rewards.

Stop asking, “why me?” Why not you? Sometimes negative things happen to good people in life. When things fail to go the way that you had planned, remember that sometimes almost everyone is “forced” into a new decision or direction. Truth is, it is often the opportunities that you never saw coming that can create the greatest impact in your life.

As you navigate setbacks, find ways to turn a miserable experience into a positive opportunity for someone else. By sharing what you “learned the hard way” with others, you can turn your misery into meaning. Helping someone else avoid making the same or similar mistakes can empower you to share your knowledge and experience with even more people in the future.

This week embrace a sense of positivity even in the most negative of situations.

Defeating the Mental Monsters By Facing Fear and Finding Courage

If you think you can achieve your life and career goals without taking risks – think again. Life is all about taking risks. Calculated, measured, and bold risks are scary and difficult but are essential to success. The act of doing something that may not work out is risk-taking at its core and a skill that you must practice.

As you look to make changes in 2022 and beyond, we encourage you to take more and more risks. Acknowledge what scares you. Share with others the negative side to any situation but don’t let it stop you from taking action. Putting yourself in a situation where things may not go your way is not only something you should embrace but that you should hope for. Without risks, there is NO way to accomplish anything that you seek.

This week join us on social where we’ll share GREAT quotes on taking risks, and the important role risks play in finding the courage to do more newer and brighter things.

Trying New Ways of Thinking to Create Change

At some point, everyone wants to make changes in their life and career.  However, not many people know how to go about doing it.  One sure way to create change is to embrace new perspectives and ways of thinking about how you start and successfully continue the process of change.  This week we are sharing (5) five questions to ask yourself about how to approach embracing something new.  These ideas will help you re-frame and re-focus your perspective on creating the change you hope to see in your life.

1.    Do you rely heavily on other people’s opinions and input when doing something new?  You can and should get input and feedback. However, you should not constantly ask others what they think YOU should do. Next time you’re thinking about trying something new, gather the information and then take action - without having others weigh in or walk you through the process. 

2.    When things go wrong, is the first person on your list who is responsible – someone else? The first person you should look to for reasons why something has not worked out as it should is yourself. Next time you find yourself wondering why something is the way it is – challenge yourself to by taking a hard look at the role that you had to play.

3.    Do you hold onto people, places, and things longer than you should?  If you are the type to hold onto bad relationships or even clothing that is no longer useful – chances are you are holding onto a job (and life) that you need to release.  If you really want to change your life and career – start by changing yourself followed by the people, places, and things in it.

4.    Do you look to other people for a roadmap on how to live your life? You can gain inspiration from other people, but their life is not a roadmap on how to live your own. Next time you are tempted to make a life choice based solely on how it worked out for someone else – STOP!  Remind yourself that no two people travel the same life path and make a decision that is right for you.

5.    Do you say you don’t have the time or money to make career and life changes yet find yourself spending time and money on things that really don’t matter or help you achieve your goals? We all need downtime, but we also need to spend the majority of our free hours on things that will actually create the change we want. It’s tempting to say that you can be a cheerleader for others but not for yourself.  When in fact, the real reason you don’t put yourself out there or first is because you are afraid of taking risks and making changes.

This week, take the first step of change as embracing an alternative way of thinking.  If you want different results, you must first adopt a different way of doing things.  

Having a Dream and Creating Change in Your Life, Career, and The World

As we celebrate the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday week, we are reminded that life is not always fair and that opportunities are not equitable for all. Truth is, some people work like crazy to create the smallest of opportunities while others create and are given chance after chance to pursue successful new ventures and experiences.  

This week we are asking you to, like Dr. King, “dream” bolder dreams in 2022 and to create change in your life and the lives of others. 

Success starts with becoming an agent of change and re-wiring your brain to create it.  Here are (3) three ways to switch things up and to create the change you want in your life.

1.    Be the one who gathers people instead of waiting for someone else to take the lead. Be a proactive connector. Be the person who is first to follow up with the ideas, details, and specifics to make things happen.

2.    Share your big ideas with others instead of keeping them in your head. There have been countless studies that prove the mere act of writing down a goal increases the likelihood that the person will be successful.

3.    Remain focused on your ultimate goals instead of focusing on current circumstances – always focus on the next best step to explore. Of course, you should give your current opportunity your focus and effort, but you should also always have a plan for your next project or path to pursue.

This week make a conscious choice to talk more about your current and future dreams and plans and less about your past experiences. Remember, going down memory lane is great, but you don’t want to live there. People who make things happen are always looking toward the future, have a good plan, and talk about their new projects and goals.

Dealing with Difficult Bosses and Colleagues

This week we’re talking about how to deal with a difficult boss and what questions to ask yourself before confronting your supervisor and/or escalating the situation to HR. We believe that these (3) three questions can help you successfully navigate issues with a difficult supervisor or coworker.

Question 1 – Are you responding to what was said or communicated in email?

As a first step, make sure to clarify things from an email or written document before responding/taking action.

Question 2 – Does your boss show YOU gratitude and appreciation for what you do?

Help your boss show greater appreciation by clearly sharing your contributions and accomplishments.

Question 3 – Are you responding to something you heard from a third party?

Your career is not the place to play the telephone game. Leave what you’ve heard from a third party.

Truth is, we all have to deal and work with difficult people. You may ask yourself these questions and simply decide that you can learn to ignore or block out others’ actions and move on. Whether you choose to confront the situation head-on or simply “grin and bear it,” embrace a “big picture” perspective and focus on the many things that are great about your job and current opportunity. Things that you can and will leverage to get to that next level.

This week work for and create change by going outside your comfort zone. Embrace each issue or challenge with a completely new perspective.

Transforming Your Point of View on Change by Reminding Yourself That Progress is “Change” Happening in Slow Motion

Since the dawn of the new year, you may have been thinking about new goals and hopefully new dreams of change. Dreams that you want and will make in how you Live. Love. Do. ®. To help enhance the probability that these dreams will come true, you must first change your point of view. Think of change not as a massive 180-degree turn that happens in a month or two, but small personal and professional shifts that YOU focus on and make each month.

Start the new year with both great intentions and great creativity for an impactful 2022. Challenge yourself this year to work both harder and differently. If you have never listed to a podcast or haven’t picked up a book in years -- read (3) three new books or listen to (2) two new podcasts by March. Take a course or try something small that you have never done before, such as networking in a new way.

Finally, remove pressure from yourself to make huge and instant changes. In short, do not set yourself for failure by creating extreme and unrealistic expectations. And, at the end of the day, remind yourself of (2) two things. Progress is change happening in slow motion. And, if your dreams don’t scare you even a little – they are not BIG enough and dream bigger!

Happy New Year from The Living on Purpose Project!

New Chapter – New Story – New Year

As 2021 comes to a close and we say goodbye to yet another year in the COVID-19-era, it’s a great time to think about what your next chapter could be? Like any good story, we hope that it’s full of excitement, twists and turns, and plots that keep you wanting and hoping for new and better things to come.

As you write your new chapter, be bold in telling your personal and professional story. Make sure that you showcase yourself as someone who can always find creative ways to triumph over new challenges over/obstacles.

January 1, 2022 could be or mean whatever you want it to be. Here’s to making it the first day of the best chapter in an ever-evolving and changing life story.