Category: Be Inspired

Lifelong Friend Goals

.Reading time 1 minute.
Regardless of your favorite Destiny’s Child era, Beyoncé, Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams have proved time and time again that together they are in fact, the ultimate besties. From their glorious early “Independent Women” days to their epic recent mannequin challenge video fun, there isn’t a more close knit trio around. Through family, love, friendship, failure, and even whilst pursuing their own solo careers, these ladies have kept it real, had each other’s backs and kept us wishing we could join the fun.
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When They Rocked The Mannequin Challenge

The besties recently shocked fans when they came together to take part in the viral video sensation to the tune of Lauryn Hill’s “Every Ghetto Every City.” All we can say is it was instantly epic. Photo by Instagram/@kellyrowland  By Alexis Reliford
xxxxxx,
Janice

Pursuing Your Passion While Raising a Family

.Reading time 6 minutes.

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“You don’t need to do great things everyday, but you need to do something towards your dream daily,”writes Notoya Green.

I’m a mother of three-year-old triplets. I’m also a blogger, columnist and parenting expert who appears on television regularly, so I know firsthand the challenges of pursuing your passion while raising kids. For many of us, our obligations at home make it difficult to find the time and energy to go after the things we want. I’m not going to lie—pursuing your passion while raising kids is hard. But the good news is that it is possible and also really important. For you and your children.

When I was a child, I saw my mother try to be successful in business. She tried various things, from bus tours to real estate ventures. Sometimes she succeeded in her efforts and other times she didn’t. Watching her efforts made me want to work hard too. So when I made the decision to pursue my passion as a writer and media personality, I did it for two reasons. I did it partly because of my own ambitions (after all we don’t stop being ambitious simply because we have children), but I also did it for my kids so they know I never stopped trying to be the very best me. Going after the things we want in life is scary. Many times, we don’t even know where to begin, but with every step and every battle we win, our confidence rises, as does our happiness.

So how do we make these things happen when we have so much on our plates already?

Create a plan
Figure out what your dream is and think about some realistic ways to get there. Do you need more education? More experience, or do you just need to start? What are the steps that you need to take today so that you can be where you want to be years from now?

Create a schedule
Life is going to happen and it’s often unpredictable so it’s important to schedule in time to work on your dream. That time won’t magically appear. For some moms, that means waking up early in the morning and working on their dream before the kids wake up. For others, it’s working late at night when the kids are asleep. In any case, find a block of quiet time so you put in a few hours a day to get work done.

Get help with the kids
In order to succeed, you need time to work. You also need time to think, to plan and to rest. So when needed, get help from either a qualified childcare professional or a trustworthy family member. If you have a supportive partner, ask him or her to help with the kids every other weekend so you can work on your dream. When you let people know how serious you are about succeeding in life, you’ll be surprised by how much they willing to help you.

Find an emotional support system
Pursuing your dream is hard. Pursuing it with kids is even harder. Maybe today you’ll feel like giving up because the kids are acting up in school and you’re feeling discouraged. Find a mentor or network of people who will encourage you and help you to keep going. When I’m feeling discouraged I meet with my mentor. Other times I talk to my husband and he’ll say to me, “Slow down? Give up? No, you need to go harder!” Whoever these people are in your life, find them because you are going to need them when the challenges of motherhood and life converge and nothing seems to be going your way.

Be diligent
Work on your dream daily. You don’t need to do great things everyday, but you need to do something towards your dream daily even if that something is resting so you can go harder the next day.

Be resilient
Rome wasn’t built in a day. Success takes time and sometimes it takes years. When we think of success we think of it as a sprint, but it’s really a marathon. So hang in there and be resilient when there are set backs and when things take longer than you want.

Always keep family first
Our dreams are important but so are our kids. Above all else, our children need to come first in our lives. That said, with a good schedule, diligence, planning and focus we can still be great moms to our kids while honoring our dreams and our selves.

Notoya Green is an on-air parenting expert and mother of three-year-old triplets. A former law attorney, Notoya put her law career on hold to become a stay-at-home mom to care full-time for her children. She now shares her experiences at Triplets in Tribeca. Via Essence.

xxxx,

Janice

Library Retreat for Book Lovers

.Reading time 1 minute.

Rejoice, book lovers: we found the place where everyone will finally leave you alone. This little black cabin, built by Studio Padron, is actually a library and guest house for a vacation home in upstate New York. Appropriately, it’s called Hemmelig Rom — “secret room” in Norwegian.

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The whole structure is made from oak trees that were cut down to make room for the main house, then dried over time in long, rectangular logs. Those logs now form the cabin’s walls — and the gaps between them form the bookshelves inside.

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Inside, there’s also a bed, an armchair, a desk and a wood-burning stove: all the cozy trappings of a book lover’s ideal retreat. It’s also in the woods, so cell service is probably pretty bad. More time for reading. Via Mashable Image: Studio Padron

xxxxx,

Janice

The Brutal Truth About Those Pyramid Schemes.

.Reading time 9 minutes.
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Whether it be Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter, YouTube, or LinkedIn … we have been seeing a tremendous shift in peoples’ posts, a large percentage of them being women and/or mothers. As you scroll through your news feeds, you may find photos and posts with similar catch phrases of “join me“ or “are you ready to try ______ “ or you may possibly read “looking for ___ for my next group/party I’m hosting“. Why is there such a rise in these start up businesses? Why are we seeing a trend of these posts being blasted through all types of social media? Why does it appear that everyone is being fooled to hop on someone else’s bandwagon of what appears that they’re showcasing, well… the grass is greener on the other side? Well here’s the short and simple truth that I have found not only from research and personal experience, but simply living it: this actually works. These so called “schemes” are actually creating opportunities for millions to begin their own businesses from home. We’re living in an economy that it takes two incomes to make ends meet. We’re living in a country that is battling to have paid family leave available for all of its families. We’re living in a time that people are becoming sick and tired of being sick and tired. Sick and tired of living paycheck to paycheck – or maybe not even able to stay above afloat some months. Sick and tired of working long, tireless hours away from home, but there’s no choice. You must do what is necessary to pay the bills and put food on the table. Sick and tired of paying the astronomical costs for someone else to raise your children, while you’re answering to someone else.

A lot of these posts you’re seeing of these small businesses being advertised are mothers. And this should really come by no surprise to anyone. Mothers have met their breaking points head on and are taking leaps of faith to become Entrepreneurs, becoming their own boss of something that is giving them some freedoms. And you know what – it’s WORKING. There are no pyramid schemes, despite so many wanting to tag them as such, because you see – pyramid schemes are illegal. A lot of these businesses are multi level marketing which is what people are misinformed about. The MLM set up is why they are working with such success. They are set up in such a way to help the small business owner have a huge potential for financial success. Think of your traditional brick and mortar business where people aren’t “afraid” of a scheme. Is there a manager that helps assist people at their job? Does that person have a boss? And does that boss have an overseeing boss or manager? And so on, and so forth?Yes. Yes. Yes. And absolutely YES. Now do those managers, bosses and CEO’s depend upon their staff to do their jobs diligently in order for their business and companies to be successful? Yup. Now anyone who is a motivated individual, would they want to move up in their company? Would they like more pay and higher success? I would hope that every single working individual would answer yes to this. Likewise, if these people like their job, do they talk about it? If you personally go to a restaurant you like, do you tell your friends about it? If you find a store whose clothing you have fallen in love with, do you share it? What about a new recipe you just tried that your family enjoyed…you probably have shared this with your co-workers and friends, no? If this is the case, then every single one of us are involved in some type of pyramid scheme. God help us all.

Something to keep in your back pocket: when you’re buying from a chain store, you’re helping contribute to the retirement of the millionaire or billionaire CEO. When you’re buying from a small business owner, you’re helping pay for that family’s groceries, you’re paying toward the electric bill and helping Tommy afford a baseball glove or helping pay down Sarah’s outstanding hospital bill. You’re helping pay down school loan debt and you’re likewise contributing to someone’s ability to have more time with their children, their significant other or parents who may have fallen ill. And these small businesses – well, there’s nothing small about them with the amount of effort and time that these Entrepreneurs are putting into them. Yes, it’s more than a few posts on social media. Yes, it’s more than setting up a couple groups or sending out some invitations to their next party or group. Yes, it’s even more than posting those witty, inspirational sayings or selfies you see each day. It’s staying up late and getting up early to plan and strategize what you need to do to grow your business and share your product. It’s finding new and authentic ways to use social media to set yourself apart from the thousands of others who are trying to set the same competitive edge in their same business. It’s constantly learning the most recent updates in your business, adding to your contacts to ensure you are on the path to growing a thriving company, and working on your own personal development of bettering yourself as a business owner.

So the next time you’re scrolling through and considering the legitimacy of these posts that appear too good to be true, you may want to think twice. There is no comparison to the hustle and work ethic of a mother trying to provide for her family. If it happens to be something that piques your interest in something you’re already paying for from a chain or retail store, you just may want to give that small business owner a chance to prove you wrong. My hope is that you are incredibly thrown by your surprise of the legitimacy and the 1:1 care and attention you can receive from having an open mind and heart. I assure you, that dollar is going to go much further than you could possibly imagine. Via the Huffington post Regan Long Mother and writer. To follow Long, retired teacher at 31, you can find her on The Real Deal of Parenting Image via ONKEYBUSINESSIMAGES VIA GETTY IMAGES.

xxxx,

Janice