When I say well-balanced, I’m talking about balance between the right and left brain, creative and logical (in my case, business) thinking. Throughout my entire life I’ve always scored close to dead even between the two. Personality and career profiling tests in high school showed both business and art as my top, equal fits. And in all honesty, those tests were absolutely correct for who I am and the things that I want to accomplish. My mission statement alone makes that incredibly clear!

At times, this balance can create tension inside of me. I find myself engulfed in my business project StartupCorner, and suddenly, I’m longing to create art, write poetry and make beautiful things. It’s not that I want to take time off from StartupCorner or my design business, it’s just a nagging feeling I get if I spend too much time away from one or the other.

Awhile back, in an attempt to remedy those feelings of tension, I came up with my daily creativity project. The idea was to do something creative every day. To stretch my creative muscles, try something new or just spill a little bit of beauty onto a blank canvas. This was a fabulous approach when I began because I was so creatively constipated that I really couldn’t do much beyond a quick doodle or random sketch. Now, I am bubbling over with passion and creative juices thanks to working on StartupCorner and taking the time to focus on what matters most to me.

Among the many seeds planted in my idea book, there are plenty of art pieces, collections, crafty things and writing projects that I long to bring to life! I have a pile of wooden picture frames and a briefcase from Goodwill, all waiting to become the beautiful, upcycled goodies I envisioned when I found them. They sit on top of a plastic bin full of bits and pieces, found objects and random scraps. I have nine pages to a book sitting on my hard drive and a number of poems that are patiently waiting to be edited and placed in a poetry book. A poetry book I’ve dreamed of completing since my school days, when most of the contents were written.

Putting my energy and efforts into StartupCorner has brought me so much joy and has awakened my soul. Imagine how I would feel if I took a little time to balance that out through nurturing my creative side? If I took the small amount of time that I invest in a random doodle or sketch and put it towards my art? Eventually, I would actually complete a project!

In an effort to live a well-balanced life without tension, I’m planning to do just that. Instead of the random, although cute and sometimes funny, doodles and drawings on my daily creativity blog, I’m going to begin dedicating 15 to 30-minutes each day towards one of my creative projects.

Where can you find a small amount of time that can be put towards your dreams and goals?

Be the Best, Healthiest and Happiest You™

Merry Monday! Today is a new day and the start of a new week! I’m happy to say that my weekend was full of rest and relaxation. Much needed after three weeks of family and travel! With that said, I’m happy to declare this a fresh week with a fresh start on some projects I lost focus on…

Getting in my Best Shape Ever

When the boyfriend’s family came out to visit, we had just wrapped up our first three weeks of P90X. They went well and I could definitely tell I was getting stronger! I loved the workouts and was committed to following through with the program despite company and my upcoming trip to Albuquerque. Well, long story short, that didn’t happen. I did make it through the recovery week with about four or five workouts… but only two happened in Albuquerque and last week did not fare much better. Today I will begin round 2 again. I will also begin to track my calories, cut out sugar and eat more fresh fruits and vegetables. I’m using the iPhone App Lose It to track my calories and weight loss.

Journal Every Single Day

I feel best when I journal first thing in the morning, every single day. It keeps me focused and helps clear out the clutter in my mind. With company and the trip, this has definitely fallen off and I can feel that it needs to begin again! When I don’t write regularly, I start to feel a little bit fussy, overwhelmed and definitely off track.

Daily Creativity

I have another post in the works about the importance of keeping balance in my life. I’m very big into business, entrepreneurship and working on many different projects, but there is a part of me that always needs to create in an artistic way. Just the same as journaling, when I go too long without making things I begin to feel a level of discomfort and stress. Daily Creativity is my solution to that and something I enjoy doing when I keep up with it. Seeing as how I’ve declared this a fresh start week, I thought it best to create a new space for that project. The Daily Creativity blog is now housed on this site and will be something I update daily!

Launching StartupCorner™

While I didn’t lose focus on this project, I’m definitely glad to be back in my groove and am ready to blast this baby to life! There are a lot of great things in the works and it will take a lot of hard work and commitment to see it through. I’m more than committed and I can’t wait to share more as this project expands! Be sure to check out the StartupCorner website if you haven’t!

Is there anything that you need to refocus on this week?

Be the Best, Healthiest and Happiest You™

Yesterday I flew back to Hawaii after a wonderful ten days in Albuquerque with my family. The boyfriend was able to make it out and my dad was able to take some time off. That added up to some wonderful quality time with my two favorite guys.

Here is a short photo recap of some highlights!

The first day we were all together was spent hiking the volcanoes just behind my dad’s house. It was hot out, but the views were beautiful and the hike was moderate enough for some good chit chat. Afterward, we cleaned up and went to an Isotopes game! They didn’t play well, but I love baseball games with my dad.

View from the Volcano…

Isotopes game! They lost… bad. But it was still a lot of fun.

Because the boyfriend had some work to do, I spent the second day piddling around with my dad! We saw the movie Killers and then went to see my car which is currently in storage. Poor baby had been sitting too long and needed a jump. I took her to get some fluids changed, but because the brakes weren’t really working, that’s the only place I was able to drive her. She’ll have to sit a little while longer until my next visit when I have time to bleed the brakes.

On the third day we went to the Jemez mountains for some hiking! We stopped for lunch at Los Ojos and they had the most delicious veggie burrito! It was stuffed full of beans, corn and every vegetable you can think of! Their green chili was also really hot… a bit much for me now that I live outside NM. ;) That night we watched Inception which was a great, mind bending movie.

Los Ojos Veggie Burrito

The fourth day together was spent hiking the Sandia Crest trail. The Sandias are the main visible mountains in Albuquerque and it’s a hike I’ve done for many years. The view of the city is amazing and the hike itself is full of natural beauty.

View from the Sandia Crest.

A great photo by the Boyfriend!

The fifth day was spent partially in Santa Fe. The boyfriend and I celebrated our four year anniversary and saw some fabulous art.

Our last day included breakfast at Flying Star with my grandparents and then watching Expendables with my dad. Flying Star had a great vegan tofu scramble with vegetables and some great sides. Yum!

While I enjoyed the break and the time with my family, I’m ready to get back to my life and work in Hawaii! There’s so much to do!

How often do you visit your family or hometown?

Be the Best, Healthiest and Happiest You™

When you’re truly living in the moment, experiences
are neither too fast or too slow, they just are.

I tend to keep myself extremely busy. I have a contract marketing position, I work on my business Creative Spark Design and now I’m putting huge amounts of time and energy into my new business, StartupCorner, among date night, time with friends and at least a day a week at the beach. Let’s not forget an hour or more of P90X! My days are usually spent with a constant twinge of stress or my mind is constantly thinking about where I’d rather be, what I need to be working on and a general sense of “hurry up!”

At some point last week, something inside me simply changed. It may have been the day I thought I had all afternoon and was planning to put some serious work into my StartupCorner information packets, but instead ended up halfway across town touring the Might Mo battleship and eating Thai food. Or it may have been at some point before that, but I didn’t really notice the mental shift.

I have to say, suddenly knowing how to be 100% present and live in the moment is an amazing feeling. It’s not that I’m doing less, but more that I’m focusing on the task at hand, or enjoying the moment I’m in, before moving onto the next. Instead of sitting at the baseball game last night wondering why the boyfriend hadn’t called or texted me, thinking about my information packet that I want to finish and worrying about some emails and bills… I was enjoying the game. We were at the stadium for over three hours, yet by the time we left, it felt like a fraction of the time.

Take this moment as another example. I have a lot to accomplish in the few hours before the boyfriend gets in town, and instead of jumping from one thing to another and back again like I usually do, I’m focused on this blog post and have knocked it out in record time!

Do you feel that you live in each moment, present and focused?
If not, give it a try this week!

Be the Best, Healthiest and Happiest You™

My grandparents have been married for 60 years and to celebrate the occasion, the entire family got together for a one day reunion. Not everyone made it, but most of the cousins, aunts, uncles and relatives of my grandparents were there. It was great to be around family that I haven’t seen in a long time and to reminisce about the times when we were younger.

This also means that I’m back home in Albuquerque, NM for the next week! I’m really excited to be home and have already gotten out to one of my favorite places, the Jemez mountains, for some hiking!

While here, I’m going to be keeping up with my projects, including this blog and StartupCorner, but I’m also enjoying some downtime venturing through the city I grew up in. This week is also the first week of P90X Round 2 so I’m hoping to post an update on the first round this week!

How was your weekend?

Be the Best, Healthiest and Happiest You™

I can’t believe I came across this company… well I can, because I believe in synchronicity. Just a few days ago as I ran my pen dry, I was wondering to myself if there are pens out there that are refillable. Yes, pens are small… but at this point, every little bit of waste really does make a difference. While working on a design project and searching TheBestDesigns.com for inspiration and I came across DBA. Instant love. Not only do they offer these pens, but they also offer 100% recycled paper notebooks *AND* the option to purchase carbon offset credits at check out!

Learn more about carbon offset credits at CarbonFund.org!

I personally plan on ordering some of these pens as well as the notebooks and will share my thoughts as soon as I have them!

What are your favorite green products?

Be the Best, Healthiest and Happiest You™

I really feel for the person who goes through their entire life without ever keeping a record of who they really are. I understand the fear of being “found out.” But I also understand the freedom and the joy of being unabashedly WHO YOU ARE.

There used to be times when I would think about how awful it might be for someone to find and read one of my journals. There are no dark and dirty secrets, no skeletons in my closet… yet I still feared someone reading my words. Now, when I think about my boyfriend reading my journal, I think to myself, “well, that’s who I am.” Since becoming more open and accepting of myself, I’ve seen a connection between what I write each morning and what I end up saying or doing that very same day. The thoughts, feelings and opinions I have on paper are the same as the thoughts, feelings and opinions I will later voice, albeit, they are far more disjointed and underdeveloped on the page.

Instead of spending my days scatterbrained and uncomfortable from the endless spinning and drifting of my mind, I capture those loose words on the page. By capturing them, I expose them to the light of day. I make them real and concrete, which automatically allows them to expand. Those little bits, the thoughts, fears, joyful mementos and opinions are mine. They represent me in the rawest and purest form.

More often than not, what I put on the page will become clear or complete either in the moment or later in my day. I struggled for several days over how to launch my new business project, StartupCorner, but when I sat down to journal what was on my mind one morning, I realized I was suddenly creating a clear plan. Sometimes when I journal I am also able to put a name to whatever I am feeling, while beginning to sort through it. If I don’t come to any conclusions while writing, later in the day I will be hit with solutions or a rush of clarity.

If you ever find yourself in a funk or without the ability to make sense of your thoughts or feelings, sit down and write three pages longhand in a notebook or on printer paper. If you can force yourself to write whatever is on your mind, truthfully and completely, by the end of those pages you will find clarity, or at the very least, feel a sense of relief. When you journal regularly you will begin to notice trends as you read back through your pages. You will see where you struggle, what upsets you most and what things make you happy. Through journaling, you will get to know yourself better and begin to live a happier and healthy life.

Do you keep a journal? If so, why or why not?

Be the Best, Healthiest and Happiest You™

Hello everyone! I am super excited to announce the launch of my new business: StartupCorner, LLC!

As I mentioned before, I’ve had this idea for quite some time. Always knowing I would start my own business(es) since high school, I was trying to find information on how people started companies while working full time. I understood the general concept… Work 9 – 5, come home and work on your business, but I never felt like anyone really tells you how they did it. There’s plenty of information on what paperwork to file, different types of structures and how to do almost anything else you need to, but something was missing. Despite my curiosity and first nuggets of an idea, I tucked it away with other ideas and moved on.

But this was not just another nugget for the idea book… this was an idea that continued to pop up over the years, prompting me to spend a little more with it, each time growing it further. At this point, I feel so confident with what I intend to bring to entrepreneurs over the next few years that I can barely keep from explaining every little detail to the world!

The StartupCorner.org temporary website officially launched this week and features information about what readers can expect to find when the full website launches on January 3, 2011. It is also a tool to gather information for potential contributors, partners and successful entrepreneurs for featured interviews.

The site is set up for phenomenal growth over the first year thanks to a strategic four-phase plan. My vision for the company will unravel itself one phase at a time, introducing new products to readers while expanding on existing services.

“What’s even more exciting than the growth we expect to see in our first year are the plans for our second and third years in business. What we will be offering entrepreneurs is something yet to be seen in our market. Now is the best time to get on board with StartupCorner as a site contributor or partner. We are looking to form lasting relationships with individuals and companies who fit within our values and those who are looking to serve entrepreneurs around the world.” Launch Press Release (7/22/10)

This business is my way of positively impacting the world in a number of ways. While that won’t be apparent right away, it will be clear down the road and that is what excites me the most! You might be wondering why I’m being somewhat secretive about the ultimate vision of the company. That has a lot to do with the fact that I really haven’t seen anything out there like what I intend to offer, and I’m not about to give it all away just yet. Because I don’t have the funding to launch the site how I’d prefer, I’ve decided to take the four-phase route because the first year will be the catalyst, and financing, for the next years in business.

I would much appreciate any feedback on the site! If you or someone you know fits the bill for a contributor, partner or successful entrepreneur, I would love to hear from you!

What are you waiting for? Check it out now!

Be the Best, Healthiest and Happiest You™

Having a solid personal brand has a lot to do with knowing where you’re coming from in life.

Not what part of the country you’re from, how you were raised or where you went to college. The place “where you come from” has more to do with what you value and believe as well as your mission in life and what you wish to achieve. Really understanding those things will help you act from of a place of certainty and direction in all facets of your life.

Having a natural knack for noticing inconsistencies, I feel constantly aware of how often people contradict themselves. You’ll run a red arrow but not make an illegal U-Turn. You stress working out and eating clean, yet you smoke cigarettes every day. You attend church on a regular basis, yet you download illegally and burn copies of things you didn’t pay for. Do you see where I’m going with this? You pick and choose when to be consistent with what you claim to be your own values.

The personal brand that I am currently working to build for myself is one that follows the mantra of “be the best, healthiest and happiest you™.” As I’ve said before, to me this means that I am as green as I can possibly be, I am positively contributing to others and the world through everything that I do, I am healthy and fit both mentally and physically and I am working to live true to my mission statement.

When I made the decision that this would be my personal brand, I discovered a lot of projects and life practices that were inconsistent with the message I wished to send. This disheartened me a bit because they are things that I love… things that include a classic car that probably doesn’t get more than 15 mpg (though once it did get in the 20s on a road trip), an arts and craft project that was being made from non-recycled materials and really just creating more junk in the world, a business that simply focused on using design as a means to make money and a project dear to my heart (soon to be announced!) that I couldn’t really figure out how it fit within my mission.

I’m happy to report that I’ve since discovered ways that not only allow me to keep these things as a part of my life and my personal brand, but I am more excited about them than I was before! I want to share these in the near future as examples of what I intend to do as I grow my brand. My goal with this is to help others realize that you can keep doing what you’re doing in life while, with a few tweaks, making it consistent with being the best, healthiest and happiest person that you can possibly be.

Do you know where you’re coming from in life?
Can you admit to an area that you’re inconsistent in?

Be the Best, Healthiest and Happiest You™

Lately I’ve been working on a project that I’m extremely passionate about. I originally came up with a small piece of the idea back in college when I was searching for something that didn’t exist (entrepreneurship is about filling a need or gap in the market after all). I remember marking the idea down in a journal, or somewhere with other ideas, and moving on.

Over the years, that idea has expanded into a really large and exciting web project. I feel like sometimes we are given an idea in bits and pieces and eventually, everything just clicks and you really understand what it is you’re supposed to do. That click happened for me over a year ago, but because I was new to Hawaii and trying to get my design business off the ground, I ended up letting it sit for awhile. Any time that I would share the idea with someone close to me, it would further solidify my need to bring it to life, but the timing just wasn’t right.

With more than half of this year gone and far less goals accomplished than I’d hoped for, I’m happy to report that the fire in my belly is back! One day I just knew it was time to bring it to life and see it through. I’ve created a temporary and informative website and picked an official launch date: January 3, 2011. Out of seemingly nowhere, I sat down and created a “project database” in excel along with a detailed pre-launch marketing plan.

I’m really excited to be sharing this project and I will have more details next week when I “officially” release the temporary website and send the project out there into the world to start growing (and receiving feedback)!

What’s an idea or project you’ve been wanting to bring to life but haven’t made the time?

Be the Best, Healthiest and Happiest You™