Blog Challenge Day 10: LAST DAY! :)

Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy, it's the last day of the challenge! My excitement doesn't come from being relieved, i'm actually looking forward to what this means for me.

Topic at hand: What I enjoyed about the challenge, my favorite challenge day and why, the biggest takeaway I've had from it, and the next step.

I really enjoyed the fact that I didn't give a shit (kind of) about who read this semi-personal stuff. It just really don't matta. I also enjoyed being creative with my writing. That is something I look forward to with future blog posts. Speaking of future blog posts, starting a blog and most importantly finally building a new website have been my biggest takeaways from this challenge. I can not even express what a relief and how excited I am about all of it. It kept on being one of those things that I'd put off because it wasn't perfected, aka just wasn't getting done at all. Well it's done! Of course, there will be some tweaking foreverrrr, but it's a start and I love it.

My favorite challenge day was the 'Finding Your Tribe' post. Earlier that day, without knowing yet what the challenge was for the day, I had an almost overwhelming love for my tribe wash over me. Friends and family, new and old, I love them all so much and they love and support me in return, and these gratitude waves happen pretty often about my peeps. I've not always been the ideal friend or family member, but they've all stuck it out anyway. So thank you and I love you.

So, I want to thank Natalie Sisson, for bringing me out of my comfort zone and getting me and 1000's of others super pumped to start their day and/or lives! That sentence just excited me a lot. I'M super pumped for what's ahead! Thanks Natalie!

This blog post is in response to Natalie’s 10 Day Freedom Plan Blog Challenge Day 10

Blog Challenge Day 9: What does your work/leisure life look like on holidaaaaaaaay?!

Alright, alright, alright! Day 9, second to last day of this blog challenge!

This one is about my soon-to-be dream come true of traveling the world, due to a location independent work life. Everything I've been doing and planning for the past year or so has been to strategically position myself within the means to do so.

If I were to travel to a place where I'd be essentially living and working for a few months, what would my work/leisure balance look like?

I'm kind of hoping that I end up in Spain first. For some reason, when I think about learning another language, Spanish comes to mind. Not just any ol' Spanish, but specifically the medieval Castillian Spanish in Spain. Somethin' about it. Anyway, my work load would hopefully be reduced to about 5 hours a day, but knowing myself, that may not happen. Let's call it 7, 5 days a week. I would really truly give myself, for once, weekends off and enjoy the place I'm living. Learn that sexy ass Castillian Spanish like I was a local, and eat like one too.

I'm really looking forward to exploring new places, people and culture, and not hustling so hard to get to where I want to be. I have to stop and think though, will I be free of that when I leave, or will it be like that old saying, "you're just taking yourself with you" and will I always be chasing "getting to where I want to be"? We shall see!

Soul searching and mind deciphering are on the list of to-do's before I go.

This blog post is in response to Natalie’s 10 Day Freedom Plan Blog Challenge Day 9

Blog Challenge Day 8: A fun day.

The challenge today was to go out and have fun. Unfortunately, I was not able to do that today. But what I can say is that I have fun days all the time. Sometimes they're not full days of fun, maybe half days of fun, or maybe it was a full day of work and a night of fun. Either way, I really appreciate the fact that I can work when I want to and not work when I don't want to. Before I start implying that my life is peachy all the time, let me let you in on the down side of this whole working for yourself scenario.

I was just talking to a friend about how I'm having a dry spell with work and how it brings me down a bit. He said that I have so much that is going right right now, such as just finishing my new website, going to school, not ever living beyond my means, and so forth. Which is great, it made me feel a lot better. But when I go through these dry spells (that are coming fewer and farther between, thankfully) it's not just about a slow down in income, it's definitely an ego check. When I'm slow, I'm not working, which makes me wonder why I'm not working, and then makes me wonder if that was it, am I done with this stream of luck in being a talented artist and business woman? Should I go get a day job now?!

Then I remember all the times that I had a slow time, and how I bounced right back eventually and with greater vengeance and enthusiasm, and it always gets better every time. But man, is it hard to go through, financially and mentally. I have to say that I'm much calmer about it now than I used to be though. I accredit that to experience and knowledge in this situation, in that if you work for yourself, especially just starting out, you're gonna go through it! 

So back to fun days... yeah I have 'em. Just not right now. :-P And although this life is so challenging at times, I would NEVER trade it for a steady paycheck. 

This blog post is in response to Natalie’s 10 Day Freedom Plan Blog Challenge Day 8

Blog Challenge Day 7: Choosing an imperfect action.

So today's challenge is choosing an imperfect action that will get you closer to the life you want, i.e. meditation, exercise, etc. When I say imperfect, it means although there's no concrete plan, or things aren't perfectly in place yet, you start working at your goals anyway, because things will fall into place. But what is that imperfect action that will help you to reach your goals?

I used to be so bad with my perfectionism that I would just not start anything, and I know so many perfectionists that are the exact same way. While I think that our work speaks wonders for our success, it sometimes can do the opposite, where one might never start anything because nothing is lined up perfectly. I know that when I felt that way, the idea seemed like it was just a giant list of to-do's except they weren't in a to-do list form, instead they were just scattered around in my brain like a game of 52 pick up, and I had no idea where to start! 

That leads me to my imperfect action, which is writing things down! If an idea comes into your head, write it down. If something's on your mind and won't leave it, write it down. If you don't know where to start, just start writing down everything you need to do, then number each item by relevance from start to finish and start ticking away at it. It's such a good feeling when you start to see this thing you have been building come together, when you start reaping the rewards for your list building and slow (or fast) progress toward completion of this imperfect project. 

This blog post is in response to Natalie’s 10 Day Freedom Plan Blog Challenge Day 7

Blog Challenge Day 6: Finding your tribe.

Ok, this one got me stuck for a bit.

Day 6, finding your tribe, isn't about what you think it is. Ya know, the people who get you and vice versa, the ones who cheer you on and love you unconditionally and vice versa, etc. It's about finding 1 to 2 people who are living the life that you want to live, and whose tribe you'd love to be a part of, and why.

First let me say that my existing tribe is unbelievably good to me, and I hope I'm doing at least a fraction of what they do for me everyday. And it's kind of funny because I had a long moment of feeling grateful for my peeps this morning. <3

The reason this one was hard is because lately I'm all like, "Hm, I need a mentor", then I'm asked who that'd be if I could choose, and I have no idea. That's when I realized about 3 hours ago that this is day 6 of writing a blog post in my blog that I've been meaning to take seriously for the past year, but haven't got around to it. I then also realized that with that came the sense of really getting my ass in gear to build my new website. That's been numero uno on my list of things to do since forever. Well, I pretty much started it the same day I started this blog and it will probably go live Monday, the last day of this challenge.

That's when I realized that I've been listening to Natalie Sisson's super motivating podcast, partook in her challenge, which is not usually my M.O., and I have a pretty good feeling about her sincerity. With that being said, my person would have to be Natalie Sisson. The biggest reason for that is, I've never met her and she just made me get up off my ass to get my shit together. So, thank you Natalie!

Listen peeps, today's the day. Seize itttttt!



This blog post is in response to Natalie’s 10 Day Freedom Plan Blog Challenge Day 6

Blog Challenge Day 5: Setting up your perfect work day.

As mentioned in a previous post, it's super hard for me to stay focused on one specific task for a long period of time. I get distracted with the most random things. It's pretty amazing. Well, Natalie Sisson, the one putting on this blog challenge, just described the Pomodoro Technique for getting stuff done. What it is is setting a timer for 25 minutes, only focusing on one task, not on the cat or the doorbell or your mom. When the timer goes off you can pet the cat or answer the door. Then do another 25 minutes. And so on.

I'll have to try it. I feel like when the timer goes off I would just proceed to do 52 minutes of random things wherever the wind takes me, as usual. 

Anyway, the challenge today is, setting up your perfect work day:

After all my morning me time is done, I'd catch up on e-mails and correspondence. Then I'd go visit whoever I needed to, business related. Then I would cozy up in my fave coffee shop and work for about 5 hours. I'm pretty sure working from home is my biggest distraction. The only problem with working at a coffee shop is that I pee a lot, so I would have to pack up my belongings every time I went to the bathroom. TMI. We'll save that for a later talk.

Goodnight, world.

This blog post is in response to Natalie’s 10 Day Freedom Plan Blog Challenge Day 5

Blog Challenge Day 4: What are you super powers?

Alright boys and girls, today's blog challenge is, "What are you super powers?". I'm going to reveal my big secret, now is as good a time as any... I can read minds. Yep, soooo all of you who thought you were my friends, well, we're no longer friends.

Just kidding.

MY SUPER POWERS ARE:

1. I can clean like nobody's business. I'll scrub floors, I'll do dishes, laundry, dusting. Huge messes that need to be cleaned up (not the gross ones though), get me so excited! I'm so weird, but with that comes a knack for organization, to which I partly accredit my lovely life to. If it weren't for my constant calendar upkeep and beautifully organized and clean home, I may not have had the success that I have today.

2. I love to learn. I love to learn so much. I wish I could get paid for learning and researching. Maybe I could. People do that for a living. There are so many cool nugs of knowledge that I've gained over the years, and some not-so-cool nugs. I'll never take the not-so-cool things back though. Ignorance is bliss, but I would never trade my knowledge for ignorance.

3. Reading people. Not mind reading, but close. This may sound a little creepy, but I will watch people and analyze their behavior. Sometimes consciously and sometimes subconsciously. In some instances, like with friends or acquaintances, I'll later have conversations with them and they'll tell me what they were thinking back there, in which case I'll say, "I know". I'm an introvert by definition, so I think that may have something to do with Marti Olsen Laney's take on the introvert: "Introverts process everything in their surroundings and pay attention to all the sensory details in the environment." Sometimes it can be a bit too much, but it's a nice little super power to have.

What are your super powers?



This blog post is in response to Natalie’s 10 Day Freedom Plan Blog Challenge Day 4

Blog Challenge Day 3: What is my perfect day?

My perfect day would be sleeping in until noon without feeling guilty or depressed about it. Eating chocolate for breakfast, lunch and dinner without getting fat, lethargic or diabetes. While we're on the subject of unicorns, I'd want to fly like a bird, like all day.

Sooo, none of that will ever happen, except maybe one day not feeling guilty about sleeping in until noon. Oh, and I've literally eaten chocolate for breakfast, lunch and dinner for a day, but it was not a good day. Here's what my realistic perfect day would look like:

I'd wake up, say around 7, feeling fantastic. Do my morning stuff, like juicing some ginger, throwing in a good 10 minute meditation, stretching, and then killing it at the gym while everyone walks by and says, "Daaaaaamn girl!". I'd be super pumped from that so I would go and COMPLETE EVERYTHING on my list of to-do's for the day, in a very timely fashion, with zero complications. That may be a unicorn too. It's only happened to me maybe once.

Hopefully it would be a Friday, because I would get dressed all fancy, throw on some heels, and go salsa dancing with friends that night. I'm always adorned with paint clothes and raggedy hair and face, so it's a super treat when I get to look good. I'm still a beginner at salsa, but I looooove it!

After that, I would come home, take a bath in my jacuzzi tub (unicorn?) and read Eat, Pray, Love, which I just started last night and couldn't put down.

This would all be done from somewhere I've decided to travel to and live for a few months or so, somewhere that's not too cold, but not as grossly wet and hot as the Florida weather, a place where I can get fresh produce all day every day with ease, a place where the people speak another language and are happy and friendly. This will all happen one day! New goal.

Anyway, #realtalk real fast; this blog challenge is making me nervous. Mainly because putting my personal's out there like this is out of the norm for me. But I know deep down that it's only because I'm afraid of what people think about me. But really, who gives a shit. Really, really, really delve deep and think about what would happen if you put yourself out there.

This blog post is in response to Natalie’s 10 Day Freedom Plan Blog Challenge Day 3

Blog challenge day 2: Discovering your WHY.

Discovering your "why", I believe, is the biggest challenge of becoming great and continuing to grow in mind, body, soul and success, and it's also necessary. For a while I was running around town, taking on every art job I could get my hands on, and my "why" was, "MONEYYYYY. Money, money, money. YAY!"

Well, that was all well and good when I was still trying to make a name for myself as a reliable and worthy artist, and all I had to worry about was rent. Then someone asked me, "What's your goal? Why do you want to do all of this?", and I felt like such a loser because I had no idea. I was surprised at the question and even more surprised that I had never thought it out, considering that I ask "why" about everything these days.

So I started to ponder the question, and I can't say I completely know exactly why today, but I have a better idea than I did 2 years ago, or even yesterday. It becomes clearer as the days go by because I'm no longer ignorant to the idea of a "why".

My "why" is (for now):

To have the mind, body, soul and financial freedom to go anywhere, say anything and do whatever I want at all times, without intentionally hurting anyone or breaking the law.


To have my "why", I must:

- Be at peace with my past.
- Love me for who I am.
- Enrich my mind with truthful and beneficial knowledge. Stay sane and grounded by whatever means necessary.
- Enrich my body with all things healthy.
- Enrich my soul with all things I love.
- Be kind to everyone. Unless they act up. That's how I feel today, that could change later. It will probably change later.
- Be honest.
- Give often.

Nowadays, when I'm having a first-time conversation with someone about what they do, my immediate wonder is their "why". Sometimes I ask and sometimes I don't. It depends on the type of person I'm talking to. Mainly because I remember when I didn't know my "why", I would get defensive, I guess out of fear, and I don't ever want to put someone in that position. Unless they're acting up. Jk.

It feels so good to know my "why", although I can still feel that I'm not 100% clear on it. That's ok though, there's still time.




This blog post is in response to Natalie’s 10 Day Freedom Plan Blog Challenge Day 1

The start of a new blog and Day 1 of The Freedom Plan Blog Challenge

I'm finally starting a blog! All of this anticipation and careful strategy and waiting for the perfect moment and having no time, blah, blah, blah.

It's happening, and I'm pretty excited about it.

I'm a mural and logo designer/painter in St. Petersburg, FL, and for months I've been meaning to start a blog. Waiting for that perfect moment, and I think it's come along. I'm an avid listener of Podcasts. Actually, when I say avid, I mean I'm like obsessed. One of my favorites is Natalie Sisson's Suitcase Entrepreneur. She is an advocate for having the guts to start your own online business in order to possess the freedom to travel while working. More on my plans for work and travel in a future blog.

For now, let's talk about this challenge. Natalie is hosting a 10 blog challenge that includes some awesome prizes. I have to say that I didn't necessarily partake for the prizes, but more to just get my ass in gear already. What better excuse than to potentially win cool stuff?! So here's Day 1: Two of my biggest challenges in business.


1. Focus! If ever there was a girl with a tiny attention span, she would be me. I literally just realized about a week ago that this was what was driving me to the insanity that I just couldn't shake. I felt like I was on a downward slope, and just waiting for the bottom to drop out. I'd be working on a project for about 10 minutes, something else on my list of to-do's would pop in my head, and I'd go and do that for about 10 minutes, and on and on.

Finally, I took Oprah's advice and just sat with my thoughts, trying to figure it out. I then took a look at my planner and realized that I was actually planning my projects to cater to my ADD. Meaning I would schedule a 5 hour long project over a span of 5 days so that I wouldn't have to sit and do that project for 5 hours. ??????? Crazy! So my planner looked like a mad woman took over and my mind was reflecting that.

I just recently realized all of this, so I have to say, a solution is not necessarily in the works, but I've started planning projects in bulk instead of in piece-meal.


2. Overthinking EVERYTHING! As an artist, it's really hard not to. I mean, you're expected to perform, and the vision you have in your head is completely different from what they have in theirs. Bringing that vision together is key, and even after that's done, I still have a level of stress coming from, "What if they don't like it?". I have to say, so far in my career, I have yet to have someone dislike my work. But it will happen, and when it does, I just have to remember that you can't please everyone.

There it is! My first blog post on a cool platform. Yay!

If you have any advice, or feedback, I'd love to hear it! If you'd like to take part in this challenge, here's the info:



This blog post is in response to Natalie’s 10 Day Freedom Plan Blog Challenge Day 1.