Successful woman always know to set high goals, to celebrate all their achievements, and to stretch towards those goals every day.

When I say stretch every day, I mean literally and physically stretch yourself, and also emotionally, intellectually, and spiritually stretch yourself.

When you start the day off by stretching out, your muscles get warmed up and you remain flexible and limber. Your body gets stronger and more vibrant as you stretch and shake off sleep. Stretch out in bed, and then move to the floor or to a mat or cloth you’ve set out. Incorporate 15 minutes of stretching into your day and you’ll immediately feel better (and your posture will improve).

By emotionally stretching yourself, I encourage you to use the Buddhist exercise of wishing well upon a friend or loved one, then wishing well upon someone you may not be too happy with, then wishing well upon an adversary or someone about whom you have very strong feelings. Stretch out your feeling towards this person and release yourself from limited thinking. As you do so, you’ll gain a wider perspective on the world.

Stretch yourself intellectually by reading, listening, and learning from other teachers. Assemble a toolkit of links or resources that you use to stretch your mind and to increase your brain power. Do a crossword puzzle or a memory game to keep yourself sharp, and keep on learning about different subjects which interest you. Stretch your limitations of your knowledge.

Spiritually, when I say stretch, I mean stretch out your understanding of your purpose in the world and how you are manifesting what you were born to do. Stretch out your soul and strive to touch more people with your passion, to help more people with your products, and to assist more of your community through your work.

Reach out and stretch your “soul muscles” so you have greater understanding and appreciation of our human nature and the beauty with which each of us lives our life. I’ve incorporated an hour of power into my day: with 20 minutes of reading, 20 minutes of meditation, and 20 minutes of prayer.

Keep stretching yourself every day and you’ll find that your entire outlook expands. You’ll appreciate this enhanced perspective.

Where will you stretch yourself in the next few days?

Sejal Hathi and her team at Girls Helping Girls just launched their website, and these girls are a real inspiration. “‘I feel blessed to be able to give back to the community- my life would never be fulfilled without such service,” says Hathi, who was only 15 years old when she started the program.

http://www.empoweragirl.org

This international nonprofit organization, based in the San Francisco Bay Area, partners girls in the United States with girls in schools and community organizations in developing countries to jointly identify problems in their communities and develop social change through micro lending projects to address those issues.

There are four main areas in which Girls Helping Girls is focusing its efforts: 1) Eradicate Poverty, 2) Increase Access to Education, 3) Improve Health, and 4) Promote Peace.

Hathi and the other founders Sandal Khandoker, Hanna Kim, and Angelica Teng are all in high school, but they’re using their energy and belief in a better world to drive the organization forward.

Girls Helping Girls teaches girls to value their identities and find strength in one other. GHG not only empowers girls from disadvantaged backgrounds to stand tall and assert their voice, but it also educates them to value cultural diversity. The programs currently are in place in India, Ghana and Turkey, with more sites on the way.

With this kind of enthusiasm and passion for helping others, I’m excited to support Girls Helping Girls and I hope you’ll join me in helping spread the word about this remarkable project.

For the new parents in your life, consider the biodegradable, flushable, compostable gDiapers, a product made from wood cellulose: an amazing invention for the green at heart and all of you concerned about solid waste. Americans toss about 50 million disposable diapers every year: that’s plastic and human waste going into the landfills… if you’re concerned about the planet, consider your alternatives!

gDiapers is a child-centric company and pioneered this option for diapers because they care about our planet and our future generations. The company brainstormed an alternative to cloth diapers, which take lots of water to clean, and plastic diapers, which take up to 500 years to break down (see their video here: http://www.gdiapers.com/includes/vid_pop4.php)

The gDiapers consist of a washable, cotton outer pant and a plastic free flushable refill. The flushable refills are plastic-free so they may be tossed or flushed. Wet gDiapers may be composted: they break down in about 50 - 150 days.

The gDiapers company practices a motto of “Fair Dinkum,” which is “an Australian expression that means being genuine and real with everyone you encounter. That is our philosophy toward our business, our people and the planet…”

For more information about the company, visit their website gdiapers.com. You may purchase a ’starter kit’ securely online, too. Also visit their company blog for behind-the-scenes news.