Do you ever feel “blah” for no reason? Do you ever feel like you’re stuck in a rut? Do you ever feel like you’re not living up to your full potential?

Here’s the thing: when we’re not creating, we’re just consuming. When we’re only consuming, we get tired out, sated, and glutted.

We have free spirits, free imaginations, and free ideas. We are born to create! We are born to produce! When we consume more than we produce, we feel a subtle drying-up of our creative energy. If we are creative and we produce more than we consume, we will feel energetic and lively: it’s in our nature. Successful people know this, and they make time in their lives to take advantage of creative moments.

Your “blah” times as an indicator that something new is coming up in your life. A “blah” time is a good signal that you could find something interesting to puruse or investigate. As human beings, we are constantly seeking new experiences. Part of being a producer means understanding, researching, and absorbing new information from new sources, and then converting that into something even more interesting, helpful, and valuable.

What new ideas, new realities, new items or valuable products or services are you producing?

Are you producing so many new ideas in your head that you have more ideas than you can think of? The world is limitlessly overflowing with opportunities, ideas, methods, and ways. There are even more and more people being born every minute: these are people who are potentially interested in your idea, too!

There are three kinds of ideas: ideas might be old ideas with a new twist, or they might be completely new and futuristic ideas about things that might not even exist, or they might be current ideas that you are tinkering with to make them better, right now, today.

Do you believe that it’s possible to have ten new ideas in one day?
How about fifty new ideas? A hundred? A thousand?

You may be asking, how do people come up with new ideas? When children draw pictures or color paintings, they think about an idea, and then they create an image of that idea on their paper or canvas. When artists do art, when musicians compose music, and when novelists write novels, they all have ideas and they create a way for that idea to become a reality.

How do you do this in your own life? Produce something! Create something. Make something. Bake something! Grow something! Imagine something. Be something new!

When we innovate and come up with ideas, and when we provide ways for other people to benefit from our ideas, we become true producers.

For example, you might create a new invention, gadget, software package, technical tool, or product. Or, you might come up with a new service that fits an existing need. Or, you might develop a new recipe that is tasty and nutritious. Or, you might make a creative piece that brings joy to others.

When you bring your idea “to market” and find buyers (people who want to “consume” your new idea because it’s so excellent), you go into production. Producing is a true joy and it’s a healthy habit when you make it a part of your lifestyle. Producing is rewarding. Being mostly a producer (instead of mostly a consumer) brings financial rewards when you produce something valuable that others buy. Many successful women have found this secret and they are finding ways to convert their unique ideas, personalities, skills and talents into a profitable business or organization.

Here are the next steps to take: As women in business, it’s up to us to come up with ideas that help our customers and clients. If we’re in a less-than-stellar job, it’s up to us to find ways that make our work meaningful and for us to contribute to the bottom line.

• Let’s convert our ideas into products and services that we sell, or into methods and means that make our lives easier and better.
• Let’s sell our products and services over and over again, and let’s create systems to support our sales.
• Let’s bring our ideas to a wider group of people.
• Let’s create value out of our own ideas.
• Let’s bring value to more and more organizations, companies, and countries around the world.

Don’t take my word for it! Try it out. I encourage you to reflect on ways you are already a producer.

Where in your life do you produce things?
With your family?
In your relationships?
At your job?
In your home?
As a parent?
As a child?
As a sibling?
In your community?
At your school?
Through your volunteer committments?
In your neighborhood?
With your extra-curricular group?
On your team?

There are many different circles of influence in which all of us act: and we may find out that we are producers, in some way, in many of those different circles. When we consider all the ways in which we are able to impact other people’s lives, we get a head start on the knowledge and responsibility that comes with being a producer.

I encourage you to create more ways to invite Production-related energy (instead of manufactured Consumer-related energy) into your life.

Producer vs. Consumer
1) Write a book vs. Read a book
2) Design a graphic vs. Looking at a graphic
3) Growing vegetables vs. Buying vegetables
4) Cooking a recipe vs. Eating out at a restaurant
5) Creating new music vs. Listening to someone else’s music
6) Sewing clothes vs. Purchasing clothes
7) Imagining vs. Watching TV
8) Being on the field vs. Watching from the Stands
9) Passionate vs. Don’t Care
10) Sell vs. Buy

Some words to encourage your imagination:

Arrange
Bring into existence
Imagine
Grow
Produce
Act
Move
Imagine
Pretend
Brand
Induce
Bring in
Realize
Build
Construct
Reach
Give
Attain
Cook
Fix
Prepare
Modify
Alter
Publish
Modify
Add
Develop
Consider
View
Perform
Make Believe

We’re on day #28 of a thirty day series to encourage us to reach for greater success.

So many of our days are a simple continuation, in a never-ending loop, of our previous days, weeks, and months. When we focus on a particular area, like our health, our finances, our personal relationships, or our career, we start to see how small, incremental changes magnify into larger, lifechanging events.

You’ll be surprised at what is possible!

For example, about seven years ago, I started to become more thoughtful about the kind of life I wanted to lead, the kinds of people I wanted to be with, the kinds of activities that engaged my daily life, and the values and beliefs I wanted to put into practice. I wanted to live life, not have life “happen” to me.

I wrote down my goals into a series of notecards and held these close to me for many years. Each successive year brought a slight change in my situation that nudged me closer to those goals: In year one, I married my loving husband. The next year we had our first child. The next year we purchased our first home together. The next year, we started a business together. We recently moved, and now we’re starting to pursue those projects which make the most sense to us and which bring us greater happiness and a greater sense of accomplishment, individually and as a team. I’m amazed and so grateful for the opportunity to do what I love, and I’m surprised at how the small changes turned into big changes over time.

Any one of your life transitions may be overwhelming if it happens all at once. However, over time, your life becomes a masterpiece, through the natural progression of one brushstroke at a time, one day at a time, one week at a time.

I’m totally surprised and yet thrilled that most of the goals I wrote down on those notecards have come true, and now I’m considering my goals for the next few decades and realizing that anything I truly belive, I will achieve.

Everything we do builds on the work we’ve taken on in the past. We are the sum total of our choices.

So, when we are planning for greater success now and in the future, let’s make choices that nudge us towards greater responsibility, higher levels of service, a more authentic sense of who we are, and a closer feeling of our purpose in life. If we’re still alive, we’re still working on that life purpose, so every day is another work of art.

Surprise yourself. Perhaps something inside of you is telling you the next step to take. Follow that voice if it leads you to a more holistic and healthy approach to your life.

With your unique talents and gifts, you’ll contribute in your own special way to your home, your family and friends, your community, and your city, state, and country.

Together, all of us are creating a better world. Let’s surprise ourselves! Shine your light!

Monica S. Flores is an author, educator, and speaker.

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Tip #27: Stretch Every Day

Tip #29: Practice Gratitude

Tip #30: Celebrate!

Tip #1: Take Stock and Organize

Tip #2: Calendar Cleaning

We’re on day 12 of a thirty-day series on increasing our skills to focus our energies towards success.

Measuring a benchmark always improves it. This is *always* true if you’re focused on attaining your goals. Whatever you measure is going to improve: so, if you want to improve, measure the correct number!

What is your correct number to measure? This depends on what matters to you.

For example, if you are focusing on increasing your fitness level, which of these would you measure?

A) how many pounds you have dropped?
or B) how many times you worked out?
or C) your target heart rate ?
or D) the number of steps you’ve taken each day?
or E) all of the above?

The answer to the above depends on your implementation of your health and fitness plan. Some of you might be measuring some other number, like the number of calories you consume each day, or your weight over time.

That said, when you measure something by actually charting it and placing it in a prominent place, you start to put your attention on that measurement and the act that is involved with creating the need for that measurement.

Business owners are very aware of this fact and are constantly checking: 1) profit and loss statements by day, week, month, quarter, and year, as well as 2) balance sheets over time.

I would recommend you continue to use a to-do list or a checklist to get your life organized day by day, but I also recommend you implement a checklist that shows you, in graphical format, your progress towards your goals, be they physical, financial, spiritual, health-related, mental, or career-related.

Count ‘em up and find out what your numbers are telling you!

Monica S. Flores is an author, educator, and speaker.

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Tip #11: Get a Testimonial

Tip #13: Practice Mindfulness

Tip #14: Playing Positive Messages

Tip #15: Persistence + Enthusiasm = Results