Category Archives: life

fear, inspirational, life, motivational, resistance, unstuck

Procrastination is an ugly beast.

Procrastination never served anyone. (I have a hard time spelling that word anyway.)

The word totally resonates with non-action through its complex spelling. To me, it suggests monkeys jumping through hoops for no reason whatsoever, or being stuck in place.

stuckWiki’s interpretation of the word: Procrastination is the avoidance of doing a task which needs to be accomplished. It is the practice of doing more pleasurable things in place of less pleasurable ones, or carrying out less urgent tasks instead of more urgent ones, thus putting off impending tasks to a later time.

Hoohah.

What is your favorite tool for procrastination? Mine is laying jigsaw puzzles on my iPad. I could spend all day doing puzzles, but I blushed just telling you what my fave “wasting time” tool is.  Today, I’ve laid three puzzles so far, but in my defense  I did some important yard work, WHICH DID NOT MOVE MY BUSINESS FORWARD. The excuse afterwards: I’m too tired now to do anything but lay puzzles.

Then I get furious with myself since I have a list an arm long to take care of.  By the way, I teach people how to get out of a slump / stuckness, and avoid procrastination…. (with art.) Yeah, for real. I guess it makes me human, and all I have to do is take charge and get going (even if I don’t). It does become easier the more I exercise the anti-procrastination muscle.

And what is that muscle?  I have lived by my Dad’s words for many years, and they work remarkably well. “If you have an unpleasant task ahead of you, do it right away so that you don’t have to think about it any more.”

Words of wisdom! In other words, don’t put off until tomorrow what you can do today.

Chopping off bite size pieces of “things-to-do” works very well too. Take your list and denote how many hours or minutes you will work on each task every day, and then do it.  It’s no different  than exercising, really.  Many tasks in life are not fun or pleasurable, but they have to get done or weigh you down more every day.

I do have a stubborn streak and I avoid my better sense many times, but at the end of the day, who suffers? Not the cat, that’s for sure.  I feel like crap for betraying my own trust, and that ought to be a lesson in itself, but there is that strange stubborn streak sneaking up daily if I don’t watch out.

Psychologists say that fear produces procrastination, and that is true, but when I’m not afraid of the tasks, why put them off?? It’s a bad habit and the constant struggle against the internal nay-sayer.

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Procrastination

Time is just going faster than it used to… hehe.

So what do you do to combat this daily beast if you don’t possess magic?  Do the tasks anyway. That’s where a schedule can be helpful, and the discipline and promise to myself that I will do things that support myself and my dream.

The turtle wins the race.  Just do a little bit at a time. It will get the work done.  All I know, the monster will not go away so it needs to be trained to within an inch of its life. It sits when you say “sit!” Same with fear. If we let fear rule our life, we would never get anything done or go anywhere.

A gentle stretching of that fear moves us forward. That is a promise. If procrastination bugs you, you might be standing before a major breakthrough. Isn’t that an exciting thought??

Kick this to the curb if you have one… NOW!

reclinerOn that note, I did get this blog post written after I got up from the recliner. It was a choice.

xo

Maria

P.S. Check out my art e-courses HERE.  I also do one-on-one coaching. Click on the link in the menu at the top of this page. Have a great productive day–every day!

art, asskickery, creativity, inspirational, intuitive, life, motivational, purpose

Because you are a leader.

Because you are a leader…

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because you are a leader

Hello beautiful person,

Does the headline put a great bubble with a question mark above you as in the cartoons?  A leader can be many things, and the most exciting is when he or she has the brilliant enthusiasm and determination to change the world.  Do you say then, “I’m not like that, or do you say a resounding ‘hell yeah’?”

Basically, you can’t change the world, but by changing yourself you change the world. However, it’s not so much about changing yourself as it is to ACCEPT yourself, with warts and all.

You know, we are all leaders IF we decide to blaze our own path and go “there” whether anyone follows or not. The individual has that choice.  I believe we were put on this earth to have amazing lives filled with passion and prosperity.  I totally buy into that concept and I have consistently turned to the arrow  pointing toward my best life: “go there, there is your passion.”

It is becoming a habit to follow where the joy is in my life.  And so it should be for you. There is no mystery here.

It can take guts to change yourself, let alone change the world. But I’d rather take the risk of making a fool of myself using my own mental and heart capacities to create something original than working 35 years in the same job.  I never could settle down to a career, but now I’m grateful for that since so MANY varied experiences have led me to take charge  and become the CEO of my life.

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CEO of your own life

When you step into the shoes of leadership, you say no to the fears of society, you rise above the anchors that hold you down at status quo, i.e. the murky bottom with the sharks.

So, a leader leads people toward something good, a transformation.

A leader offers the path that she has already blazed with a badass machete. 🙂

A leader inspires others to break out of the mold and become the awesome person they are meant to be, to become another leader to help others succeed.

It is basically all about helping others to become great, so a leader stands behind the people and urges them along the path he or she knows will lead to contentment and discovery.

A great leader listens to the needs and implements solutions to problems.

Leadership is something we can grow into if only we take the steps to free ourselves from the beliefs and fears that hold us back. Who says your idea, your passion, isn’t the next great thing that will help humanity??

If you ever read the classic book Jonathan Livingston Seagull you know anything is possible.  Jonathan sensed within that he had greatness and he set out to prove it to himself and others. He flew higher than any seagull had done before.

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soar

The other seagulls said it could not be done, but Jonathan practiced and practiced. He didn’t care if his wings hurt or if it was stormy; he know he had to reach that greatness.  He made the decision to never give up and that decision brought him to success.

I stand in my power as a leader. I’m no great name or famous person, but at one point I decided to be the best I can be,  and that includes my spiritual life, my mental and physical health, and my work.  My passion is art and to help others to create, overcome their fears of exploration via art.  I am an intuitive artist and I use my intuition to help others break through to greatness beyond that snarl of brambles that grew across the path because no one had the nerve to cut them down.  Do you have the nerve?

Passion leads you along to discover even more passion. There is no time like now to get started.  Maybe passion flows quietly at first, but if you keep at it, it will become a roaring river.  It is a natural law!

As I said above, it takes guts to change, and the change starts within, with mindset and determination.

Are you longing to change?  Are you longing to help people in a way that counts, not just surface stuff? Do you want to help change the world from the inside out?

If you want to explore art as a way to break through your brambles, I can help you.  Check out some of my e-courses, and I will soon be offering one-on-one coaching based on intuition.  Are you in?

The only thing that stands between you and your own greatness is DETERMINATION.  Just don’t quit.

On that note, keep on going. Our roads might cross at some point, or they won’t. It is all okay.

xoxo

Maria

P.S. My available ecourses at this time: CLICK HERE.

 

 

art, creativity, life, motivational, self help, transformation

You are your own worst enemy.

6 Comments

 

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I know I’m my own worst enemy… It baffles me that I can’t seem to  get where I want to get with my life. Not that my life is bad in any way, but I’ve been working on making art my main career, something that truly comes from my heart.  I know I can help people to find an added dimension to their lives with art. Non-artists might poo-poo the idea, but once you start playing with art supplies a whole new world opens up, guaranteed, whether you ever considered yourself art talented or not.  Children don’t question their ability to create, not for one second.  Not until they are told by others that they have to focus on serious things to get good jobs.  Art is something we dabble in when the mood strikes. It’s a frivolous thing…. not!

I grew up with the concept you can’t make money from art, and you have to get a decent job to make your way in this world.  True, in some ways, but you sell your soul along the way, unless you’re doing something you love.  Most people hate what they do, and I don’t want to fall into that trap again.

I have decided (something I have to re-decide every day) is to fully follow my heart.  My heart has held steady over the years even if I have meandered from this to that over two continents, mostly hating my jobs–except my writing career, but that’s another story.

This decision is not a New Year’s resolution; it’s a decision that sits in my bones now.  It’s kind of a life or death situation… my choice.

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When I got really firm about pursuing this goal all the way, all hell broke lose financially.  Out of the blue I lost one income, and then I had to have a big rotting tree removed from the yard. It ain’t cheap! Then my computer croaked, my main artery to uploading my art tutorials and such.  Learning Windows 10 now…  Anyway, those expenses pulled up the old patterns like clockwork.  To pay for this, you have to get a job right away. I’m a responsible person, but fearful thinking sucks.

BUT, if I stand my ground and make this goal a “MUST” the universe will yield and my pattern will break. Believe me, I have been working on breaking that pattern for years.  Fear is a wondrous, useless thing, and it’s bone deep too, but I have a streak of stubbornness.

Through this somewhat painful journey (at times) I have felt totally alone.  However, that has helped shift my focus to wholly rely on my inner self and not seek (or gotten)  support from others. It’s a lonely path, but wasn’t the Hero’s journey a lonely one as well?

To accomplish something worthwhile it’s sometimes necessary to strip away all the fluff and the distractions, all the excuses, and all the opinions of others (who aren’t REALLY there.) They can’t be. Everyone lives in their own bubble.

I’ve been creating some art tutorials and art e-courses and I love every minute of it!  Full commitment is the only thing that will gain any kind of solid result. It might not be monetary, but it will certainly be fulfilling.  So, even if January kicked my butt, I brushed the dust off and by gum, I will never give up living my life doing what I love!

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What do you love doing the most? Leave a comment if you feel so inspired.

xo

Maria

P.S. I have a four week e-course going right now. We’re in week 1 so far. It’s called Art As Oracle and it combines art making and doing an intuitive reading for yourself via the art.  Art As Oracle. $49

asskickery, creativity, ecourse, inspirational, life, motivational, purpose, self help, transformation

Hard work is good when it’s the right kind of work.

 

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Many of us grew up with the belief that hard work is good, but no one ever mentioned that it should be the right kind of work.  It’s more like “keep your nose to the grindstone” and don’t question the situation.

All I ever did growing up was questioning my situation. When I was about nineteen I decided I wanted to be an artist. The hard work factor had not kicked in yet, so I gave up too soon when I failed to get into a prestigious art school. Also, people were always saying that you can’t make any money as an artist.

My dilemma was that I did not see a single career on the list of possible careers that I liked. It was horrible. The only one I could possibly get excited about was art therapist, but my math was weak in highschool so I could not get accepted into the education I needed.

I spent my twenties working all kinds of jobs, and that was sort of fun in that I learned a lot.  There were some things I hated and have always hated:

Getting up to an alarm clock

The 9-5 grind

The soul killing monotony of my days and no end in sight.

Next to no vacation, and then not enough money to do anything exciting.

Bosses who were jerks.

It was the Gulag of life, a life-long sentence, and I hated every day of that.  I did learn to work hard though, and be dependable. I met some nice people along the way.

In my youth I just upped and left when I’d had enough of the grind. I did some fun things like bicycling across the country and hitchhiking around Europe with NO money. Those are nice memories, but my parents called me irresponsible. I think I was more desperate to find some meaning.

I found meaning in spiritual awakening, but that will be another post.

My passion finally ignited when I realized I could be a writer and make money at it. I was thirty years old.  I started writing fiction and didn’t end until my writing career crashed while I was rehabilitating a knee injury many years later. It wasn’t fun.  Over the years I developed an ironclad discipline. (By the way, there is nothing like writing to hone your discipline.) My writing career has crashed three times, and I had to pick up other major skills along the way.

I also returned big time to my art passion. It has run like a red thread through my entire life. That is where I should have focused my energy all along.

The point of this post? Find what really excites you in life and work hard at it. Use your discipline to keep pushing through when things aren’t going right, and there will be many days like that, most of the days in fact.  Never give up. Keep working at it when there is no sign of success in sight. Don’t listen to others, listen to your heart. Your passion is a sign from the universe that you’re on the right path.

There are many many examples in history of people who worked themselves to the bone to launch wacky inventions into the world. One of the most famous is probably the flying machine. The Wright brothers must have been some kind of good crazy!

Why not you?  What is your good crazy? You have it in you, and only you can launch it into the world.

Then “nose to the grindstone” finally has a meaning that makes sense!

xo

Maria

P.S. I have some crazy cool ecourses you can check out HERE.

asskickery, fear, inspirational, life, motivational, process, self help, transformation

How to stand in your power.

rosiepix

This post is about how to take charge of your life and stand in your power. I was talking to a lady and realized the paradigm of having someone “save you” is still alive and well in 2015.

Some women still expect a knight in shining armor to ride in on a white horse and save them. Though that would be cool, especially if he’s handsome and buff, but he is not the answer to your problems. He has his own problems to deal with, so why the need to put the pressure on someone else to support YOU?

How to stand in your power:

  1. Know that you are capable, no matter what the situation. You start where you are. If you’re penniless you find a job, and excuses be gone, excuses like “I don’t have the education,” “I haven’t worked in a long time,” “I have no skills.” Those are poisonous excuses. I think it was Carnegie who started his career selling newspapers on a street corner.  Where there is a will there is a way.
  2. If you are desperate find ANY job to tide you over for a time. Where you meet people there is a chance to meet new connections that can offer you more.  In other words, make sure to mingle.
  3. Decide to take charge of your life. That’s the point where you realize no knight is going to save you and you’re ok with that.
  4. Ditch the fear. Haven’t we all done things that scared us? All it takes is a determination to succeed, and the above decision to take charge of your life. Hold that decision as a sacred vow.
  5. You are capable of a lot more than you think.  Remember the friend who landed a job above their current skills? You say it’s luck? I say it’s “balls.” They believed in themselves, ditched the fear, and applied.
  6. Decide to think highly of yourself!  Yes, it’s a choice. You are worthy and confident and capable. Let that be your new mantra.
  7. Learn something new. Learning new things is a real confidence builder and it might spark new business ideas.
  8. Trust your intuition.  Intuition is a great tool to hone in your life. Don’t second guess yourself. Trust your gut!
  9. What is the best you could be? What seems impossible to achieve? Go for THAT goal. It’s a huge challenge, but challenges move us forward in life, and accomplishing a big goal is a superior confidence builder.
  10. If you have no idea what you want start where you are right now.  What step(s) can you take right now to improve your life?  Ask yourself that question every day and do the steps. Such steps include self-care, healthy choices, biz opportunities or steps to expand a current biz or job. Confidence speaks louder than words. Build your confidence one step at a time.

Write a new blueprint for you life and know that it is the best thing ever to stand in your power and accomplish your dreams, one step at a time.

Living from the inside out gives you instant confidence and gives you the authority to choose what is best for you. Don’t listen to the naysayers. They are coming from the perspective of their own fears.

Remember, you are your own best authority, but you are also your greatest naysayer. Positive action is the way to silence the inner naysayer. Excuses be gone!

xo

Maria

P.S. If you want to check out my available ecourses, click HERE.

inspirational, life, motivational, process, purpose

What will be on your tombstone?

2 Comments

 

tombstone

What will be on your tombstone?  Since we’re getting close to Halloween I thought it was a fitting title. It’s not all fun and games, but Halloween is sure fun.

Many self-help books actually use that question to get you thinking about your life.  My tombstone would read: Maria Greene was an inspiration. I can aspire to inspire, if not teach people. I think the only teaching that sticks is the one that people actually want, so  I won’t claim teaching as something I’m known for.

But I can inspire people to take a look and maybe stop and think for a few moments of what they stand for.  How many ever stop to take a look, though?  Those that do know there is more to life.

In a previous post I wrote about painting in the moment like children do. They make a mess and then they move on to something else, and they don’t care about the so-called quality of their work. What they did in the moment is enough. Same goes for animals. My cat lives totally in the moment all the time and all his reactions come from either love or fear. He’s a total love bug but there are many things that frighten him. However, he embraces those conditions fully.

Take a human. We very seldom really merge with the moment of now to be observant or feel what that moment has to offer. We rush from one thing to the next, but what significance does that kind of action  hold? How important are the things we are doing?  Do they matter in the long run?  Don’t you ever wish you’d had a deeper experience with someone or something in life? I often hear people voice regrets that they didn’t have more time with someone before they passed. That was a choice. Something else was more important.

So, I guess my offer of inspiration today is this: What is important to you and how much do you acknowledge that? Life is fleeting and if we don’t pursue the people and things that are important, what value does life have?  What moments did we lose because we weren’t present?

I often stand in front of that idea and realize that everything I do in this life is not that important. It’s not very satisfying. Most things leave me with the impression that this wasn’t “it.” Absorbing and fully living in the moment IS because that’s where everything happens.

To add value to life, de-clutter and remove useless habits, items, mindsets, and jobs in life so that you can say at the end that you really got something out of life. You chose from the things because you loved them, not because of some habit or some trend.  Choose love and you’ll be an all around better person for it.  Become one with the positive and blend into the real flow of life, finding magic in each moment. Spread goodness!

It’s the easiest yet the hardest thing to do, but heck it’s the only truly valuable and ultimately satisfying thing to do! (with practice.)  Forthwith, I hope to inspire you to take a look at that and live lightly like a child, moving fearlessly from one thing to another with confidence.

Love everything  you do and become one less problem in the world…

Along with you, I aspire to stay in the moment and truly experience life.  Beyond all the desires and needs lives peace!

A worthy cause for sure!

xo

Maria

P.S. I offer a few different e-courses on my other website. Free or affordable. Take a look HERE!