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Big Dreams Coming True and Stratejoy Road Trip!!

posted 30th July 2010    Written by: Molly Mahar    CATEGORY: Events, Inspiration, Job/Career/Work, Molly, Stratejoy the Biz, Travel/Adventure

In my own Joy Map (the cumulative page in the Joy Equation Course), circa 2008,  I wrote,  “Big Picture 10 Year Goals:  2 trips a year, get hitched and have babies, own a green home in Seattle with a garden, piano, and studio, have a vacation cabin in the middle of nowhere, be a Seattle 40 under 40 winner, fluent in Spanish, and roadtrip through the US writing a book about extraordinary women and get it published”.

Pretty large living for a girl who was broke, had a tiny business idea that she was scared to share, and didn’t know a damn thing about actually “making it happen”. I’m a dreamer….  What can I say?

Reality check midway through 2010.

THIS IS MY BIG NEWS!

More details will be coming soon, but I couldn’t keep it under wraps any longer.  The Big Man and I are hitting the road in September in our Honda CRV with a Autohome topper to spread our various messages/passions/livelihoods.   His latest venture’s not completely ready to roll, but here’s the sneak peek!

I’ll be continuing to spread the Stratejoy message by teaching workshops like this and this all over, leading coaching groups over the phone (as well as continuing to work with private clients), working on new product launches, and yes, interviewing inspirational women in their 20′s & 30′s for some sort of book/video project.

Stratejoy hits the road! Woo’ freakin’ Hoo!

Home base will be Stella (the CRV),  various couches, national parks, a hotel room here or there, and perhaps, your guest room?  We’ll be on the road for as long as it’s still fun.  Could be 3 months, could be a year… I won’t be gone, though I may shorten my working week to 3 days, so I can play and explore (offline).  So don’t worry, love.  I’m still just a phone call, email, tweet away.

I cannot wait to meet the Tribe.  I can’t wait to eat local delights, take a million photos, and share the passion I have for living life on OUR OWN TERMS, measured by our own definition of success.  I can’t wait to meet you! And hear your story face-to-face.  And share a coffee, or a glass of wine, or an adventure.

I can’t breathe sometimes.  That’s how excited I am.

So, the question is–   How can you get involved?  Well, I’m going to need an rockstar Street Team to help plan the local events. If you’re interested in bringing a Stratejoy Workshop to your town, EMAIL ME  (molly @ stratejoy [.] com) immediately.  I’ll put you on the “inner circle” list.   In fact- title your email “Inner Circle”!!  Details will be going out soon. And of course, nothing is set in stone yet.  You’re not committing yourself by emailing, just declaring your interest in finding out more!

What are you getting yourself into? Here’s a couple of pics from the event I did in DC !

[[  above  ]]  Kimberly Wilson sharing her awesomeness with the group! She is the creative director and founder of tranquil space – named among the top 25 yoga studios in the world by Travel + Leisure, author of hip tranquil chick and tranquilista, and holds a Master’s in Women’s Studies.  She rocked our socks for 60 minutes.

[[  below  ]]  They look all sweet and innocent, but these ladies just spent the day plotting world domination and major happiness.  The battle cry, “Joy for all” rang out, loud and clear.

Other ways to get involved? If you know (or are) a Quarterlifer with an amazing, inspirational story, email me so I can make sure I plan my route to include an interview with you!   Or if you want to take me out for a cocktail at your favorite bar, email me!  Or if you want to hook me up with your uncle who has the killer beach house and loves house guests, email me! Or, or , or!!!   JxesSDFfdseHEeserRs!!!   Can’t talk.   Too excited.  Channeling @nicoleisbetter.

One of the only sad bits about making this dream come true?  Leaving Seattle for an extended amount of time.  I’m teaching my last local workshop on the 15th and have already said goodbye to my amazing, awesome Club ReFresh girls.  Sniff…

[[  below  ]]   Andria fulfilling one of her big dreams: becoming a pro belly dancer and instructor!  You can take a class with her in Seattle.  I’m SOO in when I get back.   Check it out.

Moral of this rather long post?  Dreams come true. We make our own luck, so get clear about what you want, keep your positive intentions handy, and have faith.  Take a step forward, even when you’re scared.  Don’t be afraid of being brilliant, of your amazing juicy life, or working hard to make it all happen.

And if you need some encouragement, I’m here.  In spirit, on the intraweb, and soon enough, in the flesh.

To the Road Trip!

photo credit : daredarlington

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Here’s to the Journey

posted 19th May 2010    Written by: Heather Rae    CATEGORY: Heather Rae, Season 2, What I've Learned

I’ve finally given myself a free day, one where I sit around the house, eat too many sweets and catch up on all my favorite shows.  It’s been bliss.  But tell me, why is it I can’t get through an episode of Army Wives without tears?

The good thing is the tears these days have been strictly limited to sappy television shows.  I’ll let you in on a secret — I’m really, really happy.

There’s something incredibly freeing about finding just what it is you’re passionate about and allowing yourself to follow that passion.  For years, I’ve explored my varied interests, hoping that at some point, one would stick with me.

I believe I’ve finally found that one thing.  Every day I get excited about my writing, even on the days when I’m not so excited about what it is that I actually write.  Feeling this way, well, it’s put me on cloud nine.

Since I quit my job, I’ve had a lot of ups and downs.  Some days I felt I was heading in the exact right direction, and other days I felt I completely screwed up my life.  Occasionally, I thought quitting was a mistake, like I should have stuck it out at my job until my future as a writer was more certain. But I’ve made it through those stumbling blocks.  As the weeks and months have passed, things have settled down.  I’m writing every day, I’m making plans for how to keep writing in the future (even once that savings account of mine runs dry), and I’m feeling good.  Actually, no.  Not good – I’m feeling great.

I know I’ve mentioned before that I have a tendency to be an over-the-top worrier.  I stress about everything.  Things that are simple, I tend to make difficult.  I have this innate need to control everything.  Yet somehow, throwing myself into this world of uncertainty has perhaps been one of the best choices I’ve ever made.

Letting go can be freeing.  And I think that’s where I’m at right now.  I’ve let go of the outcome, and I’m focused on the journey.  I believe that’s the secret to my happiness at the moment.

A friend of mine posted on Twitter earlier this week: “Let go of the idea of getting to the end of a journey.  You are on the journey, and that’s what it’s about.  The goal is for it to never end.”

That resonates with me.  The fact that I’m on the journey, that I’m taking chances, that I’m chasing the big dreams — that’s what it’s all about.

It’s not about whether I ever make it to the New York Times bestseller list (not that that wouldn’t be amazing).  It’s about whether or not I take the steps that give me the chance to get there in the first place.

So often, I let myself back out of things because I’m scared.  I allow myself to not follow through on an opportunity because I don’t want to fail (and I certainly don’t want to fail in public).  I read somewhere that if you plan to be a big success, you better really get used to failing.  Because people who are successful take chances.  And they fail (sometimes, they fail a lot).

That’s what I’m focusing on right now.  I’m getting comfortable with the idea that I may not be successful right away.  My first book may not be a runaway best seller.  Hell, it may not even get picked up by a publishing company.  But I’m not letting that stop me.  I’m not letting the fear take over.  I’m focusing on the writing, on perfecting my skill and my craft.  No matter what happens with the book, I’m going to keep writing.  And I know eventually, that will pay off.

So here’s to the journey.  Tell me, what journey are you on?

photo credit: alicepopkorn

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Lemon Cake Lessons (Or, Letting Go of Perfection)

posted 12th May 2010    Written by: Heather Rae    CATEGORY: Heather Rae, Season 2

While writing this post, I simultaneously baked a cake for the dinner I’m attending tonight and brainstormed ideas for the end of my book.  Seriously, the last few weeks have been busy.

Here’s the good news – the first draft of my book should be done this week!  I’m super excited about this.  It will be two weeks later than I originally planned, but I’m still happy with my progress.  I pushed my deadline back only because I took two week long trips that I hadn’t previously expected (one to Seattle and one to Las Vegas).  Both trips were a blast and definitely worth the setback.

The less good news is – I’m having a bit of a cake disaster.

You see, the cake I baked is a two layer lemon cake with a lemon filling and whipped cream frosting.  It’s a pretty awesome recipe if I must say so myself (and I must).  So I baked the cake in two separate round tins.  After taking the cakes from the oven, I waited the obligatory ten minutes, giving them time to cool before flipping the pans and transferring each layer to a plate.

After ten minutes, the pans felt a bit warm.  But I decided to move forward with the flipping and transferring (after all, the recipe said I could).  That probably wasn’t the best idea.  The first layer came out easily, and I placed it onto a plate.  The second layer didn’t go quite as well.  Actually, the second layer didn’t go well at all.  I flipped over the pan, and the center fell out.  Yep, that’s right.  The center of the cake actually fell out of the pan and onto the plate.  The surrounding cake was left stuck in the pan.

And do you think it fell out in one large piece, making it easy to patch the cake back together, frost it and pretend this debacle never happened?  Nope.  It fell out and broke into about fifty pieces.

Here’s the thing.  I tend to be a complete perfectionist.  I don’t like making mistakes, and I really don’t like making mistakes when the result of said mistakes will be seen by other people. Like with this cake.  If I were simply making it for me and Steven, I would be disappointed.  But then I would patch it up the best I could and move on.

The problem is I didn’t just make the cake for me and Steven.  I made it for a dinner party (a mother’s day dinner party at that).  Because of this, my normal reaction would be to freak out.  I would declare the cake a disaster, go to the grocery store and buy something already made.  I would pretend I never made the lemon cake and show up at the door with a completely different (and perfect) cake.

I’m trying really hard not to have my normal reaction to this cake disaster.  The last few months I’ve been trying to look at life in a different way.  I’ve been attempting to be more forgiving of my mistakes.

I’m not perfect.  I make mistakes, as does everyone.

How I became obsessed with perfection is a bit of a mystery to me. Was there a certain moment in my life that branded me a perfectionist?  Probably not.  At least, not that I remember.  What I do know is that in every day life, perfection can be a hindrance.  In my experience, it often gets in the way of completion.

I would like to be the type of person that works hard at the things I do, gives it my best shot and is content with whatever the outcome of that hard work may be (whether it be perfection or something else).  Now, this statement is a lot easier said than done.  If you’re anything like me and have spend the majority of your life attempting to be perfect, you probably agree that letting go of that ideal is difficult, at best.

I take small steps each day to move my life in a positive direction, to let go of the need to be perfect and accept what is.  That’s the commitment I’ve made to myself.  It’s not always easy, but it’s worth it (at least, my sanity thinks so).

As for today, I think I’ll just fix that cake up the best I can, make it look pretty and take it to the dinner.  The good thing is the flavor is really quite yummy.

And that’s what’s important when you’re eating cake, isn’t it?  In which case, that’s good enough for me.

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