Day 3 Life is short

Day two was a bust for me, I just couldn't get out of bed between hurting physically and hurting emotionally. My sweet sister-in-law, Maritza, left this world early Sunday morning. She was 54 years old. She went in for a pretty standard procedure a few weeks ago and thru a series of events (the family will be investigating) this resulted. We are heartbroken, she was the strength of her family.

Needless to say, I haven't done much past the introduction of The Success Principles. I will try to read some later this afternoon.

Though this isn't the way I had envisioned kicking off 2010, If there's one thing this situation has reminded me of is this: Life is too short. Life is too short to "wait" to start living. Live everyday in a state of gratitude because as Jack has said, having gratitude is having abundance. Every day of life is a gift that we too often take for granted. What I am looking forward to with this book, even in this time of sadness, confusion and heart ache (not to mention the haze of Nyquil and antibiotics for my illness) is that this life we've been given is the only one we got - and we do have to take responsibility for making it the best it can be.

Amy, thanks for carrying the blog for now - I read it... and he is right - we need to be 100% responsible for our lives, our choices, behaviors, ideas, feelings - they are all us. It's easy to blame the economy, a friend, the media, the world for our problems but there's probably a way for us to do things differently to have a different outcome.

In any case, I'm ready to start taking responsibility for my life. Almost. Maybe tomorrow. Today I'm in mourning and trying to mend myself emotionally and physically.

Ritzie, I'll miss you. You touched so many people. Rest in peace, sister.

DAY 2: Principle #1

Ok, so Here we are in day 2.

Poor Jen, Her sister-in-law isn't doing any better today. And now Jen has the flu. So it seems it will be just me today.

Success Principle #1

Take 100% Responsibility for your life

This one is not going to be too hard for me. I pretty much already live by that and believe it.

When I was a kid growing up one of my fathers favorite expressions was... I am not responsible for your happiness... You, Amy Beth are responsible for your own happiness.

Now don't get me wrong, I LOVE MY DAD! And although this bit of advice has served me well as an adult truth be told I don't know if I agree that it is the kind of thing you teach a 7 year old.

I remember how much it hurt and upset me when he said it for the first time... How could you say that to me... What? Dad, seriously, Don't you love me? don't you care about me? Don't you want me to be happy? Are you crazy???? Of course you Dad and mom are responsible for my happiness. I don't have an education, for Christ sake I am only in the 2nd grade!!! I don't have a job or any money, I can't drive, I can't even use the stove. Give me a break would ya here? I am pretty sure at that age you might be responsible for my happiness.

looking back, I think he might have told me that at such a young age simply because he wasn't the perfect dad... He knew he wasn't, and maybe it his way of letting me know ahead of time that I better not depend on him too much for my happiness because he might eventually disappoint me and let me down.

It wasn't up until I became an adult living on my own that I actually understood what he was trying to teach me. And although I still hold firm in my opinion that this is not a lesson meant for anyone under the age of 17. It is one of the best lessons anyone can learn and live by.

So today I feel fortunate and one step ahead of the game because principle #1 is pretty much in place for me and all I need to do is fine tune it. And I AM ON IT! this whole week...

I will...

Take 100% responsibility for my life.

Give up all excesses

Remember E+R=O (Event+Response=Outcome)

Remind myself that everything that happens to me today is the result of a choice I made in the past

Insanity is continuing the same behavior and expecting different results

Give up blaming and complaining.

Listen to my internal yellow alerts and trust my instincts

Now I am not going to lie to you here... The giving up complaining might be a little tough.

Why, you ask? Well, I am not actually a complainer... OK, OK, that is a lie!!! I LOVE TO COMPLAIN! But truth be told I do it for fun... I just love to make fun of myself by complaining about things I know are ridiculous. I know what I am complaining about is ridiculous.

I know it is completely inconsequential to my life. But I LOVE TO DO IT!!!! It is mostly for the humor. But I am not going to do it. That is it. If Jack says no complaining, then no complaining it is. No matter what the reason or how funny I think it is.

Wish me luck.

:0)

AA

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!! Day 1.

Happy New Year.

It's been a tough day already and the last thing I wanna do is this blog thing but I'm not giving up on our first official day.

I woke up feeling awful (no drinking last night - got hit with a sinus infection...) and really bad news. My poor, wonderful sister in law is in the hospital. She's not doing well and we are praying for her recovery. The whole thing with her is too overwhelming to bare right now.

I did manage to eek out the first few pages of Jack, though it's tough to be enthused right now - I'll be on Jack track soon... jen

Hey Jen, I am very sorry to here about your sister-in-law. She is in my thoughts and prayers. Don't worry to much about the introduction today. I can handle it for the both of us, it is only 7 pages. Nothing major.

The dedication:

This book is dedicated to all those courageous men and women who have ever dared to step out of the dominant culture of resignation and mediocrity and endeavor to create the life of there dreams. I honor and salute you.

OMG I love it!!!! why? because this is me! And Jen!

Now, this may be silly to you, and don't think I am one of those people who believes in signs and stuff... But I am going to share this with you because it made me feel good. And if ???? I did believe in signs this might be one. LOL :0)

In between the dedication and the introduction there are 2 quotes. One from, Self help author,Brian Tracy and the other from inventor, Thomas Edison. Now, this made me feel good or might be a sign because?????

Well, It just so happens that I LOVE THOMAS EDISON. When I was a child, and a not so young child, in high school as a matter of fact, it was realized that I was dyslexic.

My parents, who always had my back even when I wasn't doing well in school never ever thought of me as stupid or let me think that of myself.

Being from NJ, They would encourage me by using Thomas Edison(inventor and local historical hero) who was said to be dyslexic as well, as an example of someone who people might have thought of as stupid because he didn't do well in the typical school setting either.

When I was getting down on myself about my grades My father would say... "don't worry to much about it my love, the school system is set up simply for the average... And you Amy Beth are far from average. Just look at Thomas Edison, he didn't even graduate high school."

Anyway, sorry to bog you down... But the bottom line is I have always had a connection to Thomas Edison and there it was, one of my favorite quotes.

"If we did all the things we are capable of doing, we would literally astound ourselves"

- Thomas Edison

It just made me feel good. Really good, it made me reflect on my youth and how lucky I am to have the parents I have. How grateful and fortunate I am for their unconditional love and support. And how much, I feel like, I relate to Thomas Edison.

Just like Mr. Edison, there is greatness in me. My parents believe it, my brothers and sisters believe it, my good friends believe it, Jen Believes it. And now armed with the guidance of Jack Canfield and The Success Principles I am going to prove them 100% right!!!!!

A good way to start the new year!

Anyway, On with the Introduction;

A few key points:

Jack in no uncertain terms tells us that if we follow and fully apply the principle WE WILL BE SUCCESSFUL. he does not skate around it with words like... the possibility of, or the potential for.

He says...

" if you learn them,(the principles) assimilate them, and apply them with discipline every day, they will transform your life beyond your wildest dreams"

"If you choose to put in the effort, I promise you the rewards will be well worth it."

Jack suggests that we read the book thru once to get the feel for it, highlight and make notes as we go. Excellent, We have done that part already.

Now, we are ready and going to read it for the second time. One chapter at a time and applying and taking whatever time nessary to put what we have learned in to practice.

Here we go...

"it is time to start living the life you've imagined" - Henry James

Buh bye 2009 -leaving you behind: 366 days of Jack in T -1

2009 was tough, man. I mean, we said good bye to Patrick "Nobody puts baby in the corner" Swayze, lost the King of Pop, a teen movie making hero, John Hughes, and most shockingly, Brittney Murphy and DJ AM. It's sad.

This year's been a struggle for many and we're no different. Our financial situations have seriously suffered this entire year. It's been pretty humbling and eye-opening but we're surviving and still standing. Times like these remind you of what's important in life; friendship, family, love, health, reruns of Law & Order SVU...

We could complain but since we are turning over new leaves and we are getting on a Canfield wagon of no more "poor me's, we decided to look at the positives...

Why?

Because... (wait for it....) Yes, WE Can.. field. (I couldn't resist but I can see how that's gonna get old quick.)

Speaking of Jack, I stumbled upon this Jack Canfield quote, "When you are in a state of appreciation and gratitude, you are in a state of abundance."

So here are the top five good things that happened to each of us in crappy (I mean happy) 2009:

Some good things in 2009 for Jen:

Forming Media Meld Studios with Angela and Dan. It's been awesome and 2010 will be the year. We really took the time to build this thing.... and we shot a movie for cryin' out loud! A good one that I'm so proud of - Who does that? Besides movie people? ;) I lost seven pounds. I know you're thinking a half a pound a month is kind of slow and I still have 30 or so to go but down 7 pounds in a crappy year is better than being up 20 in a good one, if you ask me. I didn't totally give up everything and dive into a menage a trois with Ben & Jerry or have an illicit affair with Burger King, which I wanted to do. Often. Especially Burger King. He's royalty, you know. I got a book agent and almost wrote a book - the book ultimately didn't sell (too many similar titles out there) but just to have a respected, top-notch agent believe in me really gave me confidence I needed as a writer.... and I got paid to write a short screenplay. All good stuff. I also grew a pair and stood up for myself, I "advocated" for myself in ways I never would have in years past. So I guess, even though 2009 was one of strife, I can say that it was also a year that I "grew" as a person while my ass (believe it or not) shrank in size.

So Amy, tell us what you think - what good things happened for you in 2009?

Really???? Really Jen??? This is what I have to wake up to... a homework assignment of five good things that happened in 2009… I honestly want to just give up and go back to bed, this year kind of blew.

Hey, maybe tomorrow you could start my day with a chain e-mail that will tell me only great things will happen if and only if I send it to 50 of my closest friends. And if I don’t oh well, bad luck, forever, I guess… That would be nice… bad luck & a reminder that I don’t have as many friends as you.

Awesome.

Ok, but seriously after some moping around and no lie, crying this morning about the lack of my success this past year., my Husband got a little agitated with me and pointed out that I need to stop thinking that the only accomplishments in life are the big ones. Some of the things I think are no big deal are actually a very big deal and things that some other people only dream of doing.

So here it goes…

I found a business partner, Francesco, and we started our own business. Style Studio a fashion, beauty and personal style concierge service. And it is doing pretty good. It could be going better. But that is 100% our fault! Things like hanging out, shopping for ourselves and lunch easily distract us, Francesco and I LOVE lunch. But that is what this Canfield blog is all about. Forcing us to apply the principals instead of getting distracted with hanging out shopping and having lunch! I am kind of excited. If we could achieve as much success as we have with the minimum effort we have applied just image how successful we can be if we apply ourselves 100%!

I am in the home stretch of putting yet another Olympics under my belt. When I got the gig at NBC as the wardrobe stylist and consultant in 2000 for the Sydney games. I actually thought about how great it would be if I could do the games until 2010. It seemed soooooo far away. Suprize! 6 Olympic Games, 4 continents and 10 years later. Here we are 2010! Already? I can’t believe it!

Ok, I know this may not be the ideal for an accomplishment. But I am going to count it anyway. Judge me if you must. But I have a horrible guilty pleasure… Black jack. That is right, I said it… OK, so I like a little gambling. And at the end of the year my winning far exceeds my losses. And lets face it; we all know the casinos weren’t built on people winning. So hell as far as I am concerned that is an accomplishment.

I just turned 40, Freaking 40!

And that is an accomplishment. And I know what I am about to say is completely inappropriate but hell I have that problem. I tend to say out loud what (I think) people are thinking. So here it is… God rest their souls but DJ AM and Britney Murphy didn't make it to 40 and I feel sad for them but I made it to 40 and in a year like the one I've had - I'm counting my blessings on that one!

UMMMMM... God rest their souls indeed...

So, anyway... if you had a tough year too, we would encourage you as you drunkenly give the big ol' double finger to 2009 and belligerently kick this f'ed up year to the curb - to take ten minutes and reflect on a few of the good moments too! See ya in 2010!

PS: We are grateful for the three of you who have chosen to read this blog and for the one of you who decided to make if official and actually follow us... Thanks Ang! The other follower is my yahoo account but whatever. 2 followers look pretty. Can't wait for a comment! (hint, hint Angela our great, only follower!) Steph, thanks for reading, go ahead and follow us too!

xoxo

Jen & Amy

366 days of Canfield in T minus 2!

My best friend Amy had a brilliant idea - to blog about our decision to read and apply every Success Principle outlined in Jack Canfield's Success Principle book.

The book is designed to help average folks set big goals for themselves and achieve them.

Want to be a millionaire? A rock star? Media Mogul? Yes you can!! All you need to do is read the book and then, like any good advice, actually follow through with the suggested techniques.

Well, Amy and I usually get fired up for about 48 hours... OK sometimes even a week and then like many people who try to quit smoking or lose weight, our follow through falls flat.

We mean well but you know. Stuff gets in the way. Like, uh. You know... that. Hmmm. Which principle is the one about keeping focus? :)

It's a big book, chock full of mostly inspiring (sometimes corny - in a good way!) information and we will break it down for you and for us...

2010 - Good times again! We're gonna do it!

Because...

YES WE CAN...field!

See you at the Oscars, where we'll be the millionaire rock stars in the corner... OR the crazy (but cute) middle-aged Jersey girls trying to crash the thing!

xo

Jen

(for Amy & Jen)