Difference Maker!

Difference Maker!
 
I have said this before and will die saying this:   surround yourself with people who lift you up, support you, and love you in the good, the bad, and the ugly.
 
I have been very lucky in my adult life to have so many of those people in my circle. I went from being the outcast, nerd and undesired friend for so much of my youth, to finally recognizing and having the truest sense of beautiful women in my life. Ironically that came from the love of a man:  my husband.   If you know me, you know that feels crazy for me to say and even harder for me to admit.
 
No matter how many times I tried to push him away, he stayed.   He was patient.   He was consistent. Without fail, he constantly reminds me that I’m smart, funny, beautiful and something he needs.  He makes me feel wanted.   Its taken 18 years, but I finally believe him.
 
Let me be very clear, we fight like no other.    We disagree on SO many things.   There are times we fail each other.  BUT we are unconditional in our growth with one another.
 
I come from a divorced family.  My father – God rest his soul –could not be that man in my life.  Consequently, my youth was riddled with self-doubt:  would I ever be enough for anyone to stick around?   And then my husband showed up.
 
The growth of our relationship triggered a cascade of positive effects in my life.  I began trusting myself more.  And then I began trusting others more. I began seeing me.  And I gained better perspective on those I love.   We all have difference makers in our lives.  My husband has been a major one for me.
 
Think about who has been a major difference maker in your life. Think about how they impacted you. I have been blessed with so many and I bet you have too.

Evergreen and Everlasting!

Evergreen and Everlasting!

Dandelion-Inc is a social media marketing firm. “Evergreen” content is a pillar of our purpose. What is “evergreen content”?   It is information, inspiration, and communication that is consistently relevant and everlasting.

With all the changes in the algorithms, privacy settings, and popular social media platforms, keeping up to date is exhausting. Your business’ return on investment could be killing it for months, then suddenly be brought to a slow crawl.

So, here’s our tip for you:   do what we are doing now… newsletters!   Grow your base and engagement through your own existing database. We all know the significance of relationships. We all know that referrals stem from those relationships. A newsletter is the perfect way to stand out and stay connected.

While the dynamic of emails will most likely change in the upcoming years, its primary function as a source of communication will not.  It is evergreen and everlasting.

Sun or Shade?

Sun or Shade?
 
A close friend recently gave me a good scare.    It was a typical morning:  I was scrolling through Facebook, sipping my coffee, and listening to the local news.   Her post made me sit up straight.   It started with “I’ve HATED this woman…”    

The image of my kind hearted friend did not match that sentence at all. I continued to read.   It was a long narrative.  I quickly realized I was reading the modern day equivalent of the “chain letter”. 
 
Remember chain letters?!  Messages that directed you to contact 20 people with the promise of good fortune when you obliged?    I never followed the direction of those chain mails.   Maybe that explains some of the shit that’s happened in my life.   
 
Anyway… I read on. The post touched on so many of my own insecurities:  not being pretty enough, smart enough, or successful enough.  But of course, in true chain mail fashion, it ended in the positive:  stating affirmations, we should all say to ourselves every morning.  Heck, make that every hour.
 
I am LOVE.
I am LIFE.
I am TRANSFORMATION.
I am GRACE.
I am BRAVE.
I am ME.
 
That last sentence is something I profess all the time to EVERYONE:  just be you because you are enough. Reminding ourselves of this is no easy feat. In life, we have people pulling at us all the time. We have wins and loses throughout any given day. It’s what we hold onto that matters. There is strength within all of us.
 
The post ended with the challenge of reposting with an image of yourself. I did not participate in that, but I did click love on her image. Most importantly, I wrote those affirmations down to remind me of who I am, when I need it most. These are all the things we are in life and in business.

Edible Fact!

Edible Fact!
 
The Enneagram is something I learned about for the first time this week.  And suffice it to say, I am hooked!  I was listening to an amazing podcast by Glennon Doyle. Her guest was Ashton Whitmoyer-Ober, an author, community psychologist, and certified Enneagram coach.  I was lost in the discussion.  As someone who is perpetually trying to gain better understanding of herself, and more importantly, my relationship to others, this episode was right up my alley.
 
For those who don’t know the enneagram, it is a nine-sided figure used to represent the spectrum of possible personality types. These personality types define how we see the world, handle our emotions, and interpret others around us.
 
Why is this important to know? In life and in business, we deal with various types of personalities. Knowing and being acutely aware our own personality is the first step in knowing how you handle your family, friends, and work environment. We are then able to understand our reactions to other peoples’ behaviors.
 
Now, let me say this… I do not agree with pigeonholing or categorizing people. This is not that. This is about the exploration of ourselves and others. I’m always about growth: growth in education in a contextual sense and growth in knowledge on an introspective level.

Still, after being delighted by the podcast and my new found discovery of the enneagram, I highly recommend getting the book, The Enneagram Made Simple by Ashton Whitmoyer-Ober. As the title suggests, it puts something complex in terms that we can all relate to and understand.
 
I promise you, after reading it, you will find yourself so much more in-tune with yourself, understanding your actions and even paying more attention to others around you.