I heard this line in a book I’m reading, (or should I say listening to, as Audible currently has a premium on my book “reading” time).

“Edit the dialog for clarity.”

It jumped out at me and hung there in the air on the stage of my brain, inviting me in to explore deeper. Am I being clear enough internally with what I want and where I want to be in my life?

How we communicate internally matters. We have 12,000–60,000 thoughts a day, 80% of which are negative, and 95% are the same repetitive thoughts we had the day before according to the findings in a study published by National Science Foundation. Yikes!
Meaning we are all playing a broken record in our minds day in and day out.
​
According to Lao Tzu,

If our thoughts lead directly to action, habits, our character, and ultimately, our destiny, how can we transform them from negative to positive?
​​

Obliterating Anxious or Negative Thoughts

Mindfullness is the first step. Acknowledgement.

If the thought is negative, and you continue having it over and over and over again, it is helpful to apply this three-part decision-making process to the thought. You create three columns:

1. Things that could go wrong
2. What you can do to minimize the likelihood of each of those happening
3. How you can get back to where you are now if those things happened

And then fill them out for each negative thought.

For example, say that you are worried about going live on social media for the first time to promote your business. What are some things that could go wrong?

The tech could fail. Maybe no one will show up to watch. You could have spinach in your teeth. You could completely blank out about what you are going to say.

How can you minimize the likelihood of these happening?

You could do a test run at a time you know most people are not online. I have done this before and just said “hey everyone, I’m doing a test run!”

You could email your supportive friends and family members and your email list to alert them to the time you are going live for a better chance of people showing up. And an email 5–10 minutes before works wonders.

Do a quick check in the mirror before going live to makes sure there is no greenery where you don’t want it.

And finally, write out a bulleted list to have in front of you off-camera so if you forget what you wanted to say you have a reminder. I also like to write out the full first sentence and memorize/practice it as a confidence booster. Hitting “Go Live” can be scary!

Now, say one of the above worries does materialize. You went live but were muted. Exactly zero people showed up. There was hidden mango in your teeth. Or halfway through you went silent for a full minute.

To get back to where you were before: if you were muted, just go live again. The second time might even go better because you got a dress rehearsal.

If no one showed up, promote the recording after the fact. And what a relief, maybe it was easier talking if no one was listening live!

If there was mango in your teeth, was it very noticeable? If so, feel free to delete the live and move on.

If you went silent, feel free to also delete the live. The important piece is that you did it, and the next time it will be easier.

Breathing TrickIf I am having thoughts that are particularly stressful in the moment, I also use what is called square breathing that a friend in college taught me. Here is how it works:
​

1. Breath in to a count of 6–8.
2. Hold for the same amount of time.
3. Breath out for the same.
4. Hold again for the same.

As long as you need to. I have heard they teach this trick in the military, so I can fully say this is a tried and tested method.

​Finding Clarity to Fast-Track the Realization of Goals

When it comes to our BIG GOALS and dreams in life, which make our hearts sing and provide purpose, there is a way to fast-track making them come true.

And the first part of that is making sure that our inner dialog is in alignment. Instead of worrying about how hard it will be to get where you would like, instead create SMART goals.
I know, I’m groaning too. I learned about SMART goals a lifetime ago and they just seem like so much work!

For those new to SMART goals, they are simply goals that are

​This basically breaks down to Who | What | Why | Where | When | How, which is a bit easier to dissect.

For example, one of my goals is to be able to feed my family more nutritious food. It’s a great goal, but not very specific.

​Instead, I am going to focus on sending my kids to school each day with more nutritious snacks.

Broken down, I can make it more specific and clarify:

Who

My two children

What

Send them to school with more nutritious snacks such as dried apples, popcorn, grapes, home grown carrots and cherry tomatoes, and homemade granola bars

Why

It is one of the best ways to fight off disease and keep them healthy

Where

I will either purchase healthier items at the store or grow/ harvest/ process foods at home

When

I go grocery shopping on Thursdays and harvest/cook on nights and weekends

How

I will create a list on Sunday of the five snacks I would like to be available the next week and make sure I have them

By creating this very specific “map” of not only your end goal, but the “why” and “how” you’re going to get there, you have a much greater chance of meeting that goal.

I honestly still fall back some days on chips and cookies, but for the most part, my kids get healthier snacks in general than before I created the specifics around attaining this goal.

Applying this Concept to Your Business and Life GoalsNow when I think about having 12,000–60,000 thoughts a day, which is a lot of energy to be putting out into the universe, it is important to make sure that the thoughts regarding our futures and where we’re going are just as clear.

If we keep repeating the same thoughts over and over, and those thoughts ultimately become our destiny, I think it’s pretty important that we edit those thoughts for clarity!!

Instead of thinking something along the lines of, “I want to run my own business and have full freedom over my time and income,” try editing this dialog for clarity and making it much more specific.

What about, “I have noticed that people ask me for advice around xyz, and I could turn this subject into a business that could both solve their problems and scale via abc.”

This specificity should start the process of getting your mind going in a more focused direction that could actually lead to running your own business vs. just thinking about it.

Now, starting a business is a process, and is full of baby steps.

But once you start editing your internal dialog to be more clear, there is no holding your mind back from figuring out the next step and then the next.

The same works for your life goals. Maybe you have dreamt of swimming the English Channel or going on an African safari. Well, put together a Who/What/Why/Where/When/How analysis and give your brain some specifics. See how long it takes you to be able to check those off your list!

Achieving great things is not something you can do sitting in your cozy chair curled up watching Netflix. If it was, everyone would be achieving great things on a daily basis. It takes the combination of mental clarity and action.

If you can put those together, you will be amazed at what you can accomplish.

​I would love to know, what is something that you obsessively repeat in your mind every day that you will try to work through using the three-step process listed here? And what is one of your big goals that just needs some clarity to get started? Share a post on Collinson Creative on Facebook!

And the garden is full of little green shoots.
I wanted to re-cap the AMAZING women we have featured on the Sisters Talk Shop podcast this past month. Here is an overview;

Melesha and I have been in the same business group for a few years now and I have only ever known her as the vibrant lovely kind-hearted lady that she is, but previously she was sick and overweight. One day she was fed up and made a decision that changed her life so dramatically that she was off all her medication in a matter of three weeks with a renewed love for life. She is now a nutrition/life coach and works alongside a doctor to offer a unique hair tissue mineral analysis. This allows her to pinpoint the minerals clients might be lacking that are causing them pain and discomfort. Once discovered, she coaches clients on diet, nutrition, and lifestyle using her Let Go system that contains 9 keys to wellness. She shares them all in this insightful episode.
🎧 Listen Here

​

Azmina is also in the same business group with Melesha and I, and I am really excited to bring you into her world. She will most likely introduce you to the unconscious part of your brain that knows more about your very core and essence than you do. She is so attune to energy that she can read your body language and pick up on the energy signals you are putting out without even being in the same room or country as you. An accomplished Reiki master, transformational coach, energy and frequency specialist who uses NLP, theta healing, and emotion and body code, we cover it all in this episode.
🎧 Listen Here


​

Lisa Fourre and I used to work together at a private boarding school here in Maine. She now is a relationship coach, mentor, and author, who helps survivors of toxic relationships, now in their midlife, get past their past and develop healthy connections with her no nonsense approach. She has coached women in all phases of their personal lives to accept what wasn’t working, decide what is best for them and take steps to achieve it.  She has spent 20+ years confronting mental and emotional abuse from different people in her life including parents and an alcoholic ex-husband. She used this time to study their behaviors,  understand their logic, and learn how to help others overcome the toxic cycles abusers exhibit and  draw us into. Lisa emphasizes truth over harmony during her coaching sessions because her clients have had  enough lies and placation in their lives. 
🎧 Listen Here

Have you ever wondered what it is like being a small-town farmer or what it takes to make your own cheese? Learn how Kate Turcotte turned her dream into a Vermont dairy farming success. My sister Lisa and I went to school with Kate where we grew up in Farmington, Maine. She spent over ten years honing her skills of cheesemaking before taking over a herd of Jersey cows with her husband at a small farm in Vermont and dreaming up the most delectable cheeses for Orb Weaver Creamery. Now, Kate features a variety of seasonal, small batch cheeses that cheesemongers from across the US can't wait to get their hands on! This entrepreneurial woman is a go-getter and if you catch her when she's not making cheese, be sure to ask for a bit of business advice - she's brilliant and so down-to-earth. Join us as we learn how to create the gooiest cheeses and learn the importance of saying "no" to things that do not align with your business goals or mission. This is a must-listen episode that you don't want to miss!
🎧  Listen Here


So many wonderful episodes with such inspiring ladies!!
I do hope you'll be able to stream these as you sit on the beach or go for walks in the woods.

The Spruce is a company that offers "practical, real-life tips and inspiration to help you make your best home."
What I love about this site:
The GREEN! - Green is of course my favorite business color, but I love how they have more white than green, which really highlights the freshness of the main hue.
Sans Paired with Serifed Fonts - The simple sans-serif Karla navigation items also pair well with the Libre Baskerville heading and paragraph text.
Photography - I love that every article has a gorgeous light-filled feature image paired with almost-black Libre Baskerville headings.
The simplicity of the layout combined with the clear bright photography and a fresh palette with lots of white space is a winning combination.

Hope you find as inspiring as I do!


Do you have an idea for a business but don't know what to do next?
Kajabi, the platform I use to house my online creative business, has an "Idea to Income" challenge going on that teaches you how to 1) Price, 2) Package, and 3) Launch your offer along with a 14-day free trial. Worth checking out!

I grew up living and breathing retail. My mom had a gift shop she ran with two other local ladies, and my first year of life was spent sleeping under a cash register.
This week on the Sisters Talk Shop podcast Lisa and I interview two ladies from our hometown of Farmington, Maine who also decided to go into retail. Only they started a clothing brand. 
Have you ever been frustrated that certain items of clothing only come in say black or blue? After not finding running leggings that were both comfortable and colorful, they decided to make their own. 
Their Spandits! running gear is sewn in Maine and comes in durable and FUN fabrics. We talk to them about how they went from an idea to a full-blown operation.
If you have ever wondered what it is like to start your own business selling a real-life product, this episode is for you!

​What I love about this site:

Custom Illustrations - even the "I accept cookies" bar at the bottom is on brand and has an illustration!

Serifed Fonts - They are using Goldenbook for the navigation and Canela Light for the paragraph text sprinkled with some Engravers Gothic Bold/Engravers MT Pro for interest. Aren't they dreamy when paired with the custom illustrations? 

​Dramatic color scheme - they do a nice job of using some very dark shades paired with some extra-pale shades.