The Good Habit: A Passion Project

In the last four and a half years I have been working on understanding what I truly wanted to use my voice for. What is my message? What purpose do I serve?

It has always been my calling to become an entrepreneur. I have been both unsuccessful and successful in my ventures – all leading most recently to this passion project. One of the most valuable lessons taught to me in the last few years is to be consistently investing in my growth as a person. I came to understand this doesn’t just mean with self development books or trainings from the greats. There is so much value in good relationships, good nourishment, good movement and good healing. If I practiced good habits in each of those areas then I would be successful in my life.

It became clear that I needed to donate or throw away those old raggedy (insert everything one might have here that is old and raggedy) and spend the time and money investing in quality clothes, books, cookware, furniture, etc. Are you like me? Have you ever found yourself hovering over that “buy now” button at the check out screen with your cart full of something special for yourself? Ever had a hard time committing to hitting that?

Take a minute to stop and listen to the voices in your head.

Your mindset here is a check point. Find clarity here.

We can say some pretty outrageous things to ourselves when we’re not paying attention.

Everyone has a narrative that plays on autopilot – I am so grateful I have taken the time to tune in and establish a more purposeful self-talk instead.

Many years ago I began taking an inventory and redirecting. Instead of allowing myself to say things like, “You can’t do that, you’ll never be enough, you’re scared and it will never work”, I would change the outlook and ultimately the outcome, “Let’s learn a new skill and find out how this can be done!”.

Building good habits starts long before you see any results. I felt like a failure many times, shed many tears, climbed many mountains and lost many a night sleep over the stress of decisions I’d made, hoping they were the right ones.

If you know me personally you might know that both Colin and I are big believers in manifestation and the law of attraction. This was something that took us a long time to realize the potential of and that it existed for anyone. one thing to attract what you desire into your life but it’s a whole other thing to say yes to the opportunity when it does, seemingly, land in your lap. What I mean is, nothing ever truly happens “out of nowhere”. A thought, a desire, a comment in passing – this all sends vibrations out into the world. And just like in the cartoons, the vibrations you send out are echoed back to you. You don’t have to believe in anything for this to be true. It’s just how it works.

We manifested living on the beachfront!

Now, let’s consider this self talk again. The fact that your narrative runs on ‘autopilot’ is not necessarily a problem. The problem, however, could be the pilot.

Pick a new pilot with a wicked self image, more confidence and charisma and voila! Set her (or him!) in that plush, comfortable seat and buckle up before hitting that auto button again. Imagine your success rate now. As a confident pilot, nowhere is too far, even if you’ve never flown there before. This is what happens when you invest in good habits.

There is a kind of freedom you can’t find anywhere else when you begin to control the direction of your own plane.

I have a six month old daughter at the time of my writing this blog and I have said to her since birth, “ your life, your rules!”. I very much need for her to know that she is the creator in charge of her happiness. It’s important to me that I share this message with you, too.

I quit that bartending job. I started freelance writing which was a huge flop. Back to school I went, I started a new business by accident and then I got married, started another new business (this one stuck!) and moved to our dream retire location some 20 years ahead of schedule. Why wait? In the time span listed just above was a matter of about 4 years and in that time I also addressed many relationship issues from family to friends and even the one I had with myself. I was a mess. I made better habits with the food I was nourishing my body with and began working on some serious trauma with an amazing Doctor of Chinese Medicine who helped me to release old patterns and centre my energy again.

After many years of actively pursuing that better quality life I found myself courageous enough to begin sharing who I was and what I had been through.

The effect you have on others is the most valuable currency there is

– Jim Carrey

When people reached out in response to my sharing I was overwhelmed by the messages. So many others could see and feel themselves in my stories. My perspective on a certain stance I took helped to solidify a decision they were about to make. There were times I received messages thanking me for allowing others to open up their hearts to forgiveness and healing.

When I realized my courage and vulnerability could help others I was inspired to do more and let’s face it, I had a lot I could share. How much was too little? How much was too much? Did quantity matter? Would it matter if I was courageous in sharing trauma and grief in one area of my life but not another?

Through recent business trainings I saw for the first time just where my passion truly lies.

I want to connect with people – men and women – who are ready to do better in their lives in spite of trauma, in spite of background or any other reason you could have to not believe in yourself as a mother, father, wife, husband, leader, or just plain successful person. I recognized that I could help people connect to faith in themselves by sharing the faith I’d found by believing in myself. I’m not a therapist – I’m just a fellow human who has been through a lot of trauma and has never let it stop me from going after living an extraordinary life.

The Good Habit is a project where I am able to do just that.

I am committed to connecting with people looking to break free from their trauma traps. People who want to focus on healing their bodies and minds by putting in the effort to learn how they function when nourished with good food and good positive thoughts. I want to connect with people who are looking for healing on all levels – all by creating good habits.

These are all subjects I spend hundreds if not thousands of hours studying, researching and talking to others about. These are areas I have put time, effort, blood, sweat and tears into. I want to go deep. I want to bridge the gap between fear and faith with other people by sharing my struggles and my healing journey.

So that’s exactly what I’ll do.

With Purpose,

T

A Dream

Building the life of your dreams is going to be a total piece of cake, right?

Well, a total piece of cake comes from an entire cake, which starts from putting together a few ingredients that someone bought from a store, drove home, measured and prepared before mixing altogether and baking in a pan they bought from another store. While that’s baking in the oven, the icing is being made and then each layer is placed on top of one another with icing in between each layer before more icing is spread over the whole finished cake. Sprinkles, too.

And then voila! Piece of cake.

Building a dream life, or rather, putting a plan together and executing that plan, can sometimes mean doing things you don’t want to do. This week, and next, Colin is away so that we can continue to push our business in the right direction. We don’t often spend very much time apart, and truth be told, until we moved to Kelowna, we hadn’t spent more than a few nights apart since moving in together 5.5 years ago. I’m not going to lie, these trips out of town are really hard on both of us, although necessary to keep us moving. And then the incredible feeling of knowing your husband will do absolutely anything that he can to support his family makes my heart swell.

A little insight.

For my entire life I have suffered from Insomnia, which off and on has been eradicated with balancing my body using our amazing essential oils plus a healthy dose of yoga and meditation. We also have this lovely little device that scans the body and emits frequencies to detect if any biomarkers are unbalanced. It then makes suggestions based on this analysis on what to use to help put the body back into balance. If we use this device on a regular basis, guess what happens? Yup, our bodies and minds feel much more balanced and relaxed, which in turn will, of course, help us sleep.

This was a really neat thing, since we weren’t really using anything to ‘treat’ my insomnia. One day I just realized that I’d slept through the night and then again and again. As I dive deeper into my healing journey (more on this later), I realize that as my focus shifts to releasing old emotional trauma (from nooks and crannies in my body) I am better able to rest and relax. When this happens, of course, restful sleep also happens.

So, Colin is away and my poor heart aches when he’s gone, but for the last two nights I have slept like a baby, which is not usually the case when he’s away. Last night while we talked on the phone I teased him about this! I said maybe he snores or something, which has been waking me up all this time (of course it’s probably a little bit true, but since I’ve never been a good sleeper, it can’t all be his fault. Surely?). Anyways, I wake up this morning and AGAIN I have slept through the night! Three miraculous nights in a freaking row! Totally amazing.

Then I realized, I actually dreamt last night for the first time in a long time.

And my heart sank. I dreamt about my husband, which, almost never happens. My dream was that he had come home early, snuck back into bed to wrap his arms around me and then whispered, “Guess what! I’m staying home! So it’s pancake day!”

Ouch.

I guess I must really miss him this time, huh?

With 12 or so more days to go, I’ll save this cute little dream in my memory as a sweet little reminder of how much this man means to me – and how much our future means to both of us. It always comes back to making a better life and pushing towards having that freedom so he never has to leave again. Sounds a little bit like that piece of cake, doesn’t it?

Right now it sounds an awful lot like we’re picking up all of those ingredients on the list. Pretty soon though, we’ll be done measuring, we’ll have that cake in the oven and we’ll be licking some delicious icing off of the whisks and spoons.

With Purpose,

Tonia

 

Carry On

It has been years since we started manifesting our dream home and it took us most of those years to figure out so many of the details. Was it modern? Log cabin with an A frame? Where was it even located? High up overlooking the lake or right on the water?

We know all of the details now, with exception of exactly where the land is, though we know the area where we will live. The time spent doing this has been what propels us forward on days where we just don’t feel like it. It being the work it takes to build our business, which helps not only us to achieve our dreams, but those of our team members’ as well. In our business, everything I do helps my people. And everything my people do helps their people.

So yesterday we really sat down and wrote out our goals and I am reminded that our dream home isn’t so far away. It’s like that saying, “You’ve got what it takes, but it’s going to take everything you’ve got!”. No kidding. When you’re first starting out towards a huge goal, it’s daunting, terrifying and seemingly impossible. This is probably why so many people throw their hands up and say, “I quit!”. Haven’t you thought to quit?

Well don’t.

Steve Jobs once said:

“I’m convinced that about half of what separates the successful entrepreneurs from the non-successful ones is pure perseverance.”

What is Perseverance?

Staying the course. You can choose the vehicle you take but you don’t get to choose how long the route is. It’s the unknown variable – and it’s the unknown that scares the living bejesus out of us. Do you know who wins? Not the rabbit, we all know this story. You have to be determined to stay the course no matter the length and no matter the weather. Why? The time is going to pass anyways, so why not?!

And then sometimes you have to think about it from the angle of that dream home and the land you want to buy in Naramata. The way to get there is to work as hard as you can  for as long as it takes to get there. The trick, though, is that you have to be committed to learning the skills required along the way. There needs to be progress or else you’re simply spinning your tires, wearing yourself out. That will happen sometimes, so reassess, pick a new skill you need and go out and read about it. With this age of the internet being what it is, any length of education in any spectrum of subject is widely available! This is your time!

It Doesn’t Matter How Long It Takes

Time is not a fair measurement of success. When you consider time as a part of success (how little of it it took you to reach your goals), all you end up doing is comparing yourself to people who did it better, faster – which is not only insane, but also impossible since you weren’t born by their parents, with their DNA, into their heritage, go to their school and obtain their grades or have their friends and connections or hardships that propelled them into …. you get my point.

You do you.

We have been planning our lives on purpose now for almost two years, thoughtfully. We have fallen flat on our faces multiple times, wanted to rip our hair out, we’ve cried, fought, yelled, laughed, celebrated, sighed with relief and high fived.

And through it all, we’ve come halfway to our larger-than-life goal. When we made this goal we were renting a condo in McKenzie Towne, Calgary, AB, Canada. For years we had talked about moving to Kelowna/Okanagan and made excuses year after year. And then, after spinning our wheels for too long, we started our business – stopped making excuses – and executed a plan that had us moving to the Okanagan within six months of starting our business and only seven months after getting married.

Spierhead Winery post yoga class with our friend, Catherine!

Hey – this is simple but it’s not easy. But here we are after a yoga class outside of an Okanagan Winery enjoying a glass of Pinot Gris and amazed at the life we’re slowly affording ourselves – just for sticking to it! We’re not extraordinary. We just know what we want and we’re not going to settle for anything less.

Carry on with us! Ask us how to join our team and build your goals with support from our incredible community.

With Purpose,

T&C

 

SaveSave

Fresh Start

OK, so you’re not completely unaware of all of these foodies out there talking about eating clean. Perhaps you know some friends who are gluten free and you’re just wondering… why?

Or how? What is the fuss about?

Before we personally made any changes to our diet we were both constantly tired, Colin had headaches every single day (read more about that here), we were bloated without realizing it and our bodies were screaming. We couldn’t hear the screaming though because we’d always been eating this way and it seemed perfectly normal. Normal to (TMI ALERT!) be constipated occasionally? Normal to have the opposite problem on occasion? Is it normal to be eating what you have been taught is healthy, work out every single day (at the time) and get sick often? Does this make sense?

There were other (many) tell tale signs that our bodies were screaming at us but not loud enough for us to hear until, one day, reality hit us. We were devastated but grateful – we were still young enough and not sick! We could make major changes, and we were so willing to, in order to understand our bodies signals and work with them instead of hoping for the best, or being completely unaware!

We did a complete overhaul that took a few years to figure out, but we did it safely and we did it smart.

We compiled a list of all of the nutrients, minerals and vitamins that a body in our age ranges required to function optimally. This list broken down into foods high in each then became our shopping list and then once we were home with our groceries (most of these food items we’d never purchased before), we then figured out how to cook meals with them.

Sounds pretty complicated when we lay it all out like that, doesn’t it?

This was a lifetime ago for us and now we have realized that we are so passionate about lifestyle changes that support your body and mind that we have put together a simple system to share with you. We are now offering one-on-one consultations to help brand newbies get started without the weight of the world on your shoulders – oh and also offer coaching for the first few weeks as you really get your feet wet.

Here’s what we’re offering:

After 4 weeks, meeting up to four times for half an hour via ZOOM call (in addition to action plans), you will be able to confidently:

• Learn to make your own adjustments/tweaks to any recipe
• Understand whole food options for substitutions from things like refined sugars, protein, and dairy
• Understand how a slow-cooker can be your best friend!
• Turn our favourite pizza dough recipe into all things bread related (unless you’re gluten free, but we have a brown rice cracker recipe for you!)
• Have a better idea of what your body is trying to tell you when it comes to the foods you are consuming.

Your consultations are 100% custom made and we’re here to simply coach you into understanding how your body works by creating awareness and offering simple tips and action plans to really go out and DO instead of constantly wondering if this is for you or not. We promise, it is. This is for everyone.

Spend four weeks with us to redesign the foods and products you actually want in your life and why – and feel confident to continue this lifestyle change after our four week program. That’s the whole point! We want to show you just how simple and easy this can be, you just have to want to be committed to putting some time and effort into wanting to feel better! Who doesn’t want that?

A special offer for NEW members only: If you want to take a leap of faith and join our company with one of the three available starter kits, we’ll offer you this lifestyle consultation package completely free!

Contact us for pricing and availability!

With Purpose,

Tonia & Colin

She’s Savvy

This is not our regularly scheduled blog post. Folks, Tonia here to bring some of the most amazing announcements to our business page and here on the blog. If you have followed our page on Facebook or Instagram, you would know that we are super passionate about clean products – and even more passionate about making our own so that we can be sure they are 100% premium quality AND minimal ingredients. That’s my whole shtick – if I can, I’ll make a product with 4 or less ingredients if I’m able to.

Well, there’s this little makeup line founded by a woman we look up to and respect who saw a need that wasn’t being met. What do we want in a clean beauty product?

We want non-toxic, minimal ingredient (when possible) and we didn’t want beauty at the sacrifice or expense of our health. Now our needs are being met and all of this is available to all of us – and YOU! Gluten free, vegan friendly (with the exception of the lipstick as it contains beeswax), completely plant & mineral based make-up!

We’re going to break this down now, so without further ado!

Introducing…..

Savvy Minerals

This product was originally formulated two and a half years ago because there was a need to be filled for women who wanted to wear make up but didn’t want to compromise their health. Now, you don’t have to! Email us for information on how to order your own Savvy Minerals, now available in Canada!

Here’s my before & after full Savvy Minerals face! I’m in love.

Foundation

• Vegan Friendly
• Gluten Free
• Diminishes the appearance of imperfections and blemishes
• Minimizes pore appearance
• Brightens Complexion
• Absorbs excess oils
• Long lasting, all day wear
• Ideal for sensitive skin
• Mineral based
• Formulated without bismuth, talc, parabens, phthalates, petrochemicals or synthetic fragrances

Cool tones

For blue veins, more pink skin undertones. (Tip: Take a look at the inside of your wrists, what colour do your veins look?)

Warm tones

For green veins, more yellow skin undertones. (Tip: If you’re not sure which number to choose, start with 2. You can always add #1 if it’s too dark or add #3 if it’s too light.)

And dark tones, too.

Get out your misting spray (see below) onto your foundation brush, then your foundation minerals and apply. This is a buildable formula, which means you can add on if you would like to have more coverage.

https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FYLeducationalevents%2Fvideos%2F1570622919748058%2F&show_text=0&width=560” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener”>Warm or Cool?

Ingredients:

• Mica
• Boron nitride
• Lauroyl lysine
• Populus tremuloides bark extract
• Kaolin clay
• Silica

(The May Contain section indicates the potential natural colours for each different product)

May contain: Mica (CI 77019), Titanium dioxide (CI 77891), Manganese violet (CI 77742), Iron oxides (CI 77491), Iron oxides (CI 77492), Iron oxides (CI77499)

Wholesale pricing: $55.50 CAD

Lipstick

• Natural-looking shades
• Medium coverage, adds shine
• Glides on smoothly
• Creamy texture, moisturizes
• Makes lips appear fuller
• Made with natural ingredients
• Not tested on animals
• formulated without parabens, phthalates, petrochemicals, bismuth, talc, synthetic fragrances or colourants

Four shades of lipstick available:

1. Daydream
2. On A Whim
3. Uptown Girl
4. Wish

Ingredients:

• Castor seed oil
• Sweet almond oil
• Candelilla wax
• Beeswax
• Tocopheryl

May contain: Titanium dioxide (CI 77891), Iron oxides, Manganese violet, Mica, Tin Oxide

Wholesale Pricing: $28.50 CAD

Lip Gloss

• Sheer to medium coverage
• Helps lips appear more full
• Moisturizes and softens lips
• Adds shine
• Made with natural ingredients
• Not tested on animals
• No talc, parabens, phthalates, petrochemicals, synthetic fragrances or synthetic colourants

Two shades of lip gloss available:

1. Abundant
2. Embrace

Ingredients:

• Castor oil
• Oleic/linoleic/polyglycerides
• Beeswax
• Polyhydroxystearic Acid
• Olive oil
• Silica
• Sunflower seed oil
• Peppermint essential oil
• Jojoba esters
• Tocopheryl acetate
• Tocopherol

May Contain: Mica (CI 77019), Titanium dioxide (CI 77891), Iron oxides (CI 77491), Manganese violet (CI 77742)

Wholesale pricing: $34.50 CAD

Blush

• Gives cheeks a perfect flush
• promotes radiance and healthy glow
• build-able colour, all day wear
• enhances natural beauty
• ideal for sensitive skin
• mineral based ingredients
• Vegan friendly
• Not tested on animals
• formulated without parabens, phthalates, petrochemicals, bismuth, talc or synthetic fragrances

Three shades of blush available:

1. I Do Believe You’re Blushin’
2. Passionate
3. Smashing

Ingredients:

• Mica
• Populus tremuloides bark extract
• Kaolin clay

May contain: Mica (CI 77019), Titanium dioxide (CI 77891), Manganese violet (CI 77742), Iron oxides (CI 77491), Iron oxides (CI 77492), Iron oxides (77499), Ultramarines (CI 77007)

Wholesale pricing: $35.00 CAD

Bronzer

• looks shimmery but goes on the skin gives you a nice even glow
• gives skin a healthy and sun-kissed glow
• fantastic for contouring
• buildable colour
• long lasting all day wear
• ideal for sensitive skin
• make with mineral based ingredients
• vegan friendly
• not tested on animals
• formulated without talc, bismuth, parabens, phthalates, petrochemicals or synthetic fragrances

Two shades of bronzer available:

1. Summer Loved
2. Crowned All Over

Ingredients:

• Micas (Sericite)
• Populus tremuloides bark extract

May contain: Mica (CI 77019), Titanium dioxide (CI 77891) Iron oxides (CI 77491), Iron oxides (CI 77492), Iron oxides (CI 77499)

Wholesale Pricing: $35.00 CAD

Eyeshadow

• Offers rich shades with high payoff and buildable colour
• Build-able colour
• Blends really well
• Long lasting for all day wearability
• Enhances natural beauty
• Ideal for sensitive skin
• Mineral based ingredients
• Formulated without parabens, phthalates, petrochemicals, bismuth, talc and synthetic fragrances

Eight shades of eyeshadow available:

1. Best Kept Secret
2. Crushin’
3. Determined
4. Diffused
5. Residual
6. Spoiled
7. Unscripted
8. Wanderlust (can also be used as a highlighter for contouring!)

Ingredients:

• Micas
• Populus tremuloides bark extract
• Tin oxide

May contain: Mica (CI 77019), Titanium dioxide (CI 77891), Iron oxides (CI 77491), Iron oxides (CI 77492), Iron oxides (CI 77499), Ultramarine (CI 77007)

Wholesale pricing: $19.25 CAD

Eyeliner

Jet Setter

• High colour payoff
• Buildable colour that blends well to create different looks
• Enhances natural beauty
• Long lasting for all day wearability
• Ideal for sensitive skin
• Made with mineral based ingredients
• Vegan friendly
• Not tested on animals
• Formulated without talc, bismuth, parabens, phthalates, petrochemicals or synthetic fragrances

Use dry as an eyeliner or wet an angled brush for a more liquid eyeliner finish! Use the Jet Setter for both eyeliner or for a smokey eyeshadow!  Talk about bang for your buck when purchasing mineral make up this universal!

Ingredients:

• Micas
• Populus tremuloides bark extract, Kaolin clay

May contain: Iron oxides (CI 77499), Mica (CI 77019), Titanium Dioxide (CI 77891)

Wholesale pricing: $19.75 CAD

Multi-Tasker

This universal and multi-dimensional rich brown pigment is amazing for shadow, liner and as a brow filler! Talk about an incredibly economical 3-in-1 product made with 2 ingredients + natural colourant! This will be making it’s way to my make-up drawer immediately and will be something I add to my Essential Rewards orders on the regular!

• Richly pigmented (brown)
• Buildable colour that blends beautifully to create different looks
• Emphasizes your natural beauty with a variety of looks
• Long lasting for all day wearability
• Ideal for sensitive skin
• All Mineral based ingredients
• Vegan friendly
• Not tested on animals
• Formulated without talc, bismuth, parabens, phthalates, petrochemicals or synthetic fragrances

Wholesale pricing: $26.00 CAD

Ingredients:

• Micas
• Populus tremuloides bark extract

May contain: Iron oxide (CI 77491), Iron oxide (CI77492). Iron Oxide (CI 77499), Titanium dioxide (CI 77891)

Misting Spray

• Provides more control with mineral powder make up application
• Nourishes the skin with pure essential oils
• Soothes and refreshes skin
• Provides an aroma that inspires confidence
• Made with 100% naturally derived, plant based ingredients
• Vegan friendly
• Formulated without alcohol, parabens, phthalates, petrochemicals, synthetic fragrances or synthetic colourants

Ingredients:

• Water
• Glycerin (vegetable)
• Aloe Vera leaf juice
• Potassium sorbate
• Sodium levulinate
• Sodium anisate
• Trace mineral complex
• Geranium essential oil
• Bergamot essential oil (Furocoumarin-free)
• Balsam Copaiba essential oil
• Cedarwood essential oil
• Black Spruce essential oil
• Orange essential oil
• Lavender essential oil
• Lime essential oil
• Vanilla fruit extract
• Sage essential oil
• Ocotea essential oil
• Rose essential oil

Wholesale pricing: $18.75 CAD

Spritz your make up brush a few times and apply your choice of foundation, eyeliner or eyeshadow! This mist is a great setter for after your application as well. Can’t wait to smell mine once it arrives, especially since it has some of my favourite smelling essential oils, like Black Spruce, Copaiba, Bergamot and Sage as well as vanilla fruit extract!

Now, my only question for you is, how will you NOT buy all of these incredible products

Go big or go home?

If you bought yourself a foundation, blush, bronzer, eyeshadow, eyeliner, Multi Tasker for brows, a lipstick, a lip gloss and the Mister Spray you’d be looking at an amazing and complete set for under $272.25 CAD!

This is an amazing company that we are all going to be so happy to have in our homes! Ask us how you can get on board with making the switch!

With Purpose,

Tonia

Unblocking Limiting Beliefs

Part of the responsibility of becoming a business owner or moving into a leadership role in any capacity is developing new skills and becoming a better version of yourself. It’s part of growing as a person anyways, but we’ve really sped up this process (or took our sweet time getting here and needed the crash course version to catch up, whichever version of the story you like best – both are true in their own right) since starting our Network Marketing business. One area that almost all of the self-development or leaderships books we have read (or the podcasts we have listened to) refer to limiting beliefs. Also, how we tell ourselves that bullshit every single day without probably even realizing it.

What Are Limiting Beliefs?

Well, they can really be just about anything and you don’t have to be in business to have them. A limiting belief is something you tell yourself in your narrative (that little voice in your head you might not be aware of) that is false or untrue. Something that would generally be harmful in some way. They are what limits you from reaching new potential “in case it’s too hard” or what stops you from doing the things that you know will make your life better because you simply don’t believe you’re good enough.

All created by you. Ouch.

Common Limiting Beliefs

• I’m not pretty enough
• Your parents were abusive
• You live in a place where there aren’t any good paying jobs
• You live in a very small town
• I don’t deserve to make a lot of money
• I don’t know as much about business as ___________
• I don’t have the skill set

These are excuses.

Everyone has the same opportunity

It is your limiting beliefs that tell you otherwise. If you and five of your friends stood at the edge of the pool, do you all have the same opportunity to jump into the pool?

Does that seem like a dumb question?

Simply put, people stand at the edge of the pool and they either jump or they don’t. Why not? Ahhh, you might be catching on by now. Fear holds us back from opportunity, even as simple and fun as doing a cannon ball into the backyard pool. Then, let’s break down the situation and compare what happens with the people who counted down from 5 and took the leap of faith versus perhaps the one or two who didn’t.

You DID jump

Man! That water was freezing at first buy – hey! It actually feels great; refreshing for this hot summery day. Your friends who jumped into the pool are laughing, splashing and swimming. Maybe they get out of the pool, but what do they do next? Without hesitation most, if not all, of them will immediately jump back into the pool. Even if they were a bit fearful in the beginning, they jumped and now they know for sure that they’ll be more than ok. In fact, it was pretty fun.

You didn’t jump

How do you feel? Just writing this out I feel embarrassed and a bit sorry that I didn’t just go ahead and do it. And now one of two things might happen. The non-jumper might decide to slump into that bit of shame and not partake in the pool at all, OR, jump right in on round two as the previous jumpers head back into the pool.

The moral of the story is that standing on the edge of the pool might cause your heart to pound a little – and it’s a strange pool, you’ve never swam in it before. You don’t know what temperature it will be or if you’ll be able to touch the bottom. You know how to swim and none of the rest of that stuff matters anyways because it’s the narrative in your head saying, “that’s too scary!”.

Life Will Pass You By, or Will It?

Or, you will plan your life out the way you want it to go. That’s the whole point of starting this blog. Our whole entire purpose of being here is to keep sharing what we learn down our path to building a life our way. On purpose. Life was passing us by at an alarming rate and now we’re both in our mid-thirties getting our fresh start. We are almost two years into our new business and it’s true! We both wish we’d started five years ago! We’re here now – and we’re aware of that little narrative that says “hey, you have limits, remember?” and little by little, the more you ignore those thoughts, the more you realize that you begin to say, “where to now, boss?”.

Whatever your vehicle is to your freedom or living your life on purpose, do it before your limiting beliefs get the best of you. Don’t have a vehicle yet? Let’s talk and see if the one we’re driving is more your speed.

With Purpose

T&C

Six Pursuits Of Happiness In Six Years

We’ve been so serious lately.

Let’s have some fun and talk to you about six ways in our short (almost) six years together when we were on the pursuit of happiness and making the very most of the ebbs and flows. Some serious, and some not so much.

Six Contributing Factors To Our Happiness In Six Years

#1 – Travel

We celebrated our first anniversary together as a couple by traveling to Belize for 16 days in August of 2012. It was actually this trip that solidified our relationship and where we both decided we wanted to spend the rest of our lives together. We had to overcome a lot together on this trip and we learned not only what we loved about one another but what lengths we were willing to go to take care of each other, too. We left our phones and any other electronic device at home and spent 16 amazing days with only a digital camera (remember those?!) a friend had lent us, our backpacks, bathing suits and flip flops.

We learned how to always have each other’s backs, how to really enjoy one another and how to turn off everything else in order to really turn on for just us. There is magic in our travels together and it’s no surprise that the most important thing to us is to be able to build our business up to the point where we can travel the world when and how we choose. This is our greatest desire. It’s when we’re absolutely, undoubtedly, at our very best. After Belize we have added Phoenix, Las Vegas, Paris, Torino, Cinque Terre, San Gimignano and Nice to this list. To be continued…

#2 – Recognizing Resistance

We didn’t realize that for most of our lives – both together as a couple and separately, how we had been pushing against resistance. Ummm, guys! That’s only making it worse!

We pushed against resistance in relationships, each other and in our jobs until we started to understand the value of focusing on maximizing relationships that are really important and learning to let others go. Accept that resistance is letting you know that there’s probably a better way to go than upstream through the current. Less force means less suffering.

When we planned our wedding it took an entire year to put together something that just didn’t quite feel right to us. We kept being met with resistance from people, about the venue, things going wrong, little things, but still, we knew it was just wrong. As soon as we stopped pushing against resistance and making things harder for ourselves we noticed that what we really wanted to do was easier than what we really didn’t want to do in the first place.

We did a complete 180, changing the venue and the whole look of the wedding and everything fell into place within five days. A whole year and a half of planning a wedding we didn’t want – and five days for everything to magically fall into place when we started doing what was right for us. We rented a cabin in Nordegg, Alberta for 2.5 weeks and threw the reception there. We strung lights all over the beautiful A framed cabin along the front of the wrap around patio and we laughed, cried, hugged, kissed and danced into the night.

#3 – Starting A Business Together

Starting our business – and thinking we were going to be successful right out of the gates – that was hard but also so crucial to the people we have become. Understanding that we were going into this business, however, to stick with it forever was what helped us the most. We might have given up a hundred times by now if we hadn’t committed so strongly to being entrepreneurs together.

Not only did we firmly believe in the products we were using and sharing with our people, but we were done pouring all of our passion and drive into someone else’s business and dream for very little return on investment. Every time we went to our jobs we were investing our time and efforts into someone else’s idea and when we first began talking about this business neither of us were at a point in our then careers where we were valued in our positions any longer. It was time to stop pushing against resistance once again.

One month after we were married we invested $200 in a Premium Starter Kit that acted like the kindling in a fire having waited years to be started. We lit the match and every since we have been adding more wood to this desire we have to build our business while helping our people to do the very same thing. We grow and new people bring new ideas, thoughts, love, support and then we grow a little more. It is amazing. Being an entrepreneur and helping to build dreams with other entrepreneurs brings us both more happiness than we’d ever expected.

 

#4 – Realizing that it’s only the two of us.

It’s no longer lonely and disappointing when you stop depending on other people. The only person that can make or break your life – is you. The only other person looking out for my best interest – is my partner. It’s just the two of us, truly – and when we put positive energy into this idea and focused on what we want for us, life became infinitely better. We stopped worrying about all of these friends we didn’t have, places we hadn’t gone, you know – what we were lacking. How in the hell is this making our lives better? We always had each other’s backs but continually wanted someone else to have it, too? Geez, no wonder we were so unhappy. This is seriously what our self-talk was about when we weren’t aware of it.

So, we got quiet and started doing a lot more listening. Next we just focused on what was right in front of us. We spend a lot of time, us humans, thinking about what we don’t have and it’s heartbreaking. Realizing that it’s only the two of us to depend on one another has changed our perspective to all of the amazing things we do have right here, right now. It gave the space to really think about where worry, anxiety and other troubling thoughts or emotions were coming from.

Only the two of us means that there is only one other person in this world that we can fully trust and rely on besides ourselves. We no longer feel the need to put expectations onto others – because it’s unfair for everyone, first of all,  and we only become upset when others don’t follow through. Right? If people say they are going to do something and they do it, great! Less expectation, less resistance, less force, less suffering. More excellent quality relationships, more pure and unwavering love, more self-love, more pursuing. And at the end of the day, it’s always been just us and it always will be and when there’s more, we’ll be so full with plenty to share. The door is open.

#5 – We wanted to do a lot of growing and changing.

Acknowledging that we have pain that needed to be worked through was difficult. Sickness was manifesting – which is exactly what happens when you do not have emotional wellness. So, we actively started seeking wellness books, returning to yoga practices, focusing on our self-talk and learning how to use our essential oils to help support us on our journey. We actually just taught an entire workshop on emotional wellness with our team based on the emotional blends we all have used in supporting ourselves because of how powerful they can be.

Becoming better people meant we’d have to give up some things. Limiting beliefs, for starters, and then there’s comparing ourselves to others (we have done this so much with our business and it’s a huge no-no), self-criticism and so on. Have you actually ever really listened to the way you talk to yourself? Awareness is where we are at, and creating the space we need to be real with ourselves so that we can live the life we really want to live. You know how the saying goes, you can’t help others until you learn to help yourself. This is a never ending lesson you commit to learning every single day.

Gotcha.

Then we found that we had to learn to give ourselves permission to actually have the things we wanted. Wine. Time to relax. We had to learn to give ourselves permission to seek to have exactly what we wanted. What’s important to you? You need to check in and constantly be aware of the ebb and flow because what’s important to you will always change as you grow. Being open about how you really feel and who you really are – oh, and what you really want. Be confident.

Gotcha.

#6 – Choosing to live our life on purpose

We have both always wanted to live our lives on our own terms and do what makes us happy. Weird, right? Of course not! Do you know what makes most of us unhappy? Doing things because other people want us to when we especially don’t want to because it doesn’t make us happy. This can seem selfish – because it is! And do you know what the best part about that is? It’s perfectly ok to be selfish. We’re not harming anybody by saying, “No thank you, I don’t want to”. Then why don’t we say it more often?

Life is hauntingly short. Most of the people I love are dead, and I’m not exaggerating. Colin and I talk a lot about how we are grateful to be growing older and how it is a privilege. What little time we do have here, we want to make sure we live it intentionally now that we understand that we can have anything we want to have. In order to do this, we have to be comfortable saying no when we mean no. Don’t do the things you don’t want to do. You will go with regret and resentment, which doesn’t help anyone. Instead, show up when you want to go to the event, the concert, the dinner party, whatever it is.

The second part to this equation for us is doing things even though you know that it’s hard – quitting our jobs, moving out to the Okanagan – that was hard. It was simple but it wasn’t easy. And guess what? We’re alive. We are happy to have made the changes even though they were scary. That’s what keeps us stagnant though, is our fear. So we stay where we are in order to know that tomorrow will look the same as yesterday and the day before that. This is purpose-less. Mundane un-happiness. We were always so frustrated and bored. We weren’t tapping into courage.

So we started saying no and all of a sudden we were on our next leg of the journey in pursuit of happiness. We want to live with intention and purpose, because if we don’t, the cost will be too high.

With Purpose,

T&C

To Pursue On Purpose

We knew that our blog, Everything With A {PURPOSE}, would be only that, the point is to share only when you have something to share and not for the sake of sharing just because. So, we’ve taken a hiatus for the last two months after writing Leave Your Suitcase At The Door. It was like I didn’t have anything else to say. Period. There is no way to be sure how many times I’ve read it over and over again, almost surprised at myself and at how perfectly written it is. It exactly reveals that day to a T. I poured my soul out into that blog and I haven’t had anything else anywhere near as profound to say since. And that’s ok.

It was a time to stop talking and do a lot of listening, observing, watching. Oh, the treasures this has brought and the amazing amount of epiphanies that come at a time when you’re taking in information with very little output. Fascinating how quickly you reconnect with your intuition, when you’re this inquisitive and paying attention for the answers.

It was important to quiet all of the noise for a while. Writing is impossible when you’re in this kind of transition. So we did a lot of reading, writing in a journal and something we find so helpful that we encourage all people to really do – talk it all through with your spouse and those closest to you. I sat on my mat a lot. I meditated a lot. We read and we watched a lot of interviews with people who inspired us and even watched a few flicks.

One of those flicks Colin and I were watching was ‘Pursuit of Happyness’ with Will Smith. Colin had seen it before but not for years and I hadn’t seen it at all. We want to share our perspective of the whole concept.

Everyone suffers the exact same way, it’s just different.

We all suffer. You’re not special. I’m not special. We’re not special. Suffering is the human condition and no one gets to skip pain, or pleasure, for that matter. It’s a fundamental part of humanness. It’s why we strive to do and be better humans – which is why this movie is so appropriately named. Happiness is not ever something you can weigh, hold, shackle or chain. You are only ever in the pursuit of it.

Think of emotions the same way. Nothing lasts forever – emotions all end. Pleasure, pain, sorrow, delight, and even laughter. We live somewhere in between happy and sad most of the time with a pendulum that swings sometimes to the far right and sometimes to the far left.

Nothing anyone does is because of you

Everything anyone ever does is because of them. This is one of the hardest lessons I have had to face yet, understanding that I am completely in control of myself – because for many years I have felt out of control. You can’t hone in that control until you realize that YOU have it. Not one single other person is to blame for your failures, nor are they to blame for your successes.

You know when you read something so profound and you think, damn! That was so obvious! That’s because it is completely obvious and you’ve heard the thing time and time again but maybe you weren’t ready to hear it.

In the movie, Christopher asks his dad, “Did mommy leave because of me?”, to which his dad responds, “No! Mommy didn’t leave because of you. Mommy left because of mommy’.

This really was a layered lesson and one that we have spent many a night lately chatting about, usually propped up in bed with a glass of wine as we wind down – we’re not those normal humans who do that in the living room. Colin especially just loves to be in our bedroom space. So we talk a lot about understanding that our actions and thoughts are all chosen by us. Reactions – still us. Someone calls you a bitch and you immediately get mad? You chose to give them power over who you actually think you are. Are you a bitch? Right? Does it even matter if you are or if you aren’t? The answer is no.

What if you go one step further. Our emotional pain attached to another human being is our own doing and finally realizing that you’re in control of this – even though initially it sounds like complete madness – I know. If Tonia continually allowed herself to grieve the loss of a mother, or more accurately, whatever she felt like a mother ought to be, that is her choice entirely and no one else can make her continue to grieve this. The actions causing the pain aren’t there anymore. Pain is actually gone now, but the suffering isn’t IF she chooses not to let it go.

Why?

We haven’t learned the lesson of the pursuit of happyness yet.

Today, while driving around, a thought occurred. The only moment I am living in is now and there is no immediate threat, no pain, no joy. Contentment is here in this moment now as you read through this blog. Contentment is knowing that what happened isn’t happening anymore and it’s not happening again. The moment, the person, the pain, pleasure, grief… it’s been gone for a long time and it’s time to close the door and keep on going. Ready to pursue the next moment of life – happiness and sadness in their varying degrees must ebb and flow and happen as we move through life. That’s it – as simple as that.

You don’t need a mother, a father, a brother, a sister, a lover, a husband, a wife, a dog, a preacher, a mantra, a yoga pose. We were blaming something else for our ‘un’ happiness, because we’re really busy believing that we can hold happiness in our hands and one day arrive ‘there’ and forevermore live in this bliss.

Nope.

You’re already there in every moment that you forgive, move on, take a step forward, read a book, kiss your spouse, wash your hair, sing to one of your favourite songs, drink your favourite glass of wine with the perfect cheese pairing, float in the lake, smell the scent of your favourite essential oil diffusing as you write in your favourite blog.

 

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There’s been a lot of reflection happening in our home. We say, “I’m so proud of you” to one another, like, a LOT right now. There’s a spiritual growth spirt happening here and it’s why we’ve been so quiet. We’re not saying anything that someone else has already said – we’re just putting it out there in a someone-already-said-it-and-we’re-just-repeating-it-in-our-own-words kinda way.

Try spending some time in contentment appreciating the pendulum, knowing that everything, including emotion, is temporary. We’ll all enjoy the pursuit much better this way.

With Purpose,

T & C

Changing Gears

What if your reality looked a little different from normal (whatever the heck that means)? It offered you food, shelter, water plus all of the extras you could only dream about. Freedom, travel, opportunity. Isn’t it interesting to you the people who become successful are of a different mindset from the majority of people who… are not?

Growing up we learn about fairy tales that fill our hearts with wonder and then someone who’s “had a hard life” wants to “tell you how it really is” and then, of course, you’re doomed. Done for. You believe them. You’re no longer Cinderella, you’re her ugly step-sisters. POOF. No fairy godmother. We believed them, too, for a really long time. The only time that you have a really hard life is when you don’t do something about “how it really is”. 

This morning we watched a short 11+ minute video (which we attached below for you to watch, too) of one of our favourite self-improvement authors, Jen Sincero, about excuses. She asks her audience to really think (in everything she does) about where you are right now and where you want to be. Where are you? What’s stopping you?

We have watched numerous people in our community achieve incredible freedom (time and financial) in the past year and a half since we have been building our Network Marketing business. Incredible feats that to us, 2 years  ago… seemed impossible, like completely out-of-our-reach. We have listened to people’s stories that sound just like ours did, growing up without much money, without extras – to wanting more for themselves, dammit! What happens is sometimes who you want to be is sacrificed for what you think others will do or say to and about you. We have also felt that way.

Do you know what we know now? It doesn’t matter, none of it. What anyone thinks, what YOU think… none of that is real. What anyone thinks about you does not pay your bills – and we’re not saying that to change your thinking about other people, we want you to turn that inwards. Your limiting beliefs are created only by you. What’s real is outside of what you think. What’s real already exists and the only reason you can’t see that is because of you.

Thinking back to the conversation started this morning in our inbox, we are humbled by the obviousness of our path. We all want freedom to do the things we want, to be able to say YES instead of having to say no because of a lack of money, time, or freedom. We all have the ability to have whatever we want, but sometimes you have to make a sacrifice to get to where you’re going. The hard truth is that making that change makes most of us uncomfortable.

“It’s going to be uncomfortable, but not necessarily hard.” – Jen Sincero

What do we have to offer?

Our experiences. Our support. Our desires. Our knowledge.

“Change your life in a massively positive way” – Jen Sincero

Why would we hide these things away from those who want it just in case the ones who don’t tell us so? Those who don’t want what you have and what you can offer do not serve you. And that’s OK! For some reason we think it’s not ok and that it’s our job to change their minds. Let us be clear.

It is not your job to change anyone’s mind.

Instead, it is your job to do something incredible with your life because whatever you want to do and be is available for you, but it takes hard work. And some of that hard work happens by understanding your limiting beliefs and then taking the steps necessary to change your way of thinking about yourself.

“When you get the idea that scares the crap out of you that’s when you’ve hit the bullseye.” – Jen Sincero

There is a difference between something being uncomfortable for you and being innately … hard.

The hard truth is that what we want costs a lot and we have to pay the toll, which happens to be hard work, dedication and perseverance. And the willingness to do things that make us uncomfortable. Albert Einstein once said that the definition of insanity is doing something over and over again and expecting different results. It’s time to change gears.

If you don’t believe in yourself, no one else is going to. Isn’t living a life on purpose fun?

With Purpose,

Tonia & Colin

It’s Complicated

When you’re navigating the online world looking for answers it’s probably more often than not that you’ll come across opinions. It’s what social media is made of, in fact, it’s what all media is made of. Whose opinion can you trust?

When we first started learning about the food industry and what terms like Certified Organic or Non-GMO meant, we were overwhelmed. It takes a lot of effort and dedication to make big changes to your life, impacting your overall health (body and mind). This commitment to better health and better understanding of where our food was sourced and what it was actually made, from became, what is now, a lifelong journey for just overall better-ness.

Let’s share how we went from the refining of our food to how we cleaned up every cupboard in our home and why. Colin was blaming his food intake for a common ailment for a long time but the culprit was much more complicated than that!

After we began substituting things like refined sugars for raw, unpasteurized honey it became apparent that this was the beginning of a landslide. Here’s what things looked like in the very beginning.

What we used to eat –> what we substituted it for

• Refined Sugar –> Raw, unpasteurized honey
• Butter/Margarine –> Organic Coconut Oil
• Store bought bread –> Bought a bread maker
• Meat in Sauces (spaghetti) –> Dried beans or Eggplant
• Grilled Steak –> Grilled Portobello Mushrooms

These types of changes happened one grocery trip at a time after researching how to keep up with all of the nutrients, vitamins and minerals we’d need to be cooking with in order to maintain healthy, optimally functioning bodies. Whole foods. Hot lemon water. Better quality produce. Then we added nuts, seeds and all that jazz to our diet too and we still sprinkle hemp hearts and flax seeds into our spaghetti sauce.

Once we got the hang of our new diet and started to feel amazing, Colin realized he was still suffering from headaches almost daily, which he had attributed to poor hydration or not enough nutrients in his diet. He went for blood tests to make sure we were feeding his body right – which was so amazing! When he went for this blood test we were fairly new to the vegetarian world (under a year) and were all self-educated. His results were amazing in all areas, which meant his body was receiving more than enough of everything he needed.

Then why the headaches?

When people ask us why we chose to ‘sell’ essential oils or why we joined a Network Marketing company, it was very easy for us to answer. They (the oils and the company we chose to align ourselves with) were a solution for us for so many things. One thing we really loved was that they had the plant based cleaner (one, ONE single cleaner for every surface in our home instead of a cupboard full of poisonous and toxic products each for a single purpose in which we needed to wear a mask and gloves to use), a completely natural toothpaste that doesn’t taste like cardboard or have the consistency of jello. Yuck. They were a solution to our need for natural remedies with minimal ingredients. They were our answer for almost everything we were looking for. We’d used essential oils for years and wanted a better quality brand. It was amazing that the one we found also offered so many other natural options.

Why were we looking?

Looking and disecting product labels for so long when it came to the food we were purchasing had us basically checking labels for everything now. We were cleaning with “green” products that actually weren’t green at all, we had just trusted that because the product had the word “Green” or “Organic” in the company’s name that meant as a consumer, I should be able to trust that the ingredients were in fact Green or Organic. Wrong. Our hearts sank, because, if manufacturers were able to be so misleading with their labels, what else were we oblivious to?

We threw out almost everything! This was not going to be as slow a process like it had been with substituting food over time. Nope. This was going to be now. Immediate. Everything. Must. Go.

And it did.

The toilet bowl cleaner (IS BRIGHT BLUE!! Why?!), laundry detergent (also bright blue?!), candles, glass and window cleaner, hair spray, make-up, toothpaste (bright blue, are you sensing a theme?) and so on.

We didn’t feel safe. We felt lied to. The products on the shelf for me and you to purchase so easily based on what catches our eye, or worse, what attracts our sense of smell; those are all things that are carefully determined by a team of executives who formulate the product itself or design the product’s label. What’s inside, a lot of the time, is harmful to our health and unless we’re educated on that subject and do our own digging – none of us – will ever know.

A lot of people ask us why we use essential oils, why we joined a Network Marketing company and why we’ve chosen this to be our career in business. When we eliminating all of this crap from our homes and started being conscious of what we were using, diffusing and cleaning with, Colin stopped getting headaches. When we threw out the candles and traded them for a diffuser. When we made our own deodorant and threw out the colognes. When we brushed our teeth with plant based ingredients. That’s when his headaches completely stopped.

If we don’t share all of this information with you, who will?

With Purpose,

Tonia & Colin