She Empowers: Do Good [Give Deep]

She Empowers: Do Good [Give Deep]

do good. It is a philosophy founded the principle that we each have power. We are leaders who can positively create change and impact the world. We just have to believe in ourselves and do it!

 

It’s also a Biblically-based concept. 1 Timothy 6:18-19 says: Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.

 

The principle is also deeply rooted in our history. Shirley Chisholm, activist and leader once said service is the rent do for living.

 

But what does doing good look like in practice?

 

1. Find your purpose

 

Doing good is more than just volunteering it is using your purpose to create change in the world.

 

Ephesians 2:10 tells us: For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. God has already prepared us for what we are to do. We just need to find our purpose. You must ask yourself:

– What has God called me to do?

– What is my passion?

– What is the one thing that continues to follow me, the thing I can’t shake?

 

2. Align your purpose with your good works.

 

Once you find your purpose and align your purpose with your good works.

 

3. Give deep.

 

Understand the needs of the those you are serving. Think about the your giving in this way: Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime. Is your giving teaching? Is your giving helping to eliminate or significantly reduce a community issue?

 

4. Partner.

Partnerships can help you:

– Expand your reach.

– Increase your credibility and visibility.

– Maximize resources.

 

As Big Momma said in Soul Food: “One finger…don’t make no impact, but you ball up all them fingers into a mighty fist and you can strike a mighty blow.” Make a mighty fist and strike a blow by developing partnerships to reach your goals.

 

5. Share how you are giving.

 

Once you develop your personal giving plan, share it and encourage others to give. I’d love to hear from you on how you are giving and how deep your giving has gone. Email me at bea@beawilliams.com

She Connects: What It Means To Believe

She Connects: What It Means To Believe

Let’s get started:

Regardless of our background, the family we were born in, or our social status, we have a gift readily available to assist us in moving towards whatever we desire to believe for.

This topic is a one that may appear to some as a simple term –many say they believe, but this word requires work. We really can believe for something that has not yet become tangible in our hands.

 

What does it mean to believe?

The definition of the word BELIEVE, is to have confidence in the truth, the existence, or the reliability of something, although without absolute proof that one is right in doing so.

Only if one believes in something can one act purposefully.

 

2. Trust yourself. Trust the voice inside your heart.

 

Anything that poses a positive impact, brings about good, challenges the status quo – is ok to trust. Good things will never hurt others – so if you are not brining discord or harm to anyone including yourself, trust yourself.

 

Learn to know when things are moving you toward something greater. We get better at this over periods of time.

 

3. Believing is an area that many of us struggle with because what we desire to see may not have physically appeared in front of our eyes.

 

4. When we choose to believe despite all negative self talk we move forward in allowing what we desire to see gravitate freely to us.

 

When we believe with our heart we send a clear message to the “thing” we desire to move towards us.

 

Others may not believe with you. You must know that this is something that you want so bad that having an entourage believing with you is not a requirement, but; when we truly gravitate towards the “thing” – people we need will appear and begin to walk along side of us.

 

5. Believing fuels success.

Believing requires deliberate action. We must renew our thoughts, address negative talk, make adjustments and ignite inspiration for the things we believe to happen for us.

 

6. Believing requires trusting.

If we do begin to get discouraged, listen to the thoughts that are being spoken and if after listening to the voices that say; “it will never happen”, “your time is gone”, “you messed up before”, and we feel that settling is ok – then that will continue to be the theme playing and we will place the thing that is gravitating towards us on hold, or it will become a missed opportunity. BUT, if we choose to think positive, speak positive, surround ourselves with positive thoughts, and embrace the journey, which seems like an extremely lucrative alternative for us rather than giving up on the thing(s) we believe for.

Before we can see the “thing” we desire in front of us, we will be tested with a life event of some sort.

 

Believing with a time table is very good. It’s even better when we allow time to work something fulfilling inside of us.

 

Believing requires patience.

 

When we believe, others will believe too.

 

Before we can expect anyone to believe with us, we must believe before anyone else, it’s our dream, our purpose, our vision not others.

 

Believe that it’s already yours.

 

7. Trust timing. Sometimes we have a vision of desire and we think it will happen one way, be flexible to the process of attaining the vision of dream but do not become doubtful because of delays or redirection. They are both tremendous gifts to the process.

 

Believe that what you desire to see is worth the fight.

 

Believe that all of the right pieces will fall into place.

Surround yourself with people that believe with you. Allow those that God desires to gravitate towards your purpose to come to you. Seeking out people own without His direction may cause unnecessary weight.

To believe and soar in what we desire to attain requires us to have “light weight.” This does not mean that you ignore, or not have love and compassion for your friends, family and the issues that they face, it means that we do not allow those things to cause our mind to lose focus and become blinded because of everyone else’s issues.

[Recap Of #STRONGTRUTHTUESDAY chat on @strongchatlive]

 

 

She Inspires: Sorry, I Am Not Sorry

She Inspires: Sorry, I Am Not Sorry

“I’m sorry, I’m not sorry.” There was a commercial by Pantene about women saying sorry in situations where there was no need to apologize. That made me think, how often do women say sorry when we have no need to be? For instance, if you are in a meeting and a man may interject his point of view at any time he will never apologize for such. Yet, typically if you speak up in a meeting, you may apologize if a person looked like they were about to speak and you cut them off briefly. Or if they spoke at the same time you were about to say something then you may apologize. Why is that? What you need to say may be equally important, yet we as women learn it is rude to speak when someone else is speaking, so we apologize.

I think the biggest thing I’ve ever apologized for and watered down was my ambition. Being a woman and being overly ambitious seems to be looked down upon. Isn’t it possible to be an effective and amazing employee and your home life as a mother not suffer? Why shouldn’t we be able to aspire to do it all without apologizing that our goals and standards are high. We have apologized for shooting too high, aiming low, or kinda sorta stay in the middle. However, there should be no sorries given for high ambition. Sorry, I’m not sorry.

Is there a such thing as being overly ambitious? Can a person, more specifically a woman, be too ambitious? And if we are, is that wrong? Do we get labeled differently if we shoot for the stars, moon, and the sun? Are we just to shrink back because the world tells us we should? Sorry, I am not sorry that I love to learn and do as much as I can. My time on this earth is short, why not leave a legacy that will be told through the ages? I am sorry, I am not sorry that I have a goal to do such an ambitious task.

I do not want to be rude with my lack of apologies, but I will rather properly utilize the word sorry. We all should properly utilize the word sorry. The definition of sorry means that one is sympathetic of misfortune or in a pitiful state. Most times as women when we say sorry, we are doing it in a way to seek permission to do something. I know I have done this numerous times at work. I will walk up to a group of men clogging the hall and say sorry as I break up their impromptu hallway meeting. What do I need to be sorry for? Me walking through was not rude to them, yet it is so natural to apologize as if my presence created an issue. Well you know what, sorry, I am not sorry anymore.

We are not suppose to sit back and never give our input. It is not a terrible thing if we use our voice and speak up. There is nothing wrong with asking questions or providing answers. There is room enough in this world for women to lead and shine without apologizing for it. Absolutely nothing is wrong with speaking up, being ambitious, learning or asking questions. If you say sorry to seek approval or ask permission, then break that habit. Use the word sorry in appropriate settings. If you spill someone’s drink by accident, say you are sorry once and offer them a new one. That would be an appropriate usage of the word “sorry”. One must question the person, male or female, that is threatened by a lady’s presence. That lady should not have to apologize for being where she is intended to be. That would be an example of the wrong thing to be sorry about.

Apologizing when it is not necessary actually hurts our self esteem. In some way or another we feel we are not good enough, our voice does not matter, and that should warrant an apology. This should not be the case. Our voice does matter, our confidence rises when we do not apologize for something we did not do wrong. The more we speak up actually, the stronger our confidence becomes.

So what can you say, “sorry, I am not sorry” about now? Have you been apologizing because you received a promotion instead of celebrating it? Or perhaps you take care of your children and you did not clean the house so you have been unreasonably hard on yourself? Did you shrink back when you know you should have spoken up? Well today is the day and there is no moment better than now to stop apologizing for things you did not do wrong. Do not apologize for being a human, and most of all do not apologize because you are a woman. That Pantene commercial made a great point, there is no need to say sorry if you did no wrong.

Stand with me in no longer being sorry.

She Empowers: Stronger Than You Think

She Empowers: Stronger Than You Think

I have yet to find a woman whose heart has not weathered the storms of pain, disappointment, loneliness, and abandonment. In some way, life has broken us all; some into a million little pieces. But it is in these broken pieces where our strength is made whole and more resilient. It all comes down to how you view the setbacks you’ve encountered along the way.

 

How awesome is it to wake up each day knowing you aren’t fully whole, but yet you move about your day with purpose. Even if unintentionally, like going to work out of habit, you are able to accomplished tasks despite being broken. It takes strength to continue on in spite of your circumstances. Yes, you’re tired of being knocked down but it’s in refusing to stay in that dark place that screams out I AM STRONG. You just have to listen more intently to hear it.

 

Now is the time to press forward with a greater understanding of you capabilities and focus less on the situations that try to dibilitate you.

 

Here’s three truths you must learn to accept, while realizing you’re becoming stronger each day you refuse to quit.

1. You are not your past.

Everyone has a history. Unfortunately, for most of us, our past hurts have been contributed by someone else’s hand. But regardless of how dramatic your life has been, you’ve been given a future to invest in. Consider this your blank canvas to be painted on by your own hand. No longer do you have to carry the hurt and shame of past failures, bad habits, or how others have misused you. Give yourself permission to move on by believing you’re strong enough to do so. Whatsoever a man thinks in his heart is what he shall become. Think of the future you want; not the past that you’ve had.

 

2. Everyone faces adversity.

No, there is nothing wrong with you. There is no dark cloud that follows you. Life is filled with uncertainty and it is guaranteed that everyone will deal with their share of troubles. Does that give you permission to give up or sulk and question your existence? You can, but why waste your time stressing over circumstances you cannot change? Instead, believe there is a silver lining in your situation. Use it as an opportunity to grow stronger in your faith, hope, and love.

 

3. You are the creator of your happiness.

Everything around you is subject to change. People, feelings, your career, thoughts; all can change at any given moment. Don’t let your emotions be ruled by things you have very little to no control over. Utlimately, life is what YOU make it. Waiting for someone or something to come along to bring you joy is a mistake. Instead, make the decision to be happy. Make the choice to live stronger each day.

 

Tifany Berry is the founder and lead trainer of The Hard Glamour Team, a fitness brand dedicated to showing women their inner strength and true beauty through living a healthy lifestyle. When Tifany is not transforming lives, you can find her spending time with her three beautiful children, her loving fiancé, and enjoying a slice of pizza. Connect w/ Tifany: E-mail: thehardglamourteam@gmail.com Facebook LinkedIn
She Inspires: What Really Shapes Your World?

She Inspires: What Really Shapes Your World?

Close your eyes and think of a large yellow “M” with a red rectangle underneath it. Did you immediately think McDonald’s? Did you see food?

 

Now close your eyes and think of a beauty campaign for a cosmetic. Think of the model showing off her beautiful eyes with the new mascara on. What are you seeing? Is the model skinny? Does her skin appear flawless with to-die-for features?

 

I asked you to do these quick exercises to show you something. Now you may think that the pictures that you visualized were yours because they came from your mind. But the truth is, they were programmed there. Yes, all of your thoughts are not your own. You may not believe me or wish to not acknowledge that you do not think every thought for yourself.

 

That is ok. I simply want to share some thought provoking thoughts and allow you to take from it what you will.

 

From birth, we are constantly surrounded by images, icons, symbols, sounds that influence the way we perceive the world. I graduated with a Bachelors of Art in Advertising, and this is a topic I learned very quickly in the program – advertisers manipulate the psyche of consumers to promote, market and sell products to them. Plain and simple.

 

The reason you see a yellow “M” and think McDonald’s was due to the advertising put in place. The locations, color choices and amount of impressions per ad campaign were all very strategic. Tell me how many children can recognize McDonald’s by just a year of age? Did you know the colors yellow and red stimulated hunger and excitement, and red is also the first color babies can see?

 

So again, what you’ve experienced through your senses from birth to today has played a major role in shaping your perceptions and views of the world. Many of us are not even aware of this and let our minds run on autopilot. But, this is the best part – once you become aware, you can turn it all around for the better.

 

If there were any deposits made into your subconscious that have not been supportive to the life you desire to live, you can reverse it’s effects. How? The same way they were deposited there, by surrounding yourself with things that support you. If you have an inferiority complex, then you will want to surround yourself with images of equality, use self talk that supports you being worthy as anyone else, and surround yourself with like minded company who treats you as such.

 

But, the first step is awareness, and just by reading this article, you have gotten one step closer to eliminating unsupportive, negative mentalities. So, give yourself a pat on the back for taking the time out to better yourself, for just wanting more for yourself and for taking even just one step towards your best life possible.

 

You CAN shape your world. It all begins in your mind.

 

 

Crystal Scretching is a dreamer. A native of the small town of Bay Saint Louis, Mississippi, Crystal never allowed what she saw in her environment to shape the imaginations she held in her mind. Equipped with a spiritual foundation set by her parents, and a creativity and passion for art, she ventured to college at the University of Southern Mississippi where she earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Advertising and Graphic Communications. Crystal currently is a proud mother of her 3-year-old son, an entrepreneur, graphic designer and the Founder of her organization, MyWallofDreams.com. Her passion to inspire the world to greatness drives her pathway as she strives to motivate the masses. Author E-mail crystal.scretching@gmail.com Author Social Media Links Facebook Twitter Instagram

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