by Altimese Nichole | Jan 16, 2016 | Learn + Grow
It’s a new year and it’s time to get inspired! Check out these wonderful resources that can give your focus a boost:
- ZenHabits Radio: this is a blog turned podcast, full of inspiration. If you desire a boost to live your best life, this is for you!
- Why we have too few women leaders: Facebook COO, Sheryl Sandberg looks at why a smaller percentage of women than men reach executive levels within their careers — and offers 3 powerful pieces of advice to women aiming for the “C-suite.”
- Heather Lindsay YouTube Video: Founder and CEO of Pinky Promise– preacher, wife and mother, Heather Lindsay shares many intimate sermons about seasonal friendships, spending quality time with God, and more!
- Monificent11: Co-Founder of the Single Black Female project and media-maven, Monique truly conveys her heart through her Podcasts. It’s easy to want to listen to more, especially when the message is delivered with authenticity. She’s up and coming and worth the time of listening!
- The 5 AM Miracle Podcast: Created by Jeff Sanders, The 5 AM Miracle is a weekly podcast dedicated to dominating your day before breakfast.It has been proven that those who extremely productive make use of their time in the morning. This podcast can help your create the habit of morning productivity.
Any videos or podcasts that you currently listen to for inspiration that are not on the list? Share them with us!
by Torrie Oglesby | Nov 17, 2015 | Learn + Grow
For about a year now there’s been this saying going around: “You’re The Real MVP.” It’s extremely popular and people use it for even the silliest situations. For example, if someone goes and gets the group pizza, the group will say something like: “Thanks, you’re the real MVP.” However the saying originated from an amazing speech given by basketball player Kevin Durant, when he won the NBA’s Most Valuable Player Award for the 2013-2014 basketball season. In the speech, he talks about his mother and the sacrifices she made to make sure her sons were fed, clothed, off the streets and being set up for success. He ends it by telling her that she’s the real MVP and the crowd applauds him while his mother is moved to tears.
This speech led me to think about who’s my MVP? Who, without their help and guidance, would I be completely lost without? Who goes above and beyond for me that I often overlook or forget to express my gratitude towards? We all survive because of other people who help us. This could be helping us with our children, helping us with our spiritual lives, helping us during hard times, and helping us by being a helping hand whenever we need one. It’s so important to appreciate the people who are actively involved in your life and to let them know that they are your MVP. I believe your MVP can change from year to year. At times, it can be your parents and as you grow older it may change to a helpful spouse or a dedicated friend, either way let’s show these people that we value them.
This week I want you to identify your MVP. Who is your Most Valuable Player? After you identify them, come up with something you can do for them that shows your appreciation. Be creative, have fun, and GO BIG! Be generous with how you show your MVP your appreciation and love! Let them know you’re thankful for all their help this year and maybe even previous years and that you wouldn’t have made it without them!
With love and big smiles,
torrie
by Altimese Nichole | Nov 10, 2015 | Learn + Grow
Do you know the difference between being kind and being nice? To be nice means to display an agreeable demeanor or to appear friendly. Kindness is an act of intent to show a loving gesture toward another through behavior or good deeds.
As we’re quickly approaching the holiday season, we often think about great food, great laughs, and quality time with our loved ones. Unfortunately, this time of year also brings a lot of painful memories for many who suffer in silence.
It time for us to go beyond the surface of being nice to others and become more intentional through acts of kindness. For 30 days, I challenge you to complete at least one kind deed for 30 days. Here are some ideas to help you get started:
- Pay for the person’s coffee in front or behind you in the morning
- Pay for someone’s lunch
- Help someone bring grocery to their car
- Offer to help a friend with a tedious project or task
- If you know a family with a newborn, cook them a meal and bring it to them
- Offer to babysit for a night to help a couple have a much needed date night.
- Encourage someone to pursue their goals
- Write a letter of recommendation via LinkedIN for a colleague
- Surprise someone with a card in the mail
- Spark a “Pay It Forward” Sticky note challenge in your workplace
How and for who is totally up to you but feel free to use some of these to help you get started!
Do you have any more to add to the list? If so, please share them with the STRONG readers! We would love to hear them!
by Torrie Oglesby | Oct 25, 2015 | Learn + Grow
It’s 2015 and women are anything but one dimensional. We have stay-at-home moms that homeschool and stay-at-home moms who don’t. We have moms running multi-million dollar companies and moms going back to school to get the degree they’ve always wanted. We have women who are getting their masters and running a startup and women who breaking norms in film and television and the arts as a whole. We have women who make money off of YouTube. Women are so amazing to me. What we do, how much we do, how we do what we do and our ability to just do it, truly astonishes me. We live in the age of #GIRLBOSSES and its inspiring and overwhelming all at once. I’m personally, a mother of two, a writer and editor for STRONG and I run my own blog. I’m constantly taking off a hat and swapping it in for the next one. In a world that seems like we can have it all, can we actually really have it all?
My answer is yes, however, it’s not an easy yes.
You see, I wouldn’t want to be a woman in any other time period in history other than right now. At the same time, sometimes I wonder how easy it must of have been when women didn’t have the options to work, go to school or build companies. They didn’t have to balance it all, but they are the reason I take balancing it all so seriously. I think of all the women who had dreams like mine, visions like mine, and goals like mine yet weren’t able to perform those goals or see their visions come to pass because the times didn’t allow them to. That’s why we must fight hard and stubbornly, to have it all. We must give every aspect of our lives attention and nurture our business, children, husbands, and whatever else we have going on exactly with care. We must give everything in our lives time and when it is time to turn off business mode and enter into mommy mode we must do it, unapologetically.
Yes, YOU CAN HAVE IT ALL, but it’s not an easy yes. It’s a yes that we have to fight for. A yes that requires attention and nurture. Balance. I believe in you! Don’t stop working on your dream, don’t stop being the best mother you can be, don’t stop making date nights with your husband, and don’t stop kicking butt in school or at work! Do it all with spunk, humility, happiness and boldness. Continue to fight for it all and have it all for the women who came before us and the girls who are looking to us. We can do it.
With love and smiles,
Torrie.
by Altimese Nichole | Oct 20, 2015 | Learn + Grow
Who are you? Before answering this simply yet profound question, remember that who you are is never associated with an occupation, a person, or a thing. Who you are begins with the core essence of you that’s unseen to the natural eye. It’s your deepest desires and can be found in your darkest fears.
So—taking some time to think about it… who are you?
Truly learning the core of you takes time, patience, grace, and honesty. Here are some things that helped me along my journey of learning who I am at my core:
I read a lot of self-improvement books
Reading is fundamental. Most books are amazing but few can truly become life-changing. One book that helped me grow was “What to Do until Love Finds You” by Michelle Hammond McKinney. The first time I read this book was years ago but I still remember the moment of breakthrough: I was ending a horrible relationship and was slowly losing myself in a state of depression. One chapter of the book broke me down (literally). I cried for hours in my quiet house; the phone was on silent, the TV was off and the sound of my whimpers echoed. It was my moment of breakthrough with God. I couldn’t have experienced that moment without that book. Reading wasn’t only fundamental for my brain; reading became fundamental to my growth.
Self-Reflection
The older I become, the more my gift of influence and relationships become more apparent and clear. When facing difficult situations with people—I always self-reflect, asking myself HOW and WHY I responded the way I did. I also pay attention to how my thoughts react. That matters more than most realize.
I give grace… to MYSELF
In the process of learning myself, I learned things that I didn’t like. I wanted to change them but here’s the thing: if we could change ourselves on our own, we would have done it by now. We need God to help us change and grace is required through the process. If giving grace to yourself doesn’t come easy, remember the One that gives grace to you daily. If He can do it, we should certainly try our hardest to do the same too.
So, I let me ask again….
Who are you?
Seek. Discover. Evolve and love.
XOXO
![STRONG, Inc. [Simple Transitions Render Opportunity Necessary For Growth]](https://www.knowyourstrong.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/NewLogo.png)
Recent Comments