Category: unique design

Why You Should Create Daily
Apparently I’m writing a series “Why you should…daily.” I didn’t set out to write a series, but here we are. Today’s topic is why you should create daily (as cleverly demonstrated in the title, a meta homage to unintentionally creating a blog series), but if you want to check the other posts in the series, please click “Why You Should Read Daily” and “Why You Should Write Daily.”

Let’s start with what it means to create. Merriam Webster lists the following definitions for create.
- “to bring into existence”
- “to produce or bring about by a course of action or behavior”
- “to produce through imaginative skill”
Even if you’re a self-avowed uncreative, chances are good you already create something every day. Do you cook? Then you create? Do you doodle? Then you create? Do you engineer? Then you create. Do you play a sport? Then you create.

Like with daily writing, a key to reaping the benefits of daily creating is doing so with intentionality. Once you recognize and focus on the act of creating, and determine to incorporate it as a habit in your life, you open yourself to growing in the following ways.
1. Improved problem-solving ability – Creating helps you see new and unlikely solutions in every aspect of your life.
2. Increased discipline – If you can allow yourself to be creative for at least a few minutes every day, then you can allow yourself to do something else for a few minutes every day.
3. Expanded creativity – The more you create, the more you create.
4. Increased productivity – Recognizing that you have to allot time for creativity will help you examine how you spend time generally.
5. Enlarged skillset – Not only will you learn how to do whatever you’re doing better, you’ll open yourself to learning how to create new things.
6. Heightened self-awareness – Creating allows you to learn what you enjoy, what you believe, and what you think and then discover ways to express those revelations and share them with the world.
If you’re interested in learning how LELA House can enrich your creating, sign up for LELA House emails HERE.

And comment below with what you’re creating currently. My current creating projects are in the comments, too.
April 20, 2021
Why You Should Write Daily
Last week I posted about why you should read daily, and I thought I would follow that with reasons to write every day. Like with reading, a Google search yielded copious results extolling the virtues of a daily writing habit, so please seek out additional reasons besides what I will discuss in this post, if you are interested in finding out more.

You already write daily. Building on a practice you already have is much easier than starting afresh. At some point today, you will write a text, an email, a to-do list, a grocery list, a reminder on a post-it, a journal entry, something. Since you already write every day, the next step is to do so with intention and build on your good work.

You will write with intention. Now that you recognize you write every day, you can start to focus on outcomes from your writing besides the obvious boons of communicating with a friend or colleague and making sure to buy all the ingredients for your recipe.
- You can write to learn about the world. What do you want to know? Make a list. What do you already know about that topic? Make a list. What connections can you make between two seemingly disparate ideas (eg: falconry and the color wheel)? Writing helps you investigate, categorize, define, and explain concepts.
- You can write to learn about yourself. Keep a dream journal or a log of your daily activities. Write down what frustrated you today. Write about what you’re grateful for. Writing helps you reflect, clarify your thinking, and keep a record of how far you have come. Don’t believe me? Look at something you wrote a few years ago and what you write about that same thing today. You’re not the same person you were then, and your writing can help you see your growth.
- You can write to relax. This closely aligns with writing to learn about yourself. Writing down your frustrations, fears, anxieties, and ideas gets those concepts out of your head and onto the page. Once you’ve corralled them, those thoughts no longer take up valuable mental space and energy, leaving you room to unwind and destress.
You will become a better writer. Writing is a skill you can learn and practice. The more you do it, the better you will become at it.

You just might change the world. Entire world shifts and revolutions have been sparked by the written word. Of course I mean famous documents such as the bible, the Declaration of Independence, and Amanda Gorman’s “The Hill We Climb,” but I also man the notes and scribblings and journal entries that daily inspire people to live boldly and courageously. Writing is a transformational tool with the power to reshape individuals and entire societies.

If you’re interested in learning how LELA House can enrich your writing, sign up for LELA House emails HERE.

And comment below with what you’re writing currently. My current writing projects are in the comments, too.
April 13, 2021
Say it with me, “I BELIEVE!”

The first step of a writing mindset is belief. Check out this video where I discuss just that.

April 7, 2021
Why You Should Read Daily

I googled “Why you should read daily” and got 3.5 billion hits in .99 seconds. I recognize you don’t need me to tell you why you should read every day, but I feel like I have a little something to add to the discussion.

You’ll have fun. If you read what you enjoy, you will enjoy reading. Often we think we should read this thing or that thing, and that’s when reading becomes a chore. Sometimes we are pressed to read things we don’t like, but just because you’re reading something you don’t like doesn’t mean you can’t find something you do like.

You’ll discover what you like to read. The more you read, the wider your reading selections become. And in broadening your reading diet, you’ll learn you enjoy more genres and styles than you previously imagined.

You’ll learn about yourself. Reading puts you in the middle of situations you may have never encountered in your real life. Through these opportunities, you learn how you feel about certain topics, how you believe you would react in certain situations, and how much stress you can take before hurling a book across a room.

You’ll learn about others. Reading puts you in the middle of situations you may have never encountered in your real life. Yep, I just said it, but I’m saying it again. Through these opportunities, you’ll learn about perspectives that differ from your own, about mores and value systems you didn’t know existed, and how to empathize with people who aren’t like you.

You’ll become critically engaged. Reading forces you to examine writing patterns and styles. You may not recognize you’re doing so, but the more you read, the more you recognize what works and what doesn’t work in writing. You learn what persuasive arguments look like, how to describe a beautiful sunset, and how to keep an audience engaged. And as you learn these things, you begin applying them to your own writing. Additionally, you learn more about topics that matter to you and about the world more broadly. Reading makes you an informed citizen of the world, all without leaving your comfy chair.

You’ll change the world. Reading helps you learn, and learning changes you. Once you’ve learned something, you live differently based on the knowledge you’ve acquired. The new way you show up in the world affects those around you and around them and so on and so on, until your circle of influence reaches infinity.

Do you want to learn your unique design, become critically engaged and change the world? Read a book. Who knows where it will take you.

If you’re interested in learning how LELA House can enrich your reading, sign up for LELA House emails HERE.

And comment below with what you’re reading currently. My current reads are in the comments, too.

April 6, 2021
Introducing LELA House

I’ve been posting about big changes coming to LELA House while the website is under construction, so I thought I’d make a little video introducing LELA House and what LELA House community as all about.

In short, LELA House community is about helping you discover how God uniquely created you to make a difference in the world. Please join my mailing list to stay connected to all that is on the LELA House horizon and begin to discover and live out God’s purpose in your life. You can join my mailing list today by clicking HERE.

March 31, 2021
Feeling Flow, Discovering Purpose
How often do we hear people telling us about finding what puts us in a flow state? I read about it often. Lots of good articles about flow exist. According to Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (the father of flow) the following eight attributes characterize flow (https://positivepsychology.com/mihaly-csikszentmihalyi-father-of-flow/).
1. Complete concentration on the task;
2. Clarity of goals and reward in mind and immediate feedback;
3. Transformation of time (speeding up/slowing down);
4. The experience is intrinsically rewarding;
5. Effortlessness and ease;
6. There is a balance between challenge and skills;
7. Actions and awareness are merged, losing self-conscious rumination;
8. There is a feeling of control over the task.
I’ve been thinking about flow for a few years now, and I never knew what got me into a flow state. I never felt like I was in a flow state. Then it happened to me twice.

The first time I was reading a book, and I realized I’ve spent a lifetime in flow state while reading. All books don’t take me into flow, but the most engaging ones do. I completely concentrate on the book while other concerns fall away. I have goals, rewards, and immediate feedback in mind as I read, even though I wasn’t cognizant of that. I read to learn, to find myself in the world, to be entertained, to experience beautiful writing. Those are both my goal and my reward, and I can tell whether or not I am getting that immediately. Time definitely transforms. I could read for an entire day and not realize it. I find the act of reading itself pleasurable, and I venture to it for my own purposes. It is intrinsically rewarding. I read with ease, but the best reading material challenges me with vocabulary, structure, context and content. I simultaneously lose myself to reading, yet I recognize I’m controlling my reading endeavors. Yes, all eight hold true for me.

The other time I was in a flow state, I was creating an event calendar for LELA House. I was sitting in bed reading my bible and had an idea. I almost never interrupt my bible reading for anything, but I knew I needed to write down what was on my mind, so I dashed to my office, grabbed my laptop, got back under the covers and began planning. I figured if I got the inspiration while reading God’s word, then He must have work for me to do. Five hours later, I realized I desperately needed to go to the bathroom. I hadn’t bathed. I had overlooked breakfast (and I never skip meals). I normally would have gone to the bathroom at least twice in that time span. It was actually lunch time, but I didn’t even feel like eating. My entire morning routine was destroyed, and I was oddly excited about it. I went to the bathroom, crawled back into bed with my computer, and settled back in for another two hours, when the need to relieve myself and eat forced me up. Seven hours seems excessive to me to work on an event calendar, but I certainly experienced flow while creating it. I had a problem to solve that engaged and challenged me. I got to research. I got to think, plan, write, and color code. More importantly, I got to orchestrate ways to serve people by helping them explore life, learning, literacy, and creativity.

And I’m realizing where I find flow coincides with what God created me to do in the world.

God created me to support and equip people as they discover the work God created them to do. I do this through helping people explore themselves, their passions, and their creativity through coaching, reading and writing practices, and community connection.

As a virtual education enrichment community where seekers, dreamers, and visionaries explore life, learning, literacy, and creativity through coaching, courses, and community, that’s what LELA House is all about. If you are seeking your next step in life, LELA house can help support and equip you to discover your purpose, practice your passion, and grow to your next level.

Currently LELA House is undergoing construction, but please join my mailing list to stay connected to all that is on the LELA House horizon. More importantly, joining my mailing list will help you discover and live out God’s purpose in your life. You can join my mailing list today by clicking HERE.
March 30, 2021
What’s Your Focus?

Happy Monday! Happy March!

A new Monday in a new month is a great time to think about your focus. What is your focus today? How important is it?

For your journaling prompt today, answer those 2 questions. What is your focus today? How important is it?

If you find you’re focusing on something that isn’t important, take another shot.

March 1, 2021
Clarifying Values Workshop Tomorrow – 2/23/21!

I will be conducting a complimentary interactive workshop tomorrow at 11a PT/ 12p MT/ 1p CT/ 2p ET to help you clarify your values and create your own personal values statement.

Why create a personal values statement?

Having a personal values statement is a great way to make sure your current career and projects, as well as future opportunities, align with your core being. A personal values statement serves as a reminder of what is and is not negotiable in your life and a benchmark against which you can judge whatever comes your way.

Intrigued? To prep yourself for the workshop, or just as a good personal exercise, you can do a little journaling about your values. Today’s journaling prompt is to write down four characteristics you value and why.

I hope you can join me tomorrow!

Click here to register!

February 22, 2021
Happy Birthday to Me!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!

I just realized what I want for my birthday, which is in one week!

Normally for my birthday I convince some of my friends to go an adventure with me. We’ve gone rock climbing, practiced archery, rented a party bus, and learned Irish dancing. This year, however, our best idea is to stay at home, so we can care for everyone’s health. In the vein of caring for one another, I would like to serve people for my birthday.

By January 5, 2021, I would love to have 100 women join Sistahs on the Doctoral Journey, a community for black women pursuing doctorates, because we need to support one another.

Pursuing a doctorate is isolating work, especially once you’ve finished the coursework phase of your program. At this point you find yourself the captain of your ship but with no idea how to get where you’re going. Research is lonely work, and crafting your ideas in such a way to gain the approval of your committee is challenging. It often feels hopeless.

Maybe you’ve begun to believe the following myths.

*That strong black women don’t need help.
*That no one understand what you’re going through.
*That strong black women don’t need self-care.
*That self-care only looks like a spa day, when in reality it can look like community, crafting, reading, and writing.
*That you’re smart and accomplished and shouldn’t need any help.
*That strong black women don’t break down.
*That you’re an impostor.
*That you don’t have time for help.
*That somehow getting help is a sign of weakness.
*That getting help will make you look like “less than” people expect.
*That you’ll disappoint people by acknowledging your path is difficult.

Here’s what I want you to understand, however.

*That the process is lonely but you don’t have to tackle it alone.
*That you’ll never finish if you don’t take time to take care of yourself.
*That your journey will be shorter with community support.
*That writing is a skill you can learn and practice and get better at.
*That your life doesn’t have to stop, but you do need strategies for how to manage school, family, work, and everything else.
*That reading and writing outside of your field are good ways to take care of yourself and learn and grow.
*That being creative unleashes creativity in all areas of your life.
*That connecting with other women and books and writing will not only provide support, but also push your thinking.

Sistahs on the Doctoral Journey is a place for you to connect with other women going through what you’re going through, find support, learn ways to practice self care, and get writing help.

Joining the community is free, and being a member gives access to posts, which community members can comment on. This is a way for us to share our struggles, encourage each other, and take some real-world steps to move forward in our doctoral programs.

In addition to the free portion of the community, Sistahs on the Doctoral Journey offers opportunities to connect monthly with other women, small mastermind groups to form support systems, and life and writing coaching.

Why am I doing this? Because I needed help while going through my doctoral journey, and I didn’t even recognize it. I was lonely and depressed and couldn’t see a way out. I don’t want that for anyone else. So I’ve combine my personal experiences with my training as a life coach, and my 20+ years of teaching writing, to create a support system so you don’t have to follow the same path I did.

I just started the community a couple of weeks ago, so 100 members by my January 5, 2021 may seem out of reach. I know, however, there are women out there looking for support on their doctoral journeys, and I believe in big goals. Like getting a doctorate. We aren’t women who seek to be small, so I’m going for big!

If you are a sistah on your doctoral journey, click below to learn more and join the community. If you’re not, please share this with someone who is.

Thank you for helping me make my birthday wish come true!

Sistahs on the Doctoral Journey

December 29, 2020
Sistahs on the Doctoral Journey

As you know, I’ve been shifting and refining my coaching focus since February. Well, here it is December, and I’m refining again. I’m shifting to serve black women on their doctoral journeys. All of my moves since February have been leading me here, and I’m excited about what’s on the horizon.

Part of that horizon includes starting a membership site. I’m in the mood to get my projects underway, so I created it today! It’s called Sistahs on the Doctoral Journey.

I created a membership site where women can connect with one another through posts I’ll add weekly, monthly events, mastermind groups, and 1:1 coaching.

If you resonate with this shift, I invite you to become a member. If you don’t personally resonate with this shift, I invite you to share this information with someone who does.

Please check out Sistahs on the Doctoral Journey and consider joining. Let me know if you have any questions.

December 10, 2020

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