This past weekend was my birthday.  I had a wonderful time with my daughter Dominique and one of my best friends Rosa.  Although the weekend was amazing, I had a few moments of sadness, because I thought about my mom, which had she still been here I would have called to share with her how much fun we were having, non the less it was amazing and I know that she was looking over us.  I went to the casino and that was fun, but that is something that I would normally do with my husband and mom, so that experience wasn't the same, but I still had fun hanging with my girl Ro.

In between all of the fun stuff my daughter had on the itinerary, and it was packed I had some time to get a little rest.  I had even more time to reflect, because she did all of the driving and with the flight time that gave me the opportunity to think about some things.  

After the passing of my mom I realized that life for real can be short and death can be sudden and unexpected.  I also realized that every day is a gift and that I should be enjoying my life more and enjoying time with my family more whilst doing only the things that I love.  When I took a long hard look at my life, I realized that I wasn't using my gifts correctly and that I was still chasing money.  I love podcasting and I love helping people and I have these platforms set up, but I find myself chasing the new shinny objects, which is absolutely dangerous when you are trying to accomplish something.  I know that I love starting new things, so in my moments of reflection I had to figure out how to use my gifts to always start something new without starting something new all whilst doing what I love.

So this morning I did an assessment of my business and I already do podcasting almost daily, which allows me to tell new stories everyday.  I also realized that I already offer this amazing package called the NoiseMaker Spotlight that I definitely have not marketed correctly.  Now this service allows me to do what I love which is podcasting, create new profiles and add those profiles to my TV network.  Doing these profiles also allows me to help business owners get their business out there.  

I know that I will be doubling my workload, but this to me is part work and mostly passion.  I consider 2/3 of what I do passion and 1/3 is work.  That's because I love what I do.  

So I shared this with you just to let you know that sometimes you have rest, so that you can reflect and restart for a fresh new beginning on your journey.

Thanks for stopping by.

Until Next Time
Make It A Great Day!
Audrey

I had a Zoom call today with an organization about what I needed to do to land government contracts.  The presenter told me all of the steps it would take for me to make sure that I was compliant with the federal government guidelines to bid on projects.  As I listened to him I was really excited about positioning my company to possibly get a million dollar contract with the federal government.  

Once the call had ended I sat quietly to digest all of the information that I had just received.  The more I thought about the information that was shared with me the more I realized that going after government contracts did not fit into the life that I had designed for myself.  My new designer life is one of more fun and authenticity, and less stress all while making money.  Now don't get me wrong, I understand that a million dollar contract could really change my life for the better financially, but the stress that comes with that million dollar contract is not something I'm willing to take on.

I've spent so much time grinding and stressing about my business, I'm not willing to do that anymore.  My frame of mind right now is to work smart and have fun.  Right now I feel that chasing down government contracts will not be all that fun.  

My designer life consist of me hosting the Good Morning Podcast Monday-Thursday and writing blog posts weekly about things that interest me like business, things happening around Gwinnett and living my best life.  It also consist of me consulting with others who are stuck or who want to  start a business or podcast.  I want to share my entrepreneurial story and journey with others by being a guest on other people's podcast. 

I've spent the last 24 years working in my business that I'm sure that I missed out on a lot in life.  I have a granddaughter and I want to spend more quality time with her and my family.  I want to learn how to play the piano and take amazing pictures.  These are the things that make me happy and I'm looking forward to this new designer life that I'm creating for myself.

Hopefully my experience will inspire someone to follow their dream and create their designer life.  

The next phase of my life is making me a priority and I will not chase money, not even a million dollar contract.

I hope you find some inspiration in this story.

Until Next Time
Make It A Great Day!
Audrey

The last month and a half have been tough, but I'm getting stronger every day.  The loss of my mom to Covid was a terrible blow to my family and I, but by the grace of God we are all getting a little stronger every day.  

My mom suffered with COPD, which we think came from her smoking in the past.  She started smoking at a young age and stopped in 2009 when one of oldest brothers was diagnosed with lung cancer.  He could not beat the cancer and passed about in July 2009.  My mom stopped smoking in March 2009 and by September 2010 she had COPD and breast cancer.  She had breast cancer twice and survived both bouts, but the COPD was tough.  She struggled with it for the next 11 years where she was on oxygen 24/7.  She was on the best medications that were on the market, but slowly her breathing got worse.  Then the week of Christmas we all contracted Covid and she did not make it.

As I tried to make some sense of what had just happened, I had to start thinking about my life and taking my health more seriously.  I've been overweight my entire life.  I had gastric bypass surgery in 2018 and have lost 120 pounds, but I got comfortable and my weight hit a plateau.  Although I feel great, by medical standards I am still overweight.  

My mom worried about me working all the time.  She would always say to me aren't you going to take some time off?  I would work on weekends and holidays, but I love what I do, so for me it wasn't really work.  As I look back, I was so focused on chasing the dream that I missed out on precious time that I could have spent with her and taking care of myself at the same time.

Now that I'm starting to feel stronger after her passing, I am taking better care of myself.  I purchased a juicer, so my husband I are juicing a couple of times a week.  One of our key ingredients is ginger.  Ginger is good for inflammation which we both have.  We are mixing the ginger with lemon and honey and taking ginger shots.  Another thing I am so guilty of is not taking great care of my hair.  My scalp is so dry and my edges were thin.  I started to use a product called Edge Naturale Follicle Enhancer.  I love this stuff, because my scalp is so dry and itchy and when I put this in my hair it makes my scalp feel so tingly and refreshed and my hair is starting to get thicker where it was thinning out at.

I found this all in on supplement Immune Defense, which I am excited about because I was taking about 8 different supplements a day.  You can get this supplement on Amazon for about $30 for a double pack.  I took a pack and my husband took a pack.  At the beginning of the Covid Pandemic we were hearing take Zinc, Vitamin C, Elderberry and some of everything else and because we didn't want to get Covid we did that.  Needless to say taking all of this stuff didn't stop Covid, because we all got it at the same time.  Our cases wasn't as severe as my Moms and maybe the supplements had something to do with that I don't know, but I will keep taking them.

So, you can see that I am on a journey to excellent health.  We only get one life and we should take care of that one life as best we can.  Life can be short why not decide to live it as long as you can as healthy as you can.
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Until Next Time
Make It A Great Day!
Audrey