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Lynn Anderson
Coaching4Abundance
1310 Lakehaven Pkwy
McDonough, GA 30253

www.coaching4abundance.com

Email: lynn.anderson@coaching4abundance.com

Introduction

We women know how to lead and succeed in the business world, and the numbers back it up. Women have stepped out of the home environment and into careers at an increasing rate ― in 2008, women accounted for 47 percent of the labor force, up from 40 percent in 1975 ― and we are showing that there is no doubt that we should be there. Between 1997 and 2002, women-owned businesses increased their employment by 70,000; during that same time period, businesses owned by men lost 1 million employees. Women also are central to a company’s success in the corporate environment. Research done at the CERAM Business School in France in 2009 showed companies with a higher ratio of women in management coped more successfully with the global financial crisis. Professor Michel Ferrary’s study looked at 32 major companies in the CAC 40 (a French stock market index), comparing the ranks of female managers to the performance of the company. Companies with high ranks of women managers all performed better than the CAC 40 average.

But as the number of women in the workforce has risen, the anxieties, stress, and feelings of being overwhelmed and overworked have gone up as well.

We want to be treated equally in the workplace in terms of opportunities, which means we don’t want to ask for special favors because of our gender, either. The demands of work can weigh heavily on us, however, because as women enter the workforce, we do not give up an equal share of our responsibilities in the home. Women still do the majority of housework, and we are still the primary caregivers for children (though this has shifted in recent years as men become more involved in child rearing). While we might expect that our duties will lessen as children grow up, in many families the care-giving focus simply shifts, as we become the primary caregivers (or at least helpers) for our aging parents.

Finding a “work-life balance” can seem impossible. Many of us (particularly new mothers) describe a constant undertone of guilt and worry — when we are at work, we worry about our families, and when we are with our families, we worry about our work.

So what can be done to help women unleash their power and continue to help businesses grow and succeed? How can more women succeed in rather than succumb to the challenges of balancing their personal and professional lives?

What we need is for more women to unleash the Woman Warrior within them, creating a new paradigm for business in America today.

Some women might shy away from the term “warrior.” It sounds too forceful, too pushy, too — well, manly. We are often more comfortable as “nurturers.” And it’s fine and good to be a nurturer, but women need to take on some warrior traits as well in order to survive and thrive in our new reality.

According to the Random House Dictionary, warrior refers to “a person who shows or has shown great vigor, courage, or aggressiveness.” Warrior codes often highlight virtues such as mercy, courage, and loyalty. Women warriors in fictional work are often portrayed as strong female personalities, determined in the pursuit of their goals and often eager to take on typical “man’s work” such as fighting wars or performing manual labor to accomplish those goals. A Woman Warrior is not a damsel in distress but a lioness, eager to meet every challenge put in front of her.

These are the traits our times require us to cultivate. You need to find the Warrior within you — a powerful, heartfelt force that will sustain and inspire you in everything you do at work and at home. Setting this Warrior free creates a new way of working that incorporates and creates success for all dimensions of your life. If we women can change the way Americans work, leveraging our passion and focus on helping others, what a great movement that would be!

As a working woman, you face numerous challenges and opportunities each day. What you do with these opportunities will make you a great warrior that others can follow. What you believe in, what you value, what is in your heart is what has to come out and drive your actions through each day.

Athena, the Greek warrior goddess, is a symbol of strength, wisdom, and passion. Living your life and your career through your heart and having it shine for everyone to see, whatever color or spectrum you produce, is what will make you a hero, a real warrior, like Athena.

I encourage each of you to unleash the Woman Warrior within you, to not take no for an answer (or do not, could not, should not), and to enjoy all life’s dimensions using just the right perspective from your heart to guide you. Taking on every challenge put in front of you is not necessarily the best answer. Focusing clearly and forcibly on the opportunities you hold most dear can win the war. Create positive momentum with every step you take, making choices that inspire passion within you.

• • •

My journey in finding a true balance between my professional and personal lives started more that 30 years ago. I left my safe home in Georgia for a strange new frontier at the Air Force Academy and never looked back (though I did manage to get back to Georgia!). I have been lucky to travel all around the world — to India, Australia, France, Sudan, Turkey, Germany, and more, including visiting every state in the United States. Wherever I go, I have met some amazing, wonderful and powerful women (yes, some men too) who live their lives to the fullest, enjoying their passions while making a difference in the world around them, being true to who they are and what they want to be. I’ve learned many things through this networking, but the value of merging fun and friends into everything I do is one that has stayed with me throughout my career.

I eventually realized (you’ll read more about my journey in Chapter 1) that my life’s purpose includes using what I’d learned from these amazing people and through my own experiences to help others on their own journeys.

One step on my life purpose path was the development of a working women’s leadership profiling system, which helps women understand how our values and what is in our hearts can be accentuated based on the leadership style that we have within us. This system, called the Working Woman’s Warrior Leadership Spectrum (W3LS)TM, can help you understand what leadership profile you are today, what strengths and what areas of improvement you might want to focus on, and how using your true inner feelings can help you be a strong, confident leader not only in your career but in your life in general.

Another step on my journey is the creation of this book. I wanted to share some “tips” to help other women and busy professionals really learn from myself and others, true to the values of working women warriors, following their hearts and what works for them while providing some fun and inspiration to those that read this book along the way. A joyful, satisfied woman is one who is true to her values and accentuates her positives. I hope this book will allow you to find your true inner self and create a unique brand that is all about who you are, not bogged down in who you think others want you to be.

How to use this book

I have paired the book with a workbook journal so that you can create a vision of your unique “Ideal Warrior” that works as motivation for you. These tips and activities are not a one-size-fits-all approach to success as a leader or as a person, but hopefully they will help you to start living your life to the fullest and stop blaming anyone else for its success (or lack thereof). Within you is a powerful, wonderful individual who can reach any goal that you set out to reach and who can find joy in all you do. Once you can view each situation as a learning experience and start creating positive momentum, then life’s burdens seem lighter, and you will see more sunshine and heart rather than the rain in your life.

I encourage you to use my workbook and complete the W3LS TM survey to work through your path to success. You can download your workbook as well as particulate in the survey at www.coaching4abundance.com/store (under the ebook tab). I encourage you to create an activity group with your friends, coworkers, associates, book club, networking group, or family to go chapter by chapter through this book, sharing your journey and progress together. Also, the featured appetizers and drinks are meant to be shared and experienced together with the overview and sharing of each chapter’s tip. So get a book club organized (or use one that is already in place) or another group of gals and start unleashing your Woman Warrior within. Sharing the experience and journey with others can be inspiring and uplifting.

I hope that many women will find the courage to lead through their hearts, sharing their gifts with others and embracing their strengths, not bowing down to their fears or living based on someone else’s norms.

Each chapter also includes three features:

ABUNDANCE: You’ll be able to follow the story of Abundance, who is on her own journey toward becoming a powerful Woman Warrior. Her experiences serve as some fun food for thought on how these tips might transform you should you care to follow them, creating positive momentum and change to sustain you.

NOURISHMENT FOR THE JOURNEY: Cheers to YOU and living YOUR LIFE to the fullest! I hope you also enjoy the healthy appetizers and drinks provided to support you and add fun along the way. I chose to incorporate this dimension of the book to allow you to enjoy the journey, maybe with friends and loved ones, as well as to not take life so seriously and to enjoy each step you take. I wanted the food and beverages to also include an element of healthy living, because I love the idea that something that helps me unwind for the day and something that is healthy for my body can be part of the same experience. Each drink includes both alcoholic and nonalcoholic versions for you to enjoy, and information about the health benefits of the ingredients used in both the drinks and the appetizers is provided.

FEATURED WOMAN WARRIOR: I wanted you to hear from some of my friends, some connections in my network, and other busy women professionals I have met along my journey so they could share their advice and adventures regarding their experiences with these tips, should you get bored hearing just what I have to say. They have inspired me, and I know they will inspire you as well. These real-life Woman Warriors are some great examples to follow.

• • •

As someone who is an avid tennis player and true Southerner from Georgia, I can say I adore the sunshine. So I live to keep that sun shining each and every moment of my life, looking forward to both the sunrise and sunset of each day. Do I experience a few showers along the way? You bet. But when I do, I quickly look at the possibilities and chose an action that gets me back to the sunshine as quickly as possible, enjoying every step of the journey along the way.

Your “sunshine” may not be quite as literal as mine, but I hope that these tips will help you find your own spot of warmth and joy. They are intended to provide some thought-provoking moments that can help you recognize what is right for you, the “ideal you” that you want to be, and then inspire you to act and start being it right now. There is no better time than now, and there is nothing better than being joyful (not just happy as you will read later) and content with yourself (and your life).

Each of us has faced challenges in our lives and looked to overcome them. What we do when we are confronted with those difficulties is what makes us who we are right now. Who you are right now is not the same person you will be 10 minutes from now or a day from now, and it is always your choice which path you take and what changes you make. You are in fact responsible for your destiny.

I hope this book allows you to look within, find the answers you need to propel you energetically forward, and live your life of abundance. The world will be a much better place with powerful women leaders helping to guide the way.

• • •

Abundance

Overwhelmed and overworked

Our story begins with a working woman who is overworked, overwhelmed, and just cannot seem to find the energy to get through the day.

Abundance is a wife, mother, and manager in a corporate job. While you would think she has a wonderful life, she just doesn’t seem to be able to handle all her responsibilities and feels like life is getting the best of her. I’m sure you can relate to some of Abundance’s challenges? She can’t fit in her time at the gym, her laundry and dishes are piling up, her paperwork consumes her desk, and she can’t find time to feed/walk her dog much less go out on a date with her husband. How can she manage all of this? Her head is just about to explode. So, let’s see how Abundance’s journey unwinds as part of her transformation to unleash the powerful Woman Warrior within her! I’m hopeful with the tools and activities in this book she can really get to know herself and allow the Woman Warrior within her to shine for all to see. I hope you too use this journey to help you reach your full potential, lead your life of abundance, and become the Woman Warrior you were meant to be.

• • •

I am so overwhelmed with trying to balance my work, my family, and my friends that I have no time for me. How can I expect to help others if I can’t help myself? I need to find a way to balance my life better. I need to take charge and learn how to control things as they happen rather than letting things control me. I really need to find that Woman Warrior within me who can help me win this battle. I definitely believe that these tips will help me become more in control and lead a much more productive, purposeful life. I feel so out of control that I can’t wait to begin. I just can’t continue going on this way.

Special Featured Woman Warrior (in-memoriam)

Michelle Haywood

In this world, some very special individuals can take life’s challenges and just laugh in their face. My sister’s niece, Michelle Haywood, was one of those people.

She had a very special personality that would not allow anyone to stop her from reaching her goals. She had a single focus, and that was to be a success. In the end, Michelle was one of the most successful people I know.

This past February, Michelle left us in body — but not in spirit. It is her spirit that I want to emphasize with this memoriam. Michelle’s confidence and determination as well as positive spirit allowed us all to understand that no matter what our goals, dreams, or challenges are in this world, how we “show up” each day reflects the real Woman Warrior that is inside us. Michelle never stopped “showing up” with her smile, quick wit, and insatiable thirst for knowledge, no matter what roadblocks or challenges she faced. To tell us more about Michelle’s journey, I asked her mom (Tami McLean) and sister (Katherine Stokes) to share with us Michelle’s story.

Here are Tami and Katherine’s wonderful words about Michelle, a true Woman Warrior.

• • •

Michelle was a fighter from the start; born three weeks early, she came out fighting. She was always very headstrong and stubborn. Little did we know how vital that was going to be for her journey. She always knew exactly what she wanted and was determined, by any means necessary, to get there. She always had such a zest for life, and it seemed that she always knew something that we didn’t. Even looking back on her baby pictures, it seemed she always had a mischievous look on her face. Michelle was always very healthy growing up. During her senior year in high school, she was recognized for perfect attendance for all thirteen years of school. That not only demonstrates how healthy she was, but also her passion for learning. She graduated in 1999 and went on to study animation at the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD). It was there that she began to exhibit signs of illness. She started having seizures and losing feeling in her extremities. She came home in 2001 and we knew how severe it was when she was forced to walk with a cane. This was the same person who was so active in softball, hockey, drama, and marching band. It was very sobering to see her deteriorate right before our eyes.

Because of her illness and the extensive tests that the doctors were running, Michelle had to withdraw from SCAD. She lived with her dad for a few years and attended a small community college in Alabama. She graduated from Southern Union with an Associate’s Degree in Computer Science in May 2007. In August 2007, she started attending the Art Institute of Atlanta. She managed to accomplish all of this while she had numerous surgeries: brain surgery to remove a tumor, biopsies on her brain, and surgery to remove pancreatic cancer. Michelle fought so hard, not only for her life but for her dream of becoming an animator.

Day in and day out she fought to get out of bed and get ready for school. She had multiple obstacles to overcome on a daily basis. She would not let anything stand in her way, not her physical disabilities, the pain, the naysayers, the weather, nothing. She would ride her motorized wheelchair in the snow and rain just to make it to class. In 2008, we had a rude awakening. The girl who had beaten the odds so many times was faced with another huge setback: Her brain tumor had returned with a vengeance. She had yet another brain surgery, and later we discovered, in 2009, that she would need chemo as well.

Even facing death, Michelle pushed on. Toward the end, I (Tami) would watch her get up every morning, which would take everything she had, to attend school. She would not let anything stand in her way ― not her ill health, not even her mom. She had a sarcastic personality ― at times, to get through her day, at the end of her life, she’d say all she wanted to do was graduate and start making money so she could take care of her family. She wanted to continue with her passion, which was finishing her degree. Even the day that she died she wanted to work on her homework and study for a test she had the next day. School meant more to Michelle than succumbing to her cancer. She was going to fight. Fight for her life, and for her dream. She just didn’t know that this time no one would be strong enough, not even her.

She fought daily and as far as she was concerned, cancer was not going to win!!! She was sunshine to my day (Tami)…You might get frustrated with her, but in the end, she would make you smile! On her last day on earth, she was still fighting me on going to school on Monday. That is how dedicated and committed she was. Well, God had a different plan and it didn’t include school. She had suffered enough, and it was time to go home and be with him. She is up there now watching over us, running around and laughing. She filled my heart when she was here and still fills my heart now that she is gone. She will always be our hero and will be waiting for us on the other side.

In December of 2009, when her tumor had shrunk with the help of chemo, she told me (Katherine) that she believed she was meant to do something great. I told her I thought so too. Later, after her death on February 28, 2010, I realized what that was. She inspired us all to lead a full life. To actually live and not just stand idly by and let life happen around us.

Michelle always lived by these standards in life: tell the people whom you love that you love them, do what you are passionate about, fight for the ones you love and for what you believe in, don’t let the negative outweigh the positive, and never give up. She was the best big sister anyone could ever have. She always protected me, loved me, and inspired me. I hope to be strong like her and fight for what I love as much as she did. Never let life deter you from what you want. Bad things happen, and they happen to everyone, but it is how you respond to those bad things that makes someone successful. Negative attitudes never let anyone get to where they want to go.

We love you, Shelley. You are a true inspiration and definitely a Woman Warrior in all that you have done.

“Dream big and dare to fail.” — Norman D. Vaughan

Woman Warrior Tip 1:

Let your heart lead you toward victory.

What is your vision of greatness? If you find yourself in a rut, unhappy with the life path you are on, quite often the answer is way back at the beginning of your journey — before you set one foot out the door, before you pack the gear for the trip, before you even truly wake up in the morning. If you want to become the greatest version of yourself, you have to be able to see in your mind’s eye and know in your heart what that greatest version is. You need to create the ideal vision of you, the strong Woman Warrior within you who is able to live her dreams through her heart, and then act on that vision.

If you can do nothing else with this book, please use this first tip whenever you feel that life is not going the way you would like it to go. Working harder is not going to get you out of the rut you are in — you’ll only dig yourself in deeper. Instead, you need to stop and figure out where you truly want to go. Often, that means changing directions — backing up instead of pushing forward, or veering one way or another off your current path. A warrior doesn’t forge ahead blindly; she is led by her mission in life and uses her heart as a guide, and her attitude toward her current situation is aligned with her vision of where she wants to go.

Knowing and living by your life purpose allows you to align your feelings and values to what you are trying to accomplish. When you live life based on what you believe is your real purpose, that core mission you were put on this earth to achieve, you will be living your true values, and you will create an inner peace within yourself and those around you. When you act in a way that is at odds with your life purpose, negative energy and doubt creep into your life.

I have experienced, and continue to experience, many challenges in my life and working career. These challenges serve as opportunities to look at whether I am heading in the right direction — and to do that, I need to know what that “right direction” is. When I was able to articulate my vision of greatness for myself — that I want to help others, work with people, and focus on positive results — that was when I really was able to excel in all aspects of my life.

Knowing and following your purpose in life is one of the first steps of good leadership, because when you are guided by your personal mission, it shows. Living life with a purpose inspires others to do so as well.

An inspiring and powerful woman leader is someone who aligns and uses the major dimensions of her life in a purposeful, passionate, and positive way. This includes nourishing and growing her thoughts (mind), her feelings or emotions (heart), her strength (body), and her spirit in support of her life’s purpose. When mind, body, heart and soul combine in support of one goal, the results shine outward in a positive, passionate way. That is when great leaders are produced. I think of Mother Teresa, Oprah Winfrey, Sarah Palin, and even Cher. These women are very different, yet they are all powerful women warriors. We can look at these role models to help us envision what a strong Woman Warrior might look like.

Your vision, though, has to speak to you, not to anyone else. If you do not “own it,” you will not show the passion and peace that resonate outward for others to see and experience. You have to love “the skin you are in.” Each of us has a unique gift that should be shared with others. That gift is your unique brand, your mission statement, your life purpose, what you were born to do and what is in your DNA to accomplish. You just have to tap into your heart, mind, body and soul to find it.

• • •

When people seek to transform themselves, many want to rehash old problems, old thoughts, and old failures.

Not here.

On our journey, we are going to create a vision of greatness for you — an Ideal Warrior — that is exciting, wonderful and full of possibilities. But before we jump in and look at what that new attitude, what that new self, looks like, we need to get in the right frame of mind.

When I was a consultant at Capgemini and part of many ASE (Accelerated Solution Environment) events, one of the big axioms we used in order to help executive and project teams understand what their vision for the future business should look like is, “You cannot get here from there — but you can get there from here.” This basically means that if you know where you are going, and if that destination is clearly articulated and described, then you will be able to create a plan that gets you from here to there. The key is that “there” has to be clear to all the players.

What is your “there”? What does your Ideal Warrior look and act like? What do you want to stop doing, and what do you want to be doing? What does your heart say about this to you? Are your values a part of this vision? You have to know where you are going in order to get there, and it has to be vivid as well as clearly articulated so that you can really see and feel what that future state truly is. Without this clear vision, you can get off track easily and lose your path along the way.

Creating a clear “there” may take time — do not get frustrated. You may need to repeat this step a few times before you feel you have clearly articulated your Ideal Warrior and are satisfied that it is tangible and that you (and others) can understand it.

As you are creating this Ideal Warrior, remember that your ideal state is a wonderful place to be, and all wonderful places should be centered on a wonderful “sunny” disposition. Enjoy the process.

• • •

EXERCISE: Envision your Ideal Warrior.

• WORKBOOK PAGES 4-6 •

Before you begin: Get in the right frame of mind. Our everyday state, with its noise and distractions, is not conducive to the kind of thinking we need to do, so the first step is to put yourself in a state that’s more receptive to thoughtfulness.

This can be done in a variety of ways; look through the list and do as many as you need to do to get in the right frame of mind.

Practice meditation or centering. (You can download a centering technique from my web page at www.coaching4abundance.com/w3ls .)

Go to a safe/relaxing place.

Get rid of all of the noise. Either wait for a quiet time, or go to a quiet place.

Have someone watch your kids, dog, or whatever you have that might interfere.

Clear your mind of all worries, concerns, and problems. They can wait.

Think “good” thoughts. Remember a time when you were joyful — recall what that feels like. Now use that feeling to enter into the exercise.

Be around others who can share in the experience and help provide affirmation of where you are going.

Now it’s time to create your Ideal Warrior image, the vision you want to achieve. You will know when you have it because your heart and your values will be aligned to this state, putting you at peace with yourself and the many conflicting challenges around you. I am confident that you can get there.

Create a vision in your mind of the ideal you. Think big and do not hold back.

Include all aspects of your five senses:

How does it feel?

What do you taste?

What do you hear?

What do you see?

What are the smells surrounding you?

Include specifics — for example, color, timeline, and surroundings.

Be quantifiable. In other words, use a number: I took all of my 15 days of vacation, I ran 3 miles per week (or a 5k), I play tennis twice a week, I work out 3 days a week, I have expanded my network by 30 people, etc.

Review your ideal self with the Life Dimensions Assessment (see workbook). What is the ideal you in each of the dimensions? Do not worry about where you are now but where you would ideally like to be. In some cases, you may not want to be a perfect 10 in a particular area, or an area may not be important to you. By reviewing the dimensions, you can determine what needs the most focus and improvement.

Review your core values. (If you need help pinning down your core values, go to the workbook form “Determine Your Values.”) Are your values aligned with your vision? If not, what needs to be changed, incorporated, dropped or whatever to make them line up? Remember: Aligning your values to your goals will create positive momentum and strength.

Take those thoughts, feelings and ideas and record them. Use a vision board or another format, such as a journal, a voice recorder, a painting, or an electronic format such as those available through OrangePeel Systems (www.visualizeyourgoals.com/cmd.php?af=1160787), to record the ideal you. It’s no problem if you need to do this multiple times — once you are satisfied with where you want to be, make this your final “recording.”

Over the next week, look at that vision (review your journal, listen to your tape) daily. How does it feel? Any changes you need to make? If you are psyched by the image that is coming to you each time you review your vision, then you have found your Ideal Warrior. If you are hesitant or do not feel an energetic pull, start over or continue to tweak your image (and review it for another week or however long it takes until you reach that excitement each time you look at it).

Put your vision into the form of a life purpose statement. A life purpose statement is as follows:

“I, (insert your name), hear, see, feel, and know that the purpose of my life is to be __________________ to enjoy __________________________ and to _______________________ myself and others.”

Your life purpose statement should be positive, and as you write it, you should consider what you want it to say, not what you think others would want you to say. If you are not living your life based on what is important to you, you will not create positive energy and momentum in your life. You will not be fully behind the effort, and you will not be as effective as you would like in the process. Also, you will certainly have difficulty coming across as a powerful woman. Once you have your life purpose statement, you can use it to create your unique brand — it is a guide for how you want to portray yourself to others.

Share your powerful Ideal Warrior vision with a friend. Try it on, and see how it feels.

• • •

Even if you have a very clear idea what your mission is, you may find it helpful, at least once a year, to reassess your current actions, career, and attitude to see if they are in line with your mission. This can be inspiring, pushing you to accomplish even more and allowing you to create some positive momentum.

While your purpose, your mission in life, stays constant throughout the years, little else does. Your circumstances will change, and your viewpoint will change as you gain new experiences. Life changes, and you need to change along with it — but as you do, it’s a good idea to check to make sure those changes are still in line with your mission.

What I envisioned as success in my career was different in my forties than it was in my thirties, which was different than it was in my twenties. My goals shifted — but my core values, my intent and my purpose, really never changed.

On a regular basis, check to see if your attitude, your current goals and objectives, and your life mission are aligned. If what you are doing or experiencing is not in line with your purpose, stress and anxiety rear their ugly heads. Whether you are focused on your career, your family, your health or any other aspect of your life, if your heart and your actions are not aligned, you will struggle with success.

I love to do the task of assessing where I’m at (between 1 and 10, with 10 being fantastic) with each of the dimensions of my life. I also like to review my feelings in general to see if there are any negative or disgruntled thoughts about any aspect of my life. Typically when you are frustrated, angry, or annoyed with something or someone in your life, that indicates a real need for reassessing yourself and realigning to a new vision (or new attitude) toward that area of your life.

Summing up

To move forward effectively and to unleash that powerful Woman Warrior within you, you need to have a clear mission statement (life purpose) and vision of your own Ideal Warrior. That powerful vision will help propel you forward; and once you step on the path toward that vision, you have already achieved a great part of it. A Woman Warrior has a mission in life — and now, you do, too.

Now that you have that mission statement and vision clearly formed, what do you need to do next? In Chapter 2, we will discuss overcoming any roadblocks or doubts that might get in your way and help you to understand how to overcome these challenges and start moving on your path forward toward your vision.

Abundance

Finding her purpose and vision

Boy, this first tip on finding your purpose and vision is really helping me to see more clearly what I want out of my life and what my ideal vision for me truly is. I want to create lasting bonds both at work and at home as well as continue to grow in my life. When I looked at my values I realized how important my family, my wellbeing, and my commitment to “getting the job done” is to me. I can really see what the future holds if I can only take charge of my actions. While there is a long way to go with my journey, I really feel motivated to reach my vision. The future for me seems so bright that I need to wear shades! I can show the power of aligning my goals to my values and making changes in my life and the way I prioritize things. I can’t wait to see how I can move forward to this great new vision.

• • •

How are you doing? What progress are you making? Is your vision and life purpose getting clearer? Are you starting to see the importance of aligning your values with your goals and your commitments? Like Abundance, I hope you are making some progress — but as you will see you don’t have to make changes all at once. Remember, the tortoise won the race!

Featured Woman Warrior

Sharon Chang

manager, a global consulting company

I came to the United States in 1996 to obtain my MBA. While in America, I was introduced to the practice of Falun Dafa, a practice that changed my life, and that is where this story starts.

Falun Dafa is a spiritual practice based on the principles of truthfulness, compassion and tolerance. The practice was introduced in China in the early 1990s but was outlawed in 1999 because of its widespread popularity, which was perceived as a threat by the Chinese communist regime. At that time, I had just graduated from business school and had started my professional career in the United States. Because of the persecution, it is too dangerous for me to go back to China to visit my family. When I talk to my parents over the phone, I do not have the freedom to talk about certain topics.

Many things are not as simple for me, as a foreigner, as they are for American citizens. The Chinese communist regime has spared no effort in exporting its persecution overseas. A couple of years ago, I had to renew my Chinese passport. I did not feel at ease having to go to the Chinese consulate, as in many cases the Chinese consulate refuses to renew passports for overseas Falun Gong practitioners. On a visit to the city of Flushing, New York, a city with many Chinese immigrants, to raise awareness about the persecution of Falun Gong, I was verbally abused, cursed and even physically threatened by Chinese immigrants who are brainwashed by the Chinese propaganda.

Compared to the persecution that Falun Gong practitioners in China are subjected to, I feel very fortunate that I have the opportunity to live in the United States. Because of my personal experience, helping those who are persecuted has become the mission of my life. I spend much of my spare time raising awareness about the situation in China, passing out fliers on the street, demonstrating Falun Dafa exercises at community health festivals, or visiting and talking to U.S. congresspeople and city officials.

Here are a few things that have enlightened my journey of life, and I hope they can be helpful to others:

Keep a strong will and mind. Do not give up hope, no matter what happens. Good will eventually overcome all evil. Find truth and goodness in your life, and let it lead you to make righteous decisions.

It is every human being’s responsibility to help stop crimes against humanity, no matter where they are happening. An individual’s effort, no matter how small it might seem, brings hope to those who are suffering and lets them know that they are not alone.

Keep a positive attitude. Don’t feel bad for yourself. Always appreciate and be thankful for what you have. Positive energy can change your environment. Be good, and good things will eventually come to you.

Here in the U.S. we have freedom of belief, freedom of speech, the freedom to explore our dreams. Appreciate them and don’t take them for granted. The freedoms we have here are only dreams to those in other parts of the world.

About Sharon Chang

Sharon Chang has more than 10 years of experience working in the consulting and systems integration services. She currently works in a management team for a global consulting company. She came to the United States from China in 1996 to fulfill her American dream and to find the freedom she didn’t have in China. Sharon has an adorable son and loving husband.

Some background information and references on Falun Dafa

Falun Dafa, also known as Falun Gong, is a cultivation practice guided by the characteristics of truthfulness, compassion and tolerance. Falun Dafa was introduced to the public in China in 1992 by Mr. Li Hongzhi. By 1999, more than 70 million people had taken up the practice in China alone. Today, Falun Dafa is practiced and cherished by over 100 million people in more than 70 countries, and has received a plethora of honors.

The Chinese communist regime, fearing all large groups outside its control and with independent thinking, started a brutal persecution of Falun Dafa in July of 1999. A prominent feature of this persecution campaign is its prevalent use of extreme torture to force Falun Dafa practitioners to give up their practice and beliefs. To date, more than 3,000 deaths have been documented, as well as more than 63,000 accounts of torture. The actual death toll possibly runs in the tens of thousands and includes deaths caused by harvesting organs for profit from live Falun Dafa practitioners.

For more information, go to http://www.falundafa.org or http://www.faluninfo.net.

Nourishment for the Journey

Sunny Disposition and Stuffed Apricots

While you engage your brain in envisioning your Ideal Warrior, be sure to try the Sunny Disposition drink and the Stuffed Apricots appetizer, which are sure to get you in the right frame of mind. These items were selected specifically for this chapter, as you begin your journey.

Oranges, ingredients in this chapter’s drink choice, are great sources of vitamin C. Vitamin C is a powerful marker of overall health. Apricots, the main part of the appetizer, are wonderful sources of great antioxidants, which also provide anti-aging benefits. Eating this “longer living” food and drink allows you to concentrate and work effectively to create your vision, supporting a long life of abundance.

According to an article by Kathleen M. Zelman, director of nutrition for WebMD, vitamin C is one of the safest and most effective nutrients. The benefits include protection against immune system deficiencies, cardiovascular disease, prenatal health problems, eye disease, and even skin wrinkling.

A recent study published in Seminars in Preventive and Alternative Medicine that looked at more than 100 studies over 10 years revealed a growing list of benefits of vitamin C. “The more we study vitamin C, the better our understanding of how diverse it is in protecting our health, from cardiovascular, cancer, stroke, eye health [and] immunity to living longer,” says study researcher Mark Moyad, MD, MPH, of the University of Michigan.

The recommended daily allowance (RDA) for vitamin C is 75-90 milligrams; the Sunny Disposition drink contains 97 milligrams. However, to achieve the health benefits listed above in the University of Michigan study, 500 milligrams per day are recommended — so drink up!

Apricots are small but pack a punch as far as a healthy anti-aging tool. Just like many women — we are small but carry a great punch! According to Dr. Maoshing Ni, a natural health specialist, apricots are a staple of centenarians in the Hunza Valley of the Himalayas. Research shows that of any food, apricots possess the highest level and widest variety of carotenoids, antioxidants that help prevent heart disease, reduce “bad” cholesterol levels and protect us against cancer. According to the Cleveland Clinic, we should get five or more servings of fruits and vegetables a day; this drink and appetizer combination provides at least two. The cheese stuffing also works toward one of the two recommended servings of low-fat dairy foods.

Enjoy these tasty treats and drinks as part of creating your vision for the future!

• • •

Sunny Disposition

1 cup orange juice (freshly squeezed using approximately 6 oranges)

2 tablespoons sour mix (can create this mix from squeezing lemons, limes with some sugar syrup)

1/4 cup seltzer or club soda

1 jigger of vodka

Orange slices for garnish

Combine ingredients and serve over ice.

110 calories without alcohol; 174 calories with alcohol

Note: You are welcome to serve without vodka for an alcohol-free version of this drink. It’s still wonderful and delicious!

• • •

Stuffed Apricots

1/3 cup (3 ounces) fat-free cream cheese

2 tablespoons (1 ounce) goat cheese

2 tablespoons honey

1 tablespoon orange juice

1 teaspoon orange zest

2 tablespoons coarsely chopped pistachios or toasted almonds

10 small apricots, halved and pitted

Orange juice

Chopped fresh mint (optional)

Cover apricots with orange juice. Let soak for at least an hour. Combine cheeses, honey, 1 tablespoon orange juice, and orange zest, stirring well. Stir in pistachios/almonds. Chill 1 hour. Spoon about 1 teaspoon cheese mixture into each apricot half; chill 1 hour. Garnish with chopped mint, if desired.

64 calories per serving

• • •

“The greatest griefs are those we cause ourselves.” — Sophocles

Woman Warrior Tip 2:

Clear roadblocks.

Odysseus, one of the most famous warriors in all of literature, did not have an easy path to follow.

He had fought for ten years — ten years! — in a war he hadn’t wanted to fight in the first place. He just wanted to go home to his wife and son, but obstacle after obstacle came in his way: Sea monsters. Seductive women. Imprisonment. Treacherous seas. And when he finally made it home, after another ten years, hundreds of men who want to take his power and his wife stood between him and his family. One by one, he overcame all the obstacles, using his cunning or brandishing his sword to achieve what was most important to his heart.

The roadblocks Odysseus faced did not stop him, but he had to deal with each one of them before he could move on.

If the ancient Greeks knew and celebrated this, why don’t we? Maybe deep down we know that we need to face the obstacles between us and our vision of greatness, but that path is very challenging, so we ignore the problem. We choose to leave it alone and just try to get by every day “the best we can.”

Well, it’s time to blow up that idea and become demolition derby drivers as we clear a path through that rubble. We need to move ahead to achieve our goals and aspirations, and if the roadblocks are out of the way, we can use our energy more effectively, charging ahead instead of spinning our wheels. In the end, less energy is exerted than if we had done nothing.

If roadblocks have been holding you back and causing you problems, chances are you have been allowing them to do so for some time. Many times these roadblocks have developed over several years, if not since childhood. So the demolition derby analogy is not too extreme: We need to attack the beliefs and assumptions that are preventing us from reaching our goals and take control of our emotions.

I had a very big roadblock to overcome when I was trying to keep my career from taking over all the dimensions of my life. That roadblock was the fact that so many people — including my parents, teachers, bosses, and more — had said, “If you work hard, you will be successful.” Boy, did I buy into that philosophy hook, line and sinker. I just went to work and tried to take on as many tasks as I could possibly take until I was either dead tired, falling over asleep, or working myself sick. I did not leave any time for anything else. I finally began to realize that while it is great to be focused on your work, working long hours and working hard does not guarantee success. Also, many successful people do not work long hours; they leverage fresh ideas and energy to help them succeed.

Once I saw this for myself, I was able to take control of my life and create a balance between all dimensions. I was able to get past the “hard work” mentality and see that the ability to really be engaged in the work, accomplishing a few tasks in a stellar way, was just as important if not more so than the sheer amount of work I could accomplish. I also began to put parameters in my life that allowed me to not just be focused on the career dimension of my life, but to look around at all aspects of my life. Living a full life is much more fulfilling than taking on many tasks. When I had the energy to focus and give my full attention to a task, fantastic results started to happen. When I was able to provide time for myself, my relationships, and my work, I gained even more energy to focus on each area instead of less. My work was not the only area of my life that benefitted; my personal life also improved.

• • •

The first step to overcoming the roadblocks you face is recognizing them. Roadblocks come in two types: outer (external) and inner (internal).

Outer blocks are caused by external forces — such as an ice storm, tornado, or car accident — that stop you from getting to where you are going. They generally aren’t personal to you, which makes them easier to deal with, even if we do not have much control over these outer roadblocks.

Inner blocks are more effective at keeping us from moving forward to achieve our goals — but we also have complete control over them. These roadblocks are within our minds; they don’t stop us literally from accomplishing the goal but tell us internally that we cannot achieve our goals.

We’ve all seen depictions of having an angel on one shoulder telling you to do the kind, generous action, while a devil is on your other shoulder, telling you to have fun and not to worry about the consequences. These are metaphors for inner blocks. You have the choice to ignore one or both of these suggestions and come up with a suggestion that makes sense for you.

Another inner block can occur on the cusp of success: Just when you are getting on a roll and starting to achieve great things, making positive changes and gaining momentum, this tiny voice inside of you starts nagging, telling you that you cannot do this, or that this is all you will achieve — or in my case, that maybe I was not working hard enough to achieve my dreams. No matter what that inner voice is telling you, you need to recognize it first and then take direct aim at it to overcome this roadblock. You must take this one head on; otherwise, it will simply hit you in the face, stalling all the progress you have made and sapping all of your energy. Warriors know that focus, confidence and commitment are keys to success.

Here are some types of inner roadblocks that might get inside your mind and stop you from moving toward your vision or goals. Do not let them control your actions. Be bold and brave like a warrior, moving forward with your goals and beliefs.

THAT LITTLE INNER VOICE: Generally this voice is characterized as your “devil” or naysayer, which is telling you that you are not good enough or strong enough to accomplish the task at hand. Some people call this their “gremlin,” or a big, ugly, scary monster. This voice is hard to control and manage because it comes from within you. This inner critic tells you, in one way or another, that you are not good enough to have a life of abundance: You are not good enough to achieve a fulfilling life, or You are not good enough to be a great wife, mother, and professional. Those ideas need to be slain!

PRECONCEIVED ASSUMPTIONS: When you have an assumption, you are setting an expectation that because something happened in the past one way, it will happen again that same way. So if you tried to run a mile and you were not able to complete it, than you will never be able to run a mile. Or, in my case, when I was at the Air Force Academy on the obstacle course, I could not completely go around the long run of high bars without falling down, so I assumed that my upper body strength would not allow me to accomplish this task. As we know, this is hog wash. Once I put my mind to it and envisioned getting across the entire line of bars without falling, guess what? I was able complete the course without falling from the bars. By putting a plan together and taking one step at a time as well as having a strong vision to guide us along the way, we can build on our momentum, starting to walk and then run toward a mile (or in my case, take a full swing across the bars).

LIMITED POINT OF VIEW: An opinion or judgment that you create about an event, situation, person, or experience and believe to be true is a point of view. Because you saw someone lose 10 pounds in one week, you believe everyone can lose 10 pounds in one week. Or because you see a woman is crying, you believe she is sad. Just because you have seen it that way and let your thoughts interpret it that way in the past does not mean that is the only way to look at it. Remember that in life, there are many points of view. Maybe the crying woman is overwhelmed by happiness and is crying for joy. Each experience is a new beginning that is open to new possibilities. It is up to us on how we receive that information and what we do with the information that is presented to us. Next time, think of a positive reason why something occurred rather than a negative reason.

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