“Everyday is a bank account, and time is our currency. No one is rich, no one is poor, we've got 24 hours each.” --Christopher Rice

If there was one thing I could give every smart, ambitious woman it is this:  more time. 

How do you get more time?

You don't.  You start to use it much more wisely.

Deadlines help.  Lists can keep you on track.  But the productivity of smart, ambitious women starts way before we squeeze 2-hour projects in 20-minute time slots.  (And yes, we've all tried that before...)

The real answer is where you decide to focus your time.

Make the decision in the morning and watch how quickly the day comes together.

I understand that kids get sick, deadlines change, people run late.  Those are things you can't control.

What can you control?  Is precisely how you spend your time in the margin.  Consider these few ways to help you accomplish more of where you focus your time:

1. Have a daily planning session with yourself.  (This can be done as part of your morning routine, in the car before you go to work, or the night before.)  Set a routine and stick with it.
2. Write it down.  (The science proves that writing things down helps you stay more focused on the task.)
3. Break down the big goals into small checkpoints to examine your progress.
4. Check your progress throughout the day.  At lunch is a great time to evaluate what comes next. (This is why lists work. You can see where you are in the process.)
5. Give yourself space to accomplish the goal. (No more 20-minutes for the big stuff.)

No one has more time than you.  It's about the choices made and where you put your focus.

Your Monday Maxim

Today's Quote:

“Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Actions breeds confidence and courage. If you want to conquer fear, do not sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy.” - Dale Carnegie

Ep. 122 - Adapt and Succeed

Thanks for joining us on Think Enriched.  I’m delighted to have you here!

Welcome to Your Monday Maxim with Amy:

This your mental Vitamin B. Each Monday I share a little motivation & insight to start the week. You’ve got a lot of people depending on you. There is big work for you to do. So here’s a maxim for you, the smart, ambitious woman, to help you SHINE.

Today’s Monday Maxim

Oh my gosh!  My friend, we’ve got it all wrong…  that quote, the classic Darwin theory that tells you, “Survival of the fittest…” is WRONG.

Do you know what he really said?  

“It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent. It is the one that is more adaptable to change.” - Charles Darwin 

As smart, ambitious women, we are continually adapting.  That is our power skill!  If we were all playing Super Heroes, wearing our capes, masks, and tights, we could always use our superpower of adaptability to make the situation work for all those involved. 

And we do it without even thinking about it.

Just this morning at the bank, because the internet was down, the computer system at the bank was down.  They were working slow.  I was there right as the bank opened and there were about 12 people in front of me in line.  And people were freaking out.  

The young girl in front of me texting like her life depended on it and rolling her eyes at everyone around her...just stopped, huffed out loud and stormed out of the bank.

Some people cannot adapt to change.

We see people around us stuck.  What they did 3 months ago… or 3 years ago… or when they were 23… is exactly what they plan to do right now.  And tomorrow.  And forever.

These people aren’t happy.  They aren’t looking forward to making things work.  They are unwilling or don’t know that they need to adapt.

The big secret?  You can’t change them. You will not change them.  The change willingness to adapt comes from within.

What about when you find yourself stuck? You can always yell, “Plot twist…” and move on. 

“And the most successful people are those who accept, and adapt to constant change. This adaptability requires a degree of flexibility and humility most people can’t manage.” - Paul Lutus

Remember Lean on Me, the movie of the New Jersey high school principal, Joe Clark?  He's sharing some insight today on your Monday Maxim.

This your mental Vitamin B. Each Monday I share a little motivation & insight to start the week. You’ve got a lot of people depending on you. There is big work for you to do. So here’s a maxim for you, the smart, ambitious woman, to help you SHINE.

“Self-respect permeates every aspect of your life.”  - Joe Clark

I lived in New Jersey for nearly a couple years.  That's where I learned to speak Spanish. That area, Paterson, New Jersey, is where I was assigned as a missionary for my church.

Our local congregation's leader lived right around the corner from Eastside High School in Paterson.  First, Crazy Joe had to kick out the drugs and problems and focus on those who were coming to school to learn.

This is a perfect lesson for each of us today.

Kick out the stuff that doesn't belong.  Focus on the good. 

The respect you give yourself is the same respect that others give you.

How do you start to give yourself respect?  You earn it.

Be dependable.  If you say you are going to get up when the alarm rings, do it.  Don't hit snooze.  Get your feet on the floor and walk. It feels great once that warm shower hits your body.

Commit to yourself. When you make a commitment to your family, friends, or work, you know that job will be completed.  That's what makes you a smart, ambitious woman. 

What about you?  If you tell yourself you are going to exercise at 7:30pm, but someone needs your help... you push it aside, don't you?  Of course you have.  No more.  You can tell your family & friends, "Look, I will happily help you, but first, I'm going to do this..." then walk out the door, they may be stunnned.  But they know you are serious.  The people in your life aren't taking you seriously because you don't take yourself seriously.  

Kick out the junk.  It's spring here in the Pacific Northwest.  I'm on a spring cleaning high!  I love getting rid of all the junk that has accumulated over the winter...(Where did all of that stuff come from, anyway???)  What is left is space to move and breathe.  A better environment for all of us here.

It's the same with your habits.  You may have collected a few that are holding you back.  You know it's time.  Replace those habits with healthier ones and see how those tiny steps add up to big changes in your life. 

Thanks for joining us!

Did you know you can support the show?  Click here to contribute.

Welcome to Your Monday Maxim with Amy:

This your mental Vitamin B. Each Monday I share a little motivation & insight to start the week. You’ve got a lot of people depending on you. There is big work for you to do. So here’s a maxim for you, the smart, ambitious woman, to help you SHINE.

“If only you could sense how important you are to the lives of those you meet; how important you can be to people you may never even dream of. There is something of yourself that you leave at every meeting with another person.”  - Fred Rogers

Support the show here.

This your mental Vitamin B. Each Monday I share a little motivation & insight to start the week. You’ve got a lot of people depending on you. There is big work for you to do. So here’s a maxim for you, the smart, ambitious woman, to help you SHINE.

“No man who is occupied doing a very difficult thing, and doing it very well, ever loses his self-respect.”  - George Bernard Shaw

Consider what you go through in a day:

• Taking care of others
• Keeping the house clean & in order
• Ensuring proper nutrition & exercise is taken care of for you & yours
• Work responsibilities
• Church responsibilities
• Volunteer & Civic duties

This is the list when everything is going right.

What about when it's not going right?  How do you get things in order?

Lucille Ball once said, "Love yourself first and everything else falls into line. You really have to love yourself to get anything done in this world."

To really love yourself, you must:

• Stop comparing yourself with others
• Start appreciating what makes you YOU.
• Start finding ways to be more of yourself amidst the craziness of the world.

Today's Monday Maxim: “Love yourself-accept yourself-forgive yourself-and be good to yourself, because without you the rest of us are without a source of many wonderful things.” - Dr. Leo Buscaglia In this video, he also said, "The hardest battle you are ever going to fight is to be- just YOU." "I'm really convinced, that if you were to define love, the only word big enough to engulf it all would be Life.  Love is life in all of its aspects. And if you miss love, you miss life. Please don't."

Thanks for joining us today!  I’m delighted to have you here. You can show your support for the show by going to Think Enriched on Patreon.  This is a simple way support the show for as little as $1 a month.  You’ll get insider information, direct contact with me and even a monthly meeting us to talk about what we achieve together. Click on the link and support the show. Welcome to Your Monday Maxim with Amy: This your mental Vitamin B. Each Monday I share a little motivation & insight to start the week. You’ve got a lot of people depending on you. There is big work for you to do. So here’s a maxim for you, the smart, ambitious woman, to help you SHINE. “Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does.”  - William James  Support the show on Patreon.

Thanks for joining the show!

Welcome to Your Monday Maxim with Amy:

This your mental Vitamin B. Each Monday I share a little motivation & insight to start the week. You’ve got a lot of people depending on you. There is big work for you to do. So here’s a maxim for you, the smart, ambitious woman, to help you SHINE.

“Whatever course you decide upon, there is always someone to tell you that you are wrong. There are always difficulties arising which tempt you to believe that your critics are right. To map out a course of action and follow it to an end requires courage.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Support Think Enriched on Patreon.

Let’s have the conversation before the conversation…

People get uncomfortable when we have a conversation about the rights of women.

Like with your commitment to financial security, or your political party, or even if and to whom you choose to worship…there are so many levels.

I’m not here to make you uncomfortable.

But did you know, that the world is searching for gender equality?  Google shared this video of the most looked up terms.

And did you know that most looked up word in last year was feminism?

Supporting Women's Day, does not make you against men. It is seeing how far we've come.

Consider that, without women before us paving the way, we would not be able to vote.  Or own land.  Or a home.  Or have our own banking account.  Or pursue our own dream. 

Doesn't that just seem...outrageous?  It does to me. 

That's why today, I honor those who made life better for me.

Women’s International Day

Did you know that WID has been observed for more than 100 years?

International Women's Day is celebrated in many countries around the world. It is a day when women are recognized for their achievements without regard to divisions, whether national, ethnic, linguistic, cultural, economic or political.

Here's How You Can Show your support

You can support International Women’s Day by:

1. Call Mom. Express your gratitude.   Honor those who have led the way.

http://www.dailycal.org/2018/03/08/guide-supporting-women-international-womens-day-even-arent-one/

2. Choose your words more carefully. 

“word choice makes a huge difference in how you portray yourself and how you make women feel. Men are expected to fulfill a stereotype of strength and aggression, while women are expected to be deferential and fragile.”

http://www.dailycal.org/2018/03/08/guide-supporting-women-international-womens-day-even-arent-one/

3. Stand up so that all girls can have an education and work to support herself.

• 2/3 of the 774 million illiterate people in the world are female
• 31 million girls of primary school age are out of school
• 80% of women in  America become mothers by the age of 45
• research has shown that childless women are penalized by our bias that women “will become mothers.”

http://en.unesco.org/gem-report/sites/gem-report/files/girls-factsheet-en.pdf

https://www.forbes.com/sites/tamiforman/2018/03/07/two-ways-to-pressforprogress-on-international-womens-day/#71eaebf23e0f

4. Support & celebrate men who support women & make family a priority.

When men have a healthier work/life balance women are allowed are given space to realize their potential

https://www.forbes.com/sites/tamiforman/2018/02/06/why-we-should-help-men-find-better-worklife-balance/#5f6f81662a12

https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/advertising-channels/search/international-womens-day-digital-engagement

Men can join MARC, Men Advocating Real Change

http://onthemarc.org/internationalwomensday

5. Help those who are re-entering the workplace.

Path Forward is on a mission to empower women and men to restart their career after taking time off for caregiving. Our work with program participants and enlisting new partner companies is directly supported by your contributions.

http://pathforward.org/

6. Make a donation. There are several organizations that support women’s roles and gender equality.

https://hellogiggles.com/news/9-organizations-support-international-womens-day/

7. Commit to supporting the #PressforProgress in the year 2018

https://www.internationalwomensday.com/PressforProgress

#pressforprogress in 2018

1. Maintain a gender parity mindset
2. Challenge stereotypes and bias
3. Forge positive visibility of women
4. Influence other’s beliefs/ actions
5. Celebrate women’s achievements

More resources:

The Irish Times https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/people/international-women-s-day-everything-you-need-to-know-and-do-1.3418380