Facing Forty: 40 Greatest Hits (and A Few Misses) of a Life in Progress, Lived out Loud
Submitted by Lisa Steadman on October 10, 2011 - 11:21 am
I’d like to tell you that the Rubik’s Cube turns 40 this year. I’d like to tell you that Mr. and Ms. Pac-Man celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary this year. I’d like to tell you that Drew Barrymore, Free to Be You & Me, Star Wars and I were all born in the same year, all turning 40 in 2011.
But it’s just not true. Those toys, video game icons, and pop-culture references are from my youth, but the conscious years, not the zygote years.
Having said that, there ARE some cool things/people turning 40 this year, right along with me. John Lennon’s song Imagine. Clint Eastwood’s Dirty Harry. And my girl Mary J Blige hits the big 4-0 right alongside me this year.
In honor of facing 40 on Sunday, I decided to stroll down memory lane and celebrate 40 of my Greatest Hits (and a few Misses) of my life in progress, lived out loud…
1. At age 6, scoring a Barbie dream house (the one with the pink elevator) for Christmas, one of many fave memories from a childhood filled with Barbie
2. At age 7, watching the movie Grease in the theater with my mom, and as the end credits rolled, hearing her say, “In real life, he’d change for her.”
3. Following my globetrotting parents around the world, living on three continents (North America, Australia, Asia) before I was 10
4. Begging my parents for a ventriloquist doll named Lester for Christmas, unwrapping him with glee, and insisting on entertaining my parents friends (and bosses!) with a comedy set that always started with, “OK, Joke Time!”
5. At age 12, mistaking a moat for a puddle during a Sri Lankan downpour (stepping in, plummeting, and resurfacing to the shock and awe of onlookers)
6. At 15, falling in love with Rebel, a creative, fun loving, new waver who had a girlfriend, told me he loved me more, and set the scene for a decade of me chasing emotionally unavailable men who didn’t love me back
7. After high school graduation, getting schooled on how to drink beer (and getting drunk for the first time) with Bad Influence, my high school buddy (His tip: Always drink a root beer first so your burps taste good)
8. Binge drinking root beer (and then some) for four years straight at college
9. At 22, falling in love and moving in with Trouble, a.k.a. a 37-year-old bodybuilder with a checkered past
10. At 23, barely escaping Trouble with my life
11. At 29, landing my dream job where I got to write about Barbie all day long
12. After a safe and predictable three-year relationship with Mr. Vanilla, loudly and proudly proclaiming while watching the movie The Tao of Steve, “I want to meet someone who’ll ROCK my world!”
13. Enter Mr. Rocky Road, a.k.a. the first man to make me feel seen, heard, loved, and adored (when we weren’t embroiled in a codependent nightmare, that is!)
14. Watching all my friends get married, have babies, and settle down, desperately wishing Mr. Rocky Road could get his act together and morph into The One
15. Breaking up, making up, & breaking down for six months straight during my Big Breakup with Mr. Rocky Road
16. Running off to Greece following my Big Breakup: Sunbathing topless for the first time, hiking a 17 km gorge with a gorgeous Air Force officer, and coming home alive, hell bent on proving to my dad I wasn’t foolish, crazy, or wrong for going alone
17. After 4 1/2 years, breaking up the Barbie, quitting my job, & not having a plan
18. Launching my first website BreakupChronicles.com one week after leaving my job
19. Renting out my condo, putting my stuff in storage, and escaping to the Montana wilderness for a month to “figure things out”
20. Scoring my first piece of press, a front-page feature in my hometown newspaper (Miss: Hiding all day when the paper hit stands, afraid to own it and celebrate it)
21. Coming back to LA, sleeping on a blowup mattress on my best friend’s living room floor, and feeling happy for the first time in a long time
22. Falling in love with myself, my life, and becoming a man magnet
23. Meeting my future husband at a bar, thinking he was 20-years-old and gay, bonding over a shared love of David Sedaris and Pink Martini
24. Recognizing on date #2 that my future husband could be The One (he’d just finished telling me, “I’m too nice for the naughty girls and too naughty for the nice ones.” Disco!
25. Telling my future husband on that same second date that I never wanted to get married or have babies
26. Getting my first book deal
27. Becoming a best-selling author (Miss: Coming home from my book tour and realizing I was a broke best-selling author)
28. Getting the call from my publicist that the Today Show wanted me on to talk about my first book IF: I came to New York the following week and shot B roll of one woman getting a post-breakup makeover and another woman having a Movin’ On party. The catch: I had to set it all up (Not having been in New York since college and not knowing anyone in the city, I said yes, and within a week had everything I needed for 2 kick ass segments!)
29. Realizing I really can do anything I set my mind to (Priceless, Mastercard!)
30. After years of being an excessive Sex and the City fan, spending one hour chatting with Candace Bushnell about the REAL Mr. Big
31. Handing my future husband my grandmother’s wedding ring and saying, “Give it back when you’re ready.” (Miss: Getting mad that it took him another six months to propose!)
32. Three years ago, donning a red gown, walking down the aisle to Etta James’ “At Last”, & promising to love my husband forever (The EASIEST thing I’ll ever do)
33. Spending a month in Paris on our honeymoon, watching Obama get elected, and celebrating hope around the world
34. Inspiring my sister to believe in love for the first time in 10 years and find HER Mr. Right
35. Writing 4 more books while building a profitable consulting business I LOVE
36. Loving (and eventually losing) my first pet, my cat Maya
37. Crying when I found out that my beautiful, smart, 18-year-old sister-in-law was pregnant
38. Being my 19-year-old sister-in-law’s birth coach, eventually helping her through a C-section after 19 frustrating hours of labor, and being the first family member to hold my niece
39. Leaving the hospital, realizing for the first time that my niece wasn’t coming home with ME
40. Having made peace with my childhood, being compassionate for my 20 something wild child, and appreciating the wisdom and experience of my 30s, looking forward to my 40s with a mix of curiosity, possibility, and excitement
What about you? What are some of YOUR hits and misses from YOUR life in progress?
Are You Sitting On Your Million Dollar Idea?
Submitted by Lisa Steadman on October 6, 2011 - 8:28 am
1 year ago, I had the pleasure of working with a phenomenal woman. She hired me to help her perfect her positioning, create a rock star social brand and tagline, master her messaging, and generate CLAMOR for her business so she could get a book deal, get booked on TV, and build an additional revenue stream for her already thriving consulting business.
In the first hour of our private coaching day together, I downloaded a million dollar brand. This is a brand and business that could easily generate a publishing bidding war for her first book, have this client booked on media on a regular basis, and forever change my client’s life, business, AND bank account. It was THAT good.
When the brilliant brand and moniker flew out of my mouth, we both looked at each other, started laughing, and realized we’d struck gold. (THAT was a gold star day.) Thank God we remembered to grab the url.
Unfortunately, I cannot tell you my client’s moniker and brand are because they don’t exist.
Huh?!
That brilliant brand I helped my client download does not exist because the client never moved forward with the idea.
After leaving the hotel suite where we did our work, she took herself out for a celebratory cocktail, texted me her heartfelt thanks, and went home to her family.
In the coming weeks and months, I would get e-mail updates from the clients, explaining why things had moved forward for one reason or another. Work commitments, family life, vacations, etc.
Don’t get me wrong.
There’s no shame or blame here. I have no judgment of my client’s decisions or lack of actions. (Okay, there is a teeny tiny part of me that’s disappointed I can’t point at the TV screen and say, “Woohoo! Look at her go!”)
Which leads me to an important question for you…
Are you sitting on YOUR million dollar idea?
Do you have an idea, a business, and/or a brand that’s soo juicy and exciting that if you put a movement behind it, you could change the world?
If you answered yes, here’s my next question…
Are you sharing it it freely, generously, and passionately with the world?
If so, congratulations! I’m thrilled for you.
If not, I have another question for you: What’s keeping you from being big, bold, and audacious in the world?
Is it fear — of the unknown, of being judged, of being seen, of failing, of succeeding?
Is it that you’ve lost your voice, disconnected from your vision, and stopped valuing yourself?
Is it an inability to give yourself permission to take a bold leap forward and GO FOR IT?
If you’re holding yourself back — in love, life, or business — today I invite you to get really honest about it.
You don’t have to have all the answers. You don’t have to know the way out. Just by getting real with yourself and the state of your life — that’s the first step.
This is why I created Woohoo Weekend 2011: Love, Life, Business, & the Pursuit of Happiness. Because I don’t want you to waste another moment in despair about what’s happening in any area of your life that’s not working.
Here’s the link: woohooweekend2011.com
I don’t want you to wake up another day feeling lost, hopeless, alone.
And I don’t want to waste another minute NOT owning your voice and your value, or NOT reconnecting to the vision you have for yourself and your life, including your brilliant business, brand, relationship, and personal happiness.
I’ve gathered 14 of my all time favorite people who all possess such a special knowledge and gift for sharing their brilliance with the world that I want you to meet them.
And I want them to meet you.
On Saturday morning, you’ll meet and work with my amazing friends Rick Clemons and Christina Dunbar who will both share with you how to speak your truth, find your voice, and own your power.
On Saturday afternoon, you’ll meet my incredible friends Bonnie Stern and Marni Battista who will show you how to unlock the power of pleasure in the bedroom and in business, as well as how to balance masculinity and femininity in relationships.
Later in the afternoon, you’ll learn about how to create stamina and vitality for your body and your life with my brilliant friends Sharon Otness Foot, Tambre Leighn, Kirsten Korot, and Hillary Rubin.
On Sunday morning, you’ll learn how to stand for your brand – in your wardrobe, website, and Woohoo with my friends Sybil Henry The Style Concierge, JuliAnn Stitick of Wardrobe Rx, and social media expert Laurie Hurley.
Next, you’ll learn about the trajectory of success and why most businesses fail on the road for six figures to seven figures with my friend Melanie Gorman, who is flying in from DC for the weekend (and helped John Gray build his Mars-Venus mega empire).
You’ll also unlock the secrets of mastering your mindset and your marketing with Kristi Lynn Olson, the powerful synergy of Love, Customers, & Money with my Brilliant & Bankable co-founder Julie Steelman, and finally, how to take everything you’ve learned and become financially stylish with my savvy friend Shannah Compton.
As you can see, Woohoo Weekend is going to be content rich, action packed, and truly transformative.
On behalf of all the Woohoo Weekend speakers and Team Woohoo, I invite you to join us at Woohoo Weekend October 15-16 at the Westin LAX in Los Angeles. Speakers are flying in from Hawaii, Washington DC, the Midwest, and New York.
Attendees are lining up babysitters, jumping on planes, and doing whatever they need to do to show up for this transformative event.
Will you join us next weekend?
Grab your tickets NOW: woohooweekend2011.com
Orgasms, Alpha Males, & Dating, Oh My!
Submitted by Lisa Steadman on October 5, 2011 - 9:58 am
Be honest. When was the last time you had a frank conversation about pleasure?
You heard me. Pleasure!
And yes, orgasms are part of it. But not all of it. Pleasure encompasses every area of our lives. And it affects how we feel about every area of our lives. Do you have pleasure in your relationships? In your business? With yourself?
Do you know what pleases you — in love, life, and business? Are you able to communicate it to yourself and your partner?
Have you mastered the energy of pleasure?
If you added just an ounce (or a ton) more pleasure in your daily life, how would that change the way you feel about your love, life, and business?
If these questions have stumped you, don’t worry. It’s not too late to change your relationship with pleasure.
Today on Woohoo Radio, I’ve got 2 AMAZING guests who revolutionizing the way we approach pleasure, energy, and communication in our relationships.
Click here to listen to the podcast
Meet Bonnie Stern
When Bonnie Stern turned 41, and was in the prime of her life, she had a life-changing experience stemming from early peri- menopause. She had a successful business as a business manager/accountant for over 18 years, was attractive, and supposed to be at her peak until her body had other plans. Her mind was at its sexual prime while her body shut down. As she reached out to woman for answers, she quickly realized that whether women were healthy or not, they were struggling sexually with their bodies and needed help for a variety of reasons.
The drastic physical change her own body, sent Bonnie on a quest to find something that didn’t exist; a healthy product to sooth the dryness and pain and help her feel sexually empowered again. Not seeing what she needed on the market, Bonnie found a team of experts to help her create “Sex Butter” and “Amida Oil” products to help women feel and heal their bodies while manifesting their dreams. Cancer patients, abuse victims, and women with all types of other intimate issues are using Sex Butter, with positive results.
On today’s show, Bonnie’s spilling HER secrets for rediscovering her self, her body, and PLEASURE.
Meet Marni Battista
Marni is the founder and CEO of Dating With Dignity, a company that’s dedicated to helping women improve their self-love and respect so that attaining a perfect partnership is easier and more dignified. One of LA’s hottest love, life and business coaches, her renowned D-Factor Assessment has helped hundreds of smart and successful women who have been stuck in the confusion of “why am I still single,” to quickly manifest incredible relationships.
On today’s show, Marni’s showing us how to create pleasurable relationships with men by sharing what Alpha males, fem felines, and alpha dogs are and how these energetic roles play out in our relationships.
Got questions about pleasure and the energy of relationships? Listen LIVE at 2pm Pacific | 4pm Eastern at http://bitly.com/woohooradio and join the tweetcast using the hashtag #woohooradio.
Click here to listen to the podcast
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