Do The Hard Stuff First Thing In The Morning, Part 1

Early mornings, fueled by wheatgrass, green juice, and java!

Asking for a sale. Going to the gym. Writing a book/blog/screenplay/song. Paying bills.

Whatever area or thing it is where you find yourself putting it off, and checking Facebook "just for a minute" (translation: you're on there for an hour mindlessly holding down "like" for the heart emoji) and then never getting the important stuff done...this is what you need to do first thing in your day.

Jim Rohn, an amazing business philosopher and motivational speaker, famously said, "Either you run your day or your day runs you." When we take charge of our schedule, rather than just reacting to everything and all the distractions coming at us, we benefit from the confidence that comes with feeling proud of ourselves for accomplishing what we set out to do. And then we have that magic word on our side: momentum.

In my own life, my most productive days happen when I get up early. I am talking 4 a.m. early. The night before, I write out 4-5 things that will be done first thing. When the alarm goes off, I make my coffee, have some green juice,  and get to work. This is not the time that I return emails, but when I am doing things that require a tremendous amount of focus, like researching and writing or working on big-picture stuff for my new digital coaching, design, and production company, Mouthful Media. I might do a few stretches, some meditation, and then I get myself ready for the day and wake up the kids. Rather than feeling tired, I almost buzz with energy on these days and enjoy the morning rush with breakfast and getting the kids to school because I know I have already gotten so much done.

Making Peace With The Fact That My Life Is Crazy

 When the top morning radio team in Southern California (Gary Bryan and Lisa Stanley and the K-EARTH 101 Morning Show) invites you to shadow them one morning, you go...even if it means getting up at 3:30 a.m. on a Monday when the storm of the century is scheduled to hit. But it was all good, because I had everything scheduled perfectly (which probably should have made me nervous): I would go from the K-EARTH studio to some recording at MartiniInTheMorning.com to coffee with a friend to some work at The World Chart Show to drop off some essential oils to a friend and then head home to pick up my son from school and then send the babysitter home and hang with the kiddos.

Then, El Niño hit and by 6 a.m. pretty much all of Los Angeles was jumping at the thunder and lightning. That's when my babysitter called and said she wouldn't be coming in today.

For anyone who has kids and works out of the home, you know what this means...your beautifully scheduled plans are going out the window. I sent a mass text out to just about every sitter I know, and thankfully one gal could come by and take over with the baby so my guy could take my son to school and make it to work. I rescheduled a few things, had a ginormous gulp of coffee and half a veggie burrito and dreamed of taking a nap. At this point, it was 6:45 in the morning.

But...this is my life. Most days, I am not sure how I manage to pull off getting my work done and taking care of the children and keeping the household and everyone's lives running, and I am very grateful that I have an awesome part-time babysitter and my son is in school now, which certainly frees up some time during the day.

For a long time, I kept waiting for life to slow down or ease up or everything to fall magically into place so I would suddenly be able to start on some projects that I have wanted to do for awhile. And then one day, around Christmas 2015 and after doing some yoga, I decided to just start. I had seen a picture that said something like, "The dream is free but the hustle is sold separately," and I was feeling inspired to just try some things and see what would happen. The worst that could happen is that I would have an epic fail, right?

So...what's happened?

Well, in the past few months, I have launched a classic film podcast with Oscar-winning filmmaker James Moll called Classic Movie Recall, started a second book with my From the Corner of Hollywood and diVine co-author, Cori Linder, and am launching a digital marketing company with two friends and co-workers. I will also be part of a podcast on breast health and women's issues, called The Girls Have Something to Say.

It seems like a lot, but in so many ways...I have never been happier. Radio has been and always will be my first love, but as the world changes I have realized my choices are to change with it and learn something new, or stay the same and get bitter (I am going with option 1). It has also been a new experience to work whenever and wherever I can, rather than always being in a studio; I keep my laptop with me and look for those pockets of time in my day (waiting to pick up my child, a few extra minutes at Whole Foods where they have free wi-fi, time in the car alone when I can make calls) where I can catch up, create, and be productive.

Laura Vanderkam has an awesome book called I Know How She Does It, which is full of tips for moms on how to work and parent and not lose your mind. She offers up a great tidbit to keep in mind; that rarely will a 24-hour chunk of time be totally balanced with time for work, family, rest, and personal time, but if we can look at our weeks overall we can schedule the time to do the things that matter, use the pockets of time intentionally, and create a well-lived life.

Okay, I have to go now. Time to go pick up my son and get some much-needed hugs and kisses.

Get Out of Your Own Way and Be of Service!

No more Cowardly Lion...Periscope, I am ready.

I did a Periscope broadcast recently, which is something I have wanted to do more of...but have been resisting. I always feel like my hair looks weird, or I need to put some lipstick on, or I don't know what to say, or there's nothing in the background that's cool blah blah blah.

HOWEVER, I heard something from the brilliant Brendon Burchard recently that rocked my world. He basically talked about how it is actually SELFISH to not share what you have learned. He was encouraging people to get out of their own way and put the focus on serving, rather than worrying too much about themselves. It was really liberating to hear that, because I have started thinking that maybe there is someone out there who can benefit from what I have learned and the mistakes I have made (and there have been plenty of those). Because that's what it's really all about; as someone once said, "The best exercise for the heart is reaching down and giving someone a hand up."

So, even though I was sweaty and disheveled, I Periscoped. I will say that I had a cool background (the marina), but I spoke from my heart about trying something new this year (my Classic Movie Recall podcast) and encouraging everyone to make 2016 the year they go for it. And I felt proud of myself! Even doing this blog (my first in almost a year) required me to stop worrying about what I would have to say and sit my a** down on the couch at the gym and START TYPING. Because I am committed to changing my life this year, and I would love for you to run with me as we make this the best year ever.