Play More, Achieve More! by Dana DellaCamera
July 16, 2015
“One must give value to their existence by behaving as if one’s very existence were a work of art.”
– Friedrich Nietzsche
Bring more creativity, fun and play into your life everyday by implementing 2 simple actions. A little goes a long way! Creating everything you want is FUN and easier than you may think!
The path to creating your best life is a journey of exploration, self- discovery and fun. It’s not going to happen all on its own though. We need to help the universe by telling it exactly what we want. Then it will start co-creating with us in partnership so we achieve our goals faster and with ease.
What if you say, “Dana, I don’t know what I want?” or you could say “I know what I want but have not been able to achieve it yet?” or you may be somewhere in between…wherever you are these exercises are highly effective and will help you to get clear and empowered around your goals. You will experience amazing results, that is, if you do the work.
I want to get you started powerfully, so I am requesting you to please write the words “I am ready to receive!” in the comment line at the bottom of the blog. Please take a second and do this now…
Congratulations! You just took the first step closer to achieving your goals. Thank you for receiving my contribution. Remember nothing is what it seems and every action counts. Most importantly you are now officially out of your head. You successfully transitioned from a fantasy world of “thinking about doing something” to declaring a powerful statement in the real world by doing it!
Action 1 – Journaling – Unlocking Creative Energy
Write 3 full pages a day. This 15 minute investment in you is priceless! Here’s why…
This is a 15 minute investment in yourself that will pay out 1000 times over. Journaling is a simple and effective exercise to awaken the creative energy within you. But don’t just take my word for it. Here is what the Harvard Business School has to say about it.
“According to a new working paper from Harvard Business School, setting aside 15 minutes to write at the end of the workday is enough to make you better at your job”. When people have the opportunity to reflect, they experience a boost in self-efficacy,” says HBS professor Francesca Gino. “They feel more confident that they can achieve things. As a result, they put more effort into what they’re doing and what they learn.” The journaling employees had 22.8% higher performance than those that did not journal. “In the field study, we were asking people to work less,” Gino says. “It’s counterintuitive, because you think you want to use those 15 minutes to keep working, but it actually leads to better performance.”
The great news about the journaling I am asking you to do is that all it requires is literally writing the thoughts in your head on paper. You are not telling a story. It does not have to be creative. You could start by writing your grocery list, what happened at work, what you forgot to do today. You could write “I have nothing to say” or you could write about one of the leading questions I have written below to get you started. I promise by the 3rd page you will get something of value for yourself. Just be open, let go of your expectations/criticisms and allow yourself to experience the exercise. The journaling is a vehicle for you to clear out the noise and awaken your inner giant, your creator within, and hear what your heart is trying to tell you.
As humans we have these BIG ideas of goals and dreams we want to achieve and then the brain kicks in with these hardwired 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th thoughts which bring up questions, concerns, fears, past experiences, “logic”, all thoughts that stop you from achieving your goals. The brain does this to “protect” us. However, it is time we learn to outsmart our own thought process and reinvent the way we perceive and create the things we want in our lives. The physical act of writing what we want down so that our eyes can see it is extremely important to your success.
So, get writing! Let whatever wants to come out, come out. Do not judge, access or criticize anything you write. Give yourself FULL PERMISSION to SAY ANYTHING YOU WANT! And I mean ANYTHING! I guarantee you will find things to say and once you get past all the concerns, complaints and judgements of the 1st page of your journaling the brain will open up and you will start to discover some juicy information and insights that will give you clarity and direction in your life. Questions will be answered and new clear actions and opportunities will present themselves to you like magic. Things that you thought were not possible, will now become possible. You will find yourself asking, “Why didn’t I think of that before?”
At first I resisted this exercise and now I look forward to it. Resistance, also known as boredom, is just more of your brain stopping you from achieving your goals, there is nothing to fear. Go for it! Your future is calling and you are ready!
Some questions to get you started journaling:
1. What did “play” mean to me as a child? What does “play” mean to me as an adult? What does it look like to play in a healthy, positive way as an adult? What would it look like for me to bring more play into my life, family, relationships, work, goals, and community?
2. When you are 85 years old what are some goals you would want to have achieved when you look back on your life and say, “What a ride! I played full out and have no regrets”. If you are 100% healthy when you are 85 what are 5 things you would give yourself full permission to go out and experience?
Action 2 – Put You First – Create & Receive
Write down 20 things that you love and that bring you joy then do 3 of them every day. Stop saying you don’t have time. No judgement is required for this exercise. Put it in your calendar and just do it!
Your list can include small things like taking 30 minutes a week to read that book you have wanted to read for the last year, going to the movies, buying a house or planning a trip to Spain by starting to research flights online. Break down the large items into smaller steps, and allow yourself to fully enjoy the smaller things. Know that the smaller things you do, like get your nails done or play tennis with your friends, are equally as important to your big goals and must be valued and treated with the same care.
I had a client that said she didn’t want to put down exercise because she did not have the full hour or two that she needed to do her workout, so she was not exercising at all. This happened to be an area of her life that was very important to her. I said to her, “Why can’t you start with taking a 10 minute walk around your neighborhood to get the ball rolling and accomplish that goal? Why does it have to be all or nothing?” This is very important. If you get caught in this trap recognize it for what it is and do something small now and over time you will find ways to expand upon it and create more time. Just start! Taking an action and being in action is the most important thing!
Allow yourself to receive self-love and care. The more you let down your walls and receive your own self-love the more goodies the universe will bring to you, because you have told the universe that you are ready to receive! Receiving is one of the most vulnerable and courageous things we can do as human beings because then we give up all rights to complain about our lives when we create everything we want. I promise you it is worth it. The grass is greener on the other side you just have to keep walking and stay focused. Your brain will throw you curve balls. Do not get distracted. You will start to see the people and things in your life that are distracting you and you will be able to takes actions to reduce or eliminate those obstacles with ease. You will experience a huge sense of relief when you let go of what and who no longer serves you. The path will leave a trail…it’s your job to keep taking the next step.
BONUS:
Register on www.AwakenYourInnerGiant.com to receive a FREE BONUS EXERCISE.
Awaken Your Inner Giant CREATIVELY!
Imagine your life and your world expanding. Imagine yourself AWAKENING to new levels. Can you see yourself CREATING and MANIFESTING everything your heart desires? Can you then see yourself UNLEASHING that new you to the world?
A new AWESOME one day workshop has been designed for just that purpose. This is not a workshop where you just sit all day listening to people drone on endlessly with information…OH NO!!
Our workshop is perfect balance of peaceful reflection and high energy interactive exercises so you experience the best of both worlds. You will play, reach deep inside, write, create art and you may even do some dancing…but we can’t give it all away. There are many more surprises that you must attend to see. It’s an amazing day I can promise you. When you tap into and explore your creative brain you discover something magical. You will discover new solutions to problems, new opportunities for action, and new results. You will see how you can finally achieve, new dreams and create and a new found confidence. Your light shines bigger and bolder than ever before lighting the way to clarity of purpose and excitement to move forward achieving your goals with ease.
Are you interested? You should be, it’s your life and you only get this one. It’s time for you to make a creative investment in yourself. It’s a day packed full of fun. You can strengthen old bonds, make new friends and connect with a community of people uplifting and supporting each other so that we all rise together.
It’s time! CLICK HERE for more information and join us.
Register now and receive 10% off the
“Awaken Your Inner Giant Creatively” class
for a limited time using coupon code: LWL10
Dana DellaCamera holds a Master of Science degree in Management and Human Resources from FIU. She is a Creativity and Professional Development Speaker, Life Coach and Performer. As a performer and a Life Coach Dana is extremely excited to be able to combine both of her loves and launch her first Creativity Workshop in 2015 through FIU Life Well Led. Her goal is to eliminate any barriers to creativity which often go unnoticed because they are so ingrained in us. Once we eliminate these barriers we are able to discover what we are passionate about newly take new actions and dream new dreams. Through this process, Dana encourages her clients to play more, exercise compassion throughout the growth process, make mistakes, draw outside the lines and live life on your own terms authentically.
www.danadellacamera.com
www.awakenyourinnergiant.com
Walks, Windows & Water!
March 25, 2015
What inspires you, and how do you best tap into your inspiration?
One of the great things I’ve learned about honoring who we are as individuals is understanding that we are uniquely different in many ways, including how we each access our “inner genius”. What’s our Inner Genius? Well, I define it as that bank of ideas and knowledge that we’ve deposited coins into all of our lives. Everything we see, touch, smell, hear, feel, and learned ends up in this “bank”. Over time, all of that information mixed together with INSPIRATION— that which does not come from us, but from a universal source — creates our Inner Genius. Accessing our Inner Genius doesn’t always come easy. Let’s face it, folks, we aren’t always listening!!! In fact, we’ve got so much inner dialogue happening constantly, that sometimes it’s hard to quiet the chatter so we can tap that inner knowing and also be open to outside inspiration. Yes, one of the very best ways for all us to open those channels more widely is via meditation or mindfulness. We can access some really juicy stuff that way! But, I bet you have ways that are unique to you. Do you know what they are? And, if you knew, could you tap your Inner Genius more often? I really enjoyed this past weekend. It was an active one— some fun family and friend time, cultural activities, and some quiet time around my home and neighborhood. It was through some of those activities (the more simple ones), that I realized what those inspiration HOT buttons are for me, and they include WALKS, WINDOWS, and WATER! Walks do it every time! I don’t know what it is about taking a walk, but the inspiration is quite spectacular! Perhaps it is being out in nature and just taking it all in. I get some of my best ideas on walks. Windows do the same! I did a bit of work over the weekend, and I have a lovely desk that sits by one of my large windows facing my Oak Trees and butterfly plants. At any given moment starring out the window I can see Blue Jays or Cardinals (my favorite!), wild parrots, or lots of butterflies! Just sitting quietly and watching, can spur on some great ideas! Finally, being in water is a sure-fire way to get me going! Whether it’s a nice long shower or tub, the inspiration literally flows! I love being aware of my Inner Genius triggers, because when I have those moments of frustration or stagnation, all I have to do is take a walk, look out a window, or get in some water, and voila!!! How do you tap your Inner Genius? What gets those ideas flowing for you? It’s your life. Lead it well!Monique
Are you looking to awaken your Inner Genius?
Then our new Life Well LED creative course is perfect for you!
When being a little sideways is a good thing!
August 25, 2014
We did it! We made it to the final week of Summer of Well-Being! As I type these words, though, I’m reminded of one of my favorite song lyrics by Kenny Loggins (yes, I’m dating myself a bit!):
This is it! Make no mistake where you are! What’s left to provide?
You think that maybe it’s over .
Not if you don’t want it to be!
Here’s what I know for sure…our well-being is a daily, life-long process. And more than just a process, it’s a decision. A decision we make every moment of every day.
I’ve so enjoyed bringing you on this journey during our summer. Please know that the journey is not over! On Thursday, you’ll hear from our final guest blogger, Michelle Alva, who is an Energy Healer at Canyon Ranch Miami Beach. She’s going to wrap up our awareness program very nicely. And, I’m so excited to announce that on September 1st I’ll be sharing with you a way that you can continue on this journey with me and with many others, as I launch my new 6-Month Group Coaching Program: Journey to Well-Being! I can’t wait to share this opportunity with you, and I hope you will consider remaining in our community and growing in your well-being every day.
Today I want to write about one of my favorite things…creativity! One of my top 5 talent themes as defined by Gallup’s Strengths Finder is Ideation. I just LOVE ideating and getting new ideas going and growing! Because it’s one of my strengths, I know that leading with this strength each day, even if only a little bit, gives me so much energy! But even if it’s not a natural talent for you doesn’t mean that you can’t employ it to boost your well-being. They say that if we spend too much time nourishing our logical reasoning, we in fact starve our non-linear, right-brain functions. As a result, we only half live!! 
Research shows that stimulating our right-brain helps to relax us, lower our blood pressure, reduce migraine headaches, and generally increase our harmony. Of course, this can be attained via activities such as mindfulness, or guided visualizations, which we’ve covered during Summer of Well-Being. They help to quiet the rational “thinking” brain. However, there are other ways to spark the right-brain and transform the way we think, learn and operate.
As an example, just this month our team had a retreat that was based in ideation. We wanted to get outside of our boxes and come up with as many innovative ideas as possible (without being logical!), so we used Improv techniques to help us do this. Not only was it a lot of fun, but it truly helped us to get comfortable with being uncomfortable, which often is a requirement to operating in a right-brain kinda way! If you had a chance to view our Summer of Well-Being guest blogger last week, David Suarez, then you know what I’m talking about.
To take it one step further, I want to share five tips for thinking laterally, as Edward DeBono, Ph.D., calls it, or as I like to call it, “Sideways” thinking!
1. Get Random Input: Instead of relying only on what we think or know, we can take our question somewhere else for input, like a mall, or museum, or neighbor, or random book, etc. DeBono says that “A random input from outside can serve to disrupt the old pattern and allow it to reform in a new way.”
2. Quotas: By imagining that there is only one right answer, we limit ourselves. By using quotas, we challenge ourselves to come up with a minimum number of alternatives. We can take this deeper by setting a deadline.
3. Rotation of Attention: Sometimes when we try to solve a problem we focus on just one aspect of the problem, thereby limiting our solutions. One example is losing weight. Perhaps we only focus on the diet and the specific food item we need to reduce or eliminate. Another way to look at it, thereby sparking our right-brain, is to make each factor in the problem (or question) the focus of attention and learn as much as we can by examining it as if it were the only factor in the problem.
4. Reversals: Turn a situation completely upside down! By doing this we are changing our point of view. For example, sometimes it’s hard to figure out what it is we want, but it may be interesting to ask ourselves what it is we don’t want! To determine what well-being is for us, we may learn a lot by asking ourselves what we know for sure that it is not.
5. Cross Fertilization: It’s natural to avoid those opinions that are not like ours. It’s often uncomfortable to think and feel in a way that’s not natural to us. However, by forcing ourselves to get input from those who often see and feel things differently than we do, we are allowing ourselves to expand the possibilities. This is especially useful when we are stuck and can’t see a way out. When it comes to our health and decisions that we may need to make, this can be a great solution and opportunity.
When it comes to our well-being, sometimes we just need to get a little sideways! For some of us, activating our creative side can juice us up with lots of energy that we can apply to various aspects of our lives, and it can transform our relationships and environments by allowing us to be more open. And for others, thinking laterally can really help us make some important life and health decisions.
Give it a try and let me know what it does for you!
It’s your life. Lead it well!
Monique
Once in a Blue Moon!
August 31, 2012
by Ellie Kane
I love to find excuses to make things happen, so here is one that you can use as well…
because it is once in a blue moon, after all!
That’s right, today we will be dazzled by the rare blue moon. It’s rare because it only happens every 2-3 years, and this month, we get two full moons! Although it may not be blue (from where you may be), according to astrologists, the energy of this blue moon may provide an ideal time to take all the intensity it will create and funnel it toward something BIG, something you have been putting off, haven’t had the energy to do, or something that could really make a difference for you or others in your life. That’s why it can be BIG. Ideally, this energy is perfectly suited for tapping into your creativity and deepening your intuition.
How can you get your creative juices flowing this weekend?
What are you being drawn to?
What is a BIG goal you can get started on?
What are you avoiding that you can break through right now?
In past postings I’ve talked about getting in the FLOW. This weekend provides the perfect time (and mood lighting!) to make that happen.
Personally, I’m already in the flow. My creative juices began tempting me early this week and my BIG goal (which I definitely have been avoiding!) is to give up TV to find time to put into place these ideas and plans that are tantalizing me.
Get your Blue Moon ON!
Care to share your BIG to do? Would love to hear about it. “-)
Namaste,
Monique
When All is Lost, Walk.
May 24, 2010
A Montana Walkabout - M. Catoggio
I’m so excited! I remember being entranced by novels at the age of 16. I would pick one up on a weekend morning and not close it shut until the sun went down the same day. Sidney Sheldon and Danielle Steel were my favorite authors back then. Good stuff! I don’t believe I’ve read a novel since, mostly because I became fascinated with self-actualization books. What I’ve quickly realized through The Walk is that we also can learn some hearty lessons via a good novel—one that mimics the real life situations many people endure.
Are novels that far-fetched? Some, yes. But all we need to do is turn on the nightly news to experience the realness of our lives. The Walk is exceptional, and that “I can’t put it down” feeling I had as a young reader has returned.
I’ve chosen to read and blog about The Walk: A Novel, by Richard Paul Evans for two reasons. First, because I have been craving the “Calgon—Take Me Away” sensation a good novel gives me, and second, because the description of this one in particular felt appropriate to be reading right now. I believe the author knew what he was doing creating a piece such as this one, right now, when so many people in our country have lost so much of what was a big part of them—a career, a marriage, a home, or as in the case of The Walk, all of the above and then some.
In the first chapter of the book, the main character, Alan Christoffersen, has this to say…
“Life has taught me that to fly, you must first accept the possibility of falling.”
He has fallen hard, and I have to admit that going through the motions with him was not easy. I was holding my breath, clinching my hands, screaming (inside…didn’t want to frighten my little ones!), and crying heavily. Alan definitely takes you for the ride.
In the middle of the book (yes, I’m already almost finished with this one after just one day!) he explains what he’s been through to a stranger he meets in a small town. It’s a great summary of the novel:
“(I had the) Classic riches to rags story. I had the perfect life. And in less than six weeks it was gone. I owned a Seattle advertising agency. Actually, money was only a small part of it. One day my wife was thrown from a horse. She was paralyzed from the chest down. Then a month later, she died from complications. While I was taking care of her, my business partner stole my agency, and my home went into foreclosure. I lost everything. That’s when I decided to walk away.”
He walked all right—3,600 miles to the farthest point from Seattle—Key West.
I guess in a spiritual way I was called to this novel because of the many benefits one can receive from walking. Aside from exercise, walking can be a form of mindful meditation, and for me, it has always been a source of creativity. I can not only come to closure on issues that are “in my way,” but also come up with some great ideas while going for a walk. Or, as I like to say, the answers and ideas come to me.
In the novel, Alan has this to say about his decision to walk…
“In that moment it was clear to me what I had to do…the only thing left for me to do. I needed to walk far away. I believe that in spite of the chains we bind ourselves with, there’s a primordial section of the human psyche that is still nomadic and still yearns to roam free. We see evidence of this in the walkabouts of the Australian aborigines and the Spirit Walk of the native Americans. But it’s not new. Every generation has dreamed of roaming. Deep in our hearts everyone wants to walk free.”
You will find many aha moments while reading The Walk, and there are definitely lessons the author hopes we will learn from his masterpiece. Things like, walking a day in your father’s shoes (Alan’s mother died when he was young and now he understands—a bit—what his father went through); listening to your intuition (his no good, crooked partner); not living beyond your means (the success of his agency enticed them to have it all NOW), and taking the time to smell the roses (would his wife have had the accident if he had taken her up on her invitation to spend the day together instead of rush to work as usual?). And, there are many more lessons we can learn as Alan begins his journey—on foot— to Key West.
One final one that truly made me stop and think, and I’ll close with this, is the transition of death. I see so many individuals struggle and fall into deep darkness at the loss of a loved one. In the book, Alan is definitely in the pit of that darkness. When we lose someone it is hard to find the light in the darkness. For many, they never find that light. Here are a few passages in the book spoken by a small town stranger (to Alan) that helped me feel lighter about death when I walked in Alan’s shoes:
“That’s all death requires of us, to give up living. The thing is, the only real sign of life is growth. And growth requires pain. So to choose life is to accept pain. Some people go to such lengths to avoid pain that they give up on life. The irony is, in the end their escape becomes more painful than what they are avoiding….You know, (Alan) she’s not really gone. She’s still a part of you. What part of you is your choice. She can be a spring of gratitude and joy, or she can be a fountain of bitterness and pain. It is entirely up to you…The greatest secret of life is that we find exactly what we’re looking for. In spite of what happens to us, ultimately we decide whether our lives are good or bad, ugly or beautiful.”
At this point in the story, Alan has only walked for a handful of days. Some may get the feeling that he’s given up, that he is weak for not fighting for his agency, for his home, for his life. But is he weak? There is a powerful Zen quality to this story that I appreciate. Sometimes the transformation we seek is in letting go instead of holding on and fighting. I believe Alan is powerful and courageous, and he is on his way to finding that within him which will lead him home—wherever that may be.
How can you choose happiness in this moment?
What in your life may you be seeing as bad or ugly, which can instead be a source of beauty for you?
Walk on, and have a wonderful week.
Namaste,
Monique
My Relaxed Book Club will discuss selections from books I feel help high-achieving professionals continue to develop themselves and work on their personal leadership leading to more fulfilled, balanced and successful lives and careers.
Illumined Life Leadership 