Creative Motivation!

Four Ways to Feel Better Without Spending a Dime

Croissants always make life rosy! — Coffee + croissant = think time

LOVES!! How are you?

To be honest, I’m feeling more excited about my work life than I have in a long time. You know that feeling, when you get to do the thing that makes you come alive? As in, you would do it probably even if you didn’t get paid? This is the season I feel like I am stepping into.

And a HUGE part of this is because of the Resilient Entrepreneur e-course Sarah and I are launching in ONE WEEK, May 3!! Ahhhh! Y’all, we are doing it! And FYI, t he early bird $35 rate ENDS SATURDAY, so sign up today!

But, if you wait until after Saturday and pay the $75, you do get a surprise goody in the mail with your registration. So there’s that!

But back to today. The thought life part of our e-course is (between us) my favorite section. Before I did the research and study for our mindset teaching, and living with what felt like chronic anxiety and fear about my job, I just assumed stress was normal. Ending every day feeling like your head had been put through the ringer was par for the course of entrepreneurship. Overwhelm was something you just had to get through. I believed if I worried enough, somehow the effort was going to catapult me into another financial stratosphere.

Bigbsy and I on what I call a “walk and pray” to clear my head

Wow, how wrong I was!

What I learned, PRAISE the LORD, is that pressure, overwhelm, anxiety- is a lie. We are not (literally, physically are bodies are not designed) for chronic stress. We are made to live in health! To feel good, do good, have faith, think the best possible outcomes about the future. Worry does NOT pay the bills- but positivity can.

And that’s what Sarah and I talked about last night- 4 Ways to Feel Better Without Spending a Dime. Here are our notes!

Baking is a huge stress reliever and mindset reframe for me!

Drop worry today! As in, THIS very MOMENT!

YOU control how you feel. You are not powerless!
Worry does not pay the bills. Worrying “enough” (aka the American mindset) does not earn you anything but stress and negative health outcomes!
Worry is nearly always negative speculation and self-sabatoage.
Worry takes energy away from doing the positive things you are made to do!
Identify if it’s a worry thought. Ask yourself questions like: is this within my control? Is there anything I can practically do to resolve this?

Declutter Your Space.

Overwhelm and worry can make us feel paralyzed. Check yourself before you wreck yourself and do something active instead!
It’s amazing how when your office or desk is clean, you feel your brain relax and recharge.
Clean your space every Friday, or take a 20 minute break and organize your desk.

Reframe how you think about the crappy things that happened to you.

Make a list of five things that frustrate you. Do a deep dive and journal to reframe those things!
Reverse the perspective- Why are you better, stronger, or smarter? How have these things benefited you?
Life is seasonal! As cheesy as it sounds, the sun always shines after it rains. Trust that things are working out for you.
Remind yourself that this is a work in progress but YOU have the choice on how you communicate your circumstances. Use words to add hope and life to your situation.
Choose gratitude when crappy feelings come up and you will feel empowered instead of victimized.

Lemon-Smoothie-Bowl-006 — Bonus points for taking time to treat yourself!

Stair step, don’t leap!

Appreciate emotional stepping stones as progress! Leaping isn’t genuine.
Ask yourself: what could I do to feel just a little bit better? This question is more empowering and “doable” than trying to make a dramatic shift and feeling like you can’t.

Ok guys. YOU inspire me! I hope you have the most peace and gratitude-filled weekend. Go on a walk and eat a slice of cake! Annnnddd let me know if any of these strategies help in the comments below!

Four Ways to Reclaim Your Impact!

IMPACT.

That word rings loudly in my head these days! For someone quickly rounding the corner to 33 and with five years under my belt as an entrepreneur, I’ve done a lot of thinking about this.

Like- what exactly do I want my impact to be? What do I truly care about, at my core? What makes me uniquely me?

And the same goes for you. What are your values? What’s important to you? What impact do you want to have?

APC_1225 — These are the people (and Bigbsy) that I want to impact and live life with!

Because I know, my dear Luv Cooks readers, that besides our collective love of food, there are lots of other loves in our lives too. For me, I’m realizing more everyday what I want the impact of my entrepreneurial life to be. I want people to feel loved, encouraged- like they experienced a bit more JOY in their day than they otherwise would have through encountering either myself, my videos or my recipes.

I also realize that there are LOTS of things that vie for our attention. I mean- the emails, the family events, social obligations, community or work shin digs, chores, texts, facebook messages- you get it.

But here’s the thing that Sarah and I talked about last night on our Instagram live teaching: you don’t HAVE TO allow these other things- the things you don’t really care about, I mean deeply, at your core- to ruin the impact you want to have in your life. That’s right, I said “allow those things.” We actually have a choice- to choose to pursue the things we are uniquely gifted at, to build the dreams only we can accomplish- or, we don’t. We choose other things instead. And the missing key for us to BUILD THE IMPACT that we want? One word: boundaries.

APC_1164 — I’m learning to say NO to distractions so I can say YES to quality time with my hubs!

Boundaries are a game-changer.

Boundaries define us. Literally- they allow us to communicate to the world where we end and others begin. They teach us to take responsibility for our decisions because WE (not other people) are the ones who have to deal with the consequences. They give us freedom to decide to do the things that make us happy and others’ lives better (it’s soo good y’all, what we are going to teach about boundaries in our course!!)

So, to help us ALL develop that boundary-setting skill a bit more (because it’s VITAL to our impact) Sarah and I came up with a list of the TOP 4 WAYS to RECLAIM your impact for GOOD!

KNOW YOUR VALUES

What’s important to you?
What annoys you? You VALUE the opposite of this!

KNOW YOUR GOALS

What do you want to accomplish this year?
What feels exciting to complete?

KNOW YOUR LIMITS

How to spot when a boundary is crossed?
Check your “emotional check engine light”- You may feel disappointed, insecure, exhausted, angry, unhappy

SET BOUNDARIES

Make a conscious rule to protect your values and goals
Start slow with small “no’s” (i.e. if a restaurant gets your order or coffee wrong, send it back)
This teaches us NOT to ultimately care what people think
These decisions build self-worth and confidence, which leads to impact!

______________________________________________________________________

Take Action Challenge:

Look at your list of goals, and pick one. Actively set a boundary around that. What will you say no to and yes to, to ensure it will happen?

*Take a goal, then turn it into a rule. Add it to your schedule!

Also, don’t miss, FOR FREE, this Reclaim Your Impact boundary-setting worksheet! We included it in our teaching last night and it is CLUTCH for making those boundary commitments LAST!

APC_0829 — Bigbsy’s future is so bright he needs shades

Also, we will both be going into much more detail on boundaries and impact during our 3-week Resilient Entrepreneur course! You can register and check out more info on the ways we are going to teach you to be an overcomer here. Happy weekend my loves!!

Top 4 Energy Drains & How To Solve Them!

Vietnamese Noodle Salad — My self-care for the week: this Vietnamese salad from The Kitchn

You guys! How are you this week? In particular- how is your energy?

To be honest- since the beginning of the year, mine has been lagging. For those of you who follow the blog, you know how much I LOVE to encourage people. In fact- it’s why I started this blog, to share the love and passion I have for food. And really that love is a love for people, to make them happy and excited about life through the things THEY can make.

But to be real, I haven’t been able to do much of that this year. I felt like my impact was getting buried in the day-to-day tasks of running a food styling/photography/recipe development business. So, my friend Sarah Deshaw and I started talking- why were we both feeling drained? Like we were out of sync, a bit burnt out and distracted? Why did I feel like I wasn’t making the financial and spiritual impact that I wanted to create?

And then, a light bulb moment. If we were feeling this way, surely other people were too. I mean, how many of us have gotten to the end of the week (or weeks, or months) and wondered what we actually accomplished? I mean, crossing of to-do lists are great, but did those things make us feel like we were coming alive? Is our life now better than it was a month ago?

We decided to do something about it, and have now spent months developing a course called The Resilient Entrepreneur. This course has been life-changing for me as a businessperson. It has become Sarah and I’s way to help us all to THRIVE despite what our businesses look like today- to actually love our lives as entrepreneurs again, to make impact on the things that matter to us, to feel better than we ever have.

Over the course of the next few weeks I’ll be sharing more details, but for now, I’d LOVE to for you to check out an Instagram Live teaching Sarah and I did last night on the Top 4 Energy Drains for Entreprenuers and How to Solve Them. This teaching is ahhhmazing, and hints and some of the content our course will center around. You can find it HERE on her story, and also download NOTES from the teaching HERE . AND because you made it all the way to the end of this post- a link to our EARLY BIRD sign up rate for the course, $35. I promise it will be worth every single penny (and I know how precious your pennies are, because mine are too!)

Alright my loves- enjoy this fantastic content, and I pray that this weekend, you get to REST. That you take a full 24 hours to simply enjoy your life and do NO work. Because you are fabulous and I want to see you succeed for the long haul.

Happy Friday!

Vegan, GF and Paleo FUN in Fort Collins, Colorado

I ADORE grocery stores, especially stores that have lots of options for those of us who are on specific eating plans. Whether you can’t have gluten, or cow’s milk dairy, or meat- I GET IT, and for a girl from Alabama, Colorado blew my mind for all of the fabulous offerings for alternative eating!

On today’s video I highlight some of the most awesome stores, products and creative food to grace my path while I was in Fort Collins food- styling for a breakfast chain. From Wild and Free kombucha, to vegan butter and the best vegan chocolate chip cookie I’ve ever had, some of these products may even be found near you!

***And just to be clear, NOT EVERYTHING on this list fits paleo, gluten-free and vegan eating, so just check the labels to make sure it works for you!

In case they aren’t at your local grocery store, here is a list of all of the stores/purveyors I mentioned!

Screen Shot 2018-04-05 at 6.16.11 PM — Photo from CoYo’s site. I am obsessed with this beautiful styling!!

Whole Foods Market in Fort Collins
Outrageous gluten-free lemon poppyseed bread:
***Goat cheese gouda
***Vosges mini exotic chocolate bar library
Jilz crackers (LOVE!!!):
All natural Wrawps:
CoYo coconut yogurt:
Natural Grocers:
Miyoko’s creamery mozzarella and butter:
Miss Jones Baking Co:
Revolution Market Fort Collins
Wylder Coffee Co
***Kim and Jake’s gluten-free cookies

Wild and Free kombucha

***Not everything on this list meets all the criteria of vegan, Paleo, and gluten-free, so make sure and check the labels to see if it will work for you!

Food is ART + Lemon Blueberry Chia Smoothie Bowl

As snow falls softly outside my window, I’m reminded of one of my favorite things about January. The fresh white powder is a clean slate. It’s reflecting in nature the simple principle that life can start fresh at any moment, that each day is a new beginning.

The whiteness also reminds me of what a stark contrast the colors of my breakfast plate are to the world around me. Deep, orangey yellow eggs, amber bacon, lightly golden toast with deep purple jam. Black coffee with a creamy coffee bomb.

The snow continues to swirl, the wind leading it up and away, or cascading down, perching softly on the worn wooden rails of our porch.

These patterns, these colors, these textures- it’s bliss. For those of you who read this blog, you are no stranger to the fact that I LOVE beauty. I even tried my hand at a few posts about the things that were inspiring to me visually, at that moment. For my heart, the visual world is just as real and riveting as any adventure I’ve had. It’s key to my peace of mind, my happiness, my creative expression, to be deeply aware of this reality.

Which brings us to the love I have for the beauty of food. The depth and layer of color to a strawberry; the way rainbow chard blooms from green into orange into purple-red; the gleam on a rinsed, ripe blueberry.

There is an exquisiteness to this world- this visual world of food- that is inspiring, challenging- and I think can even lead us to new flavor combinations and levels of creativity in our own cooking.

And this is the reason number two why I want you to fall in love with food in January. If you missed last week’s post, the amazing Kristen Shoates joined us to introduce herself, and her own story with falling for food. She’s leading the charge this month as we discuss four reasons (and there are SO many!) to fall for food. Here is Kristen’s reason number two to expound so beautifully on the topic:

Food as art. Have you ever walked through the produce section of the grocery store and really paid attention to the creativity of food? The richness of color, the variety of texture and the diversity of flavors are all part of nature and ready for us to explore. When we constantly eat the same thing or eat food that only comes out of a box, we lose the artistic nature of eating and cooking. For me, eating has become an almost spiritual experience, one that makes me feel connected to my Creator, the way my body was designed to work and the creativity displayed throughout nature.

YES!! And here is this week’s video about that exact fact- along with a challenge to you guys this week to engage that cooking creativity!

And to me, this weeks’ recipe could not be more fitting to the topic of beauty and food. There is nothing like a smoothie bowl to stir the senses and ignite creativity, solely based on the visual of the thing you are creating.

So this weekend, let’s celebrate the beatify, the mystery, the abundant color of food. And enjoy every spoonful.

Lemon Blueberry Chia Smoothie Bowl with Fresh Mint and Chocolate

Lemon juice amplifies and balances the sweetness of blueberries and banana in this smoothie bowl. Don’t worry if your mixture is super thick in the blender; that means you are doing it right! Top with mint-flavored dark chocolate for an even sweeter, minty flavor. You can also find this recipe in the January issue of Birmingham magazine.

Yield: 1 smoothie bowl

What You Will Need:

● 1/2 cup unsweetened nut milk plus 1 tablespoon filtered water

● 1 scoop plant-based protein powder (23 grams), chocolate or vanilla flavor

● 1 cup frozen blueberries

● 1 tablespoon cold chia seeds, plus more for topping

● 1/2 frozen banana, broken into two pieces

● 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

● 1 tablespoon cocoa powder

● 1/4 of an avocado

● 5 fresh mint leaves, plus more for topping

● 80% cacao dark chocolate, shaved (or mint dark chocolate)

What You Will Do:

Blend all ingredients (except for additional mint for topping and dark chocolate) on low speed in a blender for about a minute. Move to medium speed for about one minute more.
Stop blending and remove top from blender. Use a large spoon (or tamper) to push any remaining unblended ingredients towards bottom of mixture.
Continue to blend; if blender gets stuck, simply stop blending, push ingredients down into blender, and blend again until smooth and creamy.
Pour into a bowl, top with chocolate and mint, and enjoy!

*If using unsweetened protein powder, add 1-2 teaspoons of maple syrup or honey to taste.

The Craziest Fall Cauliflower Recipes from the Internet

Lee from America‘s mint chocolate chip cauliflower smoothie bowl!

So, you think you know cauliflower?

I thought I did too. I mean, we posted some pretty great recipes this month-from vegan cauliflower tacos to dark chocolate cauliflower brownies!

But y’all- I scoured the internet for this month’s recipe round up and was BLOWN AWAY by the creativity of all of these fabulous food bloggers below! Check out some of the most fun recipes I found:

Cauliflower Blueberry Smoothie by Lee From America

Pork Scratching Cauliflower Nuggets by Eighty 20 Nutrition

Cauliflower Kedgeree by Fresh Planet Flavor **hint, it involves Indian food**

Mashed Cauliflower Breakfast Bowl by Grass Fed Salsa

Chocolate Cauliflower Cake with Salted Cinnamon Caramel Icing by Veggie Desserts

Cinnamon Caramelized Cauliflower by The Full Helping

Vegan Chocolate Buttercream (made with cauliflower!!) by 84th and 3rd

Here’s to a weekend full of cauliflower craziness. Let me know if you try one of these recipes in the comments below!

Cereal Taste-Testing and My Favorite Nut Mylks

Rainbow Lucky Charms — Rainbow Lucky Charm bark by Aww.Sam! Her site is THE CUTEST.

We have eaten a lot of vegetables on the blog this month and for that I am SO grateful! But I do have a confession to make.

Some days, at the end of a long photo shoot, or just creative day in general where my brain is spent- all I really want is a bowl of crunchy goodness doused in ice-cold milk. Or MYLK, as all of the fancy nut-based milk companies are starting to spell it.

CC FIVE! — Salty Canary’s Count Chocula donut prep. FAB.

So this week, I decided it was time to take a break from cooking, and celebrate cereal. Pure and simple- just deliciousness in a bowl. And in honor of that, check out this week’s YouTube video of Jake and I taste-testing an item a bit out of our comfort zone- protein cereal.

Also celebrating sweet and tasty flakes in a bowl, here are my top five favorite cereals and accompanying inspirational photos from other bloggers who actually made things with these cereals:

My FAVE 5 Cereals To-Date:

Count Chocula: Forget only at Halloween, WHY CANT WE EAT THIS YEAR-ROUND?!
Salty Canary’s Count Chocula donuts!!
Lucky Charms: Because, you know, everything is better with marshmallows in it.

Aww.Sam's Lucky Charms bark! — Aww.Sam’s Lucky Charms bark!

Aldi Simply Nature Coconut And Chia granola: Y’all, not only is this cereal a bargain, it’s also delicious with yogurt. Oh my gosh, so good with yogurt.
Nature’s Path Organic Heritage Flakes: Ok, I know, when I first tasted this cereal years ago I was like, “How could someone choose this over Frosted Flakes?” But now, y’all, I’m hooked!! It’s slightly sweet flavor and crunchy texture- soooo tasty.
Cocoa Puffs: I grew up eating this cereal every day. Seriously, my mom was AWESOME.

Cocoa Puffs with Almond milk! — These homemade Cocoa Puffs!

My Fave 5 Nut Mylks to Date:

Califa Farms Toasted Coconut Almond Milk: OH. My. GEEZ. This carton is gone in a flash in our household. It’s so good on it’s on, with cereal, with everything..
Trader Joe’s Almond Milk Unsweetened Vanilla
Eden Foods Soy Milk: I totally dig Eden Food’s soy milk because it has SO much protein!! It has like 12 grams a serving, which totally helps make cereal a meal.
Silk Original Almond and Coconut Milk: This is perfect for cereal AND smoothies.

Blueberry and Banana Ice cream from Health- made with almond milk! — Blueberry and Banana Ice cream from Health– made with almond milk!

5.Califa Farms Black and White Cold Brew Coffee: I know this one involves coffee but helloooo this is so slammin’ delicious and perfect for warmer weather. And I totally wouldn’t judge you if you ate this with Cocoa Puffs for breakfast.

This weekend, I encourage you to sit back, relax, and pour yourself a cold bowl of cereal. With marshmallows.

XOXOXOXO!!!

Brownie Recipe Round-up + 5 Fridge Must-Haves!

Brownie Prep! — Brownie shot from Food Faith Fitness blog!

Lovelies!

Today is a fantastic day. You know why? Because, BROWNIE RECIPES! As you know, I share a deep, deep love for brownies, wish they were a part of the food pyramid (*awkward! I realized this no longer exists, hah, as you can see in my Luv Cooks video for the week) and I have a unique ability (some say it could be considered an athletic ability) to relentlessly daydream about recipes. Caramel, pecan, peanut butter, spicy chili, coconut, dark chocolate, cookie dough- name the add-in, I’ll eat it. Well, unless it contains cricket flour. But that’s for a whole other discussion.

Rest assured that none of this week’s recipes involve cricket flour-and oh my geez MY STOMACH IS GROWLING thinking about these!!

Coconut Almond Skillet Paleo Brownies– WHAT?!! Do you SEE these photos? I am seriously going to make a surface like that as soon as I can. Stunning! And how cute is Taylor?!

2. Bailey’s Brownies– I am a sucker for Bailey’s, and that cream layer on the top?! Dreamy! This recipe and photo from Spend with Pennies looks delicious!

3. Yammie’s Flourless Crunch Marshmallow Brownies I was literally so excited about these brownies that I clicked to open them three times from Pinterest. They have: peanut butter, Rice Krispies, chocolate, marshmallows, more marshmallows…

4. Salted Caramel Brownies– My mouth is now watering. Something Swanky is the cutest site! Full of so much color, fun, and mad dessert love. My kind of gal!

5. Tiramisu Brownies: You had me at COFFEE BROWNIES! These photos and recipe by Broma Bakery are so beautiful, so lovely, and so perfect for breakfast. And dessert. And a snack. And really anytime you feel you need a tiramisu brownie.

Also this week- The 5 Things I Keep in My Fridge!! Because who doesn’t like to spy in other people’s refrigerators? **

**Note: Cleary there is often MORE than five things in my fridge. Especially if I am prepping for a food shoot (normally I am banging my head against a shelf in my freezer during that time; Lord send us a double fridge!). But on a weekly basis, Jake and I have developed some staples that keep us going and on a (somewhat) healthy track. After all, what is a routine if you don’t have easy access to coffee bombs?:)

So, here’s our list in a non-video form:

Almond milk: I love unsweetened vanilla almond milk! I drink it all the time with cookies; add it to my cereal, and smoothies, and to powdered peanut butter. I also sometimes substitute the unsweetened original flavor for dairy in soups! It’s a good swap if you need it. We buy ours in the three-pack from Costco.
Yogurt: Whole milk, plain yogurt has become a fridge staple for us. I love Stonyfield Organic whole milk yogurt and my current FAVE thing to do with yogurt is stir in some powdered or regular peanut butter, cocoa powder, a bit of stevia and cinnamon, and voila! It’s like a pseudo peanut butter cup.
Green apples: Green apples cold from the fridge are the best! I chop them up, toss them with cinnamon, add them to oatmeal, dip them in peanut butter- lots of fiber and possibilities there.
Eggs: We also get a 24 count flat of these from Costco! My favorite use is to soft-boil them. Just lower eggs into boiling water, cover, and then take your pot off the heat for about 8 minutes. Rinse the eggs under cold running water and peel. The centers are beautifully runny and fabulous on toast and in broth or with Asian food.

5. Coffee bombs: Y’all know how passionate I am about Ladybird Provisions and their coffee bombs. They are a part of my coffee routine on the daily and I try to always have stacks of them in the fridge! The smoothie above was made with a coffee bomb in it:)

Happy weekend everyone! May your tummies, and fridges, stay full!

January’s SMOOTHIE recipe inspirations + Freelance Success Lesson #1

My friends!!

It’s Friday, it’s been an awesome month of January Luv Cooks smoothies, but now it’s time to end the month with an internet recipe round-up. Yeehaw, this word sounds a bit like a cattle call, but it’s actually going to be my monthly recipe secret inspiration stash I’d like to share with YOU!

Here’s my “Top 5 List” of the yummy smoothies left up for you to discover yourself. Comment below and tell me what you think!!

Banana, Coffee, Cashew and Cocoa Smoothie from Bon Appetit Bananas, cold brew coffee, cashews and cocoa powder: YES.

Coconut-Blueberry smoothie from Bon Appetit!

2. Coconut Blueberry Smoothie by Bon Appetit: Creamy coconut milk, frozen blueberries, mint leaves, honey… (sorry, I was daydreaming about this one).

3. Vegan Vanilla Milkshake Smoothie by Pop Fitness: This smoothie inspired me to start putting silken tofu into my morning routine. SO good, so much vanilla, so much creaminess, yummmmmm.

4. Spinach-Avocado Smoothie with Grapefruit by Epicurious: This smoothie TOTALLY intrigues me. Plus- look at their food photography! Hello, this is AMAZING.

5. Peachy Chia Chai Smoothie by Epicurious. Ok, you had me at chia chai!! I love the way chia seeds thicken a smoothie, plus the spices of chai (cinnamon, cardamom, cloves) with frozen peaches sounds increddiblleeee.

Also, as part of our Luv Cooks effort to post every Friday, I think that it’s time for me to start passing along a little something extra to you guys every month. Every month I’ll plan to share a work/life/entrepreneurship lesson of sorts; a way to encourage you guys and make your life better! I’ll honestly share from my treasure trove of business and styling mistakes in an effort to encourage all of you to pursue your dreams! You were MADE for this abundant, creative life!

And sweet readers, know that I come to you completely humbly with these words of advice. When I began food styling all I had was a dream, a prayer– and a fierce, fiery desire to prove to everyone that we don’t have to live like the status quo. My favorite quote of all time is Helen Keller’s:

“Life is either a grand adventure or nothing else.”

Let’s LIVE that adventure everyone. It’s our destiny.

With that said, here it is, drumroll on lesson #1! In order to succeed as a food stylist/artist/creative entrepreneur, I believe you must have one quality above all else.

GRIT.

No, this is not the Southern side dish that I love to boil with whole milk and garlic cloves, then once it’s soft and rich, top with warm butter and cheddar cheese.

This is the OTHER kind of grit. The internal kind. It’s the gumption, the integrity, the strength, the resolve, the FIRE inside of you that REFUSES to give up until you accomplish your dream. It is a KEY determining factor to your life success, no matter the field.

In Angela Duckworth‘s TED talk that will rock your socks (it has almost 10 million views, #lifegoals), Angela says “GRIT is passion and peserverence for very long-term goals. GRIT is having stamina. Grit is sticking with your future. Day in, day out, not just for the week, not just for the month, but for years. And working REALLY HARD to make that future a reality.”

“Grit is living life like it’s a marathon, not a sprint.” Angela says. Or as Forbes magazine says it, “Optimism + Confidence + Creativity = Resilience = Hardiness =(+/- )Grit.”

Y’all- in our social media driven world, sometimes it looks like people just arrive places. They show up on the coolest photo shoots, with the coolest celebrities, rocking the coolest outfits. We think it was luck, or chance, that they got there. Or, like I struggle with sometimes, we think it’s the universe’s way of telling us we weren’t cut out for the big time like they are.

BUT THIS is a LIE!! Run screaming from this deception!! This voice does not tell you the TRUTH!

The truth is, as I have learned from YEARS of pushing my spirit, body, and my mind to go past my comfort zone- that a thriving, growing business IS NOT instant. Your triumphant success, whatever that looks like to you, most likely will not happen in a year, or two years; it might take five. But that is OK. Because food stylists- like many stylists and other talented professionals I know- recognize that we are in this for the long haul. We are working for the long term goals, influence, and the 10,000 plus hours it takes to become an expert and walk in the quality and strength of our work.

I don’t know about you, but I want to be an expert. I want to work hard and diligently and rest my head on the pillow at night knowing that I gave it my best. And that attitude- that “Wow, today may have sucked, but tomorrow I live to fight another day and accomplish my dream”- THAT is grit. Like Angela says, people with grit DON’T believe that failure is a permanent condition.

And GRIT is the mindset that all of this hard work is worth it. It will pay off in the end. It honors what we were made to accomplish.

So everyone- pluck up. YOU’VE GOT THIS. Pursue why you were put on this planet. And if you feel discouraged- well, I say you make a big bowl of cheesy grits (or blend up a smoothie) and rest in the fact that you gave it your all, and you WILL live to fight again tomorrow. And because you stuck with it, you WILL be a success.

LOVE YOU DEARLY my readers. Happy weekend!