The Bold Soul: A Writer's Life in Paris

Where "50 and fabulous" begins

I don't "do" New Year's resolutions; I haven't in years. For one thing, they don't work, usually because they're too broad and not specific enough, and for another thing, you end up feeling like crap after you've totally failed at keeping those resolutions within the first month (week?) of the New Year. How many people do you know who can claim they made and actually followed through on those resolutions to "lose weight", "get a better job", "make more money", "fall in love with Mr./Ms. Wonderful"? Exactly my point. But I DO set specific intentions for my year, and THAT seems to work out a whole lot better. The difference between resolutions and intentions is INTENT, and being specific about that intent. Intent is much more than making a vague promise to yourself; it involves a conscious shift in your energy, and a serious internal commitment to achieve that which you intend to accomplish. And of course, you have to back up those intentions with action... sometimes lots of action. When I reflected on what I wanted to accomplish in 2011 -- especially with the realization that I will be turning (choke, cough, gasp) 50 in a little more than... Read more →

If you were bold

If you were bold (or bolder), what would you do in the New Year? What would your 2011 be like? How would it be different? What would you accomplish? Who would you like to be(come)? How would you raise the bar for yourself? Who would you include in your life... or possibly exclude, because it's the healthier thing to do? What decisions would you take action on, that you've been procrastinating on in 2010, 2009, 2008...? What new places would you see? What new friends would you make, and which old friends would you reconnect with? What will make you happy? Content? Feel well satisfied with yourself? Who would you be kinder to? Take more interest in? Help? Support? Love? How would you treat yourself better? What's the next big thing in your life? Where do you want to go from here? What choices will you make this year, that will have you feel really great about yourself one year from today? And what specific action steps do you need to take to get there? ... Just a few things to think about as we party our way into another year. And for what it's worth, I'm asking myself many... Read more →

A little reminder

Came across my favorite quote today, from Marianne Williamson's "A Return to Love": "Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, "Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?" Actually, who are you NOT to be? ... Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that others won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine... And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same." I know how this inspired ME today. What about you? Read more →

Y B Normal?

"Normal is not something to aspire to, it's something to get away from." -- Jodie Foster. Thanks to author Neale Donald Walsch for this great quote that came to me in my morning email. It's always good to be reminded why I rejected "normal"... and how that decision changed my life. Read more →

Five Years of Bold Soul-ness

I fully intended to post something about this yesterday -- the ACTUAL 5-year anniversary of The Bold Soul™ -- but I have been in the south of France for a few days, visiting my sister-in-law with the Little Guy, and the time just got away from me! But now that I have stopped to think about it... FIVE YEARS of blogging! WOW!!!!! It's amazing to think that five whole years have passed since I got that bee in my bonnet to come to Paris, and I started blogging as a means of staying connected to that dream until I could make it happen. Now, so many years later, my life has surpassed the dream! I'm getting ready to head back to Paris this morning, which means I don't have the time to wax more philosophical than this, but suffice to say I am both proud and humbled at the same time. And I thank all of you who have come along for the ride over the years. I have no way of knowing where the NEXT five years will take me/us/the Blog, but I hope you'll all stick around to find out. After all, you want to read the book... Read more →

90 Days to What You Really Want

It's not only my refrigerator that's leaner, cleaner and meaner in 2010. I've streamlined my coaching work to simplify my professional life while making MORE time for writing and publishing my next book! (More details about the book in an upcoming blog post, including a short excerpt, so stay tuned!) While I have made the decision to drastically reduce my coaching availability in order to focus on writing as my primary passion, I enjoy coaching too much to completely pull the plug at this time. This is good news for some of you who have perhaps thought of working with me in order to create your own bold life or finish your own book! I'm pleased to announce two very straight-forward short-term programs for private coaching! The NO EXCUSES 90-day POWER* Coaching Program, and The NO EXCUSES 90-day Standard Coaching Program Both of these programs provide participants with 1-on-1 monthly coaching support by phone, a customized strategic action plan to support you during the 90 days and beyond, unlimited email coaching between our telephone sessions, and client discounts on some of my home study products. We'll also start things off right, with a free bonus kick-off session to establish your... Read more →

Has anyone seen my purpose in life? I can't remember where I left it

Very recently, I received an email from someone who has done all the right things. She's read all the books by all the masters out there: Wayne Dyer, Deepak Chopra, Eckhart Tolle and more. She's done the exercises and followed, to a large degree, the advice. She's asked herself all the right questions. She's even hired other coaches. And still, she feels no closer to finding her "soul purpose" in life. She wrote to me to share her story, to ask how I might coach someone in her situation, and to ask what I thought. Her central question was: "Could it really be that I have no passion?" Since I suspect there are many others asking themselves the same question, I decided to share my response with readers of my newsletter, The Exception™ -- and with Bold Soul readers as well! Read about it here, if you, too, are searching for your purpose in life. Read more →

Reassessing the need for New Year's Eve

I was saying to Georges earlier that it's a good thing that I have zero expectations of what a New Year's Eve is supposed to look like. I've been this way for a number of years now, where I really don't care what I do on the Eve. I think it's good to take this attitude because it means that whatever I end up doing, or NOT doing, I'm never disappointed. Of course, I wasn't always this way; there were plenty of New Year's Eves where I felt bad because I was alone or because I had nothing interesting to do. But it's been a long time since I really made a big deal about it, and frankly I'm much happier now. Of course, my New Year's Eves have changed direction in the past few years, just like the rest of my life: Five years ago on New Year's Eve 2005, I was still very single and dying to move to Paris. But I was still many months away from actually doing it. I don't remember what I did that night, but odds are that I was probably eating Chinese food and catching a movie with my mother. Like I'd... Read more →

Have Vision, Will Travel

I thought you might like to read this week's issue of "The Exception", and here's a short snippet: When you try to create a bolder life for yourself without a clear vision of what it's going to look like and feel like, it's exactly as if you're trying to drive cross-country without a road map; you'll get somewhere eventually, but probably not where you want to be. People who choose to drift through life with no clear vision are also those who often end up dissatisfied with what they've got; then they scratch their heads and wonder how they got there in the first place. The answer? Because they weren't living CONSCIOUSLY, they weren't LIVING BY DESIGN, they were flying on auto-pilot. No wonder they're not happy with their destination. If having a clear vision for your life is something you're feeling challenged by right now, I invite you to join me and the Pearl members of the NO EXCUSES Coaching Club for our monthly coaching call tomorrow, October 20th, at 4pm Eastern, where the topic will be "Creating Your Bold Vision". Even if you can't attend the live call, if you enroll now you can download the MP3 recording... Read more →

I still choose love

It's been eight years today. And I still remember everything. There's nothing more I can say, so instead I'll just reprint the essay I wrote that day, which now appears on my web site along with the preface I added some time afterward. Even eight years later, it still says everything I am feeling. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> ♥ <<<<<<<<<<<<<<< Author's Preface: At precisely 10:32am on the morning of September 11th, 2001, I turned on my television expecting to see the usual daily "stuff", and watched in horror and disbelief at the events which were unfolding before me, just miles from my home in northern New Jersey. On the TV screen, I saw an image of a huge cloud of dust enveloping some city I couldn't identify, and the caption said "Twin Towers collapsed". At first I thought it was a movie, until I realized every TV station was showing the same thing, and then I thought, "They must be talking about some OTHER Twin Towers because they can't mean New York!" This is how I learned of the terrorism that hit our country, head-on -- just ONE MINUTE after the second tower fell.Like all of you who saw it on TV or... Read more →