I'm not quite sure how I feel about resolutions. I know we're supposed to assess our lives and decide what to take action on in the coming New Year, and I love the idea of visioning what we want to occur. But as one Wise Woman shared when I asked about the practice on Facebook, "resolutions born of realization and desire can work if you don't use them as a way to beat yourself up. In my experience, they work if you take baby steps. Some of mine have been effective. Some were just 'should's' that I didn't stick to."

I hate "should's" too. Besides, it gets boring having to resolve the same things every year... the same 10 pounds, the same debt paid off, the same promises to call our mothers more often.

What I love is the idea of the New Year. There is so much potential. So much opportunity. It's incredible, really, what can happen in the space of a year. Our children evolve before our eyes, and, hopefully so do we. Babies can be born, businesses can be born. We can take a small step that leads to a giant leap. 

You know her when you see her. She moves purposefully, her feet firmly on the ground. She is gracious, but doesn't make a lot of small talk. Her eyes light up when she speaks and she has a definite opinion. She is confident. She is vital. She is inspired.

Is she you?

It doesn't cost a thing to be inspired. We've seen stories of inspired women around the globe, some with significant financial resources, others with none.

The root meaning of the word inspire? "To breathe life into." Inspired women are full of life.

How do you get inspired? Many will tell you that you can read books or listen to motivational speakers. They will tell you a great story or send you a YouTube video. Maybe a quote?

A couple of weeks ago, I shared with you my expanded vision for WISE: that together we are all WORTHY, INSPIRED, SUPPORTED and ENGAGED.

I want to get into the WORTH piece today, at least a little bit (because it's a BIG issue for us). I believe the need to feel worthy is the most difficult requirement in today's society for women. It is also the desire that is least often addressed or satisfied. It's almost gotten trite, this notion of self-worth. But cynicism around the idea does not change the need for it. And when I talk to women, it is so often the core of that sense that all of us have had... "this isn't enough, I'm not enough, I never have enough."

Let me start by saying: You are perfect. I'd like to say that one more time. You are perfect, just as you are. Are you able to accept that statement, or do you resist it? Does it bring tears to your eyes? That's not uncommon. I've met very few women who had full faith in their own worthiness. Our mistake is to believe that everything we've done "wrong" makes us unworthy. Our mistake is to believe that our mistakes define us. Our mistakes and our wrongs actually make us who we are - and are perfectly suited to what we can achieve with our lives. No mistakes = no lessons. No lessons = No growth. No growth = Stagnation. And we all know what happens to a stagnant pond. For humans, a stagnant life leads to self-loathing, boredom and destructive behaviors. We are not here to be stagnant. We are here to thrive.

Off I went to bed, early as usual. We'd just had a houseful - some mom friends and their children, who delightfully spent much of the evening up in the playroom entertaining themselves. I glanced down at my bedside table, and glimpsed the dish where I keep my rings each night. One ring... not two... just one. I looked all around, under books, under the bed. Nothing.

What was on my table, however, was a turquoise medallion that my son has been toting around. Evidence! I'd just put him to bed so I quietly asked "Myles, have you seen Mommy's ring?" 

"Yup, Charlotte was playing with it."

Charlotte, the child who stores things like a little mouse - wrapped up in wads of cotton, inside of a pouch, inside of a purse, in a treasure box stashed in the back of her closet. Charlotte who has more "treasures" than Blackbeard.

Dread. 

by Kiva Leatherman

The thing I hear most often about the way my life is shaking out is "I don't know where you find the time," "I don't know how you do it all," "I see your Facebook," or "I read your newsletter"... "and you just seem so BUSY!" (Sometimes that one feels like a dig, I'll admit it).

The truth is sometimes I revel in the freedom that my business gives me. My current joint venture partner and I went for a walk in the woods last week and lazed on the lawn between radio shows and planning sessions. Then we dug into her buckets of acrylic paints and lost hours of time. That was yummy.

After a business workshop last week, I have made the firm decision that around June 15^th of next year you will be getting a newsletter that says "Off to the beach, see you in September!"

I chaperoned Myles' first field trip - apple picking - on Tuesday, and rushed home for a nationally syndicated radio interview.

Mostly it's been an adventure that has supported my vision of the life I want to live: to be there for my kids AND have an impact in the world AND make money.

Then there are weeks like the last two. I over committed. I under delivered. I literally rushed from event to event. I put on make-up for FIVE days in a row.

And things started to fall apart. Myles got strep throat. The web developer, who was solely responsible for all of the graphic design for my partnership with Amethyst and our call with almost 1000 people registered, is pregnant and was rushed to the hospital.

I missed deadlines for our largest media partner, a respected center of influence in the personal development industry. I switched to a new back end service provider to support the magnitude of what Amethyst and I are creating for Worthy, Wealthy and Wise, (epic in and of itself) and three days before our launch learned that my existing merchant account wouldn't integrate with the new system. Approval for a new merchant account would take at least a week.

Insomnia struck like lightning and I literally got no more than two or three hours of sleep for five days. I could tell my husband was feeling like he got left with the dregs and my kids started crying every time they saw our beloved babysitter. And I thought, "What have I done?"

By Kiva Leatherman

We know we want to have investments that maintain and appreciate in their VALUE, but today I want to talk about something a little different. I want to talk about putting our VALUES into our investments.

Before I tell you about the ROI (Return on Investment) potential of investing with your values, let’s have a quick discussion about spending vs. investing.

Spending is the term we use at the Wise Women Network on the acquisition of stuff that does not grow. The best way I’ve found to define this is to think of a “soul-purchase” versus an “ego-purchase.” Let’s use food as an example. Buying high-quality nutritious food for your family is good for your soul. You feel great about the food in your home and it serves your body. This is a soul-purchase. There are times when sharing an ice cream sundae is definitely a soul purchase – everybody has fun, is laughing, delighting in sharing an experience together!

When food does not serve the soul – it’s processed, does not provide nutrition, but feeds an addiction to sugar, or convenience – it’s an ego purchase.

By Amethyst Wyldfyre

When we are born, we come to the world with a soul that is carrying lifetimes of experiences.  We choose to incarnate in order to fulfill some purpose – everyone and everything in creation has a purpose!  Sometimes we find ourselves feeling like we’ve been “born into the wrong family” (or culture, or social system) and we feel at odds with everything around us.  We may experience lots of hardships, traumas, dramas or just all around hellish experiences that leave IMPRINTS on our soul. These imprints can cause us, later on in our life time, to suffer greatly, to question our value and to suppress our natural born ability to create the life we are dreaming of living.  These IMPRINTS can be tracked in the anatomy of the soul and healed with appropriate guidance and medicine.  The soul or Luminous Energy Field contains all the imprinting from your present life as well as your previous or parallel lifetimes – so sometimes even if you were “born into the RIGHT family” you may discover that you are facing challenges that just don’t even make sense given the circumstances – in this case it’s probably a karmic or even ancestral, cultural or archetypal imprint that you are challenged with.

Imagine the soul is like play dough – every time a trauma or heavy experience occurs an impression is made on or in one of your major energy centers – the Chakras or it may even pervade your entire luminous field (sometimes called the aura).  Here are 7 distinct fears or imprints created by wound/traumas that will absolutely eat up your self-worth and the energy centers where these “monsters” live:

By Kiva Leatherman

Currency valuation is big business. There are lots of very smart people in the world running calculations, hypotheticals, and analyses every day to determine the value of the dollar, the yen, the euro etc. But what we are talking about today is very different. I want to talk to you about your personal currency.

We live in a society that constantly disconnects us from our source and our strength. As women, we are barraged from such a young age with the idea that we are not good enough, not skinny enough, not smart enough and that we never ARE enough to succeed in the way we want in our lives.

Not true.