By Books Author Denise Turney

The earlier you recognize that you are stuck, the sooner you can break free. However, noticing that you are jammed isn’t always a cinch. Furthermore, and at a minimum, you could get stuck in one primary area.

Are You Stuck in These Areas?

For instance, you could get stuck in a relationship, a career or physical state. Examples of this include continuing to work a job you haven’t felt excited about in more than three years, carrying 20 or more extra pounds for two years or longer and staying in a relationship that leaves you feeling flat.

Settle for living a life that’s stuck and the experience could spread like contagion. At first you might feel flat in a relationship only to start to feel angry and unfulfilled at your job. Next, you might start questioning whether you made the right choice when you moved into your home.

Over time, more parts of your life might feel stagnant and stale. Forget living in appreciation. Everywhere you look, you might perceive little to be thankful for. This lack of appreciation affects your energy, potentially blocking you from perceiving and receiving the good you want, the very good that can get you unstuck.

Ways to Break Free from Being Stuck

To break free, first you must recognize what is happening. If you’ve slipped into the habit of lying to yourself, commit to being honest with yourself. The worse that might seem to happen is your own thoughts might reprimand, challenge or threaten you by telling you something bad will happen if you don’t return to the habit of lying to yourself.

Set aside time in the morning or evening, whenever you tend to feel more inwardly available, to think about how and why you got stuck. For example, did you stay at a job longer than you wanted because you were afraid that you couldn’t find a job that excited you and paid more (or the same amount) than what you’re current job pays?

Did you choose to stay in a dead-end relationship because you convinced yourself that no one else would want you? There’s a reason why you keep choosing to stay in a situation that you’ve outgrown.

Why You’re Staying in the Situation

Figure out what the reason is. The answer could provide clues to specific ways of thinking and actions you can take to get free and start to celebrate newness. Answers to why you keep doing what you know isn’t serving you also open your eyes, helping you to avoid falling into the same trap again.

Writing in a journal could help. Just start writing about how you feel about your relationships, work, physical health, responsibilities, etc. Focus on spotting fears that lie to you, telling you that you couldn’t possibly do better than you’re currently doing.

Put pen to paper and answer why you believe these lies. Avoid looking for someone to blame. The goal is to start to recognize how your mind is currently working. Getting free involves rewiring your mind.

Honesty is Key to Getting Unstuck

After you finish writing about why and how you got stuck, write about things you appreciate. Get specific. Don’t rush. Take your time, even if the process expands across one to two weeks.

The aim is to get comfortable being honest with yourself. Absent self-honesty, you might not break free. Next, pull out a spreadsheet or blank sheet of paper. Record what your ideal life looks and feels like.

Touch on specific areas of your life during this exercise. Also, think about what you want your life to look and feel like overall. The next steps require you to make decisions and get out and take smart actions.

Tips to Break Free

Create a column in the spreadsheet to record the specific actions you will take to get from where you are now to where you want to be. As an example, one entry might show as follows:

Career	Desired Situation	Required Actions	Action Date
Step into a role that requires 50% tech coding and at least 25% project management skills.	Work with a team of gifted tech pros, great communicators who commit to living with appreciation, team members who share, challenge and help each other evolve and awaken.	Update print resume Create a video resume Apply for 30 open jobs that fit my career aim	Complete all actions by end of the this month.

Keep yourself honest by recording specific actions you take. Also, record the outcomes from your actions. Getting unstuck, celebrating newness and staying free requires honesty.

Recording actions you take and when and the results or outcomes from those actions is important. It helps you to see what is working. And it helps you to see areas that need tweaking or a big change in your approach.

Review Actions to Get Unstuck

As you do this work, continue to write in your journal about how you feel and thoughts and ideas that surface. Once a week, review what you have written in your journal. Look at your spreadsheet once a week as well.

Should you get tempted to give up, especially if you don’t see the results you want as quickly as you’d like, remind yourself that a change in choices and actions will eventually produce a noticeable result. Motivate yourself daily by reading empowering messages like motivational questions and short empowering writings.

Prove You Love Yourself to Break Free

Show yourself that you love you. There are countless ways you can do this. For starters, you could:

• Write yourself a love note once a week. Place the note inside a card that you open on a Monday morning.
• See your connectivity to all that lives. Let the appreciation you have for pets, friends, colleagues, etc. expand until it includes you.
• Track loving thoughts and actions that you take toward yourself and others.
• Bless yourself with the gift of silence by sitting still once a day.
• Breathe deeply daily.
• Explore nature, allowing yourself to rest, be curious and recharge.
• Engage in creative arts that make your heart sing and jump with joy.
• Hug yourself.
• Look in the mirror and tell yourself, “I love you!”

Getting Out of a Stuck State is Healing

The more evidence you have that you really do love yourself, the more you might start to trust yourself. Valuing and trusting yourself can lift your confidence and stir up your courage, empowering you to take the actions you need to take to live free!

Open up to newness by celebrating good change that shows up in your life, even if the good change is a surprise, not something you were aiming for or expecting. Taking steps to get unstuck is a way to heal. Believe it or not, there’s a place within you that knows just what you should do and when to heal, break free and live in the wonder of newness! Open up to that place within you, listening to and following its guidance.

By Books Writer Denise Turney

Do you want to turn your passion into a career? You could do it, but you’ll need more than desire to pull it off. This article covers several ways you might be able to turn your passion into a rewarding career, one that pays all your bills and more.

Yet, let’s pause.

Before you take steps to work your passion, take a healthy dose of truth serum. It’s been said that doing what you love protects you from ever having to “really” work. Although this sounds good, simply doing what you love is generally not (if ever) enough to earn a full-time income.

Get to the Heart of Your Passion Career

Therefore, before you spend money on what you’re passionate about, ask yourself a few questions. First, ask yourself if you’re serious about this goal, not mildly so but intensely serious. Here are other important questions to ask yourself:

• How much time are you willing to invest in your goal?
• What have you used your passion to create so far?
• On a scale of 0-10, how much do you love working in your passion for 5 or more hours a day?
• Are you looking to work a full-time schedule in this career or are you hoping to strike it rich quickly so you don’t have to work?
• Is the motivation to turn passion into a full-time career rooted in the wish to run away from something (i.e., a demanding manager, difficult colleague)?
• Did someone you admire earn a full-time income working in their passion field and you’re now trying to emulate that person?
• In what ways have you exercised courage, resilience and persistence?
• Do you know someone who presently works in your passion field? Have you spoken with them, getting the details on what’s involved in achieving success in the field?

Work Goal Specifics

Passion is one of the hot emotions. The internal mental temperature is turned way up with passion, so much that it’s easy to slip into delusion once you start zoning in on what you love to do. To increase your chances of fulfilling your goal and to avoid deluding yourself, take your time answering the above questions. Really think about them. Go slow pondering your answers.

After you’re certain that you’re ready to move forward, it’s time to focus on resources. The specifics of your goal have a direct impact on required resources. For example, if you want to be a freelance writer, a graphics designer, a career coach, a virtual assistant or a customer service representative, a reliable computer, certain certifications, a printer and dependable Internet access could be sufficient.

Passion Career Resources

Other passions require more resources. So, to begin, identify how your passion aligns with careers that interest you. This will help reveal needed resources. As a tip, consider turning to reputable research material to understand what’s generally used in the career you want to enter. An example of this research material is the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

If you plan to work your passion from home, there are basic resources you’ll need. Included among these basic resources are:

• A work desk and chair (get a desk and chair that fit your height)
• Computer and printer (as previously shared)
• Light source that promotes good eyesight
• Sit-stand desk if you want to avoid sitting for hours a day
• Filing cabinet
• Shredder (especially if you work with confidential information)
• Office supplies (i.e., copy paper, envelopes, postage stamps)
• Licenses and certifications (these are required for certain roles)

Money as a Primary Career Resource

Money is often a primary resource needed to operate a business, whether you’re a solopreneur or whether you work at home or in an office. This raises an important point. Even if you generate significant income from your passion early-on, you’ll likely need startup finances to turn your passion into a consistent revenue generating gig.

Where will those startup finances come from? Below are several places where you could find funds:

• Savings account
• Income gained from a second job
• Rental income you get on a second property
• Bonus check from work
• By paying off a recurring bill (i.e., car note, cable bill) and using that money to fund the startup
• Selling a vehicle you no longer use

Now that you’ve identified a career that aligns with your passions, gotten clear about needed resources and pinpointed where your startup finances are, it’s time to discover what you’ll need to start generating revenue. For instance, do you need to land paying clients, develop a product, register or patent a product or find a platform to start selling products and services on?

Way to Generate Revenue from Passion Career

Below are some ways you could start to generate revenue. Do your homework and research each option until you select the option that works best for what you’ll be doing.

• Attend networking events and develop relationships with prospects, eventually bringing them on as paying clients
• Set up mall pop-up booths and showcase your products and/or services
• Register to attend conferences and conventions, distributing business cards, flyers, product catalogs, etc. Regularly follow-up with the right contacts you make at these events.
• Build a website to sell your products and services on
• Offer a free giveaway to customers to buy one or more of your primary products
• Start a subscription service that has a direct link to your products or services
• Participate in affiliate sales programs
• Provide paid advertising for other companies on your website and social media accounts
• Run a sale to attract buyers
• Sell products on large, established sites like Amazon, Walmart and Target

Marketing and Promotion Tools

Generating ongoing revenue may take effort. Marketing and promoting are like friends when it comes to generating sustainable revenue. Here are platforms and marketing and promotion tools that might prove effective:

• Large online platforms like Walmart, Target and Amazon.com
• RangeMe (if you sell products in military stores)
• Social media (choose the platform that best attracts your products or services’ target audience)
• Press release distributors
• Ads in local newspapers (again media outlets that attract your target audience)
• Radio stations (think – target audience)
• Reputable product and service review sites
• Direct mail (i.e., postcards, flyers, effectively written letters)
• Festivals, conventions, conferences, etc.
• Public speaking opportunities

Ways to Care for Yourself While Growing Your Career

This next tip might surprise you. Just as it takes action, focus, intent and yes – passion – to find a way to turn your passion into a full-time career, it takes rest, awareness and self-care to keep that passion alive and strong. Definitely, avoid slipping into workaholism or basing your value on how hard or how long you work. Incorporating these and other relaxation and self-awareness techniques into your day could ensure you rest, relax and recharge regularly:

• Get sufficient deep sleep each night
• Sit still for 5 to 10 minutes in the morning and again for 5 to 10 minutes at night
• Read one to three positive quotes a day
• Exercise outdoors for 45 minutes to an hour a day
• Talk with a friend or relative several times a week
• Do three things you enjoy every day (i.e., listen to music you love, soak in a warm bubble bath)
• Treat yourself to a day at the spa
• Read books you love
• Go swimming
• Relax on the porch on weekends
• Turn off technology (i.e., tablets, laptops) two hours before you head to bed
• Avoid eating heavy meals four hours before heading to bed
• Count your blessings
• Practice awareness and take breaks when you feel
• Seek support as needed
• Pray
• Meditate
• Be flexible and open minded
• Eat a healthy diet

Sustaining Passion as a Career

Fantasizing and daydreaming about what you want to do is easy. Doing what you love is also easy. Turning passion into a sustainable, full-time career is another story.

There will be twists and turns. Surprises, starts, stops, successes and market and industry shifts. Each of these (and more) will be part of your journey, especially if you work your passion for a decade or longer. Long term success depends on your commitment to your career.

Similar to how rest, self-awareness and self-care can keep you from slipping into workaholism which can, in turn, guard you from burnout and overwhelm, celebrating your successes fuels your ongoing efforts. Fortunately, you don’t have to spend money to acknowledge and celebrate your forward steps.

Celebrate Successes Linking Your Passion and Career

Playing music that you love and dancing to your heart’s delight as you focus on a recent success is one way to celebrate. Treating yourself to a delicious home-cooked meal, an afternoon at the theater or an outdoor bike ride are other ways to acknowledge and celebrate what you have done. You could also send yourself flowers or buy yourself a small gift, something that will last and remind you of the achievement.

In addition to celebrating successes, keep learning. Take online courses, attend webinars, go to conferences and offline seminars. Read books that focus on your career. Network with people who share your passion to learn about new product development, marketing, promotion, etc. resources and growth opportunities.

By Books Writer Denise Turney

A loving family and faith in good outcomes are an effective combination when it comes to facing and overcoming breast cancer. The stronger your support system, the better. Yet, even with a strong support system, there are days when you may feel exhausted and worried. Expressing concerns with your oncologist and family practitioner can help.

Catching Breast Cancer

Catching the disease early is also key. Regardless of the stage of recovery, it can help to speak with other women and men who’ve experienced breast cancer. Open dialogue with people who are experiencing a similar challenge can protect you from believing that you’re isolated, alone or without options. Communicating and sharing with others who are going through what you are is also a great way to learn of strategies to deal with treatment recovery, inability to connect with colleagues in-person and financial strain.

Having a loving family and faith could give you the courage to inform loved ones about the disease and how it is impacting you. Even more, you would have one or more relatives you could discuss current events with, placing them lovingly against the backdrop of a challenge you experienced as kids and overcame. Being open and honest with someone who you’ve known since childhood can offer strength and comfort.

You Are Loved

It can also assure you that, regardless of what happens during treatment, recovery and beyond, you are always loved for who you are. And this raises an important point. Your background, health level, financial situation, home life circumstances, what you experience day to day – nothing – changes what you were created to be.

You are beyond words, beyond explanation, past any type of perception – an absolutely amazing eternal being.

A disease cannot take away your ability to care, be kind, trustworthy or courageous. Breast cancer also cannot take away your ability to love. Depending on what your passions are, you might also be able to continue to pursue your passions. For instance, if you love to paint, write, build crafts, sing or create architectural designs, you could continue to engage in those passions.

Connecting with Family and Friends During Breast Cancer Treatments

Should you find yourself feeling isolated and alone, on days you’re feeling better, you could call a relative or a friend and volunteer at a local charity event. Also, rather than to stay at home, you could spend a few hours a week hanging out with your sister, a brother or another relative-friend.

Joining a book club and attending book club meetings, preferably in-person, gives you the power of a shared passion. Engaging in discussions around your love for reading books in one or more genres, gives your mind a break from focusing on breast cancer. Furthermore, it allows you to laugh out loud, look at specific scenarios and celebrate big events that occur in the books with like minded book readers.

It’s these people who share your passion, as well as friends, including family members and childhood friends, who can help you tap into your inner power. These loving people can encourage you to keep going. They might tell you something like, “While you’re receiving treatments and pulling back on the hectic schedule you once worked at the office, let’s get involved in a charity.” Or they might suggest, “Instead of staying home all weekend, why don’t we go see that new comedy movie and grab salad and pasta from that great Italian restaurant near the mall.”

Shift Focus Away from Breast Cancer

Suggestions like these, especially if you take family and friends up on the suggestions, keep you from getting isolated and from feeling alone, even if you’re the only person you know who’s dealing with breast cancer. Each time you take loved ones up on an invitation to be social, you also help your focus to shift away from challenge.

Who knows? While you shift focus, you might stumble upon a new passion, something you get involved with that brings you joy for decades. For example, you might discover that you have a passion for creating gorgeous floral arrangements, quilting, ceramics, fishing, boating or teaching.

Family and friends can also help you to use food to treat and strengthen your body. To motivate you to invest in a healthy diet, family members might start eating healthier themselves. Additionally, family and faith in good can reduce worry and stress which, in turn, can help you to sleep better at night.

Breast Cancer Recovery

Blessings that a loving family and faith in good bring to your life extends across years, well beyond recovery from breast cancer. The love and support you gain from reaching out to family and friends and keeping faith in good can empower you even as breast cancer research discovers new ways to reduce deaths and symptoms associated with the disease. And fortunately, researchers continue to seek a cure.

In fact, breast cancer research continues to give women and men diagnosed with the disease hope. This hope and cure effort expands decades. For instance, six decades ago, in the 1960s, being told you had breast cancer could send a message that your life would be short.¹ That’s not so today.

The National Library of Medicine shares that, “Much of the progress in breast cancer was the result of the development of adjuvant chemotherapy. Fisher and Bonadonna showed in the mid-1970s that the addition of adjuvant chemotherapy to definitive surgery improved disease-free and overall survival in primary breast cancer.”²

Forward Strides

Fortunately, the number of deaths caused by breast cancer have declined. In fact, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shares that, “Deaths from breast cancer have declined over time, but breast cancer remains the second leading cause of cancer death among women overall and the leading cause of cancer death among Hispanic women.”³

Yes. Strides have been made, but there’s a good deal of work yet to be done. Reducing breast cancer deaths among Hispanic women and lowering the breast cancer death rate among African American women are two areas to focus on gaining good ground in.

Fundraisers, charity walks, ongoing efforts and attention on finding a cure and better treatments, especially treatments that produce fewer side effects, are wins. So too is connecting with loving family and good friends, allowing yourself to be loved and cared for. In this spirit, may Portia’s fictional story offer hope, empowerment and inspiration.

Resources:

1. https://acsjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.3322/canjclin.20.1.10
2. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4879690/#:~:text=Much%20of%20the%20progress%20in,survival%20in%20primary%20breast%20cancer.
3. https://www.cdc.gov/cancer/breast/basic_info/index.htm#:~:text=Each%20year%20in%20the%20United,cancer%20than%20all%20other%20women.