It’s quite astounding how before I decided to live a life that truly reflected me, I spent so much time being and doing things that I truly didn’t enjoy, but did anyways because it was expected of me. Or even worse, I didn’t know any different. Have you felt like that before?

I didn’t feel anything along the lines of beautiful, sensual, or confient. I didn’t even feel smart because I knew what I was doing. It was impacting who I was, in a negative way.

The moment that I started to live an authentic life of who I truly was and what I wanted in my life my eating habits and my lifestyle started to change.

How I truly wanted to feel, I started to consume:

I desired to feel healthy and fit while able to run, workout, or hike a mountain. I also wanted to provide healthy meals, to not only myself, but for those occasions where I was invited over for a gathering and offered to bring a dish. I wanted to bring something healthy, clean, nourishing food that I’ve gone and sourced and prepared. It was a way to show I cared.

Through living an authentic life I’ve implemented a way to consume food and feel good about what I’m putting into my body and then also start living a healthy lifestyle through that. I run, go to the gym, walk the seawall, and I hike mountains without feeling like I’m going to pass out!

Because I’m eating well, I don’t want the food I consume nor the workouts I’m doing to go to waste! These two go hand in hand and keep me accountable to make sure I continue to live an authentic healthy life!

Once I realized I wanted to feel fit, healthy and confident in my body it completely changed what I was willing to consume and put into my body. They were small steps by implementing more vegetables, less meat, and keeping an eye on sugar. I still enjoy wine and cheese, but I feel healthy and fantastic living an authentic life that truly reflects who I am and what to be!

Design your lifestyle assignment
Is what you’re consuming how you want to feel? Almost everyone I meet wants to feel fit and healthy, but what you are feeding yourself is that contributing to the lifestyle you’re desiring? If not, what can you do to change just one thing? It could mean shopping at a farmer’s market, eating more salads, finding inspiring recipies on Pinterest. What is it that you can start living a fit, healthy, and authentic lifestyle?

Please feel free to share your discoveries in the comments below!

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I quickly ran home and wanted to share my insight with you.

But then I stalled, I was nervous that even if I shared that admiring is a fantastic way to show how to get where you want to go, it might be frowned upon. That you might say, “Lesley, we should be able to do it ourselves”. Or even worse “I’ll never, ever, reach what they’ve got”.

You believing that you’ll never reach your full potential or the life you so desperately want to live, is a belief I so want to help you change.

This video is now a bit out of date, as our local hockey team was swept out of the playoffs earlier this week; but the content is still true. And I’m sorry that it looks like my head is floating in the screen, learned not to take video from that angle again!

Design your lifestyle assignment
Who do you admire? Take some time this week to write down or discover who it is you admire and what about them that draws you to them. Once you realize what it is that you’d like to include in your life, write one step that will get you there. Then start implementing that step. You’ll soon find your way creating the life of your dreams!

Please feel free to share your discoveries in the comments below!

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The blocks of life on my calendar look like a Joseph’s multi-colour dream coat, and it really is the only way to keep me on track. As much as I enjoy just lasvishing the day and doing the things I absolutely love doing (drinking tea, listening to soft music, and staring out at the gorgeous view from my condo) sometimes I just need to get stuff done: preparing healthy meals, blogging, emails, studying, cleaning house – all of these activities need to be blocked in somehow between my meetings and appointments.

(Image has been blurred out for privacy reasons, but I’m sure you get what I’m trying to show)

I’ve received quite a number of requests recently on how to handle time management, so here are 4 simple steps to time management, and how I get things done:

1. Google calendar is my lifeline – without it I don’t know what I would be doing or where I would be going. Although when I can’t access it, like last week, I easily get lost and end up not realizing I’m missing something important. (I really should have a paper diary too).
2. I break everything down into hour increments. I learned this from working full-time, attending school full-time, as well as running my business part-time. Block in what you need to get done and concentrate on only that activity until your time is up. You’ll be amazed at how quick and efficient you’ll become by adhearing to this. There is an actual law about this, Parkinson’s Law.Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.  - Meaning your work will take as much time you give it.
3. I listen to upbeat happy music, music that makes me feel like being productive. I have a playlist on 8tracks that is my go-to and I put it on every time I need a jolt of extra energy. You’re more than welcome to use it too!
4. I then get stuff done!

Design your lifestyle assignment
Are your time management skills working for you? Take some time this week to see what is working for you and what needs improvement, and then set out to improve your time management. Feel free to implement what I shared above or create your own time management steps!

Please feel free to share your discoveries in the comments below!

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Once I realized that my Pinterest boards were starting to look like a bunch of images of everyone else’s boards, I started really taking the time to see what I was attracted to and what my heart was leaping to get a hold of. I remember feeling this way when we were looking for a wedding photographer, if their images made me want to jump into the screen and be that person in the photograph, I wanted them to photograph my wedding. That is what I started to implement with Pinterest.

So here, I share with you, how to use Pinterest to live an authentic life!

I hope the video inspires you to take a look at how you’re using Pinterest, Magazine, RSS Feeds etc and how it’s helping you live a more authentic life! If it does, please let me know either in the comments or respond via email, I always love hearing from you!

Design your life assignment
Take a moment this week to explore how you can use what you’re already using as inspiration (Pinterest, Vogue, Visual merchandising) and how it can help you live your true authentic self.

Please feel free to share your discoveries in the comments below!

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If you’ve been following this blog for awhile, or spent time reading through the years of archives, you’ll notice that I’ve been on a journey of how to give from the heart, while also feeding you as my reader. I spent so much time analyzing what you responded to or paying too much attention to what was trendy to talk about at that time that I became distracted by other things than what was truly on my heart. But also through all that analyzing and following trends I’ve allowed myself to truly open up to what is on my heart and go deeper with it; so that now I’m in a place of constantly wanting to give.

Which brings me to today…

I’m so overcome with joy lately with the responses I’ve been receiving that I wanted to give even further from my heart. I sent this out to my newsletter group yesterday so that they could get first dibs, and they grabbed quite a few of the spots, but now this is open to you as well.

I’m opening up 10 coaching session spots, to work with me for a limited time only. Each of the 10 people will receive 10, one hour coaching sessions so that they can take action, step into their true desires, and live out the life they have always dreamed of….All for free!

If you think that you are one of those people who are ready to live a truly beautiful authentic life and would love to work with me, click here, to view the page with the video and all the sparkly details of how to apply!

My newsletter group gets dibs on everything first, plus extra special videos along the way, so sign up if you’d like to be in the know!

So for months I sat on it, constantly going back and planning on when a more appropriate time would be to let go and just put it out there. The timing never seemed right. I even pushed this post back! I’m sometimes so scared of myself and what I am able to do, that I don’t let myself shine, and this is a true example of burring my dreams behind what I think I’m capable of.

However, after last week’s response and the difference it made not only in my life but also in yours I knew I couldn’t keep it locked up anymore, that the timing was now.

I’m scared of what it will mean to me now that I’ve responded to my bigger dreams, and I’m a little bit nervous you’ll think I’m bragging or showing off. But I’m not. This is me truly accepting who I am, stepping into my true authentic self, while creating a beautiful life that I’ve always dreamed of.

Everything you see in the video is who I was, who I am, and a glimpse of who I am going to be. I hope it inspires you embrace your bigger dreams and create the life you’ve always dreamed about.

I hope the video inspires you live your bigger dreams! If it does, please let me know either in the comments or respond via email, I always love hearing from you!

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So today as I walked around the seawall with a friend, I told her that I wanted to do a video. However, I felt that I needed to be perfect first before I could do it. And she challenged me, that if I’m truly living my authentic self, I wouldn’t need to be perfect, that this is how I am.

So after we finished our walk and sushi I quickly got home and didn’t even bother to look in the mirror to see if my make-up had ran. The inspiration was there, flowing out of me, and I needed to let you know that you’ll be seeing more videos of me, good and bad, being my authentic self.

I hope you come along on the journey!

Design your life assignment
Take a moment this week to write it down and explore if you’re truly living your authentic self. Sit down, create a space in your home/at work/during lunch and really figure out what is it that you need to be able to move forward.

Please feel free to share your discoveries in the comments below!

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Isn’t that the most bizarre thing, that I’m so afraid of failure that I don’t want to move? And then I wondered, I can’t be the only one, someone else must be wanting to move in their life too!

What is blocking you in your life?

Is it the fear of failure? The fear of success? Is it just avoiding everything that might actually bring you a piece of happiness?

What is it, that is blocking you?

What do you need in your life to help you remove those blocks? Is it, to feel good enough? Is it to know you will succeed? Is it knowing that your fear of failure will bring you one step closer to your dreams? Is it to know, that you will be the best version of yourself?

What is it that you’re requiring to know that you can go forth and be the best EVER! For yourself, or maybe in the world, whatever it is that you’re fulling desiring.

For me, it was just putting it out there…to actually open the door and saying who cares. If all I do is put it out there for myself and I’m the only person who listens to my podcast or reads my blog, then that is all I need to do.

But, you might be in a different place. What do you need to feel like you have more balance, more of yourself in your every day life? What do you need?

Design your life assignment
Take a moment this week to write it down and explore. Sit down, create a space in your home/at work/during lunch and really figure out what is it that you need to be able to move forward.

Please feel free to share your discoveries in the comments below!

To listen and download the original podcast: ♪ Fear of Failure

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They looked at me, and it was like this lightbulb went off in their head, and they said I’ve never thought about that before. I responded most people haven’t. This is a great opportunity for anyone who as a crossroad in their life or a decision has to be made, in a year from now…how do you want to feel?

When you wake up in the morning, you put on your clothes for the day, put on your make up/do your hair, you’ve had your latte and you walk out that door…where are you going? What does it look like, what tasks are you fulfilling, what activities are you doing and who are you surrounded by? Are you inspiring them, are they inspiring you? What are you doing at lunch hour? Are you out with them or are you in front of your desk? Are you going for a jog (are they allowing that), are you working working late into the night or do you want to come home and spend time with your family?

Or perhaps:

In a year from now you envision yourself working from home doing something that you’re just as passionate about as you did going to that job, but you’re spending it with your family and creating craft time.

Again, what are you doing? What are those tasks?

Tell me, figure it out. Work through it and visualize what it is that you’re doing a year from now.

And also.

How do you feel when you’re doing those tasks? What does it look like when you’re with your classmates, colleagues, family, or your friends. How does it feel?

Does it feel invigorating, peaceful, or inspiring, does it feel adventurous or wonderful? There are so many more words that you need to start looking at to know what does it feel like and what does that mean to you?

There is so much more to your career and life then “I’m just doing this because I feel like I should”.

Design your life assignment
Take a moment this week to create a space where you can envision what you want to be doing by this time next year, and when you write out each activity/task also describe how you’re feeling when you’re doing them. You’ll have a clear vision by the end of this what exactly you’re working towards.

Please feel free to share your discoveries in the comments below!

To listen and download the original podcast: ♪ Envision your life

Original Photo

Once I returned back to Vancouver I had two days to relax while running errands to pick up notebooks and pens. I even got a cute little bag to take with me to class. This week I started a three month intensive course on Project Management at the University of British Columbia. The decision came after I knew that I wanted to help people design lives and businesses around what they love and are passionate about, but I knew that there would be project, programs, activities that people would want to launch but I didn’t really feel like I had the skills to help them launch their project successfully and in a timely matter. Now I can! And I’m so excited to see how combining lifestyle & business designing and project management will effect people’s lives.

Since I am in class full-time at this point I am finding myself a little bit overwhelmed. In the course of two weeks I went from living a very simple life to having a full schedule and an even longer to-do list. I’m pushing myself to excel in this class, working on polishing up my website and offerings so that I can start working with people immediately, as well as finding the time to enjoy life and continue to be the best version of myself possible.