Curious about what being authentic is really about? Think sometimes you have it down, yet other times look at yourself and hardly recognize who you see or where to start to become who it is you want to be?

Living authentically is a lifelong journey, and as with any goal, you will need to take action in order to learn how to do this effectively. When living authentically you’re provided with the luxury of being less sidetracked, overwhelmed or distracted by things that are not purposeful or meaningful for you in your life, which is a tool we should all be armed with in today’s fast paced society. We’re constantly being bombarded with information and the next new thing that’s going to change or improve our lives, all to be disappointed after falling prey to false promises of hope and security.

Bottom line, the answers are more often than not within us, yet the norm is to first search for answers outside of ourselves. We need to know how to access our inner wisdom effectively and effortlessly. Unfortunately very few of us actually know how to access this authentic part of ourselves successfully.

Be part of this exclusive event to support you in developing a more authentic approach to your life and business and start applying principles you learn from this series immediately. This event is FREE. Share this with your family and friends and anyone else you think could benefit from learning to live a more authentic life.

Some of the topics/ information included will be:

• Signs of not living authentically

• Common roadblocks to authentic living

• Common masks/ habits preventing authentic living

• Meaning of authenticity

• Specific strategies/ tools/ resources to enhance business/ life

• Meaningful ways to connect to authentic self/ others

• Live exercises/ homework designed to deepen an authentic connection

• Connection between authenticity and spirituality

Brian Johnson (unconfirmed)

Brian Johnson loves wisdom. That makes him a Philosopher. He also loves inspiring and empowering peeps to rock their greatest lives. That’s why he created PhilosophersNotes.
In 2004, in an effort to integrate his philosophical and entrepreneurial selves (yes, he’s a Gemini and to put the truths he was studying into practice, Brian created Zaadz (now Gaia)-a company named after the Dutch word for seed committed to leveraging world-class social networking tools to connect, inspire and empower people committed to transforming their lives and our planet. (Think: Facebook for people who want to change the world.)
As the Philosopher & CEO of Zaadz, he raised $3 million to finance the launch of the business. Investors included a billionaire and his family and the CEO of Whole Foods. Feeling the dharmic pull to immerse himself back into studying and living the universal truths, Brian sold Zaadz to Gaiam, Inc. (Nasdaq: GAIA) in the summer of 2007.
Brian is also a contributing author in Michael Strong’s book Be the Solution: How Entrepreneurs & Conscious Capitalists Can Solve All the World’s Problems where he joins Whole Foods CEO John Mackey, Nobel Peace Prize-winner Muhammad Yunus, legal reform expert Hernando de Soto and others in discussing how we can leverage entrepreneurialism as a force for good. His chapter focuses on the role of the conscious entrepreneur in transforming our world. Website: http://www.PhilosophersNotes.com

Alexandra Jaye (unconfirmed)

In her adorable goddess words:

My name is Alexandra Jaye. And, yes, I am a Goddess (as all of us beautiful women are .
I love, love, love to learn and grow! I am so inspired by learning and there are so many fabulous things I want to experience in this lifetime! I am all about playfulness, creativity, curiosity, gratitude, hope & optimism, and wisdom. (These are in fact my top 6 strengths at authentichappiness.org
I created MyGoddessLife.com to be a magical place where I get to share all the goodness I’m learning in my self created Ph.D. Goddess Living program!
I’m evolving as I walk my own unique path. Learning to trust my intuition and love myself fully and in turn falling more in love with the world. My commitment is to grow, expand, love, empower, heal, transform, have FUN (!!) and inspire others to do the same!!
I love a lot of things… But I *really* LOVE God, life, my lover, books, organic food, the human body & mind, traveling, yummy lovin’, relationship stuff, fitness, healing, spirituality, fun, creativity, personal development, freedom, love, cuddling, kissing, dancing in my underwear, singing with hairbrushes, writing, and most of all: laughter!! Website: http://www.MyGoddessLife.com

Linda Salazar (unconfirmed)

Linda Salazar is an in-demand speaker, Certified Life Coach, spiritual growth teacher, and author.

She has addressed such diverse groups as the Motion Picture Health and Wellness Program, the Association of Celebrity Personal Assistants, the International Moms Club, the Costume Designers Guild, La Leche League, and been interviewed on hundreds of radio stations across America.


As the founder of Awaken The Genie Within® Coaching, Linda teaches people how to divine a deeper wisdom with exercises that awaken their internal genies to embrace their positive traits, while subduing their inner gremlins which stop them from all they can achieve.


She has compiled life lessons from coaching business owners, social workers, actors and many other clientele into her book, “Awaken The Genie Within®.” One television host client said, “Linda’s words spoke so loudly and truthfully to me. From her own life experiences and her own wisdom… she shares her thoughts in such a poignant and powerful way – in a style that always makes you feel like she’s your best friend!”

She has worked on film & television sets for decades through thousands of pressure cooker situations, surrounded by terribly talented and extremely temperamental performers, directors, and crew members. Here, Linda honed her skills developing down-to-earth spiritual, emotional and life practices for work and relationships, the foundation of her teaching. 

She became a Certified Life Coach and member of the International Coaching Federation so she could guide others through their heartaches, job changes, and relationship issues to embrace the changes they want to achieve, regardless of what they’re facing. http://www.awakenthegeniewithin.com

Mike Robbins (unconfirmed)

Mike Robbins is an expert in teamwork, communication, and the power of appreciation and authenticity. He delivers keynote addresses, leads customized seminars, and works one-on-one in a way that empowers people and organizations to work together effectively and be more successful. Mike has inspired tens of thousands of people to reach new levels of awareness and success, both personally and professionally through his talks, seminars, and writing. He teaches people to be more grateful, appreciative, and authentic with others and themselves.
Mike is the author of two bestselling books, Focus on the Good Stuff (Hardcover, Wiley) and Be Yourself, Everyone Else is Already Taken (Hardcover, Wiley). He is also a contributing author to Chicken Soup for the Single Parent’s Soul and Thirty Things to Do When You Turn Thirty.
Mike has worked with some of America’s top organizations and institutions such as Google, AT&T, Apple, UC Berkeley, the U.S. Department of Labor, New York Life Insurance, Stanford University, Chevron, Wells Fargo, Kaiser Permanente, Genentech, and many others. He is a member of the National Speakers Association and is one of less than 10% of the professional speakers in the world to have earned the prestigious Certified Speaking Professional (CSP) designation.
Mike has been featured on ABC News, the Oprah radio network, in Forbes, the Washington Post, and many others. He is a regular contributor to Oprah.com, the Huffington Post, and CNN.com. Mike is also the host of his own radio show, “Let’s Get Real,” on Energy Talk Radio. Website: http://www.mike-robbins.com

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Find your Butterflies

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Butterflies Pictures

The feeling of butterflies in the stomach, it’s a love hate relationship. You love the rush it gives you, but there is also that desire to be cozy in that safe comfort zone and you hate the idea of leaving it. Usually butterflies appear when something big is happening. Having butterflies means it matters.

Having butterflies is an important part to living with passion and purpose. So often I’m told, “nothing really gives me butterflies” or “I don’t get excited about anything”. My answer to that is, it is your job to get butterflies about finding butterflies if that is where you are. Be excited about getting excited if that’s all you have right now. Be excited someone reminded you having butterflies is an important part of life and you want to find some. Do you really want to go through life without having any butterflies? Once you find your butterflies, no one will be able to take them from you, which is a natural high that will drive you to find more of them. Imagine your energy and enthusiasm causing that same experience in other people, which is a very powerful thing to share.

You know what I’m talking about. You see someone that is excited and passionate about something and it stirs up something in you whether that is curiosity, interest, or desire to have “that” for yourself. If you have stagnant internal activity, that’s exactly what you’ll get more of in your life. Don’t be bored. Get butterflies.

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Organize: Give me 5 minutes

When you walk into any room of your home or office what do you see? Chaos, clutter, a mess, dust, junk, or do you see peace, joy, cozy, fun, and clean? I could use many more adjectives, but the point is to get you thinking about what you see now and what you want to see.

I want you to take 5 minutes right now, in whatever space you’re in and look at specific objects throughout the room. Are they things you really appreciate, enjoy, and use or are they things just taking up space or something someone else could use more than you at this point. Now granted, I have a fairly organized space because this is something I’m passionate about, however, things creep up on all of us everyday and can be overwhelming before we know it. I’ll give you an example of a few things I just addressed in the last few minutes.

I looked around my office and for the most part I saw what I wanted to see a peaceful cozy space. However, I realized a few things on my bulletin board were not really inspiring me, I had a business card holder that I never use filled with business cards it’s just sitting there collecting dust, and several motivational pictures that were sitting on my desk that I used to enjoy, but just looking around the room with this intention made me realize, I’m ready for something fresh.

So in just a few minutes I rearranged my bulletin board to have things on it that inspire me more, I ditched the business card holder, I put those very cute pictures with motivational sayings in a box that I have in a designated spot for future white elephant or give away box that I’ll take to good will. Sometimes things I don’t want I just put by the curb and they are gone in a flash. Try it sometime. People will take your stuff!

Wow, I feel lighter and more inspired in just 5 minutes. I’m looking at new things and I’m already thinking of what else is in my way that I can toss out so freely and know that I’m not wasting resources. I know that I’m the most important resource and with distractions and clutter I’m not my best. So no matter what material item you’re throwing out, it’s not worth what you can feel inside without it if it’s not appropriately serving you.

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Golden or Goal Done?

Driving in my car tonight I was feeling really good about getting a lot done, and I had this thought come to mind, “I’m golden” something I say when things seem to be aligned and things in life are running like a well oiled machine. I specifically make myself take note of these “i’m golden” times in order to remember what I’m striving for when I feel like saying to myself “just forget it” when I’m getting frustrated and just want to give up.

So I analyzed this bizarre play on words that I had in the car tonight, and I realized maybe there was something really powerful going on here. I don’t know about you guys, but when I was in school I often had to figure out a way to remember things for tests, because if I didn’t have some creative acronym or silly sentence I would potentially forget it all together. I never did consider myself the smartest kid by any means, but by golly, I could ace a test with my memory and have years of A’s to prove it, so I’m pretty sure there’s something to it. It never failed, I would memorize those acronyms or sentences and it was in my brain for years to come. Which is why I think this article could potentially be the “golden” ticket.

Every time you think about giving up, ask yourself if you’d rather be “golden” or “goal done”. As dorky as it might be to ask yourself that, since grammatically it doesn’t even make sense, mark my words, next time you get discouraged and think about giving up, you’ll remember this conversation and decide you don’t want to be a quitter and maybe, just maybe, you’ll reconsider. You know in your heart it’s not time for that goal to be DONE. That’s just when things start getting interesting. Trust me, I know that’s what’s going to happen because I just hypnotized you! Okay, so maybe I didn’t hypnotize you, but I do know that this article, if nothing else, has inspired you to shoot for being “golden”, which is well within your reach if you simply don’t give up.

I applaud you for all your efforts in whatever goals you’re striving to achieve, and I encourage you to continue to have the courage to keep trying even when you feel like the goal may not be worth it or think it would be easier to walk away. So which will it be, “golden” or “goal-done”? You decide.

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I get knocked down!

Many of you may remember this tune from old school. I know I do. It serves as a nice much needed reminder to me that we all get knocked down, but as he so quickly says, “but I get up again”. It’s like he doesn’t even skip a beat before he says that. You notice that? I love it. No complaining, no whining, just a simple statement “but I get up again, you’re never gonna keep me down”. What if we all walked around with that attitude about everything and everyone that knocked us down?? I DARE you to do just that and see what happens. Bet the vibe around you will change.

Keep getting back up. You’re bound to find success. This is not just some foo foo inspirational quote or theory. It’s a fact. Those that get back up ARE successful!

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Living with Passion: Top 10 Dr Suess Quotes on Life

1. “Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You.”
Don’t forget the special gift of just being you. Don’t get distracted trying to be like something or someone else you’re not. You are the best You there ever could be.

2. “If you never did, you should. These things are fun and fun is good”
Life was not given to us to be filled with regrets. Opportunities await you and can be more fun than you ever imagined if you’ll simply take the chance. Take advantage of those opportunities and have a blast. What good can possibly come from saying you never tried?

3. “Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind.”
Often folks are so worried about what other people think. Be honest and real and those who matter most in your life will accept you no matter what. Those who won’t, you don’t need. Life is too short to worry all the time what other people think.

4. “Don’t cry because it’s over. Smile because it happened.”
This is our opportunity to see the glass as half full. Celebrate people and experiences that you’ve had, and let the memories live on. So often we get trapped in grief and despair when there is so much to be celebrated.

5. “Sometimes the questions are complicated and the answers are simple.”
Aren’t we typically our own worst enemy. We make things more complicated than they have to be. When in doubt, go back to the basics and you’ll probably find your answer.

6. “I meant what I said and I said what I meant.”
Mean what you say or don’t say it at all. Resist the urge to not be genuine in an effort to protect or please yourself or someone else. This does not mean be rude or hateful, in those times it’s probably best to simply not say something. However, when you do speak up, make sure it is what you want to say and what you really mean it’s your opportunity to live with integrity.

7. “The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.”
Always make learning part of your life. You know only a portion of what you could possibly know and there are so many more exciting adventures to come from learning new things. Learning keeps you connected and interested which is a key to living passionately.

8. “How did it get so late so soon? Its night before its afternoon. December is here before its June. My goodness how the time has flewn. How did it get so late so soon?”
Time flies by. We all know this for a fact. Don’t let life sneak past you without being part of it. Time is the most valuable of all the resources as it’s the only one we can never get back.

9. Today was good. Today was fun. Tomorrow is another one.”
Be grateful for the good parts of your day. Recognize what was fun and be thinking of what you can do more of to make your tomorrow even better!

10.Think left and think right and think low and think high. Oh, the things you can think up if only you try!”
Trying is a key element to success. Without trying success isn’t even a possibility. Without trying you can’t complain about what you don’t or can’t have. Dream Big, Think Big and Act big. It will make all the difference in your life. No limitations.

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Featured DIVAS

I’m all about celebrating awesome women who have amazing things to offer the world. If you know a Determined, Innovative, Vivacious, Achiever (D.I.V.A.) worth celebrating please submit a picture and quick summary of why and any other helpful information including website/ accomplishments/ personal traits/ personal stories/ etc. Please list NOMINATION in the subject line. We will be selecting a nomination each month and will announce it in our ezine THE DIVA DIRECTION.