We represent the lollipop guild

So this Saturday like most of you I'm doing my errands, chores and adding to the ever expanding to-do list....One of my destinations on the to-do list was a bday party at this enclosed jungle gym with bounce houses, zip lines, table tennis and air hockey...a child's play heaven, not a care in the world except how many times can I go down the blow up slide??

I've been to this "gym" many times for family fun night but never for a bday party.. They move all the children onto the rug and asked "are you all ready to have fun" ( by the way the sign on the wall says fun is Mandatory) .....with jubilant voices all in unison an ear piercing Yeeeeessssss resounded!!!! And poof, the magic fun door opened.... I turned to another parent who had a baby bejourn strapped to her front and asked..  Don't you wish adult life offered that "fun" question ? Wait for it, wait for it...yea, I'm thinking!!!

When our main character dropped into Oz she was greeted by the munchkins singing the "lollipop guild"....they welcomed her to this new land with a song! What if every challenge the new day brought came after a MORNING SERENADE or a call to MANDATORY FUN? How do you believe you would respond, what would that small Greeting or  Call, EMPOWER you to DO differently, THINK differently or SEE differently Your personal circumstances?  What would your jubilant response be to the challenges of LIFE????   YES!!!,  I Can't, or maybe next time....

So back to the magic fun door opening at the kids party where MANDATORY fun was required. What if we as adults RELEARNED how to have FUN and RENAMED life's challenges as Adult FUN?? 

.....What song are you loading into your phone or iPod as your morning WAKE UP FUN song??? 

Send me your playlist

Christyna with a "y" 

The face of finance

Send the flying monkeys

I was speaking with a friend who shared how they were going through a very hard time with the dissolution of a relationship. It was interesting that the relationship was that of a business partnership, which had been four years in the making and two years in actual existence .( It's a wonderful thing simply a paper transaction for tax purposes, but hard)..They expressed the most challenging part of the process was breaking down the financial obligations....the, WHO is responsible for WHAT moving forward because everything was still going to be needed just now under individual business names..... They were so stressed that they started getting upset saying they wished they could just scrap it and start over...which got me to thinking.( I know dangerous , me thinking)

Couple-hood, no matter at what level, be it friendship, partnership, 

consultancy  or marriage requires defined roles regarding our relationship and handling of   money. You can't move into the quintessential "couple-HOOD" achieve the goals of the "ADDRESS "  without the clear understanding that it takes a clear vision of money roles to sustain it...otherwise frustration, stress and flying monkeys will creep in or be summonsed.

In the couple -hood " It's a strange, wonderful and wild ride. Universally, its the relationship  that challenges us like no other. Sometimes it is predictable. Other times it has unexpected twists and turns. And MONEY plays a big role in the journey. Couples consciously or unconsciously decide how to spend and enjoy money, how to save and amass wealth and how to use money to exert power and control in the relationship. Some partners fight about money, others worry about it. Some couples join forces and create a strong financial and emotional bond; others never seem to trust each other financially." ( that's from my colleague in the business Kathleen , speaking of the couplehood of marriage....thanks girl!!)  when we undergo the task of partnership we do it in good faith not believing that in latter days when, for whatever reason, a dissolution happens be it death, divorce or the Tax Man... That out of lack of knowledge, we' ll be summoning the Flying Monkeys to come do our bidding... So, to avoid this misstep, I suggest taking a moment to take your financial temperature, Realize where your affairs reside in there current state, then Relearn with whomever you are in the Couple-hood with how to establish clear money roles..... ( I use a tool in my business called a financial survey.) this will help provide perspective and insight.

Otherwise someone will be saying...."send in the flying monkeys" and we don't want that!!

Let me know how I can help

The face of finance,

Christyna with a "y"

You killed my sister!!!

It was the death of the sister that forced the movement of Dorothy  onto the path..... But that's to obvious so how about this....She killed what was perceived and labeled Bad and was given the Good out of it; The slippers!!!!

What if,  financial setbacks, fractured relationships and slain goals we're all simply purging and purification for the good; The Revealing  of the RUBY or SILVER Slippers (whichever version you like the wizard  of Oz or the Wiz)?

Hum, the East sister dies at the start of the movie...(or Dorothy's new life) and at the end of the movie the sister of the West dies ( and the song "Can you feel a brand new Day" blast in the back ground, Wiz version) ... Are you thinking what I'm thinking, can you see where I'm going here??  (I could soooo go into a religious posture right down through here but, i'll keep it secular and only say ...we must work while it is day....) If you recall, there was the Wicked Witch of the West and the Wicked Witch of the East (the east dies). No matter where you are on this  planet we call Earth, the Sun rises from the East and sets in the West...the East is in the past and the West is your future, the middle is the journey... In order to make the most of this, She had to (in the words of Debbie Allen, from the show "a different world") Relax, Relate and Release and MOVE ( I added that)!!!!  

Maybe you have to Realize, Relearn and Reload to Move!!!

So, What will you do with your day; After the East of the morning is dead!!

The Face of Finance

Christyna with a "y"

Your the wizard???

Smiles abound, the door opens, a loud baritone voice says "enter", you walk towards the curtain, pull it back expecting to see a stately figure...instead, you see a mirror!!! Reflecting from the mirror is a face that looks familiar but you can't make it out, you step closer, use your hand to wipe away the film and "Realize" starring back at you is somebody that you use to know (thanks Gotye, that song, somebody that I use to know) 

The You, that You use to know!!! Hum? I've been reflecting and reloading myself with the help of audio coaching, one of the things I've noticed sparking back up inside of me has been my ambition, my drive, my determination....that feeling that I can achieve anything!! 

Do you remember having that, that magic, that ability to speak it and be it, what you wanted showed up? Do you remember when the magic left, or you gave it away? what did it feel like, better question what does it feel like now?? Dorothy, her brain, heart and courage pulled the curtain back and saw a small, shriveled little man who called himself the wizard, if you remember, the wizard had the ability to GRANT whatever those who met him asked. Really??? The little man, from the same place Dorothy came from, was the grantor?? Isn't it funny how we give our hopes, ideas, dreams and the like to others we Believe have more power or influence than we do; How we believe more in the power of others than we do in our own...What if you and I are the grantee and the grantor all in one,The mythical all powerful Wizard!!!

As the wizard,  you need a goal, something to help you focus your mind and efforts, to pull you through when the road gets tough...no matter if it's physical, financial or relational two constants must always be present.....a high Goal and a high Standard!!  Also, there must be Belief....along the way you may possibly attract a mentor/coach who's been there done that approach can help you remember or guide you back to YOU!!

 Set backs, changes and life choices sometime fog or shield our view, but with a little REALIZATION , what was old can be made new, igniting the flame of your imagination, and fueling your inner Wizard. 

So now,  look into the mirror, a little harder, see the image shaping, look familiar? it's YOU, The Wizard!!!

The face of finance

Christyna with a "y"

Can you see the city from there!!

OMG... Relax, relate, release..I keep telling myself! I know I'm on the verge of greatness but feel this uneasy pull to stay right here reveling in the familiar. Does that sound like a tape you play to yourself? Do you have a gnawing inside that's calling you to a place of unfamiliarity, that if you just surrender to, great things await? The reality of seeking personal greatness is...it takes an action, an action we don't always want to give in to "Movement" .  Walking the Road to your personal greatness can be lonely, uncomfortable and Reflective..

Keeping true to the theme of the wizard of oz... The main character dorothy, ( or you) had to step up, tell herself she could do it, put one foot in front of the other and move forward into the things of the unknown....pressing toward the mythical city where she would find the "all might Wizard" along the way she found her courage, heart and brain... Her best!!!

What will you find, if you give your best another chance??

Tell yourself ....I can, I will, I must !!!!

 I'll see you in the city where the color is Gold.....

The face of finance

Christyna with a "y"

Dorothy was distracted, what about you!!

A friend sent me a text asking out of true and sincere concern seeing if I was ok, they noticed I had transformed ( in physical appearance) so much so that they wanted to make sure I wasn't sick, I thought about the sincerity and took a look at myself and acknowledged it's significance. I thought about how I've been so caught up in my day to day grind and likened it, a tornado of life, distracted by my own personal "toto" . The significance of my toto's (distractions) have had me so wrapped up I hadn't noticed my own transformation.

If you remember, it was that cold winter night that Dorothy went to take out the trash, just as toto dashed out the door into the storm....like a good caretaker Dorothy left her primary task and ran after toto, so distracted by her desire to make sure toto was safe she put herself in harms way!!!! Which makes me ask, What's your "TOTO"?

What task or thing of significance in your life  have you found yourself distracted by, What tornado's have you been caught up in because your "toto" ran out the door?

As women, we are excellent at multitasking, caregiving and caretaking..but at what cost? Your "toto" may be working instead of going back to school to increase your income or forgoing work ( income) to care for children, a parent, a spouse or  your "toto" may be FEAR....False Evidence Appearing Real...keeping you paralyzed in a rut, or like mine your toto may be not facing the truth that a tornado is what your in and transformation is happening regardless, while your distracted, running after your toto.

"Toto's" are anything that distract us from keeping the main thing the main thing.....

Dorothy was so distracted that she couldn't see the transformative tornado that was heading her way... 

What transformative something have you not seen due to your distracting Toto?

 Once you answer the question, pull out a sheet of paper identify the toto or toto's. Pull out another sheet, write or rewrite your goals,( those you forgot, said would never happen or gave up on) cross reference and see if toto's have kept you from them. Were you suppose to have that vacation home but spent the extra monthly income on St. John knits ( toto) , were you suppose to retire last year but wanted the new car so now your working an extra two years ( toto)...

Remember, all it takes is "Realization" to allow transformative  moments to be realized.

Reach out to me if you need extra sheets of paper!

The face of finance

Christyna with a "y"

Where the path leads or Lead and the path....will develop

This week I was asked a question , it's one I've personally asked for years to candidates I was offering employment to as a corporate recruiter....the question was, "design the life you see for yourself in three years." In other words, where do you see yourself in three years? I have never felt any concern in that question before, but for some reason I assigned such a level of gravity to the question this time that it stumped me. 

In the past when asked, I could rattle off my two year, five year and ten year plans as easy as breathing...but this day, I was swirling with mental chatter . As a women of a certain age, wife and mother extraordinar...the question now has so many factors to be considered, how will my decisions effect my future personally and those around me who depend on me...

As a professional financial consultant, my main tool of choice is the ability to help my clients DREAM and picture where they want to be in the future, my job is in helping them PLAN the steps to get there. So, why was it so hard for me to answer, for me to implement my tool to my own Dream Plan??? Could it be, like you, I now put my family ahead of myself in that role as "mom" and in that role, choose the selfless sacrifice of $150 towards the college fund opposed to the $150 steal of a lifetime cute "butter soft" leather tailored zip front "Theory" blazer at Nordstrom ( yes, it was that cute, a perfect fit medium, I already had the stark white button down, black pencil skirt and the open toed stilettos from my closet already picked out)  to be responsible and not seen as selfish.

Does this question also stump you or have you been resilient and steadfast in your reverent pursuit of your dreams,  withstanding the sway of life events and there impact on your dream plan?  So, how do we , those of us who have altered our Dream Plan, either by circumstance, situation or design, reclaim and ReLoad it back into our path without feeling guilty or selfish but empowered as leading? If you remember, ReLoad means to start again, redo with firm foundation . For some, you may feel your personal economy impacted your dream, others it may be a change in title from single to married, married to single, children at home to empty nesters.

No matter the reason, we have to make a Choice, to Re Load our dream plan.

Accept and revel in the new economic status or title change, acknowledging that the path is only as clear and as wide as the dream that manifest it, for the dream must be the unmovable anchor.

Now let me hear you loud, bold and empowered...where do you see yourself in the next three years??? 

Remember, brickless paths help us develop fortitude and vision for our comeback !!!

Christyna with a "y"

The face of finance