You are Enough - Journey to Improve Your Self Esteem

HEY THERE!!! (As I dust off the cobwebs from this blog, lol).  Gosh, it truly has been forever and a day. What have y'all been up to??!!  I've seriously been everywhere it feels, both physically and mentally, lol.

One of the reasons I'm back at it now is that I've been working on expanding my network for a number of reasons, and I'm actually seeing the results. I've also been telling people I'm a blogger, so figured, perhaps I should put my money where my mouth is and actually BLOG, lol. 

I've learned some valuable lessons while I was away, soul-searching etc, and a big one that I want to share with you today, is to not sell yourself short. I believe us as women do that a lot, we undermine ourselves A LOT. Why?? 

As I've been sharing with people what I do, some people have actually been impressed, and I have this strange look on my face, thinking huh? "Have you seen so-and-so's blog, so-and-so's website, twitter/Instagram followers", and so on and so forth. It wasn't until recently that it sunk in that I'm not, for lack of a better word, useless, lol. And guess what, the same applies to you!!

I know a lot of us are perfectionists and hardly anything is ever good enough. It's not bad wanting to hone ones craft, however if the pursuit of perfection is holding you back, rather than pushing you forward, we have a problem. 

So how exactly do we appreciate ourselves, pat ourselves on the back, and begin to practise self-love and self-worth? I'm not a psychiatrist/therapist, I can only speak on what I've done, and am doing, and that is to take it day by day and celebrate the little victories. 

So you didn't write a novel, but hey, you wrote a chapter, or even a page. You didn't go to bed with the house in immaculate condition, but guess what, half the dishes got done, and little Charlie didn't go to bed hungry, lol. Like seriously, it's NOT that serious. We need to hear this from time to time, that it's OK, everything is going to be OK. 

Maintain your goals, keep reaching for success, and do the best you can. Tomorrow's a brand new day. Hit the reset button if need be, and go at it again. 

The only way to fail is to give up.

I hope this gives someone out there the encouragement to keep going and keep trying. Greatness is within you, it's your birth right as the daughter of King ;)

Love & Bless Y'all!!

Stay Pretty & Precious, 
Peace

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Successful Women: Thoughts, Habits & Motivation

Hey guys!! I'm back, lol. (Why do I feel as though I say this far too often?) How have you all been? Hoping that life is treating you all well and that the deep freeze that's hit the East coast isn't putting too much of a damper on you. 

So I was surfing the web and came across an article on r29 that got me thinking and I wanted to share my thoughts with y'all. The title reads 10 Things Successful Women do every day. The article is written by Lauren Conrad who sprung into the limelight after her time on the MTV reality show "Laguna Beach: The Real O.C., and its spin-off series, "The Hills", who has since managed to remain successful by, among other things, becoming an author and launching a fashion line.

I'm not going to repeat the list for you, but please feel free to read it here. What I'm sharing is what I got from reading the article, the importance of getting into a routine and developing healthy habits. I'm totally guilty of not doing this, and I've seen first hand the ineffectiveness yielded as a result. 

We all want to have a successful year and hopefully keep our goals and resolutions intact throughout the year. Well the way to do that is to check-in on your progress and finding ways to remain motivated. I may want a plethora of things, but without motivation to put me in action, all I'm doing is dreaming. Just like it's been said:

"A Goal Without a Plan is Just a Wish"

Another takeaway from the article is that being successful goes beyond having a thriving business or career, it's about being well-rounded and having a great work-life balance. That however is not being comfortable and content, but includes pushing yourself and your boundaries so that you can grow. Benjamin Franklin said it best: "Without continual growth and progress, such words as improvement, achievement, and success, have no meaning."

My wish for you is that you find that motivation that will keep you going and pushing yourself to be the best that you can be :)

Love & Bless Y'all!

Stay Pretty & Precious, 
Peace

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Glory at the Golden Globes

Hey y'all! What's up? I trust and hope that you had a great weekend. I enjoyed mine as it was my BIRTHDAY WEEKEND!!! :) Lol.  Other than that the NFL playoffs pretty much dominated our entertainment pleasures until late last night when I got to watch the Golden Globes. 

So about the Golden Globes, what can I say? I wasn't too impressed. For some reason I was more entertained last year. The faux pas of the evening in my opinion was the Bill Cosby joke. I'm not a comedian but that just wasn't funny to me. 

I did appreciate Common's speech though. Him and John Legend won the award for best original song, Glory.  Listening to the song, one of the lines that I found empowering was: "When the war is done, when it's all said and done, we'll cry glory."

Everyone's war and plight on this earth is different. Every man's struggle and pain different, and as I've mentioned before, life may not be what you pictured for yourself. But regardless of the severity or the length and degree to which one has suffered, it will all come to an end. 

The bible says to count it all joy when we go through trials and tribulations (John 1:2). I'm not foolish to think that we as humans love struggling, and although we don't have the answers to why, He does. Remember, all things work together for our good (Rom 8:28). Then there's the saying:

What doesn't kill you makes you stronger.

So at the end of it all, the fact that we're still standing, is reason enough to shout glory!

Love & Bless Y'all!

Stay Pretty & Precious, 

Peace

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A week into the New Year - How to Stay Motivated

Good morning guys!! Just got up about an hour ago, fed the kids, grabbed a glass of lemon water and figured I better bang this post out now. Because before you know it, it's 6pm and I've got to start getting ready to head out for bible study tonight.

So we're a week into the new year. What do you think so far? Has the novelty of it all worn off? I've got to say I've managed to remain focused thus far, (granted it's only been a week, lol). I find though that many times we have all these hopes and dreams, and once Monday comes, when the kids go back to school, and the holidays are over for real, it's easy to get discouraged when our lives aren't miraculously changed all of a sudden. 

For some reason we think it will happen in an instance just because the calendar shows a new year, and the realization that some persistency is required proves to much work for some, and thus the cliché, "new year, new me" is now proven to be nothing but just that, a cliché. 

I was listening to Napoleon Hill's "Laws of Success" yesterday and in the opening 5 minutes he states his famous quote:

What the mind can conceive and believe, the mind can achieve

You have to believe for more that 5 minutes though, and believe it or not, more than a week too, lol. Regardless of how many times you fail, you've got to keep believing that you can achieve whatever it is you're wanting to. That persistency (coupled with action, we've been over this here, lol) is what will cause you to succeed. 

So how do we stay motivated and in action when we fail and get discouraged? You need a strong enough reason to do it anyway. Your WHY you get up in the morning, your WHY you set the goal to begin with. Your WHY needs to be important enough that late nights, long hours, inconvenient circumstances, freezing winter days, sweltering summers days, come what may, doesn't matter or phase you to change or give up on your goals. 

If I want to loose weight to fit into a bikini this summer to get a cute guy, I might give up after a month and reason God will give me a man that loves me no matter what size I am. However if I want to loose weight so I can keep up with my kids, motivate a child who's trying to make it onto to the soccer team, be healthy enough to see and enjoy my grandkids, you get the picture. Who's more likely to stick to their guns? 

Figure out your why, then write it down. Whenever you feel like quitting, whip out that piece paper and re-commit, re-charge, re-hustle :)

Bless & Love Y'all!

Stay Pretty & Precious, 
Peace

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Ask & Act - And Accomplish Your Goals for 2015

Happy New Year everyone!!! I pray that you all entered the new year in great health and joy. It truly is a blessing and a privilege to see another year unfold. 

With that said, what are you going to make of this year? I know new years resolutions are notorious for being nothing but hype and therefore pretty much a waste of time. But what I'd like to suggest is that you perhaps just plan a week or month at a time. 

As I mentioned in my last post, intention is a game-changer, and it's hard to set out your intentions unless you know what it is you want to accomplish. My pastor said yesterday, by leaving your year, your life for that matter, to "whatever happens, happens", you'll accomplish little to nothing. 

So this weekend, or whenever you have a free minute, just jot down what you want to accomplish for the following week. If you do this week after week, before you know it, you'll have written the vision for the month, the year. "Write the vision, and make it plain" (Hab 2:2) Don't make it more complicated than it is :)

Ask & act - I heard this phrase today and found it to be quite profound. Asking is as simple as a prayer. Writing your vision is a form of asking God to fulfill what you've declared. 

Then there's the act. Again, as stated in the previous post, you won't get anything accomplished without it. It's important to ask beforehand though because that's when you might hear God saying "Don't act". How will you know if you don't ask? Having asked, you'll be more susceptive to the spirit (your gut) directing you.

I believe if we can do these simple things; Ask (pray, plan - write the vision) and act (putting the plan into action while being led by the spirit), I think we're well on our way to making this year spectacular. 

I genuinely pray that you all have an amazing year :)

Love & Bless Y'all!

Stay Pretty & Precious, 
Peace

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Get ready, get ready, GET READY!

Oh my goodness!! Yes, it's been a while, I know. But you know what? It's all good :) Cause a new year is around the corner! 

I know many of you are sick and tired of the "New Year, new me" spiel, but

there's a reason why it never it gets old. We as humans live for new beginnings, second chances, clean slates, you name it. Why? Cause we're human and we're bound to mess up sooner or later. 

I was going to wait until the new year to post this, but I'm so hype right now, so excited, I just had to post this now. 

In the month of December I joined a new company called Arbonne, and a big part that this company focuses on is personal growth, and I'm ALL about personal growth. If anything, that's what The Little Black Dress is all about, becoming the best version of yourself and subsequently dressing for success.

I've learned quite a bit throughout my month of study, and I'll share with you along the way. What I want to share with you today though is:

1. Intention is everything - You have to set out to get what you want in this life. Very little, if anything at all, happens by happenstance. When you speak, write, leave your house, shake someone's hand, anything, have your intention set out from the get-go. Law of attraction folks, it's real!
2. Activity drives your results - I like to read and study, and you can plan, pray, and prepare 'til your blue in the face. Unless you put your butt in action, it's all in vain. Faith without works is dead! (James 2:26)

So with that said ladies, get ready, get ready, get ready! 2015 can be all you've dreamed of and more! You just have to make up your mind that it is. 

Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it.       ~Charles Swindoll

So no matter what may come your way, have an attitude of "I'm gonna succeed NO MATTER WHAT!"

Hope this blesses someone out there :)

Love & Bless Y'all!

Stay Pretty & Precious, 

Peace

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Veterans Day/Remeberance Day - Make Love Not War

It's Veterans Day today, or Remembrance Day if you live in Canada like I do. I'm sure you've read and seen plenty of military footage today. Surprisingly my exposure has been minimal, a couple of facebook posts about sums it up.

I'm personally more of a make love not war type person, and I'm sure everyones ideal is world peace. It's just our opinions on the means necessary of achieving this that varies I guess. 

The bible does say

Don't repay evil for evil (1 Pet 3:9/Rom 12:17) 

and 

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good (Rom 12:21) 

and yes, I'm well aware that Christians throughout history have started wars in His name. That doesn't make it right though. 

My hope, I guess, is that this day isn't just to salute soldiers and thank them for their sacrifice, but that we actually take the time to reflect on why these soldiers went to war in the first place. The slogan "lest we forget" kind of implies that we need to think. 

So what I would like to encourage you to do today is to think about your personal contribution to "world peace", if you will. Remember, charity begins at home. Furthermore, 

How can you think of saying to your friend, 'Let me help you get rid of that speck in your eye' when you can't see past the log in your own eye? (Matt 7:4)

Everyday is an opportunity to be better and do better. 

Live life to fullest & dress for success

Love & Bless Y'all!
Stay Pretty & Precious, 
Peace

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