Tuesday, April 28, 2015

Do You Want to Chart Your Destiny?

 #ChartingYourDestiny 2015 is finally here! :-)


If you're in Trinidad, you won't want to miss this event on Saturday 23rd May, 2015. Based on the tenets of my first book #THINKINGOUTLOUD....Here are some of the things we will talk about:
  • Finding your true passion/purpose in life... 
  • Discovering what are the most important people and things in life...
  • Letting go of fear and negativity which may be inhibiting the path to your dreams...
  • Realizing your full potential/self-actualization....
  • Letting go of the past and so much more! 

All in a FUN atmosphere:-)

The group activities and ice-breakers causes you to reflect and bring about a catharsis.

Includes the tastiest, gourmet lunch & post workshop celebration that won't burn a whole in your pocket with the early bird specials and group discounts! 

Want to learn more? Email hicomegaconsulting@gmail.com for a registration package with details, my full bio and photos of alumni. Looking forward to seeing you there
20 seats max, so don't delay!

Fore more you can "Like" me on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ThinkingoutLoudbyCarolynCorreia


FOOD FOR THOUGHT!

"We can each define ambition and progress for ourselves. The goal is to work toward a world where expectations are not set by the stereotypes that hold us back, but by our personal passion, talents and interests." - Sheryl Sandberg

click to enlargen



Sunday, April 26, 2015

Kindred Souls

This weekend I attended readings from two authors: Akosua Dardaine Edwards (author of “What Did I Learn Today” and “Nyabo” (Madam) Why are you Here”) the latter which talks about what she learnt whilst working in Africa. I felt connected to her journey, yet with a distinct identity of my own.

Today I listened to Dr. Jennylyn James (author of three memoirs of her experiences living in Ireland, California and Canada). Her passion and exuberance were infectious. These authors have inspired me to keep trucking with my second book and get it out into the hands of my readers.

Like another author I’m following Vanessa Salazar, writing is my number one passion and I can’t NOT write. My dream is to return to Tobago every now and then; wake up, sit on my old back porch and take in the wondrous scenery and do nothing but write. I loved living there and everything about #IslandLife ….That’s me back in 2013 at a friend’s villa.

When I get hungry, I’d pick something from the garden, go inside and cook, have a glass of wine. When I need a break, I’d drive to Bacolet, Black Rock or Pigeon Point and have a beer with some friends, take a dip in the ocean (not in that order!) and repeat as necessary.

Arnos Vale, Tobago © C. K. Correia 2013
I plan to do my workshops every two months and copywriting to pay the bills and just write books and articles for several magazines and newspapers. That would be my ideal life. When I can afford it, I’d take a trip to somewhere new and exotic.

I’ve learnt this weekend, that the world is just waiting for us to discover new cultures, personalities and ways of life. I am of the view that if we don’t, our vision and world view will be myopic. We really don’t know what we’re missing when we stay in one spot for too long.

Do you think I will succeed with my dream!? What are some of your dreams?! Do share! Remember anything is possible once you keep at it and don’t give up. Keep hope alive.

Until next time.


Peace & Love,
Carolyn xo

Monday, April 20, 2015

Book #2 Update

Thought I'd share some comments from my beta readers over the past few weeks on my manuscript of my new book/memoir:
  • Preface: "Love this portion right here… It humanizes the content, makes it oh so real… Allows readers to foster that connection with you from the get go... Great stuff."
  • "Really like how chapter 1 unfolds just as the theme says"
  • "Chapter 4 is excellent. Like how it flows, and keeps with the ideal theme of gratitude and acceptance."
  • Chapter 5: "Love this title…Think it's compelling to draw in the reader…A nice contrast to the positive flow of the book…Profound for the person who is driven “hell-hard” to make their transition/change, and gets anxious, frustrated with themselves, and lives the spoken prophecy of failure, because they are not patient with themselves."
  • "Like the summary and pointed learnings/outcomes of the chapters"

Will keep you posted on further developments! I'm humbled and grateful and even more motivated to continue. This is what's is all about :)

The countdown to publication is on! The planning of the book launch has been underway since February. 

Special thanks to my beta readers, editor and special friends. Your support means the world to me.

Thanks for stopping by. You make it all worthwhile! Stay tuned to this space.

Saturday, April 18, 2015

Why You Will Always Be Enough



I once thought if I got a job I loved and had a flourishing personal life, I would be completely
Stonehaven Bay, Tobago 
and totally happy. I was wrong. When I got the job I always wanted and was at a high point in my personal life, I still found myself wanting more.

Let’s face it: Work takes up a lot of our time, so we might as well enjoy it, right? We look to it to satisfy our needs, in accordance to Maslow’s Hierarchy. 

It is how we achieve fulfilment, acceptance, recognition and respect for both ourselves and others. Knowing our work is making a difference in the lives of others boosts our self-esteem and confidence. But, how can we make it enough?

When I started my own business a year ago, I felt a change. I went from feeling agony, rising in the morning for my 8-to-4 job, to exuberant entrepreneurship. Now, I can’t wait to begin the day and discover all the possibilities that await. In fact, I don’t even want to go to sleep!

But, every now and then, I feel I should be doing more, no matter how many people tell me I'm doing so much already. I think it’s human nature to doubt yourself from time to time. We try to tell ourselves we shouldn't, then we meet or read about someone who is just like us, but doing so much more. You know what, though?

We are exactly where we need to be at any given moment. Our opportunities, capabilities and mindsets are different from said person. Once we know we are trying our best, there’s no need to compare our lives to anyone else’s because we don’t know the sacrifices they made to get where they are.

The only person we need to compare ourselves to, is our former selves. It’s healthy to always aspire to grow beyond yesterday’s goals. Life is fluid and always changing. We must move with life in order to achieve that for which we were created.

If we remained in one spot, we would stunt our growth; there would be no change. While everyone is getting ahead, we would be stuck in a time warp. Fear is real; sometimes, it stifles us and restricts us from living completely. It may be fear of failing, fear of the unknown or fear of what others may think of us for trying something new.

When we focus on living our own lives, what anyone else thinks suddenly becomes irrelevant. We overcome our fears when we visualize how incredible it would be to succeed.

Witnessing the smiling faces of all the people we can help with their dreams is a wonderful feeling. Whether it is a product we created, a service we provided or a feeling we invigorated, that feeling of fulfilment matches no other.

We owe it to ourselves to transcend our limitations and not be stunted by fear. We were made to stand out! We need to condition our minds to find the inner strength to channel our talents into meaningful outlets for expression.

I am certain everyone was born with this ability, but some fail to realize it because of environmental factors and/or the lack of positive reinforcement. We must surround ourselves with positive people who support our dreams and encourage us.

We have to learn to identify the “weak links” and let go of the negativity that cripples our progress and breaks our spirits. We can do anything if we intently and consistently focus on it. 

We must find ways to nurture our talents and motivate ourselves to reach our goals. Once we pursue a career for the right reason — which is to help others — we will reach our destiny in life.

The right situations and people will find us without effort, and all forms of abundance will flow into our lives. We will be at peace with ourselves, and we will no longer compare our journeys to others....We will finally be enough.

Wednesday, April 15, 2015

Love Me or Leave Me

Welcome to my new and returning visitors. I am elated to get new "hits" again from Switzerland, France and Russia. I LOVE to receive comments from my new and old friends from the UK, Trinidad & Tobago, USA and Jamaica. I just love me some google analytics :) 

Whether it's facebook, google, blogger, twitter or LinkedIn, I've struggled with this social media thing for a long time and I often wondered what does it take for a post to go viral or at least close to it as possible. Sometimes my posts do well, sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes I lose "likes", followers and connections...but I can never unravel the reasons why. My friends ask me: "Does it matter?" Likes don't indicate sales or even interest, which is so true. Why do we as business owners, authors and artists place so much emphasis on racking up likes and followers?

We can also translate this to real life. What I've learnt from my many human, face-to-face interactions with friends, acquaintances and even family, is that no matter what you do and say in life, people are going to continue thinking what they like. The true blue (genuine) ones will always love you and support you and will keep coming back. They will love you even when you mess up, offend them from time to time, put your foot in your mouth or disagree with something or someone they like. 

They will love you when you make the same mistakes over and over again, when you're sick, heartbroken or flat broke. They will love you when you're doing well and when you're depressed and downtrodden. These folks will tell you when you're doing crap and when you need to "buck up" and change your ways. But no matter what you do, they will always be there for you even if time or waters separate you. These are the ones you want in your circle.

Au contraire, the ones who really don't like you, will never really be genuinely in your corner. Sometimes you can never really tell, but even if they fake it for a while, their true feelings will surface eventually. We have to understand that we are not doing anything wrong and we don't deserve this treatment. 

We also must know that there's nothing we can do to change the way they feel about you. It may not even be you, it can be something you represent to them. Some things just are the way they are. You must accept it in order to relate and move along in life. No hard feelings. Stop trying to impress, just be you and move on.

This philosophy holds true not only for professional relationships, but also personal ones. 

Some things just are.

I need to also accept that one less "like" or follower is not the end of the world. You win some, you lose some. I love you all the same and hope our time was fruitful.

If you want to share your experiences, please feel free to comment below or use the contact form on your right. I wanna hear from you!

Peace & Love

Sunday, April 12, 2015

How I Learnt to "Unplug"

OK! So it seems that I'm once more a 'once-a-week blogger.' I'm not sure how I got here again, but somehow I've lost my zeal for blogging (not writing though):( For the first time, I've been deliberately postponing blogging...partly because I just didn't know what to blog about, then I worried unnecessarily about how my blog would be interpreted...After 7 years of blogging, I just had this thought! I often wondered when this day would come, but it's a fleeting thought because I love sharing with you.

Today I "unplugged". I found myself growing more and more tired as the weeks went by, so I returned to a practise that I exercised last year. Once a week, I would not turn on my computer and just devote my time to reading and catching up with family. 

I had planned to spend most of the day in bed, but that was not the case. After going to bed at 4 am this morning working on the FINAL draft of my book, I woke up excited, refreshed and ready to go again at 9:45 am. Drat! I purposely reminded myself that today I was going to take it easy and not get inundated with work. No emails. No book talk. No Skype. No workshop business. Just recharge and catch up.
photo credit - C. K.Correia 2015
I cooked the night before, so it was easy. I spent most of the day on my porch with the gently blowing breeze, taking in some sunshine and the magnificence of nature. The birds, the mountains, the plants and flowers. I stayed there until the sun set and dark crept in. 

During the day I meditated and read 9 chapters of one of the many books I started months ago. I chatted with my mother about everything and anything. I shared with her what I learnt from the various videos I've been researching. I watched her as she watered the plants while I (finally) painted my toes:) We drank tea and exchanged categorically good and bad stories of customer service both locally and abroad. 

We told stories about my Dad and listened to some Jamaican gospel-reggae! It's been over a year, but I could never finish telling her about my own tales about living in Tobago and all the people and situations I encountered. My funniest story was travelling back on the ferry close to midnight one night with thunder and lightning, then driving back home to a blackout! 

photo credit - C. K. Correia 2015
Grown men were seen to be "jumping" whenever thunder rolled and lightning lit up the night skies through the windows. Meanwhile the workers on the boat (so accustomed) laughed loud belly laughs! I was so amused that I bb'd my friends and emailed my sister abroad from my phone, describing to them what was happening. 

(Funny I wasn't really scared, but at the back of my mind I still kept thinking about the Titanic lol. To pass the time I had snacks and a beer at the bar while I watched a movie until the boat docked:)

photo credit - C. K. Correia 2015
Now this April day is almost done and I'm refreshed and recharged, ready to face another week. Just for one day we did not argue or disagree! We took a stroll down memory lane and loved it. We cried and laughed and released. 

I gave my brain a rest and did not worry about my publishing deadlines, unanswered emails, flyers, unwritten articles, interviews and marketing my workshop. 

It was refreshing and it's what good memories are made of. It's feels oh soo good to unplug every now and then. This is gonna be my Sunday ritual from now on. I may even throw in a second day! 

Please feel free to share with us how you unplug from the rest of the world by posting a comment below or via the contact form on your right!

Have a great week :)

Peace & Love

Sunday, April 5, 2015

What Sacrifice Means to Me

I know the holiday is almost over, but I just had to stop in for a moment to wish you all a Happy Easter. In some parts of the world, Easter Monday and Tuesday are public holidays and kids are off from school for another week.

photo credit - C. K. Correia 2015
I've tried to make this a non-denominational blog, but tonight I share my feelings on Easter. Subconsciously I've made a promise to myself to attend church more often this year. So Holy Thursday and Glorious Saturday found me attending mass at two different parishes. 

It was a welcome change as some parts of the mass were sung in Latin. I felt a wonderful sense of peace wash over me. Change is good.

For the past few days, I've been reflecting a lot on my life: the past and the future. I picture what life would be like in 10-20 years. Because of my Dad's recent passing, I often think about the mortality of my mother and those around me: myself, my siblings and even my friends. I know, what morbid thoughts! But everyone I talk to have been having similar feelings as people are dropping like flies. It seems to be six degrees of separation as someone we know have died. Depressing, but it's this thing called life!

Although I seemed to have gotten over my grief fairly early, my friends who have been there before, told me this would happen. Easter was a very sad time, save for last night thanks to my friend Beverly. With acceptance comes healing and transformation of our circumstance into a positive learning experience. 

We must find the strength and willpower to overcome and transcend our pain, because there's always more to life. I somehow found the will to get up and get out yesterday and confront my emotions. Today I linked these cathartic feelings to Easter and the death and resurrection of Christ.

No matter our denomination, we can appreciate the significance of sacrifices. By whatever name you call God or whether it is the sacrifices of our parents, loved ones or even we ourselves, we do it in order for the ones we love to enjoy a better life, if we chose to look at it that way.

Easter signifies for Christians the sacrifices Jesus made in order for us to have a second chance. To be free from sin. No matter our sin, how many or how great or small, sin is sin. And it was all washed away on that day...Good Friday. It is up to us, to hold up our end of the bargain and try to live a better life. If not for ourselves, for our children and their children. I'm sure we've all heard "the sins of our forefathers falling on the third and fourth generations." It's just my food for thought.

Have a great week and best wishes for Easter.

Peace & Love.


Wednesday, April 1, 2015

Have You Disconnected?

Happy April! 

I’m not much of a TV person and the one in my room remains off 80% of the time, but every now and then I tear myself away from my computer to see what I’m missing. Before I know it, I get lost in 'TV Land' where somehow the characters reflect what’s going in my life at the time.
photo credit - C.K. Correia 2015

I remember a conversation I had two years ago in my old apartment in Tobago one night. I could hear my friend Sherry screeching into the other end of the telephone all the way from Trinidad: “Lyn you can’t compare your life to those characters on TV!” 

While this is true, television and movies sometimes reflects the experiences of their writers who are real life people just like us. (She wanted to hear nothing of this though!). I also remember blogging about it back then. It is however, up to us to disconnect when that hour or half hour is up and separate reality from fantasy. 

A good script, like a good book can relay messages that allow you to see your reality a little clearer or give you a different perspective on life. It may even provide healing or allow you to laugh at your situation which may be exactly what you need.

By all appearances today was a great day. It's the little things that somehow elicit good memories like having the funniest chat with my cousin on the phone, completing an article I was working on and running into 6, count them six! friends on the way to and from the gym today. Despite all of this, tonight I felt a lingering uneasy feeling that I cannot quite describe. 

Still very much in mourning, I try to distract myself with all the exciting things going on in my life, like my new book. Maybe it’s lack of sleep! Then I turn on the tele and escape to a world where nothing else matters. 

My hour is up and I have disconnected from their world. I have laughed and found the lessons. Now I’m back to regularly scheduled programming and ready to embrace my life once again. 

Let's transform our dreams into reality this April and in the months ahead. Stay tuned to this space.

What are some of your favourite shows and what has it taught you?

Peace & Love