IS YOUR GLASS HALF FULL OR HALF EMPTY?

It has come up. It was bound to come up. I do realise that and I am hoping that I am writing this not to justify my actions to you but to maybe get you thinking or even to set an example. But as usual I am getting ahead of myself!

I posted an article on my facebook wall about size zero models and how I actually disagree with it which prompted someone to mention that it was "Hard to read that and see Alex Perry in your profile pic. He's the poster boy for size zero.” Which, don't get me wrong, is a fair statement! You can read all about my thoughts in regards to the fashion industry being blamed for poor body image in Australia HERE. I have also been asked recently as to how I can be a Life Coach through the week and then cover fashion events on the weekend as a fashion blogger?

My answer to both of those is: PERCEPTION. Everything in our lives and whether it is good or bad is about our perception. The most simple and overused but underrated example of this being: is your glass half full or half empty? To me the fashion industry is not a big money fuelled, soul sucking, humanity destroying industry. It is an industry of self expression, innocence, beauty, fun and glamour which gives us new ways every season to express ourselves! Now before you jump up and down and say 'but Casey it promotes bad body image and new clothes come out every season just to make money'. That statement is fine and if you want that to be your perception then that is completely your choice. If you would like another point of view on the body image debate I suggest you go HERE and in regards to clothes coming out every season just to make money (I have heard this so many times!) you are implying 1. That it is wrong to make money (which it is not, if you provide a service you are entitled to make money from it) and 2. That everyone goes out every season and buys every piece straight from the runway. I don't know anyone who does that, all people do is buy a few new pieces every season to add to their collection of unique style. The fashion industry is also known for their drug culture and putting pressure on models to be skinny but what industry isn't known for a certain degree of drug culture and the perceived pressure to have the 'ideal image'.

You can perceive any industry as good or bad it is your choice but if you choose the optimistic out look you will gain so much more freedom and you will contribute to the positivity of that industry. The bad side of any industry is not due to the industry itself, it is due to the lack of faith and self worth people have in our culture and in many cultures all over the world. The negative paradigms that have wormed their way into our heads and have taken up residence saying we are no good and worth nothing so we give into peer pressure or commit crimes looking for acceptance instead of looking to the only person we need acceptance from and that is... ourselves.

We judge other people, situations and circumstances every single minute of every single day. We are never going to stop doing it and nor should we. We are observant beings who take part in this magnificent world! When we make a judgement it is extremely important to recognise whether this judgement is coming from a place of pessimistic insecurity or optimistic knowledge. There really never is any real reason to say a harsh word against or to anyone. As Napoleon Hill points out "If you believe someone is good you will find good qualities. If you don't, you wont.". If you are a positive person who has even a small amount of control over your thoughts because you have worked to understand why you have certain thoughts or say certain things, you will look for the good in people, situations and circumstances. 

If you find something or someone that doesn't feel right to you then instead of feeling the need to label them bad and bring that label you have bestowed on them to their attention which just placates hurt and negativity, you have the choice to remove it from your attention. It is as simple as that. If we could all learn to take our attention away from the things that distress us and turn it to the things that make us happy then we would all feel so much more safe in our skin. If we respected ourselves we would not have 'tall poppy syndrome' or gossip magazines because our attention would be focused on ourselves and when we did hear or read someone else's story we would feel happy for their success or empathy for their loss and in no way feel the need to point out a 'perceived negative'.

My picture of Alex Perry and I in my profile picture is not merely there as a 'look at me I am with Alex Perry' picture. I have it there because I not only love his designs, it also marks a very special milestone for me in my career. The shy, reserved girl I was when I first started in the industry was put aside that night and I made a conscious effort to put myself in the shoes of the confident, professional and intelligent woman I wanted to be. To go up to Alex Perry, an icon in the industry I was trying to make my mark on, and ask him for the photograph was a huge feat for me at that time. I got home on a huge high, proud as punch at the fact that I had the confidence to go up to him and ask! Even if he had said no I still would have been exceptionally proud of the fact that I pushed my limits! If the event was a month earlier there is no way I would have asked and I would have gone home disappointed I didn't have the confidence to 'put myself out there', so to speak. 

I, like many people, am working hard on my goals, dreams and especially on myself. To try and reverse the years of negative self talk takes time and effort. It takes effort to remember to do it and time to educate myself on how to reverse it in the first place. It requires constant attention to your thoughts and actions. I make sure I catch myself when judging someone from that place of insecurity and ask myself why am I doing it? The answer is always there! And because of these conscious efforts I am happy to say that I am proud to be the woman I am today and will wake up as tomorrow which gives me the confidence to live more and shy away less!

So before you judge someone in any industry, be it a football player, politician or a fashion blogger, ask yourself... is my glass half empty?

Stay fabulous!

CLE

ROSS SCUTTS- ENTREPRENEUR- INTERVIEW

Last week when explaining to a PR manager what my blog entailed, I was so happy to say that my blog is one of motivation and inspiration, not one of gossip and slander. When the words came out of my mouth I was shocked and proud all at once! That is something I had worked really hard on, keeping my blog motivational and inspirational, and to be able to say that and the blog be tangle proof of that made me so proud! Recently I made the decision to write more motivational and inspirational pieces as I want to contribute as much as I can to our magnificent world and I am lucky enough that I can write a blog from my little corner and have a couple of people read it and hopefully motivate them to go for their dreams!

One of the best ways to help motivate people is to show you that there are people, just like you and I, who are striving for their goals and dreams and are successful at doing so! Success stories are mind food and motivate us to go for our dreams... because if they can do it... so can you! 

Ross Scutts is a perfect example of what I am talking about. Ross, a Brisbane man in his early twenties, not only understands the importance of setting goals, but for taking action! Which in turn has created the success he is after! On the 26th of March I will be attending a workshop which Ross has put together for young entrepreneurs to arm them with the best artillery you will ever have in your inventory- KNOWLEDGE. You can never ever stop learning and if you want to be, do and have what YOU want then I suggest you constantly seek out such events, books and CD's to help you on your journey! I am so excited to be attending this work shop and I will be blogging all about it for you so keep an eye out!

*****

ROSS SCUTTS

Ross Scutts

When did you decide you wanted to become entrepreneurial?  

To be honest, I don’t believe I ever made the conscious decision to become an entrepreneur but I do recall the time that I decided that I wouldn’t settle for less than what I want and what I know I can become which was when I was 18 and I opened my first personal development book (also the first book I was to read cover to cover, including books from school) Awaken the Giant Within By Anthony Robbins.  

What have you done so far to realise your dream of becoming an entrepreneur?  

To date I have started 4 businesses and sold them, sold over 35 franchises either for my own business or for other companies, I have started and currently own Australias first and only Luxury supercar rally (Auzrun) held every year and have also secured a deal with a long term mentor to purchase 50% of the soon to be American arm of Auzrun.

How have you educated yourself? 

From books, to Seminar’s to DVD’s to CD’s to even cassette and VHS tapes and most importantly surrounding myself with mentors and role models.  I find out of all of the learning I have done, the best is from the group of people that I surround myself with as they are the living and breathing evidence that you can be, do, see or feel whatever you desire, you just need to DO.

What do you think the most important steps to becoming an entrepreneur are?  

That’s a challenging one and I am not 100% sure if this is the most important step but it’s the one that I have recently learnt (in the past year) that I believe is at least one of the most important steps, and that is Delivery.  What I mean by delivery is simply delivering on your promise, your product, your service or even your own personal goals and dreams to the level that you originally set out to do.  I have found that a lot of people who fail in life simply don’t deliver and those who are role models, leaders and a success in their chosen fields are those who simply deliver. Another major step that I can honestly say has helped me achieve the majority of my business success is (provided the first is being done and can be done) selling your story and make it inspiring so that you make people want to be a part of it.

Ross Scutts

Who are your inspirations and why?   

I have a number of inspirations in my life, some I am close friends with, some I haven’t met and some are even fictional characters.  Some of the people that I am fortunate to call my friends, mentors and roll models are Phillip Di Bella from Di Bella Coffee, this guy started Di Bella Coffee 8 years ago and was last year awarded QLD young Entrepreneur of the year, he has built his company up from $5,000 to a $65 million empire and is now expanding internationally.  He is a true inspiration that I get to have regular contact with and am truly fortunate for it as the guy is a true example of what it means to be an entrepreneur! 

Another mentor and role model of mine is Bradley J Sugars.  He started the company Action COACH (formally Action International), the worlds largest business coaching company.  They have 1,200+ Business Coaches world wide and are regularly rated in the 100 best Franchise systems in the world as well as a number of times cracking the 50 top fastest growing franchises world wide.  A great inspiration to have around and be able to give a call and ask a questions.

Ross Scutts with Mentor Bradely J Sugars and partner Ellie Gonsalves.

 Others who I have only been able to connect with through their books and seminars are Sir Richard Branson and Donald Trump.  Both of whom have been on the verge of bankruptcy and have bounced back impressively to have net worths in excess of $2.5 billion.  They both do business differently to one another which just goes to show, there ARE many ways to succeed in business, it all comes down to how YOU want to succeed in business and the type of person you want to be.

Some of the fictional characters would include Bruce Wayne and of course Tony Stark (Iron Man), probably not so much from an entrepreneurial or educational point of view, clearly, but from an enjoyment and fun point of view. Knowing how to reward yourself for your hard work is just as important as working hard and succeeding, you need to enjoy life and embrace your acheivements 

What are your plans for the future?

  In the short term, my partner Ellie and I are moving to the US to set up the American arm of Auzrun and for us to pursue our goals and dreams which should see me hit the BRW Young Rich list by the time I am 30 (6 years).  As well as the constant development and running of the Young Entrepreneurs Club and expanding that internationally. Business wise I plan on constantly learning, growing and educating myself from those who have done it bigger and better than what I have so that I can become all that I can enabling me to share even more with people who also want to learn.

Where do you see yourself in ten years? 

In 10 years time I see myself living in the US, retired (or be in the position to be able to retire) and starting a family with my incredible partner Ellie.  In reality this is the number one driving force for me in all my business endeavours, to be in a position to provide for my family, that I do not need to work and don’t ever need to work, I like to make work a choice and not just a necessity.  Like anything in life that you invest a lot of your time in, you should be doing it all for worthwhile and predetermined reasons that are set by you (meaning you are the driving force behind what you are doing, not what others have told you or are making you do and you know why you are doing it) and this is one of my major goals.  Realisticlly, I personally don’t think I will ever be able to fully ‘retire’ as keeping your mind active is like going to the gym for your mind.

Ross Scutts and Ellie Gonsalves.

  

Any advice for aspiring entrepreneurs?  

Surround yourself with other like-minded people who want similar things to you and then also surround yourself with people who are further up the ladder than you are.  This is one of the reasons why I have put together The Young Entrepreneurs Club.  It is the first club specifically aimed at under 30 year old aspiring entrepreneurs and current entrepreneurs who want to surround themselves on a monthly basis with other like minded, passionate and driven entrepreneurs meeting monthly in groups of 10 and having the confidence of sharing everything that is going on in their life’s knowing that it never leaves the room. I think these are the two most important things for aspiring entrepreneurs to follow. 


http://www.auzrun.com

*****

Thank you Ross! You are truly an inspiration!

Stay fabulous!

CLE

WHAT OTHERS THINK OF YOU IS NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS

I just read a very sad and emotional blog from Kandee Johnson. Those who are a fan of my facebook know how much I love her and how brilliant her videos are in regards to hair and make up! She has just fallen pregnant by "accident", and the accident isn't in " " because I'm being sarcastic, it's just that I don't believe in accidents (I believe everything is 'meant to be' as you are the one who attracted it), to a man who clearly isn't around anymore and she wrote a blog which was so sad! I could completely understand where she is coming from and it really resonated with me and brought back the awful memories of all the pain and fear of judgement that I went through. She wrote the blog to try and explain as to why she was pregnant and still single and basically pleaded with people not to judge her as she is human and humans make mistakes. Her fear of being judged jumps out at you from the page and you just want to hug her and tell her everything will be alright and then on the other hand you want to slap her and say who cares if people judge you its none of their business anyway! 

Judgement is something that I think alot of us fear more than death! I know when I was pregnant I had a terrible time... I was constantly in a state of fear of judgement from others and waaaaaaay too judgemental of myself for being 'so stupid' for falling pregnant. So with all this negativity I was laying on myself I didn't have the best pregnancy... I had terrible terrible morning sickness which led to a few hospital visits and when that subsided I had back pain, I had this pain, I had that pain... obviously due to all of my negative thoughts caused by this one fear... JUDGEMENT. For some reason a majority of people in the western world have gone 

'you know what? I don't think highly enough of myself to remotely give a damn about me or what goes on in my mind because I don't believe I am worthy of happiness or success SO I will concentrate on other peoples lives and judge them on how I think they should be living their lives and I will fill in the gaps of their stories with my imagination and if they seem like they are too happy or successful I will bring them back down to earth by tearing shreds off them.' 

Now I know that seems to be a huge call but if anything I think it's a bit of an understatement. Why do you think 'trash' magazines sell so well? 

JUSTIN BIEBER AND KIM KARDASHIAN GET MARRIED IN ANTARCTICA. 

For some reason these headlines sell. I am the first to admit that I love A-Listers and hey, I would love to be one, oneday! I love watching them walk the red carpets of premiers and awards ceremonies. I love going to the movies and listening to pop on the radio. But I couldn't care less what they do in their private lives and I don't see why people would or think they should care. The following sentence is one of the wisest I have ever heard and I personally try and stick to these words every day of my life. What other people do with their lives is none of your business, what you do with your life is no ones business and what people think of you is none of your business. (Love the last bit! :) Nothing should be more important to you than your happiness and personal growth. Someone asked me once what the most important thing in the world to me was? I replied "my own happiness" and they said to me... "that sounds a bit selfish, shouldn't being a good mother be the most important thing to you?"... to me my answer was a no brainer, but this person had never considered the idea that you were actually meant to be happy before, so I replied "being a good mother and seeing my son happy makes me happy and being happy and taking care of myself means I can jump into life and have the energy to get up every morning and be a good mother! Hence why nothing is more important to me than my happiness". You see it all the time, people who give, give, give and don't ever take time for themselves and then wonder why they are not happy. I didn't come to these realisations because I sat there and watched TV and read trash mags. I learnt these things by reading books and doing courses, by taking notice of myself and my needs and by listening to me and paying attention to my thoughts. I am still sometimes worried about being judged, I am currently working on two fears of judgement that i have discovered in myself, the good thing is I have recognised them and I am working on them everyday. When you take the time to look into what you are afraid of being judged for, then you are taking huge steps towards ridding yourself of something that might be restricting you and your happiness.

 Make the choice to rid yourself little by little of judgement. It is a life long habit most of us have acquired so stopping judgement is a process and not instant. Take notice of your thoughts. Stop yourself from judging others when the thought pops into your head. Stop yourself from being fearful of judgement from others. 

So before laying judgement on someone else or standing in fear of being judged REMEMBER.... everyone has their own story... their own wins and bliss.... their own battles and heartaches...  that they are dealing with in private. Just like you. We are all not so different. 

So mind your own business :)

Stay fabulous!

CLE

avandia recall

HOW TO BE PERFECT!

I have my moments just like everyone else... those moments where you feel like it is just a bit too much and you just want to give in or give up. The days where you feel like the world is against you and you just cant see how things are ever going to get better. The days that you are so busy looking down that you cant see the brilliant light at the end of that tunnel. In the past year I have had a couple of those moments. I am 24 years old, unemployed and a single mother of one. To be honest I never thought I would end up here and if you confronted my old school buddies and asked who was the least likely to be in this position they would say me. I always envisioned a person with such a description to be barefoot, pregnant, no bra, a cigarette in one hand and a Bundy Rum in the other. I’m not that girl. When I saw those two little lines pop up on that plastic stick I was terrified. I was ‘off’ with my on again off again boyfriend when I found out. I quickly called him, crying into the phone, and told him our news. He was over joyed at the idea of being a father, he promised he would change his unruly ways and said we should get back together and go through this as a couple... so we did. Six months after our beautiful son was born we split. Now what does this story have to do with being perfect? It was my beautiful son Beau who actually helped me realise the true meaning of being perfect. For those of you who have children know the amazing power a child has over you as soon as they are born. The love that en-captures you is completely out of this world and is something that you do not know you are even capable of feeling. This love is something so divine and pure and it grows with every little breath they take. You could forgive them anything, you would do everything in your power to protect them, accommodate their every need and help them on their way to happiness without even blinking an eye. I used to be obsessed with the idea of perfection. Everything I did and everything I said I used to do it with 'what other people think' in mind. Everything I did had to be perfect in such a way that if it wasn't I was not happy. I was not even happy if I missed out on my 'projection of perfection' by even a millimetre. I used to make myself sick with worry, I was never satisfied and I stayed in situations where I shouldn't have just because I believed in an awful and stereotypical definition of perfection. I am not perfect. No one is or ever will be. But I strive for perfection every day. Here is the real definition of perfection that you should live by... perfection is: doing your best. That's it. You have to come to a point in your life where you realise you will never be perfect because as you grow and change, your idea of perfection will change also, so you just have to keep striving for perfection but at the same time understand that you will never get there. Throughout your life you will continually grow as a person. You will come across circumstances and situations every day that teach you life lessons and if you are wise you will learn from them instead of feeling life is against you and continuously looking down and failing (or even in some peoples case refusing!) to see the light. You are constantly expanding your knowledge and being educated so something you considered perfect a year ago might not be perfect to you now because your goals have gotten bigger and your mind has expanded in such a way that it has also changed. Perfection is SUBJECTIVE. Take what you think your 'perfect' life would be and strive for that every day. You might change your mind in a year but that's fine! Mine did! I went from the idea of perfection being a working woman who would use her 20's to buy a house and make money which would help support my husband and I when we decided to have children in our mid 30's! Now my idea of perfection is being the perfect Mother, provider and role model to my son! Circumstances changed and I have learnt and grown. Not all ideas and goals change as drastically but remember there is no such thing as a perfect anyone or anything. Its just you striving to do your best at any given moment. I truly believe that if you know this it takes away a lot of the pressure and the illusion of what people think is perfection disappears because what is perfect is that you try your hardest to strive towards the things you believe are good and the things you want. That is perfection- doing your best. As one of my all time favourite authors, Don Miguel Ruiz, Says “your best will change from day to day because as we all know we have good days and bad”. Hence doing your best means doing your best in your situation and emotional state at that time. Now I understand this... I am no longer sick, lethargic or have headaches from constantly disappointing myself because I am not perfect. I love my life and my son and I am enjoying the ride and learning from the lessons and educating myself on how to be the best I can be. That is my idea of perfection. When I do have my moments of 'hopelessness' I look up and see the light which reminds me that I am stronger than I know and that these lessons are to be learnt from and let go which helps me in my continual life education so I can keep on striving for perfection! I hope you now also have a better understanding of perfection and you untie the knots that hold you to the old idea, release yourself to the winds of life, embrace yourself flaws and all and do the best and be the best you can be at any given moment. Now that is the true meaning of perfection. Stay fabulous! X
CLE