Being a Bad-Ass

Truth be told, I have an addiction. A constant, uncontrollable urge to buy books, to read books. Subject matter really isn’t much of a factor – I’m just insatiable when it comes to reading.

I have developed a system for my kick-me-in-the-butt books where I try to read through them in as compressed a time as possible, so as to really embrace the learning as a whole versus as bits and pieces (yes, I think that was a Deming reference). Long flights are the perfect setting for this and have been incredibly conducive to my Project-Me reading list.

The other thing that I do is make notes in the book (yes, I like actual hard copy books versus electronic – call me old fashioned) and I also keep a running (electronic) checklist of the action items that I identify (old-fashioned with a touch of modern).

With the You Are a Bad-Ass reading, I was excited to come up with quite a to-do list. Instantly negativity and self-doubt crept in as I saw myself completely abandoning the list as soon as I closed the app. But if I’m going to be a bad-ass, I needed to get rid of that negativity and focus on getting it done. So I have. And I totally feel like a bad-ass.

Here are some of my key take-aways:

• Identify positive affirmations – why do I flash back to the Saturday Night Live skit?
• What do I love to do? DO IT! (read, draw, hike, run, read, learn, grow, read)
• Love my body: move it, stretch it, nourish it, hydrate it, pay attention to it
• Forgive myself – this I really struggle with at times (parent guilt, spouse guilt, daughter guilt, sibling guilt, business guilt, etc)
• Pay attention to my motivations and practice coming from a place of integrity
• Trust my intuition – after all, it is always right!
• Our fantasies are our realities in an excuse-free world – um, powerful, just take a second to re-read that one
• Meditate – ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha – this is a blog-post in and of itself
• Make a vision board – totally did this and plastered it everywhere. And it’s working.
• Stay away from people with tiny minds
• Go after life with a sense of “why not?”
• No matter what happens, good or bad, greet it with “this is good because…” – I’ve really been applying this and it is surprising how it will turn around your perspective on the perceived negative things
• PASSION TRUMPS FEAR – is it funny that I’m almost hesitate to use the word “Trump” right now?
• Remember that done is better than perfect
• Remember that I am number 1 – prioritize me before emails, Facebook, texts
• When it comes to the creatures you love and the things you love and the life you love, soak them up now while you have the opportunity – so glad I get to spend time with my dad in two days
• Deciding is freedom, indecision is torture – thankfully this has never been much of an issue for me!
• Write my manifesto – I did and it is powerful

Since reading the book and working through this action list, I am seeing extensive powerful changes in my life. So much so that I’m working on having everyone around me become a bad-ass: I’ve spread the love to two of my dear friends and one of my awesome students who are now working on their bad-assedness. More to come, I’m sure!

And the cool bonus of this book? A huge reading / recommended resources list. And yes, I’m already working my way through them.