It’s Independence Day in the US…

An important day to thank and appreciate all military personnel and people who help us stay free and safe. As a 1st generation American from parents who came from a country where things are not as easy… I know we are SO blessed to live in this amazing country where we can pretty much do whatever we want AND decide to reinvent ourselves whenever we choose.

Is there something you can choose to free yourself from today?

• Maybe a past experience or “failure”
• A low self-image or pattern of self-talk
• Someone in your life who doesn’t believe in your dreams and works hard to make sure you doubt yourself and your abilities (I affectionately call these types of people “dreamkillers” – Jeff & I both were able to free ourselves of people like this in our past)
• A self-imposed, self-destructive pattern (maybe eating fast food, not exercising, or procrastination)

These are all things you can CHOOSE to FREE yourself from… right now. Granted, some of them may take time to really change, but it doesn’t have to take that long… You do have a choice.

Whatever you decide to change and free yourself from… write it down clearly, keep it somewhere where you see it EVERY day (and sometimes you’ll want to change whatever sign you put up… because you’ll get acclimated to it and get “used” to it until you don’t “see” it anymore!) Whenever you find yourself falling back into old, self-destructive patterns, choose again… and again… and again…

Keep a journal of appreciation (not a negative diary!) chronicaling your small victories and celebrating your progress…

Change does not have to be difficult once you are aware of what you want to be free of…

A few things I’m SO happy and appreciative of freeing myself from:

• panic attacks
• friends and family who became dreamkillers in my life (I kept the supportive ones & made new wonderful friends)
• self-imposed limitations on what I could achieve

So celebrate today by giving yourself the best Independence Day gift and freeing yourself from something keeping you from a joyous Life, emotional, financial and mental Liberty and so you can continue your Pursuit of Happiness.

I love this video about finding Hope in all kinds of people, places and things… Where can you find Hope today or help someone else find it for themselves…?

And on Memorial Day in the US, I think it’s appropriate because that’s what our veterans help us to have everyday… Thank you!

Your Financial Freedom Bill of Rights
1. You have the right to a fair exchange of energy. Abundance is energy and money is simply a tool to facilitate energy exchange.
2. You have the right to knowing the secrets of the wealthiest people in the world. No one can keep you from this knowledge.
3. You have the right to be inspired to live the life you deserve. You are not required, nor does the universe want you to live a life that meets the expectations of others.
4. You have the right to learn the biggest obstacles to becoming wealthy. And the simplest steps to make money.
5. You have the right to know why lack of money is never the problem. And how to identify what is really holding you back from pursuing the life of your dreams.
6. You have the right to create a life that will be a shining example to everyone around you. Your life can be an inspiration to the world.
7. You have the right to dream big and ignore negative people. If you can dream it, you can live it, and anyone who tells you different is just plain wrong.

This movie was made for me by Scott Stratten! Enjoy!

I created a process for myself that I call Cocooning… Doing this helped me seriously reduce anxiety and re-empower myself again. In this video, I go over several steps to create your own personal “Cocoon” ritual… and this doesn’t have to take days, weeks or months…

Try a cocooning hour or even 15 minute break once a week where you nurture yourself and your spirit.

I found this amazing woman on twitter yesterday… Someone tweeted about her and I followed and found a Grandmother with Attitude… Ruth Flowers.

She didn’t think her life was over at a certain age, she didn’t accept the limitations placed on her by other people, she’s grabbed life by the horns and is doing exactly what she wants…

The following is from Ruth’s website MamyRock.com

Ruth Flowers, 69-year-old, is the matriarch and the hippest English deejay of our time.

I have had a very lively youth, I used to go to balls all the time, I loved to dance, but then came the old age, pension, but above all boredom… I started looking for something more… One night, my grandson, of whom I’m very close to, celebrated his birthday in a nightclub in London. And he told me that I could join them. When I arrived, the bouncers didn’t let me go inside. It is true that I didn’t really match their usual clients (laughs)… I finely managed to entered… and I was dumbfound…there was such an atmosphere!!! It was so different from the parties I used to go when I was young. There was a real osmosis between the lights and the music, it really drove me!… It made me feel so much younger!

This night shattered my view of things but above all the way I saw my life…I had a lot of free time, I was on pension you know… I talked to my grandson about it, he thought I went mad. Now I think that I am ready to make everybody move their a** on the dancefloor (laughs).

“Indeed, I’d rather sign a contract with a record company than to sign up for the nursing home…” – Ruth Flowers

So my questions to you are… What limitations have been placed on you by other people that you can break?What will you do today to live the life you want?

This morning, Caleb and I were playing with the guitar Santa recently brought him..

We used a Flip video, a green screen, istock video & screaming fan audio and edited in Sony Vegas movie studio!

Are you in Email Overload? You know what I mean… spending a couple of hours a day wading through your inbox, trying to get through to the important emails and finding yourself going down all kinds of “rabbit holes”, finding time ticking away that should have been focused on other things, like product creation, answering student questions and spending quality time with family?
After coming back from the holidays, my first two weeks of 2010 were spent feeling like this so I decided to conduct…

The Email Overload Experiment

Let me know what you think and if this inspires you to outsource your inbox to a fabulous VA or just to get radical and stop the reactivity! So you can focus on growng your business, taking care of yourself and your family!

With this experiment, I want to see how it feels to stay completely away from email, one of my VAs Verna will be adding to our “virtual office space” the things I should look at while she responds to and sets up interview requests, guides students to the forums in Membership areas where I’ll be 3 times a week to answer their specific questions and I communicate with people just via social media marketing tools like Twitter and Facebook… It was scary to give up this much control, but I think I’ve gained several hours a day to create more products and be able to think!

We’re so excited to be starting our show today Thanksgiving. We thought of “officially” starting it in the next couple of weeks, but as we were watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade, we decided to fire up our flipvideo and start it today by saying Thank You to our teachers, subscribers, students and all the tweeple we’ve come into contact with over the last year… This show will be real, just like this episode… no editing stuff out, no scripts, no do-overs (no makeup even!) … You can even see one of our fancy “soft box” lights for videos in the background…

Some of what we’ll be bringing you 3 times a week starting Monday includes:

• online biz advice
• tech for non-tecchies (like us)
• motivation and inspiration to keep moving forward (even when you face pebbles in the road)
• cool tools that will make your life (& business) easier and better
• behind the scenes in two online businesses that work giving us both more freedom in so many ways
• how to balance life and your business
• and much more

We are so thankful today and everyday and we hope to help you with this show! We’d love to hear from you so leave a comment and we’ll “see” you in Webisode 2 on Monday! Happy Thanksgiving! Jeff & Maritza

As we’re approaching the Thanksgiving and holiday season, I’m visiting family in Texas for a “pre-Thanksgiving” celebration with family and friends… I’ve still been working a ton while here, but making sure to take time for loved ones and friends. Yesterday I had a wonderful experience that showed me yet again…  the best gifts, the ones that are most appreciated are free to give… love, kindness, understanding and compassion…

When I was about 9 years old, my parents finally started being successful in business after years of study and planning (and counting their pennies every single day) My Mom was the business manager and had to work a TON to get the business actually up and profitable. She made a difficult decision many working moms must face to get help.

Help came in the form of an 18 year old girl named Estella.

During this time of appreciation, I want to challenge you (& me!!) to be more free in giving out these gifts that mean so much… When was the last time you told someone “I love you?” or praised someone for their efforts or showed consideration and patience with a loved one, a student or a stranger… You NEVER know what’s going on in someone’s life and each interaction we have is an opportunity to lift others up or pull them down.

A few marketing teachers have questioned the way I sign off on all my emails… I always end with “Love, Maritza”  – I may not personally communicate with all subscribers but I do wish them all love and success… and it sure works for me!