Category: time

courage, design, fashion, Second Step, time

Inspired: Carolina Herrera Took A Big Bold Step at Age 40

Christa Avampato
Michelle Obama in a stunning Carolina Herrera design
Michelle Obama in a stunning Carolina Herrera design

Carolina Herrera, designer to the stars, took a big risk at 40. Prior to then, he was a housewife in Venezuela. When she turned 40, her children were grown and she told her husband she wanted to move to New York to start a new career as a fashion designer. She had plenty of connections and access to funds so that helped though without her drive, ambition, and impeccable taste, connections and capital wouldn’t have meant much.

She could have easily laughed off the idea, and stayed right where she was – comfortable, settled, and bored. Instead, she went for it and reinvented herself. Today, she’s still reinventing herself and her fashion line at age 74. She admits that she’s every bit as scared now as she was 34 years ago and she said that every year it’s harder, not easier, to do her work. However, she loves it so she keeps going.

We place so much emphasis on youth in our society that we forget that every day, at every age, we have the opportunity to reinvent who we are and what we do. We can shift gears and try new things. We can be daring and courageous. Reinvention is a choice and Carolina shows us where it can lead if we give ourselves the chance.

Second Step, time, work

Inspired: Can You Spare a Decade?

Christa Avampato
From Pinterest
From Pinterest

A lot of people tell me their ideas for businesses and projects and ask me if I think it will be successful. I answer with this question: “Are you willing to work on it for a decade with little to no success?” Some people look at me with a confused expression and others are completely horrified.

My Decade Rule has grown out of my own experience. I’ve found it takes 10 years (at least) to really get something to work. And I don’t mean a decade of casual work here and there. I mean a solid decade of effort, energy, and passion.

Maybe it’ll take you less time, but I think we have to go into new projects with the decade lens so that we make the best use of our time. I use this concept for all of my new ideas and it helps me decide what is and isn’t worth doing. If an idea can hold my attention for 10 years, then I know it’s worth my time. If not, I move on.

Making some decisions about ideas you’ve got? Put it through the decade test and let me know what you find.

time

Inspired: Your Time Is Now

Christa Avampato

wristwatch-NOW“The time is always now.” ~ James Baldwin

Are you wondering when you’re going to make something happen? When it’s going to be the right time to make your move, make your mark, and live exactly the way you want to live? It’s now. It’s always now. The only thing we know for certain is that we have this exact moment. Spend it wisely.

choices, creativity, decision-making, passion, time

Inspired: A Lesson from How I Met Your Mother – What purpose does your time serve?

Christa Avampato
From Pinterest
From Pinterest

On a recent episode of How I Met Your Mother, one of the characters feels lost and unsure what to do with her life. She got some powerful advice from a stranger: “What’s the one thing you want to do with your life? Now let everything you do be in service of that.”

This is a question I’ve been wrestling with a lot lately. What’s your one contribution, the one thing you really want to point to and say, “I did that. That’s why I was here.” Don’t make any considerations other than what you want. This isn’t about what you can do, but what you want to do. Got your answer?

Mine is to create content in many forms that inspires people to live exactly the lives they want to live. I want to be known as someone who did that for every person who crosses my path in some way.

Second Step, strengths, time

Inspired: Live Like a Lotus

Christa Avampato
From Pinterest
From Pinterest

A lotus can’t grow in clear pristine water. It needs the nutrients from the mud to bloom and thrive. Our lives are like that, too. Life is messy. People and tasks compete for our time and attention. We wrestle with the tension between what we think we have to do and what we want to do. Choosing how to spend our time is the toughest thing we will ever do and the answer won’t always be clear.

And that’s okay. We need the obstacles, the adversity, the challenges to show us what matters most to us, to help us build skills, to make us strong and resilient. Everything that is happening to us now, everything, is preparing us for the road that lies ahead. Embrace it and don’t give up.

action, dreams, time

Inspired: Amaze yourself

Christa Avampato
Pinterest
Pinterest

“Keep your eyes open and your feet moving forward. You’ll find what you need.” Amaze yourself with just how much you can do, how much you do have, and everything that you can create. No more resources, courses, meetings, or plans that may or may not happen. No more wondering, whining, or wasting time. Now is your time. Just do it. Follow your instincts and make it happen. Whatever it is you want to have in your life. And not for the recognition, notoriety, or rewards that may or may not head your way as a result. Just because you want to and just because you can. I know you can and deep down you do, too. Toss aside any naysayers, your nagging inside voice included, and move ahead. One graceful, beautiful step at a time. You’ll be shocked by what happens next.

care, time

Inspired: Take the time to fix what remains

Christa Avampato
From Pinterest
From Pinterest

When the fire dies down, we don’t seal off the fireplace. We add a log. When the tires on our cars lose their tread, we don’t trade in the car. We get new tires. The same is true for our lives. We don’t toss away things that have a bit of wear and tear. We fix, clean, polish, replenish, repair, and renew them. Do the same with creative projects, work, relationships, a home, and anything else that matters. These things and these people have done a great service to us over time: they’ve made our lives richer and more meaningful. Let’s keep them going. Everything can be made new again.

choices, creativity, dreams, time

Inspired: Take time to clear the way

Christa Avampato
From Pinterest
From Pinterest

When we want to take a chance, when we want to do something new, we have to clear the way so the new can enter. This is exciting and it’s scary because we may have some time when this empty space just wants to house something. It may remain empty for a good long while before we actually figure out what belongs in that space. This is also a dangerous time. We may get so frustrated with that empty space that we feel tempted to fill it with something, anything. Don’t do it. Only fill it with something and / or someone you truly want.

Waiting is a tough business because we don’t know how long the waiting will last and we don’t know exactly what our options will eventually be. I don’t have those answers, but I do know this: we get what we settle for. So if we settle for something less than we want then that’s exactly what we’ll get – something that leaves us feeling empty even though we are full. Something that depletes us rather than building us up. Something that casts a shadow over our light rather than helping it to burn brighter. If that’s the choice, then I’m waiting. I’ll clear the way and hold that empty space for as long as it takes.

creativity, dreams, luck, success, time, work

Inspired: Every dream needs luck and hard work

Christa Avampato
From Pinterest
From Pinterest

“Luck is being ready for the chance.” Every success I know of took both work and luck. What varies is the proportions of each. And don’t worry about trying to figure out how to calibrate them into the master combination. We can’t engineer it. We only control half of the ingredients. We can work hard. Luck is left to, well, luck. We can prepare to be lucky. I would argue that we must be prepared to recognize and then take full advantage of luck. But we don’t control the timing or the amount of luck we get. We also don’t get to choose the wrapper that our luck dons. It often doesn’t advertise itself. It shows up in the form of someone or something we weren’t looking for. That’s how luck rolls – to its own drummer and in its choice of costume.

So what can we do?

1.) I work harder than I need to. Often times my lucky breaks don’t require even half the work I put into them. I’m an over-preparer and I’ve made my peace with that because over-preparation gives me both confidence and wiggle room. And if by chance I fall short a bit short on the luck component, I can make up for it with extra work.

2.) I turn over every rock. I get a new client. I get a new writing gig. I meet a new person interested in my work. I keep going. I don’t stop when I get a modicum of success. I appreciate it and make the most of it, and I keep digging for more. Luck runs and out and we can replenish our supply if we keep going.

3.) I see everything as an opportunity. Everything. A trip to the grocery store. A walk with Phin. An article I read. Someone who shares something I do online. Every little thing has some element of magic. I never lose sight of that. And I try to be that source for someone else. I like to connect people. I like to tell them what I’m doing in the hopes that it helps them do something, too. Opportunity isn’t a linear path. It’s a circle and it goes round and round as long as we choose to keep it going.

Keep showing up. Keep working hard. Keep reaching. Don’t worry about searching for luck. It will find you when it’s good and ready.

dreams, faith, time, youth

Beautiful: Today’s Reality Was Once Just a Dream

Christa Avampato
From Pinterest
From Pinterest

No matter where we are in life, there were internal and external battles we had to win to get here. If I’ve learned anything about people over the many years I’ve spent elevating people watching to a high art, it’s that everyone, everywhere, is fighting something every day. Always healing. Always overcoming.

I’m proud of the life I’ve built because of what I had to live through to get here. It’s so improbable on so many levels. If I were to go back and talk to a younger me, 5, 10 or 20 years ago and tell her what life would be like at 37, I’d never believe it. To make a living as a writer, to live where I live, to be blessed by amazing people in my life, to love and be loved so deeply and with such conviction, to have healed so much so I can offer the opportunity to heal to others, I wouldn’t believe it. 17-year-old me would never have been able to fathom it. I can barely believe now, in the midst of living it. It was a journey I never imagined.

When I think of all the dreams I have now, they seem improbable at best. They are so big, much bigger than me. And in those moments, my journey over the past 37 years is a great comfort. I close my eyes and I try to hear the wise voice of 57-year-old me, telling me that all the dreams I have at 37 are only the beginning of what’s in store for me over the next 20 years. I imagine her telling me about incredible things I will do that I have not even been able to fathom because right now they are actually impossible. Someday, and someday very soon, they won’t be because our world and our capabilities are changing, accelerating, so fast. The future is going to be amazing.

Then I open my eyes and take a full deep breath. I feel buoyed by confidence rather than weighed down by too-heavy dreams. I remember that today’s reality is so much more than any 17-year-old me in a tiny rural town ever thought possible. And that keeps me going. I may not be able to see around the bend, but it’s enough to know that someday I will.