Hello,
Everyone.
Welcome to Share Your Gift,
Where I will share with you knowledge and support that will inspire you to improve the overall quality of your life.
By the end of this talk,
You will have eight practical tools to help you enhance the quality of your home life,
Career,
And relationships.
You will feel better and gain the courage to live the life you plan to live.
I am Ana Barreto,
The author of the book Women Rising Beans,
Nine Wisdoms I Learned from My Mother When I Really Paid Attention.
Get a cup of coffee or tea.
Grab a pen and a notebook,
As you want to take notes and refer back in the future.
If you need to pause,
Please do so before we begin.
I also encourage you to silence your cell phone,
Close your email browser,
And tell your friends and family to give you less than 30 minutes.
This is your time.
I assure you that it will be worth your while.
So why are you here?
Why are you taking this time?
Do you ever feel that you are too busy running around with not enough time for yourself?
Do you feel stuck in some areas of your life?
Perhaps you are unhappy with your career or maybe it's your relationship.
Do you get sick often with the common cold or other unknown illness that leave you in bed for hours?
Do you have a hard time falling asleep?
Do you wake up in the morning feeling exhausted,
Uninspired,
And cranky?
If you answer yes to any or all of these questions,
Then this talk is meant for you.
Before we continue,
Let me tell you a little bit about myself.
I was born in Brazil and I came to New York for a six-month adventure that lasted 29 years so far.
I had $1,
000 in my purse,
In which $460 of that was to be sent back to my brother who lent me the money.
I worked as a housekeeper,
Babysitter,
And a dog walker for a few years.
I didn't have enough money to attend college full-time so I pursued a part-time education at West Chester Community College while working 40 hours a week.
I had influential teachers and mentors that encouraged me to find a way to continue my education so I did.
I received a 50% scholarship from Marymount College that back then was an all-girls college.
Today it is part of Fordham University in New York.
Those are the years where the seed of my mission found a soil to grow.
I learned about the history of women.
I became very passionate and curious to understand how we endured that for too long.
I knew of women's strength and struggle.
I knew in my bones because I had experienced that during the first 18 years of my life in Brazil.
Growing up,
Women could have a bank account or own property without the approval of their father or husband.
Women had hidden birth control pills from their husband and community.
They were forbidden to work and they had no voice.
Unhappy married women didn't seek a divorce because they couldn't afford it.
So I embarked on a path and discovered my mission to educate and support women to their greatness.
I believe we as women have the strength to change our mindset.
I believe that we need to find our inner power and deliver our gifts to the world.
In the beginning,
My life didn't fully match my mission.
I got married,
Had two children,
Earned an MBA,
Got divorced,
Landed my dream job,
Made great money,
And later hated my dream job.
I worked constantly and barely spent any time with my children.
I couldn't wait for them to grow up.
Most of the time,
I felt guilty,
Angry,
And regretful.
I felt unhappy without knowing.
I had migraines every other week that put me in bed for 24 hours.
I was just exhausted.
I planned my Saturday naps on Wednesdays.
Do you know what TGIF means?
My was TGIM.
Thank God it's Monday.
I couldn't wait for Mondays because I worked more on Saturdays and Sundays.
I was not present in my life.
I was working on the next thing,
The next project,
The next win.
During one of those sick days,
I felt like a hit bottom.
Then,
I began to search for a better way to live.
I was already studying Feng Shui,
Spirituality,
And metaphysics.
Fast forward a few years,
And I began to embrace my life by making better choices,
And little by little,
I became present.
So today,
I will share with you my eight tips to improve the quality of your daily life.
I want to support you in releasing behaviors that hold you back from being your true self and from doing the things you were meant to share with the world.
These tips are not in any order of importance.
Some of you will feel these insights at your core.
Some of you will recognize these insights in others before you recognize them in yourself.
Just take what you need.
This time is about you and you alone.
If you are listening this far,
That means that you are searching for answers too.
So I commend you.
You are on your way.
One big warning though.
As you start incorporating some of this practice in your life,
Things will change rapidly.
You may be called to quit your job,
Leave a relationship,
Lose the weight,
Move to a new house,
Or make amends with your past.
Just breathe and embrace the changes you will be creating.
It's coming at the right time.
Without further delay,
Number one,
Create a sacred space.
Women need a sacred space of their own.
Why?
Because you need to regenerate,
Separate yourself from the things you do and the people you support that deplete your energy.
You need a sacred space so you can make time to retreat,
Recharge your energy,
And revive your spirit.
An activity that does not bring you enthusiasm takes energy away from you.
If you don't enjoy doing laundry,
But you do anyway,
The task will deplete your energy.
If you don't like your job,
Going to work will take energy away from you.
Your children also drain your energy,
Especially when you work all day,
Are physically tired,
And they need your undivided attention.
You dig deep into yourself and release your reservoir that is meant to keep you healthy.
To be fair,
Laundry,
Jobs,
And children don't have to deplete your energy.
It is the thoughts we have about them that create resistance.
Our lives are full of responsibilities that we may not always be thrilled to complete,
But we choose to do it.
To offset that,
You need to make time to feed your spirit.
Creating a space will allow time for yourself.
Men have caves.
Women have sacred spaces.
Your sacred space can exist in any area of your home.
It can be your bedroom,
A corner of your bedroom,
Your home office,
An area in the living room.
All you need to do is find it,
Clean it,
Clear it,
And bless it.
Make the space beautiful because you deserve it.
Make it inviting,
Use colors that you adore,
And fill it with objects that bring you joy and centeredness.
Make this space an area that you want to go to meditate,
Pray,
Write,
Relax,
Read,
Knit,
Reflect,
Retreat from the world,
Or do essentially any activity that nurtures your body,
Mind,
And spirit.
The beauty of the space,
Combined with the time spent on nurturing activities,
Tells the universe that you are precious and deserve peace,
Joy,
And restoration.
Number two,
Meditate.
Meditation is the process of stopping thought.
Why do we need to stop thinking?
Because our thoughts create a world and we think too many negative thoughts that don't serve us.
When we breathe and stop thinking,
Our habitual thoughts,
Peace,
Wisdom,
And harmony become available to us.
We increase our own vibration and low energy people,
Events,
And objects cannot get into your experience.
We are able to see things through the eyes of source.
We feel the emotions that support our intentions and our actions bring us closer to where we want to go.
Most often I hear that people don't know how to meditate or that they can stop thinking.
This is because they think that meditation is sitting still on the top of a mountain with crossed legs chanting like a monk.
Although this is meditation,
There are many other forms of meditation.
Here is an easy meditation practice that you can start today with no effort.
When you first wake up in the morning,
Your eyes are still closed.
You are still deciding if you should get up or stay there.
Stay.
Feel the bed.
Feel the pillow against your skin and take slow,
Deep,
Long breaths.
Concentrate on your breath.
Your mind will wonder about the time,
The kids,
The job,
The relationship,
And other life moments.
When you have realized that you did wonder,
Gently release the thought and just go back to concentrating on your breathing.
Stay there for five minutes.
When you first start meditating,
You may feel inclined to meditate longer.
I personally recommend that you start with five minutes and gradually increase your practice.
When you are learning to swim,
You don't just jump in the deep end,
Right?
Start slow.
You can also download a guided meditation from my website at www.
Anaana-boretto.
Com backslash download.
Or you can use Professor Google and search the web.
There are many teachers who offer free guided meditations that will help you get started.
Find a meditation practice that you like and do it in the morning whenever possible.
Mornings are the most optimum time to reach high levels of consciousness.
You are able to tap into your own world of knowledge and wisdom.
People receive guidance in meditation that led them to discoveries,
New jobs,
New homes,
Investments,
And great wins.
I too have been guided to take action while meditating.
You notice that as you build a meditation practice,
You begin to experience bliss.
Gradually you want to meditate for longer periods of time just because you feel better.
Other benefits are your thoughts become clearer,
You feel more peaceful and less reactive to unwanted events in your life.
The black holes of the universe and you know who those are will not come into your experience and take energy away from you.
As you find this new way of being,
People will wonder what is different about you.
You look younger,
You feel peaceful,
You are more insightful and have a sharper mind.
There is no need to explain.
Just enjoy the benefits of your own doing.
Number three,
Learn to ask for help.
You don't have to do everything.
I know you can,
But there's no need to.
Women have a hard time asking for help.
Some women expect others to read their minds and offer help without being asked.
Others have a need to control and believe that no one has the capacity to perform better,
Faster,
Or neater than they would.
Some women do everything because they feel like victims and they perpetuate the victimization by doing everything,
Complaining about it and feeling sorry for themselves.
Some women also think that asking for help is a sign of weakness because it is an opportunity to be rejected.
And who really wants to be rejected,
Right?
Here's a new thought.
What if asking for help was an opportunity for people in our lives to practice acts of kindness?
That's when we give them the chance to be generous with their time and help us.
In a way,
Asking for help is an act of self-generosity.
My experience has been that most of us don't know how to ask for help.
Women shower in resentments for weeks,
Months,
And years and blame others for not helping when help was never asked.
I don't know about you,
But 99.
9% of the people I know don't have crystal balls.
Asking for help is not difficult.
First,
Use the phrase,
Would you,
Every time you ask someone to help?
Second,
Detach from the outcome.
If they say yes or no,
It's their decision,
Not yours.
Third,
Don't read into it.
Their reasoning for saying yes or no is none of your concern.
The key is that women need to begin to ask for help when needed.
Understanding that we are propagating generosity is a fundamental change in mindset.
Just ask and you will see how generous people can be with their time and effort.
When we build on our ability to ask for help,
We spread more generosity into our lives and into the world.
Number four,
Trust your intuition.
Intuition is a woman's superpowers.
We all have wisdom and inner guidance that help us move in the direction of truth.
The big question is,
How do we know the voice we hear is our intuition?
Take five seconds and count from one to five in your head.
That's what the voice of intuition sounds like.
Yes,
Just like that.
Do it again.
Count one to five in your head.
The voice of intuition is non-threatening and non-critical.
It's surfaced like a light nudge.
There is a sense of peace and encouragement in what we are guided to do.
Just like you know that number four came after number three,
This sense of knowing is available for everything in our life when we learn to hear the voice of our intuition.
Intuition will also increase your connection with your intuitive self.
The key is to start paying attention to your intuition and it will become louder and repetitive.
The more you follow that guidance,
The more you will be able to call on it when you need it.
Number five,
You have as much time as you think you do.
As far as time,
You need to know two things.
One,
You have as much time as you think you do and two,
You need to schedule downtime for yourself to have more time.
I know it sounds ambiguous,
But it's true.
When you say,
I'm too busy,
I don't have enough time,
I work too much,
You affirm a life of not enough time and plenty of stress.
You also create additional tasks for your already full schedule when you say these affirmations.
I'm not implying that you quit working,
Stop your education,
Neglect your family or ditch your parents to make more time.
Let's change the framework.
Start affirming that you have as much time as you need to do what is important to you and that includes downtime to do enjoyable things.
Having information for having plenty of time will begin to put more time into motion,
Even if you don't believe it as of yet.
I used to think I was too busy too,
That I worked too much,
That I didn't have enough time for myself.
That's the reality I created.
I always thought about work.
I received calls on my days off and I worked longer days and even during vacation.
The more I complained,
The busier I was.
The busier I was,
The more I complained.
Do you see the pattern?
I also used to believe that I didn't have time to write,
That I could only write on my days off.
That's not true.
I have plenty of time to write even with a career that requires me to be available seven days a week.
My affirmation is,
I have plenty of time to do the things I choose to do.
When I began working on my time affirmation,
I didn't believe I had plenty of time,
But I affirm it anyway.
I used to over schedule,
Over commit myself and set aggressive goals.
I accomplished those goals,
But at the cost of my health and happiness.
Today I realized that when I give myself down time,
My busy time is effective and short.
Things fall off my plate.
I'm able to finish tasks faster and ahead of schedule and I find shortcuts that work.
I encourage you to change your relationship with time.
Start with writing an affirmation.
Do it now.
Just pause it.
Don't delay it.
Do it now.
It's a game change for you.
Welcome back.
I hope you wrote your affirmation or at least wrote something down.
Write affirmations on your bathroom mirror.
Set daily affirmations alerts on your phone to remind you throughout the day.
Put a post-it note on your computer or dashboard.
You will see how much time you really have.
Number six,
Create a practice of gratitude.
What is the word people say when they receive a gift,
A compliment or a nice gesture?
Thank you.
Thank you is an after action.
We receive and then we give thanks.
Our minds automatically spell out our gratitude through feelings,
Words and emotions.
We habitually feel appreciated by simple actions such as having a door open for us,
Being handed something we dropped or greater things like receiving a kidney.
When you feel gratitude,
The mind feels safe.
There is no resistance.
When we feel safe,
We have more physical,
Emotional and mindful resources available to us.
We become our best self.
It is impossible for you to feel grateful and fearful at the same time.
So what if we could reverse the process?
What if we could give thanks and then receive?
What if we could feel gratitude before the moment?
We can.
The brain doesn't know that we are not yet receiving the appreciation because it's receiving signals from our emotions.
Thought alone can make the body feel stress and in the same way the body can feel gratitude when we think about people,
Things and events that we are grateful for.
Having a daily practice of gratitude will improve your mood and your relationship with everything.
I mean everything.
Your outlook in life will be more positive.
Most of all,
When you start practicing gratitude,
Just by being grateful for small things,
The universe will deliver to you more things to be grateful for.
When you first wake up in the morning,
Before you look at your clock or your phone or even before going to the bathroom,
Find five things to be grateful for.
It is nice to start with your bed,
Your pillows,
Your room,
Your home.
And if you don't like your home,
Think of the people who are sleeping in huts right now.
When you do,
Your home just became the White House and is easier to appreciate.
At night,
As you go to bed,
Before you fall asleep,
Find five things to be grateful for.
Look for them in your day,
Your job,
The toll collector,
The nice dinner,
The fruits you ate for breakfast,
Anything that you can be grateful for.
You don't have to stop at five.
If you don't like your job,
Find ten things you can appreciate about the job.
Every time I have a work issue,
I find not ten but twenty things to appreciate.
You need to know that you can't find a new job if you don't appreciate the job you have.
And if you find a new job,
You will have the same core problems of the previous job.
Pay attention to the days where your boss is on your case,
Your business has a setback,
Your children are driving you crazy,
And you are not too happy with your partner.
Just find ten things to appreciate about them and you will release that resistance,
Reset your emotions,
And handle your issue with the best version of you.
Also,
As you go through your day,
Be mindful of things to appreciate.
When I'm driving,
I see birds,
I'm reminded to be thankful.
Number seven,
Let it go.
Ladies,
Are you holding on to people things and emotions that need to go?
Your answer may be no,
But how do you really know?
Nothing is permanent in life.
Everything is always evolving.
We have hours,
Days,
Weeks,
And seasons.
When it is time to transition into something new,
Your old ways stop working.
So look at everything that is not working in your life and ask yourself if it is time to let it go.
Also,
Do you have clutter in your home?
Perhaps you have one room full of clutter,
Or maybe it's your garage.
How about your closet?
Do you have clothes that you have not worn in years?
If you do,
You are stopping new seasons from coming into your experience.
What message are you sending to the universe?
You are telling the universe that you don't have faith in life and in yourself.
You are holding on to things in case you need some day.
There is a good chance that if you do have clutter in your home,
You are likely to hold on to emotions and people too.
If you have clutter,
I recommend that you read chapter two,
Letting go of my book,
Women,
Rice,
And Beans,
And learn how to get rid of the clutter,
Especially if the clutter is in your bedroom.
The bedroom in space impacts people more than any other room in a house.
Do yourself a favor.
Remove the clutter from your home and start with your bedroom.
If something is broken,
Throw it away.
If you don't like it or it is not being used,
Sell it or donate it.
Do a walk through every three months and find things to declutter.
Reason number eight,
Share your gifts.
Everyone has a gift for the world,
No exceptions.
Do you know that little baby who passed prematurely before age one?
She also had a gift to the world.
You don't have to be an Emily Dickinson who gifted us inspiration or Princess Isabel who freed the slaves from Brazil.
You may be a housewife,
A mother,
A waitress,
Or a CEO,
And you too have a gift to give to the world.
What is your gift?
Only you know.
You may think that you don't know,
But you do.
Consider this another nudge of the universe.
Life has already given you clues,
And your unconscious mind has some type of resistance to what your gift is.
Perhaps you feel that delivering your gift to the world is too difficult,
That you may be rejected,
Or that there is no money in it and you need to work for a living.
This life-serving gifts cannot be measured,
Although some people may try to.
We can't quantify or qualify the gift of motherhood.
I stay home mom who raises a child that goes on to discover the cure for,
I don't know,
Diabetes or something.
She seems just like another mother,
But she is more than that.
She provided the environment for him to flourish.
That's a gift.
A cleaning lady who cleans the house of a female entrepreneur who employs thousands of people is also sharing her gifts with the world.
You need to walk into a clean house after a long day of work to appreciate the gift.
More than ever,
Women are being called to share the gifts with the world.
Some have heard the call,
And others are busy being busy.
They avoid the wake-up call of courage.
Your biggest fear is hiding from you.
You may think that you are afraid of failure,
But you are also afraid of success.
Women are more afraid of success than rejection or failure.
What if you really go big?
What if the people doubting your abilities are wrong?
Every day women are hearing the call of their spirit to open a business,
Get an education,
March for rights,
Apply for that promotion,
Run for office,
And even for the presidency of the United States.
Women are called to be happy.
So go on and open their business.
Earn your degree.
Get a big job.
Buy that house.
Learn how to dance.
Leave that marriage and say yes to life.
We need your gift.
The more you share your gifts,
The more space we create for other women to share their gifts.
Walk into your season with both feet on the ground,
Heart and mind connected so your spirit can blossom.
Share your gift with humanity.
There is only one of you.
You are the gift.
Women are the heart of humanity.
When you do well,
Everyone does well.
Your inspired life will inspire others.
So embrace your success.
If you feel this has given you value,
Please share on your favorite social media.
This is Ana Barreto signing off.
