Category: question of the month

Has 2020 felt like a Stephen King novel?

Posted on | by Annmarie Kelly | Leave a Comment on Has 2020 felt like a Stephen King novel?


2020 will definitely be a year for the books…and the book will read like a bad Stephen King novel. Actually I’m not sure even King would write it this way!

Still, maybe there’s an upside you aren’t considering…

If you ever doubted your personal power, 2020 surely reminded you that, even in the worst of times, you’ve got plenty of power! After all, you dealt with all kinds of loss and, at the same time, you managed staying home, converted your dining room into an office, did without a social life except for zoom, suffered from zoom fatigue, became a homeschooling parent, passed on vacation, missed your grandkids, played games, did puzzles, binged everything on Prime and Netflix, and cooked and baked more than usual – sometimes figuring out what to make based on whatever you could find in the pantry, and packed on a few pandemic pounds. And that’s just the physical stuff.

And that was the easy stuff!

If you’re like me and most of the women I talk to, you also struggle with emotional stuff, including some depression…and, at the same time, you pull it together to help the people you live with deal with their emotions.

So…so what if you didn’t shower every day (it was so good for your skin!), or didn’t clean the house (who was going to see it anyway?), or drank a little more than usual (OK, some days maybe more than a little) and did a few things you wouldn’t want to share with anyone, including that terrible meltdown (or maybe that’s just me…).
And you’re still here! If nothing else, as you look back over this year, you proved to yourself that you are one powerful woman.

Yes, you’re not a saint. Nobody is. However, you ARE a Victorious Woman!

Good for you!
Now, with 2020 almost in the rearview mirror (and good riddance), a covid vaccine in sight (we hope), and you can optimistically anticipate a return to some happier form of normal. So let’s focus on 2021.

What do you want to do with the brand new baby year ahead?

Don’t tell me you’re too stressed for that! The fact is that no matter what happens with covid, no matter who wins the election, no matter what crisis this season’s bachelorette faces, you life is your own. 

The future is yours to mold and shape into your happiness and success. What will you do with it?

To help you get started, here are five questions (below) or you can click here for a downloadable PDF workbook. Write them down and work with them over the next month. And don’t rush – just do one every couple of days.

Talk with Other Women who are Pursuing THEIR Midlife Goals!

THEN…Let’s talk about them together…on November 10 @2pm. I’m hosting a FREE zoom meeting for us to talk – together – about how we can make the most of the new year – in spite of the crazy around us. So copy the questions below and plan to join me for some Victory Chick Chat. You can register for our phone call here: VictoryChickChat
OK…get the brand new baby year started with these:

  1. What is happiness to you? When I ask my groups to answer this one, many Victory Chicks are surprised by their own answers. It’s foundational because, once you know what it is, your focus changes and you can more easily get more juiced about the future – which can attract more good jazz into your life (like attracts like).
  2. What is success? Covid probably made you rethink success, so what is it now? Did lockdown – or an illness, lost job, or empty nest – make you reevaluate your work and push you in a new direction?
  3. What are 5 things that fill me up? Once you get crystal clear about these, you can fill yourself up more often.
  4. What are 5 things that make me feel special? This one is as much for the others in your life as it is for you. I share mine with my sweetie…so he doesn’t have to guess about how to make me feel special…and can do them more often.
  5. When I’m feeling my own personal power, what am I doing? Do you feel your power when you’re working, when you complete a tough task, accomplish a goal, or are reminded that you are being a role model to your kids? Or is your power found in some form of art…or volunteering…or activism…or something else?

These seem like five simple questions, but they are powerful!

Listen…the world isn’t ending…it just feels that way sometimes.

That’s why we need to stay focused on what’s good and what we can control. That’s what we’ll do together on November 10…so register now.
Remember: only you can control what goes on between your ears. That’s what I think…

YOUR TURN! What do you think? You know I’d LOVE to hear your feedback on what I’ve been doing with Five-Year Marriage and The Victorious Woman Project. Tell me, what do you think? I really want to know what you think is good, what annoys you, what’s helpful, what’s not relevant? What would you like to see more of?  I’m always interested in improving & evolving.  CLICK HERE to send me feedback! 
Until next time…with love and in Victory,
Annmarie

Public Noise: What Would You Do?

Posted on | by Annmarie Kelly | Leave a Comment on Public Noise: What Would You Do?

WomanScreamingDid you get your taxes done? I did, but much later than usual. As a result, I was in a very long line at the post office today. It wasn’t just with tax-payers. There were five people in line ahead of me who were mailing packages, four had multiple packages, so the line grew longer fast.
I’m a people watcher, so I watched the other people who did have their phone with them. I’m guessing they were answering emails or checking their social media because most of them were smiling and a couple chuckled.
Watching people do that always makes me laugh because I’m old enough to remember a time when, if you saw someone by themselves – in a line or in a car – and they were laughing or talking, you thought they were a little off. Now you realize they’re having a conversation with someone, either talking or texting, or joining a party on facebook or twitter. I sometimes think this is such a good time to be crazy because you can get away with so much more in public than you could even ten or fifteen years ago. And, yes, I know “crazy” isn’t a politically correct. But I have a very long family history with crazy and that’s what I call it.
Anyway, most of the people were quietly engaged. Except for one loud man, who had no idea how lucky he was to be several people down the line from me. I hate it when people are rude like that in public…like I should be impressed by his/her importance.
One time, also at a post office, the woman in front of me was on her phone gossiping. I felt she was making all of us join in the scandalous conversation. So, when she asked something like, “What do you think?” I answered her.
That woman spun around and looked at me like I was crazy. I said, “We’re all listening, and you asked, so I’m answering you.” She gave me the dirtiest look. But she got the message and told the person on the line she’d call them back.
I know, it was ballsy of me and, for a half second, I was waiting for John Quinones, to pop out and I’d be on the “What Would You Do” show. He didn’t. But that woman was having wasn’t a nice conversation and I felt like it was stressing people out. It was definitely stressing me out, and I can do stressed-out all by myself. I don’t need any help.
It’s the same thing when I’m near someone and every other word in the conversation is an f-bomb. I’m no prig, and no stranger to the language, but it’s uncomfortable in a public place. You know those signs that say no shirt-no shoes-no service. I think they should start including no cell phone and no “f’s” in public.
So I spoke up. I wish I’d do that more. I wish everyone would do that more. When people don’t have respect for other people, they should be told. I only did it once, but I’ll bet if more people did that, & I mean, a lot of people, more of those conversations would be taken outside the building or into a private place.
What would you do? Would you “join in” on someone’s loud phone conversation? Or have you already done it…and what happened?