“Forgiveness will unleash a power in your life that is underrated and often ignored.”   – Allen R. Hunt – Everybody Needs to Forgive Somebody

With forgiveness comes growth and grace for yourself and others. When we forgive others we are removing negativity from our hearts and minds. 

 I’ve truly never been one to hold grudges, anger, or bitterness in my heart towards anything or anyone. My motto since High School was “no regrets”. That meant that I gave myself permission to make mistakes, to love, and to live. When we truly live our lives we risk getting hurt and I can tell you that there have been many instances in where I’ve found myself having to forgive.

Unforgiveness and grudge hurt us more than it hurts the person that actually did the hurting, betraying, breaking of trust, and caused us intense emotional pain. Often times you’ll see that as my friend Nesa reminded me this week “hurt people…hurt people”. 

 I’ll share a little story with you. In 1994, what should have been perhaps my first great accomplishment as I was graduating from high school, turned into possibly one of the worst days I had experience in 17 years. This experience took place because a hurt person decided to hurt others. I’ll spare you the details but I’ll share enough to give you some overall context.

The incident ended in my first and last physical fight (other than being a young girl fighting with her brother and cousin). I reacted to someone’s disrespectful behavior towards me and a loved one. At 17, I didn’t really think about the consequences, I just reacted to the hurt. Up to this day, I have very faded memories of what took place immediately after the incident. But I can tell you that within just a few weeks or months that day turned into what I viewed then… as the biggest betrayal by a loved one.

After that betrayal, I didn’t speak to my loved one for a little while but due to the nature of the relationship, I was not able to keep that ugliness and grudge in my heart. But the bitterness and hatred that I felt for that other person were greater than any negative feelings I had ever felt. And if I have to be quite honest, those are still the worst feelings I’ve ever held in my heart towards anyone in my 44 years. I held those feelings for quite some time and truth be told, I can’t remember how long because I’ve erased much of that experience and those feelings from my heart and my mind. But in order to bring closure to this story, I have to share with you what led to the forgiveness. 

This is the first time that I am sharing this story. I think I’ve maybe shared it once or twice in the past with a close friend. Prior to forgiveness, I had nightmares often where I pictured a different ending to that physical fight. In many of those nightmares, I was able to get my revenge. One night, I had this horrible nightmare worst than any other.

**Warning..as this may be a trigger for some of you who may have faced physical abuse or violence. If so, then you may not want to continue reading.** 

Anyhow, in this nightmare, I was fighting with this person and I literally chopped their head off and grabbed the head by the hair, turned on the gas stove, and threw the head on top of my gas stove. As you can imagine that was a horrible nightmare to wake up from. I may not remember a lot or how long I held those feelings in my heart but I do remember that vivid dream. I woke up a wreck because that wasn’t me. That wasn’t an action that I would ever take or ever desire to take. That nightmare scared me. It scared me because I didn’t understand how my mind could go there. And that was the day that I decided to forgive.

That was the day that I realized that those feelings were only hurting me. This person had moved on with their lives and so had my loved one. Yet, I was holding this hatred and grudge in my heart. That was the day that I realized that bitterness and anger were holding me back from greatness. On that very same day, I got on my knees and prayed. I got on my knees and prayed for all those feelings to go away. And I realized that in addition to praying I needed to forgive for the feelings to actually go away. I had to say it out loud in order to relieve myself from what I was feeling.

I have to admit that as I write this to you today, I have tears coming down my face. I cry because in writing this I realize the power that came with overcoming that hatred and being able to forgive. I don’t cry because it still hurts, because it doesn’t, I cry because the hurt was significant, and it was a significant moment in my life.

Sometimes life gives us those significant moments in order for us to be stronger and to grow. And unfortunately, sometimes those moments come with suffering and pain. But until we forgive, until we forgive ourselves, until we forgive whoever hurt us…we are not able to move forward and grow. 

It takes a lot to forgive others and to forgive ourselves when we are the ones to put ourselves in hurtful situations. But that’s where we need to look up to our creator, look up to God and ask for strength. In practicing forgiveness we strengthen our mental muscles so that the next time we face something that hurts us we are able to utilize our mental muscles to help us move through that pain. We are able to activate the Sage part of our brain where positive emotions live (peace and calm, clear-headed focus, creativity, and big picture) to bring in the gift that situation has presented us. Because every situation, every heartache comes with a gift and we can access those gifts if we train ourselves to do so. Your Sage will help you access the gift of knowledge, power, and inspiration. 

Once we choose to see the gift, that gift will help us continue to move forward with forgiveness. In my story, I chose the gifts of knowledge and power. I remember learning whom to trust and allow in my life from that experience, and I also learned that I have the power to overcome my feelings and shift my thoughts. 

So, I ask you again, whom do you need to forgive today?

With love and gratitude, 

Vimari  

Mental Fitness is the X-Factor!

Interested in learning how to strengthen your Mental Muscles so that you can access your Sage and find the gift in everything?

I have one (1) seat left for my next 6-week Mental Fitness Positive Intelligence (PQ) Program starting this coming Saturday, Sept 11th.

I’ve extended the LaborDayFam 25% discount…you have just 24-hours to register by 2 pm tomorrow Friday, Sept 9th. Register NOW:  www.eventbrite.com/e/167881745821/?discount=LaborDayFam

“I had a successful career yet I knew there was something even more significant I wanted to do with my life.”

I want to invite you to shift your perspective from perfect order to perfect harmony.

As some of you know, my husband and I have a 16-year-old Chocolate Labrador (Shadow), and last week I received a text from a dear friend with the most adorable picture of a 10-month-old Chocolate Labrador that needed a new home. I wasn’t interested in getting a second dog but my husband has been asking to get a second dog for about a year. My concern has always been my Shadow. How will he adjust as an only child?! But in seeing this sweet face I told myself that I would inquire and if it was meant to be it would be. We took our Shadow to meet the puppy and they did well and we slept on the decision before deciding to bring the puppy home this past Friday. We knew our 16 years old would take some time before he would adjust to our new family of four but neither of us knew what to expect when integrating a new dog into the pack. However, we learned quickly that it will take some time and that’s when we shifted our routines from perfect order to perfect harmony.

This tip can apply to any situation especially for those of you who may have the “Stickler” as a top saboteur. It takes strong mental muscles not to allow your saboteurs to hijack your mind by a sudden change of routine or situation. 

Thanks to my work with Positive Intelligence (PQ), I’ve made Mental Fitness my X-Factor and I’ve helped my husband navigate his saboteurs as well.

The good news is that – you can too!

I invite you to join my next 6-week Mental Fitness Positive Intelligence Program starting September 11th.

I am super excited that my first Crushing Mental Fitness Positive Intelligence 6-week program filled up in less than five (5) days!! 💪

The next program starts June 19th and enrollment begins May 10th.

As humans, it’s almost impossible for us to feel happy & joyful ALL the time. Peak performance is often sabotaged by our emotional hijackings. Stress, anxiety, anger, disappointment, blame, guilt, sadness, self-doubt, and so on attacks all of us. 🤷‍♀️🤯

Negative emotions have a purpose yet we don’t allow ourselves to feel them or we get stuck in them.The key is to only stay in these emotions for quick seconds & quickly recover back to feeling centered, grounded, and powerful. 🧘‍♀️🧘‍♂️🙏

One of the best differentiators between world class athletes vs runner ups is their ability to recover faster from mistakes & failures or negative interactions.The best leaders, athletes and entrepreneurs have strong mental muscles. 💪🏆

The quicker we can get ourselves centered and clear headed the more productive we will be. 🧠💪🙆‍♀️

If you think you would get value from strengthening your mental fitness, then I invite you to sign up for the next program starting June 19th. Enrollment begins May 10th.

In only 15 minutes per day and one weekly group session, you’ll learn about your top saboteurs and how to strengthen your mental fitness muscles.

Schedule a free consultation now to learn more and sign up for this life-changing experience: 👩‍💻👨‍💻 www.beproductivecoaching.com/contact

Happy Spring, Everyone!

It’s incredible that we are in the second quarter of 2021 and that this is my post. I have been busy behind the scenes resting, thinking, strategizing, studying, and working. All great stuff and something I truly needed to do after an extremely busy and emotionally heavy 2020.

Like most of you, my family and I faced many challenges in 2020, but I have to say that overall it was a great year. It taught me a lot and helped me put some things into perspective. The year started extremely busy as I was due to launch my new website, www.beproductivecoaching.com, in January, but as we all know, projects get delayed, and the delay meant that we launched in the middle of the pandemic on Apr 15th. We just celebrated our first anniversary, yay!

Well, I couldn’t have timed it better; the website was viewed by many and allowed my network to understand what we do at Be Productive Coaching. As a result, I was blessed to help many individuals that were laid off or furloughed due to COVID-19. My professional branding and coaching services were desperately in need, and I feel blessed to have been able to help many. I also launched a two-hour LinkedIn Makeover Training and the Face Everything and Rise free weekly self-care and mental health support group via Zoom in addition to the new business opportunities. Needless to say that I was indeed highly productive. However, that productivity, unfortunately, was also faced with a bit of burnout. Allow me to explain…

My husband and I took off on a road trip from Miami to Texas on Nov 1st, returning to Miami on Dec 10th. The plan initially was to be gone for 30 days while I worked on the road, but one thing led to the other, and I ended up celebrating my 44th birthday on the road – Charleston, South Carolina, to be exact. 

I was invited to MPIs WEC annual conference, where I participated as a coach in their Career Resource Center in-person in Dallas the week before my husband’s 50th birthday, which is why we chose Texas. I planned on attending the conference and taking one week of vacation after to celebrate with my husband. I also planned to work remotely while we were doing a little Texas tour. Little did I know that once I took that one-week vacation, my body and mind were going to crash. It was the first time I ever felt as if I could not think, talk or move. All of the emotional stress and busyness came rolling down my mind and body. I was forced to slow down, not taking any new clients for the remainder of November and December. I focused on my existing coaching clients and myself for the remaining 45 days or so of 2020. This burnout in itself was a huge lesson, and it forced me to reevaluate myself as I was entering 2021. I realized that I was so busy taking care of others that I neglected to care for myself. I share this with you because I know that this can happen to anyone. It occurred to me, and I am a coach!
 

I learned that my mental saboteurs were lying to me all along. My hyper-achiever told me that I was doing a great job because I was serving others and busy, busy, busy. I realized the lie after it was a little too late, and as a result, it took me a good 90 days to get my energy back to normal. 

Once I got my energy back, I decided that I would not allow that to happen again and that I would do whatever it takes to help my clients prevent this from happening to them. Shortly after, I was gifted a six-week program that has changed my life. I learned that Mental Fitness is the X-factor! So much so that I am now getting certified to incorporate the Positive Intelligence Mental Fitness work into my coaching practice and will be running my first PQ 6-week program starting May 1st. 

Welcome back to #transitiontuesdays where we feature a fearless leader and their transition story.

In these stories, you are learning how these leaders took action on their dreams. Some have transitioned to exciting new jobs, others to a completely new career, or to their own businesses.

This week our Spotlight Series #transitiontuesdays introduces Luis H. Leon, III, Senior Finance, Business Analyst & Market Trends Expert.

In May 2020 as the USA was entering the second month of a global pandemic, like many, Luis received a furloughed letter from his employer of two years. Luis found this challenge as an opportunity to completely rebrand himself as he was looking to step into the next phase of his career.

With a finance and accounting background, Luis’ natural talents landed him in positions where he worked not only as a financial analyst but a big part of his responsibilities and experience was as a general business analyst. His resume and LinkedIn however did not reflect that.

When we began working with Luis we had two goals, one was to help him rebrand as an expert Financial & Business Analyst and two to get him back into the healthcare industry where he enjoyed knowing he was contributing to a larger cause. Within three months after working together Luis was hired as a Sr. Analyst for Cardinal Health in the middle of the 2020 COVID-19 Pandemic.

The following letter was sent to us by Luis on October 1, 2020, after working with him. Learn what steps he took to get his dream job in the midst of this pandemic.

A year to remember…

Covid-19 and its effect on my professional career path in 2020

During the first wave of the pandemic, I receive a Furlough letter from my employer that said effective immediately. The first thought that came to my mind was “what I’m going to do with no job in an economy that is closed”. Having a family to take care of and the responsibilities that come with it, I knew that something different needed to be done.

I started a professional career strategy plan to explore opportunities in the middle of the crisis. The first area I looked at was updating my resume. In previous experiences when I was looking for a career change, the first barrier was using the right wording in my resume. The second was how could I overcome ATS resume filters used by employers, where many times these systems can disqualify you from the list, even if you have the right experience to compete for a job opportunity.

To overcome these challenges, I started to research companies that could assist with these tasks. I found Be Productive Coaching with excellent reviews. The first thing that gave me confidence and positively impacted me during this professional career rebranding process was the structured plan received from Vimari Roman. Every strategy session helped me to understand or rediscover talents that I possessed to compete for my dream job. The confidence I gained during this process helped me to better understand the challenges that companies are presented within today’s market and gave me a clear understanding of how my skill set and experience could help them achieve their business goals.

In addition to the career strategy and coaching, the tools received as the final product (new resume, cover letter, and LinkedIn profile) were the ones that opened many opportunities in this job market during a pandemic. Today I can confirm that my dream job in the Healthcare market has arrived. All thanks to the support received during my rebranding process from Be Productive Coaching and a clear strategical plan focused on opportunities that can be found in a crisis like the one we are living in today.

Luis H Leon, MBA

Senior Finance, Business Analyst & Market Trends Expert

Welcome back to #transitiontuesdays where we feature a fearless leader and their transition story.

In these stories, you are learning how these leaders took action on their dreams. Some have transitioned to exciting new jobs, others to a completely new career, or to their own businesses.

This week our Spotlight Series #transitiontuesdays introduces Molly Mulhern – Social Media Manager, Lead Admin, and a Candle Maker for The Beeswax Co.

I first learned about Molly’s transition when I read a post she wrote on LinkedIn back in July. In that post, Molly shared her transition story and I was immediately compelled to share her story. Everyone knows that the COVID-19 Pandemic has affected many industries, especially the Hospitality and Meetings industries. Therefore Molly’s post gave much hope to many people. As of October 2020, her post has had 99,491 reactions and 2,675 comments on LinkedIn, and we weren’t the only ones that thought her story was worth sharing. In Sept 2020, Rhodes College her Alma Mater featured her story as well. Congrats Molly and thank you for allowing us to share your story!

Learn what motivated this fearless leader to make her transition.

What was your first job and how did you get it?

My first job out of college was working for Walt Disney World in Orlando, FL in Merchandise. I worked for the gift shops in Tomorrowland! I applied for the Disney College Program, a program that I’d been researching for years, and did a series of interviews before I was accepted to the internship program. I lived and worked at Disney for a year, and can’t overstate how valuable that year was for my personal and professional growth. 

When and how did you decide to transition your career to what you do today?

Before COVID-19, I was an Event Coordinator in Austin, TX. After being furloughed & eventually let go due to a lack of events, I searched for months to find a job that aligned with my Social Media/Marketing experience & skill set with no success. One day, I came across a job posting to be a “Candle Maker” at a local beeswax candle company. My first thought was “I think I would really enjoy doing this, it sounds like a really cool job.” My second thought was “Would this veer me away from my career goals?” and “Would I be able to afford rent?” After doing research, I found that I really aligned with the company’s goals and mindset. I decided to apply for the job. I received an interview the next day. 

What steps did you take to make that transition and how long did it take?

What tools, training or coaching did you acquire/learn to help you make the transition?

What does life look like now that you have transitioned into doing what you are doing?

I’m in an industry I’d never thought I’d find myself in. I imagined being in Events for years and years to come- but life had other plans. Working for the Beeswax Co. has forced me to slow down, and to appreciate the little things every day. I feel a greater sense of peace in my new job, and do not fear the future anymore. I’m taking things one day at a time, and taking time to smell the Beeswax Candles along the way! 

What advice would you give your younger self?

Take every opportunity that comes your way. 

What is the best career advice you have ever received?

Don’t ever reduce yourself to fit into just one box. You are a multidimensional person with many talents and skills- do not ever forget that. 

Describe your ideal vacation:

I’d love to go to Ireland, walk along the coast visiting castles and museums during the day, and checking out Irish pubs at night! I did Irish Dancing for 12 years, so I’d love to see some of that as well while there!

Where could we find you at 10 am on a Saturday?

Sometimes I’ll be at Barre class, sometimes I’ll be at a coffee shop doing work, reading, or strengthening professional connections. 

Follow on Instagram @instagram.com/missmolly_goodgolly/ and you can follow her work for The Bees Wax Co. @instagram.com/thebeeswaxcompany

Welcome back to #transitiontuesdays where we feature a fearless leader and their transition story.

We took a break the last couple of weeks after launching our Latin Heritage Month project where we featured 30 Powerful Latina Trailblazers and are ready to continue with this amazing weekly series. At Be Productive Coaching we believe that when we lift others we grow. We are hoping that these stories inspire you or someone you know to follow your dreams and do work that brings you excitement and fulfillment.

In these stories, you are learning how these leaders took action on their dreams. Some have transitioned to exciting new jobs, others to a completely new career, or to their own businesses.

This week our Spotlight Series #transitiontuesdays introduces Rachelle Stone, ACC – Executive & Burnout Prevention Coach

Rachelle and I have known each other for well over 20 years. We met when we both worked in the meetings industry. In 2014 Rachelle found herself burned out from a successful 25-year career. The stress she was carrying made her implode and today she is living a fulfilled life on the West Coast of Florida with a successful coaching and consulting practice.

Learn what motivated this fearless leader to make her transition.

What was your first job and how did you get it?

McDonald’s! My sister was a supervisor but I don’t think this was a good or fun job. She scheduled me to open every Saturday and Sunday morning and made me clean underneath the cashiers’ machine with a toothbrush whenever there were no customers in the store. Needless to say, I did not have this job very long.

When and how did you decide to transition your career to what you do today?

I transitioned in 2014. I honestly thought I was just ready to get back to being an entrepreneur and starting something new again. I thought I was bored. I wasn’t. I imploded. I figured that out when I was getting my coaching education. I am now an executive coach following being a serial entrepreneur for over 25 years.

What steps did you take to make that transition and how long did it take?

What tools, training or coaching did you acquire/learn to help you make the transition?

What does life look like now that you have transitioned into doing what you are doing?

Peaceful. In line with my values. Rewarding. Fulfilling!

What advice would you give your younger self? 

1: There are no do-overs, just re-boots so get it right the first time and

2: Start listening to your intuition and stop listening to others’ opinions.

Where could we find you at 10 am on a Saturday?

Gardening! I volunteer to maintain part of a Butterfly Garden for Dunedin in Hammock Park. I am there every Saturday morning, usually with my dog, Stitch. I garden, she greets visitors and we talk butterflies and plants until it gets too hot.

You can learn more about Rachelle by visiting her website at www.RStoneConsulting.com

Follow on Social Media: Instagram @even_wonderwoman_gets_tired Linkedin @linkedin.com/in/rstoneconsulting