Keys to Living Fabulously….YOU!!!!

“Let’s live our 2018 fabulously fierce!”
“Please write a post on living FF with tips!”
(Here you go CF & TM 🙂 )

I so appreciated this request from a couple of friends at the start of the year for various reasons but mostly because it was a beautiful reminder to me that none of us is on this journey of living fabulously fierce alone and a few key reminders never hurt anyone.

So, living fabulously fierce….what exactly does it mean? My mom is one of the most committed Living Fabulously Fierce brand ambassadors! She rocks her sweatshirt whenever, wherever she can. Early on, after being asked by friends and even strangers about her gear, she came to me, “Farah, what is this LFF? What does Living Fabulously Fierce mean?”

Now, my mother is the sweetest, nicest, gentlest, most peaceful person you will ever meet. But, when she asks a question, your answer better be on point, clear…and quick! Talk about being ready for a rocket pitch at any point in time! So I shared, “…well, it’s basically just a call to action to be your most daringly authentic self…at all times, knowing who you are and committing to being as true to you as you can be. It’s not about perfect. It’s more about authenticity beyond measure…role-modeling that mode of living and inspiring others to do the very same!”

“Oh, ok! That’s good!” Thanks mom….#MsSuperReservedandComposedAtAllTimes 🙂

So how does that translate to our reminder for today? Well, to live fabulously fierce…
Know you. Sounds simple but this comes down to having to answer the deep questions of life, including

• Who am I?
• What do I represent?
• What do I value? Not the values I’ve inherited….what are my self-determined values?
• What do I bring into this world and what would be missing if I weren’t here?
• How am I unique?
• What are my strengths?
• What am I not so great at but actually interested in improving?
• What do I really care about? What don’t I care about?

Embrace you…just as you are… all of you…every. bit. of. you. We live in a world that constantly encourages continuous self-comparison and devaluing self-critique. It really takes away from the opportunity to look at the whole picture of who we are, what we bring into this world and our unique experiences. We actually have to commit to embracing all of the positive pieces of who we are, validated by us and others, as well as those characteristics that may not be so valued. These pieces may position us as not comparatively the best, distinct, or even unique but they are part of the masterpiece that is us. This is all about self-definition, deciding for ourselves that which is valuable. The challenge is that until you and I embrace the whole of who we are, we don’t fully appreciate the beauty that is us. The distinction. That which we and the world need. So drop the pursuit of being flawless and commit to leveraging the whole picture of you- strengths, blemishes, and opportunities for continued progress. Works in progress…they still work…still have value.

Be unapologetically you. I recently saw a post quoting Mindy Kaling. She shared “I do idiotic things all of the time and I say crazy stuff that I regret. But I don’t let everything traumatize me”. What this says to me is that not only does she embrace all of who she is, she doesn’t let hiccups or the huge mistakes keep her from still just showing up as Mindy…unapologetically. Nothing ‘mess up’ brings her to the traumatic point of holding back on being herself. She is unapologetically her and takes the good, the great, and the consequences of it!

Accept inspiration. None of us, not one, not friggin one of us has everything figured out. It is absolutely impossible to and anyone who says they do or portrays they do is flat out lying or playing up a facade that serves absolutely no one. Yup, got a little passionate there…ok, a lot 🙂 ! I was actually recently hurt by someone trying to pay me a compliment. Wait for it….a coworker…she asked, literally through tears “What do you mean you don’t know what you’re doing on this? You always have everything figured out and you walk around like you know everything and you just do everything right.” My response, “Ummm, false, but I appreciate your perception of me….though clearly it’s serving neither one of us.” My point? See, that woman you think has it all together, appreciate her. Appreciate that she’s actually just like you, a work in progress…but beyond that she’s caught your attention in how she’s embracing being a work in progress. Accept the inspiration she is offering in her role modeling as just that, an offer to leverage it, not to compare yourself or your skills to her, diminishing your own value of self. And feel free to tell her you think she’s a badass! But leave it at that, as inspiration….and move on applying it as motivation. And if you can’t do any of that for whatever reason, it’s ok, you’re human, just take on a bit of grace and keep it moving.

Be an inspiration. Wherever you are, whatever you’re doing, in the face of the frustrating days and seasons, as well as the fabulous ones, recognize that there is at least one person striving to get to where you are, as you are, and others watching you and every move you make because you’re a model for them. Hold yourself to a standard that reflects how you would want others to reflect your strengths, your fabulousness, your fierce.

Ignite new motivation, fuel, and fire for yourself every day through intention setting. Life is short. There’s never enough time. Never. I learned very, very, very young that no next day is promised. Losing friends and family early in life sucks, but it teaches you to be grateful for every day and every experience. Also, it reminds you to be intentional about your living. No this doesn’t mean be perfect. It means no matter how bad the day before was, how busy your morning is, set an intention for the day…even if it is just to make it through. Decide how you’re living for the day, don’t let the day decide.

Celebrate! Celebrate you. You. are. amazing. You are such a gem. You are worthy of all that you’re experiencing. You are such of model of strength, positivity, influence….even if you can’t feel it, see it…or don’t even believe it. See, you woke up today. Even if on a scale of 1-10 you’re kicking in at a .05 on being fabulously fierce, that’s enough to pick up, keep moving and get to 1 tomorrow, and 2 the next day, 5 next month and 10 whenever you’re ready.

So there, don’t tell me living fabulously fierce is hard…or that it’s too much of a call to action for you….or that it’s a heavy level of accountability. YOU’RE ALREADY DOING IT! Just take on the opportunity to elevate that state of living! So glad we’re on this ride together!
*******************