Tosetti’s road to living the savvy life all started more organically in her twenties when she was trying to figure her own life out. On weekends and weeknights she felt restless. “I kept telling them (her husband and friend Kevin Gibbons, who is now her co-author) that I’m supposed to be doing something. It went on for years. The minute that I got the idea for the online magazine, that feeling disappeared. I knew I was doing what I was supposed to be doing” she states.

According to Tosetti, who has appeared on the Fine Living Network and has been quoted in national publications like U.S. News & Report, she feels she was destined to teach financial information for people who are struggling to make ends meet, as well as six figure income people who are spending every penny. Her passion is “to show Americans how to step off the pendulum that swings from overspending to extreme frugality,” so that they can enjoy financial balance and security.

When I ask Tosetti why she is the perfect person to communicate this particular message, she responds that it comes both from her heart and her own life experience. “I believe I’m the right person to work with people to create a foundation and help them make friends with money again. It’s like dieting, we’ve lost touch. People experience lots of guilt around money or have no guilt around it at all because they spend so freely,” she says. Her work – coaching, online magazine, and best-selling book Living the Savvy Life: The Savvy Woman’s Guide to Smart Spending Rich Living — is about creating some guidelines so anyone can spend with an open heart.

Tosetti reports that she first had the savvy life idea in 1997 in her late twenties, but didn’t have the confidence or resources to do anything with it. So she continued working in high tech public relations. Then when lays off in the high tech industry finally got to her, she resolved that it was the perfect time to act. So she used severance to start her company.

In 2004 The Savvy Life magazine started as a quarterly publication geared toward women who didn’t have a lot of income, and focused on helping consumers finding things cheaply. Tosetti says that at the time she did not have clear vision, a clear goal. She just jumped in with both feet. “I’m grateful that I did, because if I had taken too much time looking at it, I probably would have never started.”

Because the information and approach in her book is highly strategic, Tosetti admits that there was a disconnect between the advice she offers and who she was as business person eight years ago. “To live the savvy life you have to start somewhere and be willing to let things happen and unfold. It involves lots of self-discovery,” she states. “As I’ve evolved, the business has evolved.”

In 2006 she began The Savvy Life online magazine that now gets updated five days a week and receives 150,000 unique visitors a month. Over the years the focus of the publication has shifted to “smart spending,” regardless of how much money you make.

In discussing some of the socialization and lack of education that results in a culture of disease with money, Tosetti makes several key points:

• We’re trained by media and advertisers to spend on things. “Magazines want you to aspire to consume and have lost touch with the average consumer,” says Melissa. “I started The Savvy Life magazine because I don’t want to wish, I want to attain.”
• We mindlessly consume verses being conscious and aware of our buying habits. We go into Target to buy one thing and end up with a full cart of stuff. We think there’s one item out there that will bring our life together. A client of Tosetti’s remarked that she thought there must be one kitchen item that would magically make her June Cleavor. This kind of “believing” leaves us with clutter rather than the stuff we really want to have.
• We aren’t educated about day-to-day spending. Then we feel out of control and ashamed of our financial reality.
• We aren’t taught to spend on education. Coaching is education. We’re stagnant and we’re dying (mentally, emotionally, spiritually). People need to continue to invest in themselves rather than just things.
• People aren’t doing what they really want to do and aren’t fully appreciating what they already have. When you have to save for something you’re going to appreciate it so much more. And, when you appreciate what you have as you plan for something better, you increase your life satisfaction.

As Tosetti points out, we live in a society in which we aspire to be like lifestyle icons (actors and celebrities, etc.) who don’t have to pay for the expensive clothes they wear, who are paid to attend events and given lots of stuff free. Keeping up with the Jonses (and then some) is bankrupting us – through actions like licensing expensive cars, buying high-end clothes, and trying to live the same lifestyle as a highly paid boss.

As a financial lifestyle coach, Tosetti’s strengths are empathy, positivity, and the ability to clearly see the path from financial issues to goal fulfillment. “Money is so emotional. My attitude is let’s just move forward without beating yourself up.” Tosetti works with people trying to get control of their spending habits and people who want to make sure that they are spending well and that their money is working for them.

Regardless of what category you fall into, there are Three Simple Ways to Start Living the Savvy Life:

1. Sit down and ask yourself what is most important to you. What have you not spent money on that you would like to. What areas can you cut back in that aren’t that important to you.  For instance, as she shares in her book, Tosetti and her husband consciously buy used cars instead of new cars so they can travel.

2. Control your spending. This is the non-sexy, essential part of living the savvy life. Track your spending. Knowing where your money is going. Make every dollar be accountable.

3. Pay attention to your attitude. You can put yourself in a downward spiral if you focus on lack — what you don’t have. Appreciate what you have while striving for what you want. Listen to yourself about what you are complaining about (me complaining about the lack of water pressure in our house) and choose to appreciate it instead (I have hot running water whenever I need it!). Having a positive attitude includes having a sense of humor about your situation.

Approach your situation from where you are. As Tosetti explains, “Some people have their eyes open for the first time. They ‘get it’ and are excited to implement.” Those people just run with the advice outlined on the website or in her book. Others get it, but need more time to let it unfold and work for them. These people may need extra help from a coach to get on track.

Melissa Tosetti is offering The Living the Savvy Life online program for $19.95 a month. It offers day-by-day ideas you can implement. To find out more go to http://livingthesavvylife.com/

Melissa Wadsworth is a Certified Dream Coach helping women transition successfully through midlife changes in careers, relationships, self image, and spiritual growth. Melissa is passionate about women bringing their full brilliant selves to light. Be sure to invest in yourself and get clear about what your true dreams are. Sign up for my no cost 11-day video course: How to live the life of your dreams through clarity at www.melissawadsworth.com or contact me to discuss one-to-one coaching.

Unfold More Powerfully This Year! Learn the Magic of Dream Boards

Are you willing to invest a few hours to access your intuition — to make the invisible VISIBLE?

Want to see what’s on the verge of manifesting into your life?

Dream Boards enable you to get more clarity, set stronger intentions, get soul guidance and to appreciate your truly magnificent self!

Join us for the excitement of dream board creation and decoding. You’ll see how you are:

• Unstoppable
• Passionate
• Intuitive
• Visionary
• Playful
• Joyful
• Powerful

What your ego mind perhaps won’t tell you…your heart and soul already know. And you can access this truth. The truth of who you are and what you can BE.

Using your willingness to look beyond the surface of your life, you can expand into your full potential.

Choose to let the universe unfold through you for half a day. You’ll be amazed!

All materials provided.
Coffee/tea and snacks available.
Limited space available.

$65

Register Now!

Location:
7745 Mary Avenue NW (bet. 15th and 14th off of 80th Street)
Seattle, WA 98117

SHIFT Events are monthly Transformational Networking Events that connect women together with the intention to SHIFT how they view the possibilities in their businesses and personal lives. They are an intricate part of the wakeUPgirl mission to BRIDGE THE GAP between the world’s most creative and cutting-edge women in leadership, innovation and entrepreneurship, and the everyday woman looking to discover and actualize her purpose in life.

Each month at wakeUPgirl, we feature a specific topic or theme and bring guest speakers who are experts in the area of that particular theme to offer their knowledge and insight to our members and guests.

January’s theme is NEW BEGINNINGS!

Speaker: Melissa Wadsworth
Topic: The Power of Vision
To register: www.wakeupgirl.com/events/

Location:

Lucid Jazz Lounge
5241 University Way NE
Seattle, WA 98105

How many women do you know that are brilliant, creative, talented and STUCK? Well, it’s time to create a NEW BEGINNING and make the SHIFT to power and abundance! Be a great friend and invite them to this event.

2012 Year-Beginning Dream Boards

1/2 day visionary team-building session will:

• inspire by showing personal essence
• reveal key qualities to develop
• show next steps to success

Seattle, WA – Melissa Wadsworth of Brilliance Unlimited, LLC was selected from over 5,000 submissions to be featured in The 2012 Woman’s Advantage Shared Wisdom Calendar. The calendar provides advice for women business owners from influential women leaders across the US and Canada, and will be released on October 27.

Melissa Wadsworth’s quote was selected because it was powerful yet easy to understand. Her idea is relevant to almost every woman in business today.” says Mary Cantando, Growth Expert of The Woman’s Advantage. “Women business owners and those who dream of starting a business will learn so much from the advice provided by Melissa and the other successful women quoted in the calendar.”

The Woman’s Advantage 2012 Calendar provides sound bites of advice on key business issues including: organization, promotion, sales, and human resources.

Melissa Wadsworth is a Certified Dream Coach®, Intuitive Dream Board Artist, Inspirational Speaker and Author. She guides evolutionary midlife makeovers for women at a crossroads, helping them to transition from Blocked to Brilliance™ for a life of full of purpose and passion. To access her complementary 11-day video course, How to Live the Life of Your Dreams Through Clarity, go to www.melissawadsworth.com

Mary Cantando is a nationally-recognized expert on women business owners. She is the developer of the successful Woman’s Advantage line of products, geared specifically to women entrepreneurs. For more information, call 919-841-0401 or visit http://www.WomansAdvantage.biz

I’ve added this amazing last lecture because I so admired both the way that Randy Pausch lived and how he approached death. His lecture is so poignant because we know the end of this life chapter. And, of course, his spirit lives on radiantly. I can only imagine what his spirit is doing for an encore.

Yet, the practical nature of this lecture about achieving your childhood dreams is valuable on its own. We can look at how one man approached achieving and living his dreams and learn much. Each of us has our own path, our own perspective about what a dreamer is and how a dreamer lives. Yet Pausch was so brilliant at knowing what keeps a dream alive.

There are pearls of wisdom here for anyone who believes that they are here to have dreams and to achieve them for the good of self, family and the world. What Randy so famously, perhaps unintentionally, did was to touch the world with his vision. He held the vision because it was the most natural thing in the world for him — like breathing really. It was as easy to dream as it was to love Disneyland, football, computers and teaching. What is easy for you to love? To dream about?

Click on the screen below if you see a black screen.
 

 
Dreaming is never a waste of time when it is followed with focused action, dedication and commitment. Most dreams take tons of commitment. Some people will tell you that’s because the inspiration for the dream fades when you’re in the trenches doing the hard work of manifesting a dream into physical reality. Others say that manifestation shouldn’t be hard if you’re doing it right — if you’re keeping your eyes on the prized and acting “as if” the achievement or the desire is already assured.

Whatever you believe about dreams, the main thing is to have them. To have clear dreams. To breathe life into them with details and hope. Randy Pausch knew what his dreams were. The ones that he hadn’t achieved through hard work and clear vision by the time of his illness, others helped to make come true (like playing professional football).

What are your dreams?

The whole meal deal. Flesh them out. See them. Believe in them. Breathe life into them. Step into them. Live them. You can’t possibly know what great difference your dreams will mean to the world.

What dreams of others can you help make come true? Take a look around you and see if there isn’t a way to help someone make their dreams live.

Melissa Wadsworth is a Certified Dream Coach®, Intuitive Dream Board Artist, Inspirational Speaker and Author. She guides evolutionary midlife makeovers for women at a crossroads, helping them to transition from Blocked to Brilliance™ for a life of full of purpose and passion. To access her complementary 11-day video course, How to Live the Life of Your Dreams Through Clarity, go to www.melissawadsworth.com

Author and sound expert Julian Treasure believes that our increasingly noisy world is having a negative affect on our mental health, our hearing and our enjoyment of life. He offers some easy ways to appreciate the sounds of this world and ways to expand your relationship to sound. Turns out the sound of silence is golden. Using your voice by speaking and singing are both highly recommended, too.

Also, he suggests that being plugged in all the time is creating a generation of kids who are going to go deaf. That’s a big downside to having 24/7 entertainment.

Enjoy this TED.com presentation video and then talk to someone about it or create you own beautiful music.

A few questions to consider to start your own conversation:

• Are you more plugged in or more engaged with the greater world?
• Do you appreciate the importance of listening and of being heard?
• Are you missing long, soulful conversations?

Melissa Wadsworth is a Certified Dream Coach®, Intuitive Dream Board Artist, Inspirational Speaker and Author of Small Talk Savvy. She guides evolutionary midlife makeovers for women at a crossroads, helping them to transition from Blocked to Brilliance™ for a life of full of purpose and passion. To access her complementary 11-day video course, How to Live the Life of Your Dreams Through Clarity, go to www.melissawadsworth.com

Does this scenario sound vaguely familiar?

“One profound day, I caught myself “Waiting for Jack.” Jack in this case was Jack Canfield of the Chicken Soup for the Soul fame, but I realized it could have been anyone or anything. I had forgotten where the answers lie. It was painful to admit, but I realized I had become a self-help junkie.”

Are you waiting for your “real” life to begin? Are you waiting for success, waiting for the perfect partner to appear, and waiting to look perfect? Do you think that there’s a key asset that you still lack in order to be worthy of living boldly and successfully now? Chances are you’ll relate to this book and to aspects of the author’s story.

“Somewhere along the way, I forgot who I was. On that fateful day, I declared an end to all this waiting and searching outside myself for answers. I proclaimed my mission to fiercely disrupt the ordinary.”

This fierce declaration comes from author, speaker, radio host and coach Kristen Moeller. Kristen first discovered her passion for personal development after recovering from an eating disorder and substance abuse in 1989. As a result she became eager to provide assistance to people who felt trapped in their own life experience. And, for the last twenty years, Kristen has helped clients discover their power and break free of their own personal barriers.

The trap of always waiting and preparing to be ready
Her book Waiting for Jack reveals her path to self-responsibility and self-discovery. And, she offers other “self-help junkies” a path to freedom. For anyone, who even suspects that they read more personal development books, attend more seminars, or listen to more teleseminars, than they actually take significant action toward the fulfillment of their dreams this is a fantastic resource.

You won’t find all the answers to life in her book (Kristen is too humble and has too much integrity to propose such a thing), and yet you will find engaging honesty, a sense of humor, compassionate understanding about the human condition, and terrific tips and strategies for taking meaningful action that makes a difference to how you feel about your life path.

In her book Kristen explains the genesis of her motto, Disrupt the Ordinary: Create the Extraordinary, like this:
“I declared that I would disrupt the status quo, the ordinariness of waiting… I allowed myself to imagine a whole planet of people so fulfilled that the “self-help” industry proved unnecessary and actually disappeared—a planet of people who already understood that they are okay as they are, with their flaws, their social standing, their level of popularity, the amount of money they have in the bank, and their level of spiritual enlightenment. That would be extraordinary.”

Working through getting triggered
Recently she was invited to give a 14 minute speech for a TEDx regional event (associated with the TED.com “ideas worth spreading” non-profit). “It was awesome, incredible,” she says still feeling the exhilaration of such a great opportunity and experience.

Kristen also honestly admits that at first this opportunity triggered all her old fears of “getting it wrong,” that she traces back to a moment in grade school when she mistakenly pronounced Chicago, “Chick-a-go,” to the amusement of her classmates.

As a public speaker Kristen’s had to deal with such fears in the past. Yet, one of her best tools for sharing her personal story with authenticity is to deliver it “off the cuff and in the moment.”

Could she do that for a TEDx talk, in which you’re practically on a stop watch to deliver your message succinctly (these local events often feature 10-25 speakers)?
“Preparing for TEDx I thought I was supposed to practice, practice, practice. All my demons came out. All the fear, all the angst came up,” Kristen reports. The irony did not escape her that here she was giving a talk about “Being a fierce disruption of the ordinary,” and she wasn’t walking her talk. She wasn’t being authentic, because she was approaching this opportunity like she thought other people would prepare.

After all her years of telling her story at 12-step meetings she knew the importance of being “true” in the moment, and that you can’t script that. “I finally realized that I wasn’t going to memorize a script. I would have points I knew I wanted to make and I would use a half stories and half teaching format. I had the insight: ‘I’m getting up there and speaking what comes to me so I can be true in the moment.’”

Taking life to the next level with humility
Kristen sees this as another example of a life journey lesson she needed to go through. Each time she makes it over another hurdle she feels transformed, like she’s taken life to another level.

“We forget that fears will rise again. I share my vulnerability that it’s okay to be doubtful, to be in pain,” she states. “If I’m not willing to disrupt something for myself, then what the hell am I doing? I’m willing to keep stretching so I can say to others: ‘Yes, you can be great!’”

As someone who embodies her message to others, Kristen accepts with humility and humor that she is a work in progress always. “I went through it and am still going through it. I forget who I am, so I can allow others to find who they are,” she says. These days she doesn’t try to get fixed. Instead she focuses on remembering who she is: “Infinite consciousness, connected energy to something bigger. We’re here in our human body with all our human stuff.”

It’s okay to be human and step it up anyways
Central to Kristen’s message is the belief that it’s okay to be human with all our messiness and issues AND we need to step up to our greatness and not hold back. “All humanity is okay, we just make it wrong. We need to be gentle, really gentle with our ‘little humans.’ In some areas we need to snap out of it and be who you really are.” People often thank her for both her gift of authenticity and for “normalizing” the human condition.

Kristen admits that she’s an interesting dichotomy. She’s an “off-the-grid” gal, who loves to work in her pajamas, hang out on her couch, and wants to stay in her haven of a green home in the mountains of Colorado. She’s also a dressed up, polished professional who loves pushing the edges of her comfort zone and is committed to getting out and spreading her message of personal empowerment. She states, “This is my life I’ve created. I’m playing this game.”

The importance of commitment

“Do the work that needs to be done. Keep on the journey. It’s easy to give up on your dreams when the inspiration fades. Commitment is what carries me through,” Kristen states.

She cites the example of wanting to author a book. Just say, “I’m writing this book! Declare it!” She did this herself when she fell in love with the book world and it became a transformative experience.

“I did not think I was a writer. I just did it. Sometimes painful, but I had my commitment above all else. I want others to have that experience. People who think ‘I’m terrified and I don’t know if I can’ are my people.”

Kristen helps entrepreneurs to get the book inside them written and published through her Author Your Brilliance Mentoring Programs (link to http://kristenmoeller.com/author_coaching). She very much resonates with the quote by Oliver Wendell Holmes about many people dying with their song inside them. “Too often we’re getting ready to live. We fall into complacency we stop believing what we say. The gift of sobriety at 23 gave me commitment.” Kristen clearly applies that learning to life and to her work with clients.

Kristen Moeller offers these commitment tips:

1. Get clear on your commitment. This involves being honest with yourself and doing some self-searching so you can act with integrity. Bring awareness to what you are really ready to do and willing to do. What kind of life do you want? And does a certain goal fit into it right now or is it a distraction?

2. Speak it out into the world. “Create it by speaking it,” she says. Don’t keep you commitment quiet. Speak it so there is accountability.

3. Honor your word. Do what you say you will do. Treat it like it’s real. Set up a plan to make it happen. (As we spoke about this I made a commitment to Kristen to get her a book proposal by October 15th).

4. Surround yourself with supportive people.

5. Spring clean your dreams. Take out your dreams periodically to decide which ones you’re going to act on and which ones you’re going to put back on the shelf. “I want to sky dive, but I haven’t put my word on it yet. Yet, I’m already talking about my third book and I haven’t finished the second one yet,” she states happily. This kind of clarity helps to take the struggle out of commitment and make it a joyful act.

To learn more about Kristen’s 6 key principles that will put you into action, check out her personal development book, “Waiting for Jack,” and visit her website at www.kristenmoeller.com

Melissa Wadsworth is a Certified Dream Coach®, Intuitive Dream Board Artist, Inspirational Speaker and Author. She guides evolutionary midlife makeovers for women at a crossroads, helping them to transition from Blocked to Brilliance™ for a life of full of purpose and passion. To access her complementary 11-day video course, How to Live the Life of Your Dreams Through Clarity, go to www.melissawadsworth.com

This video is a perfectly harmonious manifestation. It features my intuitive dream board art along with brain wave music created to increase your clairvoyance and intuition. For the best results, it’s recommended that you use headphones to listen as you view it.

When I was recently on vacation in Laguna Beach, I video taped the surf in order to capture the sound of waves, since it is one of my favorite sounds (right up there with bells chiming and children laughing). So I was happily surprised that this wonderful piano music was harmonized with the sound of waves and birds to accompany the video.

I take it as a magical sign that sometimes just being clear and knowing what you are in resonance with will produce more of that for you to behold and appreciate. Creating dream boards is a powerful tool clarity and knowing what you relate to at an emotional and spiritual level.
 

 

The positive effects of Mind Power Music

Also, I love the idea that listening to music that has been created with a clear intention and brain science knowledge, can have a beneficial effect on the brain. Given what enters our brains haphazardly each day, it’s smart to make choices about how to nurture one’s brain. I hope you find this true with this video created to increase and expand your intuition. If you want more information on this type of music go to www.mindpowerMP3.com. 

I’m very grateful to the creative vision and talent of Cyndi Krupp at www.evolutionezine.com for this manifestation.

Melissa Wadsworth is a Certified Dream Coach®, Intuitive Dream Board Artist, Inspirational Speaker and Author. She guides evolutionary midlife makeovers for women at a crossroads, helping them to transition from Blocked to Brilliance™ for a life of full of purpose and passion. She uniquely uses her dream board process to elevate this process. To access her complementary 11-day video course, How to Live the Life of Your Dreams Through Clarity, go to www.melissawadsworth.com ]]> http://www.melissawadsworth.com/increase-your-clairvoyance-and-intuition-with-video-featuring-dream-board-art/feed/ 0 http://www.melissawadsworth.com/how-to-break-and-release-old-patterns-the-sedona-method-way/ http://www.melissawadsworth.com/how-to-break-and-release-old-patterns-the-sedona-method-way/#comments Sat, 17 Sep 2011 17:25:13 +0000 Melissa Wadsworth http://www.melissawadsworth.com/?p=818 The Sedona Method, created by Hale Dwoskin, has worked for thousands of people to help them break old patterns and release out-dated beliefs that no longer serve them. Since, at any time, we may get triggered and notice a limiting belief, the Sedona Method process can be used over and over again. It’s especially good if you’ve asked yourself recently, “How in the heck do I get rid of this old belief? I’m so done with it!”

The surprising thing about The Sedona Method is that you don’t fight against the belief, you welcome it instead. This is a going with the flow rather than going against the tide process.

I recently tried it with a limiting belief I had been holding about being a “third wheel.” This ancient belief surprised me by showing up in a time in my life when I felt well and done with thinking of myself this way. I feel very fortunate tohave realized it was still lurking in the shadows.

What old beliefs come up for you to review? What do you do when that happens? Do you try putting a lid on the old belief or ignore it? Do you fight it? How do you process it?

Just knowing these things can inform you about whether you take steps to be more responsive or more reactive in your life. As Buddha’s Brain author Rick Hanson recommends: spend more time being responsive and less time being reactive.

We may not be able to erase our hot buttons completely, but we can empower how we process them.

Melissa Wadsworth is a Certified Dream Coach®, Intuitive Dream Board Artist, Inspirational Speaker and Author. She guides evolutionary midlife makeovers for women at a crossroads, helping them to transition from Blocked to Brilliance™ for a life of full of purpose and passion. To access her complementary 11-day video course, How to Live the Life of Your Dreams Through Clarity, go to www.melissawadsworth.com