Dawna Stone

You Can Have A Better Life

Dawna Stone's Blog

How Writing A Book Changed My Life

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It took me nearly 20 years to write my first book. I would start writing and maintain the momentum for a few days, only to get distracted and eventually push the project aside. It wasn’t that I wasn’t motivated or passionate about getting my book done; I just never seemed to find the time to make my writing a priority. There always seemed to be something else taking center stage, so the book writing got shoved to the sidelines. It wasn’t until I made my book writing a priority and set a mandatory writing schedule for myself that I finally became an author.

Publishing my first book changed my life for the better. It catapulted my income, opened countless doors, landed me five-figure speaking engagements and a six-figure traditional book deal, in addition to getting me regular gigs on TV and radio shows as an expert guest—ultimately providing me with even more credibility.

Bonus: The Writer's Blueprint: 5 Secrets to Building Productive Writing Habits
Download Here!

I believe that anyone who wants to write a book, feels passionate about a specific topic or has expertise worth sharing should publish, but few ever get past the initial planning phase. My advice: Don’t let another day go by while simply thinking about writing a book.

We are all so busy that finding time to write a book may seem like a herculean task but in reality, it just takes some prioritizing. To date, I’ve written seven books all while simultaneously running two companies and taking care of two young children. If I can do it, you can too!

If you’re reading this, no matter your current level of busyness you must be already contemplating writing a book. But let’s start with the basics: Is writing a book truly the best move for you?

I believe that, if you are: an entrepreneur who wants to grow your business; an employee who wants to take his or her career and salary to the next level; a stay-at-home mom who wants to enjoy passive income; or a leader in the community who wants to boost his or her credibility (both locally and nationally) or simply promote a cause, then becoming a published author is right for you.

For the entrepreneur…

Writing a book can be the necessary catalyst to grow your business, boost your revenues and give you the freedom of which you’ve only dreamt. Authoring a book—no matter how busy you may be—is something every entrepreneur should do (but very few do). Those authors who do follow through land in a league of their own, gaining even more influence and building more credibility.

A book can be the perfect sales and marketing tool for your business by gaining you more credibility, garnering more trust and catapulting your business to the top. The authority and prestige that accompany authoring a book can mark the difference between simply making ends meet and being profitable beyond your wildest dreams. A book is also the best possible brand builder. It can strengthen your company’s brand, your personal brand or both.

Authoring a book can help build trust in the eyes of potential customers. Once you write a book on a particular subject, you immediately receive a level of trustworthiness that would otherwise be difficult to forge.

A book can also answer questions that your potential clients might have and help you close a deal before even speaking to someone—saving time and effort for everyone involved. Better yet, a book can allow you to sell your services for a premium. While more and more companies compete on price, a published book gives you the ability to hold firm on your rate. People are more willing to pay a premium to work with the expert, as it’s naturally expected to pay more to work with the best.

Bonus: The Writer's Blueprint: 5 Secrets to Building Productive Writing Habits
Download Here!

For the executive…

If you work for someone or are an executive in a large company, becoming a published author can propel your career and salary, while making you an invaluable asset.

The Book Accelerator program will teach you how to write and publish a book in as short a period as 16 weeks, positively changing your life and finances in the process. You can become a sought-after speaker or someone frequently chosen to present at conferences and other industry events. All of this also makes you a valuable and more marketable asset at your current company, should you be strategizing toward a vertical move.

For the stay-at-home mom…

A book, if done correctly, can provide passive income for years. If you’re a stay-at-home mom with an area of expertise or a passion you want to share, writing a book can bring in additional family income.

Depending on the topic of your book, being a published author can also help you get back into the working world, should this be a future goal. I know many extremely intelligent and hard-working women who find it difficult to re-enter the job market after taking several years off to raise their children. Being a respected, published author can open doors that otherwise might be inaccessible.

For the community leader…

If you’re a leader in the community, sit on a nonprofit board of directors or have an important environmental or political message to share, a book can give you the clout to get things done and to get your cause noticed. A book that’s been properly written and promoted can build awareness or make fundraising easier.

Whether you’re a business owner wanting to double your revenues and profits, a seasoned executive who wants to catapult a career to the next level, a stay-at-home mom who wants to bring in passive income or a leader in the community who wants to bring awareness to a cause, publishing a book can make it happen.

A book can be the difference between simply doing well and becoming ultra successful!

Ready to write your book? Get the FREE Bonus: The Writer's Blueprint: 5 Secrets to Building Productive Writing Habits. Download Now!

How My Self-Published Book Earned Me a Book Deal!

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I spent years dreaming about writing a health and wellness book and I had my heart set on getting a publishing deal with one of the large New York publishing houses. But no matter how hard I tried or how many book proposals I sent out, I couldn’t get a deal. The feedback was always the same. The publishers all commented that the concept wasn’t unique and didn’t have a “hook.” You see, my book was simply a step-by-step guide for eating healthier and losing weight. There was no gimmick, as it wasn’t a quick-fix plan. But without this selling point, it seemed my book wasn’t interesting enough for the large publishers.

I would be lying if I didn’t tell you that I found the multiple rejections to be extremely discouraging. But I wasn’t ready to quit. So rather than giving up on the dream of publishing my book Healthy You, I took a slightly different path.

Instead of shelving the idea, I decided to try my hand at self-publishing. I felt passionate about the book and believed there was an audience for it, so I moved forward on my own. Guess what? My self-published book did so well that the same publishers who initially rejected my idea later expressed major interest in the book. That self-published book landed me a six-figure book deal!

If you want to write a book but can’t find an agent to represent you or a publisher who wants to publish you, why not try your hand at self-publishing?

I could have very easily given up on my dream of getting the book published by a large publishing house; instead, I simply found another road that led me to my end goal. Could self-publishing be your road map to success?

Don’t waste another day “thinking” about writing a book. I believe anyone who wants to write a book, feels passionate about a topic or has knowledge worth sharing should do so.

 

Focus On What Matters Most

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I used to thing I had to do it all to be successful, but success came when I focused on what mattered most. If you’re like me, you may feel overwhelmed at times. There always seem to be so much to do and so little time to get it all done.

In order to get more done, I used to buy into the multitasking concept. I figured the more I could do at once, the more I would accomplish. But the opposite actually happened, the more I loaded onto my plate, the less I got done—and the more stressed I became.

BONUS: 7 Secrets to Your Best Life!
Click Here.

We try to do it all, but we end up doing it all poorly and poor execution doesn’t equate to the desired outcome we’re hoping for or the success we are striving for.

When I started focusing on what mattered most I didn’t stop doing important tasks, I just learned how to focus my attention on the things that mattered most and purge the unimportant tasks that were consuming most of my day.

I learned to work smarter rather than longer or harder and I learned to work on a few things—the things that would catapult my success rather than on a laundry list of things that didn’t get me any closer to my goals.

It’s not easy to refocus and shift gears as we’ve all been taught that doing more is good. In fact, you may feel a little anxiety at first as you let go of some of the items on your list. But lets be honest, most of us have items on our to do list that have been collecting virtual dust for weeks, months or even years. Isn’t it time we take those items off our list?

I can tell you from experience, that taking items off our list immediately reduces stress. If you’re like me however, no matter how long something has been on the list, you may feel uneasy about getting rid of it. Here’s a little hack that can help. Simply build another list called: Items I may or may not return to in the future. This way, you won’t lose the task but it also won’t be weighing you down. You can then simply review the list every few months or as needed (or not at all).

We are all extremely busy and unimportant tasks often take over our lives causing us to waste valuable time. We are constantly overwhelmed and our life is overflowing with trivial tasks, unimportant conversations and unproductive activities. So it becomes important for us to look at everything we want to accomplish and decide what matters to us.

Focusing on what’s important can immensely improve our lives. So how do you determine what matters most? Start by looking at all the things you want to achieve and but together a list, if you don’t already have one.

Then take your list and go through a series of four simple steps to ensure you’re focusing on what matters most:

  1. Prioritize
  2. Eliminate
  3. Delegate
  4. Schedule

Prioritize

Prioritization is key to focusing on the things that matter most. Far too many little and insignificant tasks creep into our day causing us to waste minutes if not hours. This wasted time keeps us from achieving the more important tasks that can truly make a positive impact on our lives.

If we can prioritize our tasks, we can free ourselves up for what matters most.

Eliminate

Not only is it important to prioritize everything you have on your to-do list, but it’s important to take items off your list that won’t improve your life or the life of someone around you.

Many of us have items on our to-do list that have been on there for so long that they are collecting virtual dust. These long-standing to-do’s only cause us undo stress. Take a good look at your to-do list and ask yourself these three questions:

  1. Will this task or project improve my life?
  2. Will this task or project help me achieve my end goal (one that matters)?
  3. If I don’t complete this task or project now, will it negatively affect my life?

Go through every one of the items on your to-do list and ask your self these three questions. If you answer yes to any of them, then keep the item on your to-do list but if you answer no to all of them, remove the item from you list. If eliminating items from your list makes you feel anxious then file that to-do item in a separate list as mentioned above.

Delegate

Once you’ve prioritized your list and eliminated those items that were unimportant and didn’t add any value to your life, review the remaining items on the list and determine if someone other than you can do any of them. That is, see which ones you may be able to delegate to someone else. Can your spouse, sibling, friend or co-worker do it for you? Then start delegating and free up your time for the activities that matter most.

Schedule

Research shows that people tend to do the simple, unimportant tasks first and save the more time consuming or difficult ones for last. The issue is that there is never enough time to get every thing done so those more important tasks never get accomplished and we spend our days, weeks and years focused on the unimportant items on our list.

If you’ve done a good job prioritizing, eliminating and delegating, you should have very few if any unimportant items left on your list. But even so, tackle the items that matter most first to ensure you get them done. More over, if we do the things that matter most when we are still fresh, i.e. first thing, we will be able to give them the focus and attention they deserve.

Try spending your first hour or two every day working on what matters most—before you check email, social media, texts or return calls. Don’t do anything that might distract you. Instead focus all your attention on accomplishing your goals. You’ll be amazed how one or two hours each day (which you would have spent working anyways) can be the impetus to achieving all your dreams.

Schedule your most important tasks into your calendar just like you would an important meeting. For example every day from 8am to 10am or 9am to 11am set aside for “What Matters Most” and get specific. For me, I spend my first two hours of every day on my writing. I know from experience that if I open my email, I won’t accomplish my most important to-dos so I’ve made it a habit to not open my email or answer my phone until my scheduled writing time is over.

Time is fixed so how do we make time for everything? You don’t! The only way to make the most of the time we have and to focus on what matters most is to prioritize what needs to get done, eliminate those items that don’t, delegate when we can and schedule it in our day.

In his bestselling book, The Purpose Driven Life, Rick Warren says, “You become effective by being selective. It is usually meaningless work, not overwork, that wears us down, saps our strength and robs our joy.” He goes on to say, “If you want your life to have impact, focus it! Stop dabbling. Stop trying to do it all. Do less.”

Are you dabbling? Are you trying to do it all? Become selective and find success and joy by doing what matters most!

BONUS: 7 Secrets to Your Best Life!
Click Here.

To Your Best Life,

Dawna

A Happy Mom is A Healthy Mom

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7 tips to stay healthy (and happy) when you’re trying to manage it all.

If you’re a mom, your world most likely revolves around your children. And although being a mom brings incredible joy, it also brings sleep deprivation, stress and a constant stream of worry. There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t worry about my kids!

As the mom of an eight-year-old and a Nine-year-old, I sometimes feel overwhelmed. My kids are the most important things in my life, but I sometimes get so caught up in trying to be the best mom possible that I forget to take care of myself in the process. That self-neglect can make me feel worn out, stressed and unhealthy.

BONUS: 7 Secrets to Your Best Life!
Click Here.

It took me years to realize that ignoring my needs wasn’t actually helping me take care of my kids’ needs. In fact, the less I focused on my needs, the less vibrant and healthy I felt and the more difficult it became to deliver on my kids wants and needs. When I did finally take the time to take care of myself, I not only had more energy, which translated into better interaction with my kids, but I felt so much happier. A healthy mom is a happy mom and a happy mom is a better mom!

So how do you stay healthy—and happy—when you’re struggling to manage it all and be the best mom possible? Following these 7 simple tips can help:

Find some “me” time

You deserve a break. Carve out some alone time, walk around your local farmer’s market, cuddle up somewhere quiet and read a book or your favorite magazine. Give yourself a facial or simply take a long hot bath. Focusing on just you—even if only for a short period of time—can really help you stay calm during an otherwise hectic life.

Exercise

Don’t let your workout get pushed off. Schedule your exercise just like you would an important work meeting or a parent teacher conference. Also, schedule your exercise first thing in the morning. It’s been shown that people who exercise in the morning are more likely to stick to a regular routine.

Have a night out

Whether it’s a date with your husband (or significant other) or a girls’ get-together, make reconnecting with loved ones and friends a priority. A night out without kids can really be a relationship booster. In fact, a study released by the National Marriage Project reported the couples who spent time together at least once a week were three times more likely to report being “very happy” in their marriages. And women who participate in a weekly or monthly girls’ night out often say that the time with their girlfriends makes them a better wife, mom and person.

BONUS: 7 Secrets to Your Best Life!
Click Here.

Get enough sleep

Getting adequate sleep it not only important to your health, but it has also been shown to boost your mood, improve creativity, reduce stress and make it easier to lose weight. If you have to get up early for work or to get the kids off to school, try going to bed just 30 minutes earlier—that 30 minutes could make a huge difference in your day and your happiness!

One-on-One time 


Children want to feel special. If you have more than one child, try to set aside to spend one-on-one time with each of them. Not only will your child love the attention and cherish the time you spend with them, but it will also give you tremendous joy. Whether you have one child or 5, make sure you have special “mommy and me” time with your kids.

Eat Right


Providing your body and mind with the nourishment it needs can increase your energy, improve your mood, help you sleep better and reduce stress and anxiety. Steer clear from highly processed foods and excess sugar and focus on a diet that is fresh and wholesome. Increase your consumption of fruits, vegetables and whole grains and, if possible, eat organic.

Be Positive 


Sadly, we are often the ones who sabotage our own happiness without even realizing it. Negativity can bleed into many other aspects of our life, preventing us from reaching our full potential and hindering our overall happiness. Change your thinking from negative to positive and you can change your life!

P.S. My new book You Can Have A Better Life: 21 Secrets to Getting the Life You Desire—Full of Significance, Joy and Purpose is now available! See it HERE.

How I Lost 40 Pounds By Eating Clean

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As originally published on mindbodygreen:

Best-selling author and weight loss expert, Dawna Stone, has inspired thousands of readers over the years. If you're looking for a quick and simple plan, check out Dawna's 5-Day-Detox or if you're looking for a more detailed action plan, check out her course A 14-Day Clean Eating Program: How To Kick Start Weight Loss In Two Weeks. Read on and find out how Dawna lost 40 pounds and kept it off. 

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In my 20s, I was fat, exhausted and desperate to lose weight. Even though I was 40 pounds overweight, I was much more concerned with fitting into the clothes in my closet than I was about my health.

I had gone from being an extremely fit teenager to being a somewhat fit college student to a 40-pound overweight working woman. I still remember turning down company get-togethers and blind dates because I was so uncomfortable with the way I looked. Desperate to lose weight, I tried just about every diet available.

Unfortunately, none of them satisfied my craving for good food. On each weight loss attempt, I'd lose a few pounds only to give up and gain all the weight back and then some.

It wasn't until I realized that fad diets weren't a viable solution for me that I started to work on a solution. After years of failed attempts to lose weight, I finally found a way to drop all 40 pounds and keep it off for good — in fact, I've been at or near my goal weight for nearly 20 years!

The solution wasn't about depriving myself of treats or starving myself. The solution was simple: Clean Eating.

I started by eliminating excess sugar, processed foods and artificial sweeteners. I also quit eating anything with chemicals or preservatives.

When I finally found a way of eating that had me dropping the pounds quickly and allowed me to eat good food (like fish tacos with mango-avocado salsa, kale and maple-roasted sweet potato salad, 3-bean chili and even gluten-free, dairy-free triple chocolate brownies), I knew I'd found my weight loss silver bullet.

I know what it feels like to be overweight and unhappy but I also know what if feels like to finally fit into a smaller size pair of pants and smile when you step on the scale. I wish everyone who is struggling with their weight and feeling hopeless, like I felt, could know what it feels like to finally lose all the excess weight.

I know what it's like to lie in bed and cry, thinking you'll never lose weight. I know what it's like to turn down invitations because you have no clothes that fit. But I also know how great it feels when the weight starts melting off.

If you've just about given up on ever reaching your goal weight, if your tired of depriving yourself of good food and if you're tired of seeing the number on the scale creep up rather than down, clean eating may be just what you need to jump start your weight loss and once and for all reach your goal weight.

Now that I'm in my late 40's, I believe the most important benefit of being a healthy weight and eating a clean diet is countering disease and keeping your body working well and healthy. But I can't lie: I also love the feeling of fitting into my skinny jeans!

Whether you pick up a copy of the, The Healthy You Diet, (and/or join me for my video course The 14-Day Clean Eating Program) or embark on my quick and simple 5-Day-Detox, I hope you'll give clean eating a try.

You have nothing to lose but your excess weight!

Photo Credit: Sheri Kendrick

What I Tell My Clients To Eat In A Typical Day To Lose Weight

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As originally published on mindbodygreen.

As a certified health coach and author of an award-winning weight loss book and cookbook, I always get asked for quick tips on how to lose weight. Check out the short video below (in the previous post) for my ideal day of eating for weight loss.

If you want even more info about the relationship between food and weight loss, check out my course A 14-Day Clean Eating Program: How To Kick Start Weight Loss In Two Weeks.