Stepping Stones | The Barefoot CEO

Sunday, December 2, 2018

Sometimes on the way to your dream you get lost and find a better one. Now more than ever I am finding people are truly reevaluating life. Perhaps with our ever-changing landscape now is the perfect time to step back and ponder what other paths we might have taken, what passions and pursuits we wished we had let our hearts follow. It is okay to change our minds and it’s never too late to start.

I have a friend who is always telling me I should write screenplays. Share all the funny adventures I have had. Well maybe I will? Life is full of new chapters. I am open to all possibilities.

As Oprah would say, what I know for sure, is that it is never too late to edit and revise!

Lisa Hammond
The Barefoot CEO ®

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Saturday, January 4, 2014

Years ago I was at a motivational conference when the speaker asked the group what at the time seemed like a simple question. She asked: What would you do if you knew you would not fail? If you were guaranteed success what would you attempt? I still find that question to be one of the most clarifying we can ask ourselves. When we eliminate all our self-doubts and remove all our inner (and outer) critics, we have a better chance at getting at the truth.

Therein lies the answer to the age-old question, what do I want to be when I grow up. Think about it. What would you do if you were absolutely guaranteed success? Would you be a stand up comic, an architect, a photographer, own a café, design clothes, go back to law school, become a dive master and move to an island? Whatever your fantasy, that’s what you should be doing —guarantee or no guarantee.

I truly believe that discovering our own passions and finding the courage to follow them are our greatest callings. When people ask me what the single most important tool is for unearthing our dreams, I tell them holding still. We are all moving too fast, with too much information coming from too many outside sources. In order to find our authentic purpose we have to spend lots of time listening, really listening to ourselves. It seems so simple really, but how many of us actually do it?

“At the beginning of something there has to be nothing. We have to give ourselves a clean slate – and permission to dream.” ~excerpt from Dream Big

Lisa Hammond
The Barefoot CEO ®

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Friday, September 13, 2013

Without a goal or a dream we are charting our course without a map. I have discovered that how we chart our course can be as varied and unique as the dreams we have. Some people are visual, others make lists, for some it’s a numbers game.

I have been creating Vision Boards long before they had a name. This all began years before I knew what an affirmation was. Since I was a little girl I have either made lists of things I wanted to accomplish or cut out pictures of places I wanted to travel. I have no doubt this process along with a lot of hard work has been the foundation for following my dreams.

Watching Diana Nyad reach the shore after swimming for over 53 hours to achieve her dream of swimming from Cuba to Florida was incredibly inspiring. This was Diana’s 5^th attempt. She did something at 64 that she wasn’t able to do at 28. Just think about that! At the age of 64 Diana embodies the spirit of commitment and persistence. I have had the honor to meet Diana and hear her story in person and she is full of passion and purpose.

I just came across a list I made back in 1991. My goals were so much simpler back then. Even the list was simpler—a white piece of paper with items typed on it. Yes, you read that correctly. Typed. It was 1991 and I still owned a typewriter. The list had 23 items on it and 21 had been crossed off. Crossed off with a pink highlighter. The two items that had not been crossed off made me laugh. One was no longer needed and the other one wasn’t a priority. Everything else that mattered was crossed off with that pink highlighter. Finding that list reminded me of the value of a list, a goal, a dream.

We must have a dream. Not everyone will set out to sail across the world or swim between two countries. But we ALL must have a chart a course.

My lifelong love of Vision Boards and my firm belief that the words and images we choose to surround ourselves with have power ultimately grew into the Stepping Stones collection and the Permission to Dream Journal. Dreams can take you all over the world, and the Permission to Dream workshop series did just that. Wanting to manifest your dream is universal!

I challenge you to create a new list or make a new Vision Board this weekend! Put on a comfy Barefoot CEO T-shirt and get inspired. Order via the blog or purchase at one of my speaking events.

Lisa Hammond
The Barefoot CEO ®

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Tuesday, May 31, 2011

In my home we frequently use the expressions, get an “app” for that, or we need an app for that. As an iphone loving family app’s are part of our vernacular. So when I got my own apps, it was VERY exciting!!! As far as my twenty-something kids were considered Mama had finally hit the big leagues!

Winning all kinds of awards over the years–didn’t impress them. Being in Oprah’s magazine–didn’t impress them. Running a 10 million dollar company–didn’t impress them. Getting an App–now that impressed the hell out of them! You know you have done something right when you become your child’s Facebook status!!!

My Stepping Stones and Permission to Dream cards are available as an App, inspiration has arrived for your phone!

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/lisa-hammonds-stepping-stones/id356818025?mt=8

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/lisa-hammonds-permission-to/id356814806?mt=8

Lisa Hammond
The Barefoot CEO ®

Thursday, February 17, 2011

It seems that we are being given reminders in both large global ways and in small personal ways to focus on what matters. A new sense of hope and opportunity seems to be emerging. Let’s embrace it! Find the time to give back, speak and show your affection often, keep promises, believe more strongly in first steps.

Let’s begin putting our intentions into action. I am talking about a new way of approaching life. The way we spend our time is ultimately the way we spend our lives. Devote your time and energy to what really matters.

What do you always think about doing, but don’t actually do? What does your heart desire? Have you always wanted to run a marathon, take a trip to the land of your ancestors, take a photography class, learn to speak another language, plant a garden, or volunteer at a local charity? Let this be the year you actually do it! The reality is we make time for whatever is really important to us. If it is truly a priority we find, we carve out, we create the time.

One of the first quotes I added to the deck of inspirational cards I created called Stepping Stones was a favorite by Ivy Baker Priest, “The world is round, and the place which may seem like the end may also be the beginning.” It’s fun to say that now both my Stepping Stones and Permission to Dream cards are AP’s for the iphone!

Sometimes on the way to your dream you get lost and find a better one. It is never too late to start living the life you were meant to live!

Lisa Hammond
The Barefoot CEO ®