Seize The Moment
By Donna Maria Coles Johnson

Go for it! Seize the day! If these exclamations are familiar, it's surely because you direct them frequently at your children. As moms, if there’s one thing we are good at, it's telling our kids that the sky is the limit with respect to the possibilities that lie before them. Children thrive on encouragement, and it sets the tone for how they address challenges and opportunities for the rest of their lives. Of course, everyone enjoys encouragement and exhortation, including moms. But in the midst of cheering for our children, we sometimes forget to cheer ourselves on, missing daily chances to take advantage of opportunities of our own.

You Can Do It

When every day is a strange mixture of meal preparation, packing backpacks and finding that elusive matching sock, it can be difficult to create opportunities just for us. But the consequences of not doing so can be long term and devastating. "Candace" is a single mother of two who recently received a generous severance after being laid off from her job. She is a talented artist and designer who can revive an entire room after spending just a few dollars at a craft store. Candace and I chat frequently about her dream of starting a business painting murals for children's rooms. But Candace is so consumed with the ho-hum routine of being a mom that she overlooks opportunities to start her business, even when they fall into her lap. For example, Candace never took me up on my offer to watch her kids while she painted a mural in my son's bedroom -- a job I was also willing to pay her for. Contrast this type of "daydream-wait-hope-see" attitude with the "can-do" attitude of the publisher of this magazine. Hannah's background, talents and parenting experiences propelled her to seize opportunities, and today she is one of my favorite "Lifestyle CEOs" -- enjoying life and business on her own terms.

Enlist Your Personal Cheerleaders
"So how do I get started?" you ask! The simple answer is: start by starting. Start jotting down the opportunities you see on a daily basis. Cull out the unrealistic ones and those that are best saved for the future, then share your "Opportunity List" with trusted advisors. Once you start sharing your dreams, those with the most promise will make themselves known. Choose 3 friends to be your personal cheerleaders by asking them to spend 15-30 minutes a week helping you identify the things on your Opportunity List that best fit this season of your life. Allow them to share fresh ideas for how you can make the most of opportunities.

Leverage Your Assets
Your support system in place and your Opportunity List narrowed to those with the most potential, you are now ready to leverage your assets and capitalize on opportunities. Use your talents, gifts, upbringing, educational background, available funds and anything else at your disposal. Taking even the smallest steps toward opportunity will take you somewhere. Taking steps away from opportunity, or taking no steps at all, will take you nowhere. I prefer the odds on the first deal. Don't you?

Donna Maria is a wife, mother, attorney, author, speaker, publisher and president of the Handmade Beauty Network. She has shared her Lifestyle CEO message on ABC World News, Chicago Tribune, Houston Chronicle, Washington Times, Ebony Magazine, Parents Magazine, Washington Business Journal, Upscale Magazine and others. She lives in Maryland with her husband and children. She can be reached at donnamaria@lifestyleceo.com.