Personal Reflections for the New Year

Can you believe 2015 is almost behind us? WHERE did the time fly? I feel like it was just yesterday that my husband and I were confirming our plans for New Year's Eve and now here we are again. I don't know about you, but 2015 was a big year for me. Some of the biggest highlights include:

1. Finishing writing and publishing my newest book, MEANT TO BE. Now this was no easy task to complete. It took more time and energy than I could have imagined from writing every word to designing the cover, formatting the book and getting it all just right for publication. Wow! I learned so much in the process as I'd never done a lot of these things before. I decided to self-publish through my own publishing company called 10-Q Publishing. With this second book of mine, I can honestly call myself a publisher now as I did it all and am very proud of my accomplishments. Are you thinking of writing a book? Not sure how or where to even begin? Maybe I can help you. 
2. Celebrated my 50th birthday at the Friars Club in New York City watching my husband up on stage in the Frank Sinatra room performing his special brand of comedy magic to a great crowd. I was so proud of him as he made history that night as the first Canadian Comedy Magician to ever perform at the Friars Club. How cool is that?
3. Did a big Book Launch and Presentation of my book, MEANT TO BE. Got a full room standing ovation and the best part was my father, age 93, was in the audience looking up at me. So now I have accomplished 2 goals. I wanted to publish the book in his lifetime and have him be in the front row at the big launch event and presentation. Yes, it feels good.
4. Gave my MEANT TO BE presentation for my first group of high school students and loved the experience so much that I am looking to tour high schools with my presentation across North America as the feedback from the students was so positive and inspiring. Had no idea that speaking to high school students would ever be on my radar. What an exciting adventure this is to know that my book and story can touch the lives of students especially those in Grade 10 who are the same age my mother was when she was taken by the Nazis at 15.
5. I also gave my presentation at my first Church. That too was extremely rewarding as the presentation was so well received and also unexpected. Here's how it came about...  

As the story of the book is about my parents' remarkable lives with my mother a Holocaust survivor in Nazi Europe and my father a survivor of the Nagasaki atomic bomb as a POW in Japan and both of the Jewish faith, one of the audience members at a business association I spoke for earlier in the year came up to me and asked if I would be comfortable to speak in a Church. I told him that I would absolutely be comfortable as long as his Church members want to hear the story. My parents' story is about survival and hope, faith and fortitude, courage and determination and transcends any specific religious faith. It is not just about history or spirituality but about humanity so it was my absolute pleasure to accept his invitation. I am looking to speak at many more Churches in the future.

So as you can see I've been super busy with so many firsts, so many new interests, so many new goals. It's been a lot of work and I've made a lot of sacrifices along the way, but I have no regrets.

Before you look back at the year and start thinking about all the things you didn't accomplish, I ask that you take a deep breath and a step back and reflect on all the good things that happened this past year... What did you achieve? What special memories did you create? What joys did you experience? What were your highlights whether professionally or personally? Do you want to share them? I'd love to hear about it so I invite you to share here in a comment or send me an email roslyn@roslynfranken.com. It's too easy to get negative about what could have been so shake all that off and focus on the positive, what is and now take another step back and give thought to what you'd like to see happen in 2016. And then.... just enjoy the ride and keep focused and open to possibilities.

Wishing you the very best for a very healthy, happy and prosperous New Year.

Warmest regards,
Roslyn

Good to be back with my newest book, MEANT TO BE

It’s been a while since my last post and it’s good to be back. So what have I been up to? Why has it been so long since you’ve heard from me? Well, about a year and a half ago I made a commitment that I wanted to write a book about my parents’ remarkable life story within my father’s lifetime. As he was turning 93 this year, I knew that I did not have the luxury of time on my side. As I’m sure you’ll agree, it is often far too easy to procrastinate on our goals and dreams as we always seem to think we have plenty of time. Without a sense of urgency or commitment, the days, weeks, months and sometimes even years can fly by and next thing you know we still haven’t taken any action toward what we really want to achieve.

All this to say that I could not afford to let myself procrastinate any further on writing my book. It was something I decided to do and so I just buckled down and got it done. With this decision and course of action came sacrifices. I had to prioritize my goals, time and energy and made writing a top priority. If you’re like me, sometimes we can fall into the trap of thinking we have to do it all and be it all and we take on too much. Sound familiar? And then sometimes it’s just so much and overwhelming that we crash and then don’t get anything done. So my decision was to let go of my blog and radio show just for a short while, to take a bit of a hiatus so I could just focus on the book. My tendency is to spread myself too thin and focus on too many things at once so this time I was determined to be smarter and wiser about how I went after my goal to write my book.
 

MEANT TO BE

The good news is that the book is written, published and now available at http://www.meanttobe.today. I am extremely proud of this book as it was not easy to write. It is a very personal and inspirational account where I reveal the unforgettable true story of my parents, John and Sonja Franken - two brave and unlikely survivors of World War II who find enduring love in the most extraordinary of circumstances and then conquer life-threatening health setbacks with the same daring and determination that allowed them to survive their captivity. I also share how when diagnosed with cancer at age 29, I turned to my parents’ examples of positivity and perseverance as inspiration in my own fight to beat cancer and become a long-term survivor.
 

How did John and Sonja survive their captivity? How did they meet to find enduring love? What did I learn from my parents that can help us all live better lives? The amazing answers to these questions and more are what make up the powerful story of MEANT TO BE.

MEANT TO BE will capture your heart, uplift your spirit and open your mind to new possibilities, leaving you both spellbound and wonderfully inspired with universal messages on how to live a better life and make our world a better place.
 

I have an amazing stage presentation that I will be taking on tour to share their story for groups looking for a speaker who will engage, inspire and uplift their audiences with this incredible true story of survival, positivity and perseverance as well as daring and determination, and the powers of faith and fortitude. If you belong to or know of any organizations who may be interested, please do let me know at roslyn@roslynfranken.com.

This has been a true passion project for me on so many levels and now I get to share it with the world. I invite you to check it out and get your copy today at http://www.meanttobe.today.

A New Way of Managing your Goals

“People think that the best thing about setting goals is achieving them. For me it's not just about achieving the end goal but the wonderful satisfaction of taking action and seeing progress”. ~ Roslyn Franken

I came up with this thought this morning and while posting it on my Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/roslynfrankenfanpage(if you haven’t LIKED my Facebook page yet, please feel free to do so), it inspired me to write this post. I hope this will give you the boost you might need to help you manage your goals in a new way and keep going after whatever goal it is you are working toward.

Setting goals is one of those magical things that just about every success guru will tell you is important to do. Then they will tell you to set a date by which you must achieve this goal and just do whatever you need to do to get your desired results and outcome.

I’m all for setting goals, but I don’t necessarily set hard deadlines by which I MUST achieve them. This has definitely worked better for me. I’ve seen so many people set these hard goals and deadlines whether it’s a goal relating to weight loss, reaching sales targets, writing a book, even getting married and having babies. It all sounds wonderful and magical when you first set the goals filled with excitement and enthusiasm, but then what often happens is reality hits. Things don’t always go as planned and work out perfectly. Obstacles get in the way. There are bumps in the road. Then the hard deadline comes and passes and you end up feeling like a big failure yet again because for whatever reasons you did not meet your goal.

This is the hardest point to be at because if you can’t find a way to forgive yourself and keep it all going without throwing in the towel and giving up on your desired goal, then it is that much more difficult to ever reach your goal. It will just seem impossible and like too much work so you may not even want to bother trying anymore. Sound familiar?

So, here’s what I’ve learned from the school of hard knocks. Life is not perfect. Things don’t go as planned. Some days you’re going to have your mojo and be on top of your game and other days, well, not so much. So if you don’t meet that hard and fast deadline, so what? So what if it takes you a little bit longer? I’m not saying to procrastinate and make excuses, I’m just saying that if life gets in the way or you have some challenging bumps in the road to get over first, then do yourself a favor and do what you need to do to get over the bumps and be kind to yourself in the process. To make meaningful and positive changes in your life takes time. Give yourself the gift of time and let go of the deadlines that are just stressing you out and setting you back in the long run.

I’ve learned to enjoy the min-victories along the way to my goals. I’ve learned to celebrate the moments in the process I’m following toward my goals. This is what keeps me so motivated and determined. Without ongoing motivation and determination, it is very difficult to keep it all going. I’m working on some pretty huge projects at the moment that I will soon be sharing with you and although I have no idea how they’re all going to play out and in what timeframe, I sure am enjoying the process. I’m celebrating the many amazing connections I’m making, the progress and increasing fearlessness that is resulting from the successes I’m willing to recognize even when things don’t go exactly as I’d envisioned.

When things don’t work out as planned, the beauty is that sometimes they work out even better.

What is YOUR goal and in what ways can I help to get you started or keep it going when your motivation and determination wane? If you think you can benefit from some extra help and support, then let’s talk. I offer one FREE consultation that you can book online right now at https://www.timetrade.com/book/FVXKS  or you can email me at roslyn@roslynfranken.com with 3 suggested dates and times. If one of your goals is weight loss, then you’ll also want to take my FREE Online Weight Loss Readiness Assessment. Check it out at http://www.roslynfranken.com/freeonlinereadinessassessment.htm

Wishing you continued health, success and happiness.

Roslyn Franken

http://www.roslynfranken.com