Becky Ivory is still booking speaking engagements for 2019
Do you want to help your organization develop a greater connections, increase  confidence and eliminate fear? Becky Ivory is now booking for speaking engagements in 2019. Contact Becky to learn how she can add value to your organization. 

​When taking pictures of a baby, try getting down on their level to see things as they do. When taking a picture of flowers, try focusing in on just one flower, or better yet, a recurring pattern within the leaves. Realtors know that an aerial view of a yard can be much more attractive than one from the typical eye-level.
 
I have learned that the same can be true about life.
 
By the time you have circled the sun a few decades, it can be hard to remember that your perspective on life is not the only possible view. We think we know people, situations and things. We predict what will happen at work. We mind-read our loved ones. We decide what is possible based on what we believe has “always been”.
 
What would happen if you spent just a moment looking at your life from a different view? What does it look like through the eyes of your child or parent? What might you attempt if you had never failed before? Is there beauty in the individual pieces of your life that you have missed in an effort to fix the whole?
 
A good coach is trained to help you view the challenges of your life differently…in a way that can help you see and access their possibility and potential…and help you use those challenges to bring greater significance and beauty to the life you live.
 
Before you give up on your dream…before you settle for the everyday picture, do yourself a favor and get a new perspective. 

​Do you want to help your organization develop a greater connections, increase  confidence and eliminate fear? Becky Ivory is now booking for speaking engagements in 2019. Contact Becky to learn how she can add value to your organization. 

​The grade-school boy had the heart of an entrepreneur as he lugged a pile of outdated calendars into the classroom, looking for someone with something to trade. He was in luck. The little girl had brought in an authentic 1887 silver dollar for show-and-tell and he was in love…not with the little girl, but with the silver dollar.
 
To this day, my husband often wonders what that little girl’s parents said when she excitedly arrived home that night, excited about the beautiful pictures on her 2 outdated calendars, not worth the paper they were printed on, and no silver dollar in sight. He, however, still owns that 1887 silver dollar and uses it to teach a valuable lesson: are you investing in the things that matter?
 
What do you value? If you took just 60 seconds right now (and I suggest you do) to list just the things you value most in life, what would the list look like? Family? Relationships? Peace? God? Health? I imagine many of our lists would look similar. Now, let’s find out if you really value these things as much as you believe.
 
Paul Martinelli always says, “If you want to know what people value, check their datebook and their checkbook.” It’s true. Take a moment and look at the last 30 days on your calendar, and the last 30 days of your expenses for evidence that you truly do value those things.  If a jury had only your calendar and your bank statements as evidence, would they be able to convict you of loving your family, taking care of your health, or worshipping God?
 
It’s all too easy to give lip service to the things of great value, but be side-tracked on a day-to-day basis by the colorful pictures that promise us immediate gratification, only to realize down the road that we have lost what really mattered.
 
Today is the time to stop buying into the lies that have been holding you back, and invest in the bright future of significance and fulfillment that you have always wanted. The choice is yours. Today, you can choose to invest in what matters. 

​“First, you must climb up this telephone pole using nothing but the metal spikes hammered into the side,” our perky hosts announced. Once we arrived at the top, we were then expected to shimmy across another telephone pole, this one lying so high that the birds wondered why we were crowding in on their territory. For the women brave enough to get that far, we could fly like those birds on a zip line, safely back to planet earth.
 
I was not one of those women.
 
Significantly overweight, I did not know if I could climb the first pole, and I was certain I did not want my friends on the ground to be staring at my harness-laden behind as I ascended, so I took the coward’s way out and relegated myself as the cheerleading squad. They flew like birds. I clipped my own wings and stayed on the ground.
 
This overnight retreat had gathered together a great bunch of women, mostly in their 30’s and 40’s…all except one: Janet.
 
Janet was the age of my mother, and could have been the grandmother to some of the new moms in the crowd. But that didn’t stop her from being one of the first to throw on the harness and climb that pole like a pro. I’ll never forget her jumping into mid-air, enjoying every minute of the ride back to solid ground. It was the first time I ever met Janet, and I learned quickly that I wanted to be just like her.
 
As the years went by, I continued to watch Janet. She valued her health and stayed very physically active. She was not immune to the challenges of life but she never let outward circumstances dictate her happiness. She loved her family. She showed up to every church and community activity, and made friends with anyone and everyone. She was one of the healthiest, happiest people I’ve known.
 
I last saw her not long ago and she was as vibrant and happy as ever, so it came as a shock when I discovered she had died unexpectedly. My first reaction was one of shock and sadness, but then a smile spread across my face. “Go, Janet!” was all I could think. “You did it!”
 
There is a saying in the Christian world that asks, “What would Jesus do?” It is meant to help us measure our own actions against the loving characteristics of Christ and inspire us to do better. This past week, the phrase, “what would Janet do” has come into my mind several times when I am faced with taking the stairs or the elevator…staying home or heading out to socialize…choosing to be angry or exchanging my grumpiness for a smile.
 
You see, Janet taught me that happiness is a choice. If I want to become an elderly woman who can walk and drive and climb telephone poles, I have to walk and drive and climb telephone poles now. If I want to become an elderly woman who makes lots of friends, is involved in my community, and finds happiness in each simple day, then I must invest myself in making friends, in my community, and in finding happiness in each simple day now. Janet has taught me that it is the little choices we make daily that will determine whether we get stuck on the ground or overcome our challenges and fly with the birds. 

​Do you want to help your organization develop a greater connections, increase  confidence and eliminate fear? Becky Ivory is now booking for speaking engagements in 2019. Contact Becky to learn how she can add value to your organization.