LISA BERKOVITZ ~ Inspired Lifestyle Design

I love what I do! I had the pleasure of chatting with my latest guest on the Project Sweet Spot Interview Series, professional photographer, coach, speaker and healer, Christina Morassi. 

If you're a multi-passionate person like Christina (and like me), you're not going to feel like you're fully in your Sweet Spot unless you find a way to combine and integrate the many facets of yourself and your passions to make a difference to others. Christina wants you to know that you don't have to choose! 

After majoring in photography in college, she began her career as a photographer's assistant in the world of high fashion, shooting elite supermodels like Heidi Klum, Giselle and Cindy Crawford. After a death in the family made her realize she needed to focus on healing deep grief within herself, Christina left photography altogether and went on a healing journey, immersing herself in studying various healing arts including cranio-sacral therapy, massage, shamanism and Reiki. She also entered the world of expressive arts, including ecstatic dance and performance art improv.

When she realized that being a happy but broke "hippie" type wasn't really the most powerful way she could do good in the world, she committed herself fully to learning online business structures and marketing, and reinvented herself by combining her passions into a career that didn't exist yet.

Today she works with women entrepreneurs, using her healing arts training to help them deeply tap into and embody the core essence of their brand so they can radiate and express it fully. Then she captures that essence with her camera, and produces celebrity-quality photos for them to use in their businesses. In the process, she helps her clients increase their confidence, raise their fees and attract the quality and quantity of clients they really want for their businesses. 

In this interview, you'll hear how Christina went from earning $600 per month to an average of $15,000 per month only two years after starting her own business, how she financed her significant investment in working with her business mentor who helped her create this new level of success and fulfillment, and why she believes creating your own business is the best personal development program on the planet. 

You can check out how Christina is helping more women entrepreneurs discover how to combine their passions in a unique way through "Your Ecstatic Brand" here: http://bit.ly/z83DkD

You can see before and after photos of Christina's clients after they've worked with her here: http://christinamorassi.com/

You can read the article I wrote about this interview in my Project Sweet Spot columne in Upmarket magazine here: http://bit.ly/zJpuNQ

Enjoy the interview, and I'd love to hear your feedback, questions and requests for who else you want to hear from in this interview series so I can help you step into your own Sweet Spot!

What a fun and fabulous conversation with my fun and fabulous guest, Jen Sincero! 

Bottom line: If you're looking to do good in the world, you've GOT to get over the money thing!! It will take learning some new things, letting go of some cherished beliefs, maybe even letting go of some people in your life, but it's worth it if you've got something to accomplish here on the planet. 

Jen did it, and she explains how in this interview. She was a copywriter for CBS records, in a punk rock band, a best-selling author, a nationally syndicated 'sexpert' travelling all over North America, appearing on national media including The Howard Stern Show - yet she was BROKE. One day, she decided enough was finally enough.

Today, Jen is thriving, travelling the world, about to write her third book, and coaches people on how to "Write Your Damn Book Already!" in her "Write Your Book Proposal In A Week" bookcamp (there's one coming up this month), as well as on how to solve the money thing, fulfill any dream or make life changes in any important areas of their lives. 

Enjoy the interview, and let me know your feedback, questions and/or who else you want to hear from in this interview series. I want it to be of the greatest value to you and your shift into your own Sweet Spot.

I am thrilled to share my first Project Sweet Spot interview today (which also happens to be my birthday!) with Pro Blogger and Trailblazer Jonathan Mead of Illuminated Mind. 

Jonathan is a prime example of someone in his Sweet Spot, having made the successful transition from going from job to job to pay the bills, to becoming a professional blogger with a community of over 22,500 people who also want to learn how to quit their jobs, follow their passion, and make a greater difference in the world. 

Some of the things Jonathan and I discuss in the interview are how he exactly he made his transition financially, how he got his initially-resistant wife on board with his vision, and his advice to others who are just starting out on their own journey into their Sweet Spots. Golden nuggets for you!

Check out Jonathan's latest project, Trailblazer Journey, about how to craft your offer to the world here: http://bit.ly/wjKuGm

Check out the movie trailer Jonathan made about Trailblazer (that involves him almost getting hit by a car, and a sinister robot-like bald guy here - fun!) here: http://bit.ly/yVTehI

Check out my article in Upmarket Magazine about what to do when loved ones aren't supportive of your dream based on this interview here: http://bit.ly/zi7uZV 

Enjoy the interview, and please let me know your feedback, questions, suggestions and any other role models you'd like to hear from in this series! <3

There's something magnificent in the air since we moved into 2012. Can you feel it?

There are some TOTALLY cool things going on in my business since we moved into new year that I'm excited to share. The last quarter of 2011 was a lot about cleaning up loose ends, letting go of what was no longer in alignment, and incubating new ideas. That paved the way for all the new creation that's happening now. 

Here are just a few of the things that are happening right now:

1. I'm in the process of designing a whole new web site that is about to be launched. The site you're on has been good to me, but it was originally built to be temporary, and it's time to evolve to my next level of expression. The new one is going to be hot!

2. I'm officially launching Project Sweet Spot with the new site! If you don't know about it, check out the blog post I wrote about it here: 


http://www.lisaberkovitz.com/1/post/2011/06/project-sweet-spot-is-born.html

I am conducting my first interview for Project Sweet Spot this week, with a role model who's been on my 'wish list' of role models for quite some time already. Things are getting juicy around here - stay tuned!

3. I've just started writing a new column for Upmarket, the new online business magazine founded by Seth Godin and his team at Squidoo. The column is also called "Project Sweet Spot" and will share a key nugget learned from the role models who are interviewed as part of the over project. 

4. I've just put together a very limited-time special offer for my coaching services for a handful of visionary entrepreneurs who are ready to make 2012 the year they bring their vision to life and step into their own sweet spots. Check out the details here and act quickly if you feel pulled (offer expires Friday, January 27th, midnight PST):

http://www.stepintoyoursweetspot.com/

There's no better time time to step up and shine in what you are meant to do on the planet, and I'd love to support you in that. What are YOU going to create in 2012?

Anything or anyone that does not bring you alive is too small for you. ~ David Whyte

I can't believe it's been two months since I last wrote. I've noticed this on the path to fulfilling your purpose: sometimes you need to pause (even though you feel like you want to keep moving forward!). 

Project Sweet Spot started to take form and flight, and I then found myself naturally taking a pause. A pause to feel into my next step. There are so many ways that one can tell good stories, yet which one feels like the best fit for the stories that I want to tell? 
It takes some discipline to trust that everything has its right timing, and you need to trust the feeling inside (it's sometimes pulling you forward in a certain direction and sometimes it stands still) even when your mind doesn't fully understand. 

Telling people's stories is something I'm drawn to do because I've noticed how valuable it's been to me. Learning by studying the theory or model of how something works is useful, but only to a point. We all know that it isn't until you act on that learning that it becomes wisdom. 

Reading or hearing other people's stories of how they created a result that you, yourself, want to create is definitely one of the most effective forms of learning on the planet. You get to hear how they turned knowledge into wisdom, an insight into a tangible outcome. 

The last couple of months have been devoted to looking at how different people that I respect are choosing to tell the stories of, and share the wisdom gained by, living examples of the message that's important to them. I'm listening and learning, both from the content shared and by observing the business models they are using. More on that in future posts!

For now, I have so thoroughly enjoyed the people I've "met" through these interviews, I wanted to pass these awesome resources along to you:

The Rise to the Top with David Siteman Garland 
With a following of over 200,000 people, David does awesome and inspiring business and lifestyle-related interviews with various "mediapreneurs", a term he uses to describe Internet-based entrepreneurs that have created a business around creating media/broadcasting.This includes podcaster, web TV hosts, video bloggers and bloggers. David's style is fun and the good energy is infectious (I can actually say that about each of these hosts listed here). 

Check out David's great work here: http://www.therisetothetop.com/

The Aware Show with Lisa GarrLisa Garr hosts this very popular talk radio program that features best-selling authors and experts in the fields of natural health and personal growth. She is considered an expert in the field of lifestyle and transformational programming. I am currently listening to an interview she did with Bo Rinaldi, who teaches people how to eat a more plant-based diet to increase your energy and your focus, optimize your well-being and eradicate disease (fascinating!!). 

Check out Lisa's great work here: http://www.theawareshow.com/ 

Healing with the Masters with Jennifer MacLeanJennifer MacLean created and hosts this widely-acclaimed teleseminar series that features prominent healers and thought leaders that are devoted to supporting the process of raising personal and global consciousness. Always fun and enlightening. 

Check out Jennifer's great work here: http://www.healingwiththemasters.com/

WISH (Women's International Summit for Health) Teleseminar Series 

I recently discovered Tera Warner and her site http://www.terawarner.com/. Her main work is focused on raw food cleansing and detoxification for women. She created a special teleseminar series called WISH, the Women's International Summit for Health, 40 interviews with leading health experts. If you sign up at her web site, you'll receive one interview per day (all free). These interviews are incredibly informative, I've been listening and learning so much from the range of experts she's showcased. Highly recommended.

Check out Tera's great work here: http://www.terawarner.com/

Soul Art TV Season 2: Thriving as a Creative Spiritual Entrepreneur
Laura Hollick is a gifted artist and coach (I've met her and she's delightful!) who is about to launch her second season of interviews with a series of accomplished creative spiritual entrepreneurs, interviewing them on how they thrive in their life and businesses doing what they are meant to be doing on this planet. Starting October 4th, you can sign up for the series at her web site. Everything Laura does is infused with beauty so you receive not only invaluable content, but you enjoy a feast for the eyes at the same time. 

Check out Laura's great work here: http://www.soulartstudio.com/

Enjoy, and let me know how you like any and all of these that you check out for yourself! :)

Let the beauty of what you love be what you do. ~ Rumi
(Imagine for a moment what this world would be like if people lived by this!!)

I promised to write more about my Eden Unplugged event experience as it integrated, and there's been little chance to do that over the past few weeks. Things have really been accelerating. 

One of the greatest gifts I received from that event was the Tribal Marketplace Game. Each of us who attended had the opportunity to present a workshop to all the other entrepreneurs there based on whatever new product, service or business idea we wanted to offer to the marketplace. 

We each had 1 minute to present our workshop topic for a limited number of workshop slots. Anyone who was not presenting a workshop idea would listen to the initial 1 minute presentations, and after everyone had presented, participants would simply go stand next to the person who was offering the workshop they most wanted to attend. Pretty simple but very powerful to get that immediate and physical feedback from the tribe.

I presented a workshop called "Project Sweet Spot" - an interactive discussion of the shift from the old paradigm of work and business (hard work, struggle, long hours and limited funds) to the new paradigm of work and business, which I am calling the Sweet Spot: greater ease, flow, fun and financial well-being. I had also invited two thriving entrepreneurs who struck me as living examples of working in their Sweet Spots to be on my panel and who I would interview as part of the workshop, Kendra Thornbury (http://www.kendrathornbury.com) and Rebecca Astara (http://www.destinationbliss.com) 

The response was phenomenal, as person after person came to stand next me indicating their desire to come and listen to my workshop! When we actually conducted it, participants listened attentively, asked powerful and relevant questions, and heard the experiences of our panel members and what kinds of lessons they learned along the way of stepping into their own sweet spots. Here are just some of the dozens of lessons that emerged as part of that conversation.

When you are in your Sweet Spot, you will: 
1. Lose track of time
2. Be energized by it no matter how long you are "working"
3. Feel like it comes very naturally to you
4. Feel like you are just being yourself
5. Find challenges are a lot easier to handle than they have been in the past

If you want to move into your Sweet Spot but are not there yet, you can expect you will need to: 
1. Cultivate your faith and trust the process, even you don't have the answers or see the results you want yet
2. Do the necessary inner work and clear the inner blocks to allowing your good to come you
3. Make peace inside yourself that there will be people who do not understand why you are pursuing the path you are on and will tell you you're being unrealistic
4. Give yourself permission to experience joy daily 
5. Be ultra aware of the signs and synchronicities affirming your direction and keep moving forward

What was most amazing about it for me was that I truly felt that I was in my own Sweet Spot as I led this workshop and interviewed Rebecca and Kendra. It was as easy and natural as breathing. And so I intend to be doing a LOT more interviews and events of this type! 

If you are someone who is in your Sweet Spot, or know someone who is, please nominate them to be a person that I interview for Project Sweet Spot. My intent is to gather as many stories as I possibly can of people from all walks of life thriving in their Sweet Spots so we begin to build a critical mass, others can see and feel what it looks like, and they can learn how to move into their own unique Sweet Spots too. Everybody has one! 

You can comment below or I've created a page on Facebook where you can nominate people you think I should interview here: facebook.com/ProjectSweetSpot (and if you feel inspired, please "Like" the page too!)

More fun to follow - stay tuned! :)

WOW. I cannot yet quite put into words my experience at the Eden Unplugged event in Arizona. All I know is that things will be different from this point forward than they have been in the past. I experienced community like never before, connection, authenticity, soul expression and a deeper seeing and knowing between people. I will write more as I integrate more. 

Meanwhile...I just read a fabulous post by Lauren Gorgo who writes the blog "Think with your Heart." She is a channeler and regularly writes energy reports that have been phenomenally aligned with my experience of the path to living from my deepest Essence. I love this passage which aligns completely with my knowing and with my plans for my own Great Work the planet. Now is the time to do what makes each of us feel most ALIVE and VIBRANT:

Today you are You, that is truer than true. 
There is no one alive who is Youer than You.” ~ Dr. Seuss