July 6, 2013 | Posted in: Leading Hartfully, Living Hartfully, Wealthy Woman

It was Independence Day 16 years ago that I had an idea to write a book. The ideas for the book kept flowing to me the week before and I couldn’t stop the flow if I tried. It was the exact opposite of writer’s block, it was writer’s tsunami. I sat on my deck and started to write and write and write in my spiral-bound notebook. Yes, this was before the advent of laptops and digital notebooks. 🙂  I put myself on house arrest for 4 days over the long weekend and kept writing until I ran out of ideas.

I’d been noticing how everybody I seemed to meet in America was tired, lacked energy and vitality and a zest for living fully. I’d been in Europe for the past 10 years and coming back to the hectic, frantic, stressed-out East coast was quite a culture shock. I decided to write the little book Hit Any Key to Energize Your Life: a Caffeine-free Guide to Perk Up Your Spirits. I gained my independence after putting pen to paper over those 4 days because that little book hit a nerve. That little book launched a career and a passion and decades of research into what makes some people have tons of energy and some people barely make it home from work each day before launching into bed to do it again tomorrow. That little idea gave me the independence to travel the world and speak on the topic I love and help people regain their energy and spice for their business and their life.

I was known as Gail Howerton when I first published the book in 1997. You never forget your first book…. and there have been at least 30 more which I’ve written or published pieces and parts in, but it was that first one that gave me the independence to make choices to be the messenger and mentor to many so they can do their life’s work. At last check, that little book was still for sale on quite a few websites in the first edition. I’ve since gone to e-book format and updated it many times over with new and improved information. But it started with a spark, and idea, an itch and an intution to listen to the tidalwave of ideas that kept coming in wave after wave.

What do you need independence from? What ideas are you listening to or ignoring? Where is your itch? What is working for you and what is not? From what, or who do you need to extricate yourself from so that you are independent, or at least inter-dependent so that you gain yourself, your freedom, your wings to soar into your zone of brilliance. You can start any old day, but why not start on Independence Day? It’s a great marker day that you won’t soon forget. Start now to listen to the ideas that you can’t turn off. There is a reason they get louder and louder and louder – you need to listen. Is it independence from a memory, an ex, debt, TV,  chips, a job you hate, a friend who is taking more than giving, an employee who is making your life harder rather than easier, a bad habit, shopping addiction or any addiction for that matter, something that doesn’t serve you any more? What is it that you can claim your independence from? Excuses? Complaining? Gossip? Housekeeping? (I’m a big fan of outsourcing to gain independence from things  not in my zone of brilliance.)

I’ve also found a new good habbit several years ago adding to the independence being an independent distributor and collecting residual income. Aaaaahhhh, the ring of residual income, so sweet.  I felt the same waves of excitement and ideas coming to me once I heard about the possibilities of Send Out Cards. The thoughts of how business owners could use it for relatioship marketing and customer appreciation, of how to remember birthdays and anniversaries and make sending cards and gifts easier and most cost effective, of how to help organizations earn additional income and families to earn additional income in the current financial climate and how military families can stay connected or college students can earn income or write home easily. The possibilities seemed endless to me and the ideas  and income just keep on coming.

Check it out for yourself and send some custom greeting cards on me as my gift to you at BizBuilderCards.com. You may just find your way to independence through sending out positive vibes, kindness and appreciation. Making a living through giving feels good for the sender and the receiver and independence never felt so good as sending love and gratitude around the world. Cheers to your independence!

As the CEO (Chief Energizing Officer) at Hartful Living including GaiaHart.com and BizBuilderCards.com; I’m a Messenger and Mentor for women entrepreneurs, connecting them to their capacity to energize their work and their lives in the art of living Hartfully. At BizBuilderCards.com, you can make a living through giving with greeting cards and gifts to build your network net worth as an additive to your current business or an easy way to send gratitude and kindness to the world.