Blog
If You Want To Improve, Stop Defending And Start Listening (Forbes Article)
To grow and improve is a desire that most all of us share. Yet, in order to grow and improve we must first be willing to acknowledge our areas of weakness; we must accept who we are in order to become something better. So how can we best recognize our weaknesses? We can stop defending […]
Tagged acknowledge, apologize, attack explain, avoid, blame, challenge, champions, confidence, confident, constructive, criticism, defense, defense mode, defensive, deny, desire, destructive, diversity, example, excuse, feedback, fight or flight, forbes, grievances, grow, illustrate, improve, improvement, justify, ken Blanchard, learn, listen, listening, manipulate, perspectives, point of view, ponder, rationalize, self-aware, self-confidence, self-esteem, sensitive, specific, superior, tone, truth, understand, weakness, withdraw
“To my children, their children, their children, and theirs’…”
That is the inscription on the back cover of my Grandmother’s life history book. My grandmother passed away back in November of 2007. She was one of my dearest friends. And I am forever grateful that she left behind her written life history for me and for my children, and their children, and so on. […]
Tagged blessings, children, experience, family, friends, future, gift, God, gospel, grandchildren, grandfather, Grandmother, gratitude, great grandchildren, heritage, history, Jesus Christ, journal, joy, knowledge, leave behind, legacy, life, life history, life lessons, love, mortality, name, Naomi Eliza Dalton Pearson, posterity, progenitors, record, self-improvement, sorrow, spouse, story, testimony, written record
“Why fit in when you were born to STAND OUT!” -Dr Seuss
Too much time and energy in life gets spent trying to fit in…trying to be seen as “normal”. I personally think that normal is pretty boring. After all, why be normal when you can be exceptional?! When something simply “fits in” it is too easy to blend in, to go completely unnoticed. But when something […]
Tagged 18, adult, appearance, ashley, Ashley Lewis, attention, baby, baby girl, birthday, character, charitable, compassionate, example, exceptional, extra mile, family, fit in, integrity, kind, kindness, lead, leder, lift, love, normal, ordinary, physical, proud, raise, spectacular, stand out, sweet
Promote, Educate, and Perpetuate Entrepreneurship With Me!
Starting the IPOP Foundation was a dream I had for many years. IPOP is an acronym for “In Pursuit of Perfection” which has been a personal mantra of mine for a very long time. Long ago I came to realize that living a successful life isn’t about achieving perfection; rather it was about living life […]
Tagged achieve, business plan, career, change the world, competition, donate, educate, encourage, entrepreneur, entrepreneurship, give back, goal, goals, high school, ideas, impact, IPOP, IPOP Foundation, journey, lessons, opportunities, opportunity, perfect, perfection, perpetuate, pitch, prizes, promote, scholarship, self-confidence, self-reliance, self-reliant, sharing, single mother, single parent, students, success, support, value
“A blink is like a teeny, tiny clap for your face. So even if no one else is cheering you on today, your eyelids are.”
Somedays you have to be your own cheerleader. Some days you have to look in the mirror just like the little girl in this AWESOME video clip and say out loud, “I like myself, I like my hair, I can do anything!” Watch this short little video clip and see exactly what I am talking about […]
Tagged adversity, appreciate, appreciation, attitude, beautiful, blessings, build-up, can do, cheer, cheerleader, clap, confidence, criticize, destructive, happier, happiness, happy, i can do anything, inspiration, joy, motivate, motivation, optomistic, positive, regret, regrets, self talk, self worth, self-confidence, self-esteem, success, video, weakness, you tube
Don’t Panic, Just Focus!
I woke up today with a feeling of panic. My list of priorities to get done had once again grown completely out of control, and what made it worse was the fact that the vast majority of items had deadlines attached to them that if missed would have negative consequences. For example, year-end tax items […]
Tagged amazing, anxiety, consequence, cosequences, deadline, diagnostic, distractions, dsm, fabulous, focus, focused, hard, panic, panic attack, pat on the back, productive, projects, proud, self talk, settle down, stress, stressed, tasks, tax, tax return, thoughts, time management, to do, walk through it, work, work hard
A light that radiates from within
Today I went to Utah State University in Logan, Utah to speak to the students at the Jon M. Huntsman School of Business. The students were lively and engaged and incredibly sweet. I love spending time with them because their energy and optimism is truly contagious. And I have to give huge props to USU […]
Tagged aggies, ashley, beauty, campus, college, countenance, daughter, dean, douglas anderson, entrepreneur, entrepreneurship, example, face, germany, good, grandfather, heart, integrity, jon m. huntsman, lds mission, light, logan, magnet, mission president, position, power, pride, radiate, school of business, selflessly, serve, small world, smile, stanley d. rees, stanley rees, students, university, usu, Utah, utah state university
Feeling Old? You might when you hear this…
Today I was talking with one of my dearest friends and he said “Some days I look in the mirror and don’t recognize the aging man staring back at me because he looks nothing like my young spirit on the inside.” I knew EXACTLY what he meant because I feel that very same way every […]
Tagged age, ages, aging, awesome, body, bryan adams, challenges, confidence, discount, friends, google, gray hair, health, home improvement, lion king, little mermaid, looks, mirror, nintendo, old, physical, pirates of the caribbean, reflection, senior citizen, simpsons, spirit, summer of 69, toy story, vanilla ice, wisdom, wrinkles, young, youth
A Simple Way to Change Someone’s Life For the Better
When we think of doing an act of service for someone we often think of it as having to be some major time consuming event that even the thought of doing stresses us out because we already feel that we have so much to handle on our plates that we can’t take on even one […]
Tagged act of kindness, anxiety, ashley, blanket, caring, change, change someone's life, charitable, daughter, deodorant, difference, example, excited, experiences, family, food, friends, gift card, God, gratitude, heart, Heavenly Father, help, homeless person, hungry, hygiene, impact, kind, McDonalds, meal, moment, old man, prayer, service, stress, subway, thank you, thankful, time, toothbrush, try, warm blanket
Make Eye Contact, Smile, and Say Hello! (Forbes Article)
Have you ever been in a situation where you feel like you don’t know anyone in the room, or you are the new person, or you feel like the odd person out in a situation? I know I have. As a child our family moved a lot – and I mean a lot! Growing up […]
Tagged acceptance, accepted, acknowledged, alone, attention matters, awesome, awkward, belong, business, california, career, colleg, connected, connections, disconnected, eric d. wesselmann, exclusion, eye contact, forbes, fundamental, grateful, health, hello, included, inclusion, intimidated, intimidating, lonely, michigan, moved, moving, new, odd man out, oregon, physical health, psychological, psychological science, purdue university, scary, social attachments, stranger, survival, tennessee, texas, to be looked at, uncomfortable, Utah, virginia, washington, willing
Breaking Stereotypes and Reducing our Sugar Intake
Today was focused on two topics – breaking stereotypes of women in media and reducing our sugar intake to fight obesity. First was a luncheon with actress Geena Davis. Geena is an incredibly tall, beautiful woman, who is clearly incredibly intelligent. She founded the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media, a charity that is […]
Tagged advertising, cdc, Congress, daughter, diabetes, documentary, educate, education, fast food, fed up, film, food label, geena davis, geena davis institue on gender in media, gender balance, leader, media, medical, model, obese, obesity, politics, role model, school lunch, science, soda, soft drink, stereotypes, success, successful, sugar, Sundance, Sundance Film Festival, television, type 2 diabetes, weight, woman, women
“Sometimes when things are falling apart, they may actually be falling into place.”
Earlier this week I shared some thoughts on failure and how it is often our failures that end up leading us to the path of success in our lives. It reminded me of one of my favorite stories that perfectly illustrates the title quote from today’s blog: “Sometimes when things are falling apart, they may […]
Tagged anxiety, depression, excitement, failure, failures, faith, falling apart, falling into place, fear, forward, future, gift, God, hope, joy, look ahead, Optimism, pray, prayer, sadness, ship to come in, shipwreck, stress, success
Private Violence
“Every day in the US, at least four women are murdered by abusive (and often, ex) partners. Over 75% of the homicides occur when the woman attempts to leave or has left her abuser.” Today I attended the showing of the documentary Private Violence at Sundance Film Festival. The documentary follows the story of Deanna […]
Tagged abuse, abuser, abusive, advocate, authorities, beat, complex, complexity, courage, crime, deanna walters, embarrassed, embarrassment, estranged, ex, heartbreak, homicides, humiliate, humiliating, isolation, justice, justice system, kit gruelle, love, move forward, partners, private violence, privateviolence.com, protect, protecting, strength, Sundance, Sundance Film Festival, understand, victim
Another Great Sundance Day Focused on the Success the comes from Failure
Today was another great day at the Sundance Film Festival. It is really fun to have so many people come together from all around the world to gather in Park City to celebrate storytelling. Another great part of Sundance Film Festival is the business gatherings that take place where business leaders can gather together and […]
Tagged acrobat, adobe, adobe systems, anne hathaway, business, desperate housewives, entrepreneur, entrepreneurship, event, fail, failure, film, gary herbert, Governor, Governor Herbert, john warnock, kevin rahm, mad men, matin luther king, movie, movies, networking, panel, Photos, pk clean, premier, princess diaries, priyanka bakaya, scott anderson, Speak, speaking, storytelling, Sundance, Sundance Film Festival, television, Utah, zions bank
Alive Inside – the Power of Music in Our Lives
It is rare for me to be so passionate about a movie that I want to tell the entire world that they MUST go and see it – but today that is exactly what I am about to do. As those following my blog know I am involved with the Sundance Film Festival and have […]
Tagged alive inside, alzheimer's, change the world, dan cohen, dance, dancing, dementia, documentary, elderly, example, favorite songs, film, film festival, foundation, good, grandfather, grandpa pearson, grow, impact, inspire, inspiring, ipod, loved ones, make a difference, media, memories, mission, music, musicandmemory.org, must see, nursing home, nursing homes, old, power, rossato-bennett, sing, singing, social worker, song, story, Sundance, Sundance Film Festival, support, the story of music and memory, uplifting, video, viral, wheelchair
Sundance Film Festival Opening Night
I just returned home from a fabulous opening night of the Sundance Film Festival, and WOW, what a night! The evening began with a beautiful reception up at the Stein Erikson lodge in Deer Valley, Utah for the Artist at the Table Event, which is the premier opening night event for the Sundance Film Festival. […]
Tagged actors, actress, adobe, Artist at the Table, avengers, boundaries, celebrity chef, chef, community, deer valley, dinner, director, film, giada de laurentiis, impact, incredible hulk, john warnock, katie couric, mark ruffalo, mitt, Mitt Romney, movie, park city, premier, president, producer, reward, risk, Robert Redford, stein erikson, Sundance, Sundance Film Festival, sundance institute, together, Utah, zions
I had no idea how difficult it was…
I had no idea how difficult it was to pick out paint colors! You would think that with the 5 million paint color options I could easily find the right one…you would think….but not so much… With the building of our new home I have had to make a million decisions every day about everything […]
Tagged benjamin moore, building a home, calm, challenges, color, decide, decision, decisions, dilemma, dream home, face, head on, home, house, make a decision, nightmare, nip it in the bud, oc-22, paint, paint colors, trim, trying to decide, walls, whine, whining, white
Some days you just need a hug…or a pint of Ben and Jerry’s!
Today was one of those days. It wasn’t that it was a really bad day and it wasn’t that anything horrible happened…it was just one of those stressful days where you are going like crazy all day yet feeling like you are making no progress at all…when you are being pulled by this person and […]
Tagged adversity, alive, alone, appreciate, appreciation, asprin, bad day, ben & jerry's, big hug, family, fantastic, good day, happiness, happy, hard day, horrific, hug, ice cream, ice cream cone, life, lonely, loved one, need, needy, opposition, remind, sad, scoop, scotchy scotch scotch, stress, stressed, trials, work
Embrace Sentiment
Packrat, hoarder, collector….we have all heard the terms. Some of us even relate to the terms. Maybe not to the extent that we see on the TV show Hoarders, but somewhere between that and a packrat. My son is someone who I have teased for years as being somewhat of a packrat. He saves every […]
Tagged ashley, card, collect, collector, Dalton, family, friend, friends, history, hoarder, holidays, important moments, letter, love, memories, memory, message, messages, mission, money, napkin, note, pack, packrat, paper, papers, possession, possessions, save, sentiment, sophisticated, things, throw away, treasure
The Grass is as Green as You Make it!
We are all familiar with “the grass is always greener” syndrome. That syndrome that causes people to look around and think that something else would be better than what they currently have. Most commonly you hear of people catching that syndrome in their dating or marriage relationships, although it can extend to other areas of […]
Tagged anxiety, appreciate, appreciation, career, compare, comparison, dating, depression, envy, fantasizing, grass, grass is always greener, greed, happy, joy, love, marriage, money, never enough, relationships, shortcomings, significant other, single, sweetheart, unhappiness, water your grass
“Education is not the filling of a pail. It is the lighting of a fire.”
Today I met with Lisa Altman. Lisa and her husband are new to Utah and we were introduced by a mutual friend. Lisa and her husband are both former Opera singers who have spent their lives supporting and promoting the arts. They came to Utah for her husband to take a position as the Executive […]
Tagged ballet west, best, children, confidence, discover, educate, encourage, entrepreneur, entrepreneurship, excel, gifted music school, God, god given talent, Happy Birthday, inspire, Lisa Altman, math, mentor, motivate, music, opera, orchestra, performance, prodigy, Rollin, science, sports, support, talent, teach, value, you tube, young people
Early To Rise…I hate to admit it!
So I will just come out and admit it – I do not enjoy waking up early. I just don’t. I don’t know exactly why…perhaps it’s because I typically end up staying up late into the night most nights so that when morning rolls around I am super tired and want to stay in bed… […]
Tagged accomplish, accomplishment, admit, attitude, balance, bed, bedtime, change, cold, computer, early to rise, entrepreneur, get up early, hit the ground running, meeting, morning, motivation, night, productive, productivity, shower, sleep, snooze, snow, snuggly, time, time management, toasty, try, wake up, warm, winter, work
Advice to Pass On To Every Young Woman You Know
I came across an article written by a woman named Patricia Davis in which she had put together a list of advice of all the things she wanted to pass on to younger women. I think her advice is amazing and we should share her advice with every young woman we know, whether its a daughter, a sister, […]
Tagged advice, afraid, appreciate, appreciation, attitude, beautiful, beauty, confidence, daughter, fat, freedom, friend, friends, grand daughter, gratitude, happy, independence, insecure, jerk, money, motivation, neighbor, nervous, niece, old, patricia davis, pretty, security, self-confidence, self-improvement, share, sister, sunscreen, try something new, weight, young, young women, youth
If You Could Do Anything…
If you could do anything you wanted with your life, what would you do? Have you ever asked yourself that question? Just for a minute take away all restrictions or limitations that typically exist and the barriers that scare you or deter you. Take away all worries of being able to fulfill your financial obligations […]
Tagged 2014, accomplish, accomplishment, adventure, agency, anything, attitude, balance, barriers, begin, beginning, blessings, choices, confidence, consider everything, courage, entrepreneur, entrepreneurship, epic, everything, experience, fascinating, fear, field of possibility, future, goal, goal setting, goals, hesitation, life, limitations, money, new, obligations, options, overwhelming, restrictions, scared, self-confidence, self-improvement, start, success, vision
The Best is About To Be!
2014 has just begun and as I look ahead those words by Robert Browning of “The Best is Yet to Be” are ringing loudly. I am thoroughly convinced that 2014 is going to be the most Epic year EVER! For all of us! We have each just opened a new book full of blank pages […]
Tagged 2014, about to be, agency, and so it begins, awe-inspiring, awesome, best, book, choice, comedy, courage, decide, doubt, drama, dream, dreams, embrace, epic, excited, exciting, excuses, extraordinary, fairy tale, fear, future, goal, goals, great, inspiration, life-changing, magic, magical, motivate, motivation, move forward, mystery, ncredible, optimistic, positive, possibility, possible, purposeful, robert browning, step, story, the best is yet to be, thoughts, tragedy, wonderful, year, your year
Endings and Beginnings, Happy and Sad, But Never Alone
I hate that we sometimes feel alone in this life – the fact is that we are never alone – there are always others out there going through the same thing that we are, it’s just that we need more of us who are willing to be honest about it so we give permission to […]
Tagged admit, afraid, alone, anxiety, ashamed, bad, begin, beginning, change, changes, christmas, coping, counseling, courage, embarrassed, emotion, empty nester, end, ending, express, fear, friend, good, happiness, happy, help, hold it in, holiday, honest, identity, identity crisis, incapable, independant, integrity, isolated, judge, lesson, life change, lonely, never alone, New Year, open, perfect, professional, sad, sadness, share, start, stress, support, ungrateful, withdrawn
Happy Anniversary and Happy New Year!
Six years ago December 31st I married the man of my dreams in the most beautiful wedding imaginable. My husband wanted us to get married on New Year’s because he said that would ensure that he never forgot our wedding anniversary – smart man 😉 … On that day we were surrounded by family and […]
Tagged 2014, africa, anniversary, ashley, best friend, blessed, children, civil ceremony, companion, Dalton, eternity, fairy tale, family, father, forever, friend, gerald rees, ghana, happy anniversary, happy new year, husband, i love you, kiss, lds, lds temple, legal, love, lucky, married, memories, midnight, Photos, promise, reception, Rollin Anderson, sealing, sweetheart, temple, til death do us part, toast, wedding
Build Your Sky Castle! – Now is the perfect time
When my children were young I would lay down with them on our trampoline outside in our backyard and we would look at the sky together and play a game we called “Sky Castles”. In our game we would take turns building our pretend sky castles by saying what we saw happening in our life […]
Tagged 2014, accomplishing, accomplshment, achievement, anxiety, ashley, believe, believer, bold, comfort zone, courage, courageous, criticize, Dalton, dare, daring, defeat, desire, direction, fail, fails, failure, goal poster, goal poster for 2014, goal setting, goals, january 1, learn, life, limit, list, m. russell ballard, magic, paper, pretend, sky castle, sky castles, theodore roosevelt, think, timid, triumph, victory, vision, visualize, worry, write it down
Twas the Day After Christmas
I hope all of you had a marvelous Christmas Holiday! For me it was a marvelous day because we were able to be together as a family, with my son joining us on Skype. It was amazing to see his sweet smiling face on the video. It was also fun to watch he and his […]
Tagged ashley, candy, chocolate, christmas, Dalton, day after christmas, diet, eat, eating, elastic, family, fat, food, friends, goodies, Grandma, happy, holiday, joy, language, laughter, loa anderson, missionary, pants, popcorn, present, presents, reconnecting, skype, snacks, start tomorrow, thank you, treats, ungrateful, video, waist, weight
I Wish You A Merry Christmas!
We made it! It is finally upon us – Christmas Eve followed by Christmas Day. My favorite holiday of the entire year. I am so excited for tomorrow. I even stayed up late wrapping every gift tonight so that tomorrow I can enjoy my time with my family without stressing over the mounds of gifts […]
Tagged Christ, Christina Rossetti, christmas, Christmas Eve, christmas spirit, commandment, Dalton, enemies, excited, excitement, family, forgiven, getting, gift, gifts, give, give thanks, giving, God, good night, heart, holiday, howard w. hunter, Jesus Christ, joy, lamb, less fortunate, love, merry christmas, mission, obey, pray, president monson, reflection, savior, shepherd, softened, soul, spirit, stable, stress, thomas monson, wise man, wrapping
