Live Your Best Life!

Do you feel like you are getting close to being burned out? Or…are you already burned out? I think there is a lot of pressure out there for us to work, work, work, work and work more. Regardless of whether you are working in the home or outside of the home, for many it feels like there is always pressure to do more and to get more done. Many people spin their wheels and feel so busy, yet never feel satisfied that they are actually accomplishing anything that is rewarding.

In some organizations or industries, it is frowned upon when someone wants to take time to do something non-work related. In some places, not sleeping much at night is seen as a badge of honor. People brag that they worked on the weekend or took a very early morning flight to get to a meeting, leaving them with little sleep. People brag that they did not use their vacation time or that they “worked all night”. Some people make it a point to send emails very late at night and very early in...

Are you a perfectionist? I was…at least much of the time. The definition of perfectionism is “the refusal to accept any standard short of perfection”. That may seem like a great way to be however, it can prevent you from moving forward in pursuing your goals. When you always strive for perfection, you may never actually make forward progress because you are always striving to learn “one more thing”, to make something better before putting it out into the world or to continue to plan something instead of executing it. When you strive for perfection, you are working toward an ideal that is unattainable and therefore end up achieving less than others who do not try to live up to a perfectionist standard.

It has been said, and I agree, that perfectionism can be a form of procrastination. If you keep looking to perfect something, then it actually never gets “done”. You keep thinking about it, tweaking it, and working on it without ever...

Do you remember when we thought the coronavirus was going to “be over” in a couple of weeks? Well…here we are six months later, still living in very challenging and uncertain times. Even with that, there are things that you can do to make sure that you remain consistent in working towards what you want in your life. Don’t allow 2020 to be a “wasted” year. We have four months left and a lot of great things can happen in four months.

Below I will walk you through a process that you can use to make the last four months of 2020, your best four months. Whether you want to lose weight, start or ramp up a business, improve a relationship, organize your home, learn something new or start a self-care routine that sticks…four months is plenty of time to get you well on your way.

Follow the steps below…the key is to take consistent action. Don’t keep stopping and starting. Instead, start and just keep going. Many people will classify...

We often think about these three feelings the same way, however, they are really quite different emotional states to which all humans are subjected. I think we can all agree that we would prefer to avoid all three! They are generally considered to be negative feelings and for some, they can linger for a long time or even a lifetime.

 Embarrassment

Embarrassment is an uncomfortable feeling you experience when you fear that something about you will be / or has been seen by others. It occurs when we fear that others see something other than the image of ourselves that we want them to see and believe. Embarrassment occurs when you trip and fall in front of others, you have something stuck in your teeth, the zipper on your pants is open, you forget what you are going to say when speaking to a group of people or you feel uncomfortable about your body or a pimple on your your face.

Per the examples above, embarrassing situations can be related to something about your physical...

There are many people who feel incredibly busy day after day, however, if asked what they actually accomplish, they are not sure. This can be true for any of us at any point if we are not intentional about our time. I try to schedule my work and other tasks each day so that I make sure that I am getting results ongoing. I also try to pay attention to the things that interrupt me or distract me from doing the things that are most important and do what I can to filter them out.

Here are some strategies that have helped me be productive, rather than just busy.

1. Have goals. Have both big and small goals and then, depending on their size, break them down into yearly, quarterly, monthly, weekly and daily goals. Have a plan for each day about what you need to accomplish in order to feel productive and schedule the time needed to accomplish each item. Knowing what goals are most important and why will help. For example, do you need to focus on earning money or excelling at work or is it...

Hi!  It's Karen from Karen Vincent Solutions.

Despite much of the island still rebuilding after being devastated by Hurricane Irma in 2017, we found St. Martin to be beautiful and thoroughly enjoyed our time there.  The people are warm and friendly and despite having recently been hit by the worst hurricane in a century, they are incredibly resilient. 

St. Martin is made of two separate countries. The French side, known as the quieter side, is called Saint-Martin and the Dutch side, with more activity and nightlife, is called Sint Maarten. 

We arrived at the island by boat from Anguilla and made our way through customs before getting into a prearranged van to The Belmond La Sammana, where we were staying on the French side of the island.

As it turns out, there was some confusion and the van took us to the airport and then was not immediately able to reroute to take us to our hotel. After waiting about fifteen minutes, our driver and another van driver were able...

First off, let’s start with me sharing what I mean by “power word”. For me, a power word is a word that defines how you want to show up for your life for a period of time. Some people identify a power word for a year, while others may change their power word throughout the course of a year, depending on what is happening in their life. What is important about a power word is that you connect with it emotionally. It is a word that you feel when you use it to describe yourself and how you want to show up in the world.

There is no right or wrong way to have a power word. What is important, is that you connect with the word. You feel it. It inspires you. It helps you keep going and it helps you keep showing up as the person you want to be when it gets hard, when you are tired, when you feel defeated or when you want to give up.

Some people who are chasing a dream may have power words like driven, relentless, determined, focused, fierce or committed. Some...

Hi!  It's Karen from Karen Vincent Solutions.

This boat trip, my friends, is one for the books.  We went to so many places, had so many laughs and were entertained by the crew throughout the entire trip.  Because with the Billy Bones Boat Charter, we were on a high-speed powerboat, this six-hour trip allowed us to stop at five different locations including having a sit-down lunch at a beachfront restaurant along the way. 

We felt like we were able to do and see a lot in a relatively short amount of time which was great.  While we wanted to see a much as possible while in St. Martin, we also wanted to be sure we had enough time to enjoy The Belmond La Samanna, the beautiful resort where were staying.  To learn more about this amazing resort, check out my blog post St. Martin – The Belmond La Samanna.  

We started out by cruising along the coast which was absolutely beautiful. Looking out we could see Saba and St. Barths islands.  We...

Hi!  It's Karen, from Karen Vincent Solutions.

Have you ever gone to the grocery store hungry?  Yup…me too and it never turns out well. There you go…tip #1, never go to the grocery store hungry!  I will say more about this in the tips section below, but I wanted to just get that out there right away so that if you don’t read any further, you’ve heard that critical piece of advice.

Whether you love to grocery shop or hate it, a trip to the store can result in your leaving with a cart of very healthy foods that set you up for success or a cart with foods that will tempt you throughout the week and make it hard to stay on track with any health goals you may have.  The easiest way to “shop healthy” is to follow the 7 tips below. It takes a little preparation but if it sets you up for success for the entire week, I will argue that it is worth it.

7 tips for shopping healthy.

1. Never go to the grocery store hungry. I will say a...

Hi!  It's Karen from Karen Vincent Solutions.

Since I grew up sailing all summer, I am always looking for a good boating adventure when visiting warm, tropical places.  Our day trip on the sailboat Tradition to Prickly Pear Cay, one of Anguilla’s protected offshore cays, did not disappoint!  Prickly Pear Cay is a pair of uninhabited islands divided by a narrow boat channel. 

The Western cay is mostly rocky coral reefs without easy access, while the Eastern cay has a large white sand beach with beautiful blue/green, clear water for both swimming and snorkeling.  Our sailing trip on Tradition took us the to the Eastern cay where we enjoyed snorkeling, time on the beach and a delicious lunch at the Prickly Pear Bar and Restaurant. 

We started our adventure at Sandy Ground on Anguilla, which is where most, if not all, boating trips depart from on the island.  We were met by Captain Lauri who arrived at the dock with a huge smile and welcomed us...