This eBook is a gift written & created by Larah Ritchie. Please share it with anyone under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0.

Copyright 2011 Larah Ritchie

Dedicated to Genevieve Daye & McKenna Shae Ritchie.

You are growing up in a magical, incredible and unbounded world. Your reality gives us unending motivation to keep blurring the edges of our own.

Love, Mommy & Daddy

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INSTANTLY TAKE-ABLE ACTION STEPS TOWARD YOUR

INSANELY IDEAL, SELF-MADE, WELL-BLENDED LIFE 42

WALL-WORTHY, SMILE-FINDING POSTERS TO SERVE

AS YOUR PERSONAL MOJO-MAKING REMINDERS 10

Inside this book, you will find…

So, let’s jump right in, shall we?

The circles in the Well-Blended Venn represent three elemental facets of life: how you make a living, time you spend with people you love and how you get personal fulfillment. Anytime you do a something that brings together two of these elements, you’re successfully blending your life. The more of these blended experiences you have, the more fulfilling life will be. When you can combine all three elements in one event or activity, you’re in the sweet spot. This is what “well-blended” feels like! When you can live the majority of your life in the sweet spot where all three elements mix to the point of becoming almost indistinguishable, you’re living a well-blended life.

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• Bring your teenager along to your next networking event.

• Build something together. A cake, a dog house or a business.

• Offer your products or services in-kind to an organization with a mission that makes you tick.

• Invite your spouse, partner or kids to join you at the spa.

• Learn something new together…like photography, kayaking or sign language.

• Ask your spouse, partner or kids for input or assistance on your next project. (Hint: Kids are natural illustrators and they’re pretty good with computers too!)

Suggested ways to mix it up

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BE A GIANT GOOFBALL

RETHINK POSSIBLE

OWN YOUR WORLD

EMBRACE SIMPLICITY

LOVE THE STUFF YOU’RE MADE OF

FOLLOW YOU’RE WANDER

SET A COURSE

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Serving suggestion: Print the posters you want to look at everyday…the ones you love or the reminders you need the most. Hang ’em where you’ll see ’em when you need ‘em. Most importantly, take action. Imagine the life you want is just over the next hill and start moving toward it.

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We’re all dorks. And we tend to take ourselves way to seriously. The constant effort to pretend you’re not a total goober is exhausting. So stop it. Since we all agree that being mainstream is for suckers, here are some things to add to your to do list: • Buy a coloring book & a giant box of crayons. Use them.

• Turn off everything in the house that beeps or whirrs and play charades or twister. Add a second or third person next time.

• Climb a tree, play with Playdoh, blow bubbles, jump on a trampoline.

• Admit you like that show…you know the one.

• Play “Snort!” How? One player gets a mouthful of water (or whatever). Everyone else tries everything to get them to laugh so hard it comes out their nose. No rules, but don’t forget your towel.

• If you don’t get the towel reference, skip everything else and start reading, “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” by Douglas Adams today.

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Nothing in this life is set in stone. Absolutely nothing. Everything you do in this life is a choice. Everything you want to do is a possibility. Screw what’s expected of you. Recognize when you’re allowing someone else’s expectations to get in the way of your own dreams.

• Make a list. For a day or a week, make a note each time you smile or your heart feels warm. What prompted it? These are your priorities. Everything else is baggage.

• Play devil’s advocate. Over the next few days, every time you catch yourself making an assumption, challenge it.

• Channel Alice on her trip through Wonderland and do at least one impossible thing (or one scary thing) everyday.

• Allow your brain to play with crazy notions. Take a step back and imagine yourself doing something you never considered before…like running for office or homeschooling your kids or entering a marathon.

Relentlessly question your own assumptions

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The world you inhabit is yours. That isn’t woo, it’s true. We work so hard to convince ourselves that time or money keep us from doing what we want and that most of our world’s problems should be fixed by some else. But that’s bullshit. If you want to be self-made, you need to be taking life by the balls and telling it where you want to go. Here are a few ways to get your head ready for that: • Take “I don’t have time” out of your vocabulary. Try

replacing it with “That’s not a priority for me right now.”.

• While you’re at it, reconsider every thought that starts with “somebody should…”.

• Write your local, state or national representative and tell them how you think they should vote on an issue that concerns you.

• Build your own livelihood. Get a taste for independence by finding a way to make just $50 a month doing something you enjoy. You could mow lawns for your neighbors, knit hats for newborns at the hospital, build a fence, buy some egg-laying chickens…anything. Just start. Today.

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Living simply will look different for you than it does for me. Essentially, its about eliminating things that keep you from being with the people you love and from doing the things you love. In simplest terms (ha!), you identify what’s most important to you…what you value most and get rid of everything else. Oh, and for clarification: Simple doesn’t mean easy. Here are a few specific, action-y type steps toward simplicity: • Evaluate your commitments. Look at your work, hobbies,

social engagements and volunteer activities. Drop the things that don’t feed you…literally or figuratively .

• Simplify tasks. Delete tasks on your to do list that take over 5 minutes or involve multiple steps. Break projects into simple 5 minute tasks. Now, choose which ones you’ll do today.

• Go one week without {name your life suck}. Then a month. If you made it this far, you can live without it. Repeat.

• Spend time alone. Find as little as 5 minutes a day to do nothing. No scheming, no planning, no watching, reading, listening or scanning. Just breathe.

Those tip-of-your-tongue epiphanies are in the in-between spaces waiting for you to be still long enough to hear them.

• Imagine yourself in a smaller house. An older car. A more frugal life. You may be surprised at how weightless it feels.

Life is simple. Stop overcomplicating it.

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Look in the mirror. You’re preparing an amazing gift for that person looking back at you: a life they truly love. But love must come first. If you’ve struggled with weight, you know. Hating your body, only leads to abusive thoughts and actions. You feed the hate…literally sometimes. But, if you love your body, as it is today, you make better choices for it. You nurture it. Only then your body will begin to change. Love must come first. Here are some not-too-woo ways to show yourself some love: • Smile at the mirror. Every time. Even when you’re naked.

• Make a list of your 100 best qualities. Yes, 100. Start writing. If you cry, write faster.

• Come out of the closet. We tend hide the most fascinating and wonderful things about ourselves. Name the thing you’re keeping to yourself and share it with someone.

• Get on your soapbox. Keeping your thoughts and feelings inside, makes you feel small and unimportant. Voice your opinions, politely and with confidence.

• When you wake up, ask “How could I surprise myself today?” Send the email you’ve been avoiding? Clean out the closet? Take a walk around the block? Bake some brownies? Whatever comes to mind…do that. Today.

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When we were kids, curiosity was as natural as breathing. But, along the way, we’re taught to ignore whims & wonders in favor of tasks & to dos. We lose our sense of wonder. And that is tragic. Curiosity is the gateway to your imagination. Every “I wonder” is the lifting of a veil…the beginning of a new discovery…a seed of creation. Here are some ways to start following your wander: • Chase your rainbows! Write down every idea. Never tell

your ideas they’re stupid. Flesh them out. Honor them.

• Schedule time for curiosity seeking…whenever you think “I wonder…” take a minute to find out.

• Brush up your search skills. Learn some new tricks. Wander following doesn’t have to be terribly time consuming.

• Read! Two or more books at a time. Better yet, read at least one fiction book and one non-fiction book at a time.

• Don’t be afraid to be multi-dimensional…maybe even eclectic. Dig deeper…even if your recent wanderings into the world of butterfly farming has no relation to your business or your life today. Especially then. Trust your wander and learn something new. You never know where you’ll end up!

Curate curiosity. Yearn to learn new things.

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You want to create a new life or start a business or launch a new project…or all of the above. There comes a time when you have to stop dreaming and start doing. Change happens when you connect a big vision of something that seems far, far away to the little steps you take every day on the path you’re standing on in the here and now. Small steps are just as good as big ones. Moving forward is all that matters. Here are some ways to start clearing your path today: • Find your DIY number. Living a simple, do-it-yourself life is a

lot less expensive than you might think. Grab a pencil and figure out how much money you need to live your ideal, self-made life. This is your goal number.

• Buy a domain name. Open a business banking account. Connect it to a PayPal account.

• Window shop for the equipment you need. Visualizing yourself doing this is a powerful motivator and it’s one of the first steps toward figuring out your startup costs.

• Start referring to yourself as if you’re already doing it. “Hi, I’m Andy and I’m a baker.” or “My name is Denise. I’m a fishing guide.”

You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose.

- Dr. Seuss, Oh the Places You’ll Go!

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I'm Larah. I'm a micro-business adviser, teacher and public speaker. I'm also an advocate for the concept of living a self-designed, sovereign life. I create BrainyFeet to be a source of support, training, resources and co-mutiny for everyone who’s ready (even if a little freaked out) to rebel against the mainstream, create work they love, and live a life of their own design. I created it for you. I can to teach you how to build a business you love that will allow you to live a life you love. Please feel free to check out BrainyFeet.com to learn more about my advising & training programs.

Thank you so much for joining me on this ride!

I made a simple form for your feedback. It’s here:

http://brainyfeet.com/manifesto-feedback/

I would love to hear your thoughts & feelings about the Big Picture Book. More ways to contact me. About anything. Anytime. Email - larah@brainyfeet.com Twitter - @LarahRitchie Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/brainyfeet/

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