I’m Sharri Harmel, Chief Creative of the Extraordinary Women Circle and Community, as well as Editor-in-Chief of the Extraordinary Women Magazine.
I’ve been a coach for over 20 years and my dream is to create an even bigger platform so that all women can envision and then step into THEIR big dreams.
Our sole focus in the EW Circle and Community is to support woman like you to ignite their dreams!
And we do that inside the EW Circle, which includes the EW magazine, regular live conversations, and workshops so you get the clarity you need to create your big dream and help you to stay on track to make it come true.
Thank you for joining me and let’s get started!
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Episode 72: Why Paris? Manifesting Takes A BIG Stretch!
As you may or may not know, I live in Paris half the year. I had an idea of what my life could be like in Paris, but like so many of our dreams, to manifest it and then live it, is often much more complicated and much more of a stretch than what we ever expect.
It’s easy to close our eyes and imagine living the dream…it’s like a movie-version of our vision board.
You are imagining the end result… the manifestation of your dream.
But to bring your dream to life, you are required to take steps, to take action, a lot of action, and that usually means you have to stretch yourself far beyond your comfort zone.
This week I’m going to share some of my Paris dream stretch because I’m sure you’ll be able to relate as you go after your big dream.
First, I often get asked the question, why Paris? It might be because nothing about me looks French. I’m always surprised when I look in a mirror when I’m out and about in Paris and there are LOTS of mirrors! I don’t look like anyone in Paris. I’m a relatively tall woman and I’ve never been a skinny girl. The French as a whole are tiny people, with bone structures that more closely resemble Audrey Hepburn than Amy Schumer, who actually looks like she could be my daughter.
The closeness of the café tables and chairs works perfect for the Audrey Hepburns of the world, but for me, it began more a bit more intimate than I’m accustomed to. It took me some time to get comfortable with this cultural difference. The French person’s idea of personal space is very different from the US culture.
Frankly, the French are comfortable being close to strangers everywhere! That’s the foundation of the café culture, but also if you go to a post office or grocery store in Paris and you’ll find that you can actually feel that person standing behind you. They are that close. In the beginning, I found it super uncomfortable. We Americans like space and that includes personal space between people but as I stretched my comfort with closer personal spaces, it suddenly didn’t bother me anymore.
Second, I also get asked why I’m in France because I still don’t speak French. I never learned another language. It was growing up in the northern Midwest where English was often not the first language of many of our parents and all our grandparents. Those early transplants to America considered English THE most important language and rarely shared their own native languages. I didn’t even learn Latin because I went to catholic school post Vatican II. I’m taking French classes but gads it’s hard. Languages do not come naturally to me. To say trying to learn French is a stretch is minimizing how difficult it is for me.
In my former life, my husband and I had spent many of my vacations in England, and yet I didn’t even consider London or my much-loved little British towns. Going to England always felt like I was home, the UK was easy. Sort of like wrapping up in a big blanket and having a cup of tea. It was familiar, it was comfortable, it felt safe because I knew the language. Plus, all kinds of people tend to look and act a lot like me.
But the dream was Paris. A place where I don’t blend into the people landscape, and I don’t speak the language. Yet it was my choice for where I wanted to make my part-time home.
Do you see though how sometimes our dreams do not make logical sense and yet they exist in our hearts?
Truly nothing about Paris was logical, but as I said, something about Paris was in my heart. Something about Paris had me thinking I could love my life again after the ending of a long sad marriage. Something about Paris told me that there was yet, at least one more fabulous adventure in my future.
So, Paris called me. Paris pushed me. Paris demanded I expand myself far beyond my comfort zone…. Paris told me I could be more, much more and say, as crazy as it was…. I choose Paris.
So, ladies, I’m encouraging you to not choose the most comfortable dream, choose what makes your heart sing.
And even when you are pursuing your BIG dream know that there will be days… Most days in Paris everything works smoothly for me. I have a couple of fun exchanges with shopkeepers, neighbors, café folks. I feel confident that I’m in the right place and that I’m making progress.
But there are days when nothing works. You’ll know what I’m talking about. For me, it’s one of those days when I can’t find one word of French in my brain, so I communicate like a two-year-old.
Yes, Paris is my stretch. Paris is pushing me to explore a part of me that I hardly knew existed. Yes, she was the woman I could see in my dreams but before I moved to Paris, she was just an idea, maybe even a fantasy.
Now she’s real and she’s me. My Paris experience is similar to your path as you march towards creating your dreams.
Some days it all works…it feels perfect. Other days, you will question every aspect of that dream and your abilities.
Like me, you might have had your dream for a long time. What I learned though is that thinking about a dream and actually living it are two entirely different experiences.
Just as we want to visualize the dream, we also have to visualize the steps to get to the dream. That’s what manifesting is all about. It actually has a scientific basis, especially for top level athletes. I’ll talk about this more in our next podcast, but for now, evaluate your dream.
How big of a stretch is it going to be for you to live your BIG dream?
That brave woman who said yes to Paris, is still learning how to tackle life all by herself. I’m getting to know Paris, trying to learn a new language, and adapting to a new culture, but I’m also getting comfortable with a being a version of myself that is new and entirely different from the woman I was.
This is what happens when you step into your dreams. Many of you are thinking of starting your own businesses. On those good days, everything will work beautifully… you’ll be bolstered by some positive feedback, your ad copy will flow off your pen, new clients are appearing…. but know, you’ll also have a few of those horrible days, when you meet problems wherever you turn. Mail Chimp isn’t working, your Facebook ads are still in learning stage, no one is signing up for your recent offer, and you’ve received an unexpected bill.
This is when you might question what the heck you are doing. But don’t give up. Stepping into your dream requires that you to stretch yourself every single day.
Stretches are hard. Really hard. I know, and just like stretching your muscles when you begin every single stretch hurts. But slowly and gradually, you’ll lean into the stretch a little deeper, you feel a little more limber, and suddenly, you stop feeling any sort of discomfort.
The same for your big stretch into your dreams.
Yes, it’s going to be hard. Yes, you’ll have your doubts, especially after those hard days…. But, seeing your dream begin to happen, is like nothing else. It’s pure joy……
There are days when I’m walking through the Tuileries Garden which is close to my apartment. I’m not even aware of my surroundings because I’d on a mission to get to a meeting or interview. But if I’m present, I’ll remember to stop and just look around. That’s when a smile usually appears on my face because I feel like I stepped into one of my favorite novels. I did. I stepped into my vision board. I get to spend months of every year in Paris, the city of light. I’m not just planning my dream; I’m living my dream.
I realize now that I wanted and needed to be pushed outside my comfort zone after my divorce. That’s why I never considered England. I wanted and needed to be stretched just to see how far I COULD stretch after 23 years of keeping myself in a container that suited my life with my husband, and being a good wife, mother, and daughter.
Paris was and still is my BIG stretch, but ladies there is nothing like living with the woman you become after you’ve stretched into who you can be. Truly, stretching yourself to make your big dream come true will make your heart sing.
It is Now your time. If we’ve learned anything from our covid experience, it is that it no longer makes any sense to postpone doing what it is you really love, living the way you really want to live, and stretching yourself to make YOUR big dream happen.
Your time is now….
Outro
Thank you for joining me today. If you liked our conversation, please give me a review, and do come back for more!
Tomorrow, starts the 3 Weeks to Dream Readiness Workshop. Join me. Doesn’t matter if you can be on live or not, you’ll get the recordings. This workshop is all about supporting you as you take those steps that STRETCH you towards your BIG dream.
There are two ways to be a part of the 3 Weeks to Dream Readiness Workshop.
- If you are in the Extraordinary Women Community which is our Private FB group AND sign up for the workshop…. you’ll receive the links to the three live calls as well as receive the recordings.
But if you really want to step into your big dreams AND make sure you you have all the support you need to make it a success….
- Subscribe to EW magazine. This puts you in what we now call the EW Circle. Go to extraordinarywomenmagazine.com and subscribe.
You’ll not only get free access to the 3 Weeks to Dream Readiness Workshop, you’ll receive a one-year subscription to EW Magazine – a fabulous magazine where we always highlight two inspiring women that have stepped into their dreams in a big way, plus articles from our two fabulous contributing writers.
So you’ll get the links to the live calls, all the recordings, and when you’re in the EW Circle, you’ll receive a beautiful workbook to help support you as you work through the 3 Weeks to Dream Readiness Workshop. If you’re like me you’ll get so much more when you can jot down your ideas, thoughts, and notes to self as you listen to the workshop calls.
Plus, when you’re in the EW circle, you get to submit questions that I’ll address on the live calls.
So go to extraordinarywomenmagazine.com and subscribe– and let us know you want to be included in the workshop.
Now, there is a lot of dream talk, but what makes me and the EW Circle different is I’ve been a coach, a real coach, for over 20 years and ALL that experience helps me to create what you want and need.
The EW Magazine, Workshop, our Conversations, and ultimately the EW Circle is about supporting extraordinary women like you. Women who make things happen by figuring out what it is you want, and using your gifts, talents, and strengths to build what it is you want to create!
Go to Extraordinary Women Magazine.com and join us by clicking the subscribe button. It’s only $29.99 AND let me know you want to be added to the Dream Readiness Workshop.
Thank you for your precious time today and given I am now back in Boston, I’ll say see you soon!
And to my friends in Paris, Bonne Journée.
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