I'm Off To French Kiss Life ...

For those of you who have been following my blog you will know how passionate I am about living your dream with energy, vitality and purpose. So I wanted to share with you my immediate life plans as they may resonate loudly with your bucket list ambitions J

You see, on my coaching journey, I have met some amazingly strong and powerful women who are living an extraordinary life. I am constantly inspired by my mentors, my peers and my clients and I truly believe we owe it to ourselves and our children to live everyday with passion and purpose.

So … I am in the process of rebranding myself as a "Lifepreneur" and I am about to embark on the journey of a lifetime!

Fulfilling a long-held desire of my husband and I, our dream life is about to begin in a gorgeous French canal near Bourgogne (Burgundy) !!! After almost 12 years of dreaming and six months of planning, we are about to embark on an experience of a lifetime. One which we hope will enrich our girls’ education, desire for knowledge and love of adventure for many years to come. So, yes we are moving to France to live on a boat, a magnificent Dutch Klipper built in 1902 called "Imagine" (after John Lennon - cool last name hey) and explore the beauty, geography, history and culture of this wonderful country and the canals that wind through it.

It is our intention to be away anywhere up to five years and during this time, I will be writing my next book in the ‘I am woman’ series - "I am woman – the art of relationships”, launching my new coaching business The Other Woman – Coaching the Alpha Male to Life Success and home schooling my daughters, Jazmin and Samara (or placing them into local schools as our travels allow). Plus of course, indulging in many of life’s pleasures … wonderful food, wine, people and places!

To borrow a term from one of my mentors, I guess you could say I will be French Kissing Life for a while xxx

My hope is for you to continue to follow my French experience here so you may too, one day, be inspired to leap.

How I lost 20kgs without being on a diet

A beautiful testimonial from one of my readers on how "I am woman - the art of being you" has helped her shed 20kgs, conquer her emotional eating habit, reclaim her confidence and find joy in living again.

Hi Minda

Here is my personal journey of how my life has changed since reading "I am woman - the art of being you".

I started 2012 the same way I had started every other year, I was comfortable, I was in a routine, I thought I was in control of my life, however every time something went wrong I was always blaming myself even if I had no control over the situation. I was getting through every day on auto pilot, I was not taking in the beauty around me, I was so busy trying to control every aspect of my life that I wasn't enjoying or appreciating any of it. I was always so worried about everyone's feelings I forgot I had feelings of my own. The only feeling I knew I had was guilt, I felt guilty about everything, I felt guilty if I could not help someone, I felt guilty for not being the perfect daughter, sister and partner, I pretty much felt guilty for everything. I suppressed all these feelings of guilt and blame with food, which is why I was overweight and like many other years this years resolution was to loose weight.

My year went on as normal, going to work (which I loved), coming home cleaning, making lunches for the next day, cooking dinner and then cleaning up after dinner. Everything was normal and I thought I was happy and then on the 3rd of March my boss came into my office and said that due to financial reasons I could no longer stay on full time. My whole world started to crumble, we were already struggling to make ends meet and if I did not have a full time job I didn't know how we would be able to live. I was in shock I had no idea what to do and no idea how long it would take to find another job. When I got home I had a look on the internet to see what type of jobs were available and as I was looking through them I realised I did not want to work at a 9-5 job anymore, I wanted to make a difference in this world, I wanted to smile and mean it, not smile to hide the pain and anxiety I felt inside.

Even though I knew I wanted to change I had no idea how or even what I wanted to do, so I started applying for jobs thinking that full time work was my only option. While I was applying for these jobs I came across a Mind, Body and Soul expo that was on that weekend, I decided I had nothing to loose by going.

I went to the expo just wanting to escape from the confusion and anxiety I was feeling about my future, little did I know that one encounter at the expo was about to send my life in a completely different direction. I walked into the expo and straight away I seen a book, it caught my eye immediately so I went to have a closer look, the book was "I am woman - the art of being you". I really wanted the book, however my rational mind was telling me not to purchase it because I now had no full time employment and $20 now seemed like alot of money. I must have walked back to look at the book about 3 times until finally I just bought it.

I went home and started reading it straight away, I was hooked I could not put it down, it was as though this book was written for me. After reading "I am woman - the art of being you" my whole thought pattern changed. All the dreams I had pushed away because I had been telling myself I was too old to chase them (I was only a week away from being 24), suddenly came back to me. It was like the gate that had been keeping all my emotions, dreams and my true self locked away was suddenly open, I felt so many different emotions all at once. I was anxious and scared but most of all I was excited. I had decided to go back to uni and study, I still had no idea how we were going to make ends meet financially but I had this overwhelming feeling that everything was going to be ok. I stayed on with my employer as a part time employee and by refinancing our credit cards and loans and cutting back on some luxuries, financially we were ok.

I am now doing an Advanced Diploma in Nutrition and a Bachelor of Health Science in Acupuncture, working part time, exercising regularly. I have lost just under 20kgs without being on a diet, I do not eat to numb my emotions anymore, instead I embrace all of my emotions and I now look at an obstacle with gratitude, I know that it is there for me to learn from and I know that no matter what comes my way I will be able to handle it, because God would never give any of us something we could not handle. I am chasing my dreams, I am living a better life, I am more confident when I look at myself, I love myself and I actually found my laugh again. Little things I use to take for granted, now amaze me.

My life has never been busier and I have never been happier.

I know I made all the changes but I could not have done it if I had not read "I am woman - the art of being you", I always knew I wanted to change I just did not know how. This book gave me the tools to change and I still refer to it regularly. This book honestly changed my life and I am so grateful everyday that I had the opportunity to read it, I recommend it to everyone I meet.

Kind Regards
Katrina Demamiel

Pick up your copy of

"I am woman - the art of being you" HERE

As an author, coach and women's mentor, every day I meet capable, powerful and beautiful women who are choosing to live a life of purpose with an abundance of energy, health, vitality, self-respect, self-love, self-forgiveness and self-esteem.... These remarkable women are constantly expanding their comfort zone, embracing the possibilities of their potential and believing they can live a better life with reduced stress and no more excuses. Thank you for inspiring ME to be better.

Minda Lennon x

72 Days to Get a Body Like This !!!



WNBF Asia Pacific Titles 2007

OK so I'm going to share a little secret ...
For those of you who have read my book, particularly Skip 6: How Strong is Your Temple, you will know that I used to compete in Figure Sculpting Competitions. There are even some photos of me from one of my comps as evidence. 

Well, my last competition was 5 years ago and whilst I have maintained a healthy fitness routine since then, every year I say I'm going to give it another go but I have been unable to find the will to commit to the level of training and nutrition required to get my body into THAT sort of shape. I couldn't find my "WHY" and this year was no different. Until 2 weeks ago...

The only thing that stands between you and what you want out of life is the will to try and faith to believe it's possible."

You see I am usually motivated by the impossible, by people saying I can't do something. Somehow it gives me the courage to believe in myself when I think others don't. All of my old beliefs such as “I need to be in control all the time / No-one can help me, I have to help myself / If I don’t open my heart, no-one can hurt me / If I can’t give 110%, I won’t do it at all / No-one can push me as hard as I push myself / If it’s not worth winning, it’s not worth doing / No matter what I do, it won’t be good enough” can all be linked to my ultimate belief of - “If it is to be it is up to me”.

From the first time I heard or read this in my early 20’s it became my mantra, although I now realise I lived this from a very young age. I used to think it was a positive maxim and, in many ways it was! Since then, I have also recognised that this was my way of protecting myself so I was always in control and it allowed me to justify never having to rely on anyone else... This belief stopped me from being truly honest to myself and others, it allowed me to live with my excuses and prevented me from really living with an open heart, the walls were just too high. I was SO happy to finally recognise and give up this limiting belief (and all the others that supported it) and replace them with ones that now serve, support, nurture and challenge me. I now believe I am enough.

And because I believe I am enough I no longer have to prove it. Now I do things because I want to, because it makes me happy, because I love a challenge. And so when my eldest daughter asked my 2 weeks ago why I don’t compete anymore, I said “I honestly don’t know Jazmin but I want to”. To which, she said “Well why don’t you?” and I replied “I'm not sure darling, I could try”. And her response was “Don’t try Mum, I know you can do it” so I said “OK” and so I am. There is my "WHY" - because I want to and my daughter believe's I can do it!

So stay tuned and follow me on Facebook! I have 72 days to get my body looking like this again, ready for the INBA QLD titles and I am following my own advice from “I am woman – the art of being you”. Empowering Mindset + Conscious Eating + Daily Movement  = Health, Happiness & Life Success!!!

Minda Lennon x
Lifepreneur - Author, Success Coach & Women's Mentor