Let’s Get Ready with Cedar Valley Publishing

Do you get up every day eager to start the day?  Do you love what you do?   Do feel as if you are following your passion?  Does your existing life have meaning? If you answered yes to all of the above—bravo!  I mean BRAVO!  You make up a small percentage of the world.  You need to share your success with others!

If you are still searching for your passion, it might be right around the corner or right in front of your face.  Keep looking!   My “aha moment” came just before turning 40 when I was trying to get my own children ready for school.  I couldn’t find exactly what I was looking for so I decided to write, self-publish and distribute a line of children’s educational books.   That’s the pat answer for the media, but really it was more like a brick hit me in the face and I just knew what I was meant to do!

In my case, it started with a series of Oprah shows; first it was the walking buddy show where I started walking with a neighbor to get in shape.  She was telling me what her daughter just learned in Kindergarten.  I was amazed as I did not realize how advanced the Kindergarten curriculum had become.  So I set out to find a book to help my 3 and 1-year-old girls prepare for their first day of school.    I couldn’t find exactly what I wanted.  I did not want a storybook on Kindergarten or a workbook.  I wanted a simple book that I could put my children in my lap that we could read and learn the Kindergarten curriculum.  I wanted something engaging and fun, yet simple enough that I could teach simply by reading it to them. 

One summer day in 2003, I was walking with my walking buddy. I mentioned that Oprah was having something called The Big Dream Contest and I mumbled that I wish I had an idea for Oprah’s Big Dream Contest.  My friends answer, changed my life.  She said,  “How about that Kindergarten book you can’t find, one book for every grade that helps parents, kids and teachers.”  The minute she said it, I knew it was what I was meant to do.  It was my defining moment, the brick finally hit me in the face and “aha” I knew it was what I was suppose to do.  So I started to make it happen with writing and working with educators and curriculum specialists, parents and kids.  I did not submit the idea to Oprah’s Contest at the time, it was just too good of an idea that I was simply meant to do. So I did.

How did I do it?  Ironically, Oprah seemed to answer my questions at every step along the way.  She even had a show on self-publishing when I was at the point when I was deciding how to publish, so it was like a message directly to me complete with the tools to publish it myself.  So that’s what I did.  Oprah had a show on successful Mommy Companies as if to reinforce my decision and a show on her trip to Africa, which inspired me to make my books available with global characters, available in many languages <still working on that>, and durable to withstand the huts in Africa.   

I fell into my passion and have been stumbling and bumbling along the way and still listen to Oprah and watch for other signs to point me in another direction or give me the tools to jump the next hurdle along the way.  Obviously Oprah was a huge influence on my life and this is what I know for sure, if I ever meet her I will do the ugly cry and pray that I can actually get the words “thank you” out of my mouth.  She has had that affect on millions of other people too.  I find it amazing that someone I have never met or spoke too had the power to show me the way.  If this can happen to me, it can happen to you!

Look around and listen.  Are you passing by your signs?  Do you ignore your gut?  Does something keep coming up time and time again?  Listen with an open mind and heart and see what comes your way.  It could be someone you have never met, someone standing in the line at the grocery store that may tell you something that could be life-changing.  Listen and trust your gut.  In my case, it was people I did not know, or those that I did not know very well who became the key to my success.     

Passion has given my life so much meaning.  So now I am on a mission to try to help others find or create passion in their lives.   Might your passion be something that you currently are doing as a hobby or something that you did in the past?   Perhaps, you can try writing down things that make you happy and see if something jumps out at you? 

In my husband’s case, his passion is his hobby — hunting and fishing.  He is most happy sitting in the woods or in a boat.  I encourage him to take hunting and fishing trips because I now understand what joy I get from following my passion, so I know how happy he is when he comes home from a day spent living out his dreams. 

Copyright 2007, Stacey Kannenberg, Cedar Valley Publishing, Let’s Get Ready For Kindergarten! and Let’s Get Ready For First Grade!

Are you ready to find your passion in life?  Might you ask yourself some questions to unlock your passion?  What do you truly enjoy?  We can’t wait to hear about your “Aha Moment” when it occurs for you.  It will be a memorable experience!

I am not sure why I was actually dreading the event.   Yes, I have gained weight since I graduated from High School 25 years ago…whatever! I wasn’t the only one!  I was excited that it was to be an outside picnic with our families invited.  I was always a late bloomer, so it did not seem to surprise many that my kids were 5 and 7 along with a handful of others who had children later in life, but I was overwhelmed by the number of high school classmates who had kids right out of high school and were already grandparents! 

My entire family had fun, even my husband.  My kids found a group of older and younger kids and were entertained the entire time.   My husband heard stories that he had never heard and met many new and old faces.  I am so glad I introduced my husband to my first boyfriend and was amazed at how alike they really were: both into hunting, fishing and watching football.  They even made a date to go fishing on Lake Michigan together.  I was happy he married an old school friend of mine so that we could get together while our husbands go fishing.  And we all laughed when we found out that their daughter lived near us and was dating my husband’s cousin!   Fate?

I tried to talk to everyone and was shocked at how many different career paths:  three owners of manufacturing companies, a state patrol sergeant, several plumbers, a nursing home director, several restaurant owners, patent owners and publishers, a few in real estate, banking, entertainment and employees for the airlines.  Since I am always networking this day was no different.  So a promise was made to keep in touch with a handful solely for business purposes.

Many people gained weight.  Two had lost too much weight and looked very sick, pale and washed out.  A few had lost their hair, many wore white and gray proudly.  I did not recognize a few people and would never have done so until they were pointed out to me.  But the majority of people looked very much like the day we all graduated.

Here is what I would recommend to those of you that have the big day looming in the distance.

Remind yourself to put on a big smile and set out to enjoy the event.  It’s just one moment in time.  And sadly it went way too fast!

So if you are trying to lose weight before your big day, make sure you are truly doing it to please yourself, because if you are not, you probably will not stick to it.

If you are using this day as a day to motivate you to get in shape, great!  Make sure you set a realistic and safe goal of a few pounds a week and make exercise and eating right part of your daily plan. 

And even if you do not lose the weight, here’s the most important thing:  be a happy and positive person and let your spirit shine, because even with a few extra pounds people seem to gravitate to those people that are happy and fun!   Enjoy!

Copyright 2007 - Stacey Kannenberg, Author of Let’s Get Ready For Kindergarten! and Let’s Get Ready For First Grade!

Are you getting ready for a reunion?  What steps are you taking to prepare?  Are you anxious or apprehensive? Or a little of both?  Please share your thoughts with us.

Are you living the life you want?  Is there something missing, something you want to do but maybe now that you are a mom, you think it might be too late?  Have you always wanted to fly a plane, go skydiving, scuba diving, bungee jumping, parasailing or ride on a Harley? 

Okay maybe you are not the risky outdoor type, so how about write a book, take that dream trip or start your own business?

You need to ask yourself:  is there something I need to do and if so, what is it?  And then you need to go for it. 

Write down what your want to accomplish.  Writing it down reaffirms your desire.

Tell everyone about it.  The more people who know about it, the more people might be able to help you make it happen.  Ironically, sometimes it is the people that you do not know who end up being the most supportive along the way to making it happen.

Networking, networking, networking.  People make things happen.  You never know who that person will be.  Many times it is the person you would least expect, yet they seem to hold the key to something you need.  You will never know unless you ask.  So keep asking, you will find the answer.

Allow yourself to dream about it.  Visualizing your goal will help make it a reality.

Find someone who has already done it.  Via networking, you might find someone else who has already started a similar business, skydived, authored a book, or taken that trip.  Find them and find out how they did it and then make it happen for yourself.

Believe and you will.

Copyright 2007-2008 - Stacey Kannenberg, Author of Let’s Get Ready For Kindergarten! and Let’s Get Ready For First Grade!

What are your dreams?  Close your eyes and see what dreams materialize.  Keep a notepad handy to write them down; then start taking those steps to make them a reality.  While you’re at it – share your dreams with us.  You never know – just the person you need to see it…may!