As you might remember myself and Anastasiya Goers from Balance In Me were going to launch a program together. After lots of thinking, we decided that it would be better to wait until next year with it.

And then Anastasiya was inspired to create a retreat called From Sedentary To Active Lifestyle in One Month. I now understand why it looked like our program needed to wait. The retreat Anastasiya is launching now is something that she just had to launch first. I can see her passion. She put all her heart into it. I am confident she created something incredibly useful and unique. I personally never saw anything like this anywhere else.

You can check it out yourself here. Even if you don’t join, at least go and download her free 10 Minute-Do-It Anywhere Workout. Think about it: 10 minute do-it-anywhere. I am in love with this concept alone.

I had a chance to ask Anastasiya few questions about the retreat and here are her answers.

Lana: Hi Anastasiya,

Congrats on your upcoming retreat. As I’ve been following your blog for quite some time now, it looks like this retreat was a result of pure creative inspiration. Could you tell us more about what inspired you and how it all came together?

Anastasiya: On Balance In Me I write about life balance and any possible ways to reach it. Before I started working on the retreat I was writing a lot about self growth and work/life balance but then something strange happened.

I would like to say that it was inspiration but actually I stared having back problems and the reason for those problems was because I got so involved in my projects that I forgot to take care of myself. It was a wake-up call because I had the idea about running the retreat for a long time but I never actually started planning it.

Of course I am not the only person who is glued to the computer screen for many hours a day and I thought to myself “It would be great to create a program for those who do not have time to work out at the gym 6 times a week or run marathons. A program that will show people how they can stay active by incorporating do-it-anywhere 10 minute workouts into their lifestyles.”

I am not only a blogger, I am also a fitness instructor (I’ve been teaching for 7 years) and I decided to use the knowledge and experience that I collected  during all those years to help people who live sedentary lifestyles.

Lana: I loved the concept of 10 minute do-it-anywhere workouts. Are they really “do-it-anywhere”?  Could you tell us more about them?

Anastasiya: There is always something that you can do no matter where you are: in your office, in the car, on the plane, on the playground with your kids etc. Most people just do not know how they can use even the smallest space (like a cubicle) to squeeze in a mini workout. The simplest examples of exercises are lunges, squats, wall-pushups and of course walking.

The workouts that I create for the retreat are aimed specifically at people who sit a lot. I show how to stretch muscles that are generally tight and cause pains (neck pain, tension headache, lower and upper back pain), how to strengthen these muscles and how to add cardio that will boost your metabolism.

The workouts are truly “do-it-anywhere.” The only thing that you need for them is the desire to move.

Lana: Since I spend so much time at the computer, I often have back and neck pains at the end of the day, do you have any quick tips of what could help me? (Obviously without giving away all of your retreat’s content)

Anastasiya: Back and neck pains (that are not related to injuries or any degenerative condition) are caused by tight and weak muscles that cannot support your spine in an upright position. The easiest thing that anyone can do is to get up every hour or so and move for at least 2 or 3 minutes. Shoulder rolls, neck stretches are also a great way to relieve and prevent those pains. My favorite stretch for the beach is a Yoga Downward Facing Dog (you can google it.)

These pains are also often caused by stress (and I will talk more about it during the retreat) that is why relaxation techniques are often very effective in relieving those pains.

Then there is self-massage, more advanced stretches and of course strengthening exercises. I could probably talk for hours about back pain but I’d rather do it during the retreat:)

Lana: I know you are busy with the launch, so this is the last question, could you give me 3 key reasons why people should join the retreat?

Anastasiya: 1. I am sure that the retreat will make anyone healthier and make them feel better overall. (Do you know that a person who sits more than 6 hours a day is 94% (!) more likely to die early from any condition than a person who is active and sits 3 hours or less?)

2. During the retreat I will provide motivation and support that are soooo important when you develop new habits and set new goals (support and motivation are key factors in healthy habit adherence.)

3. The retreat will show you how to live actively without giving up your lifestyle and free time. You do not have to spend all your free time at the gym if you want to be healthy and fit and I will show you how you can do it.

I don’t know about you, but I am definitely in.

If you’d like to become more active,  want to try something new and don’t know where to begin and if you, like myself, would love to have few 10 minute do-it-anywhere workouts on hand and motivation to do them every day, I think you should check out Anastasiya’s From Sedentary To Active Lifestyle In One Month retreat.

It’s not another fitness program. It’s a Lifestyle Revolution.

And it starts soon. Like really soon – next Monday to be exact. I am excited.

Check out the retreat here

Follow Anastasiya on Twitter here

We have a week of interviews this week.

Today I am very honored to present to you  Tess Marshall from The Bold Life blog.

I met Tess few months ago and was amazed right away with her enthusiasm and passion for life. She one of the most compassionate and authentic bloggers I know in the blogosphere.

She says: “I started The Bold Life because I wanted to share the knowledge and power of bold living. We all make choices in our lives that either hold us back or keep us growing forward. We all have the opportunity to take bold action and make our dreams happen.”

I always feel empowered, fired up and incredibly inspired after visiting Tess’ blog.

The questions I asked Tess are, of course, related to self-discovery and I know you’ll get lots of golden nuggets from this interview just like I did.

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What inspires you and do you do anything on a consistent basis to stay inspired?

My biggest inspiration comes from my family. My hubs, daughters and grandchildren are filled with vibrant energy, love and ideas. Like a movie our world unfolds in magical ways and bright living colors on the big bold screen of life when I’m with them.

Also my blogging friends inspire me through their writing. I often print out their “deep thoughts” and put them in my journal for further reflection. I used to read authors from the big leagues like Wayne Dyer, Deepak Chopra, etc. Today I find my friends writing fresher and more inspiring material. I think they sound more genuine because they have smaller egos.

To stay inspired I visit art galleries and museums. I journal run, walk and hike in nature regularly which refreshes and renews me.

What advice would you give to your 21 year old Self?

I would advice my younger self to live more simply and be smarter with my finances.

What is the best lesson you learned in life?

If I had to pick one it would be to forgive. Everything in life becomes heavy, dull and lifeless if you carry resentment and anger. I don’t have time or space in my life for holding grudges. I want peace, calm and happiness. All three of those require constant forgiveness.

Your definition of Bold:

Being bold means taking responsibility for your dreams.
Being bold means making bold choices.
Being bold means thinking big.
Being bold means making an impact.
Being bold means taking risks.
Being bold means refusing to be confined.
Being bold means making a difference.
Being bold is taking action.
Being bold means never hiding who you are.
Being bold means seeing the big picture.
Being bold means allowing fear to motivate you.
Being bold means living without excuses.

A book you think everyone should read:

“Man’s Search for Meaning” by Viktor E. Frankl. I can’t stop at one so I also recommend, “Night” by Eli Wiesel.  Both of these books are about experiences in concentration camps and carry strong messages about meaning and survival. “Live to Tell” by Immacule IIibagiza is about her surviving the Rawanda Holocaust. I know you asked for one…I couldn’t resist.

Because of books like these a big revelation in my life comes from knowing I don’t have problems I have minor inconveniences!

Five words that define your True Self:

Compassionate, Honest, Genuine, FUN and Bold.

What do you know the most about?

I know about living life to the fullest, grasping every moment, breathing it in and making the most of it. I live without regrets and have high hopes for the future. My higher purpose is to help make the world a better place by accepting and caring for others. I know we are all “one.”  Three bold things we all want are: To love, Be loved and Know that we matter.

As a mother of 4 daughters what is your best parenting advice:

Love your children enough to tell them No! Children need parents not more friends. Fill their lives with healthy food, exercise and nature. Forgive yourself for any mistakes you make. There is no such thing as a perfect parent. You only need to be good enough. And, yes, it is the most difficult job in the world!

Why do you think Clarity is important?

Clarity is important because without it you’ll live in doubt. You’ll spend your time second guessing yourself and your career. Clarity brings confidence and success in all areas of life.

What Truth are you living now?

This life is an illusion. My world, my life is the reflection of my thoughts. Our mind creates a world of illusion. When we change our thoughts, the illusion changes and we experience a different reality. We paint our canvas as we see it everyday with our qualities, attitudes and direction. Life is a big mirror reflecting my canvas. When I am fearful I see a fearful world. If I choose peace, I’ll see a peaceful world. If I choose love I’ll see a loving world.

I believe love can heal our planet. The most important questions of my day… ”How can I be more loving? “How can I serve others?” In the end the only thing we take with us is the love we left behind.

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I highly recommend you visit Tess’ blog. You can download her book “Flying By The Seat Of My Soul” that will help you live with passion and purpose, let go of your fears and doubts, and connect deeply with others.

Thank you, Tess, for inspiring us to live a bold life!

Find Tess:

The Bold Life Blog

Twitter

Clarity starts from knowing yourself.

When you are clear on who you are and do everything in alignment with who you are, the World responds. With lots of Love.

How do you discover yourself? It took you years of conditioning to forget your true nature.  How do you start getting clear on who you truly are?

You start asking questions. You interview yourself. The more questions you ask, the more slices of your core you reveal and the more pieces to the puzzle you find.

The key is to start asking.

We are so busy, we run everyday and rarely find time to stop and ask.

Let’s do it now.

Asking the Right Questions is really the key to freedom and fulfillment. It is the key to discovering Your Truth.

I’ll interview myself today to show you more of who I am and I’d love it if you choose at least one question in this interview that resonates with you the most and shared the answer in the comments.

I really want to know YOU.

And I’d also encourage you to answer all of those questions when you have time just for yourself.

Find time to stop and get clear.

Some questions might seem too simple and superficial. But every one of them will reveal the slice of who you are or I am in this particular example. (If this post seems like too much of me, I am sorry:) )

Knowing yourself is really the key to Freedom. And Freedom is what we all want. So let’s start.

Update: If you are blogger, feel free to use these questions to interview yourself on your blog. Your readers would love to know you. Link to this original interview is appreciated of course! We have few bloggers who did it already and more coming.  See the links at end of the post.

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If there was one word that would define everything  you do, strive for and resonate with, what would that be:

Meaning. I need meaning in order for me to be happy and satisfied.

What is (are) the core feeling(S) that drive(s) everything you do?

Meaning, creative freedom and feeling of being useful.   Those are the ultimate reasons I do what I do.

What are the things you are most proud of from what you’ve accomplished or did so far in life?

Not giving up with my business, daring to commit to it and believing in what I do when things were not working out.  Breastfeeding my son until the age of 3.

What is your genius, what are your talents?

Intuition, hearing the answers, asking the right questions, ability to put a stream of thoughts into a clear and concise message, Vision, creativity, creating impact. I am great dancer too:)

If you were to start your career/business all over again, what would you do differently?

In terms of my business, I would have started building my brand right away, got focused, wouldn’t have tried to make money with something else before deciding to stick with my passion,  enjoyed the process more instead of focusing on the outcome too much.

What do you crave?

Intimacy and authentic connections with people.

What do you want less of in your life?

Fear, attachment, feeling of  – “I don’t have enough time.”

What annoys you the most?

Low consciousness. Small talk. Fake smiles. Superficial connections. Mediocrity. People who don’t believe and don’t try and judge those who do. Status quo.

If there was one thing you could revolutionize, what would that be?

Education system. I’d make classes on awareness, self discovery and purpose driven life  part of the education system.

What are the best realizations you had that changed your life?

1) I am an artist. Seth Godin helped me to realize that. It doesn’t matter what you do, you can be an artist in anything you do.  Once I realized that, everything changed.

2) Bringing value and being yourself are really the only ways to get what you want.

3) I am enough.

What do you love?

Snuggling. Meaningful conversations. Fireplaces. Being useful. Red scarfs. Journals. Simplicity and grace in everything starting from designs of websites, homes, clothes and ending with people and nature.

What is the best material gift one can give you and why?

Journal. Love journals. And not because I love writing. But because they capture truth and meaning.

What is your favorite flower and what do you see in it?

Red rose. One of a kind. Vivid. Breathtaking. Impact. Change. Sensual. Inspiration. Privacy and solitude. Tasteful. Elegant. Meaning. Passion.

What advice would you give to your 18 year old Self:

Ten years from now you’d be where you never even allowed yourself to dream of being. Don’t limit yourself. Don’t worry about short term goals, figure out your long term Vision first. Don’t be afraid to make a choice and commit to it. You are enough. Really, you are. Change is the only constant, stay flexible. Things always get better, never worse. Your taste in clothes is awful. Don’t you see it?

What are you most proud of in your country/people?

Passion. Very strong core, if it makes sense. Stubbornness. Reliability. Compassion. (I am from Russia)

Did you have a job that you hated in the past and if yes, why?

I didn’t have that many jobs but the one that stuck in mind the most was – I worked in the Ministry of Foreign Economic Affairs in Russia. I worked  in protocol department there.

Everything should have been done according to the protocol. There was a protocol for how to meet foreign delegations, what to say, how to write letters and emails,  what flowers to give if we were meeting a lady, how to make phone calls, how to present during meetings, how gifts should be wrapped and what gifts should be given to whom and on what occasions.

You name it. We had a protocol for that. Creativity? What is it? Check the protocol.  Nice place and great job at the time. So glad I am not there anymore.

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Did you learn more about me? Do you see how my answers one way or another are aligned with what I do?

Now is your turn. You might think you know the answers but it is so much more powerful to put them down on paper.

You never know where that  might lead you. Maybe you’ll want to start a new project or write a book or change your wardrobe.

You might not know where getting clear on who you are might take you,  but you can always be sure it will be the  direction you were born to go.

Clarity will liberate you. The True YOU.

I am starting Clarity Series this week. In each series I will be asking questions or one question like the ones above and will invite you to answer them. My intention is for all of us to get truly and undeniably clear.

So we all fly. Higher.

Amazing Bloggers Who Joined The Interview Challenge So Far:

Jen Smith from Reach Your Dreams - -Interview With Yours Truly

Jeremy Johnson from Jeremy Johnson — Interview Yourself To Discover Your Purpose

Genia Larionova from the Perfect Photo Blog — The Interview With Myself

Iyabo Asani from Coach Iyabo –Who am I?

Alex Koloskov from AKELstudio  – The Interview With Myself

Daring Clarity has finally settled down into its new domain name and here we come with new exciting changes. I will start interviewing amazing people who have tapped into their Genius and live their Truth. I will also start posting three times a week from now on (yes, it’s time to announce the schedule for my posts!)and one of the posts every other week or so  will be an interview.

Today I’d like to introduce to you Dragos Roua, successful online entrepreneur and popular personal development blogger. Dragos is a true representation for me of the person who knows his core and does everything in alignment with his heart.

What struck me the most in Dragos when I first came across his  Dragos Roua – Brilliantly Better was originality, creativity and intensity coming from his site. His posts are often controversial, unusual and just plain different from what you see online.

Recently I have read Dragos’ book – 30 Sentences for a Millionaire Mindset.  I was surprised a bit after reading it. I read Secrets of the Millionaire Mind by Harv Eker after all. I read Think and Grow Rich. I read many others. What else could be invented there in terms of a millionaire mindset?

To my surprise I learned tons and most importantly I could apply it right away. Dragos made it extremely easy for you to apply the concepts he teaches right away.

30 Sentences for a Millionaire Mindset is, of course, not about money. It is about you acquiring the mindset of the person who can make as much money as he/she chooses to without striving, struggle and pushing. 

Choice is the keyword here. You might choose to be a millionaire or you might choose to not be. But you always know that it is Your choice.

It is also not one of those self-help/mindset books. It is a practical guide. It is simple. It is extremely easy to digest and apply.  Practicality is another keyword. Read – apply, read – apply.

It is brilliant really.

Loved it.

I will give you one of my favorite quotes from the book. Hope Dragos won’t mind.

“Working hard is not an answer. Working hard is the question. The answer is ‘No!’”

Yes! I truly believe that effort is always necessary. Struggle is optional though and it almost always comes from the wrong mindset.

So YES to less struggle! Check out the book here. It is available both in print and pdf.  BTW, the links I give are not affiliate links. Not that it matters, just letting you know.

And here is the interview with Dragos as promised. I hope it inspires you!

1. If you were to name one thing that you do better than anyone else, what would that be?

Being myself. I think I’m doing a pretty good job at it and I strive to get better at it everyday

2. What is the core feeling that drives you? (the feeling you want to experience when you reach your goals)

Enthusiasm. I’m not addicted to it but not far from being addicted either. For me, enthusiasm is what happens when my intention becomes reality. When something which was only in my mind a second earlier becomes an event, a gesture, a word, a thing, a project I want to do. Enthusiasm is the feeling that glues together my intentions and my goals. If I don’t have it, I can’t seem to transform my intention into goals. And even if I think I did, I observe later that either the intention wasn’t completely transformed, either the goals were the wrong ones.

3. What does being in the flow mean to you, when do you feel that you are in the flow? Are you in the flow now?

When I’m doing what I like when I like. Being in the flow means that no interruptions can reach me. This “flow” is like an invisible shield which protects me from a potentially toxic environment. Every time I’m able to pace together the “what I like” with the “when I like” it seems that shield gets activated.

Right now I’m in the flow because I love answering these questions and I really think this is the most appropriate moment to do it.

4. What inspires you and do you do anything on a consistent basis to stay inspired?

I get inspiration from the inside as well from the outside. Every time I reach an important milestone I create an internal representation of it. And every time I’m able to visualize that internal representation I feel really inspired.

For instance, last year I went round around the Earth by plane in a two weeks trip. That was an important milestone and its internal representation is very powerful. Every time I visualize it I feel inspired to travel more or to embark in even more challenging adventures.

But I can also get it from the outside. Usually, extreme physical performance inspires me (I’m a man, so I guess physical performance is written in my DNA). Seeing people climbing the Everest, watching a great soccer or tennis game, all these types of physical victories are making me want to replicate the feeling.

5. What books and/or movies impacted you the most in life? ‘

I was a big fan of Hemingway (and I still am). I had a lot of inspiring books at every age but Hemingway seemed to survive every age upgrade, so to speak. One of the movies which really inspired me was The Secret (leaving aside all the cheap consumerism layer).

From blogs, StevePavlina.com was an important igniter in my career (not too much now, by the way). And another great movie which is still very, very close to my heart is “Le Grand Bleu” (The Big Blue, a film by jean Luc Besson).

6. In your book you tell people to do it their own way. Have you done anything in the past that worked despite all odds just because you did it your own way?

Absolutely. I started my own company although everybody – my family included – was convinced I was going to abandon in 6-9 months. After 10 years, I did a successful exit.

7. I know you live in Romania, to give us a little glimpse into your world, what is about your country, culture, people that you are most proud of?

I’m not very nation-centric. I like to consider myself a citizen of the world, and consider my country just as a city in this huge world. But to answer your question, one thing that I like at my people is their warmth and their capacity of empathy. There are a lot of other things I don’t like (corruption and laziness being on top of everything) but I learned that they are part of that culture too.

8. If you had only 5 words to define your True Self, what would they be?

Persistent. Creative. Courageous. Curious. Loving.

9. If there were 5 famous people from the past you could invite to have dinner together, who would they be?

Jesus, Leonardo da Vinci, Alexander the Great, Marco Polo, Nefertiti.

10. If you could, what one advice would you give to your 21-year old Self?

Never change. You’re incredibly cool and you’re going to live an incredible life. Yes, it will be really tough at times, but it will well worth. Mistakes? Yes, you’re going to do plenty of them, which means you’re going to learn tremendously from this journey. Just stay exactly as you are and enjoy every step.

Thank you, Dragos,  for this great interview and for inspiring us to be Brilliantly Better. 

I urge you, my dear readers, to ask yourself  those questions as well.  You can’t imagine how much more clarity and new creative ideas you might get just by asking yourself some simple questions.

Find Dragos:

Brilliantly Bettter

Twitter

30 Sentences for a Millionaire Mindset