Yesterday 11/2/11  I went to Austin Women’s Conference.

I’m thankful for having the opportunity to attend a great conference with one of my greatest and dearest friends.

To not forget the feeling I walked out of the conference with, I’d like to document some of the personal gain I got out of attending.

At the keynote 1st thing in the morning, they asked us to write our intentions for today, mine:

• I want to feel empowered to listen to my heart and make a change (whatever that might be)
• I want to act on something that one of our speaker’s suggests to do
• I want to walk out with a more positive attitude than what I arrived with.

My Favorite quotes from keynote speakers:

1. Managers and leaders should be like mothers, the workplace would become stronger! – Lisa Copeland
2. Be yourself, everyone else is taken! –Dr. Christiane Northrup
3. My key take-away: we all need to have more OH WOW moments 😉

The Motivating postcards that spoke to me personally:

1. She decided to start living the life she imagined
2. She made the whole world feel like home
3. She woke up one day and threw away all her excuses
4. She remained true to herself
5. She listened to her heart above all other voices

I attended several sessions my favorites being Personal Branding with Sara Canaday and Sara Hickman inspired my creative side with her session “Families who create together, do Great Together”.

As Renée Peterson Trudeau, another inspiring Speaker was giving closing remarks she asked us to write our A-ha moments.

1. I really enjoyed myself today! and why is that? well I finally attended an event for me, not for work, and not working the event, which is great for a change! Which in conclusion brings me to I need to find more ME time!
2. What did I learn today? More than new learning, I was reminded of things that I seemed to have forgotten, but that are important to me. Speakers made me think and reflect on things that are important to me, but that I seem to always set aside because something gets in the way.
3. My inspiration of the day was to be reminded that at several points in my life I’ve had journals, made me reflect why don’t I write that much anymore, all goes back to time, I don’t find the time to do it. But I have to change that, because I know that writing about what I’m doing, how I’m feeling, reacting to something I see, read or eat makes me feel incredibly fulfilled.

In conclusion, I need to find the way to organize my day/life in a way that I stay true to myself, that I carve time to do things I enjoy doing, to continue to give but allow myself to receive help, that even though being a Mom/wife/friend/coworker/etc. and what ever hat you need to be is super, there is not need to be a Super Mom/wife/friend/coworker/etc.

And I suppose that even though this information isn’t necessarily new, it takes me to get out of my routine, to listen to inspiring women, to network with other women, vendors, to realize that sometimes you need to get out of the fast lane and take the time to do things that are also important to you.

For all this I’m grateful for attending an all day conference where my spirit was uplifted and I felt empowered and reminded of what I need to do next.