I recently turned 40. Here's what I've learned on this journey so far.

Regarding Health

✨ Peace and relaxation are the ultimate vitamin.
​This world is batshit crazy, and sometimes the crazy rubs off on you.
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​This world wants us all running around like chickens with our heads cut off, worrying about everything. And I played that game until I turned 28, when the frenetic go-go-go finally led to lupus and alopecia bald spots all over my head.
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That's when I finally realized the only way for me to enjoy this ride was to relax. Since then, I've made peace the center of my life.

Making this one single choice has been the catalyst for the greatest changes. My life is 100% better in EVERY AREA since prioritizing PEACE.

Basically, doing the opposite of what the world deems normal has improved my life by leaps and bounds.

I chucked my TV and never looked back. I started locking my phone away. And started being a reeeeeeaal big "weirdo" that sits in silence doing "nothing" 😂.

I basically stopped treating life like a 5-alarm fire hahaha.
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For the last 12 years, I've had some sort of yoga nook wherever I live. Here's my ultra minimal current zen den
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The tools for HOW I stay peaceful:

• ​Letting Go by Dr. David Hawkins helped me to understand surrender
• Ashtanga and Vinyasa Yoga. Here's the best yoga book for beginners
• Yoga nidra is another tool that healed my entire life
• Daily meditation has completely rewired my brain these last 12 years
• Yoga and meditation do wonders for my health.
• I have no other set-in-stone rituals or rules and even my yoga practice isn't every day.

Here's a yoga nidra album from one of my own meditation teachers, Dr. Richard Miller (not sponsored)

Regarding Business

Starting my online business in 2008 was the greatest decision I made for my career and financial life. I knew, deep down, that I could do this.

Online business isn't some magic money machine that guarantees us cash. But my personal conviction, discipline, and belief in myself are the assets that would be going to waste if I didn't have my own business.

I've always believed in myself, for better or worse, even when I had absolutely no reason to believe in myself 😆.

One time in first grade the entire class had to guess if the groundhog would see its shadow. I was the ONLY kid who said no. Everyone snickered. Even the teacher asked "Are you SURRREEE Brenda?" ...I insisted I was right, and proudly watched my name sit ALONE on the board.

Not that it matters, but I WAS right. The groundhog didn't see his shadow that day.

My unfaltering belief in myself, my love of discipline, and my conviction are all I need in the online business game. This might not be a universal truth, but over the last 16 years, it's been true for me.

Regarding Love

Love is all there is. Love is all that matters. Love is the only real and true thing in this universe. Also, Love NEVER dies.

My sister's sudden passing in 2023 led to my understanding that love really is eternal. Love never dies. Her passing also cracked my heart wide open.
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She loved everyone she met, and opened her heart to the world. When she passed, I started living like that to honor her.

When I started opening up and let more people into my life, I was blown away by how loving most people are. Love is everywhere.
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It might have helped that I live in Austin, where everyone is sweet as apple pie and genuinely care about one another. Austin even gave me one of the dearest soul-mate-friends I've EVER had, artist Helen Yole. She passed on NYE in December.
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​Yet once again, our love is eternal and she's very much still with me.

Regarding Money

My mom was 16 when she had me. Money was always pretty tight growing up.

The lil' Chicago girl in me always assumed once I made a certain amount of money, I'd be totally free. "I'll buy whatever I want and do whatever I want and everything will be awesome!"

What I've discovered is that money is nice to have, but it's not ideal to make it a central focus point in my life.

I've always had an easy time making money. Yet when money was a CENTRAL focus in my life, I never ever felt like I had enough no matter how much I made.

The shift I've made these last 12 years is to make FULFILLING and HELPFUL WORK a central focus, instead of money. Which leads to....you guessed it...MORE MONEY.

It's a millimeter shift that helps me to be a better business owner. It also makes for much greater profits.

Don't get me wrong. I still set profit targets. I still mind the numbers. But I keep my eyes on the targets of

1. Creating cool stuff I'm proud of (even if it's not perfect)
2. Creating stuff that helps other people
3. Being a helpful human

These three things also make my life so much more enjoyable!

Hopefully you've found this helpful. Thanks for your time, and I'll see you next email.

🩵,
Brenda

P.S. This month in the YouTube Profits Accelerator, I'll be teaching you how to create YouTube videos people want to watch. Our next live training happens tomorrow at 12pm CST 😲 (replays are available)