Welcome

All of my current blog posts, inspiration and information can be found on my new WordPress site www.stefaniezizzo.com.  Please visit me there.

Please note my new email address – zizzostefanie@gmail.com

Thank you!

Stefanie Zizzo

 

Stretch out of your comfort zone?

Last week I delivered a presentations 7 Signs You Are Ready to Stretch and Actions to Take to a group of people in career transition.

The 7 signs we focused on were:

• You are restless – feeling an “itch” to do something more or different
• You are seeking – feeling a need for greater purpose in what you are doing
• You are bored – seeking greater passion in your work or life
• You are in a rut – feeling a need to change things up
• You are feeling a pull – feeling ready to act on an idea you have
• You have an opportunity – one that is out of the norm for you
• You are questioning – wondering what impact you are having

Some great conversation too place around these 7 signs.  Some thoughts and ideas the audience shared:

• Never close a door until you look through it first – when a new idea or opportunity shows up that is out of your comfort zone, take the time to review it with open eyes and an open mind
• Take notice of what actions you do on a daily basis that are within your comfort zone – begin to take daily small steps out of your comfort zone.  This will get you out of your rut, address your restlessness and may even spark new passion
• Volunteer – especially in an area that is out of your comfort zone – may also boost your passion, give you greater meaning and even spark an idea to pursue

What signs are you noticing that it’s time for you to stretch?

What thoughts do you have to get you out of your comfort zone?

Nostalgia in New York

I visited New York for the first time since I moved away 6 years ago.  Our first stop upon arrival was a drive in NYC for what else?  A pretzel!

Our next stop?  Our hometown of Valley Stream.  We stopped at the home we owned before moving to NC and each of our childhood homes.  We also had to have my favorite pizza, an individual Grandma’s pizza at Ancona on Rockaway Ave.  We walked up and down the avenue looking for familiar sites and of course we had to stop for my all time favorite homemade rice pudding at Mitchell’s.

We also took a walk around Hendrickson Park, a place I spent so much of my childhood and teenage years.  Here is the bench I used to sit on as I contemplated whatever was going on in my life at the time, my place to think and journal.

We drove all around Long Island visiting with members of our extended families and were also able to see some friends we had not seen in a long time.  There is nothing like my aunt’s cooking!!  Here is a sample of what we enjoyed – eggplant parmesean and rice balls.

What a wonderful trip down memory lane.

Why I Started Painting Again

This month, my article focused on understanding what we want out of life and why we want it, so I thought I would share one of mine….

Several years ago I knew an important want in my life was to start painting again.  I wanted art, painting, creativity to once again become an integral part of my life.  How did that look?  At first my thoughts were to take classes, buy supplies, have a subject to paint, have a space in my home to paint with all materials at the ready

I knew what I wanted to create and the actions to make it happen.  The anchor to get me moving – was why.

For me the why is value of beauty, capturing nature, colors.  It is the need for expression of emotion and creativity.  It serves as a stress reliever for when in the flow I am calmer, more present, in another space entirely.

Do I paint every day?  No I don’t, but I have everything at the ready when inspiration or need for expression surfaces.

Get noticed, known and connected

Last night I delivered a seminar called “Get noticed, known and connected” to the Raleigh Jaycees.  This topic can take many directions, we included points from my handout and specific questions and challenges of the group. Through our lively discussion, here is some of what was shared:

• The importance of clarifying who you are known as – or how you would like to be known.
• Learning who to reach out to in order to further your career in your current organization, recruit new members for a professional organization, search for new career opportunities
• Defining your image, both personal style and how you present yourself through social media
• Where to meet people to create new connections
• How to start a conversation with someone at a networking event
• How to approach someone for an informational interview

I love delivering seminars on topics such as these because each time it is different based on the audience’s questions and needs!

Building Confidence

Building Confidence was the topic of a seminar I delivered last week.  I thought it would be great to share some of the thoughts and comments that the audience shared during the seminar:

When I asked what Confidence sounds like they shared:

• a strong and clear voice
• stating ideas without second guessing yourself
• speaking up – having a voice

When I asked what Confidence looks like they shared:

• eye contact
• a smile
• standing tall and straight

When I asked what Confidence is like inside our heads/thoughts they shared:

• focused
• positive self talk (not the absence of negative self talk, that’s still there sometimes)
• listening to others

Confidence is having trust and faith in yourself and others.  Confidence is having the courage to take a risk when there is a goal you are reaching for.

I left the audience with a final question:

What if you were to act AS IF you are confident in every situation?  

• Acting ‘as if’ means you are choosing to sound confident by the words you are choosing and how you are speaking (out loud and to yourself)
• Acting ‘as if’ means choosing to look confident by smiling and paying attention to how you carry yourself in the world

What are your thoughts on building confidence?

Beauty in Nature

One of my favorite things to do is capture nature in photographs.  It’s easier than ever with my iphone since I am never without a camera.  I wanted to share some of the photos I’ve taken recently in my yard and gardens/parks in my community:

Tree in Hemlock Bluffs, Cary

Strawberry picking in Apex

Rose from my garden

I am in awe of the colors, textures and shapes in nature.    When I see the incredible beauty, it often takes my breath away.    The beauty in nature inspires me to paint and create, it fills me up!

20 Year Vision

Several years ago I was completing some exercises as I was embarking on career and life exploration of my own.  One of exercises asked me to write my 20 year vision.  My first reaction?  20 years?? At the time I found it easy to plan my weeks and months, even loosely knowing what I wanted to accomplish that year, but the next 20??

After a brief challenge of wrapping my head around the concept that I could plan that far ahead, I began to imagine what I wanted my life to be like 5 years from then, 10 years, 15 – and I was able to get to 20.  So I sat at the table on my deck and began to write, letting my imagination run free, thinking about my big goals and dreams – especially those that had lain dormant for a while.

It was fun, soon the ideas began to flow so much so that a giddiness took over.  Could this really happen – I asked myself?  Why not I answered.  And that marked the beginning of my life and career transformation.

Now it’s your turn.  Whether you want to focus on 1 year, 5, 10 or 20 – begin to let your imagination run free – remember the dreams of your childhood, uncover those you never dared dream and create a realm of possibility currently beyond your imagination.  Then take it to paper, letting all your thoughts form words and images.

Your vision for the future is limited only by your imagination!

Creative Journaling

Most of you know that I love painting – you may have seen some of them in the Journal of Possibility I created.

This creative journaling is something different for me.  You see, when I painted, I would always paint a picture, sometimes watercolor, sometimes acrylic.  I always wondered what to do with all of of the small paintings I made.  There are only so many I can put on the wall and I didn’t want to put them away, I like looking at them.

I had never experimented with creative journaling until a few months ago.  I started as a way to prompt me to write my thoughts and emotions, gain clarity about an issue, and a place to capture beautiful quotes or passages from books that move me.  Writing on white paper is not inspiring to me, so I began using watercolor to paint the pages of a blank journal I bought.   This brought the pages to life and made them inviting to write on.

I then started adding some of my paintings to the journal, adding more creative touches and backgrounds.  Now I am finding images from magazines that move me and adding them as a collage.

Having a journal (or now several) that I am working on inspires me to paint or create almost every day.  Here is a picture of my workspace.  I leave everything out or within arms reach.

How do you journal?

Simplifying

It has been quite a while since I have written a blog post.  These last few months have been a sort of “time out” for me.  I stayed focused on my clients and some other business matters, but have taken some time off to focus on my own wellness.

At first it was uncomfortable to take so much time off.  I worried about my business and my clients, wondering how I could manage everything.  But you know what, it all worked out!

I took some days off, lightened my schedule other days, and had some full days as well.  This balance allowed me to reflect, to create, to breathe and to focus on what mattered most, my health.

Did everything fall apart because I said no to some things?  No it didn’t. Were there problems in my business because I moved some appointments further forward than I prefer?  No there weren’t.

What did this experience teach me?  That it is OK to pace myself differently. That it is more than OK to take time to breathe and reflect and renew.  That  it is OK to just simplify sometimes!