Hello everyone,
​Today, a friend of mine said to me that she doesn't care about fame or fortune and all she really wants is "to be Free, live life, savor it and roll in it". And I thought to myself "isn't that everybody's dream"?
But are we working towards Freedom? I know it sounds oxymoron that we have to work on being Freed. Because Freedom doesn't mean we just sit around all day and do nothing. Freedom means we get to do what we love to do all day long. So how do we get there, "Strategic Planning".
For instance: How do you quit the job that you dislike that is sucking the life out of you? or How do you get yourself out of debt that is weighing you down?
By taking baby steps, it may mean you need to take a course to get your dream job or it may mean you need to take on a part time job just so that you can pay off your debt.
Whatever it takes, we need to be pro-active towards gaining the freedom that we need and design the life that we crave. No matter how difficult it is we need to implement that first step. Before we know it, freedom will become our reality. I know it is not easy my friends but we are made for difficult things, we have the smarts and the strength.

If you have enjoyed this post please leave me a comment. And if you have a story to share on how you have gained freedom through your determination please share as well. I would love to hear about it.

With honor in mind and in spirit,
​Ting xoxo

Hello friends and family, So it is a brand new year. I love new year, new hopes, dreams, resolutions and goals, the list goes on. But how many times have I ran out of steam and motivation after two months into the year? The answer is too many times.

I started making a difference in my goal setting last year and I have to say it was the first time that I stuck with it through the entire year because I set myself small goals and good timeline to accomplish each of my goals. I wasn't over the moon with overtly ambitious tasks, just simple bite size tasks.

This year I have bigger fish to fry and really needed to get down to the nitty gritty of stuff so I did another research on how to get things done and stumble on this amazing life coach Christine Kane and she has this useful tool to help you to figure out your Word of the Year.  And what I am about to share with you is just a summary (I have linked her Tool for you to try it out) , I loved it and I found it precise and easy to follow.

So here is my word of the year: Persistence
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PART 1 / CLARITY: KNOW YOUR WHY

Persistence is my word of the year because it is a year of growth. With growth comes challenges therefore I need to be persistent and work through all my challenges. If I embodied this word daily, I would be more patient and more accepting therefore less frustrated and overwhelmed.

Although I do have the determination to see things through and my willingness to learn embody the word Persistence, my problem is letting my emotions get in the way of my progress. I have to remind myself that being overwhelmed, impatient and discouraged are not conducive to accomplishing anything in life. I believe a lot of my negative behaviors are due to lack of sleep and self care.

And I know if I lived by this word, I could strengthen my business by creating brand awareness through social media connection. I would be able to create free online resources for artists and hobbyist alike. Eventually my goals are to create online courses and teaching workshops. 
 
On my personal life, if I were to embody this word, I would travel more, reward myself and celebrate more. I would prioritize my time for yoga and workout. My other priority in life is to create more quality time with my loved ones.

PART 2 / AWARENESS: KNOW YOUR TRIGGERS

There are three things that make me shrink or run the other direction when it comes to my word and they are:
1. Fear of the unknown, the discomfort-abilities of new territories.
2. Fear of being ridiculed: I am an introvert, I find it really difficult to put myself out there.
3. Fear of being too tired to accomplish all the things that I set myself to do.

There are also other factors that have kept me from living this word until now. My biggest set back was operating my business on auto pilot, doing the same thing everyday without questioning what is beyond what I already know. I thought to be an artist, all I had to do was to paint and come up with a collection every year and I was completely wrong! And my discomfort of connecting through social media for business has also set me back.

And the habits that could assist me in embodying this word fully are self care, expand my business knowledge consistently and tackle the technology world with courage, lastly I need to be less independent and ask for help whenever necessary.

PART 3 / VISION: KNOW YOUR DREAMS

A home run for me would be to find a business location where I can have an "occasion" gallery which means that I would only be open during the busy months which leaves the rest of the year for creating and marketing. I would also like to launch a course four times a year but I would be thrilled to launch just one this year ( my manageable bite size rule). If I can work with my dream schedule, I can really design the life that I would like to live and be able to expand my career, take some time for travelling, volunteer and help others to build a life that they deserve. 

Now it is your time to discover Your Word of the Year.

You actually made it to the end? Good for you, if you have the patience to read my Word of the Year then you would have the patience to utilize this amazing tool to find your Word. Here is the link to your Your Word of the Year tool on how to find the word that is going to propel you to a successful 2019.
  
Now remember in order to make our word truthful we need to embody it and become it and that my friends is how we can make huge changes in our lives! Christine Kane said it well here : 
"Intention is a big, bold, hairy, audacious, all-consuming vision".

​Enjoy the "tool" and please feel free to share your word of the year with me I would love to hear about it. 

​​ "Inspire your life with Art. Let Art be the healer and motivator of your life." 
          With honor in spirit and in mind, Ting xoxo

"Hello Friends, Just a little "Artist Knowledge" that I would like to share with you. I believe to be an artist you need to have your own unique style. It is true that if you follow trends, your work may be more popular for a short period of time but trend will soon fade and you will be faced with another blank canvas with nothing to say. So if you wished to be an artist, find your own voice and hone in on your own uniqueness because after all art is about self expression and individuality."

This was a post that I have shared on my Ting Yuen Art FB Page and I received a very interesting comment that asked "How can I Learn to let go and be free from my own judgement and accept the praise of others?"  Since this is such a great question I thought I shall devote this blog to it. I will answer this question with two different solutions: one is how to overcome judgment from others and the other one is how to overcome judgment from yourself. 

How do we Overcome Judgments of Others?
Now when it comes to judgment of others, I think being an artist, you got to be tenacious, you can't let other peoples' opinions about your work slow you down or even worse make you give up. I have always being self reliant, when it comes to my art work. I am a self taught artist, so I learn through trial and error. for that reason my style is distinctive but I also know that my work is very different and it is not in the main stream. My art has had many criticisms before especially when I was new to the game. I took other peoples' judgments with a grain of salt, if the criticisms are not constructive then it is really just their opinions and I refuse to take those hurtful attitudes to heart. One of the things that we need to learn in life is to believe in ourselves and our goals with such confidence that we do not let other peoples' attitudes contaminate our ideas and our self worth. 

I find most people that sit around and judge are the non doers, They are the ones that are afraid to put themselves out there because they are afraid to get the kind of treatment that they dish out to others. Therefore do not let them have the power over you.

And How Do we Overcome Self Judgment?
But if you are the judge of yourself then you are the culprit that jeopardizes your own creativity. This might be the worst kind of judgment. Please stop the self deprecation, go deep within yourself and find the reason and the root of your problem. This is not an exercise for you to confront the perpetrator, it is just a practice to find out the root of your problem so that you can begin to heal yourself from this bad habit. Do a ritual to cleanse yourself from your own judgment.

By the way, that inner judgmental voice is your mind playing games with your soul and it is effecting your heart. So silence your mind and trust your soul and heart. They will not disappoint you. 

The other thing is accepting yourself and love yourself. Give yourself grace knowing that your creativity depends on your well being. You can either create through pain or joy. Or if you were like me, I created through pain because painting was my refuge and eventually as I worked through my challenges I started creating through joy and wisdom. 

Know yourself well and create with your own voice 
Creating with your own distinctive style comes from knowing yourself well, knowing that whatever you put out there is from your own voice and you have created it for yourself and nobody else.  And if your audience love it then that is great but that is just a vanity measurement. The important thing is if you have enjoyed the process and if you like it. And if you don't, ask yourself why and what lesson did you learn from creating this piece of work.

Fear and Self Deprecation is your worst enemies
My dear friends, please don't fear and don't let self criticisms stop you from creating because those are your real enemies. Once the voice of judgement is gone, you will feel like a freed caged bird, you would fly high and you would experiment with your talents , you will do things out of trial and error and your life as an artist would be so much more rewarding. Love yourself so much that it doesn't matter if your inner voice is busy putting yourself down or other people are criticizing you because you have the confidence to continue your journey and work through each challenges that come your way because you are strong and independent. Value yourself truly and don't let negativity be part of your routine.

If you have enjoyed this post please leave me a comment, I would love to hear from you. If you have another way to combat self doubt please do share your knowledge with me.

With honor in mind and in spirit,
yours truly,
Ting Yuen xoxo