WRITER | PRODUCER | ACTOR | MANIFESTATION + SELF-LOVE MUSE
Hi lovelies,
I was honored to be a special guest on the show, Life Stories hosted by Joanna Garzilli for EverTalkTV. The interview is up on lifestoriestelevision.com as well as Apple TV and Roku, and you can watch below.
We cover how your childhood can play a role in your current success and my plans for my new company, 1214 Media Productions.
Candy Washington from EverTalk TV on Vimeo.
Hi lovelies,
Since helping others in how to unconditionally love, support, honor, and protect themselves through self-care is a personal mission of mine, I wanted to curate my essential self-care starter kit for those unsure of where to start when it comes to growing your level of self-worth and self-esteem.
It’s crucial to remember that self-care isn’t about spa days and face masks, although those activities can be apart of your self-care routine, it’s truly about taking inspired and intentional action to honor who you are and the space that you take up in this beautiful world.
Self-care is the foundation for creating healthy boundaries with yourself and others, exercising your own autonomy, building your self-confidence, elevating your mind, body, soul, and spirit, and unlocking your inner peace, love, and joy that’s waiting for you.
Please enjoy some of my favorite ways to honor my life by taking intentional time to slow down, be still, and get present - plus, here’s more Self-Care Essentials.
Need additional guidance in harnessing the power of self-care? Then check out my self-care sessions, here, grab a copy of the Sugar Pills: 10 Days to Awaken Your Inner Power guide and journal, here, and don’t forget to subscribe to the Sugar Pills: 10 Days to Awaken Your Power podcast, here.
***Just click the images below to get started.***
Hi lovelies,
Ok, so maybe the title of this article is a bit sensational, after all, Steve Harvey didn’t physically save my life, but his words of wisdom, the example that he set, and his personal story of struggles and triumph, inspired me to continue on my path of building the life that I envisioned for my self.
Taking the leap from Corporate America to pursuing my passion of being a storyteller through writing, acting, and social media, wasn’t easy and there are still times that I get stuck, but now that I have the 10 Power Principles to Transform Your Life that I learned by listening to Steve Harvey’s wisdom, insights, and words of motivation, I’m empowered with a game plan and strategy to ensure my success both personally and professionally.
I wanted to share those power principles with all in hopes that they are of value to you too while you’re on your journey to creating the life that you deserve.
Learning from someone who is has done what you’re trying to do is one of the most invaluable resources that you can have. The trick is to find someone that you can trust and that genuinely wants to help you win and achieve your goals. You can learn from their triumphs as well as their mistakes and they can insights on how to reach your goal quicker, how to adjust your mindset, and how to up-level your circle.
TIP: I’ve had trouble finding someone to be my mentor. I would reach out to people and for whatever reason, it never really worked out. So I turned to YouTube and watch people that I admired during their interviews, masterclasses, documentaries, and videos. If you can’t find someone to be your mentor in-person, then search for their personal and professional stories online.
“Before the world can see it, the mind must imagine it.” You must know what you want your life to look before you can create it. The power of visualizing your success and life is paramount to manifesting those things into your reality. The best part is, visualizing and having a vision is 100% free and you can do it right now and start transforming your life. Also, the vision you have for you life is a great checkpoint for how you move through your current circumstances and the decisions you make, you can ask yourself, “Is this in alignment and in service to what the greater vision for my life is?” Use your vision as a compass for daily actions.
TIP: When visualizing your life be sure to feel it. Feel what it feels like to cross the finish of your goal, to buy your dream home, ride in your dream car, have healthy and happy relationships, winning your Oscar, or whatever it is.
Beware of the company that you keep. There’s a reason why the saying, “Birds of a feather, flock together,” always rings true. If you want to know where you’re at in your life and more importantly, where you’re going, just look around at your inner circle of friends. It’s super important to be able to trust the people that you surround yourself with and also make sure that you are surrounded by people that not only encourage you, but also are at a level that you aspire to be at. You don’t want to be the most successful person in your circle and you also want to be with people that add value to your life.
Don’t fret, this isn’t super religious or anything, but there are so many leaders, innovators, and super successful people that attribute a part of their accomplishments to the power of meditation. Silencing the mind and learning to observe your thoughts is an extremely effective way to transform your life and harnessing your inner power and guidance. It’s a great way to tap into your inner intuition to guide you.
Steve Harvey was homeless and lived in his car for 3 years. But he didn’t give up. He kept going and he kept fighting the good fight. If your dream is worth having, it’s worth fighting for even when things get tough. You can’t let perceived failures or setbacks stop you from pursuing what you are called to do in this world. Often times what we think is a setback is actually the biggest set-up for something amazing to manifest in your life, you just have to keep going in order to get it.
TIP: The majority of the time, you need to learn the lesson that failures and setbacks are meant to teach you in order to prepare you and equip you the necessary wisdom and experience to handle your success. It’s strengthening you so your successful becomes a blessing and not a burden.
Listen to the Podcast here.
Found value in this article? Then be sure to comment below and share!
Don’t forget to pick-up some cool, cheeky swag at shop.candywashington.com.
If you're in a place where you want personal coaching and guidance on how to build a profitable personal brand and become an expert in your industry, then take a moment to review my two coaching options, The Personal Branding Masterclass and the VIP 4-Week Personal Masterclass.
Want to chat before committing to coaching? Then sign-up for a FREE strategy coaching call here.
Hi lovelies,
Ok, so maybe the title of this article is a bit sensational, after all, Steve Harvey didn’t physically save my life, but his words of wisdom, the example that he set, and his personal story of struggles and triumph, inspired me to continue on my path of building the life that I envisioned for my self.
Taking the leap from Corporate America to pursuing my passion of being a storyteller through writing, acting, and social media, wasn’t easy and there are still times that I get stuck, but now that I have the 10 Power Principles to Transform Your Life that I learned by listening to Steve Harvey’s wisdom, insights, and words of motivation, I’m empowered with a game plan and strategy to ensure my success both personally and professionally.
I wanted to share those power principles with all in hopes that they are of value to you too while you’re on your journey to creating the life that you deserve.
Embrace the power of letting go of expectations, being in control, and dictating the “how” of your hopes, dreams, and vision for your life. Being able to relax into how your career and personal life unfolds allows you operate from a place of flow rather than a place of unmet deadlines and disappointments. You don’t have to carry your burdens alone, and regardless of religion or spiritual beliefs, giving over your worries and anxieties in addition to your dreams and visions to a higher power, gives you the freedom to pursue your dreams with confidence, clarity, and focus.
Create a blueprint and strategy for where you what you want your life and career to look like. Establish goals for yourself and then work backwards from there to create the steps that you need to take in order to reach your goals. Remember, no two paths are the same, so don’t think that your timeline, goals, accomplishments, and milestones has to look like a cookie-cutter version of everyone else’s. It is your race that you are running and no one else’s. Also, have a plan but also be flexible in how your plan unfolds, the power of surrender will help with this.
Speaking from personal experience, whenever I feel sad, discouraged, depressed, or defeated, I have to make the decision to get happy. That starts with doing things that make me laugh, smile, and feel good. There’s a reason why that they say laughter is the best medicine, because it is. Watch funny movies, create a gratitude list, go for a run, listen to upbeat music, talk to your best friend, call your mom, or go to a comedy show. Do whatever brings you joy and gets your endorphins flowing, your frequency up, and gets you back into your happiness overflow.
TIP: If you’re not enjoying your journey, it isn’t worth it. There’s no reason to look back on your life and realize that you were miserable in pursuit of your dreams. This doesn’t mean that your dream is wrong, it means that your perspective and intentionality might be off. Of course everyday isn’t rainbows and sunshine, but at your core, there should be joy and it’s ok to course correct while on your journey. Dreams, plans, visions, and paths are allowed to change.
Having and enforcing standards and boundaries is one of the most effective ways to activate your power. We condition people on how they treat us, so if you don’t have standards and boundaries in both your personal and professional life, then you can find yourself being stretched too thin, not fulfilled, exhausted, and worn out, because people will take from you as much as you’re willing to give, so you need to establish boundaries in order to protect your time, energy, and space. The best way to show people how you to treat you, is by example. The way you treat yourself is the number 1 indicator of how other people think that they can treat you.
TIP: Questions to ask yourself: What do I expect of myself, in terms of honesty, trust, respect, and accountability? What do I expect from other people, in terms of honesty, trust, respect, and accountability? Then make sure that your actions are in alignment with those expectations.
The way to transform your vision, dreams, plans, and strategies, into a real life manifestation and accomplish your goals, is by holding yourself and your team accountable. Be accountable to show up for yourself, to think out of the box, to take risks, to learn from your mistakes, to not be afraid to fail, and to make sure that you surround yourself by people who are really there to support you and to cut dead weight when needed. At the end of the day, the only person responsible for your success is yourself, so you have to take accountability and responsibility for your actions and decisions, and most importantly, for how you spend your time.
Listen to the Podcast here.
Found value in this article? Then be sure to comment below and share!
Don’t forget to pick-up some cool, cheeky swag at shop.candywashington.com.
If you're in a place where you want personal coaching and guidance on how to build a profitable personal brand and become an expert in your industry, then take a moment to review my two coaching options, The Personal Branding Masterclass and the VIP 4-Week Personal Masterclass.
Want to chat before committing to coaching? Then sign-up for a FREE strategy coaching call here.
Hi lovelies,
Over the past few weeks, I've been really reminding myself to slow down and enjoy every moment possible of my life.
I was literally putting on my make-up and it dawned on me that the single most important thing about life, is that we enjoy it. It's not just, "Did I do it?," it's really, "Did I enjoy it?"
So I decided to challenge myself by doing and learning the true meaning of 'self-care.' Even though I love a good face mask and bubble bath, I challenged myself to go beyond the usual ways that we treat and take care of ourselves, to explore what is the root of self-care that's imperative to our mental, spiritual, emotional, and physical health.
For me, that meaning was to truly believe that:
Once you have that belief and knowing embedded in your psyche, saying no to things that don't serve you comes easily, taking time for yourself to recharge becomes second nature, protecting your energy and staying away from toxic people is your norm, practicing self-soothing and speaking kindly to your self about your self is your constant sermon, and being confident, grounded, and self-assured is just who you are.
True self-care is a mindset that 'you' are your first and best priority in your life and then from there, your actions, words, thoughts, and feelings will move in alignment to honor that belief.
Please read on for the three ways that you can express the true meaning of self-care in your everyday life:
It might sound weird, but by simply checking in with your self throughout your day is a great way to reduce stress and anxiety and increase joy, calmness, and a sense of well-being.
Often times we are just going through the motions and are on auto-pilot without really acknowledging the present moment.
Simply ask your self, "How am I feeling right now?" It's the perfect way to be present and still in the moment. It's also a great way to realign yourself into a good-feeling and conscious mode. If you're not feeling good, then change what you're thinking about or what you're doing to something that brings you joy and happiness.
It could be as simple as you're irritated while being stuck in traffic, so rather than focus on being frustrated, switch your thought to how happy you'll be once you arrive or think about a fond memory. You're still in the same situation but you're feeling better just being switching your focus and by being mindful of how you feel.
As a natural people-pleaser, this was a hard skill for me to master. I was accustomed to saying, "Yes, of course I'll do that, be there, help out, show up, etc." without really giving thought to if it was something that I actually wanted to do. I put the need to please others over the need to honor my own feelings.
Operating in the people-pleaser mode is a recipe for disaster and burn-out, so I'm super grateful that I've been able to harness of the power of the word, "No." I had to get over the hurdle that other people would think that I was mean or selfish for saying no to them or by putting my own needs first, but then I realized that there's nothing selfish about taking care of self and that the people who truly love and respect will be ok with that. If they're not, then you really don't need them in your life in the first place.
As a healthy individual, it's your responsibility to place your time, energy, well-being, and mindset above all else, because you're not your best, then you cannot give and be of value to others. Remember, put your own rescue mask on first before helping others.
A few easy ways to say, "No."
"No, I can't do that right now."
"No, but thank you for thinking of me."
"No, but I'll keep it in mind for next time."
"No, thank you."
Personal favorite: "No, but I still love you."
Shameless self-plug here, but I recently launched my very first ever podcast, Sugar Pills: Your Weekly Dose of Inspiration to Grow Your Mind, Body, and Soul, and I would be super honored if you subscribed and listened.
One way that I practice self-care is to be mindful about the type of content that I watch, listen to, and read. I want to keep my energy clean, joyful, and continuously elevating, so I listen to happy music and listen to inspiring and insightful podcasts, and it is my goal that my podcast can serve as that inspiring safe place for others.
Subscribe, comment, and listen to my first episode below:
Hi lovelies,
With the New Year right around the corner, I'm not only looking forward to new beginnings, experiences, and seeing what new adventure life has waiting for me, I've also been reflective on the past year, with lessons learned, goals achieved, tears shed, laughter between friends, sleepless nights, and early mornings.
At first, I thought about all of the things that I wasn't going to do in the New Year, but I realized that rather than focus on anything negative, because what you focus on grows, I decided to focus on all of the things that I allowed myself to do differently in 2017. Based on this reflection, and from this place of openness, positivity, and acceptance, I would then be able to create a blueprint for how I wanted my 2018 to unfold.
Additionally, one powerful realization emerged and I wanted to share it with you all. In the comments below, email, or on social media, I'd be honored if you shared with me a few things that you allowed yourself to do in 2017 and how you plan to amplify them in the New Year.
In 2017, I allowed myself to embrace being selfish, in the positive, self-care way, not being detrimental to other people for your own gain and pleasure type of way. I decided that not only was it ok to do what felt right to me, and to honor how I felt, regardless of what other people thought of me, or more accurately, what I assumed they would think of me, but it was imperative if I wanted to truly lead a fulfilled, happy, and complete life.
This was a crucial component of me maturing as an adult. Knowing that how I feel matters and protecting myself, both personally and professionally, had to be my number one priority as a healthy human being. I had more than a few "friends" come and go in 2017, but I also gained some amazing people in my life and the friendships that I've had since childhood and college only deepened and become even more authentic.
Saying "yes" to myself allowed my other relationships, friendships, business opportunities, and familial connections to flourish, because when I was taking care of myself first, there was no room for bitterness, resentment, animosity, or feeling less than, because I was doing what I actually wanted to do and the only compass that was guiding me with my intuition, my gut feeling that has never let me down.
Another key reason why this mindset shift was able to deepen my relationships and grow my business, is because when I was operating of doing what felt right to me, the only person that was then accountable and responsible for the experience, was myself.
Knowing that I what I do, what I feel, and what I say, matters, is such a powerful place to operate your life and your choices from. And that's the place that I plan to begin 2018 from, the year of my reckoning.
Photo credit: March and May and Tea Coffee Books
Hi lovelies,
So I have a confession. A few months back I felt super stuck. Even though I'm passionate about what I do and I feel very grateful to be a full-time content creator, there are times that I feel uninspired, burnt out, and unsure of how to get motivated.
But after taking an honest look at my life and career, I took the following steps below to get my mojo back and reignite my creative juices.
So if you're like me and sometimes just need a break and a life refresh, then read on for a few ways to keep your light shining.
Since I blog, do social media influence, and on-camera work full-time, I couldn't stop blogging 100%, but I did stop blogging just to blog. I took a step back and was more discerning about the brand partnerships that I accepted and I let go of the pressure of having to constantly be pushing out a ton of content.
I allowed myself to not like it. I admitted that I was burnt out with what had become a rat race of blogging for me. I let go of the guilt and shame that I felt of not liking my career choice, one that I had fought so hard to create and sacrificed so much to make work. I decided it was ok to want a break.
This freedom and time allowed me to focus on other things that also gave me joy and that I was passionate about, so when I returned to blogging, I was rejuvenated, refreshed, and ready to allow blogging to my familiar and comforting creative outlet like it was before.
I took a social media break. I stopped being a slave to my phone and to my screens. I auto-mated my posts for awhile and then privately went dark. It was super refreshing to stop and look around, in real life, and appreciate all of the beauty and inspiration that's around me and not featured on someone's feed.
The social media detox allowed me to remember that it's not a competition and that it's a just a blog and it's just a few apps. Even though I'm pretty grounded, I'm still human, and it's easy to compare your journey to the journey of others or place too much importance in things rather than in your overall happiness, joy, and fulfillment.
Welcome to the NEW Actress with Style! I was so tired of coming to my same-old website, to the same photos, and the same design. Don't get me wrong, I'm extremely proud of my blog and it had an awesome design, if-I-do-say-so-myself, but I wanted something new. I wanted a new look to reflect my own personal growth as an entrepreneur, as a content creator, as an on-camera talent, and as a woman.
So I woke one day and just redesigned my site. I didn't plan it out. I didn't create an editorial calendar. I don't have a stock pile of new content ready to roll out. I had nothing but a desire to revitalize my site and start over.
I broke down what areas I wanted to be influential in and have new experiences in. I wanted to challenge myself to start creating content that scared me and pushed me beyond my normal and comfortable topics of fashion, style, and beauty.
So I added a few new categories without any content to put in them because I no longer see my blog as a library of past experiences, but as a promise to myself, and to my readers, of all of the new and challenging experiences to come. I added in a Food & Travel category, because I want to try new restaurants and travel the world. I added in a Personal Stories category because I want to hold myself accountable to blog regardless of sponsorships and to write because it's my first love and to share fearlessly regardless of the pressure of judgment.
This allowed me to remember why I loved blogging in the first and why it remains a career worth fighting for. It reminded me that I owe it to all of you to stay present in the moment and to share from my authentic self. It also gave me permission to explore new avenues and experiences, to constantly challenge myself. I determine my journey, I'm not categorized by it.
Please comment below and share this article if you found it helpful!
