Dear Jess,

It feels kind of like I have nothing to do and I want to make a difference somehow, but nobody in my family wants to help me. How can I make people understand that making a difference and accomplishing my goals is important to me?

~Alissa

Hi Alissa,

One of my favorite quotes is from Gandhi: “Be the change you wish to see in the world.” And that’s what I would encourage you to do. If you want to help people and make a difference, don’t wait to get approval from your family, and don’t just tell someone about it, go out and do it! Volunteer, help the people or causes that you want to help. You have to show people what you want with your actions and not just your words. In the end, your dreams and goals are incredibly important. Of course you want your family to support and understand them, but they’re YOUR dreams and goals, and it’s up to you to take the first course of action. I believe you can make a difference!

Blessings,

Team Jess

Are you in Los Angeles April 10^th?  Then come join Jess as she presents the keynote address to the Fourth Annual West Hollywood Women’s Leadership Conference: Unlimited Opportunities, Fierce & Fabulous

The goal of the West Hollywood Women’s Leadership Conference is to inspire and encourage women who live and work in West Hollywood to embrace the wide variety of leadership opportunities available in both their professional and personal lives. Jess will be speaking about how to be an Actionist® in your everyday life.

Featuring Special Guest Speakers, Interactive Workshops, Panel Discussion and a Leadership Luncheon.

Workshops & Panels

$25 advance registration fee is required.  Senior Rate: $15

Onsite Childcare Available.  Register by April 5th.   $35 fee after April 5th

For more information, or to register for the the Fourth Annual West Hollywood Women’s Leadership Conference: Unlimited Opportunities, Fierce & Fabulous, www.weho.org/wlc or please call (323) 848-6840.

Hello Actionists®!

It’s Monday and the first new day of month – and you know what that means….it can be a TRIGGER for anybody who is used to a diet mentality. I don’t know why, but for some reason diets always seem to start on Monday’s.

One of the most common resolutions when we start a new year is to improve one’s health. And most of the time that improvement takes the form of a diet. But what if we all began to dig a little bit deeper to expand our definition of health. What if we looked at weight loss not as a quick fix result but rather a concentrated effort over time. Would we all be healthier? Happier? Making less Monday morning resolutions to diet? I think so. And not only would this attitude shift make us happier – it could make our kids healthier. Check out our friend Dr. Divya Kakaiya who wrote a great article for CNN.com about how promising not to diet may actually have a great impact on your child’s self-esteem.

G.E.M.S & Jewels Empowerment Group. This organization truly embodies the qualities of Actionists® and we were proud to support (by donating books) to their annual Kickoff 2010 Celebration/Meet and Greet.

From co-founder Kara Norman: “This event launched our 2010 season and our theme is “Be the change you wish to see in the world” a popular quote by Mahatma Ghandi. Founder Adriane Simmons and I want to inspire our girls to be the leaders of tomorrow and to make a difference in their world! We want our girls to learn how to take the steps to put their passion to action. We are also focusing on introducing social change to our members and we are partnering with Girls For A Change to be the 1st Girl Action team in the Georgia area. I feel that by working with girls in our group and empowering them in many areas, we are tackling the root cause of low self esteem – of which I personally suffered from as a young teen girl.

During our event we also had a special ‘girl power guest’ – the 13 year old co-founder of sunkissedgirlz.com and online community for African-American girls. Alana Jones and her mom created this organization to help increase the self-esteem of African-American girls as a lot of images that Alana and her mom found in the popular teen magazines didn’t look like her. They decided to ‘be the change’!”  

To continue reading about more change-makers make sure to sign up for our Actionist® Newsletter – you’ll automatically be enrolled in the Actionist® Network – a global online community dedicated to helping themselves and others by taking action.

Although the event is sold out, we promise to share highlights (including photos and videos) with you of Jess giving her signature keynote: “How to become an Actionist®” to over 1500 Girl Scouts and their parents at the Girl Scouts of San Gorgonio Believe in Girls Expo!

Make sure you are sign up with our Twitter for highlights. Jessica Lawrence, CEO, Girl Scouts of San Gorgonio Council has put together a great line up of additional guests including Ben Barry (The Ben Barry Agency), Parry Aftab (Leader Expert in Cybercrime) and Lorrie Thomas (CEO, Web Marketing Therapy). Jess will also be selling and signing her two best-selling books “A Very Hungry Girl” and “Life Doesn’t Begin Five Pounds from Now”.  If you’re an Actionist® planning to attend the event – please make sure to come up and say hello!

Team Jess wants to hear from you! Share your favorite Actionist® with us – an author, blogger, musician or artist…An Actionist® is someone who takes action in their everyday life. You don’t have to be a political leader like Gandhi to be an Actionist®. Just by taking small steps toward change in your life you can impact the world around you. Actionists® are people who don’t settle for status quo, who challenge cultural stereotypes, and who take risks to follow their passion. Basically, you are an Actionist®! We look forward to hearing from you and moving into the New Year with such a vibrant Actionist® community! Happy 2010!