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Lori Bruton

Author | Writer | Lifestyle Blogger |Speaker

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Hi, I'm Lori.
Author, Speaker, Coach, Ghostwriter

Eat the Dessert First: Start Living Life on Your Terms

August 8, 2022 by Lori Leave a Comment

Bread Pudding Dessert @drdepot photo by Lori Bruton

I agree with this Helen Keller quote, “Life is short and unpredictable. Eat the dessert first.”

In my book, The LORI Factor:  Live the Life You Were Born to Live, there is a chapter called, Lifestyle:  Start Living Life on Your Terms.

Are you living life on your terms?

I know I wasn’t, until I made different decisions. As a result, I stopped letting life happen to me. I stopped allowing other people’s opinions become my reality.

I remember when somebody mentioned something my mother said. I said I hadn’t talked to my mother that day. He said I meant your mother’s voice that’s in your head. Whoa! He was right. I loved my mother, but many words she said were not the truth. A phrase I kept hearing from her was, “You can’t do that,” and “Your sister would be the one to write a book.” Hearing that repeatedly programmed me to believe it.

Note:  Be careful who and what you believe, or you will be deceived.

Thankfully, I learned to tune into a higher voice of the One who taught me my voice matters and that I can do anything that I put my mind to, like writing books. Renewing my mind, changing, and upgrading my thoughts and words were the beginning of living life on my terms.

The Serenity Prayer says:  God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference.

It does take courage.

These powerful words made a big difference, “This is my command—be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.” ~ Joshua 1:9 NLT

Focus on the things you can control. You can’t control the past. Be present. Get unstuck. Instead of resisting change, embrace it.

That doesn’t mean accepting everything being dictated around you. Stand up for what’s right. Unmask yourself. Let your voice be heard.

I used to feel invisible and was taught to be quiet and not to interrupt until I got a LARGER vision of myself beyond what people told me and beyond my circumstances. It’s time to speak up and let my voice be heard because you need to hear this message of hope, encouragement, and empowerment.

By the way, it’s not a coincidence that you are reading or hearing this right now. “For I know the plans I have for you,” says the LORD, “They are plans for good and not for disaster to give you a future and a hope.” ~ Jeremiah 29:11 NLT

Paint a picture in your mind of what your best life looks like. Hold that vision, write it down, and make it plain, as it says in the living Word of God in Habakkuk 2.

Keep it before your eyes.

When you can visualize the life you desire, it puts you in the driver’s seat. Visualization is a powerful tool. What do you love? Where are you? What are you doing? Who is with you? See it, hear it, taste it, smell it, and feel it.

Engage all your senses.

Be specific. Picture your dream vacation or dream car, for example. Soon your dreams become reality. Take action. I put myself in the driver’s seat on a boat recently. I have been writing more and getting articles published. I am a travel writer and am stepping into that lifestyle.

Driving Pontoon Boat
Drive the Boat

Start where you are. Take yourself places in your mind first. Do things in your own backyard that are local.

Explore. Take a road trip.

I live in the “gorges” Finger Lakes region where there are beautiful lakes, waterfalls, and parks. Watkins Glen is a must-see place. From Canandaigua to Ithaca NY, I got to experience accommodations, adventures, relaxation, and amazing food including:

Capt. Bill’s Dinner and Sunset Sightseeing Seneca Lake Cruise

Summit to Stream where I took out an ocean kayak on Seneca Lake

Keuka Watersports at Champlin Beach in a kayak on Keuka Lake

Bed & Breakfast at Oliver Phelps was the first B&B in Canandaigua

Rogues Harbor Inn is a lovely historical B&B near Cayuga Lake

Corner Pub at Rogues Harbor Inn has great food and service at the Inn

Ciao! Was had authentic Italian food with Tuscan flair and delicious dessert

Ithaca Massage Station was a relaxing, pampering experience

NaturLuxe & Stars is where I had my first glamping adventure in style

Jerlando’s Ristorante & Pizza Co. has salads, Italian food & more

Nickel Pit’s BBQ has tender, tasty barbeque with warm service

True Love where I swooned over the schooner and talked to the Captain

Come sail away on the True Love Schooner on Seneca Lake Watkins Glen NY
Sail True Love

I made a decision. I found a way no matter what my bank account or circumstances looked like. No matter to those trying to set me up to fail or making assumptions. No more putting my life on the back burner and taking care of everyone except myself.

Commit to your goals and dreams. Create your life by design. Writing, speaking, wealth, wellness, travel, and more are possible. Get on the road, on the plane, or on the boat to wherever you desire to go.

Tiramisu dessert at Ciao! Ithaca NY
Tiramisu at Ciao!

 

Eat the dessert first.

Can you see the person you are meant to be?  Take the Journey to Hope and Transformation (which I talk about in my first book).

Get my book, The LORI Factor:  Live the Life You Were Born to Live, for more ideas on how to live life on your terms.

Tell me the actions you took. The first action was you read this blog. Thank you and congratulations. What spoke to you the most?

Let’s celebrate each step together. Let me know how I can help. Choose life and live life to the fullest.

Filed Under: MY BLOG Tagged With: accommodations, adventure, author, B&B, bedandbreakfast, boats, books, camping, canandaigualake, captbillssenecalakecruses, cars, cayugalake, celebrate, change, choices, ciao, cornerpub, death, dessert, dinnercruise, drive, eat, empowerment, encouragement, explore, fingerlakes, flights, food, foodie, glamping, gorges, helenkeller, hikes, hope, inspiration, ithacany, jerlandos, journeytohopeandtransformation, lesbrown, life, lorisstories, lorisstoriesbythewater, love, message, naturluxeandstars, nickelpitsbbq, oliverphelps, parks, power, restaurants, roadtrip, roguesharborinn, sailboat, senecalake, speak, speaker, theglen, thelorifactor, transformation, travel, trip, vacation, vision, visualization, waterfalls, watkinsglenny, words, write

JOURNEY TO HOPE AND TRANSFORMATION: My Oola Story

November 18, 2020 by Lori Leave a Comment

Travel Journey

Join me on my journey. If you read my book, you know I almost wasn’t alive to tell my story and continue my journey. My path led me to Oola, which is a state of awesomeness and having balance and growing in 7 key areas of life.

The next leg of my journey led me to develop The LORI Factor, which I will reveal at a later time. Today, I am sharing My Oola Story with you.

I got to write a blog on the Oola platform. It is now officially published.

Let me share it with you. Click here.

Enjoy this Lori  Story. Thanks for reading. Be filled with faith, hope, and love.

“Shoot for the moon, and if you miss you’ll still be among the stars.”

~Les Brown

Even through the good, the bad, and the ugly, look at life as one adventure after another. It’s all part of your story. It would be my pleasure to hear about your journey and how I can help along the way.

Much Love,

Lori

Filed Under: MY BLOG Tagged With: adventure, author, balance, blog, book, faith, hope, impact, inspiration, journey, les brown, life coach, lori's stories, love, motivation, my oola story, oola, oola blog, published, speaker, story, storyteller, the lori factor, transformation, travel, travel blogger, travel writer, writer

A Day of Celebration

November 8, 2020 by Lori Leave a Comment

As I write this, today is my son’s birthday. Joseph David born November 8th. He and his brother were the best gifts I ever received. He is destined for greatness.

I am talking about one of the 7 F’s of Oola–Family.

Family is of high value to me. I am thankful I got to spend time with my son and daughter-in-law today. They add so much meaning to my life. I am blessed.

What’s Oola?  It’s a state of awesomeness when your life is balanced and growing in 7 key areas of life (Fitness, Finance, Family, Field, Faith, Friends, and Fun).

Today’s birthday celebration added another “F” of Oola–Fun. It’s important to take time for fun. Fun with family was a double blessing. In fact, it was a beautiful fall day beaming with sunshine and we cooked on the grill. I love the taste of food cooked on charcoal. It was completed with a sweet treat. What a lovely day!

The number 8 is significant. It’s the meaning of new beginnings and renewal. What new things are happening in your life? Or what new beginnings are you hoping to see? What’s important to you?

The flow of number 8 represents the infinity symbol. Let your life flow naturally in the direction you desire. It won’t be a straight line, but a path with some detours. See the detours as adventures that bring you to unexpected places. Those places are just where you are meant to be. Take the risk of doing new things. You never know what you may discover about yourself.

When you look at the 7 key areas of your life that I mentioned above, how are you doing? Which areas are flowing and growing, and which ones are unbalanced and slowing you down? We all have struggles and challenges. Together, we can help each other get in a better place.

Think of each “F” as a spoke on a wheel. Some may be broken or have a hitch right now. Your wheel doesn’t roll smoothly, does it? I have a framework I can guide you through. It starts with where you are now and shows you how to get where you want to be.

It will get you rolling down your desired path.

Ready, Set, Go! Here is a free gift to start your transformation adventure:  http://bit.ly/3stepTransform

When you’re ready to shift into a higher gear, go here:  https://www.liveoola.com/?ref=4e7de7 Let’s ride down the highway together.

I celebrate you. Remember, you have greatness in you. Do what you came here to do. Let me know how things are going and how I can help. Keep in touch.

Much Love,

Lori

Filed Under: MY BLOG, Uncategorized Tagged With: adventure, author, balance, beginnings, believe, bicycle, birthday, blog, cake, celebration, challenges, coach, desire, destiny, discover, dreams, eight, family, food, fun, gift, goals, greatness, growth, help, infinity, inspiration, love, oola, path, personal development, purpose, renewal, restoration, revelation, solutions, son, speaker, struggles, transformation, value, wheel, writer

DID YOU GET BURNED?

June 18, 2020 by Lori Leave a Comment

It hurts, doesn’t it? The pain is real. Whether it was a physical burn, even a sunburn, it has lasting effects and takes time to heal.

Even if you didn’t take proper precautions or it was an accident, you still got scorched. You treat the wounds quickly, but each day reveals a different layer. Did you feel hot, get blisters, and experience peeling? It went deep inside, didn’t it?

What if you got burned in business? That hurts too. Maybe you don’t know how a project went so wrong when you thought it was a masterpiece that you poured your heart and extra time into. All the pieces finally came together, and you did your best to make it a masterpiece.

Communication and results went well before. Like staying in the sun too long, you felt fried. With every skin cell peeling off, it left you raw and exhausted. You wonder what you could have done differently? You question whether all this time was worth it when the goal is not only happy clients but receiving revenue. Instead you lost time, money, and your passion. Keep in mind, not every client is a good fit.

More bills go unpaid and you feel sick. You thought it was a solution, especially when revenue is essential. What if this type of work is not your calling or passion? Maybe it’s just a distraction even though you’ve successfully completed similar projects with excellence many times.

Let the layers fall off. Let the dead skin cells flake off (gross, sorry). You have new skin in the game. Play a different game. There is a new thing waiting for you. Discover what that is and jump in. Stop doing work just to please others or because you think it was your only skill and is familiar. No matter what your bank account looks like now, it will grow. You will be okay even if you don’t know how right now.

Don’t let yourself get burned. It will lead to burnout. If you have been feeling weary, it may be that you are not stepping into your greatness. Search your heart. Find your true passion. Get busy living instead of dying. The right people are waiting for you.

 

Message me on Facebook. Tell me your true passion and dream.

www.facebook.com/loribrutonbiz

Filed Under: MY BLOG, Uncategorized Tagged With: adventure, art, bills, burn, burnout, business, clients, communication, create, debt, dream, fail, humor, hurt, laugh, lesson, mission, music, oola, pain, passion, projects, purpose, quote, revenue, sail, sing, speak, style, sunburn, travel, write

WRITERS ARE READERS

February 15, 2019 by Lori 1 Comment

Some people like amusement parks.  As for me, a library is like an amusement park.  Surrounded by a maze of books full of stories of fact, fiction, and more is a fun ride.  It’s like diving into a sea and being submerged into different worlds full of adventure.

 

At one time, I worked in a library.  Shelving books was my favorite task, because I discovered new books.  The ones I signed out were treasures to uncover.  I remember the day a book fell from the shelf right at my feet.  The author got my attention; she knew what I liked.  It was that day I got the pleasure of perusing the writings of Helen Steiner Rice.

Reading poems is enjoyable, but writing poems is more so.  When my sons were in school, I wrote a personalized poem for each of their teachers at the end of the year.  The best part was going into the classrooms and reading the poems aloud.  I then presented the framed poem to each teacher as a gift.  Seeing how the words I wrote touched their hearts was a gift to me.  Every teacher said no one had ever given them anything like that before.  It was unique.  I didn’t realize the impact my poems had on their lives.  They told me my poems are proudly hanging on their walls at home even today.  Recently, a friend of mine asked me to write a poem for her family member.  Again, it was a unique, personalized gift written with carefully woven words that spoke to her.  It gave me joy to know that gift brought happy tears to her family member.

I’ve heard you can tell what people like by noticing things in their homes.  In every room of my home you will see books, lots of books.  I read them and write them.  My son asked if I ever read one book at a time from start to finish.  I do finish, but am usually into more than one book at a time.  For me, it all fits perfectly.  It still makes me laugh when I remember my son asking, “Mom, are you reading the dictionary again?”  In addition to books, notebooks, journals, and pens are abundant in my home since I am writing every day. 

When it’s warm and sunny, I even take a book and notebook to read and write in my kayak.  I paddle out to my favorite spot on the creek and float while I soak in the sun.  There I commune with nature reading and writing more words that fill my soul and give me inspiration.

Speaking of inspiration, I will leave you with a poem by Helen Steiner Rice from her book, Someone Cares: 

Help Yourself to Happiness

Everybody, everywhere

Seeks happiness, it’s true

But finding it and keeping it

Seems difficult to do,

Difficult because we think

That happiness is found

Only in the places where

Wealth and fame abound.

And so we go on searching

In palaces of pleasure,

Seeking recognition

And monetary treasure,

Unaware that happiness

Is just a state of mind

Within the reach of everyone

Who takes time to be kind,

For in making others happy

We will be happy too,

For the happiness you give away

Returns to shine on you.

“

Filed Under: MY BLOG, Uncategorized Tagged With: adventure, amusementpark, author, blog, boats, books, classroom, dictionary, dreambig, entrepreneur, fullthrottle, fun, gift, helensteinerrice, home, inspiration, journal, library, notebook, pens, pier, poems, poets, publish, readers, reading, sea, shelves, speaking, teachers, words, writers, writing

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Hi, I'm Lori!

I'm a copywriter, blog writer, and ghostwriter, with a focus in the inspirational and travel niches. Need custom copy that motivates? Learn more about what I do!

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