Fear doesn't stand a chance when you stand in love.

Oooh baby did we get ourselves another storm this weekend! I was driving home Friday and could barely see the car in front of me. It was just down pouring snow. And, for a moment I let it overwhelm me. I became worried that my car would slip, or that I couldn't see if someone ahead was stopped. Or, what if I was going to crash?

When you can't see what's ahead in life, it can get very overwhelming. When you have problems or situations that you are dealing with it can be hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel. And, every single day can be a challenge. When you can't see the world in front of you, how do you feel, where do you go emotionally, what do you say, what do you do?

It got me thinking that sometimes in life, we are in the thick of things so deep that we can't see anything else in front of us. Much like a snow globe, sometimes you feel like you are being shaken. Like the world around you is spinning, and spinning and you don't know when it will stop.

There is this weather pattern that is moving through Kansas City and many other states this weekend, and it is mighty.

So, ask yourself: what patterns are moving through your life right now with the same force?

Tray and I are fighting some serious outside battles in our life right now. We have learned that you can either grow together in the storm or slowly but surely allow it to separate you and veer off course. Just like driving a car in a snow storm, we often times only see what is right in front of us—and it becomes a constant challenge.

When every single day the topics are "how do we survive" that inherently becomes all you focus on. If you are only focused on not crashing into the car in front of you, you miss the opportunity to see the journey ahead or form a strategic direction of your life. So, learn how to focus your sight outward vs. what is right in front of you. Also, if you are only focused on avoiding the crash, you have a 99% chance of crashing.

Remember: where your focus goes, energy flows.

Let's shift our focus! When you feel like you cannot get out of your head on a certain topic, you must change your state. What I like to do is go to my vision board and to focus on my word of the year.

Firs, focus on your dreams. Your words and your dreams have to be strong. So strong that they are rooted inside of you and they will pull you out of the funk when you feel yourself slipping into the "what ifs". When you feel like you can't see the outcome and you're in a grin and bear it mode, you have to find a way to look forward. Set your sights 90 days from now. What will you plan to look forward to?

For us, it's our honeymoon. We delayed it after the wedding intentionally for several reasons. First, we decided to focus on restoring our financial health after the wedding. Second, we want to plan and take a family moon first with the kids. Third, getting married in November meant it was followed by Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years and busy work seasons for us both. Finally, we knew that we wanted to leave something ahead to plan that would be sacred, joyful and encouraging to get through winter.

Snow globe means protecting my light from the chaos of the world. And guess what, we have had storms every single day this year. And, I have chosen to stand firm in the storm.

Did you know buffalos in storms run straight through the storm. The cows all huddle together, wishing and hoping it will pass. Yet, the mighty buffalo run right through the storm because they know it is the fastest way through it.

So in great buffalo form, here are some quick tips on running through the storms in your life today:

Focus on one thing you want to be, do or have 90 days from now. Will you get promoted, be pregnant, have a new house, go on a trip, have a girls' weekend, take a few strokes off your golf game? Create an outcome 90 days from now that is different than suffering. Suffering does not have to be the way. Most people figure out how to tolerate their level of suffering and call it happiness. Let me say that again—suffering does not have to be the way. Pick a goal that will inspire you to change your behavior and your actions. When you are in the hard times, focus forward on three months from now, not on today. Create the outcome you want to achieve in your mind before it happens. Then everything around you will shift to manifest it in your life.

"Suffering does not have to be the way. Most people figure out how to tolerate their level of suffering and call it happiness."

So where will you be? Who will you be with? What will you look like? How are you standing? What are you saying? Where are you? Are you accepting an award, or maybe taking a trip on a beach? Perhaps you are the mom of the year. Did you get promoted at work? Cast a strong, specific vision for your life three months from now.

Then, focus on your 90-day dream every single day. Do not focus on the wreck that is right in front of you or how much you are being shaken in the storm.

Focus forward.

My dream is 90 days from now we will be on an elegant yacht in Greece and then travel up the Almafi Coast of Italy for our Honeymoon. And let's be clear: this is the grandest vision I have for the best trip in my life up until now! This dream gets me through tough days. This dream brings a smile to my face. This dream unites Tray and I in the storm!

Belive today that fear doesn't stand a chance when you stand in love. Choose to focus on things you love in your storm. Choose gratitude. Choose hope. Choose to cast your vision forward with these simple steps:

1. Set a goal for 3 months from now. Write it down and say it out loud.

2. Be as specific as possible! Write down what you will look like, feel like, who you are with, where will you be? Get creative.

3. Identify five behaviors are you committed to interrupting in your life to get there.

Fear doesn't stand a chance when you stand in love. Find ways to stand in love regardless of what arises around you. That is the ultimate superpower of life.

This is how I fight my battles

Today's topic is STORMS. One of the things I want to share this week is not an easy subject, yet it's an important one. I believe you can feel significantly better every day in your life. That also means you must commit to working through days that are tough. So, let's be honest about some things that aren't easy to talk about—such as the storms attacking our happiness.

First, think of a time when you are at your best. Think about how you feel when you at your true joy in the center of light feeling connected to everyone around you and things are going your way. Maybe a specific event, feeling or moment comes to mind. Then, sure as the day is long there is something that comes and attacks. Whether it is a person, a thing, a relationship, a disease, an illness, a obstacle, stress at work, behind on deadlines—whatever it is—I like to call those storms.

Storms, like today, in the physical world have Kansas City covered in an ice storm. This is one version of a storm. People can complain, people can allow it to direct their day, people can find every reason why they don't like it. It is very easy to do that. There is ice, treacherous conditions, or maybe you don't have the right car, the right clothes, an ice scraper, or perhaps your work isn't flexible and you're on the roads when it's unsafe. Anyone can find endless reasons to focus on that do not bring happiness.

The other version of storms is internal—when you feel a war waged on you, your happiness and your light. This storm is the most important storm to fight. You have to learn how to fight when you already feel defeated. When things don't go your way, you have two choices: 1. you can either overcome the obstacle and grow in the process, or 2. you can let it beat you.

"The other version of storms is internal—when you feel a war waged on you, your happiness and your light. This storm is the most important storm to fight. You have to learn how to fight when you already feel defeated."

The thing is, humans are creatures of habit. If you quit when things get tough, it gets that much easier to quit the next time hardship comes your way. On the other hand, if you win, it teaches you resilience, grit, determination and strength begins to grow.

For me, the storm this past week was with relationships in my life that have not been productive. I like to call these toxic relationships. Sometimes they are people you love and cherish the most in life, sometimes the workforce, sometimes it's in relationships that you can't necessarily control but they're still part of your life. If somebody or some thing or the environment or your surrounding are challenging you, I want you to know first and foremost that you are not alone. This happens to everybody at all times—it is the beautiful battle of life.

In my fight, in what I have experienced, when I am at my happiest, the darkness attacks. The enemy doesn't want you to be happy, the darkness wants you to look and feel and be just like it is. It's no different than when you are in a dark room and someone comes in and flips the lights on really fast - what do you do? You hide your eyes, you shield your eyes. And sometimes in life, when you are light and you bring light into a dark world, or you bring light into winter, or you bring light into an environment that is not ready for it - they shield their eyes. Most of the time too, not only do they shield their eyes but they attack.

If you are a person who is focused on personal development, growth, finding new friends and building financial health, creating a life you desire, and dramatically improving your life then you will fight. You will have to fight.

One of my greatest super powers in life is my light and my joy. I have learned over the years how to protect it (this year, in a snow globe) and how to nourish and grow it! It's also one of the reasons why I love boxing. It teaches me the art of fighting. Physically, even though I don't ever get hit, I don't punch anyone, and no on punches me. But it teaches my mind the art of fighting. Because today fighting your stuff is hard. And, you must be prepared mentally. To be mentally discipline is to constantly go back to find the light and the love notes from God. You must train your mind to find of all the ways that He loves you regardless of how, and who, and what is attacking you. This is the spirit of life. This is happiness. That is creating your own snow globe in the middle of winter, in the middle of the most barron conditions, when life gets really hard. That is when you need to be light the most.

"One of my greatest super powers in life is my light and my joy."

There are many ways to fight the storms to bring out the best within yourself. You can start a daily devotional, a gratitude journal, or call your mom or a friend. Maybe it's asking your big brother to watch a movie with you, especially something that is funny and takes your mind off your battles. These are things I do and they are so simple. The most important thing is to change your state—your physical and mental state of being. When you change the way you sit, stand, breath, and move you will also change your mind.

This week, develop new techniques to weather the storm. Weathering the storm means you're winning. It means you will come out ahead, you will come out stronger, you will come out better, and you will look someone in the eye and say "Not today". It is not the day to mess with Brooke Budke, and it is not the day to mess with you.

It is so important to guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of your life. Guard your light, your love, your joy. Protect it.

Storms are coming. Storms are here. Storms are here every single day. That's why I love winter, because if you can survive and thrive in winter, you can surely do it in the summer when it is full of life and love and production. So, weather the storm.

Know that you are not in it alone. Know that you are significant and you have everything you need to succeed within you. And, guess what? I'm saying all of this to myself right now, too. Every single day you have to remind yourself you are worthy. You are loved. You are enough. You are kind. You are beautiful. You are smart. And you are here to stand in the middle of whatever storm you are facing—your job, relationship, finances, health, loneliness, disease—whatever you're facing, I encourage you to fight your battles and to create your own shield of protection. I will see you next week, hopefully in even more joyful, icy and snowy conditions of this beautiful snow globe that Kansas City has become. And I wish you the very best in your day, in your week, in your joy and in your fight!

Last but not least, check out my video of the week for my top 10 ways to fight your battles!

Hope is all around

I want to talk today about hope.

I have a life coach that I have been working with for four-and-half, to five years now. And, it's amazing because every time I learn something new about myself, I learn something new about my commitments. I learn something new about what I need to interrupt in my life, and patters. This past week, I needed to interrupt the mindset of scarcity—the belief that I need more than I have to be happy.

One thing specifically, she asked us was our beliefs about abundance. Briefly, we dove into the difference between a scarcity mind and an abundant mind. A scarcity mind always says "I'm not enough." There's not enough time. I am not lovable. There's not enough money, or freedom, or friends. All of the things that are not true about ourselves. The world around us, every day, wants to make you believe that you are not enough. But actually if you learn how to lock into your brain, you can possess a mindset of abundance.

"The world around us, every day, wants to make you believe that you are not enough."

It's not easy, friends. Life is tough. Every single day there are new obstacles that arise. To create abundance you have to learn to be discipline in your mind, every single day to create abundance around you—to see abundance in the dark times.

I will share that she asked us a question, "How do you know what hope is? What does it look like? What does it feel like?" She said for her, it's the sunset and sunrise. And what a beautiful thing to know that every day when the sun rises and sets we have a new opportunity, 24 hours of grace to begin again.

For her it's the sunrise and sunset. For me, it's SNOW. And, my family and I have had a challenging start to the new year, and rest assured every single time I reach up and ask for grace and abundance, it snows! And, so yes I know so many people have resisted the snowy weather. They've resisted falling in love with the cold, with the snow, with the ice, and the winter. Yet, for me, snow brings hope. Hope is something that says "there's a new day coming. Things will get better." Hope is when you go to sleep in one world and you wake up in one that's quite different. The snow that will cover the earth and cover the ground - it makes everything new again. It's hope. It's no different than the sunrise or the sunset.

"Hope is something that says 'there's a new day coming. Things will get better.' Hope is when you go to sleep in one world and you wake up in one that's quite different."

The second image of hope I think of is one of my favorite flowers—the tulip. Because somewhere under the ground right now in the most barren conditions, it is full of ice and full of snow, there is a tulip that is going to work. And they will break through. And they will come out of the cold weather, of the winter. Tulips are hope for me. Snow is hope for me.

So today, I want you to embrace the weather of your current state. Embrace the hope in your life. Focus on an abundant mindset. One of abundance means there is enough. There is enough with everything inside of me. I am enough. I have everything I need to succeed. This mindset does not point the finger, or blames. This mindset says "I will not shift my circumstance outward". Because you, my friends, have everything you need to succeed inside of you. That is abundance. And once you focus on it. All of your joy, all of your resources, all of your time, everything multiplies. Focus on abundance.

"You, my friends, have everything you need to succeed inside of you. That is abundance."

Root in, the snow brings hope. Hope that things can begin again, hope that things in your life are white, new again and refreshed. Hope that spring is coming. Have hope, have abundance, have an amazing day!