Women are fabulous! They are resourceful, determined, complex, resilient, and compassionate. They are able to endure pregnancy, childbirth, parenting, heartbreak, raising husband, being professional women and running the house (house cleaning, bill paying, activity coordinator, sexy slut, hostess, etc etc.). Learn how successful women make it all happen, while looking, feeling and being fabulous.

Make more time for yourself. You need to invest time in yourself to live your ‘best life’. You need time to take care of yourself, time to rest, time to grow, and time for the other 14 things on this list!

Surround yourself with successful people you admire. You’ve heard the saying “dress for the job you want, not the job you have.” This is a similar principle. Being around people you admire is like a crash course in what you want your life to be like, and often these people will help you find the shortcut to your dream life.

The net. Positive networking means you meet lots of new people every week and discover what YOU can do for THEM, and then when possible, DO IT! (see The Frog and Prince: Secrets of Positive Networking; Rezac, Thomson & Hallgren, 2003). This will widen your network and give you access to people and services you may need at some point. People will know who you are, what you offer and many will want to help you; too often you don’t even have to ask.

He developed a strong social support system. Women are so busy that they may forget to call their friends, family and neighbors. But it’s important to have people in your life who can be there for you when ‘life happens’, when someone gets sick or has an accident and you need emergency child care, a trip to the hospital, a shoulder to cry on. In return, you are there for them in an emergency. But it’s much easier to ask for these favors when you’ve been sustaining and maintaining the relationship, not when you’ve been neglecting them because you’ve been too busy.

Get rid of toxic people in your life. Many women do not like to leave any relationship, even a bad one. Either we’re nurses and we think we can fix it, or we’re afraid of hurting someone’s feelings. However, some relationships are not worth it. Do you know someone who criticizes you (destructively, not constructively)? Do you have friends/family that wear you down every time you see or talk to them? Do you associate with people who discourage your pursuit of success? You have to cut or at least loosen these ties. If the relationship is very important to you, let the person know the effect it’s having on you. Perhaps these negative effects are alien and will change. But don’t waste your precious time and energy on toxic people. You have a lot to do to grow!

Ask for help when needed (and even when not). Ready to hear a secret? You do NOT have to do it all. That’s how it is. You don’t have to be a superwoman and be in 100 places at once and be in rags from sunrise to bedtime. Can you do everything yourself? Probably. Will you be happy doing it? No I dont think so. Will you be taking good care of yourself? Will you be relaxed and happy when your family members get home from work or school? Will you look and feel your best? Heed this good advice that successful women know:

Recruit a team: a trainer, a mentor, a masseur, a cleaning person, etc. And if you’re caring for parents, get help! Yes, you deserve your own team of “assistants” to help you with your life.

Spend time with friends. Who has time, you ask? Can you afford not to? Women need to talk to other women. We can talk to each other in a way that we can’t talk to our partners, our mothers, or our children. We all need friends with whom we can talk about anything who knows that we are just letting off steam and knows that the information does not go further. We need to commiserate, laugh, talk about things men don’t think we enjoy talking about. We need a safe place to talk about our fatties, our old lovers, our new favorite designers, a place where our audience is captivated by these same topics. It’s not something you can always get at home.

Eat well. Your mother always told you: you are what you eat! Well, you may not be a potato chip, but your body will certainly treat you better if you treat it right. Eating right will help you maintain a healthy weight and give you the energy you need to get through your busy days. Remember to eat plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables, drink at least 8 glasses of water a day, stay away from junk food, fried foods, and processed foods, and watch your portions. A great tip is to serve your meals on smaller plates. Sometimes we eat until our plate is empty, regardless of whether we need it all or not. Don’t deny yourself the foods you love. Just enjoy small amounts.

Exercise. This should be a top priority. Exercise can help you: control your weight, deal with stress, prevent osteoporosis, have more energy, get stronger, prevent heart disease, prevent cancer, and of course, feel, look and BE younger.

Get enough sleep. This gives you more physical, mental, and emotional resources to deal with your busy schedule and keep stress at bay. You will look and feel better.

Keep learning and growing. This helps you stay young, it’s true! One way to postpone/prevent dementia is to engage in lifelong learning. It will also make you more complete and interesting, and more importantly, it will make the world more interesting for you!

Get a trainer. A coach can help you put your dreams on the map, help you figure out what your true desires are, and help you find a way to live the biggest life you can. The years go by faster with time and as far as we know we only get one life so why not do everything you can to make the most of it? That way, at the end of your life you won’t regret it.

Get ready to look AND feel like a million bucks the entire time. You never want to have to hide your hands or toes because they are not cared for properly. Successful women are always confident in their appearance because they consistently spend time maintaining an acceptable basic level of grooming. Every city has the crème de la crème of stylists: pay an extra $20 or $50 and keep your look fresh.

dream big If it’s not on your map, there’s no way to get there. If it’s at least one point on your map, there’s a much better chance you’ll find your way there, though taking a more proactive approach would help. See: “Get a trainer”.

Return. Get involved with (or at least donate to) your favorite charity, be a mentor, support programs in your community. Remember secret #6: everyone could use a little help.

Do these secrets sound fun? Is it so! And THAT is the final secret! You do NOT have to run rough; You do NOT have to do it all. Taking care of yourself is like putting money in the bank. The more you invest, the higher your profits will be. Incorporate as many of these tips into your life as soon as possible, and if it seems like a daunting task, enlist the help of a coach. You too can be successful AND happy!