#275: The Power Of Vision Boards with Lucinda Cross, Entrepreneur and Author

Hey, it's episode number 275 with my friend Lucinda Cross. And if you guys like vision boards and planning your future, this is the episode for you. Let's talk about your business strategy and the juicy details of what actually works, from mainstream fashion to fashion on Main street and the entire ecosystem behind it. How do we scale your company and do it with the balance and the happiness that we all seek? Let's hear from those insiders, experts and strategists that actually, actually make it happen. I'm your host, Ashley Alderson from the Boutique Hub, and I can't wait to chat. All right, for all my hubbies out there who have been a part of Retail Boot Camp and inside of the Boutique Hub for some time now, you have heard me talk about the power of vision boards. In fact, I've shared my own personal story with you about what happened the very first year I created a vision board and began to really focus in on the power of planning out your ideal future. Not just what you want, but who you want to be and then being intentional every day about living into that life. In fact, the vision board I created in May of that year had all come true by September with the power of positive visualization. So today I'm so excited because my friend Lucinda Cross is going to join us and she's going to break down mindset, manifestation, creating vision boards and how to live into the ideal life that you love. Guys, this is an episode you are not going to want to miss. It is full of juicy, juicy details. So get a notebook and get ready to be inspired. Meet my friend, Lucinda Cross. All right, you guys, usually I tell you to come to the podcast with a pen and paper, but this week come with some markers and some glue and some glitter because we're going down a different path. But I think you're really, really going to love what we have going on. This week. I am joined by my friend Lucinda Cross, who is a speake author and the vision board queen. Lucinda, I'm so happy that you're here today.

Yes, I'm here too. I'm ready. I have my scissors, glue and mark.

Quite the way to kick it off, right? So, Lucinda, we were kind of chatting a little bit before the podcast today and I think if anyone's listening, that has been a part of the Boutique Hub's higher level programs, especially Retail Bootcamp. You know, that one thing we are really adamant about before we dig into any area of business, whether it's your financials or inventory or Facebook ads or Anything else, none of that matters unless you have got the foundations in place and you've got your mindset right, and you actually have a clear path for where you're going. And so we always start that process on our end. And vision boards, honestly, is one of the key pieces of that. And we can get into this later. But I've seen such a dramatic effect in my own life, having gone through the vision board process. And now it's something I will forever have, and I've seen how it radically shifted my life. So I think it's something that is so important, everyone that we come in contact with at the Hub. So today, I can't wait to hear all about it, all the expertise that you have to share with us. How did you get started? Like, where did vision boards first enter your life? Where you started to understand the power of using your mindset in life and business.

Oh, my goodness. Short, quick, funny story, my mother is. She was. God rest her soul, she was a double psychology major. And so I would say from even, like, 8, 9 years old, we started meditating. And she's showing me and my brothers. I'm the oldest of four, the only girl to start meditating and dreaming beyond where we were at and thinking about, you know, how colors affect us and energy. And so it kind of stemmed from there. And then, I mean, as she started going more into school, I was the one that was typing up her psychology papers. And one of them that really got me, I would say this now, I'm like, around 12, was about creative visualization. And she always had us, like, melting crayons and creating collages. And that is, I would say, started with my mother. And as I got older, it's something that I always leaned on because it helped me gain clarity and find hope in hopeless situations where I'm like, oh, my gosh, what do I do? What's going on? Well, create a vision board. So, yeah, so it started at a young age.

What an absolute blessing. My husband and I have had this conversation so many times about our own kids. Our kids are ages 6 now to 10, and we've started that conversation with them as well. And we've often thought, like, what would our lives be like if our parents knew what any of this stuff even was and started to teach us at an early age? So what a blessing your mother was to your life to start so young.

Yes, yes, yes. I mean, no, don't get me wrong. You know, some mornings I'm waking up and I'm like. She's like, how do you feel? And I'm like, mom, please, not right now. I don't see any colors I'm not feeling. But, you know, I see, as I got older, you know, just dealing with certain things in school and womanhood alone, you know, it. It really. All of those lessons is. Is the reason why I'm here today.

I love it. Well, let's kind of break it down. If anyone's new to this conversation, let's walk back a couple steps and say if there was a good place to jump in, maybe it's just kind of defining, how do you see and use the energy that's in the world around you? Maybe let's start there with kind of some definitions, and then we'll move into how to use these different pieces together.

Absolutely. And when we talk about energy, it's all about what we see for ourselves. You know, I remember there was a quote that said, is. Or it was a question, is this the life that you ordered? Right. And when we look at our life, you know, and what's going on? Is this the life that you ordered? So basically, we're attracting what we believe we. We deserve. And so shifting more of that energy into abundance and as positive vibes as you possibly can is key. And it's important because we shift that it starts in our. And it starts in our brain. It starts in our mental state. And we're able to attract exactly what we want and what we feel we deserve. You know, people. Well, I feel like I deserve, you know, this multimillion dollar life and this. But then we may not be attracting that kind of abundance with the language we use, with the connections we have, with our daily routines, with the things that. Not that we really say out of our mouth, but the things that we are even saying to ourselves. You know, there's people who are like, you know, no, I feel good about myself. Life is great, but really behind closed doors, they're really tearing themselves down, you know, and so a lot of that goes into play on how your energy shows up and how it begins to even attract things, people, and even places in your life.

You know, I was thinking the other day, actually, our family was having an argument. If I'm being totally transparent with you. We were driving down the road and everyone was loud, and I think we were yelling at our kids to be quiet. And as we were doing that, I was feeling my husband. I was feeling his energy because he was yelling at the kids. And I was, like, feeling. It hit my arm. It was the weirdest thing. And I was like that does not feel good. Like you could literally feel it. And I just had never really thought about it like that before until I was in that moment and I was reminded that someone had once talked about a study that they had done on like plants. Maybe you're familiar with what I'm talking about, where they had plants in like different containers and some like they would just yell at these plants, which sounds absurd, every single day, versus like sharing good energy when they were around these plants. And the plants literally grew differently based on like the human interaction that was around them, which blew my mind. So as you take that, like if someone's wanting to really be honest about what is the energy that I am giving or receiving in my life? Like what are some good practices to get started understanding? Like where am I at now? What's the baseline so that I can start to shift how I use energy in my life?

Absolutely. And to go to your story, it even happens with water. They did a study with water, believe it or not, how water, I think water started to change. It was something weird. Water started to change colors or it was something really weird. And I was like, wow, you know when how you shift energy and it was just, it's interesting. So imagine if it's, you can do that to a flower, what you are doing to yourselves. And so a lot of this stuff is deep rooted, right? A lot of this stems from Maybe us being 5 years old, 10, 15, 20, 25. And it goes on. And we never really release some of these things that don't serve us anymore. Bad habits, bad thoughts, confrontations, belief systems that no longer serve us. And I think the first place to start is to give yourself permission to, to unlearn. Forget about thinking of knowing what you think, you know, and saying I need to unlearn because there's some things that I don't know that I need to know in order to grow. And when you give yourself permission to unlearn, now you're not trying to be the smartest one and the miss know it all. For me, I needed to shift because I grew up and I'm like, you know, I'm the know it all. You know, I don't want anybody to, to, to be able to tell me anything. You know, I'm going to find the answer, I have the answer. I don't need anyone to share it with me. And so that wasn't serving me well. You know, my mentor would say, well, how's that working out for you? You know, every time it was a challenge. Well, how did that work out for you? But for me, it didn't work out because in my brain I wasn't opening up myself for anything new. And then I'm in a space of not trusting. Now, that opens up a door of not believing. And now I'm second guessing myself. I'm living in the land of uncertainty that leads down, the land of procrastination and perfectionism. And the list goes on. So I think the first step is to give yourself permission to unlearn and do something. I love to take verbal fasts, and a verbal fast is where you kind of shut down. You say, you know what, this weekend I'm going on a verbal fast. Now, it doesn't mean you're walking around the house with an attitude. Don't talk to me. And I'm not talking to anybody. But it's where you are being conscious about your conversation and your communication. You're not doing any excess talking. You're avoiding confrontation, you're avoiding criticism. You're just really internalizing and listening to yourself before you speak. So everything is not even going in moderation with your communication. It's literally just shutting down to listen more and respond less. And that will help you to kind of listen inward to see, okay, normally I would have gotten into a whole argument about this situation. Now that I'm on this verbal fast, I'm able to see that this person is speaking from a place of hurt or this person is speaking from a place of misunderstanding. So it changes how you begin to react, the thoughts that are even in your head, and it gives you some time to just listen. It's a lot of talking going on. A lot of talking we do mentally, a lot of talking we do verbally. And that verbal fast helps you with the process of unlearning some things to say. Let me open up myself. Because I don't know everything about love, or I don't know everything about intimacy, or I don't know everything about, you know, building my business or the finances. And that's key because a lot of us have some really deep rooted stuff going on where we don't trust ourselves, we don't trust others. We, you know, like I have a thing that I say, you know, we'll show up some people, depending on whatever faith you're in, you'll show up at church. But do you really believe God? You know, you saying, you know, that God has given you a purpose and a vision and a dream to follow, but you're not trusting it even enough to follow through and give A yes. And take risk and put yourself out there. So what do you really believe? More. More of the fear or more of the faith? More of the possibility of this may work. Or you're stuck on what happens if this doesn't work. So there's two things that you may be worshiping. The fear and the faith at the same time. Confusion. There's no growth in that. You may be worshiping two things at the same time of uncertainty. But let me still show up. But I'm still uncertain. I'm doubting. And I don't think this can really happen for me because you're battling with fear of rejection. So I know I said a lot.

My mind is exploding literally listening to you, because we could go down a lot of paths. And what I'm. What's coming up for me first is I think the verbal fast is a brilliant idea because it's going to show you where you have room to grow and, like, you're going to learn things about yourself. And I think what you're. What you're also saying is as you're hearing where you have, like, these maybe limiting beliefs or you just. Your mouth may be saying one thing, but your internal dialogue is saying another. Right? So you're going to learn these things through the verbal fast. Talk to me about if you feel like there are common phrases that come out of our mouths that are holding us back. Like, I think about the idea of a verbal fast or times that coaches have called out things that I have been saying out loud. Like the word need, for example. Like, I know I need to blank to invest in myself. Like, I know I need to hire a coach. But the word need comes from such a place of lack, and it separates you from where you are, from where you're going, versus saying, I'm committed, like, I've already chosen. I'm gonna do this. Versus needs. Kind of a scapegoat word. So do you feel like there's other words or phrases that you'll commonly find that you're speaking truth into your own life when you use them?

Definitely the word want, you know? You know, want will keep you wanting. I want to do this. I want to go. Well, you're gonna stay wanting and that wanting journey go for a very long time. The. The people. A lot of times people use the word I, I, I don't have, you know, or I should have. You know, the. The should ofs is horrible. And I. And I don't have. I don't have the right team. I don't have the right money. I don't have the right. This. Well, the biggest blessings in business and in life come from the most inconvenient moments, the most inconvenient time. Because sometimes I believe the universe just has to show us that, yes, you have a plan, but open up yourself to receive. And when we stay in a place of wanting and needing or should have, not right now, or I don't have, we're not opening up ourselves to receive. We're actually closing ourselves in and saying, oh, no, no, thanks, universe. I got it all together. Go to the next person, right? And so I want everything that has Lucinda Cross's name on it. Every single thing. I wake up, I say, in this moment. I attract unlimited abundance. So it's not only just the affirmations. I move in that space as well. I know what lack feels like. I know what the land of not enough is all about. And so I don't want to go back there. And so, and using the word don't, I am committed to creating a life in the land of more than enough. And what that looks like. I craft out every single day, another thing, and then I'll let you go to the next thing. But another thing is when people say I have to find my purpose. Well, when did you lose it? We were born with it. You know, it's not something. It's under the COVID around the, around the corner, under a rock. You never lose your purpose. It's something you step into every single day. Your purpose today may be helping that grandma in the supermarket with her groceries from her shopping cart to her car. Your purpose today may be creating a new design that may morph into a whole new brand in, in the next three months, you know, so our purpose every day leads to us. It's an ongoing thing, right? We just. It adds to life's bank, as I say. So the more we wake up knowing that I'm fulfilling my purpose every single day, there's no way around it, right? Why would we wake up, you know, if that's the case, we don't. We wouldn't need to be here, right? So there's a purpose for us every single day. And it's not something you have to find and say, well, I discovered my purpose. Your purpose can shift every single day, every year. And it also depends on, you know, what you're doing and how aware you are, if that makes sense.

Oh, man, absolutely. And it's finding those quiet moments to make that self discovery. Right. And to really understand where you're moving to next we talked about the words. Talk to me about the next step in the process. So if I become aware of the words that I'm using and the energy that they're giving to my life. And now I want to wake up in the morning just like you were saying, and I want to have some affirmations and start to speak more life into my purpose. What's a good place to start if you're new to that process? Like maybe talk to me about a morning routine or habit or how you start to create affirmations in that space.

Yes. One thing I love. I love Deepak Chopra. He has amazing meditation challenges. So if you're new to this and you want to understand how to connect your words, the power of words, the power of thought. Right. And blend that together to see a difference in your life. Now, don't get me wrong. I do all of this stuff, and I still may wake up tomorrow in a funky mood. But it's okay. I give myself permission to be in my funky mood. This is how I feel. And, you know, don't let it be a PMS week. Forget about it. You know, but is Mickey Mouse and. And Donald Duck and feel goods. But it's our duty to try to shift that energy so that we can be productive for the day. You know, I used to get, you know, you, you'll. I used. When I used to work in corporate America, driving to work, I get a text that'll just tick me off and that'll just mess my whole day up. So now I'm just focused on responding to this person all day. I can't believe they said this. And just, you know, now my energy is shift whole day. And I may have missed the blessing in my day because of this one text. And so that's why it's important for us to start our day with positive affirmations and words. Great place to start. Deepak Chopra has amazing meditation challenges and guided meditation for those who are just starting out. Guided meditation is where you're listening to what is being said. He's giving you an affirmation to follow for the day. Like, everything I desire is within me. That's one of his affirmations. Every one of his mantras, everything I desire is within me. And so you're repeating that every day. You're taking 10 minutes or less with his guided meditation in the morning. Whether you want to lay down on your bed and do it, whether you want to sit on the couch, whatever makes you. And what I love is that there's no set way to do it right. It's whatever makes you comfortable. And he guides you through it. You get the quiet, like that white noise, and you feel refreshed afterward. And then you go into maybe your prayer or start your day with gratitude. I love to start my day with gratitude because I'm quick to let my kids drive me crazy. I have teenagers, I call them. It's three dragons here. And so I have to start with gratitude so that I'm not losing it in the house. And, you know, call them up. Like, listen, I am in a hotel and I'm not coming home. But so I have to start off with gratitude. I start off with my prayer. You know, God, thank you so much for waking me up, you know, protecting us while we're safe. Then I go through my meditation. Let me take, you know, my five to ten minutes of guided meditation. Then what am I grateful for? And then I start my day. Then I start.

So good, simple. And it doesn't have to take long. But just those setting yourself up mentally for the day and being in the driver's seat versus, you know, having your foot on the brake and reacting the rest of the day makes such a huge difference.

Yes, yes.

Take the mantras one step further. So you have a mantra, you've got some meditation. You follow these mantras in the morning, you're writing, you know, physically writing down your gratitude list, let's say. Now how can we translate that into a vision board where we're taking those statements and we're making them visual for us to see and to believe every single day? Where do we start? With the vision board process.

And so with the vision board, and here's the thing, you could create a vision board. I created a vision board for my husband when I was single. Who did I want to show up? What is his characteristics? What is his values that I would love for him to have? You know, I didn't put the. He had to be 6 foot in this amount. That was a bonus. When he came, I was like, whoa, okay, well, you know, but. But, you know, with the vision board, I say it's your goals, your goals and living color. And when you're creating this vision board, following my fab five, faith, family, friends, finances, and fitness. Well rounded board with your fab five, add a little bonus of fun to it. And for each area of faith, family, friends, finances, fitness, and a little bit of fun, what does that look like for you? And then what are the steps that you need to take to get there? And then using that same energy and that Same vibration of it's already done. Oh, my gosh, this thing is already on its way, you know, using that same energy as you're creating this board, on the goals that you're seeking, on the vision that you see manifesting and having it as if this is already done. I'm just putting these things down here so it motivates me.

Me.

But these are things that I'm already ordering in my life. If I look back at all the other things that came into my life, I'm like, well, I didn't order that, but I also didn't order anything different. Right. So I just started to. I was in a place of just receiving whatever was given to me because I didn't make a command on my day or my life or my vision. So start crafting out images that represent what that already done looks like, you know, debt free. Well, what does that look like? Debt free in what area? So on each level, Faith. What does it look like for faith? Does it look like you sitting by the water? Does it look like waking up every morning for 5am prayer three times a week? What does family. What does that look like? Visiting Nana more, you know, maybe taking. Writing a book about her journey and your ancestors. You know, what. What does that look like in terms of family? Spending more time with your. With your siblings or taking your kids on vacations three times a year. So being clear also not only on the what it is that I'm going after and what does it look like, but now what are the measurables to get there as well, you know?

Yeah, I gotta go back to your husband. This is burning. This is burning in my mind. Did you show your husband your vision board after you met him? Like, did you wait till you were married? Did you do this while you were dating? Was he freaked out? Like, tell me all the things.

Okay, so I created a love board. So I have a business board. I had a business board, my. My personal life board. And then I had created a love board. The love board was in my closet, right? Because I didn't want my kids. Like, mama, you're super weird. But because I had two small children before I met him. So for me, I thought love was over. I have two small kids. I just broke off an engagement and I'm like, this is. Am I going to have love again? So I focused on building my business. And then I said, let me get to this love board because I'm making money, my business is growing. It's time, like, I need some love. And he. I put, I Put the type of man that I wanted. And oddly enough, I was describing my stepfather who raised me and is amazing man and just his qualities. Somebody who's funny, who dealt with my mother's craziness, somebody who can always has a solution and never is always focused on the problem. So I put those things down. Somebody who understands faith and can trust herself. So I put all these things. Someone who knows how to dress, someone who knows how to make my favorite meal, you know, someone who is a supporter and won't be jealous of my success because on my business board, I said, I'm this big phenomenon. I'm going to be on television. Mind you, at that point, I wasn't even anywhere right, but. And so I put all these things down. And you know, when I. When I met him on the 4th of July, 1 4th of July, I said, oh, my gosh, this man is handsome. And I just really didn't know at that point that he had all of the qualities. But when we started dating and I'm looking at the qualities, I said, oh, my goodness, this thing is real. So I didn't. I didn't show him until we got engaged. Later on down the line, I said, you know, I did a love board. Matter of fact, that's a lie. He found out because he attended. He came to help. He came to help me set up. I was doing a love board party, a vision board party. So he thought it was just a regular vision board party. So he came to help me drop my supplies off with my assistant. So when it was time to come back to pick me up, he's still sitting there in the love board party. And, you know, we're just girls is just sitting around talking. It's like maybe 30 of us. And he said, what is this love board thing you're talking about? You. I'm on a love board. I said, no, not you specifically. Like, I didn't do a Ouija board with your face and stuff. I said, before you came. And he's like, well, where is this thing at? You still have it? And I said, yeah, it's in the house. And he said, wait, wait, wait, wait. And so when I showed him, he was like, wow. And so I said, are you, like, freaked out? He's like, no, but I can't believe how detailed you are about me. He's like, so what? What if I didn't fit in this thing? I said, no, it wasn't even about that. About fitting in a financial class or height. I mean, a lot of that stuff was just A bonus. But you know, I just want. He wasn't really freaked out. He just didn't understand and he just thought it was like, oh, girl stuff. Like, this is just girl stuff. But when we got married, I said, let's create a board for ourselves so that we don't forget us in the process. Right in the midst of me building my business, him building his business. Let's not forget us. And so, yeah, I married my vision board. Man.

That has to be the coolest vision board story I have ever heard. Oh my gosh.

Yes.

I. I'm like, I don't even have words for that. Like, I don't have a follow up question. I'm just like.

And even. I even cut out images. There was a magazine that had relationships that were like, sick. They were together for 60 years, 30 years, 20 years. And I put all of that on the vision board, these stories and I put what positive marriages look like that. I've seen my grandparents image up there as well. And so I had all of that stuff up there, including my ring. Right. And all this other stuff. Yeah. So hopefully, hopefully he got a little.

Snapshot of the ring before he actually went and got one.

Say that again.

I said, hopefully he got a snapshot of the ring before then he had to go get one. He knew what you wanted.

Well, I already had the engagement ring when he seen the board. But yeah. Yeah, it's crazy.

So, so good. I sometimes I feel like when I tell people our vision board story, Eric and mine, it's usually after we have friends over and we've been drinking like wine or whiskey or whatever else, and we're like, come into our office like, let's tell you about our vision board. And nine times out of 10, they all leave and they're like, dude, these people are psycho. There is no way on earth all of this came true the way that it did. But I purposely, on my own vision board, like, I update it twice a year and when I do, I save everything from the previous board in a folder. So to remind myself of all that's already been accomplished. And the first time I created a vision board, I created it in May of that year. And it was at a point where our business was broke. It wasn't working. Like the model that we created really needed to. It needed to pivot, it needed to move, it needed to adapt and be something different than it was. And so I kind of created it out of desperation with the very first business coach that I hired. And I was like, okay, this sounds dumb, but I'm going to do it. I just didn't know anything about this world at that point because I just wasn't raised aware of it. And, oh, my gosh, it shifted my entire life. That was in May. By September, everything that I had put on that first vision board, which was some lofty stuff, let me tell you, had. Had come true. Everything. But I think there was, like, one thing that ended up happening shortly after that, and it came true in the most bizarre ways. You know, how this all just kind of came to be. And as Eric watched that happen in my life, you know, he completely became a believer in this process. And then he did it for his own life and the same thing. It was like three to six months, and. And he's like, I'm going to keep this simple. Like, there's two things I'm going to put on this board, and they're big, and we're just going to see what happens. And they both happen for him.

Love it. Yeah.

So, I mean, come drink wine or whiskey with us, and we will tell you all about it. But the fact is, like, it is such a powerful tool. But I want to go back to something you said a little bit ago that I think really needs to be emphasized. Two things, actually. It's not that you're throwing your wants up there. And again, that word want is separating you from this thing. Like, just saying, okay, I guess I'll take it if it comes. But you talked a lot about putting it up there and believing that it's already done for you. Like, not separating and saying, oh, I hope this happens. But, no, I'm putting this up there knowing that it's possible and it will happen, and it's up here because it's already been done. I know it's coming in my future, and I have faith that this is going to come back to me. And it's not. The second thing that you mentioned is it's not that I'm putting physical things up there. Like, I want to be rich. I want a nice car. I want these things. But it's who you want to be. That's where the true happiness and fulfillment comes from. From the board. So I loved your Fab Five. I thought those were dynamite. So talk about those things, about just really making sure you're believing and you're putting it up there in the process and the state of knowing that this is possible for you and that it's already done.

Yeah, it's. It's. It's like a contract with yourself. You know what I, I believe that we as people, humans, right, we put so much on ourselves that we don't charge the universe with commands or even charge the universe with giving us what we feel we deserve and desire. We put so much on ourselves, we feel like we have to do it all. When it's just as simple as being in alignment with your beliefs and setting a new contract with yourself. The new contract is saying, once again, everything I desire is within me. This is who I am. And I, I'm making an agreement to have a new relationship with money. I'm making an agreement to have a new relationship with, in life. And then what does that look like? Right? So taking, making, giving yourself permission, rather not giving yourself permission to receive all of the goodness that you deserve. Right? And so it's not even about. Yeah, because I have people who, and the vision board process and the creative visualization and the positive affirmations and the mantras and the words, those are all great. But it is also important to really do, like, I can't say it enough, just some really deep rooted stuff. We have to pull up some of the weeds that are in our lives because you can create this new contract to say, listen, I'm agreeing. I'm standing here, I'm standing in a new position to have a new relationship with money, a new relationship with life, a new relationship with love, regardless of what I've gone through in my past. But we have to remove the reasons why we felt lack in the first place, why we felt limited in the first place, why we felt we didn't deserve love in the first place. Because there's some deep rooted stuff. Maybe it's the relationship when you were 16 years old that now has you in a position to not trust a new partner because of something that happened at 16, 17, pull that weed up and say, all right, this happened. This is not me. This may, you know, I may have done this, but this is not who I am. Right? And not putting so much weight on ourselves of right or wrong and more in terms of let me receive either, either and be in alignment, you know, making sure that I'm in alignment versus right or wrong or I don't think this will happen for me. Why shouldn't it happen for you? You know? You know, so it's, it's a lot. It's a lot. But keeping it simple is the key. Overthinking it is not the way, you know, not having, you know, I know some people who have, well, you know, Lucinda, this is what I desire, or this is what I want. And it's going to take time to change your language and trust and believe. That's still not going to stop you from receiving what you want. So if you say, hey, this is what I want or this is what I need, but if you are even a little bit in an alignment, this is how faith works. Just a little bit in alignment to believing that you can receive it or it can happen for you, it'll happen. Right? And so it's interesting. But keeping it simple, not having 20 conversations before the conversation. Even with my last book, the Big Ask, I focused a lot on understanding how men think versus how women think, think. Men will walk into the boardroom with a whole lot of faith, right? And they don't necessarily use these. These words and terms either, but they'll walk in the boardroom with a whole lot of faith, knowing that they're not going to walk away with a no, knowing that anything is possible at this moment, and they're going to give it their best shot. A woman walks up before she even gets to the door of the boardroom, she's already counted herself out at least 12 times. Maybe not right now. Maybe, did I wear the right color? And so it's so much going on of the negative that is already projected and putting the energy in the room before she arrives versus the men who are already, you know, listen, I'm going for it, and I'm going to find out. Even if it's a no, I'm going to find out a way that it's going to. I'm going to turn it into a yes. Where we've already set up. A lot of women have set up, you know, at least 20 conversations before they. 20 conversations that are negative versus the possibility.

Oh, my gosh. I. Everyone needs to, like, rewind that and listen to that a hundred times over. I think this is why women battle with other women. I think this is why there's, you know, have a thousand women in a room. Because we are all having these conversations in our head about what Sally thinks about us, and it's fake, it's false, it's not real. But we're setting ourselves up for that disaster to happen.

Yes.

I. Man, there's just so much to be said about this. But one thing that came to mind was someone once identified this phrase to me. They said so often in life, and this was my childhood, 100% of the time, I would hear the words, we can't afford it. I can't afford it. And someone said, but, Ashley, what if you said, how can I afford it? And that completely shifts your brain's way of looking for the opportunity to make it happen. It's just like you said. The man goes in and says, I've got this. They may tell me no, but I'm going to find a way to make that a yes. But I already believe that that's available to me. Like how can I afford it? I'm going to find a way to do it versus making excuses of why it might not happen and why that's okay and I should just accept it as it is. Two totally different trains of thought which are so powerful. Take me the next step further with the vision board of Fit. Like do you cut out from magazines? Do you print things off the Internet? What color should you use, what materials should you use, where should you put it and how do you use it every day? That was like 17 questions wrapped up into one.

I love it. But, and here's the thing, it's no right or wrong way to do the vision board. I know everyone loves to use their phones, but I'm telling you, the magic isn't going back. Is going back to this five year old little girl or little boy who believes that anything is possible. Grabbing some scissors, markers. It's something about writing it and using your own hands to create it that gives it that extra motivation that you need. And yes, grab magazines, your favorite magazines. Grab any affirmations or scriptures you can print them off. Pinterest has lots of affirmations that you can download. I even have a template for free that's on my website that people can actually use if you. And it separates the Fab five. But you know, start putting things on the board that, that make you feel good. And you start with you. Like I say, start in the middle. You make sure your vision board has your name on it. Give yourself even a funny name that you'll. A characteristic or a value that you're going to follow through with for the year. Like some people say, have a word for the year. And so I'm always, you know, putting my name, I'm putting who I'm going to be. So I'll say because I was a huge procrastinator, that's why activate is my whole business. But I'll say Ms. Activator, I'm going to activate. Or Ms. Action Taker. And I'll put Ms. Lucinda cross Ms. Action Taker. And it'll just remind me when I look at my board, take action. Pick one thing that you'll focus on. And so you cut out images, words, what it looks like to already have it. Put your own image of yourself up there. If you have photos of your family that you want to put on there, you can put them on there and start surrounding your name with positive words. Start with you in the middle and surrounding positive words and images around you. And then go to the other areas of the Fab five or whatever you want this board to be focused on. And then you have a notebook. I highly recommend having some type of journal notebook or index card that you can now outline the steps that you're going to take at least three steps for, for each major goal. You know, what are the three steps that you need to take? So, yeah, you may have put the red Porsche on your. On your vision board, but what are the three things you need to take? What are the three steps you need to take to get closer to that Porsche? Do you need to clean up your driver's license? Do you need to even get a driver's license? Do you need to, you know, and so taking, you know, taking those steps to get closer to. To the. To the vision.

I love that. Do you also recommend that people. I think you said this earlier. You also have a business vision board. Do you recommend that businesses and companies make vision boards together with their team?

Absolutely. I've done those a lot of times. You know, that's one of the things that, you know, I was able to do with a lot of corporate HR teams and groups was the vision board. A lot of insurance companies had me come in and do that, but it's definitely needed and especially for your business. Everything that we use was created from. They may not use the word vision board or creative visualization map, the blueprint, a sketch, you know, the mind map, you know, from the chair that we're sitting on to the microphones that we're using. Someone created it just by drawing out what it looks like, how it would be used, who's going to use it. So that's a vision board. And you can literally, you know, that it helps to see what this thing is going to look like as if it's already done, you know, and so everything in life, we're. We're part of, you know, God's vision board. You know, these are. We are people. He wants us to breathe, you know, however, whatever you believe in, you know, but, yeah, you know, the universe, you know, so everything is a manifestation of someone's vision. And it started out with them writing it down and mapping it out and coloring it in. Right. Or filling it in. Yeah.

You talked a little bit earlier about color and the power of using color. I'm curious if you can kind of give us an overview on the power of color and how we use it, whether that's for the vision board or just maybe the ways we can use color to our advantage in our daily life.

Yes. My mother would probably kill me for not knowing this. So, you know, the color chart, you know, so she was interested in knowing based on the. The colors that I would use or I would. She's like, you know, well, what do you see right now? Or reflect on the color green for healing and growth and stuff like that. So I. She would identify certain things, your moods, based on colors, and she believed the brighter the colors, the brighter your mood, the way you dress, the brighter, you know. So some people, you know, I had one client, most of her closet was black and gray and very bright and brown, like very monotone. And I said, you know, this is why you may be challenged with this and having this whole emotional roller coasters because the colors that you wear and the colors that you see are also so dark. Try on a pop of yellow. Oh, well, that's not. That's not my thing. It doesn't blend in with my. I said, who says? Why wouldn't it. Why wouldn't it blend with your color? You know? And so when she started to shift and make that change, it also brightened her mood. But even with meditating and just closing your eyes and, you know, wrapping yourself up in white light or green light, I do it when I. When I speak on stages. So you'll see me, you know, in 2021, when the world opens up and we're able to have fun together. You'll see like, LBs time, where now I'm directing light towards a certain part of the stage where I know I'm going to stand in so that it can feed me. And it may be like hokey pokey, weirdy stuff to some people, but it works for me and it helps to relieve some anxiety for other people. So I'm putting a lot of white light on the stage in a circle. And I'm saying, Lucinda, when you step in that area right there, tons of energy, tons of support, the right words, the rights, you know, your move, every. What you need and what you need to give to the people is going to come right from that area. Go grab it. And then I'm like, come on. Cue the music. Let's go. You know, everybody stand up. You know, and so it removes any anxieties, fears, doubts. Are you Going to say the right thing. Is this the right. You know, and so. Yeah. Or any wardrobe malfunctions. I had plenty of those before. And I'm like, I hope they don't see the safety pin holding my skirt up.

As long as it's not like, was it Lil Kim? I don't even know.

No, wait, Madonna.

I forget. I'm going back in Super Bowls here.

They all had one. All of them. Well, Madonna would say, because she'll. She'll pull out a boob in a minute. But I think Janet Jackson, I believe, at the Super Bowl.

Yes.

You know, it was, like.

So good. I'm thinking about all the boutique owners as they step in front of when they're doing live sales and they step in front of their ring light. Like, how they visualize that light is power and opportunity and how they feed from that rather than fear it. That's really, really helpful, Lucinda. We could visit all day long, like, literally. I love this conversation. And I. I mean, I know everyone listening is probably coming to this conversation from a different, different space and a different level of understanding. I think what was beautiful for me, and even in this conversation, what's beautiful is you always learn one little tidbit. I always feel like if I can take one little piece away at a time, you know, think about how much further I'm going to be a year down the road than I am today in terms of better understanding my mindset, my life, how I'm going to live into my future vision, all these things. If there was one action you wanted listeners to take today after listening to you, what would it be?

One action is to give themselves permission to receive. Open up. And I believe your particular audience, because of the work that they do, are in a position of being a giver and have not opened up themselves to receive, whether they feel like they deserve to receive and receive on so many different levels. But start off with, I want them to just open up themselves. And after listening to this scream or yell as loud as they can, that they are ready and giving themselves permission to receive everything that has their name on it.

I love that. I love it. Lucinda, if anyone wants to follow up with you after the show, I know we're going to put tons of links into the show notes so everyone can find you, but you have a couple of books. Books and opportunities to connect. Do you want to mention what those are real quick?

Yes, definitely. Go grab my book, the Big Ask, A S K, the Big Ask. They can get it on Amazon. It's an amazing book. They'll find out it says how to 21 keys to get everything you desire and deserve. Amazing book. And then they can just follow me on I love to play on instagram so I'm loosened across on instagram and they'll have access to download the freebie the Vision board template from LucindaCross.com Freebie Perfect.

We'll link it all up in the show notes. Lucinda, you are such a light to the world. Thank you for sharing your gifts with us and for everyone that you come in contact with every single day. The world definitely needs more of it, but we are really excited to share this with our world and with our community.

Thank you so much for having me. This was so amazing and so full of light.

Hey guys, thank you so much for listening to this episode. We hope that you loved it. Don't forget to hit subscribe and leave a rating and review down below for a chance to be one of our featured listeners each and every week. For more information on our spirit of community over competition and how to access complete show notes and bonus downloads from our guests, head on over to theboutiquehub.com and join the community. We'll see you next week.

Sam.