The 5 P’s from InstaGrateful by Sheri Fink

The 5 P’s from InstaGrateful by Sheri Fink

It was an honor to receive an autographed copy of Sheri Fink‘s newest book, InstaGrateful: Finding Your Bliss in a Social Media World. From the intro, I knew that Sheri and I share a similar outlook on life and her inspiration is the same inspiration which led me to starting this very blog – to inspire others to create a dream-come-true life! I flew through this book in a day and a half.

In Sheri’s words, “The lotus is the symbol for the book as it represents beauty blooming from the mud and sludge in which many of us feel trapped in today’s hyper-busy, highly distracted social media world.” What a beautiful and encouraging sentiment! The lotus visual really resonates with me as I’m sure it does with many others.

This self-help book is unique as Sheri walks us through strategies on how to lead a life filled with the five P’s — Passion, Peace, Power, Prosperity, and Panache while pairing each of the P’s with the best social media platform to aid in achieving that particular P.

Let’s get to it! I won’t spoil too much for you, but these 5 P’s are excellent words to live by!

photo of Sheri Fink and InstaGrateful

Here is a breakdown of the 5 P’s from InstaGrateful by Sheri Fink:

#1. Passion

Love what you do and do what you love, am I right? I think it can be easy to get swept up in what you see other people doing on social media and follow the herd. Instead, you should explore your own unique passions that bring you joy and implement your passions into your life as much as possible.

Facebook

Sheri ties Passion to Facebook which couldn’t be more accurate. In our recent political climate, I would say that people’s passions definitely came through in some controversial posts with strings of comment threads. While these threads can be quite entertaining, they can also be detrimental to our well-being and relationships. Now, I think that’s the worst side of Facebook’s curated passion. To flip the script, you can join and create Facebook groups to connect and have conversations with others who have shared passions and post to your friends about your passions. When you share that you love a certain place, book, restaurant, hobby, etc, it can be really exciting to discover who in your network shares those same passions!

Follow us on Facebook! Here is Sheri’s Facebook page, and here is my Facebook page.

#2. Peace

When I think of peace, I think of practicing yoga and avoiding triggering situations. What brings you peace? Repeatedly I hear about the benefits of journaling and meditating for peace but I must admit, that I haven’t quite worked those into my routine yet. The closest that I have gotten to journaling is this blog and writing down my to do list. I find peace in getting everything out of my head and onto paper and then crossing off each completed item. Ah, bliss.

Pinterest

Would you agree that using Pinterest makes you feel relaxed? Sheri says, “I find Pinterest to be more self-driven and less reliant on interactions with others. I use Pinterest as a personal, virtual vision board with the goals and adventures I hope to have in the future.”

Pinterest can be the source of inspiration for a plethora of things. When I’m trying to decide on what color to paint my nails, home decor ideas, popular haircuts, recipes, etc I often peruse Pinterest. Additionally, I do use it for work as well. When ideating and visualizing for design projects, I will use Pinterest to search for photos for mood boards and I must admit that it is a fun, enjoyable process.

Follow us on Pinterest! Here is Sheri’s Pinterest and here is my Pinterest.

photo of My Bliss Book journal by Sheri Fink

If journaling does bring you peace, check out Sheri’s My Bliss Book for an inspiring 12 week journey.

#3. Power

I think we can all agree that feeling empowered is important. You can feel powerful when you overcome a fear or anxiety that was holding you back, when you move your body and feel fit, and when you stand up for what you believe in and empower others.

Twitter

The power of Twitter is instantaneous. You can get the most up-to-date news, stay connected, and have your voice heard. This is the easiest platform to post quickly in real time and to see trending topics. Knowledge is power!

Follow Sheri on Twitter! Here is Sheri’s Twitter account.

#4. Prosperity

Having financial security, happiness, and health all tie into leading a prosperous life. It’s hard to flourish and thrive without these factors. Your career and business opportunities often factor into prosperity and feeling successful.

LinkedIn

Having a LinkedIn account is one of the best things that you can do for your professional presence online. In addition to staying in touch with your professional connections, the platform has been huge asset for staying on top of industry trends, for finding job opportunities, and for hiring new talent.

Want to brighten up your LinkedIn connections in an instant? Here is Sheri’s LinkedIn Page. She is rocking rainbow colored hair in her profile photo. Which leads me right into our final P…

#5. Panache

Panache, pronounced puh-nash means “flamboyant confidence of style or manner”. The word panache is definitely not used regularly enough, I love it! I think that Sheri is a great example of someone who lives her life with panache.

This reminds me of the popular saying, “Never let anyone dull your sparkle.” Being confident in who you are and outwardly expressing it is the best thing that you can do for yourself and the world.

Instagram

It makes sense that my favorite P word would be paired with my favorite social media platform. Instagram is fun and easy to use. It is very photo heavy and visual and with features such as stories and reels, you can effectively display your unique personality and panache.

Catch our latest and greatest on Instagram. Here is Sheri’s Instagram and here is my Instagram.

photo of Sheri and her husband and their Whimsical World characters
Surprise! Sheri and her husband, Derek also write empowering children’s books! Make sure to check out their Whimsical World empire as well.

Who better to write a self help book than an inspirational speaker who believes in magic? Thank you for this delightful read, Sheri! Incorporating or improving the presence of these 5 P’s IRL is much more important than improving your social media presence. Your true happiness offline is more important than your highlight reel of happiness online. If social media can amplify your happiness and be a means of sharing your happiness, than by all means, embrace it and use it for good! I find that reading books like InstaGrateful by Sheri Fink help me further achieve that happiness offline.

You can purchase InstaGrateful: Finding Your Bliss in a Social Media world on Amazon or through Sheri’s website.

I applaud self-published authors like Sheri. My friend, Annie Franceschi is also a self-published author. If you enjoy supporting these authors as much as I do, check out 5 Reasons Why You Should Read Permission To Try By Annie Franceschi as well and get a copy of these authors’ books to read pronto!

5 Reasons Why You Should Read Permission to Try by Annie Franceschi

5 Reasons Why You Should Read Permission to Try by Annie Franceschi

Now, the easiest way to write a blog post about Permission to Try: 11 Things You Need to Hear When You’re Scared to Change Your Life by Annie Franceschi would be to list out those 11 things that you need to hear. Sorry, but that’s not going to happen – you need to discover those 11 things by reading the book and by doing the exercises yourself in order to really benefit and to make necessary changes.

First of all, are you constantly asking yourself“What’s my purpose?” • “What if I fail?” • “What will other people say?”

These are the doubts that keep you from making a career change, starting a business, or reinventing yourself! From the other side of fear, brand creator and speaker Annie Franceschi is here to give you the answers to the questions that keep you up at night: the powerful objections that keep you from changing your life for the better. Whether you’re facing a quarter-life crisis or just wondering if there’s more you’re meant for, this is the pep talk you’ve been needing! It’s time to find your purpose in this career advice book of hard-won personal stories, funny anecdotes, and helpful exercises on how to take risks, switch careers, and reinvent yourself. Discover the motivation to begin a new chapter with Annie’s best professional and life advice from quitting her Hollywood dream job, ditching Corporate America, and starting a passionate, profitable business on her own terms. Are you ready to have permission to change your life? Find out by diving into Permission to Try.

Meet our Brand Creator/Speaker/Author, Annie Franceschi!

It would be a dishonor to introduce Annie Franceschi in any other way than her three hard-earned entrepreneurial titles of brand creator, speaker, and author.

photo of Annie Franceschi holding Permission to Try
Annie Franceschi with her first published book! Photo by Faith Teasley Photography

With 10+ years in storytelling, Annie Franceschi is a bestselling author, speaker, and small business branding expert based in Durham, NC. In 2013, she quit a dream job at Walt Disney Studios to start her own agency, Greatest Story Creative®. Having branded more than 90 businesses, spoken for thousands, and released a #1 self-help book (Permission to Try), Annie is a passionate partner to entrepreneurs who want to unlock the value of their stories.

I first heard Annie speak years ago about her brilliant branding tactic of telling your story through your branding. When starting up this blog and designing my branding and logo, I kept Annie’s branding advice at the forefront of my mind and even wrote about her in my post, UNPACKING THE BACKPACK | INTENTIONAL LOGO DESIGN.

If hearing her speak all of those years ago was enough to inspire me now, I knew that her book was sure to give me the permission to try and to encourage me to continue on the path of changing my life.

photo of Permission to Try

5 Reasons Why You Should Read Permission to Try

Reason #1: The “one path” is bullshit.

You know the path that I’m talking about. The one where you take all of the steps in order to make it to your dream job or career. What happens when you get yourself pretty far down that path to only come to realize that it’s no longer serving you or to realize that it wasn’t meant for you after all?

When you stray off of the “one path” often your closest friends and family will freak out which only leads you to internally freaking out as well.

I think that many people find themselves on a particular career path then after living in that particular career day in and day out, they come to the realization that it is not for them after all. Even feeling this way, our parents’ generation tends to stay on that path whereas millenials have started changing paths or finding new paths.

“If you know in the back of your mind that things aren’t right, know that it’s normal for this to happen. It’s not something you have to be paralyzed in fear about; fear just keeps you going down the wrong road.”

Annie Franceschi

This book will help you create your own path just like Annie did.

Reason #2: Annie is the cheerleader that you never knew you needed.

What I love so much about Annie and her business, Greatest Story Creative, is that she helps others tell their story through intentional, cohesive branding . The belief in the importance of telling and sharing stories was one of the main factors of why I wanted to start a blog.

“If you have ever felt like your story doesn’t make sense, consider that you might be too close to the action. If I’ve discovered anything in writing and presenting more than 50 of these ‘Brand Voice Guides’ in the past five years, it’s this: Your story is powerful, and it’s going to make sense in the end. I promise.”

Annie Franceschi

It’s true, sometimes I think that you can be too close to your own story to be able to tell it in the best way. Have you ever struggled writing your bio or an “About Me” statement? Me too! This is where Annie comes in and helps you define and articulate your greatest story.

photo of the Permission to Try Book Launch
Even a cheerleader needs cheerleaders! Here are Annie’s cheerleaders at her Book Launch. Photo by Brubeck Photography

Reason #3: It will help you get unstuck.

Have you ever just felt stuck and not sure where to go or how to move forward with your career? Some of my favorite suggestions that she shares are to reflect way back to the things that you have been good at and enjoyed since childhood, to tell people about your dreams, and to take action and risk to move towards change.

When you tell people about your dream, a magical thing tends to happen. People begin to help you make that dream a reality.

Annie Franceschi

Once people offer connections or opportunities that will help, say yes and go for it! You never know what it will lead to.

Reason #4: It’s relatable.

Annie shares real stories of having to move back in with her dad, making the decision to pursue her own business venture full time, and even getting a dog that didn’t work out. She was not afraid of walking us through her failures and to show how she moved through them.

Personally, I enjoy Annie’s story because she dabbled with a small wedding business, created a blog, and ended up living back home – all things that are very familiar to me. I found myself able to relate to where she was coming from, and her stories and real life examples helped prompt my own thoughts about my personal situation so that I could easily apply them to the exercises.

She also shares situations that brought her to tears and made her feel afraid and worried. There is no sugar coating here!

“I was worried I wouldn’t make enough money and that I’d embarrass myself if I really tried this entrepreneurship thing for real.”

Annie Franceschi
photo of Annie holding Permission to Try
If Annie had let her worries or fear of embarrassment hold her back, we wouldn’t have this wonderful book today! Photo by Faith Teasley Photography

Reason #5: The exercises and resources are so helpful.

Recently I had dinner with a friend and she said that when she was ready to make a career change, she took an assessment online and it gave her a list of careers that would be a good fit for her interests, personality, and experiences and then she a got a job in one of the recommended fields.

Often assessments, exercises, and putting pen to paper are successful tools.

In addition to her 11 “Take Action Exercises”, a list of book titles that she referenced in her book and her online resource library, Annie includes her personal email address in Permission to Try as well. It’s truly amazing and reinforces the fact that she is genuinely happy to help!

This book is definitely staying on my shelf so that I can easily pick it up and read it again, work through some of the exercises, and reference her plethora of resources the next time that I am feeling stuck and craving change!

Try one of her exercises out for yourself! A free exercise from the book, “3 Steps for Finding a New Direction” is available at www.permissiontotry.com 

Back to Business Virtual Book Club logo

You’re Invited! Permission to Try Virtual Book Club hosted by the Back to Business Conference – Wednesday, July 8th from 12-1:15pm EST

Have you ever participated in a Book Club where the author was in attendance? Well now is your chance!

Join us for the best lunch break ever on Wednesday, July 8th at 12pm EST to discuss Permission to Try with Annie Franceschi herself. It is perfect for women who are returning to work, considering starting their own business, or have a big dream of any kind that hasn’t yet manifested.

Register for the Virtual Book Club for free and purchase your favorite way to enjoy the book – Paperback, Kindle, or Audible.

Stay in Touch with Annie!

Above all, I want to thank Annie for her encouragement and for her ability to articulate stories for those people and businesses who are unable to find the right words to express themselves. She has extraordinary talent!

Follow along with her on Instagram at @annie.franceschi and join us on July 8th to continue this conversation! I know that she will make an impact on you just like she made one on me all of those years ago.