How to Name Your Blog, Business or Idea

Sunday // April 17 // 2016

I recently received an email from one of our community members who is creating her own dream business. She wanted to know how the name Don’t Tell Summer came about and how she could create a name for her business.

Names are so important, especially for an idea, dream or business you’re passionate about.

I can happily say that after five years (ok that just sounded like the beginning of an anniversary speech), I love the name Don’t Tell Summer more and more each day. The name continues to reveal more depth about itself, more meaning, more passion and more creativity than I ever originally sought out to create. As I grow, Don’t Tell Summer grows.

As I tell the story of how the Don’t Tell Summer name came about, I’ll give you a step-by-step guide on how you can create the heart-driven name for your dream or idea.

1. How does your idea feel?

Write down words that describe your idea, even if you don’t know the mission, purpose or what you want it to look like yet. You are cultivating an energy of something you want to create already, so tap into that energy.

When I knew that I wanted to start a blog I felt things like:

Freedom Adventure

Rebelliousness Doing what you love

Feminine Passion

Fearless Community

Fun Surf

I was able to sift through different name ideas and cross-out the ones that I knew weren’t right, because I knew exactly how the blog felt. I knew that the name would need to describe that energy.

2. Which comes first – the meaning behind it or the name?

For Don’t Tell Summer, it was a mixture of both, but the name came before I thought of the story behind it. As soon as the name came, I knew why.

If you think of the name first, meaning second:

A little background story,

I had been synchronistically traveling around with a group of surfers at the end of 2011. My friend and I had met them in San Francisco and when we went back home to Orange County, they too had to be down there. A week later, I was going to Hawaii for my Grandma’s 80th birthday and needless to say, they were going there also at the exact same time.

What intrigued me about them, well a lot did as you can imagine, but what sparked my curiosity was that they had a blog. I had never met anyone with a blog before and didn’t know much about it but after spending a couple weeks with them, I knew there was something that I was ready to create and it would start with a Tumblr account.

I could feel what the blog was about, the depth, the freedom, the rebelliousness, the feminine, fearless, fun of it. I just couldn’t figure out the name.

So I started writing down words that matched how I wanted it to feel. I was throwing around tons and tons of names over the course of a few days until I wrote the words “Don’t Tell”.

That hit a heart-string.

That felt so right on every level.

But Don’t tell what?

Don’t tell who?

I wanted it to be someone’s name, but yet I didn’t want it to be.

Summer popped in. That was it.

From there it all unfolded; everything – the story behind it, the energy. It all started to tell its own story and still does to this day.

Once I knew it was Don’t Tell Summer, the story came. The story of how I had been going back and forth between Sydney and California and kept missing summer because of the opposite seasons. They were the best ‘Summers’ of my life because I finally felt like I wasn’t waiting for something; waiting to feel free, to do what I would love to do and to be myself.

As the brand has evolved, the story and meaning behind it has evolved. If a name feels right in your heart, the story will come as to why you intuitively chose it.

If the story or meaning comes first:

Think of words that describe your story. You could include these words in the name of your concept or it could be a phrase that is more of a lifestyle capture of what your mission, purpose or idea entails.

In order to be at the point where you have an idea from your heart, you would’ve arrived to that from somewhere. Write out your story.

Write out why this idea is important to you and the world around you.

Why now? What had to have happened for you to get here?

How to Turn a Goal into a Reality

Wednesday // April 13 // 2016

This post was originally created for the Contiki six-two- blog.

When we have a big dream or goal that we want to achieve, it can feel a bit overwhelming. This is mainly because we look at where we are now and where we want to be, and fear ensues. We ask ourselves how we will get to that place and stop our dreams in their tracks before we even take the first step.

Achieving a goal or dream is all about following a few simple steps to gain clarity, set yourself up to succeed and have a positive mindset throughout the journey.

1. Get Clear on Your Vision

The best first step to pursuing something you want to achieve is to get crystal clear on what you want. The biggest part with this is that it’s something that you’re completely passionate about achieving. Sometimes we can get so caught up on what we should do, or what we think others would like us to do, that we set ourselves up for failure because we’re not fully invested. The best way to achieve a big goal is to set it on our own terms. It helps to write out your vision while thinking about the following questions:

What would excite me?

What does it look like?

What does it feel like to have achieved this?

Who is there? (Is it just me or are other people around? Do I know them or have we just met?)

2. Set a Time Frame

Whether your goal is to travel, start a business, write a book or try something new, have a rough time frame for when you want it to happen by. Life is unplanned and it will take different turns, but having a rough guideline of when you need to achieve something by is one of the best ways to help you reach it.

There’s something about declaring when your dream or goal needs to happen by that puts it into motion much faster than saying something such as, “This year I am going to write a book.” When do you want your first 100 pages to be completed by? Set a time frame and hold yourself accountable.

It helps to tell people around you about your goal, as well as when you are going to achieve it by. It can also help to include someone else in your goal. For example, if your dream is to travel this year, chat with a friend who wants to travel as well and set a time frame together of when you will jet off. If you’ve committed to your friend that you’re leaving by a certain date, you will likely follow-through with the things that you need to do in order to make it happen.

Lastly, another benefit of having a time frame is that goals like pressure. If you tell yourself that you have all the time in the world to achieve them, you’ll never do them. Set a time frame and stick to it the best you can.

If you fear being seen

Thursday // March 31 // 2016

I’m reading the book ‘What Do I Really Want?’ by Lloyd Lalande. It reminded me of a time when I was in the first grade and had just learned how to do that exercise where you lay on your back and do an air-bicycle. I felt so free.

We came back from PE, sat down to listen to a story and because I hadn’t learned how to contain that feeling of being free, I went on my back and did the air-bicycle. I was asked to go sit down at my desk away from the group. I had never been in trouble before, especially not by a teacher, and I felt my insides crumbling.

I’m not a bad kid? I thought. Why would she have me sit down?

I wasn’t harming anyone, wasn’t looking for attention, I just loved trying the new activity that made me feel free, fun and alive.

My relationship with my first grade teacher never felt the same on my end, I didn’t feel that she saw me for who I was or who I was being.

It’s interesting, especially being in the blogging world, the concept of being seen. Why being seen in all of your truth, freedom or aliveness is often something to fear, rather something to embrace and celebrate. Even posting this, I don’t know how many posts I’ve done, but there is always that little gut-bubble that says, am I ready to post this, and in turn, am I ready to be seen?

Maybe if we recognized that parts of our past taught us to shut out our natural pull to either express who we are, what we desire or how we’re feeling in the moment, we could learn to accept ourselves and move forward the way we always intended to.

When were you told to tone-down your truth, or your pure aliveness?

When did you feel that expressing who you are was shot down?

How would life look and feel if you were to own your freedom? To own the part of you that just comes easily, effortlessly, without shutting it down before it even has the chance to get out.

How can you do this? Self-compassion.

Self-compassion has been one of my favourite topics as of late. I remember when I was interested in learning about self-love there was something that just wasn’t clicking. I felt like I loved myself for who I am, but there was something that still felt missing. It was self-compassion.

By having compassion for the mere sense that you are human, and that everyone around you is human, you can allow yourself to show your true-self to those around you. Everyone makes mistakes, no one is perfect, everyone has desires and truth; that’s the beauty of it.

When you start seeing yourself as being a part of a larger community, you can let yourself off the hook a bit more and let out your truth.

If the concept of self-compassion interests you, I recommend the book Self-Compassion by Dr. Kristin Neff. Incredible, easy-to-read and filled with so many simple techniques that will change the way you speak and act towards yourself, and in turn, allow you to live out more of your truth.

Finding Freedom Where You Looked Last

Tuesday // March 29 // 2016

Before coming to Sydney the first time around, I changed majors to Psychology and got super into all things positive psychology and self-help. I had just gotten out of a relationship and was terrified of learning to be me again, not to mention trying to do that in a place far away from my friends, family and everything that I had ever known. My hands were trembling with fear and as someone who listens to my intuition or ‘gut’, I was continually confused if what I was feeling was a signal to not go to Sydney. Maybe it just wasn’t aligned? I didn’t feel ready at all.

I asked myself the questions:

Will I always wonder what was on the other side?

Will I always wonder who the people were in my study abroad program, or what being at Sydney University was like?

Will I always wonder if I was capable? Capable of going completely into the unknown and coming out on the other side.

I said my goodbyes to my parents and I went. I got on the plane to Cairns and told myself that it was going to be the adventure of a lifetime. I had to see what was on the other side.

The first day in, I met two girls. I didn’t know at the time, but they would become some of my best friends, even to this day almost six years later. Little did I know that I would have the time of my life, filled with growing experiences, ups, downs but mostly ups. Little did I know that I would break free from my rough Sophomore year and the feeling of being totally confused by which direction to go in. I would learn to accept myself and move towards being more confident, feeling more free and more me than ever before.

Then leaving Australia, I was filled with almost as much fear going home.

Would I be able to remain myself at home?

Would I be able to maintain this level of unwavering confidence, zest for life and be able to have just as good of an experience if not better there?

Reluctant to leave Sydney, I went back to Chapman.

I realized that freedom wasn’t something that needed to be situational, it could be there at anytime; it had been there all along.

Before that realization, I would go to class, do my homework and went out on the weekends. Lather, rinse, repeat.

This time around, I would still go to class and do the things I needed to do to the best of my ability, but I went on adventures in between. I would go to the beach, make music videos with my friends, create playlists for parties, invite friends over throughout the week and felt totally free at any given day, not just on weekends. This freedom started to grow into other areas of my life.

When searching for an internship, I looked at what was already offered, or what my mind could come up with; The typical work for a big brand in the surf industry in hopes to get a job after college.

I took an internship and after the first day, I knew what I had to do. Something just didn’t sit right with me, it didn’t feel aligned and I definitely didn’t have a sense of freedom going there. I looked beyond what I had already found, let go of my three or four channels for internship stalking and typed “Surf internship” into Craiglist. (Ya I know, a bit sketchy but you never know until you try).

An internship popped up that sounded interesting. It wasn’t for a big brand but for a woman who had clients that were in the surf and fashion industries. The best part was it was in Costa Mesa and that area, just near Newport, made me feel freer than ever. As much as a beach person I am, there’s something I loved about not actually living near the beach. Driving or making an adventure to it felt more free to me than if I had lived right in front of the ocean.

I met with the internship employer over coffee and was pinching myself, this is exactly what I had been looking for in my heart. In my head, I thought the only way to be able to feel connected to surfing and the industry would be to work at a big HQ. Finding this internship brought in everything I was seeking in my life – freedom, fun, passion, creativity and doing something that feels completely aligned.

The reason why I’m sharing this with you is because you can find what you’re searching for in different packages. That freedom or fun or whatever you are seeking can be found most of the time in a different avenue than you thought and can feel more aligned than your mind could’ve ever set out to find.

I wanted freedom, safety, confidence, and I didn’t find that safely at home, I found it outside of my comfort zone in a country I had never been to. Then when going back home, I thought that adventurous freedom would leave, but it only got stronger.

Choose how you want to feel, choose what you want to seek, notice what feels aligned for you and makes you feel alive. It can happen at any moment, any day, any time if you open up to it showing up in a place where you least expect it.

#RadLivin Sydney was incredible!

Monday // March 28 // 2016

Our first ever #RadLivin event in Sydney was incredible. Thank you to everyone who was a part of making this dream come to life! 300 rad, like-minded people came together to get inspired, share their dreams and celebrate livin’ life to the fullest.

Our day started off with talks from our speakers including: Jess Abraham, Jamie Green, Grant Trebilco, Connie Chapman, Cait Miers, Oscar Martin and Axel & Ash.

We then moved into the live music + bar area for tunes by Ziggy Alberts & Sons of the East and sipped on ice cold bevies from Yenda Beer, Coors, Rekorderlig and YOU wines while meeting and collaborating with friends, new and old.

Check out this rad highlights video made by our good mate Sean Tully of Tullywood Films.