When did contentment become less than enough? The ancient Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu may have considered contentment to be the greatest treasure, but in our fast-paced, achievement at all costs culture, it’s often viewed less positively. Don’t settle. Strive, struggle, work harder for more, bigger, faster. Level up your summer! (By buying our new car.) […]
Learning by doing is one of the best ways to get the clarity you need to make wise decisions. Maybe it’s from all the stories about how, when my grandparents were broke during the Great Depression, the neighbors would call my dad and his brothers in for after school snacks. Or the times my godfather […]
I’ve put in more than my share of time in hospitals. Not to the level of someone with a chronic or debilitating illness, thank goodness, or even someone with a family member with significant health challenges. But I’m more comfortable than most people in places where the majority of employees wear scrubs or lab coats. […]
Let’s say you’re about to make a major presentation at work. The room is packed. Attendees have traveled from far and near to be there. Your boss is seated so close, with one her closest confidantes at her side, you could easily reach out and touch them. The moment you inhale to begin, the boss’ […]
A friend of mine is celebrating her first day of retirement today. After forty-five years as a music educator. In the same job. That she landed straight out of college. She’s never had to navigate the in-between. The world of work doesn’t work that way any more. It hasn’t for a long, long time. In […]
Choose wisely. Make up your mind. Make a good decision. Easier said than done. Because there are so many options. Which sometimes makes it feel like there aren’t any. Besides, who has time to research all, or even a few of those options, to the point that a decision feels good? When every single decision has […]
Have you ever stayed stuck in a situation that fell somewhere between uncomfortable and miserable on the suffering scale, even though what you needed to get unstuck was within reach? I sure have. After a recent trip to an altitude where oxygen and humidity are precious commodities, though, I am resoled to use what I have to […]
That’s great. Can you reach a little lower? Inside corner, right shoulder blade.. Right there. Press as hard a you can. Ohhhh. Thanks so much. No, I wasn’t eavesdropping at the local day spa. Or doing something even creepier. I was at a chorus rehearsal, listening to the woman behind me ask for exactly what […]
Gratitude is hard to come by sometimes. I mean, there’s plenty to be mad, sad, and afraid of these days. There always has been, of course, and likely always will be. Lately, though, events and actions that create emotions we think of as negative have seem to be coming more fast and furious than the […]
No job is secure. Tell me about it. At the end of a job that started with a full-on panic attack on day one and ended in turmoil twelve years later, that was my response to this core belief of the Career Invention Coaching Certification I undertook as part of my exit strategy. Great salary and benefits, […]
