Do you remember the last time you got caught up in a situation that pissed you off or made you so fearful that it completely dismantled your ability to respond in a constructive way? Sometimes it can feel like you didn’t really have a choice in how you responded, it “just happened”. If you’d like to have a more conscious choice in how you respond to stressful events in your life, keep reading… Imagine this common scenario: You’ve had a…
Last week I was in NYC with my business coach and our mastermind group. Every 3 months we get together to connect, share, learn and grow our businesses and ourselves. (As one of my mentors says “you’ll only ever grow your business as big as you grow yourself because your business is a reflection of you”). We spend 2 1/2 days shining the light of awareness on the areas of our businesses that are working (and celebrating) as well as…
Consistency. Something the creative being in me has resisted and wrestled with most of my life. It goes along with the word discipline, which for a long time felt like a straight jacket – restrictive and stifling – because I associated it with being forced to do things I didn’t want to do (usually because they were hard or I didn’t understand why I had to do them).. As I have aged and matured I have learned the valuable role…
Often times we get stuck in a negative situation because we avoid ranting and raving and expressing our outrage. There are many things that condition us to avoid expressing or honoring our extreme feelings of anger and rage. – You may have have created pain and suffering for yourself or others in the past when you expressed your anger and hurt. – Or you may have experienced being on the receiving end of someone else’s rage and it felt intimidating…
Integrity is all about how you make and keep agreements with yourself and others. Many of us have been taught to value and strive to live in integrity because it is a trait that contributes tremendously to living a simple, prosperous, happy life. Here’s why: Integrity breeds trust. If you do what you say you will do, when you said you would do it and how you said you would do it, you have a high level of integrity and…
Have you ever found yourself puzzled by your reaction (or over reaction) to a situation? Where your response to a person or a situation seems out of proportion to the incident or uncharacteristic for you? Or maybe you are just puzzled by why you keep procrastinating around doing something that you really want to do! (Like keeping those New Years resolutions you set and don’t keep every year!) It can be so frustrating when you know better and don’t do…
I remember when my kids were young there was so much excitement surrounding the Christmas holidays! The energy of anticipation for the presents they had grown accustomed to receiving became palpable as Christmas Day drew closer. My mother, a devoted Christian, was disgusted by the consumerism and expressed despair at the lack of focus on the true meaning of Christmas! She felt the children lacked appreciation for what they were receiving because it was so much! They would open a…
Last week I got the devastating news that a dear friend and past-client of mine had committed suicide. My initial reaction was one of anger and denial: “They better investigate this as a homicide because she would NEVER take her own life!”. The person I thought I knew so well was gregarious, joyful, outgoing and outspoken. Although she was divorced, she had an amazing support structure and loving relationships with family and friends. Her business was booming. She had 2…
Anxiety is something most people have experienced at some point in their life. Unfortunately, too many people live with it constantly. It can range in intensity from a slight nervousness and muscle tension, to a gripping sensation and nausea in the pit of your stomach and having difficulty taking a deep breath. It can present as an inability to sit still, or just a general feeling of being stressed and overwhelmed. It makes it hard to relax and can actually…
Are you old enough to remember the advertisement for bic lighters? It spawned the question and refers to what lights you up and brings you joy. Earlier this week I was in NYC masterminding with a group of entrepreneurs and our mentor/coach. For those of you who may not be familiar with the term, Mastermind groups offer a combination of brainstorming, education, peer accountability and support in a group setting to sharpen your business and personal skills and achieve greater…
