A client and I were talking recently and this analogy came to mind as we brainstormed on moving the business forward. Remember when you were a kid and you went outside after it rained? There were puddles everywhere! As you explored, you discovered streams and creeks clogged with debris washed down by the rain. Leaves, branches and occasionally trash hampered the run-off preventing the water from moving on. Ever the curious kid, you pulled out …
Here we are, in the midst of the holiday season now. How can you make the most of the endless stream of holiday parties? How can you keep your sanity and good humor, celebration after celebration? Participate in the merriment of the season and prepare yourself for a productive January by following these suggestions. Mark your calendar with all the events you’ve committed to, allowing appropriate prep and recovery time. Recovery time also includes acknowledging …
Can you feel it? Electricity is in the air as we approach the holiday season. It is only amplified by the tremendous amounts of cold weather we have experienced even in Houston. Oh… that was static electricity that zapped me as I got out of the car. Whichever form it is, there is no denying that there is a charge in the air! Let’s put a bit of charge into your year-end or rear-end, as …
Just like a mirror, reflection on the year allows you to see things that might simply go unnoticed…the black pepper in between your front teeth or that you look absolutely smashing in purple. Our reflection shows us the good and the bad. If we choose to look close enough we can learn from both. The same goes for reflecting on your year. It provides the opportunity to see the good and the bad; to celebrate …
A year in review and it is only the first week in November? What is up with that? Recall that there were approximately 42 productive work days remaining from last week’s message. We are down to 36 now. I am not one for “scare tactics” nor does my futuristic strength cause me to think continually of the next day and more. So why am I talking about a year in review in early November? Because …
It is just around the corner. Holiday season that is. With Halloween, we turn the corner into holiday season and the New Year is staring us in the face. 62 days from today you will be celebrating the New Year. What will you toast at midnight on December 31, 2014? If you are not sure, then make a plan to end the year strong accomplishing one or several of the goals you have laid out. …
Recommendations from colleagues allowed the book Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less by Greg McKeown to make it to the top of my reading and listening list. I am on my second listen and first read and have continued to uncover new ideas that allow for the unfurling of the jumbled knot that is partially visible on the cover of the book. Why is this book important to you? Unless you are one of the …
Did you take a closer look at your closet as a result of last week’s message? I recently had a ruthless purging of mine. It was difficult letting go of some of the pieces, for the same reasons I shared with you: I didn’t realize I was carrying around “yeses” from the past and the emotional ties that were there. It has been over four and a half years since I resigned my financial advisor …
Last week’s message addressed actively saying “no” and how difficult it can be. At times we also need to say “no” by letting things go. I am not sure if “letting things go” isn’t the more difficult of the two, and for a couple of reasons. First, we often don’t realize we are carrying around things that were a “yes” a long time ago yet now need to be let go. Second, the emotional ties …
What was your choice for the conundrum I presented in last week’s message? Will you join the organization or tell your friend“no”? No – such a small word with such big impact. When you hear “no” how do you describe it? A disappointment? Discouragement? Denial? Negativity? Relief? For most of us “no” is a hard word to take and sometimes even a harder word to deliver. Yet the ability to say no can give us …
It is a privilege that we have so many options to choose from in our daily lives. Even our most basic of needs provide choices. What will I eat? Will I make it, pull it from the freezer or allow a chef to cook it? Will I eat alone or with others? The choice of what to eat can be easy or difficult, mindless or mindful. If we are focused on our health the decision …
What a wonderful world we live in, full of choices and opportunities. Our ancestors would be astounded by the sheer number of things we choose, in our work and personal lives. Sometimes so are we! A conundrum is an intricate and difficult problem as defined by Merriam Webster. Why then would choices result in a conundrum? Wouldn’t more choices mean more options and opportunities to solve our intricate and difficult problem? Therein, lies the challenge. …
If you have ever undertaken something new you recognize the messy middle. It is no-where land. You’ve departed from the safe harbor of your usual practice (a rut perhaps) and ventured into the wild blue yonder of something new. Yet there is no charted course, no neatly defined path to take you easily and quickly on your way. You wander and stumble through the seemingly vast wasteland of the messy middle. If you are fortunate …
Sharing stories with you about my efforts to master dressage gives me the opportunity to provide a different perspective on life’s lessons. A more light-hearted approach if you will as dressage is not how I make my living and for good reason! I have also had my share of messy middles which did impact me professionally and I’d like to share one with you if I may. In 2008, a conversation with my husband led …
Equipped with proper instruction and the encouragement not to get discouraged when I encounter resistance, Usache and I begin retraining our walk. Some days I think it would be easier if I could be instructed every time I ride. Besides being hard on the pocketbook, it is impractical in terms of scheduling and the greatest learning often comes outside the coaching session. And there it is, the resistance. Marie told me to expect it. We would …
Are you in a rut or on a path? It is hard to tell at times isn’t it? Sticking the truck in the cow pasture is an obvious example. Yet in our lives we can fall into other, more subtle ruts – like one in riding. A rut in horseback riding is more like a comfort zone and it can be hard to recognize, much like ruts in our personal or professional lives. The signs …
So how do you bust out of a rut? Most of us have been in one in our life, either literally or figuratively. Let’s take the literal version of being stuck in a rut. I have had quite a lot of experience with this. My home town is Elkhart, Texas, a small town in East Texas, population 1,360. Think of unpaved roads (red clay) and driving across the pasture (sandy loam mix) to check on …
I recently heard this saying, “A rut is simply a grave with both ends kicked out.” How does that strike you? When I first heard the phrase, my reaction was, “Oh my, too true, and what a way to put it.” A little research reveals the original version to be: “The only difference between a rut and a grave are the dimensions” and is attributed to Ellen Glasgow, an American novelist. When looked at that …
When things aren’t going as smoothly as we planned or in the direction we imagined; when we find our life and our business a far cry from what we have envisioned, our mind defaults to the thought that something needs “fixin” – that is Texan for the verb “to fix.” What is wrong, what is broken, what do we need to fix? We have a proclivity to zero in on our weaknesses. If business isn’t …
Last week I shared an article on LinkedIn about closing the lid on your laptop for the weekend. Little did I know when I selected the article that it would soon be just the advice I needed. You see, I do truly practice the habits and insights I share with my clients and readers. I just don’t always practice them perfectly. Time can slip away from me during the work week, just as it does …