I have saved my favorite ones for last. I chose these two techniques alternatively depending upon how distracted my mind is in the moment. Because my thoughts are always in planning mode, I find that having words to focus on really helps me to be in the moment. My mind wanders less when I have something concrete competing with my thoughts.

Meditation can feel a bit intimidating when you first start. It feels weird. Unnatural. Uncomfortable. You might feel silly. And all of those thoughts are floating through your mind at a rapid pace, interrupting what you intend to be peaceful moments. I get it. I’ve been there countless times. If you’re like me, you want to do it “right,” and everything about it feels wrong.

We’ve all heard the advice, “try deep breathing” or “take a breath.” Maybe you’ve tried and “failed” at it, claiming it doesn’t help you. Maybe, if you give it some thought, it didn’t work because you half-heartedly tried to breathe deeply while simultaneously focusings on whatever was making you angry, anxious, etc. The idea behind practicing mindful breathing is “practice.” If you carve out even just a few minutes of every day to being present in the moment and concentratin

The Art of Being Present

Feeling Overwhelmed by the Future?

I read a book a few months back that really stuck with me. Essentialism  by Greg McKeown has really formed the way I try to shape my day. Admittedly, and full self-disclosure, it’s much easier said than done. I often find myself quickly switching between tasks, never quite finishing something. I have multiple tabs open, and when something gets difficult, I switch. I feel busy, but I’m not always getting things finished. Throughout the next 6 weeks, I challenge you to embrace

We all have a lot on our plates! Our lives are SO full that we often struggle to get everything done that we want or need to get done. And I don’t know about you, but I certainly feel that time is simply flying by at an alarming rate!

Welcome to what “they” call the dog days of summer! I don’t know about you, but my life always feels a bit looser in the summer. School isn’t in session, the weather is warmer, people vacation more — it just hits a little differently than the rest of the year. And that’s a good thing. I see it as a time to connect with my friends and family. A time for leisurely, easy meals cooked outside, and long days spent by the pool, beach, lake, or whichever body of water you choose.

This week concludes our study of Gretchen Rubin’s book, The Four Tendencies. We are closing out with a closer look at both the Questioner and the Rebel.

This week we are diving into The Obliger. The Obliger readily meets external expectations, but resists and struggles with internal expectations. They easily will get things accomplished for other people - their boss, coach, personal trainer, friends, etc.

Hopefully you have taken the Four Tendencies Quiz, but if you haven’t done it yet, here  it is again for your convenience. As we dive deeper into our discussion about expectations, let’s first talk about what internal versus external means. Inner expectations are those that we impose upon ourselves. This would be setting a fitness goal to run a 5K or to make sure you go to bed by 11pm and wake up before 7am. Outer expectations are those that others impose upon us. It might be

This month we are focusing on locus of control and how it pertains to personal accountabilty. Being able to identify your tendencies and personal motivations will allow you to shape and adjust your approach to getting things done. Having awareness of your motivation style can propel you towards achieving the goals you set for yourself.

OK. We are on our last week of our discussion of Self-Care. The biggest thing I want you to take away from this month is to find a way to set boundaries around the time you can control. Make yourself a priorty. It’s not selfish to take care of yourself. Little moments in your day can really add up to a wealth of calm and peace. I hope you have learned some new ideas to add to your arsenal, because as I said, it’s so much more than massages and bubble baths. Self-care means di

This week we will dive into two more of the 5 Love Languages to explore Receiving Gifts and Quality Time.

Last week I introduced the Self Care Pyramid developed by Elizabeth Tollis (earlier edition). We discussed the base of the pyramid - maintenance. These are the things that should be part of your regular, daily habits and routines that maintain our sanity. As a reminder, these were the basics — good sleep, nutrition, proactive life management, exercise, boundaries, etc. These are the tenets of basic care for ourselves that help us run effectively. If you don’t already have tho

This month we are diving into self care. And as the title suggests, it is SO much more than massages and bubble baths, although those are nice too and will play a part. My business coach, Elizabeth Tollis has developed a self care paradigm, and I give her credit for much of this month’s content. I also feel that in order to be a good, solid coach, you have to truly believe in the value of coaching, so of course — I have my own coach:)

I don’t know about you all, but I know I feel a certain energy in the Spring. The world around us is literally sprouting anew! I want to be outside more (luckily I am not an allergy sufferer), I want to move more, I want to do all the things. While December/January planning for the new year is important, I feel like this time of year, when we are all emerging from our cozy winter cocoons, is an even better time to create new habits that align with our vision and goals.

I have decided to not add anything new to this month’s content, and instead pull it all together in a cohesive several steps. I feel like I have thrown a lot at all of you over the past few months — I have been excitedly researching and wanted to share what I’m learning! So I wanted to pause and make sure we are all caught up in what I intend for you all.

This week we are focusing on putting it all together to live a coherent life. What does that mean. When you can take your life view and your work view and put it together to live a life on purpose. According to Burnett and Evans in Designing Your Life , there a lot of powerful voices in the world telling us how we should live and what we should be doing. We also have competing, but equally as powerful voices in our own heads telling us what to do and who to be. The voices fro

I hope you took the time to write out your Life View last week. If not, go ahead and do that (I’ll wait). This week we will focus on your Work View. This is NOT a job description. Your assignment is NOT to write out what you want to do in your work. We aren’t focusing on daily tasks and activities.