Category Archives: mindset
Are You Minding Your Ps and Qs? Don’t make a career limiting move
Has your mother ever told you to mind your Ps and Qs? Honestly, I never knew what she was talking about. Be good? I did a little research on the origin of the phrase and my favorite explanation is that ‘mind your Ps and Qs’ comes from 17th century English pubs and taverns when bartenders would keep watch on the alcohol consumption of the customers ‘keeping an eye on the pints and quarts that were consumed.” The bartender would ask customers to ‘mind their Ps and Qs’. I imagine the wisdom our mothers were trying to impart on us as children was to
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Posted in Blog, inspiration, mindset, Motivation
Tagged attitude, behavior, career advice, career limiting, Christmas, Holidays, mindset, office party, yoga
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More than You Can Chew?
Just because you’re good at something doesn’t mean it’s your passion… I highly suspect that Lu is suffering from career burnout, but he isn’t your typical employee. Still, twice a day Lu goes to work performing at Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park. On one occasion, my son and I joined the audience gathered under the hot Florida sun to watch Lu emerge from his shaded spot among the water lilies. He slowly took his position in front of a ledge where his trainer stood, ready to feed him his noontime feeding. “Lu used to be a movie star,” the trainer
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Posted in Avoid Burnout, inspiration, mindset
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Is Your Stretch Goal Too Stretched?
Get Aligned With Your ‘Why’ I have no desire to rappel down a 13 story building. Yet in June of this year, there is a slight chance I may be doing just that. It’s not a marathon, so not something I can train for. It’s a total mental type of training. At least that’s my take. My friend and former university roomie, who is trying to persuade me to literally take the leap says she’s told the experience leaves you feeling fabulous when it’s done. A real sense of accomplishment. Hmmmm. Of course, it’s not just leaping from a building.
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Posted in Avoid Burnout, fundraising, leadership, mindset, Motivation
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Is Too Much Success Burning You Out? When to Use the “Happy No”
I find it mildly ironic that I’m reading a book on boundaries and in the four weeks since I’ve started, I’ve been interrupted so much while trying to read it that I’ve only reached page 40. It seems like a really good book and I had hoped to impart all kinds of wisdom to you on how to set boundaries to be more productive, but alas, I obviously have more work to do in mastering that area of self-awareness! Why is it that we allow ourselves to get interrupted, distracted and side-tracked? Most of us have pop-ups letting us know
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Posted in Avoid Burnout, mindset
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Co-workers: Love Them or Egg Them?
I’ve secretly wanted to egg my neighbor’s house for about three months now. I’ve even envisioned ‘decorating it’ for Halloween. I know, this is bad, like way out of alignment. But the truth is I didn’t even realize I was harbouring these toxic thoughts until my mother-in-law visited and innocently commented that the neighbor’s renovations were sure taking a long time. Right? RIGHT! Finally, someone else has noticed the grating, whining sound of the wood cutting machine, the pounding of nail after nail after nail, the constant conversation of co-workers up on the roof measuring things. It’s tough, this co-habitation
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Guest Post: The Best Interview Questions To Help You Hire a Human (er…employee) by Jamie Sussel Turner
Jamie Sussel Turner is a former school principal living in New Jersey who is now a professionally certified coach and author. I met Jamie at a conference we were both invited to attend this past Spring and we quickly connected with our mutual passion for writing and coaching in a way that helps others create practical, forward-moving career strategies. I’m thrilled to have Jamie provide a guest blog on hiring and interview tips. As a school principal, I once hired a teacher who cried at her interview. The tears welled up when she identified kindness as one of her best attributes. I
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You Have to Slow Down to Speed Up
I remember as a child waiting patiently for my cousin, Matthew, to clean the bugs out of the pool so we could all go swimming. He had a net attached to a pole and was making short, quick sweeps of the water but wasn’t making much progress. My Uncle advised him that he was going too fast. He pointed out that Matthew was missing most of the bugs and just stirring things up. He then took the net and showed him how if he went more slowly and purposely at the beginning, he could get more bugs the first time
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Are You Caught in a Corporate Undercurrent?
When you think about getting caught in an undercurrent, what comes to mind? For me, I’m reminded of a beach vacation in the Caribbean when I got caught in a nasty churn of ocean and sand that made me kiss the ground when I finally broke free of it. On the surface, the ocean appeared fun and inviting, but underneath it was a different story. I had seriously underestimated the pull of the undertow. No matter where we work there’s a corporate culture or an undercurrent of values and practices that can either support us in being at our best
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Do You Have Personal Resilience?
There’s a feeling that many of us get when we’re in the grey zone. Personally, I tend to start taking more shallow breaths (which you need to pay attention to or you’ll hyperventilate), then I get distracted, then I start to sweat. Are you aware of your response to situations or conditions that make you uneasy? How we manage ourselves in this grey zone, or the unknown, is an important awareness-building exercise as we practice navigating our working-life with more ease and confidence. I attended a workshop led by Gregg Braden this past year. His latest book is called The
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Stop Giving Your Talent Away; Ask for What You Deserve
Phoebe Anna Traquair has been called the first significant professional woman artist in modern Scotland. One of her works – which took nine years to complete – has been compared to the Sistine Chapel. If you search her art on the Internet, as I did, you will undoubtedly be staggered by what this woman accomplished in her career. But did she get paid for all this? I really can’t tell. In the article I read her first two commissions were said to be unpaid, except to cover the cost of the paint. Here’s what the article, however, did say: “By
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Posted in inspiration, mindset
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