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3 Habits to 3X Your Contribution

Some of the most challenging changes to make to our workflow and regular tasks are also the steps that can bring us closest to our goals. (Without us showing up at the finish line panting, exhausted, and out of breath!)

In this article, we examine how seeking wise counsel, delegating tasks to others, and mentoring lead to a win-win solution that goes well beyond financial gain!

Discipline (It’s not a bad word)

Somewhere along the years, the word “discipline” has joined ranks of offensive words. If you look up the definition online, it’s now associated with punishment, controlling others, and even abuse. But discipline has been around since the beginning of time and is listed throughout the Bible as something that benefits us and helps us to grow.

3 Ways to Improve the Odds of Reaching Your Goals

And as Miss Stacey from Anne of Green Gables said, “Tomorrow is fresh with no mistakes.”

But apparently, not everyone is quite ready to jump on board and set New Year Resolutions for the year ahead. 2020 asked an unexpected question: “Why bother setting goals at all?”

I can understand the reluctancy to plan for the year ahead! But those who have scrapped the process of making resolutions and goals for 2021 because of this past year, are forgetting something important:

There’s a difference between
making New Year’s resolutions and setting goals.

The Difference Between Optimism & Hope

I’m in the business of hope and optimism. Sometimes I help client’s gain hope by helping them change their perspective. Sometimes I hold hope for them until they’re able and ready to hold it on their own.
My ability to hold hope and to see the silver lining (or at least the “light at the end of the tunnel” is not because I have never experienced hard times. I’m human. And as I say, no one escapes this life unwounded. In fact, I would argue that a person’s ability to have an optimistic perspective is not despite hard times, but because of them.

Why Other People’s Opinions Matter

There’s an old psychology term that’s being used in a new way recently: “Insinuation Anxiety.” You’ve probably seen this anxiety or perhaps even had bouts of it yourself. If you’re not familiar with the fear, just take a look at some of the conversations out on Facebook and you’ll quickly recognize it lurking there. Lately, I’ve noticed an increase in people’s stress and anxiety in general when someone else disagrees with them or has thoughts different from their own.

The Unexpected Upside to a COVID Christmas

Every year in December, I enter the typical hustle and bustle of shopping, wrapping, baking, decorating, and all things preparing for Christmas.
In past years, I’ve said more times than I can count, “I love seeing everyone for the Holidays, but it would be so nice to get to slow down just one year and not be constantly on the run!” Careful what you wish for, right?

Getting Past Holiday Disappointment

I’m guessing this Thanksgiving was a little “different” for you. Actually, at this point of 2020 “different” is becoming the “norm.” This is precisely why I decided ahead of time that I wasn’t going to get myself too psyched up for Thanksgiving. My husband would be hunting as usual, and I’d invited my mom and aunt to come for a relaxed day with a traditional turkey meal at noon followed by movies and a fire…all at a respective distance from each other.

Best French Lesson

One day in high school French, Madame VanderZanden began class by telling us a story. She said that her favorite question to ask little kids this time of year was, “What are you giving for Christmas?” She said that inevitably, kids jump into reciting a long list of toys they’re hoping for, showing their excitement and belief in Santa and all he would bring.

She would nod and listen, waiting for them to finish and then would ask…

3 Ways to Protect Your Brain & Mood

While autumn is my favorite season, it’s also the busiest time for me professionally. As the seasons change in the Midwest, people are faced with longer dark days that come with Daylight Savings Time, look ahead to the months “stuck” indoors, and the unfortunate stress that many feel with the holiday season.

In the engineering world, “stress” is defined in (laymen’s) terms of the ratio of pressure or force in relation to the area it is stretched out across. Mental or emotional strain/tension is determined by three different areas.

3 Steps to Process Emotion (Halloween Style)

I’ve got a treat for you. Something that will serve you better than all those Snickers, Gummy-things or Slow Pokes will.

Some of us have a tendency to eat our feelings rather than FEELING them.

Today, I’m sharing three steps to processing your emotion rather than eating all those left-over pieces of candy the Trick-or-Treaters didn’t touch.

What’s It to You?

Part of the human experience is that when we are struggling with a circumstance, we forget that our thoughts about the situation are not necessarily rooted truth or being viewed through a spot-free lens. This leads to two primary issues: Misunderstandings that hurt relationships
-and-
Misunderstandings that hurt us.
But that’s only PART of the story…

Self-Care as Tough Love

What do self-care and tough love have in common?

Contrary to popular belief, self-care is not all bubble baths & pedicures.

In fact, sometimes it looks more like tough love than self-doting!

While there’s nothing wrong with taking time to slow down, pamper ourselves and enjoy life, our society has somehow expanded this to mean that self-care means self-indulging–even when it’s at our long term detriment– as long as it makes us feel good in the moment.

As both a therapist and certified life coach, I teach spiritual growth, congruent living, mental health, financial freedom, and what neuroscience & Scripture have to say about all that.