Want more success? Stop playing the victim

This week I have an oh-so-critical message for you: You are not a victim. If you truly want to be more successful with (fill in blank) it is time for you to start owning your results. If you don’t like them, or would like to improve on them, you must make changes with regard to…

HOW TO NOT CATCH A BAD ATTITUDE

Have you ever gotten sucked into someone else’s nasty mood?  I narrowly escaped catching a bad attitude last week.  I was sitting in the waiting room at my doctor’s office, and a woman at the counter was fussing at the receptionist because they called her the day before and left her a message, but she…

THE PERFECT TIME FOR GRATITUDE

Gratitude: A feeling of appreciation or thanks. (Source: Merriam-Webster’s Learner’s Dictionary) As we approach the Thanksgiving holiday, and kick-off the “holiday season”, I want to share one of the easiest ways to keep your peace through all the preparation, hustle and bustle, and time with friends and family:  Practice gratitude. Studies have proven the feeling…

Triggered? One surprising reason why, remedy included

We all have triggers. today i have a surprising concept for why we can be easily triggered by the behavior of others. Let’s start with what I mean by “triggered”:  Agitation, frustration, and anger are a few of the negative feelings associated with being triggered. They bubble up (or explode) when we bump into specific…

Four Friends and a Basketful of Unmet Expectations

I nearly had a full-on temper tantrum the other night. For real, I thought I was going to explode all over everyone, and it was all because of some seriously unmet expectations. It was the fifth evening of a fabulous vacation: Beautiful resort, perfect weather, and lots of exciting fun combined with plenty of “chill”…

How To Shift An Unproductive Communication Spiral

Ever feel like you are stuck in a frustrating and unproductive communication spiral?  One where you, and the other involved, keep saying the same things but nothing is getting resolved? At times like this, you probably feel like you’ve tried everything humanly possible to get the other person to understand you, but it simply isn’t…

Highly Emotional? Think Before You Speak

Ever notice how complicated and convoluted communication gets when you are in the midst of a highly emotional “discussion”? You think you are making great points, but the other person is not picking up what you are putting down. How about all those discussions you re-play in your head over and over, but with loads…

One Tip For Immediate Stress Relief

As a young, highly motivated, corporate-ladder-climber, I had an urgent desire to establish my credibility as a great manager. As such, I set out to demonstrate my understanding of complex issues, implementing solutions, and getting results.  These were reasonable goals for developing leader, but for me that meant I always had to be right.  I…

Self Awareness. Cultivate It or Suffer The Consequences

Just about the time I think I have the whole “self awareness” thing locked down, I get reminded it is an ongoing practice – a journey, not a destination.  Sometimes my reminder comes in the form of a question like “Everything OK?” or worse “What’s your problem?!” (Truly, I rarely get that second one!) Sometimes…

Empathy. So Powerful But Often Misunderstood

We all know showing empathy is an important part of building effective relationships, right?  We’ve also all heard empathy is not the same as sympathy. Most of us even know it is a better interpersonal communication choice than sympathy.  But do we really know what empathy is, how to extend it, and perhaps more importantly…

Free Yourself From Unnecessary Stress!

I love it when my clients share break-through moments!  I’m talking about realizations and actions that create a shift, releasing them from some of the stress they have been hanging onto unnecessarily. This week one of my most seriously talented clients shared a great one with me! For several months this client had been suffering…

One Bad Attitude Could Spoil The Whole Bunch

This is a true story about a bright, ambitious, twenty-three-year-old who started showing up to work every day with a bad attitude.  She’d sigh big, heavy sighs of exasperation, and wouldn’t speak to her coworkers – except the ones who would listen to her complain during lunch hour.  If she didn’t absolutely have to, this…