I recently revisited my ‘Two Random Questions’ concept, where a random question sparks a brief but meaningful exchange. This time, I spoke with a lady from France, and in just a few minutes, a deep connection formed, reminding me how simple conversations can bring people closer. Continue reading The Power of a Random Question
When I recently saw Moana 2, there was one line that jumped off the screen and screamed to me. “For some things we never feel ready.” My nine-year-old daughter was sitting next to me and asked why I was writing that down. Funny because she was one of the things I wasn’t quite ready for. I’d chosen to become a single mom at age 46, … Continue reading We Never Feel Ready
Almost 20 years ago I participated in a climb on Mt. Whitney in the winter. Mt. Whitney is the highest point in the lower 48 of the United States, at 14,505 feet, and it is a pretty straightforward climb in the summer. But when you climb it in the winter and add the snow, the inaccessibility of the roads to the higher parking lots, and … Continue reading The Case for Not Slogging it Out
Why is it so difficult to form healthy habits or overcome bad habits? In many cases, we have good intentions, and we know what we need to do. Yet it’s so difficult to translate those good intentions into action. Read on to learn how you can bridge the gap between good intentions and healthy behaviours. A few weeks ago, I saw a presentation by Monica … Continue reading The Keys to Forming Healthy Habits
We often hear of the power of 3, the rule of 3, or even the magic of 3. What is so special about the number three? After hearing two different people extol the value of three this week, I decided to investigate the science behind the number three and consider ways it can improve our lives. Earlier this week, at a presentation on leveraging LinkedIn … Continue reading Can the Power of 3 Improve Your Life?
Since retiring from my full-time job at the end of June, I’ve been working on establishing a morning routine that works for my new life. My weekday morning routine has looked the same for about the last 20 years. Now I have an opportunity to reinvent myself and establish new habits and routines. Benefits of a Morning Routine Adding structure to your day has many … Continue reading Establishing a Morning Routine
I’ve turned into a bit of a couch potato this week as I’ve been glued to my TV watching the Olympic games from Paris. I am in awe of these athletes. To compete at this level, you need to be blessed with a certain amount of natural ability. Beyond that, though, you need passion, strong work ethic and focus. I think it’s safe to say … Continue reading How You Can Experience Flow State
More years ago than I care to think about, I first learned about Abraham Maslow and his hierarchy of needs in a university organizational behaviour course. In Maslow’s original work, self-actualization was the pinnacle—the ultimate goal. Later in his career, though, Maslow expanded the hierarchy beyond self-actualization to self-transcendence. If you were paying attention in your business or psychology classes, you may remember that Maslow’s … Continue reading Beyond Self-Actualization to Self-Transcendence
I was listening to a podcast in which a journalist was talking about how they pitched a project to National Geographic. And it struck me – what if we had to have an elevator pitch for all the ways we are spending our time. Would it help us see our every day lives in a different light? Could we pitch our lives as best sellers? … Continue reading Practicing The Pitch
I think I’ve been using the word “hope” wrong. I often use it interchangeably with “wish.” As in, “I hope you have a safe trip.” Researcher and author, Brené Brown, describes hope as a cognitive process: “But hope is not what most of us think it is. It’s not a warm, fuzzy emotion that fills us with a sense of possibility. Hope is a way … Continue reading The Cognitive Process Called Hope
My brother introduced me to a new phrase when were talking a few months ago about Dutch Bros Coffee. Dutch Bros is a West Coast company that he described as “an overnight sensation thirty years in the making.” I asked for clarification. My brother said that Dutch Bros is a darling of Wall Street since this went public at the end of 2021. But they’d … Continue reading Years In The Making
One of my contacts on Linkedin asked me for three adjectives defining perfect team-building. According to my previous experience with HR, I came out with adjectives that I think are keys to effective team building: collaborative, inclusive, and engaging. I believe that these elements can shape a cohesive and high-performing team that propels a team toward success. An exceptional team requires more than just assembling … Continue reading The Art of Effective Team-Building for Success
Changing a behavior is supposed to favor improvements of people. There are mechanisms that can help the achievement of healthy goals. However, our brain is dominated by unconscious patterns that hinder the integration of new habits. Research from the University of Vermont, for example, highlights an important point. Changing a behavior is a complex and very unstable process, that is, there are relapses, steps backwards … Continue reading Why Changing a Behavior Is a Complex and Very Unstable Process
Learning a new language is like learning to drive. It doesn’t matter in which order you learn to steer, use the brake, or change gear. It’s what you do as a whole that is important, not which component you learn first. The latest breakthroughs in neurosciences, combined with innovative technology for measuring brain activity, are shedding new light on the neural basis of foreign language … Continue reading How Learning a Foreign Language Has Positive Effects on Your Brain
When we speak about creativity, most people think mainly of fine arts, and artistic creations, whose role is mainly aesthetic. But creativity is not only that. So, what is creativity? Creativity is defined as the ability to make or otherwise bring into existence something new, whether a new solution to a problem, a new method or device, or a new artistic object or form. If … Continue reading What Is Creativity?
When Hope Emerges Continue reading When Hope Emerges
Hello everyone! Today I want to talk about strategies that can be used when we are feeling demotivated. Motivation is important. It drives us to do things we need to do. But it is not always easy to be motivated at all times. Sometimes, we get demotivated just at the wrong times. What do we do in those times? I think there are two things … Continue reading Demotivation
The words you use can change your reality. Language actually generates changes in your brains and changes your perception of the environment around you. Language is linked to emotions. Your words are constantly sending messages to your brain. According to neuroscientists Andrew Newberg and Mark Robert Waldman, negative words cause the increase of cortisol, the stress hormone. Therefore, adopting a negative attitude and using phrases … Continue reading Why You Are the Words You Use
More or less every week for the past year I’ve put 3 random thoughts together, along with a couple of quotes and other bits and pieces, in a post called 3-2-1 Mindset Mondays. Anyway, below is a highlight reel of those thoughts. I started with 150 and kept cutting it down till I got bored. The final count was 88. Whether you just read the … Continue reading 88 Pointless Thoughts About Life
Inside this chest pounds a heart so steady. Inside this head lives a brain so alive. And somewhere in between rests a spirit so gentle, even the tiniest of scratches leaves a scar. . . . How would you describe your spirit, Dear Reader? What inspires you? What shakes you to your core? (Such easy questions to answer, I know!) 🙈 We’re in this thing … Continue reading SnapDragon Speaks: On The Gentle Spirit.
