My writing teacher keeps emphasizing substituting feeling language for thinking language in the personal essay I've been working on throughout her class. "Too cerebral," she says. I know she's right. I shared my piece with a good friend who agreed, and suggested...
Since late February I've been meeting with two other people bi-weekly as a Visions Team. We follow a tight format with 3 timed segments--reading our Vision Statement out loud first, then the longest round with these questions in mind: What have you done since the...
A colleague of mine in NSA wrote a book with this title back in the late 90's. I'm reminded of it every time I receive a rejection. What is it I'm supposed to love about this, I wonder. I had the opportunity to raise the question last week when I got rejected by a...
I just got off the phone with one of my most favorite clients who told me that she wants to lead a mastermind group of her own. "It's been life-altering for me. I want to do that for other people as well." Not that I needed reminding of why I love working with...
I'm going to keep this post anonymous and simply mention that I visited a good friend yesterday in Beacon, NY, a scenic spot where the fabulous DIA Museum is the main jewel. Our purpose was to spend time together and take in some art. After a nourishing catch-up...
You know the saying - that people (places and things) are in your life for a reason, a season or a lifetime. Surma (wordpress keeps wanting to change its name to Burma...) was one of those places I thought would be there for a lifetime. Sadly, this precious piece...
Please! Share your best practices for saying no graciously. I've tried to be kind, but gotten radio silence in response. Here are two examples that left me feeling badly. One new acquaintance offered me a personality assessment after she heard me speak, you know,...
Social media has made 'influencers' more accessible than ever. Yet there is still an intimidation factor I witness in myself and my clients. It can feel scary to approach the Lin-Manuel Miranda's and Arianna Huffington's of our era. My antidote to getting overly...
Tom Peters wisely advised business owners who want to grow their companies to let go of the bottom 10% of their clients annually. Bottom could be defined by economics, but there's also the P-I-T-A (pain-in-the-a**) function that can be at play. You know who I'm...
When I was first invited to speak at the premiere session of the new, high-level networking group, the Entrepreneurial Women's Club, I had at least two months to prepare my talk. That was great, because I was offering a whole new topic--our relationship with money...
I wish I could ingest Carolyn See's book Making a Literary Life and have it swirl around inside me keeping me as inspired and excited about writing as I was in my first moments reading her marvelous words and advice. Ms. See has a success formula that she insists...
As Leigh Scott gave a group of us a tour of her warm and welcoming farmhouse last month, she took extra time in the master bedroom where her vision board graces the wall opposite the bed. Good thing she allowed us time and space to process what we were witnessing....
You know how they say, "Don't try this at home alone" ? That's good advice, particularly when it comes to changing your perspective. Do you ever get into a funk and think there's no way out of the mountain you're facing? Happened to me already this week. I'll be...
I rarely use this forum to rant, but after attending and presenting at an unnamed event recently, I have to get some stuff off my chest. I paid for the opportunity to speak at a holistic trade show based on an esteemed colleague's positive experience. She'd had a...
Michael Gerber writes in his book The E Myth that business owners should take time to work on their business, not only in the business. I could feel him breathing over my shoulder today as I began my final preparation for a speaking engagement this Sunday. "You...
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