One of my favorite activities with teams and clients in the spring is to use Gratitude Blooming Cards to connect with nature, practice reflection, and express gratitude to one another. I give each client team member their own deck and often either a plant, flower, or gardening kit that we use on the spot. It’s…

I like to start each season by reflecting on a set of twelve questions that help me be more deliberate about capturing what I’ve learned and applying those learnings toward the new season. Here are some questions you might consider using to begin spring with intentionality:

Do you ever wonder why honesty seems so rare at work? Despite our society’s value of truth, many of us skirt straight answers because we’re working so hard to manage the impression we’re making on others. It’s exhausting. Poet and leadership consultant David Whyte said, “The antidote to exhaustion isn’t rest; it’s wholeheartedness.” As leaders,…

I’m sure you’re familiar with the saying “We’re our own worst critics.” We’ve all been there. Something happens–an event, a presentation, or simply a remark. We start to process it and form unfounded beliefs about what others think of us, which informs our own negative thoughts, such as, “I messed up. I’m toast, a complete…

Part 3 – A reflection exercise for friends and family In this three-part series, I’ve provided personal questions for you and prompts for your team to help you take an essential year-end pause for reflection and future planning. In this final installment, I’m giving you an exercise I find especially useful with friends and family….

Part 1 – A reflection exercise for you Every year, I encourage my clients to answer a series of questions that help them pause and reflect. Regularly pausing, reflecting, and planning is essential for our mental well-being, personal fulfillment, and goal setting—especially this time of year when we have the benefit of reviewing a year…

Radical acceptance: accepting reality as it is, without judgment or resistance. Acceptance of all of it: not partial or conditional. I was having a conversation with a dear client yesterday who shared that he was practicing radical acceptance with a recent experience. Two hours earlier at my yoga class, someone said to another student, “I’m…

In a recent LinkedIn post, I wrote about how anxiety and stress often come in waves, making it challenging for me to manage. I find that containing it is often necessary so I can work, but “stuffing it” ends up forming cracks and leaks that cause “flooding.” And when we flood, the nervous system is on…

Did you know that children laugh eight times more frequently when they are with another child than when they’re watching a cartoon on their own? That’s the case even if they thought the cartoon was just as funny in both instances. One study reports that children laugh on average three hundred times a day. I’m…

I don’t know about you, but I regularly struggle with setting boundaries for myself. I say yes before I even think about the impact of taking on that work or responsibility. I go along to get along, even though there’s often a toll on me, and I can “silver-line” everything to stay positive and focus…