Masterful Mindsets

“Flourishing goes beyond happiness, or satisfaction with life. True, people who flourish are happy. But that’s not the half of it. Beyond feeling good, they’re also doing good-adding value to the world.” ~ Barbara Fredrickson

At the end of each year, I love to reflect on my life and journal on how well I feel I met my goals and how I’ve grown. One of my go-to exercises is to reflect on three questions that one of my mentors, Brendon Burchard always asks, "Did I Live? Did I Love? Did I Matter?"

But then, from there, I like to move from reflection of the past year to asking a few questions of myself in a future focused manner. And this is where I embraced the ideas from another mentor of mine, Brian Johnson.

Brian is the founder and CEO of Heroic Public Benefit Company and a role model in terms of how he lives his life. I’ve had the opportunity to spend time with Brian, his wife Alexandra, his right-hand man Michael, and many other amazing Heroic heroes in the past few years.

The...

“Let us be thankful to the people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.” ~Marcel Proust

If you live in the US, odds are you’re preparing for the Thanksgiving holiday tomorrow. Which can mean many different things for people. For some it’s no more than an excuse to eat and drink too much. Or a much-needed day off from work. But for most people, it’s a day to get together with family and friends to remember what we are most thankful for. And if you’re lucky, the two go together… the people you’re with are in fact what you are most thankful for. So, as we prepare for this day of thanksgiving… why not use this as a time for reflection and sharing with those we truly are grateful for.

Going back to the research I’ve been sharing with you over the last couple of weeks from Robert Emmons, who wrote the book Gratitude Works! I want to share another idea for how you can practice gratitude in a powerful way and in fact, share the gift of gratitude. ...

“If you need something to be grateful for then check your pulse. Always be thankful for the gift of life.” ~unknown 

My birthday was yesterday, and I will admit, I have moments periodically when I feel a little ho-hum about getting older. It’s usually when my body or brain doesn’t allow me to do some of the things I used to do with ease…

I tried to “limbo” under our split rail fence recently and wasn’t sure I was going to get back up. I’m sure if my husband watched the security camera, he got a good laugh. 😉

Anyway, my point is, that it’s easy to take life and all its moments for granted. We can be quick to complain about the passing moments without appreciating them. But life is made up of all those moments, the good and the not so good. And aging… well, that’s a gift that not everyone gets to experience. Yet most people are quick to complain about it instead of being thankful that they get to breathe life into each new day.  

Here's the thing though, if you’re only living lif...

“If you work hard at a job you hate, imagine what you could do at a job you love?”  ~Michelle Weimer

As we continue this conversation about loving your work, it amazes me how many people not only don’t love their jobs, they don’t even like them. Work is where you spend at least a third of your day. Why would you continue to allow yourself to be miserable, day after day in a job you hate? 

The short answer - most people feel stuck and can't see a way out...

I talk to so many people who feel that they are stuck and can’t change careers even though they are miserable doing what they are doing. And I’ve had numerous clients hire me because of this exact problem. They feel like their career is going nowhere, they don’t really love or even like what they do but yet, they feel trapped into staying because they have bills to pay, they don’t want to lose their benefits, they don’t know what else they want to do, how to do it, etc.

The thing is, all the above reasons focus on the problem...

“The success of your life’s work is fueled by the love you have for that work. And that love is nurtured when you keep your purpose and passion in the forefront of everything you do.” ~ Michelle Weimer

I heard from several of you after last week’s Masterful Mindset. The common theme for many was that they “used to” love their work. But they feel they’ve lost their drive and are too burnt out to care much anymore. The combination of hectic schedules and demanding workloads full of mundane tasks have overtaken the passion and joy that used to be what drove them to show up fully everyday with purpose.

The big question I keep getting… How do you get that purpose and passion back?  

Well, if you’re finding that your problem is not that you don’t love what you do, but that as you go through the wearisome routines of day-to-day tasks or tackle overwhelming projects with underwhelming results, you’re feeling like the passion and zeal you had for your career has been replaced with a dull...

“The only way to do great work is to love what you do.”  ~Steve Jobs

The longer version if the above quote by Steve Jobs, is this:

Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it.

So, what about you? Do you love what you do? Are you passionately performing at mastery level doing your life’s work or just going through the motions at a job that does nothing more than pay the bills? The time you spend working really is a large part of your life. So why spend a lifetime any other way then doing great work that you love?

Whether you are an employee, an entrepreneur, the CEO of a multi-million-dollar company or a stay-at-home parent (And don’t kid yourself – that is a full-time job!) – I want you to get honest with yourself...

"The very fact that you worry about being a good mom means that you already are one." ~ Jodi Picoult

Mother’s Day is this weekend. A time to honor moms for all they do throughout the year. But for many moms, there’s an internal struggle that occurs between accepting and enjoying that recognition and the ever-so-strong mom guilt that tells them they don’t deserve all the love and praise because they don’t do enough. If you’ve ever experienced a similar guilt, you’re not alone.

These feelings are normal – I don’t know a mom (or dad) who doesn’t experience them from time to time. Even if you aren’t a parent, odds are high you’ve experienced a form of this guilt at some point in your life. (Just replace parenting children with what’s at the root of your own guilt – i.e., family, friends, business, school, work, etc.) But in honor of the upcoming holiday, I’ll be focusing on mom guilt here. So if your guilt is showing up a little too often, it’s time to get a handle on it. And what better...

“I have found the paradox that if I love until it hurts, then there is no hurt, but only more love.” - Mother Teresa

I’ve been a bit nostalgic lately for some reason, revisiting many relics from my childhood. First, telling you about the book, “Love Is” and now, I want to share another memory…

I had a little plastic figurine, that had a sickly-looking person on it with the caption that read, “I love you so much it hurts.” Truth be known, I think it belonged to my big brother or sister and they probably got it from a high school sweetheart, but none the less, for some reason, I really liked that little figurine. It was meant to be funny, whimsical, and cute. (Which it was!) And although I didn’t understand that feeling then, I have to say that in my lifetime, I’ve actually experienced that feeling on many occasions...

With my husband, when I’m away from him. With my girls, when I watch every bittersweet moment of their growth into independent young women. With my father and my be...

“Love is…” ~ Kim Casali

What does love mean to you? What does love look like? Feel like? Act like? What is love?  

When I was a little girl, I found a book titled, “Love Is…”by Kim Grove-Casali. She made the book from a series of love notes to her soon to be husband, Roberto Casali. It was a funny little cartoonish book that had illustrated images of a couple in love doing mostly random acts of kindness for each other. Beginning with the cover which displays the caption, “Love is… what gives you a smile from ear to ear.”

It was a cute little book and yet so influential. I mean, here I am, 40+ years later, writing about this book! For some reason, I was completely intrigued by it. Maybe it was the adorable little cartoon couple who looked so in love or maybe it was the message of how simple love can be. I still don’t know, but it always lifted my spirits and I’ve never forgotten it.

So, although Valentine’s Day is over for this year, let’s not forget that love is something to b...

"Embrace your grief. For there, your soul will grow."   ~Carl Jung

The holidays aren’t always “the most wonderful time of the year” for everyone. As a matter of fact, this time of year can be a very difficult time for many. Especially if you are grieving from a loss, struggling financially, dealing with an illness, coping with depression, or feeling alone and isolated. 

The holidays can significantly increase sadness and grief, amplify emotional wounds and even escalate to serious depression. If you have experienced a loss (of any kind) recently, it can be an especially difficult time.

So how do you survive the holidays if you are hurting?

Grief and depression are natural when you are experiencing a loss in your life. For some, loss isn't just the death of a loved one, but can be the death of a dream, a relationship or even a job. Just know that grief and depression have many causes and take on many faces. You don't have to label it - if you are feeling it, you are feeling it. ...