­

Going back to school for an advanced degree in life

I’ve decided to go back to school. Not for a Masters or Doctorate degree, and not by attending classes along with other students, or by taking classes online and working independently. Instead, I’m designing and following my own curriculum. The reason I’m doing this is that it occurred to me recently that there are a number of activities and events I’m involved in – both personal and professional – that I am having trouble accomplishing for various reasons. My big revelation was that many of [...]

By |September 4th, 2015|Accountability, Achieving Dreams and Goals, Columns, Organizing, Success|Comments Off on Going back to school for an advanced degree in life

Being funny is a serious business

I spent a lot of time laughing last Sunday. And I still have a smile on my face, just thinking about it. A woman in my writers group had just completed a four-week course in stand-up comedy, and invited us to her “graduation” – a comedy club show in which she and others from her class performed stand-up routines. A number of us from the writers group attended the event, and decided to get together for pizza before the show. Since writers love sharing stories, [...]

Four stages can teach us anything we want to know

Every once in a while I come across a helpful hint, a business tip, or a piece of information or insight so brilliant that I know it’s going to change my life. Often, it’s something that seems so basic and obvious I’m embarrassed to acknowledge that I never thought about it before. It happened again recently when I read about the four stages we have to go through when learning anything new. “Ignorance is bliss” is a good description of the first stage, in which [...]

By |May 29th, 2015|Achieving Dreams and Goals, Columns|Comments Off on Four stages can teach us anything we want to know

A trip and a fall lead to new awareness

I tripped and fell in the parking lot as I was going home from an event one evening last week. I didn’t break any bones or have any significant injuries, but as I hit the pavement I felt immediate pain in my left hand and wrist, and in both knees. It was mild enough that one of my first thoughts wasn’t about how badly I might be hurt, but about the fact that I probably tore a few holes in my favorite pair of dressy [...]

By |May 8th, 2015|Achieving Dreams and Goals, Columns|Comments Off on A trip and a fall lead to new awareness

New Experiences Lead to New Discoveries

I did some analysis a few days ago on a project I’ve been working on, and was surprised at what I discovered. Actually, it would be more accurate to describe it as “a project I started almost a year ago that was going well, then got stalled and abandoned, and now feels like just another one of those projects I started but never finished.” Do you have any of those? The project was a personal challenge inspired by a friend of mine who decided on [...]

By |May 1st, 2015|Achieving Dreams and Goals, Columns|Comments Off on New Experiences Lead to New Discoveries

“Three things” can help us get a lot done

Three things. There seems to be something magical about three things – at least when it comes to getting things done. Like many people, I make daily To-Do lists, and I have a love/hate relationship with them. They help me plan and organize my day, but they often seem like an albatross around my neck, weighing me down with too much to do, not enough time to do it, and the guilt and frustration of not getting everything on my list done by the end [...]

By |March 20th, 2015|Accountability, Achieving Dreams and Goals, Coaching, Columns, Success|Comments Off on “Three things” can help us get a lot done

Success comes when we keep moving

One of the things I find most rewarding and gratifying about writing is when someone tells me that something I’ve written has helped them or inspired them or changed their life in some way. It’s also rewarding when something I write leads to a discovery of my own that helps me or inspires me or changes my life in some way. It happened again a few days ago, as I was journaling about different projects I’m working on that seem to be going nowhere at [...]

By |January 30th, 2015|Accountability, Achieving Dreams and Goals, Coaching, Columns, Success|Comments Off on Success comes when we keep moving

Dreaming and exploring can help your life to GROW

What is your dream? That was the theme of the meeting and of my presentation at GROW last week. GROW stands for “God Renewing Our Women,” and it’s a new women’s ministry that was started at my parish last September. Because of my background and experience in helping people achieve their dreams, I was asked last August if I could do a presentation on the subject. I still remember the day I received the request. It came in an email I received while I was [...]

By |January 23rd, 2015|Achieving Dreams and Goals, Coaching, Columns, Faith, Success, Uganda|Comments Off on Dreaming and exploring can help your life to GROW

Resolve now to enjoy the coming year

I was at a holiday celebration not long ago with some people I usually see only once or twice a year. So part of the time was spent catching up on each other’s family events and activities. One of the women told me about several concerts she and her husband had attended recently. It’s been years since I attended a concert, and I joked with her that I needed to get out more. That’s when she told me that going out to concerts and other [...]

By |December 5th, 2014|Achieving Dreams and Goals, Columns, Holidays|Comments Off on Resolve now to enjoy the coming year

How to succeed? Dream big, start small

A few months ago, I attended a speech contest in which one of the contestants spoke about dreaming small. She said early on that that’s what her parents always encouraged her to do. At first I thought it was a set-up for a punch line, or that she’d be talking about how she had to overcome a “think small” mindset in order to dream big and achieve great things. And since I teach, preach, and coach people about dreaming big and achieving their dreams, this [...]

By |August 1st, 2014|Accountability, Achieving Dreams and Goals, Coaching, Columns, Success|Comments Off on How to succeed? Dream big, start small