My 2024 Word(s) of The Year
For many years, I’ve had a tradition of choosing a word of the year. Rather than setting resolutions, the word of the year gives me an overall focus, personally and professionally. I like to use it as a guiding principle for tough decisions and situations. When I’m not sure how to move forward, I can […]
Sick Days Are a Generational Issue
Do you use all of your sick days? If you’re a people leader, do you positively acknowledge when your employees do? This is a generational issue. A recent article in The Wall Street Journal addressed the so-called “problem” of younger employees using up all of their sick days. According to the article, employees between ages […]
Small Wellbeing Steps Make a Big Difference
“Leap, and the net will appear” is a quotation I definitely pasted in a journal or on a vision board at some point in my early twenties. The amazing thing is that it’s true. During the early months of the pandemic, I started speaking and writing more publicly about the fact that I struggle with […]
5 Tips to Become a More Confident Writer
They say the best book to write is the one you wish you had and couldn’t find — and that’s exactly why I wrote Getting From College to Career, which was first published back in 2007. I really struggled to start my career in my 20s, and I wrote the book to help make […]
Tra La, It’s May! 5 Tips for Becoming a Better Public Speaker
When I was a sophomore in high school, I had my first and only lead role in my high school’s musical. That year, it was “Camelot.” I was Guenevere. There’s a song in the play that begins, “Tra la, it’s May! The lusty month of May!” Every year, on the first of May, I text […]
A Perfectionist’s Advice for Overcoming Decision Fatigue
I was recently at the nail salon, and I had to pick a color for my manicure. There must have been at least 400 options, so I narrowed it down by asking for a light pink — and there were still more than 50 shades to choose from. I am embarrassed to tell you how […]
6 Things I’ve Learned from a Year Without Facebook and Instagram
As I continue my year of refinement, I want to take some time to reflect on my biggest refinement to date: deleting my Facebook and Instagram accounts. It’s been a full year since I quit Facebook and Instagram — and I mean really quit. I didn’t just deactivate or suspend my accounts, or just delete […]
Napping in the City That Never Sleeps
On Friday, December 23, as I was checking off my final to-do list items for 2022 (you know I love a good checklist), I felt a headache coming on. Three hours later, I was lying in bed with a positive COVID test next to me. For seven full days, I didn’t leave my apartment. I […]
Why I’m Refining in 2023 to Get to the Good Stuff
As many of you know, I center each new year around one defining word. This year, that word is: REFINE Some of you may have noticed a trend in my annual choices. In recent years, I’ve learned to say “no,” to “simplify” and to focus on what’s “essential.” The long game is to focus on […]
The Little Things Are the Big Things
I recently received a gift from a colleague, Bill Carrier, in Marshall Goldsmith’s 100 Coaches, a network of coaches and thought leaders I’m proud to be part of. It was a customized Yeti cup with my name on it. And here’s the best part: my name was spelled correctly. That doesn’t seem very newsworthy, but […]