If you follow me, you know I’m a huge believer in taking time to disconnect, whether you are on vacation or the weekends with your family or giving yourself some downtime in the evening.

Taking time to truly be away from the daily stressors at work, and not constantly being on your phone/checking in, can let you focus on other important matters like quality time with your spouse and kids, and a chance for you to recharge.

Even during the workday, it’s important to get rid of distractions when you are focusing on a task or conversation.

But what do you do when you can’t seem to turn your mind off, leaving you feeling scattered and constantly bouncing from one thought to the next?

When you can’t help thinking about that big presentation coming up or the conversation you had yesterday with your manager that didn’t go very well.

Or when you are in a meeting, and even though you look like you’re listening to what others have to say, you are really...

A topic I speak on with companies is “Your Best Work” and how to create motivation within.

When you shift your lens – your mindset and beliefs – you can create motivation from within to give your best self and work every day, and you can also help others around you do this too. There are far more factors within your control and small action that you can take that makes a BIG difference in shifting your mindset and your results.

Here are 5 factors to boost your motivation from within and small, effective action you can take for each of these factors to apply this into your work and rest of life so you can perform better, bring out the best in others and enjoy your days more.

CLICK HERE for this free download (no email necessary). What’s ONE thing you can put into action starting today?

Note, content comes from various resources.

I had a phone call recently with my marketing coach (yes, coaches have coaches too, to help us get out of our own way and move to a new level!)

One area I want to develop is refining my messages to share what I have to say in a way that resonates most with you.

A challenge I got from my coach (and have received from others as well) is to be more “real and raw” in how I communicate – to be more passionate and super excited, and more vulnerable and emotional when sharing what I feel.

To talk about the things that fire me up and be more dramatic in how I write and speak.

I resist time and time again. In my head, I am doing it already – I just don’t get too excited or worked up about things. And, the response I get is to let my guard down.

So, today, I’ll accept the challenge. Here’s what gets me fired up: When people tell me I should get fired up!

The bottom line — I feel like I just don’t get too excited or expressive...

Do you feel overwhelmed with everything you have to do and it’s affecting your mood? Are you short on patience with people at work or at home? Do you have others around you who are frustrated with what’s going on?

There’s a simple tweak you can make in your approach that will instantly get you better results. I was reminded of this on a trip to Mexico a few days ago with my husband.

The resort we stayed at was awesome, however it was CRAZY BUSY – we were catching the tail end of Mexico’s spring break and the front end of a three-week festival where bus loads of families would arrive at 6 a.m. creating overlap between them and when others checked out – so double the people!

The staff were busier than ever. There were longer lines, food was cold at times, it was hard to find a seat, and as a customer it wasn’t the relaxing atmosphere we had hoped for.

And, in the end we were happy customers and had an awesome trip. On the last day, I...

I can’t seem to shake this heavy feeling since the tragic Humboldt Broncos accident here in Saskatchewan. It’s so very sad.

I’ve been thinking about what the kids, families, friends and community are going through, and I can’t even imagine their pain and grief.

I’m also amazed by the outpouring of support across the world and people seeking out the positive in such a difficult time.

A tragedy like this can remind us all to be even more appreciative of life and the small moments each day – because you just don’t know what tomorrow will bring.

This can help you to find more joy and contentment in those moments and have fewer regrets.

Here are three ways to cultivate being more appreciative what’s going on in the moment and the people and things around you.

1. Be grateful for the mundane.

Each day list five things in your life you could be grateful for, but might go unnoticed.

These can be simple things like a good...

When demands for our time and attention – even opportunities – mount faster than our ability to keep up, feelings of control are often the first to go . . . especially when we try to tackle too much at once.

As hard as it is to say no to something or someone, failing to do so can cause us to miss out on something far more important or get pulled in too many directions and spread thin.

Have you ever felt a tension between what you felt was best and what someone was pressuring you to do? Have you ever said yes to avoid conflict or letting someone down? Have you ever felt like you had two awesome opportunities yet you knew you will feel overloaded if take on both?

Likely. We all do this on some level, whether it’s a new project at work or an evening out with friends or family.

People who have difficulty saying no experience higher stress levels.

When we get too wrapped up in meeting other peoples’ needs, we don’t leave time...

You might have the best of intentions to be focused on what’s important during the day and keep a positive attitude . . .

. . . but what do you do when other people are constantly stealing your attention, not meeting your expectations or scaring you a little when you try to say ‘no’?

When you feel like you are always putting other people’s needs before your own, but you don’t know how to say no and make your needs or what’s important a priority.

Or when a colleague or your manager is challenging to work with and you don’t feel heard or valued. They just don’t ‘get it’.

Or when your employee or colleague is not delivering and you are left to pick up the pieces so you can meet a deadline.

You feel frustrated you aren’t getting the results you want. And you’re unsure how to improve the situation.

You seem to have the same conversations over and over (and over) again.

I remember a time back in my corporate...