With any change, one day you’ll feel like you are crushing it and that “you’ve got this”, and the next day it might seem like nothing is going right and you're wondering how you'll make it through the day.

You will have amazing days where you are fired up, energized and being the leader, parent and person you want to be.

And, you will have days where you feel overwhelmed, frustrated that nothing seems to be going right, and when you definitely aren’t showing up as your best self.

Especially now when our days are often turned upside down and people are already feeling on edge.

Change is messy. Not everything is supposed to go smoothly, so stop expecting it to. You have a choice to embrace it instead of fighting it.

Over the years, I’ve learned how to thrive even with all the demands and expectations (which is what I help others to do now).

Last week, I had a couple of the not-so-good days. This is a time of change getting back into the...

For me, the month of July means summer vacation, enjoying time at the lake with family and friends, and taking a real break from the daily responsibilities and to-dos.

And, to reset and recalibrate from the past few months.

This summer though, I realized that I needed an even bigger reset than usual!

After a year of running my business and helping more than 300 busy professionals to step out of overworking, feel less overwhelmed and stressed, and be confident to lead and live aligned with their values.

Juggling that with my kids being in and out of school unexpectantly and the moral fatigue of constantly figuring out what was ok and not ok to do.

Being a coach, mom, teacher, wife, organizer, mediator, cheerleader, and more.

As I got to the middle of July, when I usually ramp up in business again, I realized I didn’t want to do ANY work  -- other than serve existing clients.

I longed for more downtime than usual and did not feel like forcing myself to do things.

I gave...

You might find yourself thinking a situation is black and white, right or wrong, or all or nothing.

I used to find myself often "all in" on this unhelpful mindset, such as . . 

• I am completely confident in myself or doubt myself altogether.
• I am right, and "they" are wrong.
• I make huge strides or zero progress.
• I will follow the process exactly, or I am doing it wrong.
• I hit my goals, or I am a failure.
• It has to be perfect or doesn't happen at all.

Sound familiar?

First off, it’s normal to fall into this thinking. You are not alone! These thoughts still pop up for me at times (it's just way less often now).

But this limiting mindset also leads to slower progress, overthinking, and unnecessary stress.

Instead, you can . . .

Feel confident in your abilities and challenge yourself to grow and learn new things (even if you aren't sure of yourself).

Know that there is no right or wrong way, especially with people. You have a perspective, and the other person has...

Want to really enjoy your summer vacation?

So many people are ready for a real break. When you're feeling tapped out from juggling it all. Dreaming of vacation days, some downtime and fun with your family and friends, and the joy of simply disconnecting from your usual daily responsibilities.

If this is you, your mind and body are giving you signs that it’s time for a break.

I know this because I have heard it from so many people and I feel it myself.

You also might feel overwhelmed by the idea of stepping away from the office for a week or two because the work will pile up while you are away.

Or think that it would be a great idea to take a couple of your planned vacation days to actually get work done without any distractions or people to interrupt you.

Or some big new project popped up, or a resource left and you no longer think it’s possible to take the time away and feel guilty if you do.

It can be easy to cut short your vacation time or stay connected by checking...

If you’re like most people, you end the day or the week feeling like you didn’t do enough. 

People are often surprised to discover that I am “terrible” at organizing my email inbox. In any given mailbox, I might have more than 15,000 unread emails . . .

. . . even though managing your email effectively to achieve “inbox zero” is a tried-and-true time management tactic.

You see, even back in my corporate career, I recognized that I simply did not have the desire to organize my inbox and that it often became a rabbit hole that would suck up my time.

I also had a demanding position with hundreds of emails a day, so I needed to be strategic in responding to what mattered most (and ignoring the rest) to still BE effective.

After many years of feeling like I was “failing” at my email management, I realized that it was working for ME. And, what works for one person might be different from another.

That led to the bigger realization that . . .

You need to have the right mindset FIRST and be crystal clear on who you are and how you can operate in...

My kids have their own style, especially my soon-to-be teenager Carter. He has worn shorts every day since 2018, doesn’t own a pair of pants and loves plain crewneck t-shirts.

So when we get invited for a family photo shoot for a wedding or other occasion, I often hear "Can you dress your kids better?"

My typical response has been "no" because we let our kids make these decisions and choose their own sense of style.

Sure, I will at least encourage them to pick something not stained or ripped but I won’t force them to dress a certain way to please people.

Recently, I received a frustrated text response from a family member saying that this is just an example where I don't care about other people and only think about myself . . . because I wasn't willing to make the kids "dress up" for a photo shoot.

Carter happened to see the text and told me: "Mom, you do care about other people – you care about me and what I want".

Remember, when you say "no" to something...

Back in my corporate project management days, it would be frustrating when we would do an overhaul of a process, but the revolutionary new approach often ended up being similar to the old thing, just with a different name.

There would be the same underlying issues and pain points. We wouldn’t truly achieve the desired change and then a couple of years later we would re-brand it again.

Because we were often changing things at a surface level, but not really getting to the heart of what was not working in the first place, especially with people.

This is what balance is like in my mind. 

People, especially now, are waking up to the fact that their well-being, time, and boundaries are urgent and important. 

When you feel like you're drowning in everything to do and you can never seem to find the time to reset and recharge. Or you find that it’s impossible to stop thinking about work or stop working in the evenings to catch up after the kids are in bed.

Or when you...

Confidence is a big word with a lot of meaning.

We all want to feel more confident. Whether it’s in that upcoming work presentation or hoping that we are raising our kids to make smart choices.

And, if you ask 10 different people (even experts) how to be more confident, you’ll likely get ten different answers!

So let’s start with the definition of confidence:

• the feeling or belief that one can rely on someone or something; firm trust
• the state of feeling certain about the truth of something
• a feeling of self-assurance arising from one's appreciation of one's own abilities or qualities.

The takeaway? Confidence is a feeling and a belief.

If you’ve followed me for a while, you know that YOU have a choice over your beliefs, thoughts and actions. And our thoughts and beliefs influence how we feel.

This means that YOU 100% have control over your level of confidence.

We can definitely gain confidence by becoming more competent and skilled in a given area –...

I read a post on Facebook a few months ago about a mom who paid her teenage son to read personal development books and write a report afterward. It stuck with me as an interesting idea!

Carter, my 12-year old, has been wanting to earn a little extra cash, so I offered him $20 to read any book off my bookshelf. Of course, he chose the skinniest one! It was a great little book called The Seven Secrets Of A Stress Free Life by Randal Johnson, who I met a few years ago at an event.

The deal was for Carter to read the book and provide me with his key takeaways – he got to decide what and how he wrote out his thoughts. He likes to read comics and Diary of a Wimpy Kid-style books, so I wasn’t sure if he would be game for the idea but he dove right in and read the book quickly (his only complaint after was there was just one picture in it!). 

He left what he wrote out for me one morning, along with a note: “I finished it and hope you like it .”

...