Category Archives: Life Management

Fear Of Disapproval

People Pleasing: How To Face The Fear Of Disapproval

Are you a people pleaser? Does fear of other people’s disapproval stop you from expressing opinions? From making the choices you want? From being yourself? Not All Fear Needs Fixing Many of our fears are well founded – like fear of snakes or of chainsaw-wielding masked men. Other fears may be irrational but have little impact […]

When you stumble make it part of the dance

When You Stumble, Make It Part Of The Dance

When you stumble, make it part of the dance. What a great antidote for perfectionism! If you’re human, you’ll make mistakes – so you might as well embrace them. Don’t waste your energy trying to hide or cover up your missteps. Just laugh – and keep moving. And don’t let your fear of being imperfect stop […]

How To Make A Good Decision

I’m not a good decision maker. Actually I’m not a confident or fast decision maker. I hesitate. I ponder. I vacillate. When I look back, most of my big decisions have been easy, and excellent. Marrying Craig. Leaving corporate life. Eschewing reality TV. For medium-sized choices, however, I’ve often felt as though I may as […]

Avoid Email Overload

How To Avoid The Post-Vacation Inbox Blues

Imagine this.  You’ve just got back from a great vacation. You’re feeling relaxed and dreamy and blissed out.  You sit down at your computer, a happy but slightly dopey expression lingering on your face, when suddenly–DUN DUN DUN!!–you see 4,679 new messages in your inbox. If you relate to this, you might like to re-consider […]

Digital or Paper Planner DIary

Paper Planner Or Digital Diary? How To Choose.

People ask such great questions on my Facebook page. Here’s an extract from a recent one from Jennifer: I do a lot of long term planning and while the paper planner works just fine there are also advantages to using a digital planner such as outlook or calendar (for mac). Right now I get frustrated as I […]

Ask what makes you come alive

What Makes You Come Alive? Now Go Do It.

“Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive and go do it. Because what the world needs is more people who have come alive.” ~ Howard Thurman What makes you come alive? Not sure? Here’s how to find your passion in about 30 minutes. Come on now – the world is waiting!

12 Ways To Simplify Your Life

Feeling overwhelmed? Time-poor? Drowning in clutter? Here are 12 easy things you can do to simplify your life. 1. Don’t Bring In The Mail Accumulating piles of mail can make you feel stressed. Instead, make it a habit to open snail mail over your recycle bin. Ditch everything – only take inside those items you […]

Do You Know What You Want To Be?

If you want to be a grocer, or a general, or a politician, or a judge, you will invariably become it; that is your punishment. If you never know what you want to be, if you live what some might call the dynamic life but what I call the artistic life, if each day you […]

Flick The Switch From Procrastination To Action

Do you beat yourself up for not being better organized? Tell yourself off for poor time management? Self-flagellate over household clutter? It’s time to step away from the whip. There’s a better way to motivate yourself to do the things you wish you did more of… Shoulds And Procrastination Few of us rush headlong toward […]

What You Must Do To Succeed

3 Things You Must Do To Succeed At Anything

I’ve missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed. Michael Jordan sums up three things you must do to be successful at anything. […]

You’re Not Gonna Tell Me Who I Am

Earlier this week I shared an image and quote on Facebook about not letting others’ (nonconstructive) negative comments hurt you. It obviously struck a nerve, generating many hundreds of likes, shares and comments. So when I saw this video, I couldn’t wait to share it too. Because this girl embodies the attitude of that post […]

5 Things You Must Do To Avoid Deathbed Regrets

When you’re about to leave this mortal coil, you want to have a sense of peace. To feel you’ve lived a good life, whatever you believe that to be. To look back and have no regrets. Presumably we all feel this way, yet many people seem to harbor the same concerns as they approach their […]

Being Perfect Or Becoming Yourself

“The thing that is really hard, and really amazing, is giving up on being perfect and beginning the work of becoming yourself.” ~ Anna Quindlen I love this quote because it reminds me of the real cost of trying to perfect – missing out on being yourself. If you struggle with perfectionism, these posts have […]

How To Be Happier: Diversify Your Happiness

For many years I worked in financial services. (Don’t worry, I’ve recovered. 🙂 ) One investment strategy forever burned into my brain is to diversify your assets. You know: Don’t put all your eggs in one basket. It makes sense – baskets get dropped, markets rise and fall. If you’ve put everything into one area, […]

A Little Strategy To Help You Remember Stuff

If you’re time-poor and challenge-rich (and who isn’t these days?), then you probably struggle with all the things you have to do, remember, take somewhere, return, pick up, and so on. It’s oh-so-easy to forget things, mutter obscenities under your breath and feel overwhelmed. Here’s a neat little strategy that can help you remember the […]

How To Stop Procrastinating? Sit Down To Write

At the moment I’m re-reading The War of Art by Steven Pressfield. It’s a wonderful book on overcoming resistance and doing meaningful stuff. Early in the book Pressfield says There’s a secret that real writers know that wannabe writers don’t, and the secret is this: It’s not the writing part that’s hard. What’s hard is […]

15 Relationship Lessons From 15 Years Of Marriage

Wednesday is my wedding anniversary – 15 years. I find that hard to grasp, maybe because most days I feel about 12. But also, it’s a long time, right? A long time to be in this intimate, intense situation with the same person. So I thought I’d write about some of the things I’ve learned. […]