Some post-Thanksgiving reflections on how to cultivate gratitude As Thanksgiving fades in the rearview mirror, some of us return to our regular lives feeling grateful for family and friends, delicious food, and opportunities to gather together. But what happens when that feeling of gratitude dims? Or maybe we struggled to find any feelings of gratitude—when […]
“Thank you for thinking of me but I’m not available at this time.” This is all I wrote when I declined to write a graduate school reference letter for a former colleague I had worked with briefly. I had been brooding over my reply for a couple of weeks. I was surprised by how resentful […]
Pop quiz time! On Saturday, you promised yourself to walk every morning before work to improve your health. On Friday, you realize that you forgot to walk for the last two days. You: Criticize yourself for being forgetful “as always!” Commit to double-up your steps this weekend because “no pain, no gain!” Give yourself a […]
As I headed out to work elsewhere, I ran into my neighbour in the condo lobby. “Must be nice to be able to go out for fun instead of sweating all day like I have to,” they said in a unfriendly tone. Yikes! My face got hot and my stomach flipped over. Two signs that […]
My client said, “Sometimes a worry gets stuck in my mind and then I start to spin out.” Spinning out. Stuck in a loop. In a tizzy. Sound familiar? There are a lot of ways to describe that feeling of being stuck in a mental loop, replaying past mistakes or worrying about future problems. […]
I woke up a sweaty mess today. The air conditioning in my building is broken and now, with the sun barely up, my condo is 28 C. Did I mention I have a south-west facing space? It is only going to get hotter. My first response was a spurt of judgement. “This happens every spring! […]
Still on that fence about mental fitness? No worries! Still have questions about the Calm Confident Nonprofit Leader program? Here are 4 reasons to choose mental fitness today. Isn’t stress just normal for adults, especially leaders? Sure, stress happens—but constantly feeling overwhelmed isn’t natural or inevitable! Psychology shows that much of our stress is self-generated […]
I haven’t connected in a while because some pretty significant things have been going on and I needed a break from emails, social media, socializing, and well just about everything. I’m writing from my family cottage in beautiful Muskoka where I am taking two weeks to rest, reflect, and regroup. I am so very lucky to […]
In 1967, I won a silver dollar. It was a very exciting prize for a seven-year-old! To enter the contest, I had to colour-in a Smartie on a black and white picture inside the Smarties box and mail in the box. It was only by watching a tv ad, where an identical picture briefly lit-up […]
Did you know you can leverage your brain to consistently make progress on your goals? In early February I decided to write about consistency—why it matters, how hard it can be, and how to rewire our brains to be our ally. Many people feel deflated around mid-February when they realize that they have not […]