67: Am I Ruining My Business with my Unrelated Side Projects?
What do you do when the things you do don’t align? My colleague is a career and leadership coach, and she’s starting a new business. She’s creating her assets – a lead magnet, her first course in a series, her email list – and striving to align everything. Since it’s a new venture, she wants […]
50: Whoooaaa, We’re Halfway There! (To Writing 100 Blog Posts in 100 Days)
Halfway through the 100 Blog Posts in 100 Days Challenge! It’s going… well, it’s going, which was my goal. I’ve written every day since March 25th. Some days I’ve been surprised at the ideas and analysis that come out of my writing. Most days I think to myself, “this is stupid. And not helpful to […]
46: 5 Kernels of Wisdom from Circular Summit 2019
Different is great I was blown away when I realized that the first day of the summit would be spent outside, going on various adventures to get to know the summit attendees! Choices included brewery and distillery tours, hiking, cheesemaking and more. It was a dynamic, invigorating, natural way to get to know people and utterly more interesting […]
39: Your Self-Serving, Manipulative Intentions
“I think I regret everything I said.” That’s how my interviewee described how she felt after a podcast interview. You know that feeling: that a combination of chagrin and embarrassment from thoughts like, I expressed myself badly! I squandered this opportunity! I sounded like an idiot! These buzzkill thoughts are super normal, but why? Why do […]
36: “Follow Your Passion” is Misleading and Oversimplified
When I lived near my alma mater I went to annual meet-and-greets for prospective university students. They were held in a beautiful music center with a wide staircase that swept down a glass wall to the reception hall below. There were fruit skewers and cheese cubes and passed hot hors d’oeuvres, and lots of high […]
34: Three Reasons I Was Scared (Not “Anxious” or “Stressed”)
It was mid-afternoon on Thursday when I realized I was scared. It was slow to dawn on me. All I knew was that I felt antsy and discontent, despite the fact that I’d just gotten a new client, I’d had a terrific informational interview, I’d gone to the gym that morning, and I’d done great […]
28: Do You Want the Outcome Or Do You Want to Work?
Sometimes I catch myself fantasizing about being an Instagram influencer. My feed will feature beautiful pictures of my pristine white desk and what I’m working on; me out at the cafe or Hera Hub at work; pictures of plants and flowers and how they relate to my work; products I love; you get the idea. […]
27: When You’re Not the Right Fit
I’m reading Creativity, Inc.: Overcoming the Unseen Forces That Stand in the Way of True Inspiration, a book that sounds like it’s about creativity but so far (I’m 24% through) is about leadership. I love it. It’s written by one of the founders of Pixar, which has made some of my absolutely favorite movies. Ed Catmull […]
25: Finding Good Signs
Living in a north-facing fourth floor apartment in Phoenix means that we get quite a color show every sunrise and sunset. Sometimes the oranges and pinks and purples are so vibrant and searing that I shake my head and laugh. There are many moments during the day when there’s so much to worry about and […]
23: Recovering from Validation Tunnel Vision
How do you know if what you’re doing is working? How do you know if what you’re doing is right? It comes down to the signs you’re looking for, doesn’t it? They could be marketing metrics like leads or engagement, or approval from other people, or the opportunity you wanted. I get fixated on specific […]
