Then, Meet Them Here... Photo by Aleksandra Mazur on Unsplash I love the little moments, the game-changers that shift things, changing everything from that moment on. This was one of them. I was doing a Creative Jam Session with a client recently, a woman who is brilliant at what she does. I mean crazy brilliant. We were brainstorming on creative ideas to get her business going in a new way. “She intimidates me,” she said, talking about a high-profile woman for whom she’d done some coaching. I understood. The woman had some really impressive creds, was a genius at what she did and was running a large event where she was required to speak, which is where my client was coaching her. She floated quickly through the comment, “She intimidates me.” It got me thinking about the idea of intimidation and more apropos to our discussion, the meaning and weight... Read more →

It Starts With the Word of the Year. And, the word is Perspective. Photo by Paul Skorupskas on Unsplash I’ve been thinking a lot about Perspective. This is one of my favorite times of year, when things start fresh, slates are clean, the canvas is fresh, new journals are cracked opened, solid lists of resolutions and goals are constructed and the reset buttons are pushed. But, I don’t think it’s really possible to completely start with a completely clean slate or canvas because old stories and patterns are still there underneath the surface, ready to become visible. Often it's when we’re just ready to breakthrough or soar that they rear their little heads. This is where the idea of Perspective comes in. It’s such a great word and I think is vital to make the most out of the transition from year to year, from an end to a beginning.... Read more →

What Happened Afterward Was the Clincher "If you do not conquer self, you will be conquered by self." ~ Napoleon Hill I pick my racehorses because of their names. I do the same thing when filling out my March Madness bracket, choosing the teams by the names that I like. Believe or not, I actually won the office pool one year by doing just that. I have an affinity for Jayhawks and Wildcats, so there you go! Names and titles inspire me. So, when it came to choosing a challenge on the Ropes Course, I saw “Leap of Faith” on the list and jotted my name down without even thinking about it. Then, I asked which was the hardest one, and the woman said, “You just signed up for it.” Now, if you know me, you know this is not like me. At all. I don’t normally do hard physical... Read more →

Here's Why & How It Works Photo by Zac Durant on Unsplash It’s very in vogue to talk about gratitude. Have you noticed? It’s kind of everywhere. People writing about it, talking about it, recording it in gratitude journals, texting in gratitude chains, creating memes about it and gathering around dinner tables to honor it. The truth is, being grateful has never been out of vogue. And, there’s a simple explanation for that. Because Gratitude Works The law of attraction is grounded in gratitude. When you express what you’re grateful for, in a powerfully energetic way, the universe conspires and moves to give you more of what you’re grateful for. It's the simplest form of 'what you focus on expands.' Lack and Gratitude are Polar Opposite Energies When you feel you’re lacking something, the moment you shift to a place of gratitude you’re no longer in lack. Even if it’s... Read more →

Here's a fresh take on what can be a debilitating force. Photo by Becca Matimba on Unsplash By Cindy Yantis "Focused attention yields the best results." - Melinda Hughes Melinda is my personal trainer and the owner of The Strength Shoppe, a high-intensity training (HIT) facility in Pasadena, California. And, this quote, from their website, exemplifies what most I've learned from training with her. HIT is a slow burn, really intense, focused workout where with each weightlifting exercise you exhaust an isolated muscle or group of muscles to a slow count of ten. It's also called Super Slow, Slow Cadence, Power of 10, or Resistance Training. It takes such focused concentration to get through a set of the slow ten. The tendency is to put all of your body behind trying to lift the weight. That's when Melinda says to direct your brain to focus on the specific body part... Read more →

A Life Lesson I Learned From My Smartphone Photo by Alejandro Garrido Navarro on Unsplash I was on the phone with my sister discussing an upcoming call about cryptocurrencies. She asked if I was going to tune in. I felt my breath quicken and my stomach churn, and it hit me. “I don’t have the personal bandwidth to take anything else into my brain right now,” I said. My next call was to make a doctor’s appointment when up popped a message on my phone: “You’re almost out of storage.” Twenty minutes later Outlook sent me an email: “Your mailbox is nearly full.” And, I had to laugh out loud. No kidding! Seriously, all three things happened within 45 minutes. Okay, okay I get it! I have no more bandwidth and am almost out of storage. The truth is I have a lot going on and that morning I realized... Read more →

Because sometimes, procrastination isn't procrastination. Procrastination has gotten a bad rap. And, it’s easy to get wrapped up in the badness of it, and to browbeat ourselves over it. I get it. I’m an experienced perpetrator, judge and jury when it comes to the subject of procrastination, often handing down my own verdict: Bad Writer! As I’ve mentioned here I’ve been working on a memoir. And, for a while it was simply pouring out of me. Until it wasn’t. It’s like the river of ideas just stopped flowing. I fell into what most people would call the abyss of procrastination, which kind of fascinated me, to be honest. I'd start by beating myself up, then by trying to pep myself up and then just giving up. It was a cycle that went on for days. Then I realized, I was talking about the story with everyone I know, flushing out... Read more →

Comparison, competition and perfection - the trifecta for failure. And what to do about them. Photo by Andrew Worley on Unsplash All three of these beauties – Comparison, Competition and Perfection - present themselves to me often, in varying degrees, one at a time, or when things are really fun they show up at my door as the three Witches of Eastwick, taking up residence in my castle, car, computer, office, dialogue and of course the mind, wreaking havoc, getting wild and basically controlling everything. This is the way the Trifecta works. Each of them has their own bag of tools and spells designed to accomplish one thing: to keep us in place, safe from harm (getting hurt, rejected or dismissed). Their nutrients are fear, shame, disappointment, disillusionment, frustration and regret. And as long as we serve up these goodies our unwelcome guests are never going to leave the party... Read more →

How to allow fear to work for you instead of against you. Photo by Stephanie McCabe on Unsplash I think about fear a lot. I mean, at times we all do, right? Lately it's been a very loud companion as I dig deeper into writing my memoir. No matter the situation, whenever it shows up I run the gamut in my relationship with fear. I see it, dread it, fight it, am pissed off at it, run from it, cry with it and am utterly fascinated by it for the never-ending lessons and conversations that derive from it. Recently I listened to Linda Sivertsen's Beautiful Writers Podcast when she and guest co-host, Martha Beck interviewed author Glennon Doyle. They were discussing Glennon's extremely raw bestselling memoir, LOVE WARRIOR, which is sitting next in my Kindle queue. I'm an admirer of all three women and their work. This was a great... Read more →

I recently reconnected with an old friend with whom I'd been out of touch for several years. She's going through a challenging transition which includes selling her home, something she doesn't want to do, but has to. Interestingly, I went through a similar transition at about the same time we'd last spoken. So, the timing of our phone reconnect all of sudden seemed rather divinely directed. I shared something with her that someone said to me during that time that shifted everything for me. And, when I said it, she had a very similar reaction. It got me thinking about how much words, when you hear them at the right time, can shift mindset in an instant. From a place of boy-have-I-been-there, I shared my experience with her. I was laid off in 2008 and was out of steady work for over two years. I was in a daily struggle... Read more →