I have dreaded and hated cold gray weather as long as I could remember. I suffered from winter blues/SAD for many years. I grew up believing that my happiness was directly tied to the weather. As I have been untangling the web of my wintertime depression, it has been helpful to finally see my unconscious patterns, thoughts and habits.
Read MoreTis the season for holiday shopping. 2020 has been a difficult year for many people. Some people particularly hard hit are retail, restaurant, and other service industry essential workers. From concerns for their own health and welfare to decreased customer foot traffic, some of these businesses are suffering, and I’ve made it a point to do whatever I can think of to ease that suffering in small ways.
Read MoreWhy do we coach on the awesomely-important metaskill of focus? Because it is the fuel which enables your dreams.
Read MoreRecently, I’ve been thinking quite a bit about Parkinson’s Law. Parkinson's Law is the adage that work expands to fill the time allotted. In other words, the amount of work required adjusts (usually increasing) to the time available for its completion. Knowledge of Parkinson’s Law is important, especially during remote working, where employees often feel pressure to be on the clock all day every day because there’s no separation between your home and your office. I would encourage all employees to make that separation between work time and home time with a time deadline.
Read MoreOur highest self starts with a problem and works to create a solution. On the other hand, our egoic mind starts by offering a solution (because it knows everything, obviously) and creates a problem to ensure its validity.
Read MoreHave you ever sent an email to a co-worker and realized after you pressed send that you sent it to the wrong person? Gulp! There is a way to recall that accidentally sent message!
Read MoreCheck out this conversation between Focus to Evolve balance and productivity trainer, Jason Henkel, and his wife, Tanya. Their discussion about the thorny topics of getting things done and maintaining balance in a multi-child, fast paced (remote working) world is a must see!
Read MoreWhen embarking on a new path in life, thoughts about the fearful unknown may arise unbidden in our minds. Here’s a brief look at the limiting beliefs that have popped into my brain this past year along with the peaceful response that keeps me on my true path.
Read MoreMorning routines are important. They often set the tone for the rest of my day, so I structure my routine so I start my day with the positive energy that I want to carry me through until I go to bed at night.
Read MoreAs we all do our best to navigate this unpredictable economy and society, it can make present-minded focusing on high quality (craftmanship) work very difficult. To potentially help with this, I recall hearing once from a wise sage that the richest person you will ever meet is the one who deeply feels he/she has "enough" in this moment. And the number showing in the bank account is not the driver of that feeling.
Read MoreWhen I was in my mid-twenties and living in New York City, I had a nightmare. In my dream, many of my loved ones died. The next morning, when I woke up to discover that the agony was just a dream, I felt like Ebenezer Scrooge.
Read MoreI am a huge fan of Oprah’s SuperSoul Conversations podcast. Nearly every day for me starts with a walk around my neighborhood listening to Oprah’s interviews with amazing people. One of my all-time favorite episodes of this podcast is Shawn Achor: The Life-Altering Power of a Positive Mind. Shawn talks about the science of happiness, and his research created some profound shifts in the way I live my life.
Read MoreI've been down many rabbit holes in the hunt for purposeful work and output in the world. I've had the same age old questions and thoughts that many people have. Why am I here? I want to make a meaningful impact. I want to do the work I was meant to do. I want my output/work to light me up! I want to be passionate about my work.
Read MoreSchool is starting around the country! It’s an exciting time, but pandemic has complicated this school year and made this a stressful time for teachers.
Read MoreIn our working and personal lives, what we allow in as knowledge and beliefs can have unimaginable impact on our output into the world. Once a belief or knowledge has set in, we are wired to then allow that to run many of our decisions (literally) without much (or any) conscious "pre-frontal cortex" involvement. You can imagine the ripple effect of allowing a misguided belief to settle into your connectome.
Read MoreWhen I was in high school, I watched an episode of Oprah Winfrey’s talk show in which she discussed keeping a gratitude journal. She said she would write down 5 things a day for which she was thankful. Something in that suggestion resonated in my heart, so I decided to start my own gratitude journal.
Read MoreThis note is to anyone out there building something new, creative, or daring. Where the dark nights of the soul visit almost weekly (or even nightly). I'd like to suggest a mantra that has worked wonders in my life during the tough days.
Read MoreFor those of you who know me, you've already heard my decades old ranting on my relationship with caffeine (via morning coffee). I have more rules around coffee drinking than Carter had liver pills, but the sad part is, I only follow all of those "optimization" rules about 50% of the time. Here's a list of some of those rules just so you can have a giggle.
Read MoreIn a journal entry from several months back, I wrote about all the cool things I was going to do with my wife and the kids during the brief quarantine period. Ah the optimism of the beginner quarantinee.
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