“People will kill you over time, and how they kill you is with tiny, harmless phrases like be realistic.” Dylan Moran I cannot begin to tell you how much I hate it when people give backhanded, up front or behind the back slights to one’s life dreams, hopes and ambitions. And, yes, I used the word hate because, like you, I heard these phrases from others as I wandered through my early work years. And, because it frustrated me so much, I made mental notes to stay away from those who would be so bold to say something so ridiculous […]
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Opportunity is Everywhere
Opportunity is everywhere if you know where to look…. Funny thing about opportunity, it seems to follow other people and not those who seem to need it…or does it? I have been pondering that thought for some time now. Why does it seem that some people just seem to luck into the best jobs, the best relationships, the best opportunities more than others? Or, do those who come across opportunity seize hold of it and make more out of it, so it seems effortless and looks as if they tend to win over and over in life? I don’t know […]
Mend the part of the world
“Ours is not the task of fixing the entire world at once, but of stretching out to mend the part of the world that is within our reach.” ~ Clarissa Pinkola Estés I have the great fortune to be a TEDx speaker coach. And with every TEDx presenter, I am blessed to hear about topics I never knew about or even considered–that’s the beauty of TED (Technology, Education & Design) and TEDx. This year, one of the speakers gave a talk about how we all have implicit bias; whether we know it or not or whether we admit it to […]
Great Things Are Done by a Series of Small Things
Today I want to encourage you to keep on keeping on, and my theme is a quote that is new to me; it’s by the famous artist, Vincent Van Gogh. He says that “Great things are done by a series of small things brought together.” I love that line, because it is so true. I know that sometimes it feels like you are spinning your wheels when you are trying to create an opportunity for yourself or others, or you sometimes feel alone as you’re building a business or as you do the daily work of the job and responsibilities […]
If the whole world was blind
If the whole world was blind, how many people would you impress? I travel a lot and I like to people-watch. I have this little ritual–as I walk through airports, I look at everyone running this way and that and at those sitting to make a flight or who are eating in the food court, and I think to myself that everyone in there has a mother. They may not have had a father (past the point of conception), but they all have or have had a mother. Then I usually think, my goodness, wouldn’t their mother be disappointed in […]
Not My Rodeo. Not My Bull.
When you feel yourself being pulled into someone else’s drama, repeat these words, Not my rodeo. Not my bull. I also like the phrase, not my circus; not my monkey – it’s all the same in its meaning of “be wise, my friend, and don’t let yourself get caught up in other people’s drama.” I laughed out loud when I saw this quote the other day, because I love the rodeo. (My mom grew up in Wyoming, so I come by it honestly.) “Not my rodeo… Not my bull.” I cannot begin to tell you how often it seems that […]
Don’t wait for extraordinary opportunities…
Don’t wait for extraordinary opportunities. Seize common occasions and make them great. A few weeks ago my show was about if you can’t do great things, do small things in a great way, and, although I thought I was done with that thought, in my mind and in my quiet time I kept coming back to the BIG idea that anyone can take the steps in the right direction to do what they are called to do. What may seem impossible to others is not impossible for you. If you will, just put forth the effort to make it happen. […]
Your attitude, not your aptitude, will determine your altitude
Recently I was flying to a speaking job, and as I left for the airport that morning it was raining. I looked out the window while we were waiting to take off, and I could tell it was going to be a cold wet and rainy ride, in fact, that was the outlook for the entire week where I was heading to speak. Sitting on the plane determining what I was not going to be doing on this trip (since I don’t like to be out in rainy cold weather), within a few minutes after we took off and went […]
Be sure you put your feet in the right place
You know, it is a fact of life that sometimes you fall–you just hope that you don’t fall in water on a leadership training excursion. A few years ago I was with some friends, and we were doing the typical leadership adventures of bonding with the other team members. Now, something you need to know about me is, although I enjoy the outdoors, I have never liked the said “team-building programs.” It’s never been my ambition to fall backwards in trust and hope (and prayer) that my teammates will catch me. I don’t have faith or fun on a zip […]