Oh, To Be Remembered This time of year I often think about Lucille Ball. We lost her 26 years ago although it doesn’t seem that long. I can remember coming home from school and watching I Love Lucy and laughing along with the cheesy laugh tracks on the screen, or when I was home sick, you could still find her show on some off channel for the reruns. I often use her life adventure in one of my talks about leadership. If you know her story, it is an amazing tale of survival. To be able to have the star […]
Public Speaking
Be Impeccable With Your Words
Today’s message may not be for all of my amazing readers. If the words do not add encouragement to your life, pass by this issue, and please come back next week. Be Impeccable With Your Words “Be impeccable with your word. Speak with integrity. Say only what you mean. Avoid using the word to speak against yourself or to gossip about others. Use the power of your word in the direction of truth and love.” ~ Don Miguel Ruiz The Power of Words I would dare say that you know how to wield the power of words in the lives […]
It is the courage to continue that counts
“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.”–Winston Churchill I am working with a terrific young man who will be giving the valedictorian address at his high school graduation in a few weeks. It’s been fun to hear him reminisce about his early days in high school when he “didn’t care,” to realizing one day that he was just a few points behind the smartest guy at school and knowing that with a little work he could overtake him, because, as he said, no one knew he was that smart since he […]
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 […]
Walking Away
“When faced with senseless drama, spiteful criticisms and misguided opinions, walking away is the best way to stand up for yourself. To respond with anger is an endorsement of their attitude.” ~ Dodinsky How many times have you thought about walking away from the drama, the words and the noise but you stayed to play one more round, hoping it would not be as bad as you thought. No doubt, it ended up being pretty awful. And the worst part is you knew it would end up poorly, but you just had to speak your mind one more time, or […]
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 […]
Your Destiny Is Determined by Your Decisions
Nothing is more jarring than to see someone you know on the six-o-clock news for doing something stupid or illegal, and now that they have been arrested, the whole world knows of their demise. Don’t you find it odd that people you used to work with, worship with or who were in your network end up on the news? And not because of something good they did, but for something unscrupulous that has now landed them in a place they never thought they’d be…prison. It is at those times I want to yell and remind all who will listen that […]
Life Moves On…
It is hard to understand why things don’t work out like we’d like for them to, and preferably in our favor, but as you well know, life doesn’t always give us what we think we need or want, and until we can settle on the fact that our plans will change with or without our acceptance—until we come to terms with that fact of life—we’ll always be chasing something that is hard to catch. Because we don’t know what will happen tomorrow, we ought to make it our joy to live today. Unfortunately that is not what many people believe, […]
Why We Lie
Honesty is such a lonely word, and to add insult to injury, exaggeration is the name of the game, and that is a lie. Oh, I know I said the word lie. I said it because, well, that is what it is when you don’t tell the truth about yourself. I know the word is harsh and it is tougher still to be called out on, but, quicker than you can hide your lie from those who know you, the damage you’ve done to yourself will cut you deeply and leave a lifelong scar for all to see. I want […]