Reflecting
With the 250th anniversary of the United States and the halfway point of 2026 happening this week, there are many reasons for reflection.
Considering things that are going on in your life, your career, your neighborhood, your country, and the world. The positive and the negative.
To support you on the life and career front, you could check out my post titled Happy Halfway Day! This post will provide some ideas of what to consider reflecting on the first half of the year and setting intentions for the second half.
I was also reminded of a post I wrote back in December titled 2025 Fingerprints. This post covered how our footprints note our path and what has happened along the way. On the other hand, our fingerprints note the marks we have made along the way.
This is a good reminder to consider how we make a difference. What is our contribution?
As you think about your year and the 250th birthday of the US (for those in the US), what contributions have you personally made to make a positive difference?
What might you shift or change in the next half of the year to impact your footprints AND your fingerprints?
Something New
I wanted to let everyone know that I’ve started a marketing newsletter on LinkedIn in the event you might be interested in subscribing. This blog and weekly update started (and will continue) to focus on intentionally guiding our life, career, and personal brand.
The new newsletter is Fingerprints Marketing. There, I will share what I’m learning and thinking about in the world of branding, loyalty, digital marketing, CRM, and more. You can subscribe here.
Posts This Week
Schedule for Humanity. Many days our calendars don’t look like they are designed for a human with blocks stacked on top of each other, ready to topple over. This post makes the comparison to Jenga.
What Is Your Job? This post explores how we should consider if the job we were hired to do is actually the one we perform on a daily basis.
Book Review: Behavioral Science in Marketing. For all the marketers out there, I would add this one to your reading list. You can read my highlights on why in the post.
Summer Fridays. Before we know it, summer will slip by too quickly. This post reminds us to slow down, enjoy the season, and plan intentionally.
Podcasts That Caught My Attention
This week has three shorter podcasts with a fourth loosely tied to the holiday weekend.
If. When. Then. 4 minutes. Before Breakfast. Life never goes as planned. This podcast suggests we decide in advance how we’ll deal with circumstances that could derail our goals.
The Four People Every Squiggly Career Network Needs. 8 minutes. Squiggly Careers. This episode talks about four types of people you should have in your career community and how it makes building career relationships feel more doable.
How to Declutter Your Life. 10 minutes. Optimal Living Daily. This episode explains that the best approach to simplifying your life is the one that fits your personality, habits, and circumstances. There are ten practical ideas to build momentum to try.
Forget Left vs. Right. Here’s What Really Drives the Supreme Court. 27 minutes. The Next Big Idea Daily. With the celebration of the United States 250th, I thought this episode was a nice reminder that not everything is split on party lines. The first book summarized is Last Branch Standing: A Potentially Surprising, Occasionally Witty Journey Inside Today’s Supreme Court by Sarah Isgur. The second book is By the Fire We Carry: The Generations-Long Fight for Justice on Native Land by Rebecca Nagle. Both highlight how workplace dynamics with egos, alliances, and quirks come into factor in how the two parties act. It’s a reminder there are humans behind both the left and right.
What Do You Think?
Have you taken time this week to reflect on the first half of the year? If not, take 15 minutes today.
Are you looking ahead to the second half of the year with intention? If not, can you set one today.
What ideas did the posts & podcasts spark that you could implement in the week ahead?