Today, I’m going to highlight a topic I will call a hobby – astrology. When I was in my teens, my girlfriend and I would buy our horoscope books each year. In the morning before school, we would discuss the predictions for the day. Since then, I loosely follow through...
This week, we’ve been covering the topics of agency and autonomy in our lives. The focus today is how these qualities impact our work and how we can maximize. Autonomy We will start with autonomy – the size of the invisible box that defines our ability to make...
As I’ve been reading and writing about agency & autonomy, I’ve started to wonder if our early life experiences have an impact on our beliefs as adults. If our parents, caregivers, teachers, coaches, romantic partners, and first bosses reduced our autonomy, did...
We have discussed how autonomy and agency connect to happiness. Then, we dove into the differences between the two. Today, let’s look at how they come into play with each of the 8 dimensions of wellbeing. Autonomy We’ll start with autonomy or the size of the invisible...
Yesterday, we reviewed some research that linked autonomy to happiness. This led to defining the difference between the related concepts of agency. As we defined yesterday, “Both imply a level of independence, self-direction, and self-determination to shape...
There was an Inc. article back in the spring that intrigued me. The title was “Your Overall Happiness, Well-Being, and Even Financial Future Come Down to 1 Simple Word, Backed by Science. And no, that word isn’t money.” The article was full of links and interesting...
A MeEO realizes their role is to be the Chief Executive Officer of their life & career. They are in charge and accountable to the “Board of Directors” of their choice. I searched for the “Top 10” responsibilities of a CEO and adapted the list for the MeEO. The...
Throughout our life and career, we will take hits to our confidence. A project gone awry. Being laid off. Overlooked for a promotion. Rejection. Negative feedback. The list is endless. Depending on the scale of the hit, our confidence can waver for a day or years. On...
Gretchen Rubin has started posing this question: “Are you a book with chapters or a tree with roots?” – Gretchen Rubin She is trying to learn more about how people look at the phases of their life. Do you move from chapter to chapter or branch out from your roots? To...
A couple weeks ago, I wrote about lifequakes in a post about job loss. Lifequakes are disruptive life moments that can be negative or positive. A few negative examples include job loss, death of a loved one, or divorce. Positive quakes can include having a baby,...
Work-Life balance. Harmony. Integration. Lots of words have been used. Much debate has been had. Is balance possible? Balance is not only possible, it’s a fact. There is balance in your life. Every day we each have 24 hours. List how the last 24 were spent. Create...
I recently listened to a Marie Forleo podcast episode about procrastination. Some of the stats she shared were shocking: The average person spends 218 minutes a day or 55 days a year procrastinating. And procrastination costs the US economy 70 billion a year! She also...
I’ve been thinking about weaknesses lately. For those who know me, I prefer the Gallup CliftonStrengths approach to strength-based growth. In fact, when I do talk about weaknesses, I often mention “strengths in overdrive”. Because when our strengths are in overdrive...
I’ve read and listened to so many ideas on procrastination. Today, I heard a tip on an episode of Optimal Living Daily that was brilliant and new to me. The concept is called “The Habit Rule of Half” and was developed by Anthony Ongaro. You can read all the details in...
Personas are used as a foundation in marketing to communicate customer details. These descriptions give the customer personality and “life”. I was wondering if this concept could be applied as we work to design our career and life. My idea was to use personas to...
According to two older articles from Inc Magazine and The Guardian, the amount of creative work hours that knowledge workers are able to handle each day is 4. Yes, four total hours of deep work. They looked at science and examples from historical thought leaders to...
There was a quote by James Clear that got me thinking: “There are 4 types of wealth: Financial Wealth (money) Social Wealth (status) Time Wealth (freedom) Physical Wealth (health) Be wary of jobs that lure you in with 1 and 2 but rob you of 3 and 4.” - James Clear We...
In an episode of Self-Improvement Daily, the 2-minute episode covered this quote: “If courage is taking action despite fear, then bravery is the solution to regret.” – Brian Ford The idea of bravery being a solution to regret resonated with me. In particular, I...
We’ve likely all heard about (and felt) imposter syndrome. These are the times we compare ourselves to others and feel inadequate. The formal definition is “the persistent inability to believe that one's success is deserved or has been legitimately achieved as a...
Discovering the jobs that are right for us is a career endeavor. We start in entry level positions. Move laterally in different types of roles. Promotions happen. Along the way, our responsibilities change. Each role brings things we enjoy doing and things we wish we...
One of my favorite childhood pastimes - logic puzzles! Sometimes it’s hard to look at our life and understand approaches, passions, and tendencies. Instead of focusing on the here and now, another technique is to look back at our childhood. Our first 20 years are...