Life is full of moments when we say, "when this happens, I will (fill in the blank)". We wait for many reasons: When I get my first job. When I retire. When work is a bit less busy. When the kids go to college. When I move out of my parents’ house. When I get...
Setting Goals
Start by Starting
This phrase came into being about a year ago in conversation with members of The Carbon Almanac community. We were talking about the tendency to postpone or avoid projects that are large, daunting, and don’t have a clear solution. The idea was that if you just did...
A Different Kind of Resolution
When we think about the year ahead, many of the intentions we set focus on things in our lives that we want to improve in some way. We may want to exercise more, improve relationships, or stop a bad habit. The tendency is to make the resolutions around...
Celebrate a Habit
Much is written this time of year about setting goals and changing habits. The focus is striving toward something that will make your life “better”. I am an advocate of personal development and join in the annual quest to embrace the year ahead. In fact, yesterday, I...
20 Questions for Reflection at the End of 2022
As 2022 comes to a close, you may be asking yourself, "why should I do a year end review?". Even for those who spend time each year reflecting, sometimes it can be difficult at the end of the year to find the time and space to think about the year gone by. While I can...
What Does it Feel Like to Emerge?
Each year, I select a word to guide my ambitions and goals for the year ahead. December is a great time to reflect on what has been accomplished and evaluate how the word guided my year. I consider the impact that it had and start to set the foundation for the next...
Why Shift from New Year’s Resolutions to New Habits?
Photo Credit - Lori Sullivan The New Year often brings with it resolutions. Webster's defines a resolution as "a firm decision to do or not to do something." And, many studies indicate that most of us will quit the resolution before the end of January. So, with the...
5 Tips to Kick off a Great 2021
Photo Credit - Lori Sullivan A new year starts full of possibility. While we are still social distancing and many businesses remain closed, the new year holds the promise of achieving anything you set out to do. I lot of people (myself included) spend some time at the...
Small Steps Add Up Over Time
Photo Credit - Lori Sullivan In remembering the life of Ruth Bader Ginsburg this week, I saw the quote in the image above in many of my social media feeds. The quote struck me in relation to personal development. I've been thinking a lot lately about how consistent...
Working ON Your Life vs. IN Your Life
Photo Credit - Lori Sullivan Photography Years ago, the concept of working on your business vs. in your business got a lot of attention and discussion. The concept was that we are all so busy working "in" the business that we don't spend enough time working "on" the...
Investing in Yourself
Over the years, I’ve been taught to put away a percent of your salary to “Invest in your future”. I started my first post-college job back in 1991 and I started saving 6-10% of my income. I was investing in the future. When I got married, we both...
Lessons from a Squirrel
Today, a squirrel was out on our birdfeeder – the tricky one that is supposed to keep squirrels away. This squirrel clearly did not have any clue that he wasn’t supposed to be able to eat the food from this feeder. He balanced, he hung down by his feet, he...