Back to School for Grownups: Create Your Own Fresh Start

When I was little, I LOVED laying out my school supplies for the beginning of a new school year. Fresh pencils (or, once I was in high school, pens—that transition from pencils to pens was how we knew we were cooler and more grown up)…

Spiral notebooks…

And the binders! Oh, the binders!

I LOVED the binders. (Yes, yes I am Leslie Knope.) Fresh new containers, ready to be decorated and filled, bit by bit. Empty, and thus paradoxically full of possibilities.

Do you ever miss it? That feeling of a fresh new school year? That clean-slate-fresh-start-anything-could-happen-this-year sensation? …

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Working on Labor Day (and What a 90something Badass Named Mother Jones Can Teach You about Thirtysomething Panic)

It’s Labor Day, a national holiday in the US, and I’m working. And feeling so grateful for that.

I considered taking the day off. Don’t get me wrong, I am a huge believer in taking time off, in vacation, in rest and replenishment, in designing and maintaining boundaries between work and the rest of life that serve both of those arenas…and I took some gah-lorious time off this summer. …

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Are You Waiting Until You’re Comfortable?

Think about a problem, a question, a desired change, a toleration, or an unmade decision you’ve had in your life for a long time. (Hint: if you feel that nagging “UGH—still stuck!” feeling when you think of it, you’re on the right track.)

If you know in your head, heart, and gut what your next tiny or huge step or steps should be—if you have been contemplating forward movement for a long time, but not committing to action—ask yourself this powerful question: …

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On Not Liking Yourself Very Much Lately

Do you feel not-so-crazy-about-yourself these days?

Are you seeing yourself acting again and again in a way that doesn’t line up with who or how you want to be?

When you start to recognize that it’s been a while since you felt good about yourself—like, since you thought, for the most part, yeah, I’m pretty great!—here’s a powerful turnaround for you: …

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I Don’t Have Time: What Are You Making More Important Than the Most Important Things in Your Life?

Do you often tell yourself you’ll “figure out” the important stuff as soon as you have time?

Every night as you go to bed, you think about how you want to change your career, or improve a relationship, or start a project.

You may even get feverishly excited with ideas—and then those ideas have to wait until tomorrow.

Or next week.

Or next year.

Or whenever you have time.

Or money.

Or energy.

Because after all, you have A Lot To Do.

You don’t have All The Money In The World.

You only have So Much Energy.

So naturally, the steps you need to take to get on purpose and on your path get shuffled to the bottom of the to-do list. …

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Do This Before You Make Your New Year’s Resolutions…

Lots of people make New Year’s Resolutions, but most people don’t take the time to reflect on the year that has passed.

As a new year begins, we’re often in such a hurry to “fix” ourselves and our lives that we don’t stop to take stock of the year that’s ending.

Often, we just make last year’s resolutions over again, and end up a year later in the same situation with the same goals and the same frustrations.

When you hurry ahead into a new year without looking back, you’re likely to miss out on reaping the benefits of the previous year.

Here’s a tool that will help you harvest the learning and “gold” from the year that’s drawing to a close.

Happy New Year!

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