“Let’s go hike Camelback Mountain,” I suggested enthusiastically to my friend, Monica. She had traveled from Connecticut to visit me and an outdoor excursion into the Arizona landscape seemed like a great idea. After all, Camelback was listed in the book: Best Easy Day Hikes. Little did I know that the hike would test my will as much as my body. Read more
Two years ago, after writing an article entitled What Are You Waiting For? I heard from many of you who were eager to share your “Want To Do In My Lifetime” lists. My father also called me with his list. A few months later, my husband and I found ourselves spending some beautiful spring days in Washington, D.C. with my parents, so that my dad could visit the National World War II Memorial.
“…I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable.”
– Dwight D. Eisenhower
Is Planning Worth It?“The best-laid plans… often go awry.”¹ What looks good on paper doesn’t always work out as envisioned. So why bother planning at all? I used to think that the point of planning was the satisfaction I got by checking off completed tasks. While this still makes me feel good, I now see that the main reason for planning is to get you into purposeful action and to make progress. Read more
When beginning to work toward a challenging goal, there is a common tendency to dwell on the degree of difficulty. Sometimes this scares us into believing that what we are setting out to achieve is not really possible. Sure, we can describe the goal easily enough, but two minutes later we’re talking about how hard it’s going to be to get there. We forget that difficult doesn’t mean impossible. It can just feel that way when we hyper-focus on the potential obstacles. Read more
January 1 brings up mixed feelings. We want that clean slate, yet as we switch out of the holiday rhythm and head back to work, we also face the lingering issues and unfinished tasks of the prior year. Is the New Year really a fresh start? Despite the legitimate work that continues regardless of the date on the calendar, the answer to that question is yes. Even if certain challenging realities remain, January is an opportunity to bring a fresh perspective to them. Read more