In Latin, the word for spring is “ver.” Add an “nal” to it and you get a word that translates to “of the spring.” Tonight at precisely 11:06 Eastern time, the northern hemisphere moves into spring with the official-sounding term “vernal equinox.” Day and night are each approximately 12 hours long on the vernal equinox, meaning that for a moment, at least, we can say we’re living in balance.
There are a lot of ways our lives can get out of balance. Sometimes we don’t realize we’ve over-committed ourselves until several important deadlines coincide, making it tough to make time for anything but those commitments. Sometimes a person in charge of an important project gets sick and you get deputized to pick up their workload, along with your already full one. Sometimes we think we want something – job, relationship, child, whatever – and then when we get it, realize that the responsibilities and time commitment...
It’s a week before spring officially begins in the Northern Hemisphere, so maybe a little bit early for spring cleaning. It’s a month before tax returns in the US are due to be filed, and if you’re like me, perhaps you’ve found a lot of things to do instead of getting organized for that chore.
Today is designed for us – it’s Organize Your Home Office Day. Do you have a good file system that separates your work and personal finances? Is it up to date? Do you know where your W2s and 1099s are? Cancelled checks? Credit card statements? And has your mouth gone dry and have your palms gone moist, like mine? Today, can you block out some time to make your home office look and feel organized?
There are a lot of systems you can use to whip a home office into shape. The one that works best for me is to have the shredder in the middle of the room, a vertical file folder holder or a hanging file frame ready to put “birds of a feather” together,...
Quick – what’s your name? I bet you know the answer to that question by heart, right? One of the first things parents teach their babies is how to recognize and use names – mama, dada, doggie, and the child’s own name. But what’s in a name and why are they so important that they get an entire week’s celebration?
The first full week in March is Celebrate Your Name Week. It’s one of those oddball holidays that got started because one person became randomly, then endlessly, fascinated by something. In this case, Jerry Hill read a news story about another Jerry Hill who died. That Jerry Hill happened to be from the first Jerry Hill’s hometown, making him wonder if they were related, then begin to start wondering about names. He became so fascinated by names that he created a website, which was so fascinating to others that eventually Public Broadcasting Service wrapped it into their website.
Names matter. Classrooms are organized by name....
What do you do with extra time? Just what IS extra time, anyway? This year is a leap year, meaning we have extra time – an entire extra day of time – to get things done. The reason we get that extra day is that the earth’s orbit interval is 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, and 45 seconds. The extra quarter-days are lumped together and inserted into February, the year’s shortest month, every four years.
Time passes, yet science can’t define exactly what time is. Isaac Newton thought that time was a constant, unvarying unit and proved it by comparing it to the speed of light, which he believed could vary. Albert Einstein put forth the idea that the speed of light is a constant, which he proved by also mathematically proving that time is a variable, based on gravity. Researchers at the Austrian Academy of Sciences and the University of Vienna have proven that time can be slowed down, sped up, and even reversed in a quantum mechanics system.
We experience our...
Today let’s talk about leaders, and the leader that lives inside each of us. It’s easy to think about leaders as those who are somehow above our level – the president of your division, the president of your company, the president of the United States – and those are all leaders.
Did you know that you are a leader?
Today, let’s talk about what makes a good leader, and where leaders show up in our lives. Take a look at these examples:
Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day, which can only mean one thing – today is Galentine’s Day! What? You’ve never heard of it? Read on…
Galentine’s Day became a thing in 2010, when an episode of the television series Parks and Recreation centered around the deputy director, Leslie Knope, throwing a Galentine’s Day celebration for her girlfriends. The party featured waffles, laughter, and an abundance of gift-giving, and suddenly women all over America and around the world were planning their own Galentine’s Day celebrations. A quick search of “Galentine’s Day” on your favorite search engine returns hundreds of branded gifts, games, clothing, accessories, party favors, spa package deals – well, you get the idea, right? You know that when we spend a bunch of time, energy, and money on it, Galentine’s Day is real. It’s a real celebration of just how important female friendships are.
In her documentary, Life is...
Do you equate age with wisdom? Many people do, and there’s science to back it up. While youth is revered in our culture, wisdom is, too, and when people are looking for advice, it’s their aging friends and colleagues they turn to. It is true that memory functions can fade with age, and it's also true that the frontal lobe, where logic, reasoning, and problem-solving happen, continues to develop.
As we age, we develop more emotional intelligence. That means older people generally are more concerned with the wellbeing of others, make significantly better choices and decisions, and process information and thoughts more holistically, so take in multiple perspectives and can share them more clearly.
Doesn’t that sound like someone you’d go to for advice, counsel, and coaching?
Last Wednesday was Spunky Old Broads Day, and February is Spunky Old Broads Month. Chances are, you know a spunky old broad or two, and maybe you even are one. I’m not sure when it...
One twelfth of the year is over. Done. Finished. How much of your comp time, PTO, and vacation time did you take this month? Have you thought about how you’ll use your vacation time this year? And have you calendared it and maybe even planned it down to the itinerary and ticketing?
America is a young country. If you’ve ever been to Europe or Asia, you’ll understand just how young America is. The continent isn’t young and there have been civilizations and people here far longer than there has been an American form of government here – I’m talking about the government and customs. America is young and was founded largely on the Puritan ethos of education for all, hard work, and sacrifice. While the Puritans era in the US ended by 1740, the ethos still drives many people today.
And too often, what ends up being sacrificed by most – yes, MOST – Americans is their paid time off.
Why is it bad to be all work, no play? Let me count the...
When was the last time you wrote a letter? Not typed a Word doc letter, not talked-to-texted a letter – when was the last time you put pen to paper and wrote?
OK, so if you still send actual, physical holiday cards, you’re winning on this one!
Today is National Handwriting Day, a “holiday” that began in 1977. You won’t be surprised to learn that this holiday was devised by the Writing Instrument Manufacturers Association as a way to remind people to use more pens, pencils, and writing papers. Today’s date was chosen because it’s the birthday of John Hancock, the first person to sign the Declaration of Independence and the one who gave us that famous and flamboyant signature.
None of that is the reason you’re reading about this “holiday” here. National Handwriting Day is a springboard into your brain – specifically, your brain on analog, not digital.
A group of researchers at the University of Tokyo in Japan published...
To start the new year off on the right foot, I attended a presentation about setting intentions and committing to them. Around the halfway point, when he had walked us through a couple of exercises, the speaker asked us to say aloud, “I am committed to my goals.” Throats opened and the room rang with loud, happy voices. Then he asked us to say, “I believe in my ability to achieve my goals.”
Totally different story. The response was more of a group mumble as people said words about themselves that they didn’t believe. The speaker then mentioned the late MLK Jr., asking us if social change would have happened had his level of commitment in the “I Have a Dream” speech been the same as what we just demonstrated.
The point was made – in order to lead and effect change, in order to achieve our own personal goals, and in order to be believed when we speak, we need to embody commitment. It can be tough to believe in ourselves –...
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