I’m glad you are back. Last month I focussed on Inspiration as our theme. I explored inspirational quotes, your word for 2022, direction, optimism and permission. For February I thought the theme could be Determination. The combination of inspiration and determination packs quite a blow, do you agree?

If you were with me last week I had a bit to say about determination. So how’s intention different? Heck if I know, but I think they are cousins.

Do your eyes glass over when the concept of goal setting is mentioned? Mine do! I like the idea, really I do. It’s just the drudgery of sitting down and determining goals that are “good enough” and “interesting” and “doable”! I’m always convinced I’m doing it wrong!

A while ago I was feeling the vacant space that pre-pandemic was filled with trips, connection, friendships and celebrations. Missing my conversations, walks and counsel, I wondered if anyone else had the same nudging.

Since we are knee-deep in renewal, it occurs to me that with renewal comes ownership. Not the kind of ownership that means liability, the kind that means possibility. The longer I am in this coaching world, the more attuned my lens is for owner versus victim mentality.

Hey there..Let’s check in. How ya doin? Really, how ya doin? As we begin May 2022 (I know it’s annoying when people constantly remind you of the calendar right?) take a temperature about how this year is unfolding for you..

Theme for May is transformation, and where better to start than reset? Sometimes I coach clients filled with regrets. They feel responsible for something that happened in the past. Sometimes a long time ago. They talk about it as if it happened yesterday. They wish it was different or they were different.

Let me ask you a question..How good are you at unstructured time? As the kids say, “chill”. By unstructured time, I refer to those blocks of time when the calendar is blank, and your brain isn’t consumed by the next thing.

Don’t you love good customer service? I do! When the merchant (buyee) acknowledges that you (buyer) has choices and is appreciative of your business? Bingo!

Failure seems an odd topic for a weekly column geared toward inspiration, but that’s the theme here in June. I started with Unstructured Time (being too busy), then Customer Service (not prioritizing yourself) as examples of falling short, ok failure.

Erica Layne asks, “Do you remember who you were before the world told you what you needed to be?” Read it again. When you were younger, did you spend time thinking about future you? Tell me…

Redesign. I like that word. You could also use change, transform, modify. But those words don’t have the romance for me that redesign does. For me it conjures intentional evolution. A course correction for growth, a becoming. A purposeful reach toward an informed outcome.

My client and I were talking a while ago. I asked her what was her most fervent hope from our coaching work. She told me she’d like to revamp and recharge her marriage. But she said it with a half-hearted sigh. You see, she didn’t really think that after all these years, her husband could change in the substantial way he’d need to for their marriage to refresh.

OK buckle up…this is a GOOD one! I was recently reading a book, and I had to put it down and begin journaling right then. The book was bringing up so many thoughts and creative ideas for me that I wanted to capture them right away.

When was the last time you took a minute and said thank you to your past self? After all it’s your past self that laid the groundwork for all the things you enjoy now.

Some say beliefs are something written deep in the soul. I don’t. Do you know why I don’t think that? It’s because I have seen many clients with beliefs that are so unnecessary. Painful, unrelenting hurtful beliefs. Clinging onto them with white-knuckled fists while they just suffer. No thanks.

It’s a time to pause, reflect and celebrate for Craig and I (ok for me, he’s not too keen on the pausing and reflecting…although he can still recite his vows from memory…lets just say there have been many pop quizzes throughout the years!)

That’s me in kindergarten (mom trimmed my bangs!). Ah, to be five years old (luckily we lived next to an orthodontist!) I loved being five. I loved kindergarten, and my kindergarten teacher Mrs. Van. That happy little girl is still in my heart. Plenty awkward, loves to laugh. Open, interested, innocent and fearless.