So, you’ve been in this situation. It’s the one where you’re at a function, social or business, and someone is telling a story. As they tell that story, you are drifting. Your mind wanders, you start to realize you’re a little hungry or thirsty or that your back hurts. You look at the person sitting […]
Introductions are hard. You’ve had very little time to read the room. You don’t know much about the person or people you’re meeting. And you know first impressions count. No matter how many times we’ve been asked to introduce ourselves, the moment when your turn comes around the circle or when someone in a group […]
Life feels wildly out of control these days. COVID-19 has taken all our plans and pulped them. Some of us have been thrust into the wild world of homeschooling and others are isolated like never before. It can feel like we don’t have many choices. It can feel like we don’t have control of our lives anymore. […]
We are living in a time of tremendous uncertainty. The Stoics would argue that we always live in times of uncertainty, but in this moment, when the familiar world has been overturned in a matter of weeks, the uncertainty seems loud and clear. We don’t know what the future holds, whether you’re talking about a […]
This post is based on an introduction to the film Women that I gave at the Focus Theater on behalf of Arnhem Together in Arnhem, The Netherlands on International Woman’s Day 2020 I went to college at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. If you aren’t from the US, you probably haven’t heard […]
During a workshop, a participant asked me if using their audacious goal was honest. As she put it, “If I tell people then I am going to cure cancer am I lying to them?” The short answer is that it depends on your phrasing and situation. If you tell them you’re going to cure cancer […]
Are you ready to start working on your personal-professional story? It’s the story you develop to introduce yourself in a professional setting. Only this story isn’t just built on your CV, it’s designed to incorporate the rest of your life as well. Read my blog post about the structure for an introduction. The first thing […]
Every fall, I need a new babysitter. Since my babysitters tend to be busy and hard-working, I usually need a couple. I find them by posting a request on my expat Facebook group. My post gets anywhere from half a dozen two dozen responses every time. After I’ve eliminated anyone who doesn’t meet my basic […]
I wrote this article on a writing retreat I took a couple of weeks ago. It was my first writing retreat and I used some new technology. I wrote the first draft of this blog post in a hotel room, talking to my computer ! I felt like a fool, at least as foolish as you […]
Every workshop I give starts with a story. You’d expect as much. But every workshop I give starts with a personal story, one that often includes my family members and that tells people both who I am and what story can do. For me, there’s no other way to go. When I give a workshop […]