Most of my clients seek clarity. If they just knew what their purpose was, what the next career move should be, or where to transfer their talents into meaningful work, they would just go do it. But for some reason, clarity eludes them; actually, all of us, at some point. Lack of clarity can be a mental block. It may feel unsafe to have clarity because then we would actually have to take action. Sometimes it’s because we just don’t have enough data to draw any conclusions, bu

Do you routinely follow through on commitments to others but put your needs on the back burner? Do you tend to back out of the commitments you’ve made to yourself? Schedule over the time you’d planned to do that thing you love? Or, maybe time to do nothing. Welcome to the human race. Unfortunately, that habit isn’t unique. We find it hard to be <gasp> unproductive. Or to give ourselves permission to play. What IS unique? Actually telling others NO, following through on the c

Some people love a blank canvas, a blank screen, a white room with no furniture… but for others of us, a blank canvas (or its digital equivalent) can be paralyzing. Sometimes the hardest part of a project is simply starting. (If you want to just skip the "why" part and get to the solutions part, scroll down.) Why Getting Started Can Be Hard The Peanut Gallery. When I begin a project, especially if it’s something I’ve never done before, the Peanut Gallery of criticism and self

I wasn't going to write anything this week, but I didn't want to ghost you. (Mom, I'll explain what "ghosting" is next time we talk.) Against all expert marketing advice, I've made a decision: I'm going to send a newsletter only when I have something I really want to say, when I want to announce something, or if you tell me there's a topic or issue you want me to talk about. This means you might hear from me some weeks and you might not. This lack of consistency is frowned up

My adorkable black lab died unexpectedly and from unknown causes on Saturday. As you can imagine, I am grieving. As a way to honor him, my cousin suggested I think about what I learned from Fonzie. I’ve decided to share that with you. Not knowing the exact cause of Fonzie’s sudden death has plagued me. Until I finally realized that the only real reason I wanted to know was so that I could know a) how much to blame myself (or others) and b) how much to punish myself. Since tha

One of my past clients is a painter, and he taught me something really important about learning what my own creative process is. While working together one of the things he realized is that there was always a point somewhere in the middle of a project where he faced a creative challenge and didn’t know how he would solve it. Many paintings later, he realized that it’s just part of his process. He almost always faces a challenge, experiences doubt or doesn't like what he's pro

This month in the newsletter, I’m going to explore creativity—what it has meant for me, how it relates to work, why it matters, etc. Even if you think (especially if you think) creativity has nothing to do with you, I hope you’ll read the newsletters this month. And if you already identify as a creative person or work as a creative person, I also hope you’ll read the newsletters because I'll also be talking about creative blocks, what happens to our creativity and all sorts o

The most interesting thing that’s happening in my life right now is that a hairless cat is about to move into my house. It has sweaters. The second most interesting thing is that I got to have a RIM (regenerating images in memory) session where I got to be the client and my fellow practitioner facilitated the process. RIM is a process that utilizes the imagination to re-generate, neurologically, a new memory. According to Dr. Deb Sandella, the creator of RIM, “Since your nerv

I feel pressure to be positive. I want to be a beam of sunlight. I want to help people see what’s possible. I want people to feel better, to experience relief and to be uplifted. So the other day when I cut off about five people in traffic and mean-mugged a woman and her son at the grocery store (they were were exiting through the entrance--the nerve!), I started to ask myself, “WTF? I’m acting like an asshole. I’m not an asshole (usually) so where is this coming from? Why am