Wander Woman

When was the last time you were so happy with yourself or your work that you walked around with a smile all day? I found in my research that high-achieving women tend to enjoy their victories, but only for a moment. They may dance a jig, call their friends or even fall to the ground full of gratitude and bliss. They celebrate well, but it doesn’t last. All too soon, they

I have found that it is not the magnitude of your purpose that will calm your soul. It is the value you believe you are giving at any given moment and the recognition that what you offer is “enough.” I had left a workshop early to make sure I got through the Friday afternoon security line at the Washington Reagan National airport in time to catch my flight home. I had

Here's a powerful way to help people accept change: Let them whine and complain. Encourage the steam to be released in an organized setting. Help people identify what they think they are losing so they can move through it instead of suppress it. One of the best experiences I had working with organizational change was in my first job at a psychiatric hospital. Whenever a change was decreed, the managers brought

I would have thought that High-Achievers looked at life as an abundant well of opportunity. After reading Lloyd Thomas' article on Scarcity, I have a different perspective. Kahil Gibran writes: "to be thirsty when your well is full is a thirst which is unquenchable." A scarcity mentality is when, no matter how much you have, it is never enough. You remain continuously unsatisfied. High achievers feel this way when they have a gut sense that there is always something more to achieve. Therefore, you might have a belief that your accomplishments, or the recognition for what you can achieve, will never be enough. The upside is that you are driven to accomplish great things; the downside is that you limit your celebration of what you have created so far in your life. If it's not good enough, it's not time to celebrate. When you come from scarcity, you tend to limit your consumption. This includes drinking in the beauty of your life. On the darker side, you may feel resentment about others who have what you lack (grander achievements). This further serves to effectively exclude you from feeling proud of what you have accomplished so far. To reverse the psychologically damaging effects of a scarcity belief, you must engage in paradoxical behavior. In other words, whatever you need, give it away. Give someone else recognition for something you could have done yourself. Help other people today even though they could outshine you tomorrow. Create celebrations of achievement for others so that you may reflect on your own path. Help others feel acceptance, significance, joyful and proud. What grander accomplishment can you create? Does this sound strange? As Lloyd says, "If you don't understand any of today's column, simply explain it to somebody else." It's time to stop and appreciate what wonders you have created to date in this life. There are many more things you can and will do. And, you truly have time to take a moment to sit back and admire who you have become.

Yesterday a blog post went out with three old postings of mine. I didn't send it. I'm taking it as a sign. There are three possible lessons I can learn from this: 1. This is a feature I didn't know I had on Wordpress. Now that's telling. How many features do you have that you don't acknowledge about yourself? I am going to a conference today with many of my professional

Change is only difficult when you can't let go of the past. Judith Valente, who suddenly lost her job as a foreign correspondent for the Wall Street Journal but now happily writes poetry and leads spiritual retreats for busy professionals, says the breakthrough in her thinking occurred when she realized life is a continuum. Valente says that if you “lean into the mystery of life” you are less likely to

I've said this before...the leader sets the emotional tone. The leader in a room is the person with social dominance, not just a title. The energy you put out as a leader either uplifts or downgrades the climate in the room, even more than your words. On this note, Valerie Williams has been coaching and teaching executives how to be powerfully present for years. She just launched a great new book

I am attending a marketing workshop. Although there are signs that the economy is at least flattening out if not turning around, the room is still full of negative and scared energy. Obviously, we can't control the story of our lives. Yet we can control the mood of the main character. When it comes to business, it's the companies that "spend their way out of the recession" who become the champions.

3 Signs of Stress to Watch Out For The recession has taken an emotional toll on all of us. Watch out for these signs of stress:

One of the ways of coping with this economic crisis is to have an "eye for gratitude." A recent study found female-owned companies faring better than male-owned businesses due to resilience. This means they focus more on what they have instead of what they have lost. A good way to shift your mindset is to visit a 2nd or 3rd world country. When you can shift your mind to appreciating what you have, you will find what you need to succeed.