Handling The Hard Stuff

Category: Future

  • We Can’t Hack Everything

    This is such a trend lately – every advertisement or online post is Five Quick Ways to XYZ. We are constantly pitched a cheat code or a hack or a quick way to circumvent hard work in order to get the outcome we desire. The reality is that the outcome isn’t nearly as desirably if…

  • Safety Net

    A friend of mine messaged me today to tell me she quit her job – her first professional, career, JOB job – without having another lined up. She was freaking out. She sort of had a plan, she’d loosely lined up additional work to fill the time and space and has a strong likelihood that…

  • Easygoing

    As kids we’re taught to be nice. We’re taught to be polite. And we’re taught to figure out how to get along with each other. Some of us are taught to be silent until spoken to. We learn to be agreeable and go-along-to-get-along. We practice saying yes to things so we can avoid conflict. We…

  • Reward Yourself

    We don’t celebrate our wins much as adults. We have a hard time prioritizing the small victories in our daily lives. And even when we do celebrate the little things, we rarely reward ourselves in big or useful ways. When I was little any celebratory act was rewarded with treats. Ice cream or chocolate or…

  • Quiet Quitting

    This is a phrase that’s come about in the last few years that essentially means you’re not “giving your all” to something. It is mostly used in relation to your work identity. It goes hand in hand with someone over the age of 50 grumbling “no one wants to work anymore”. That’s true Jim, no…

  • Don’t Require an Apology

    In so many of my divorce cases, my client will spend so much time and energy being angry at the way their soon-to-be ex has treated them. That anger often dissipates after the first month or so – people learn to cope with their new life, they figure out what it’s going to look like…

  • Financial Hierarchy

    Money can be a lot of things. It can be scary or confusing, it can be freeing or limiting. It can create stability and confidence. It can generate feelings of guilt or greed or shame or envy. For me, money is a path to freedom of time. Budgets and debts and monthly payments take up…

  • Set Appropriate Goals

    We are all so tempted to dream big in the new year. We make vision boards and set big, bold, ambitious goals for things we wish to do or accomplish in the next 365 days. I am not a New Year Resolution person. I sometimes come up with a theme or a guiding approach I…

  • Respect the Stress

    The end of year holidays are joyous and wonderful and exhausting as all get out. We have more gatherings, more travel, more expenses, less structure, less healthy food and activities, and lots more peopling. It’s delightful and also hugely stressful. For some it’s just plain stressful. Maybe you’re dealing with in-laws that create constant tension…

  • Forgive Yourself

    So much of what we do when we are young follows us into adulthood. Decisions we make about schooling, working, relationships, and how we solve problems as young adults has ripple effects that we end of dealing with for the rest of our lives. As an older adult the consequences of your young-self’s decisions can…