Handling The Hard Stuff

Category: Personal Development

  • Making a Contribution

    Winning isn’t everything. In fact, winning isn’t much at all in the end. Progress is the win. Effort is the win. Improvement is the win. I’ve participated in a lot of “races”. I put it in quotes because not once have I actually been in competition for a place on a podium. But every single…

  • Audit Your Circle

    There are a lot of studies that show that surrounding yourself with successful people improves the likelihood that you too will be successful. Define success however you want, but you are more likely to accomplish your goals if you surround yourself with people who are similarly driven and have similar goals. The opposite is true…

  • Just Keep Swimming

    I’ve written about consistency before. It’s crucial. It’s important. And sometimes it’s hard as hell. Consistency without the results you want is just about the most frustrating thing ever. When you work and you struggle and you are consistent and you don’t see the payoff you’re looking for, the devastation is tougher than usual. You…

  • Where’s Your Money?

    I recently read an article that says 56% of women married to men leave the financial planning and investment decisions to their husbands. The same article shared the statistic that 80% of women lose their spouse to death or divorce. Regardless of gender, in a lot of relationships there’s one person that “handles the finances”.…

  • Anger is Hard

    It’s easy to get mad. But it is a response, not a cause. You aren’t just angry for the sake of it, you’re angry BECAUSE of something. Think of this when your partner is angry or lashing out. Why are they angry? What’s causing this? If you can manage to look at that piece rather…

  • Who Do You Think You Are?

    Do you ever hear people describing you and completely disagree with their assessment? My dad will describe me to people using works like “brave” and “ambitious” and “confident”, and I have no idea who he’s talking about because it most definitely isn’t me. I think of myself as shy and socially awkward. I would call…

  • Fake It ‘Til You Make It

    If you’re going through hard times you may not be feeling the strongest or proudest or most confident you ever have. That’s okay. We all have seasons of life and we can’t be at our best at all moments. Don’t expect that you’re at your best all the time. We’re human. We have ups and…

  • Everyday Excitement

    We spend so much of our lives living for this vacation or that holiday or that special event. But what about the boring days? In a year we maybe have 30 or so holiday or vacation or special event days. That means 11 months a year are the average everyday life days. I think rather…

  • Handling the Hardest

    What do we do when the world gets too hard? How do we deal when every headline is devastating news and we feel powerless? I am constantly torn between needing to do something and needing to bury my head in the sand. We can do both, but it must be with intention. You must take…

  • Communication is King (or Queen)

    This may come as a shock to learn, but what we say matters less than how we say it. You can only communicate effectively when you know and adjust to your audience. If your audience isn’t listening, you may as well be alone in the room. And as we evolve into a society that communicates…