Handling The Hard Stuff

Category: Personal Development

  • Behavior is a Language

    How often have you been frustrated because a child or a partner or a friend isn’t behaving in a way you think they should? They’ve ignored you or they’ve shown up belligerent, or they haven’t shown up at all? That person is telling you something with their language. We’ve all heard “If someone shows you…

  • Decision Fatigue

    If you’re in charge of a household or raising children or recovering from a relationship ending, you don’t have a lot of extra mental space. This is when decision fatigue comes into play and you find yourself overwhelmed by everything by the end of the day and ordering pizza for dinner but making someone else…

  • Self-Sabotage

    So many of us have the best-laid plans and for various reasons we sabotage our own progress. I realized recently that part of the reason I self-sabotage is somewhere in the realm of anxiety and control. If I sabotage myself, then I know when it’s going to happen and it’s within my control. If I…

  • Your Inner Voice

    My inner voice can be super mean. The older I get the better I am at shutting it up, but there are still plenty of times when my inner voice tells me I’m useless and unlovable and there’s nothing I can do about it. It’s hard to fight yourself. It’s hard to remember that that…

  • Use What You Have

    It’s so easy to daydream about things you’d buy or build or learn or get. And especially this time of year we are inundated with consumerism. We are shopping for others so we may as well buy ourselves a small treat or that thing we’d been eyeing for awhile. I am a huge culprit in…

  • Perspective

    It’s hard to get a sense of progress when we’re just trying to hang on day to day. Taking a step back and analyzing our lives is virtually impossible when we’re in the throes of it. I like to take a single data point and compare where things are every year on that day. For…

  • Coping Mechanisms

    This is a time of year that is challenging for a lot of people with family difficulties or relationships that are ending. We self-heal in all kinds of ways. Other people may not understand why you’re doing what you’re doing and they may have a LOT of problems with your methods. Your coping mechanisms may…

  • Strike While The Iron Is Hot

    We don’t always have motivation to do things. Energy fluctuates, interest levels fluctuate, time and availability fluctuates. I have spent my life being a champion procrastinator. But lately I’ve been able to make small inroads on that front. I’ve found myself with more energy than usual lately – I don’t know if it’s vitamins or…

  • Take the Wins

    Do you ever find yourself in a situation where someone compliments you and you minimize or deflect it? I remember when I graduated from law school my aunt, a woman who had gone to business school at night while fighting breast cancer and raising two children under the age of five alone after divorcing an…

  • The Value of Placeholders

    Everything in life has a season. We are inundated with social media posts giving us the impression that everyone is living their best lives all the time forever. In reality, we’re all just trying to keep it all together. There is something to be said for temporary “settling” – a placeholder while you focus on…