Handling The Hard Stuff

Category: Personal Development

  • Just Start

    It’s hard to do new things. As adults we’re supposed to be knowledgeable. That often translates to us avoiding things outside our comfort zone. Trying something new becomes harder and harder the more we stay in our comfort zone. I assume I am terrible at just about everything. I assume I am mildly capable at…

  • Give Them an Out

    Have you ever been in an argument with someone and you’re both so dug in to your positions that neither of you can move even a little bit without “giving in”? I have. I am stubborn as all hell. And I always have been. My parents talk about how conflicts with me were a negotiation…

  • It All Draws from the Same Well

    Have you ever had a day where you spent the whole day in a meeting sitting listening to people talk and you come home EXHAUSTED? You’ve been sitting all day long but you have zero energy left. Have you had a day where you are dealing with grief or trauma or helping someone else deal…

  • It’s Not Your Responsibility to Make People Happy

    Some of us are people pleasers. Some people grew up walking on egg shells because they didn’t live in a safe place. People are averse to conflict for a million reasons. Many of us have to learn how to navigate a new relationship with a new person. I remember in college my roommate would periodically…

  • Micro-Joys

    There is much studied and written about the positive mental and physical impacts that regular gratitude can have. I will be the first to acknowledge I am terrible at this. I can’t get myself to sit down and meditate. I am terrible at journaling. I just can’t manage to stop my world and take the…

  • Quiet Love

    We aren’t all overt in our affection. Many of us are uncomfortable expressing ourselves with words. We show our love in different ways. My dad says he doesn’t want gifts, but he’s the first one to play with the kids’ toys on Christmas morning. He doesn’t say “I love you”, but he makes sure my…

  • Ask Yourself Why

    Why do you do the things you do? Why do you work yourself to the bone or sneak midnight snacks or disappear into a book when you have chores to do? What’s the root cause? Because you can’t expect to change the things that are causing problems for you, if you don’t understand the why…

  • Set Goals That Matter

    Any one of us that has tried to better themselves or learn something has set some form of goal – whether formal or not. If you’re anything like me, you’ve broken your own goals plenty of times over. We aim high and then the process of getting from start to finish is too long and…

  • Set It and Forget It Finances

    It’s easy to get overwhelmed by budgets and financial decisions and paying off debt and saving for retirement and all the things you’re supposed to be doing when you’re in the throes of adulting. But when you filter it down just a little there are a few simple things you can set up and take…

  • Free up your free time

    In a world where we are supposed to be immediately accessible at all times because of email and texts and social media, it is easy to get overwhelmed by the noise technology brings to our lives. The flip side is that technology and automation can bring a lot of freedom to our lives if we…