Being stuck. It is something we have all experienced at one point or another. Sometimes it can feel like being on one side of a very high stone wall. We keep trying to put our foot here and our hands there but no matter what we do, we can’t get enough traction to make progress that will carry us over the top. We can see a strong hand hold ahead that looks like it should hold us, but it seems risky to stretch our arms that far. Reaching for it may send us back down to the bottom.

Being aware of this tendency to focus on what wasn’t is the first step in moving from a failure mindset to a success mindset. When you think back at the end of a day or a week, what are the top three things your mind goes to? Do you look at success or failure?

“Stepping out of your comfort zone” seems to be the phrase of the decade. We often hear it used when someone is describing what enabled them to make a big move in their lives.

Anyone who has paid any attention to what I have been saying over the past few weeks is fully familiar with my metaphor of life being a journey – a road we are on. Here is another part of that story – there is no final destination. Your drive doesn’t end until you actually run out of gas with no filling station in site

This struggle, of juggling time and commitments, is often created by our desires to achieve our own perceptions of joy, success, and satisfaction as part of an overall career or life plan. While we each seek an individualized goal of balance, often the way we think and talk about the number of things requiring our time, is the very thing that can rob us of the satisfaction we are seeking. It can also unwittingly undermine our credibility and ensure an unlimited, lifetime ride on the great hamster wheel.

Time truly is a teacher. There are a number of lessons I have learned over my 30 years of professional life. First among them - sometimes it is the small things that can make a big difference.

Whether leading a team, a company, or simply managing your day-to-day life, the past two years have challenged each of us with making decisions in highly ambiguous situations.

Change is one of those things that creates massive anxiety for most people. Be it welcomed, self-initiated change – like accepting a new job, moving to a new city, or becoming a parent - or forced change, such as a new boss, it requires adjustment. No matter the reason, the concept of “change” is something that shifts our anxious brain into overdrive.

We all want to be successful, and happiness is the ultimate goal of all decisions we make in life. But which comes first, success or happiness? While success is often measured externally or by comparison to others in our lives, happiness is usually a quality of an individual.

Although both concepts are inevitably linked, what does it take to really be happy? Does success always guarantee happiness?

If you are working up to something exciting that you really care about, you don't have to be pushed. The vision pulls you. If you don't know where you're going, you won't know when you've arrived. Check out my video!

Separating habits or judgements from our identity takes intention. I was in the habit of constantly doing something. It helped define who I was – someone who accomplished things and didn’t waste their “free” time. The truth was – it wasn’t serving me. Frankly, it was exhausting as well as depriving me of the time and mind space I needed to really think in the creative, strategic, imaginative way I wanted to.

I received my second vaccine a month ago. In the months, weeks, and days leading up to this, I had a list of the places I was going to fly off to and all the things I was going to do the moment I was immunized. Sun, warmth, and beaches permeated my thoughts. I thought transitioning from living with angst around my safety, back to my pre-COVID ways of being, would be as easy as a light switch turning on.

Curiosity is a key in building resilience. It is a corner stone of empathic and insightful leadership. It is not what killed the cat.