“Gotta pick up the kids from school.” “Gotta get this report done by tomorrow.” “Gotta shop for dinner.” “Gotta pay the bills!” “Gotta get to the gym and lose this extra weight.” “Gotta get to the dry cleaners before they close.” Gotta, gotta, gotta.

The hustle and bustle of life and the need to get somewhere are themes I hear frequently. We are seekers. We are travelers. And we are often unaware that we are reaching for something while ignoring what is happening right now—within ourselves and around us.

"Forgiveness" is a term used so often that few people question its intrinsic value. You'd probably agree that asking for and offering forgiveness has become common practice. Just like many others, I was taught growing up that when you hurt someone—even accidentally—the right thing to do is to say you're sorry and ask for forgiveness. Children quickly learn when adults expect an apology, even when a child may have lacked the skill to respond differently.

Many may be surprised for me to question the long and treasured tradition of forgiveness and how we view love in the context of forgiving [...]

There is a lot of talk about creating a life you love. The internet is a smorgasbord of information about how to change our lives from topics such as “How to Attract Your Soul Mate” to scientific articles on “Change Your Brain and Transform Your Life.” And just like overeating at a giant buffet, if you consume too much, the result is indigestion.

Often clients come to me for coaching with the indigestion of overload and confusion. Why? Because too much information often causes paralysis. Mental indigestion is a problem of too much. It’s impossible to act on everything, so an overwhelmed [...]

In my younger years, I did a lot of journaling to process my emotions and sort through my thoughts. However, it’s no longer my favorite way to process, organize, or share information. I haven’t journaled in years, but I have done a lot of mind mapping. It’s fun, effective, and it works with the natural processes of the brain.

Tony Buzan, coined the term and technique, Mind Mapping, in the 1960s. Buzan is a specialist in innovation, memory, thinking process, and creativity. The basic premise is to use pictures, words, colors, and nonlinear forms to create, remember, organize, or present [...]

With all the daily ups and downs and the moment-by-moment challenges that arise in our lives, it's easy to forget that we have a say in how we feel. We have the ability to choose our response no matter what happens (and things do happen). We can create our experience in each moment, even when it doesn’t feel like we have any choice at all.

How do we do this? By being mindful of our reactions and self-talk. At any moment, we can set our reset button, shifting tension to a conscious intention. Perhaps our intention is to remain calm even when things go wrong. These mini decisions determine [...]

One beautiful autumn evening, after a full day with clients, I was carrying the groceries through the living room when I noticed my dog's peculiar paw prints on the carpet. In shock, I quickly dumped the bags on a table and walked into our kitchen, which now resembled a toddlers' wading pool.

The floor was covered with an inch of water, and it was rapidly seeping into the dining room carpet. Where the heck was the water coming from? Quickly I ran down to the basement to grab old towels to soak up the water—and was greeted with the horror of another flood, water still gushing from above and [...]

It’s one thing to say you want something, another to make it a goal, and another to visualize yourself achieving your goal. The last option is possibly the most powerful.

Visualization has been cited as a game-changer by athletes like Olympian Kerri Walsh, celebrities like Oprah Winfrey, Will Smith and Jim Carrey, and influential business people like Bo Bennet and Harvey Mackay.

Rehearsing your own success is not just for the rich and famous, though. It is a powerful tool for everyone from parents at home to kids applying to college, business owners and everyday staff workers.

You are now competing with pixels for the attention of nearly everyone you know. And you are probably losing.  

Technology addiction, screen time, the black hole of the internet, Reddit and the endless scroll of Instagram—not to mention those notifications every time an email slides in...the widespread influence of tech is a thing of daily life for most American families. There are more ways for screens to suck people in than there are people to be enticed.

The other day, my dog got so caught up in a Game of Thrones episode that she wouldn’t come when I called (there were wolves on the [...]

Maybe you’ve seen the images? A white square superimposed over a picture of your friend, mom or coworker, an NFL quarterback, celebrity or news anchor. Inside the box, this phrase: “love has no labels.”

This campaign—though “campaign” can’t really capture its essence—is spreading, and fast.

The motto is simple, as the most powerful revolutionary thoughts tend to be: “Before anything else, we are human.”

Personally, I cannot help but think of the opening to Pride & Prejudice, “It is a truth universally acknowledged that…” It seems painfully simple to say that we are human. Obviously, we [...]