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Overcome obstacles and achieve career milestones — without burnout
 
      
      Everything Hurt Except My Heart
How do we find the strength to keep going despite enormous pressure to give up?
When doors keep slamming shut in front of us, how can we wait till a new one opens?
We’ve all found ourselves stuck in a doom loop at one time. You know the feeling: Your best efforts aren’t bearing fruit and, no matter where you turn, you don’t see a way forward.
Photo: ketut-subiyanto, Pexels
 
      
      Make the Most of Life Transitions
Seems we’re constantly in flux. Among the more common changes we undergo:
- Our job role shifts 
- A co-worker departs 
- A new person joins the team 
- New tech tools change how we work 
- We decide to move to a new job, retire or start a consultancy 
Photo: Fauxels, Pixels
 
      
      For a Quick Confidence Boost, Access Your Internal “Cocktail”
Ever needed a swift dose of confidence just before an important presentation or a high stakes conversation?
Skip the whiskey shot and try this simple trick to get a surge of assurance from your body’s own neurochemicals.
Photo: aranprime-qg9RJasjQ6c, Unsplash
 
      
      Engage the Brain & Body to Get Unstuck
A coaching client facing a big transition felt anxious about her future. Unable to see herself in a new context, she feared losing the familiarity, identity and structure of her current situation.
I invited her to picture herself gaining experience she wanted and enjoying new friends and new places
Photo: Mikhail Nilov, Pexels
 
      
      How Our Body Manages Us — What We Can Do to Change
In a prior post, I shared a story of a client who used her “embodied self-awareness” to change her behavior in ways deeply aligned with her long-term career goals.
Now I’ll talk about what’s meant by this term, how it differs from the more familiar "conceptual self-awareness" and, most important,
Photo: Anete Lusina, Pexels
 
      
      FEEL the Change You Want to Be
I’ve been working with a foundation leader for a few months. She started at the foundation 13 years ago and worked her way up to senior leadership.
 
She’s in a newly created position that at first felt a bit ambiguous. We have worked on ways to think and talk about her new role, gain greater clarity from her boss
Photo: Cdoncel, Unsplash
 
      
      Wed Curiosity and Empathy with Accountability for Best Results
Ever pondered how someone you disagree with strongly came to their beliefs?
Are you baffled by the way people on the same team can view a work situation through many different lenses?
Do you ever wonder why some of your direct reports breeze through their tasks, asking questions to guide them, while others often miss deadlines, but hesitate to ask for help?  
If yes, what steps have you taken to understand what’s
Photo: Cottonbro, Pexels
 
      
      Powerful Way to Change a Habit: Use Awareness, Acceptance & Action
Do you beat yourself up for interrupting people? Perhaps you want to stop being late or curb your tendency to offer unsolicited advice. Maybe there’s another “bad habit” you’d like to change.
The following 3-step process can help you shift a habit, quiet your inner critic and boost your empathy muscle.
Photo: Ketut Subiyanto, Pexels
 
      
      Say “No” with Confidence!
Do you have trouble making personal or career decisions? It’s easy to confuse the “urgent” with the “important” or choose an option that feels easy instead of the one that’s best. Many of us also tend to say “yes” in the moment, later regretting that answer.
Photo: Emmy E, Pexels
 
      
      Thriving in Fundraising Is a Two-Way Street
You probably know a development professional who chose to leave their job due to burnout. Perhaps you are such a person. I certainly am.
My first job as a development director (DD) was at a small nonprofit with a mission I loved. The group had an annual fund fed by very low “membership fees”. Each year, members were sent a beautiful glossy calendar created through a photo contest the DD managed. Despite its member focus
Photo: Andrea Piacquadio. Pexels
 
      
      Sleep: Foundation of Wellbeing
I’ve been sleeping more lately. I’m also learning a lot in an intensive and fascinating somatic coaching course. More on the course later.
As I recover from a cold on the cusp of an overseas vacation, I’m practicing “exquisite self-care” so I can enjoy my trip.
Photo: Kaboompics.com, Pexels
 
      
      “Action Conquers Fear”
This is what a wise friend of mine told me yesterday when I said I was calling my Congressional representatives to register my opposition to the new administration's war on everything I hold dear.
 
      
      How Are You Doing?
I'm departing this post from my usual focus on workplace wellbeing. Instead, I'll speak about my own mental health and responses to what's happening on the national scene. 
I'd love to know how YOU are faring in the face of all the chaos and damage to our sector and the whole country. I hope you're taking good care and hanging in there.
Photo: Eleanor Smith
 
      
      Blooming in Life and at Work
Spoiler Alert: I hope I’m not giving away too much when I say the AppleTV+ hit thriller Severance is science fiction. Some of us may wish we could keep our work and personal lives totally separate. But it’s not possible.
Photo: RDNE, Pexels
 
      
      The Lure to Overcommit
Do you find yourself saying yes to every request from your boss or coworkers? Do you work nights and weekends to get the work done?
I used to overwork a lot. I thought that taking on more and more responsibilities would prove that I was competent, dedicated and worthy of a promotion, a raise or just my current job. It wasn’t until I hit a wall hard that I realized I was no longer able to keep up that exhausting pace.
Photo: Thirdman, Pexels
 
      
      The Magic of Kind Leadership
For nearly a year, I’ve been coaching a nonprofit leader since her second month in a small direct services organization. 
She was hired to lead an important department; it was the first time she’d supervised others.
Photo: Vuralyava, Pexels
 
      
      It’s the Little Things That Matter
I started an intentional gratitude practice about 15 years ago. I asked a friend if she’d like to be my “gratitude partner."
We began daily email exchanges to the other, simply listing all the people, events and things in our lives that we felt grateful for that day.
Photo: 2mephoto, Pexels
 
      
      "I Don't Know" -- Door to Freedom?
If you’re like me, you felt despair last week and more than a bit baffled how the election could have turned out the way it did. I know I traveled a long distance through a thicket of emotions.
Image: Cottonbro, Pexels
 
      
      Nonprofits Are Not Self-Driving Cars
A student in my Nonprofit Management Certificate Course last semester asked, “Why are nonprofit workers paid so poorly?”
A clinical psychologist, she founded a nonprofit to provide subsidized therapy to low-income clients. In a discussion on nonprofit leadership, she said she’d
Photo: Nordic Overdrive, Pexels
 
      
      Listen to Your People!
I recently led a half-day workshop on staying well at work for 60 staff members of three nonprofits serving people affected by sexual assault, domestic violence and homelessness.
Photo: Fauxels, Pexels
