Tag Archives: success

Tell The Negative Committee That Meets Inside Your Head To Sit Down And Shut Up

“Tell the negative committee that meets inside your head to sit down and shut up!” – Ann Bradford I still remember as a child seeing my mother standing in the kitchen talking to herself. No joke. She would literally have entire conversations with herself. At the time I just assumed my Mom must be a […]

#TheMeaningOfLifeIn4Words

When my twitter feed revealed #TheMeaningOfLifeIn4Words  as the top trend hashtag of the moment it totally killed my focus tonight. The truth is I don’t usually pay attention to things that are trending but for some reason this one caught my eye. Perhaps that’s because I’ve spent days on end doing nothing but writing word […]

It’s BOTH National Bacon Lovers Day AND Cupcake Day! It’s Clearly Going To Be A Ridiculously Awesome Day!

Bacon and Cupcakes – celebrating either one of those delicious delicacies in a day would make it an awesome day, but celebrating both of them on the SAME DAY?! That is the very description of Ridiculously Awesome! When I discovered that National Bacon Lovers Day (August 20th each year) and Cupcake Day (the third Monday […]

Nothing Is Troublesome That We Do Willingly

Yesterday I posted a blog that shared 10 Rules For The Good. After posting it I couldn’t seem to get one of the ten rules out of my head. It was rule number seven on the list which states that “Nothing is troublesome that we do willingly.” It struck me because too often I find […]

The Courage To Forgo Options, Close Doors, And Commit To A Particular Thing

Although it’s great to have options in life, studies have shown that the more options we have available to us the less satisfied we are with any option.  I actually wrote a Forbes article on this subject a few years ago when I had an experience that highlighted this for me. With all the options […]

You Can Only Be Young Once. But You Can Always Be Immature

“You can only be young once. But you can always be immature.” -Dave Berry My sister Jen and my niece Rachel came into town this week to visit from California. It’s been a while since I’ve gotten to spend time with the two of them but 17 years ago my niece Rachel actually lived with […]

The Worst Decision Is Indecision

Where do you want to go out to dinner tonight? Sounds like an easy question, yet when someone asks it to you it often feels like they’ve just presented you the most difficult question ever.  There are so many options you could choose, and what if you choose one and you would have liked the […]

12 Ways to Lighten Up

We all need help lightening up once in awhile. Here are 12 great steps to help you lighten up: “Approaching your life with a non-serious attitude gives you a clearheaded view of difficulties and the energy to deal with them. Problems are easier to solve, people are more cooperative and you feel more relaxed. You […]

“No one can whistle a symphony. It takes an orchestra to play it“

“No one can whistle a symphony. It takes an orchestra to play it.”  – H.E. Lucckock The last few days my husband and I have been meeting with people who have all dedicated their time, talents and resources to helping to lift the lives of others.  Seeing the power that comes from having a group […]

Traveling For Business Is Not Exactly The Glamorous Lifestyle You Envisioned

I remember a time when I was growing up and I would hear about someone who traveled for business and I would think to myself, “they are so lucky to have such a glamorous job that they get to travel.” Oh, how little I understood back then. I could not have been more wrong about […]

Promise Yourself

“Promise Yourself To be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind. To talk health, happiness, and prosperity to every person you meet. To make all your friends feel that there is something in them To look at the sunny side of everything and make your optimism come true. To think only the […]

Keep On Keepin’ On

The weekend is just around the corner, which in and of itself is something to get excited about.  Some days things go fantastic and other days can be a struggle just to make it through. When times are tough the best thing to do is remind yourself to just keep on keepin’ on: Keep on Keepin’ […]

If I Had My Life To Live Over Again

Yesterday I blogged about a talk Steve Jobs gave in which he discussed keeping perspective on life and death in the context of making decisions and not letting fear hold you back. After I’d finished that blog I couldn’t help but think a bit more about that subject of life and death, but my thoughts […]

If It’s Your Job To Eat A Frog It’s Best To Do It First Thing In The Morning

“If it’s your job to eat a frog, it’s best to do it first thing in the morning. And If it’s your job to eat two frogs, it’s best to eat the biggest one first.” – Mark Twain I tend to struggle with wanting to take on the big tasks first thing in my day. […]

You Have To Be Odd To Be Number One! (This Will Pump You Up!!!)

“You have to be odd to be number one.”  -Dr. Seuss If you want to get SUPER PUMPED UP at the start of your day then listen to the audio in this video. It is an AWESOME way to start your day and get all fired up to get out there and be willing to […]

What True Love Looks Like

Here is a beautiful story about what true love looks like: “It was a busy morning, about 8:30, when an elderly gentleman in his 80’s arrived at the hospital to have stitches removed from his thumb. He said he was in a hurry as he had an appointment at 9:00 am. The nurse took his […]

Am I The Only One Who Finds It Hard To Focus The Day Before A Holiday?

Have I mentioned how much I LOVE HOLIDAYS?! I love everything about them. Great food, fun, friends, family….how could I not love holidays??  In fact, I get so excited about holidays that I start celebrating them in my mind the day before they even arrive…the closer we get to the actual holiday the more antsy […]

If You Want To Change The World, Change Yourself

“When I was a young man, I wanted to change the world. I found it was difficult to change the world, so I tried to change my nation. When I found I couldn’t change the nation, I began to focus on my town. I couldn’t change the town and as an older man, I tried […]

My First Fortnite Experience

Fortnite. I had heard there was a lot of hype about the video game, but I had never actually seen or played this game…until this weekend… My family traveled down in our RV to Bryce Canyon Utah (where our daughter-in-law is from) to support her family as they welcomed back her brother who was returning […]

One Man Asks Why Women Speak in “Woman Code”

“Men say that women should come with instructions…What’s the point of that? Have you actually ever seen a man read the instructions?” I walked into our kitchen today to find my husband, my son, and my father all laughing out loud and knowingly shaking their heads as they listened to this short little video clip […]

Success Comes From Doing The Little Things Over A Long Period Of Time

Today I heard “The Stonecutter’s Creedo” for the first time. It was written by Jacob Riis: “When nothing seems to help, I go and look at a stonecutter hammering away at his rock perhaps a hundred times without as much as a crack showing in it. Yet at the hundred and first blow it will […]

What Separates Winners From Losers Isn’t Talent, It’s Attitude

Seth Godin has said, “It’s not really a search for talent. It’s a search for attitude. There are a few jobs where straight up skills are all we ask for. Perhaps in the first violinist in a string quartet. But in fact, even there, what actually separates winners from losers isn’t talent, it’s attitude…An organization filled with […]

That Star You Wished On Can Only Take You Part Of The Way

“That old star can only take you part of the way. You gotta help it along with some hard work of your own.”  – Princess and The Frog Wishing on a star is often what we do when we want something in life.  People wish for riches, or fame, or success, or love, etc.  Unfortunately […]

If You’re Gonna Do It, You Gotta Own It!

“If you’re gonna do it, you gotta own it!” That’s what my daughter yelled out to her now husband as he and her brother were talking about whether he should do a funny dance number at her wedding reception a week ago.  She pointed out that anytime you are going to do something public like […]

Plan Out Every Detail, then Take A Deep Breath…And DANCE!

Well I’m about as prepared as I know how to be for this weeks wedding festivities. I’ve planned every detail, I’ve done Excel spreadsheets and PowerPoint galore showing each vendor exactly what to do and how things should look when it comes together. I’ve done timelines and checklists that map out every minute of the […]

Work as if everything depends on you, Pray as if everything depends on God

I must have been out of my mind to think it was going to be possible for me to be gone for a week to London and then come home for a few days and go right back out of country again to Prague, Cesky Krumlov, Vienna, and Budapest for another full week and then […]

Stop Overthinking It and Start Doing It!

We always have the ability to freak ourselves out with those thoughts of “I can’t do it” or “I’m not good enough to handle it” or “this is impossible” or “it can’t be done”….one of the easiest things in the world is to convince ourselves that we shouldn’t even try…  Heck, if I had really […]

Can Our Words Make A Difference?

Can our words make a difference? Consider this little story: The Group of Frogs As a group of frogs were traveling through the woods, two of them fell into a deep pit. When the other frogs crowded around the pit and when they saw how deep it was, they told the two frogs that fell in […]

Traveling 5,000 Miles To Appreciate What’s Less Than 50 Miles Away

Last week my husband and I flew to London with a group of 108 of our friends from Utah who serve on the Hale Centre Theater Board with us.  It was a whirlwind of a trip packed with back to back events from the moment our plane took off last Tuesday until we touched back […]

Life’s Little Instructions

“Life’s Little Instructions -Every so often you push your luck. -Never underestimate the power of a kind word or deed. -Never give up on anybody — miracles happen every day. -Become the most positive and enthusiastic person you know. -Learn to listen. -Think big thoughts, but relish small pleasures. -Don’t expect others to listen to […]