Tag Archives: self-improvement

There Is Only Black and White, Not Any Shades Of Grey

When I was young I used to get frustrated that my Father always saw everything as black and white – there was never any grey as far as he was concerned. As a little kid I would always try to explain to him why the grey sometimes existed and without fail I would end up […]

You are the architect of your life

For years and years I worked on drawing a floor plan for my dream home and then a few years ago I was able to build that house and see those drawings become a reality.  It was really exciting to see something you had worked so hard on come to fruition. We are the architects […]

Some days you just need to go to the “Pooh Tent”

I’m sure everyone reading the title of today’s blog has to be wondering what the heck I could possibly mean when I say that some days you just need to go to the Pooh tent?  I’ll explain: Years ago I shared in a blog how when my children were young and they were acting badly […]

Make Pearls from Sand

The Oyster Story There once was an oyster whose story I tell, Who found that some sand had got into his shell. It was only a grain, but it gave him great pain. For oysters have feelings although they’re so plain. Now, did he berate the harsh working of fate Which had brought him to […]

Our life tomorrow is the result of our attitudes and the choices we make today

Each day we go through life making choices. Sometimes they are carefully thought through choices and sometimes they are impulsive. Sometimes we make them based on what we want for the future and sometimes we make them based on what we want right now. And while we all get to make our own choices, we […]

Check Yourself Before You Wreck Yourself. Avoiding Self-Sabotage At Work (Forbes Article)

I was standing in the security line at an airport when a TSA worker came walking alongside the line yelling out in an animated way, “No liquids, no aerosols, no gels or creams on the airplane…You better check yourself before you wreck yourself!” I couldn’t stop myself from laughing out loud. As the CEO of […]

Some days you just have to create your own sunshine

I woke up this morning so excited to go out into the warm spring sunshine…I put on my short sleeved shirt and sandals, and I opened my door to find ridiculously cold wind and rain! NOOOOOO!!!…. Back inside I went to change my sandals for winter shoes and put on my warmest sweater. I was […]

If you want truth then go to the source

“A lot of problems in the world would disappear if people talk to each other instead of about each other.” All of us have made the mistake of believing gossip to be true at one time or another. I know there was a time many years ago when I myselft got sucked into believing gossip […]

“I love tax season” Said NO ONE EVER!

“Have you ever noticed that when you put together THE and IRS it spells THEIRS?”….ironic eh? There are very few weeks I dread more than the week before tax returns are due. Trying to pull together all your information from the prior year to figure out all your income and deductions when you can barely […]

Your Biggest Haters Are Really Your Biggest Fans

Haters, bullies, mean people…they all have one thing in common…they all suffer from one of the following: 1.  They hate themselves, 2.  They want to be you, or 3.  They see you as a threat Think about it – “Have you ever met a hater doing better than you? Me Neither….” There are far too many […]

Take the time to admire their uniqueness

“Once a wise old botany teacher was speaking to a group of young and eager students. He gave them an assignment to go out by the side of some lonely road and find a small, unnoticed flower. He asked them to study the flower for a long time. “Get a magnifying glass and study the […]

Healthy Competition

What makes competition a positive force over a negative force? And what is the definition of healthy versus unhealthy competition? “If you continuously compete with others, you become bitter, but if you continuously compete with yourself, you become better.” Let’s start by talking about Healthy Competition.  Healthy Competition can help to motivate people to put […]

Focus on the unique contribution you can offer the world

“The only unique contribution you can offer the world is to be who you actually are and no one else.” – Ashly Lorenzana Every person is born with individual strengths and talents. Every person brings something unique into this world and each person is able to add something different to this world. And it is […]

Avoid discouraged, depressed, and empty!

Motivation. We all need it. Not just once or twice, but every single day of our lives. If we don’t refuel our motivation tanks on a regular basis we will burn through them and find ourselves discouraged, depressed, and empty. It would be nice if we had a low fuel indicator light on our personal […]

Justification is a slippery slope

Justification is a slippery slope that will drag you downhill fast if you allow yourself to engage in it. Just think about it, the entire purpose of justification is to try and make some that is just plain wrong appear to actually be right. It’s an attitude that the ends justifies the means – but […]

It’s the first day of Spring AND it’s International Day of Happiness…coincidence…I think not!

I love that there is an international day dedicated to being happy! And the fact it falls on the first day of Spring is perfect because Springtime makes me happy! In honor of the holiday I felt it only appropriate to talk about being happy. Did you know that research has shown that happy people: […]

Remember the old days when Apple was just a fruit?

Can you even remember what life was like before you had your Apple iPhone or some other brand of smartphone? Can you imagine for a second going back to that life? Let’s look at the pros and cons. Pros:  On the positive side we can be accessed real time, all the time, every day and […]

It could be that a small miracle is at play

At the end of last week I was invited by my friend Spencer Eccles to attend an Economic Conference out at Stanford University with a small group going out together. It was a fantastic event and I was so grateful I was able to attend it because I learned a tremendous amount and I met […]

Don’t be so quick to forget

My daughter Ashley who is still out serving her mission shared a story from a talk she attended on her mission that has such a simple, yet powerful message, that I had to share it with all of you. She was attending a meeting where a leader was speaking and in the letter Ashley is […]

Faith, Hope, Love, and Luck

Given that this Thursday is St. Patrick’s Day I figure this is the perfect week to talk about luck. We have all heard of the four leaf clover. It`s also sometimes referred to as a shamrock. They are said to bring good luck to anyone who can find one of them. According to legend, each […]

Olympic Gold Medalist Nikki Stone Interviews On Sticking Your Neck Out

This morning I was asked by Olympic Gold Medalist Nikki Stone to come and do a live interview with her for a segment on the TV Show “Good Things Utah” on ABC4Utah television. During this segment Nikki interviews successful business people who learned to “stuck their neck out”, a premise based on Nikki’s bestselling book “When Turtles Fly: […]

Sometimes you need to stop and remember the WHY

We often start things with a very good reason behind why we are doing it. There is typically a motivation that is driving us forward. But sometimes we can get so busy doing something that we totally lose sight of WHY we started doing it in the first place! It’s so critical for each of […]

Motherhood Is Not A Liability To A Woman’s Ability In Business, So Don’t Act Apologetic As If It Is (Forbes Article)

When I started my first technology company in my early 20’s it never even crossed my mind that I was a bit of an anomaly being a female CEO in a male dominated tech industry. Frankly, the first time I really even became aware of how few women executives there were in the tech industry […]

You can’t buy happiness, but you can buy shoes, and that’s kind of the same thing

When I saw that quote today: “You can’t buy happiness, but you can buy shoes, and that’s kind of the same thing.” I busted out laughing …and frankly after the icky week I have had I desperately needed a good laugh because laughter is supposed to be nature’s best medicine!  And I need all the […]

Fight Off the Winter Blues

First remember to keep calm, it’s only a four day work week and you are one down, three to go! I think a four day work week is great – except all that stuff we all pushed off last week with the excuse that we would do it after the long weekend turned up TODAY…so […]

Determination, Work, and A Whole Lot of Courage

As those of you who follow my blog know, I try to write each day about something I learned during each day I am writing. So being that it is Super Bowl Sunday, I decided to write a lesson that comes to mind as I am sitting watching the game with my family (okay let’s […]

What will your mark on this world be?

We all come into this world for a time, not knowing how short or long the time we have in this life will be. We go about our lives being busy, getting things done, and hopefully having some fun along the way. But when is the last time we really sat down and thought about […]

The Largest Event of Its Kind In The World – The Global Family History Event RootsTech Has Begun!

Today RootsTech, the largest family history and genealogy conference in the world, kicked off with over 23,000 registered attendees gathering from all over the world to Salt Lake City, Utah.  Attendees are from all 50 states in the United States and over 40 other countries. All of these people have come together to hear keynote […]

Delicious Ambiguity

Certainty…it’s something we all long for because we want that feeling of security, but the fact is that none of us can ever really get it because life is, and always will be, full of uncertainty. That’s why the key to being at ease in life is to learn to embrace uncertainty. So how do […]

Take the 14 Day Challenge to Love One Another!

February is upon us! Which means Valentine’s Day is only 14 days away (friendly reminder, especially to all the gentlemen out there who don’t want to end us as one of those men in the hallmark card aisle the night before desperately looking through the last remaining cards in the store). Whether you have a […]