Tag Archives: self-improvement

The Ones Who Do

Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes.   The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo.   You can praise them, disagree with them, quote them, disbelieve them, glorify or vilify them. […]

Never be afraid to fall apart

“Never be afraid to fall apart because it is an opportunity to rebuild yourself the way you wish you had been all along.” – Rae Smith Ya know every now and then you just have to have that momentary break down…that day when you break down and cry…when you fall apart just a little bit…it […]

Before You Do

“Before you act, listen. Before you react, think. Before you spend, earn. Before you criticize, wait. Before you pray, forgive. Before you quit, try.”                                       -Ernest Hemingway I love the message of that quote.  It’s such a […]

Embrace Uncertainty

Security is something we all long for.  Security in our job.  Security in our financial state.  Security in our relationships.  We look for security in certainty – in knowing what to expect each day, in knowing what our tomorrow will look like, in knowing what future we are securing for ourselves. But if you really […]

Anyway

Anyway People are often unreasonable, illogical and self-centered; Forgive them anyway. If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives; Be kind anyway. If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies; Succeed anyway. If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you; Be honest and […]

Here’s To Strong Women

“Here’s to strong women.  May we know them, may we be them, may we raise them.” Tonight the University of Utah held a Women Alumni event at our REES Capital offices and they asked me to hold a Q&A forum with the women where they could ask me questions about my past experiences and life […]

Kindness on Purpose Day

Today I heard about one of the coolest ideas ever so I couldn’t help but share it with all of you. In 2012, a woman decided that for her birthday, rather than having anyone give her gifts, she instead challenged all her friends to perform a random act of kindness for someone else on her […]

Face Your Fear; the Result Might Be Amazing (Forbes Article)

“Courage is not the absence of fear, but the mastery of it.” -Victor Hugo Do you remember back to when you were a kid? When you blew out the birthday candles to make a wish with the belief that it would actually come true? Or when you pinned a towel to your shoulders and played […]

The difference between the fight you think you’re having and the fight you’re actually having

Several weeks ago I was sitting with a group of male friends who are all married and we were discussing their frustration with not being able to understand women very well.  One of the men had been in a disagreement with his wife and he was explaining to me why his wife’s side of the […]

Fill Up Your Inspiration Tank!

This weekend I spent, and this is no joke, 10 hours over the course of two days watching inspirational and motivational talks.  These talks were broadcast as part of a General Conference that is done by the LDS Church every six months.  I look forward to Conference weekend every October and every April because it […]

The Open Your Heart Experiment

A few years ago I was invited to hear a talk being given by author Virginia Hinckley Pearce. In her talk she shared with us an experiment that she did that led her to write her book called “A Heart Like His: Making Space for God`s Love in Your Life”. It was awesome. And as […]

One Person Can Make A Difference With a Little Determination and Hope!

I was down sick again today, but I wanted to share a story with you that I came across a few years ago that touched my life in a major way.  I shared the story years ago in a company blog, but I am reposting it again today for all of you to read as […]

An Ice Cream Coma and a Lesson Learned

I am in New York City this week to attend the Women Moving Millions Conference, a conference to bring together charities which focus on helping women succeed.  The conference was assembled to allow these charities to discuss best practices and share ideas of what things are the most effective to help women.  I am here […]

IF you can…

IF If you can keep your head when all about you Are losing theirs and blaming it on you; If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, But make allowance for their doubting too: If you can wait and not be tired by waiting, Or, being lied about, don’t deal in lies, Or […]

When In Doubt Just Add Glitter

You are probably reading the title of today’s blog and thinking – “What the heck is she talking about?  Just add glitter?”   Well for anyone who has ever done an arts and crafts project in life you know that when your craft isn’t turning out exactly the way you hoped you simply add a little […]

Just Take It One Day At A Time

Do you ever feel like you are suffocating at the very thought of trying to get everything done that you need to?  Yeah, I pretty much feel like that every day of my life I have decided.  And yeah, yeah, I know, try to delegate more and say yes to less and cut out the […]

Handsome Is As Handsome Does

I first read the saying “Handsome is as handsome does” in a book I was reading during my teenage years.  For some reason the phrase impacted me and stuck with me over the years.  It was a reminder that true beauty is something that emulates from the inside out… To prove this fact one can […]

Brick to the Face Theory

So those of you up on the daily reading of my blog know I got hurt a few days ago when my face and a board met up at my new construction site.  The sweetest person sent me a really cute email to cheer me up and the story she shared in the email had […]

Sometimes You Just Need To Take a Time-Out in the “Happy Chair”

When my kids were little time-out at our house consisted of sending the kids to sit in the “happy chair” where they would have to stay until they were able to be happy again.  Our “happy chair” was a bright yellow chair with a sunshine and happy kids painted on it – all designed to […]

“The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.”

That is a fantastic Chinese Proverb I came across tonight that I had to share with all of you tonight because it is a perfect fit for what is on my mind. I have spent the last several weeks working on a landscaping design for our new home with our landscaper extraordinaire, Chip Galloway of […]

What Grade Would You Give Yourself?

School is back in session as is the focus in once again on trying to get good grades for this new semester.  As I thought about getting good grades it made me stop and think about the opportunity this could be for all of us adults, even if we aren’t in school any longer, to come up with […]

Remember All The Good

No matter what ups and downs we have experienced in our lives, there have always been a million blessings.  Sometimes we forget to acknowledge or even recognize those blessings because there are so many other things to easily get distracted by.  And when you have always had certain blessings in your life, it’s easy to take […]

Make The Best Of The Way Things Turn Out

As I sit here at the hospital tonight, following my daughters second ACL surgery that took place earlier today, I am trying to reflect on what lessons I have learned in my life today so I can share those thoughts with all of you.  It’s funny how just sitting around in a hospital waiting room […]

Pretty Good?? or GREAT!!!

In life we all have a choice. We can be pretty good, or we can be GREAT! The difference in those two often comes down to paying attention to the details. I used to keep a sticker on my desk that said “If you don`t have time to do it right the first time, how […]

Work/Life Balance — The Ultimate Oxymoron: (or 5 Tips to Help You Achieve Better Work/Life Balance) FORBES ARTICLE

One of the questions I am asked the most is, “How do you do it? How do you balance work life and home life?” The honest answer is, “I don’t.” I don`t do it all. No one can. For years I battled the guilt of not being able to do it all, especially during the […]

“If you find yourself racing through life, slow down long enough to take along some good friends.”

Sometimes we get so busy living our lives that we forget to slow down enough to make time for our friends. I have been guilty of that myself over the years, especially with working such crazy hours for so many years of my life.  Taking time off this summer to spend with my family has […]

Speak The Truth, Even If Your Voice Shakes (Forbes Article)

When someone isn’t performing well at their job; or when they aren’t the right fit for a particular position; or when their personality isn’t a match for the company culture, one of the biggest disservices you can do to them is to not tell them the truth. As a CEO, I found that one of […]

Eeny Meeny Miny Moe…

Wouldn’t life be so much easier if we could make all our decisions with a little game of “Eeny, meeny,miny, moe”.  Seriously!  How cool would that be?  And how much less stress would we have throughout our day when decisions have to be made?! Yeah, well it’s too bad life doesn’t work that way if […]

He Is Building A Palace

Life is full of unexpected events, changes, and uncertainty.  Sometimes those changes are exciting and wonderful, and sometimes they are devastating, painful and hard. C.S. Lewis is my favorite author.  I have learned many important life lessons by reading his books.  One of his quotes that has helped me tremendously as I have dealt with […]

“Instead of Worrying About Failure Imagine What You Miss Out On By Deciding To Not Even Try”

When is the last time you allowed fear of failure to stop you from doing something?   I love the quote in today’s title:     “Instead of worrying about failure imagine what you miss out on by deciding to not even try.”    I love it because it is so simple yet so impactful.  It’s true, when you […]