Tag Archives: success

“One you have experienced excellence, you will never again be content with mediocrity”

Dr. Charles H. Malik, former Secretary General of the United Nations, once shared: “I respect all men, and it is from disrespect for none that I say there are no great leaders in the world today. In fact, greatness itself is laughed to scorn. You should not be great today—you should sink yourself into the […]

Do Parents Have Favorite Children?

I have two children, a 24 year old son and a 21 year old daughter. They are the best of friends until it comes to one particular argument that they have been having for the last 19 years since they were both old enough to debate it….who is Mom’s favorite child? And regardless of how […]

A quiet conscience makes one strong

“How noble and good everyone could be if, every evening before falling asleep, they were to recall to their minds the events of the whole day and consider exactly what has been good and bad. Then, without realizing it you try to improve yourself at the start of each new day; of course, you achieve […]

Is the Universe just messing with us?

“Today: had my top on backwards, the pants I’d slept in and looked like Jack Nicholson from the shining. Saw all of the people I know. All. Of. Them!” Isn’t that exactly how it goes?! Those days you feel prepared for anything often nothing seems to happen… and then the days you aren’t prepared at […]

If parenthood came with a GPS it would mostly just say: RECALCULATING

The other day my son Dalton, whose wife is expecting their first child in August, called me sounding a little stressed and said something to the effect of, “Mom I just realized that I am going to have a kid here soon  that’s going to be with me forever and that I need to parent! […]

Step Back And Give Things A Once Over

When is the last time you stepped back from your life and gave it a once over? Let me give an example that will illustrate what I mean: Several years ago an organization created a logo and a website that perfectly fit their needs for targeting the market they were focused on and using messaging […]

If we all took the summer off none of us would get behind on work

I love summertime. I love the sun and the water and everything about summertime. The only thing that is hard about summer is that for every week you take off and every trip you go on you have to carry the stress of coming back home and facing all the work that has piled up […]

The Time Bank

The Time Bank: Imagine there is a bank that credits your account each morning with $86,400. It carries over no balance from day to day. Every evening the bank deletes whatever part of the balance you failed to use during the day. What would you do? Draw out every cent, of course!!!! Each of us […]

The Glory of Friendship

“The glory of friendship is not in the outstretched hand, nor the kindly smile, nor the joy of companionship; it is in the spiritual inspiration that comes to one when he discovers that someone else believes in him and is willing to trust him.”     -Ralph Waldo Emerson When someone believes in you and trusts you […]

An easy experiment that will make you HAPPIER!

Many years ago I wrote about something called “The Open Your Heart Experiment”. This experiment stemmed from a challenge suggested by an author named Virginia Hinckley Pearce, who wrote the book, “A Heart Like His: Making Space for God`s Love in Your Life”. Here is what I shared about The Open Your Heart Experiment: “The […]

When You Get Where You’re Going Help The Next One In Line

I realize that not everyone out there is a country music fan, although I have a hard time understanding why they aren’t, because country music is awesome! But as I was driving in my car the other day this song came on and I sat listening to the lyrics and they were so fantastic that […]

Overwhelmed and Inadequate: Balancing Work and Family Life

Back when I was single and working full time with two small kids I often found myself feeling overwhelmed and totally inadequate. All these women around me seemed so perfect, with perfect kids and perfectly ironed clothes and homemade bread on their counters. I felt like a complete failure compared to them. My home was […]

Why We Ought To Sweat the Small Stuff!

I’ve had many experiences in life that have reminded me how important it is for all of us to pay attention to every detail of any project we are given to ensure that we always produce quality results. It`s often these small details that can cause a project to succeed or fail. Years ago someone […]

Everything You Can Imagine Is Real

“Everything you can imagine is real.” – Pablo Picasso Did you know that your subconscious brain can’t tell the difference between something real and something imagined? There are no filters in our subconscious to distinguish the difference between the two. That is why visualization is so powerful!  Let me share some examples: A study was […]

Pull It Together! YOU’VE GOT THIS!

When things in my life go wrong, or get scary, or feel overwhelming I know that there are certain people in my life I can call and they will listen and tell me how sad they are for me and how they can sympathize with my situation and they get sad or frustrated with me. […]

How To Be Awesome

For a long time I have wanted to get T-shirts printed up that say W.U.B.A. on them to remind everyone to “Wake Up, Be Awesome”.   I think W.U.B.A. is the perfect mantra to guide our days because we all want to wake up and we should all decide each morning to BE AWESOME that day! […]

Passion is Powerful!

Can we talk about passion for just a minute? I am not talking about passion in the romantic sense; I’m talking the “I am so excited to get up this morning and conquer the world today” kind of passion. There are very few things more powerful than a person who is passionate about accomplishing something. […]

Set A Goal So Big It Scares You!

When is the last time that you set a goal so big that it scared you? I’m talking about having a vision that is so big that when you think about making it your goal that little fear voice in your head says, “…eeee….I don’t know if I’m ready to take that on…”  The kind […]

Making Our Life Into The Masterpiece It Is Meant To Be

As I shared in yesterday’s blog, my son Dalton’s Commencement of graduation ceremonies from Brigham Young University was today and tomorrow is his actual Graduation Ceremony where he will walk across the stage and receive his Bachelor’s degree. This is a huge milestone in the life of a child and the life of a parent […]

It’s Called a Commencement Because It Signifies The Beginning

Thursday April 27th I will have the privilege of attending Commencement at Brigham Young University where we will begin the celebration of my son Dalton’s graduation from college. What an incredible achievement graduation is for our children! And what an incredible blessing as a parent to be able to go and watch your child fulfill […]

“Attitude is the difference between and Ordeal and an Adventure”

I am a person who likes to have a plan so I know what needs to get done and when I need to do it. Having a plan in place is great and it definitely allows me to get much more accomplished. But when something happens to make a plan go sideways, well that is […]

How To Achieve More Than The American Dream (Forbes Article)

“The essence of America – that which really unites us – is not ethnicity, or nationality, or religion – it is an idea – and what an idea it is: That you can come from humble circumstances and do great things.” – Condoleeza Rice The American Dream Awards is an event put on by the […]

Convincing your mind its possible starts when you visualize it as if it has already happened

“What we can or cannot do, what we consider possible or impossible, is rarely a function of our true capability. It is more likely a function of our beliefs about who we are.” – Anthony Robbins Our minds are powerful things. They can convince we are strong and capable or they can convince us we are […]

Organizing Your Thoughts And Making Room For The Amazing

Just the word “organize” is stressful because it makes me immediately think of all the piles of things that are waiting for me to organize them. And try as I want to, every new day brings in more and more piles of additional emails, additional documents, additional letters, additional phone calls, etc.. all of which […]

We don’t know until we’ve tried

“Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string. Insist on yourself; never imitate. That which each can do best, none but his Maker can teach him. There is a time in every man’s education when he arrives at the conviction that imitation is suicide; that he must take himself for better, for worse, as […]

How Far You’ll Go

Just how much are we capable of doing in our life? Just how far in life are we able to go?  The answer to those questions will depend on what we ourselves determine we are willing to do. How big are we willing to make our dreams? How hard are we willing to work? How […]

What you fill your mind with

“You are the books you read, the films you watch, the music you listen to, the people you meet, the dreams you have, the conversations you engage in. You are what you take from these. You are the sound of the ocean, the breath of fresh air, the brightest light and the darkest corner. You […]

Take A Personal Inventory of How You Are Spending Your Time

Time is something I’ve been thinking a lot about lately. I suppose that’s been driven by my going through several life changing events recently, like the death of a relative, and my children getting in a serious car accident, and a parent who has been extremely ill, and several other things of that nature that […]

An Idea That Inspires People Can Shape The Course of History

“Ideas shape the course of history.” – John Maynard Keyes Tonight I will be judging a business competition called “Bench 2 Bedside”. This is an annual business competition put together by the University of Utah where student teams are formed that consist of medical students, engineering students, and business students who come together to create […]

Think BIG!

From the time I was young I have had an inability to think small. I don’t really know why I am like that, I just always have been. In college when friends wanted me to sell $10.00 lipsticks I immediately thought, “Why sell just $10 of something when for the same effort I could sell […]