Your True Self Isn’t so much someone you find As someone you allow yourself to be. You give permission. You create space. You let go of excuses and denial. You put your toe in the water. And if you like how that feels, your foot. And if you like that, then a leg, then a …
“Life is to be lived. If you have to support yourself, you had bloody well better find some way that is going to be interesting. And you don’t do that by sitting around wondering about yourself.” Katherine Hepburn Once upon a time I worked as an instructional designer for a company that employed more instructional …
It’s time to shift focus from internal—we’ve done lengthy internal examination—to external. Herminia Ibarra, in Working Identity, presents nine principles for reinventing a career. Number six is, “Don’t just focus on the work. Find people who are what you want to be and who can provide support for the transition. But don’t expect to find …
Twice in my career, when I felt lost, a mentor asked me to reflect on my work history and remember times when I was in the flow, in the zone, rocking it. Both of those women asked me to take four or five of those ‘rocking it and loving it’ experiences and describe them in …
My friend Audrey in high school knew from our sophomore year that when she went to college, she wanted to study math. Like her father, a Bell Labs engineer, she had always loved math. When she got to college in the fall of 1974, she decided to double major in math and computer science. I …
We tend to take our strengths for granted. If something comes easily to us, we tend to think it comes easily to everyone, and if it comes easily to everyone, then it isn’t all that valuable. But it doesn’t come easily to everyone. It is valuable. You know what those strengths are for you. They’re …
I’ve felt as if I’ve been vacillating between writing about finding our True Selves and navigating the pandemic of the coronavirus. But I’ve changed my mind. Instead of seeing these as two separate things, I now see them as related. The coronavirus, although a challenge for lungs, benefits eyes. It’s helping us see. We are …
This week’s exercise on finding our True Selves will be fun, which is a good thing because in this coronavirus environment we’re past the intense preparation stage of laying in supplies (sanitizer and toilet paper and rice and beans) and we’ve figured out our face-covering solution and our Zoom connection, and we’re looking around at …
When I saw the beautiful facemasks Lori had made for nurses in her community, my first thought was, “That’s what I’ll do! I’ll make masks!” Never mind that the last time I sewed was five years ago. Never mind that I don’t even have any bobbins. Never mind that in the time Lori can make …
We last left off on our path of finding our True Selves with Jealousy. This week is about a nobler emotion: Admiration. Part One: Make a list of people you admire. My list includes people like Eleanor Roosevelt and Maya Lin, Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King, Jr. Make your Admire list. Part Two: Make …