What do you think of when you hear the word “renew?” Your Netflix subscription? A weekend at a spa? Songs or prayers about the Holy Spirit? Activities that renew us generate energy, usually new or different energy. Renewal often involves a different environment from our norm, and it typically engages our brains differently than the usual activities of our days. For me, renew gives some “breathing room” in my week and provides needed balance. When I add renewal into my week, I notice that I feel like I am “living better” in those weeks.

Values are one of the cornerstones for alignment. When I go for a chiropractic adjustment, my doctor needs to find just the right place to apply pressure. When considering our values, that pressure point for alignment is our decisions. Whether these are major life planning decisions, or everyday decisions made in response to situations that arise, values can impact the choices we make and the degree to which we feel aligned with who we were created to be.

Hey, what was your word of the year? If you didn’t set a word for this year, what was a resolution you set for yourself or a goal you wanted to achieve? We’re mid-way through 2023, so I thought it was a good time to check in on those hopes, dreams, and plans we had for this bright and shiny new year.

A few years ago, I realized that my standard answer to “How are you?” was <drumroll, please> “Busy!” That also seemed to be the usual reply I got from others when I’d ask them how they were. So busy. We’re all just so very, very busy. I realized that I was starting to assume busyness was the expected answer, and worse yet, I realized that sometimes I was wearing it like a badge of honor.

I decided that was an award that I didn’t need.

It's officially summer! For many of us – myself included – a “summer vacation” is coming up soon. But it’s truth-telling time: As much as we usually look forward to our vacation with eager anticipation, raise your hand if you’ve ever come home from a vacation thinking, “That really wasn’t nearly as satisfying as I’d hoped it would be.” (Yep, mine’s up too.)

So how will things be different this year? These three practices help me enter into vacation with more purpose – with more intentionality – and I thought maybe you’d like to try them too.

Eww. Did I just use the s-word in a blog title? Who talks about shame?? I do. Or at least I’m trying to. And I’ll admit that it’s more than a little uncomfortable. But I’m trying to share content with you that I think will actually matter to you, so I’m pushing myself to lean into the vulnerable spaces and lead the way into the deeper work of living an authentic, abundant life.

There are so many dimensions to CliftonStrengths, and so many ways that we can understand ourselves more deeply. It gives us a powerful, positive affirmation of who we are and how we’re made. But what if our strengths could actually help us name our needs? It’s ok if that question makes you just a little uncomfortable or confused. It still makes me squirm a little.

When I was 5 years old, my dad started his own business. He was a hazardous waste consultant. I still don’t really understand his work, but I’m pretty sure that it’s fair to say that he helped people figure out what to do with their garbage so that it didn’t do harm to the planet.

I was adrift. I was facing a career pivot and was being invited (read: forced) to AGAIN entertain the question, “What do I want to be when I grow up?” Then the question changed: “You’ve just been given a magic wand and any wishes in relation to any aspects of your life can come true. What might those ideal goals or wishes for your life be?”

Last week, at a women’s networking event I attended, the emcee asked the group of about 80 professional women, “How many of you feel behind all the time – stressed, overwhelmed, and running all the time just to keep up?” Most hands in the room went up. Mine did not.

It would be super easy to write this blog with some tips and tricks for managing time better. But it doesn’t quite feel authentic for me to write that if I haven’t first shared the messes I’ve been in when it comes to time.

Raise your hand if your parents, grandparents, or Sunday School teachers engrained in you the Golden Rule? It’s a good rule, but the more I work with individuals and teams, the more I see that the Golden Rule isn’t enough, at least not from the perspective of servant leadership.

"I took the CliftonStrengths assessment so long ago” (or “when I was in a different job” or “when I was a student” or “when I was in a bad mood” or “when the moon was full” etc.). “Should I retake it?" In all its many forms, I get asked this question all the time. The short answer is…

A few months ago, I was preparing to lead a CliftonStrengths discovery session with some college students, and I needed to run a quick errand. While in the car, I heard these lyrics: “Have you ever felt like being somebody else? Feeling like the mirror isn't good for your health?”

“Let your ‘yes’ mean ‘yes’ and your ‘no’ mean ‘no.’” (Matt 5:37) I’ve been thinking about writing a blog about the challenges of those two seemingly simple words – yes and no – for a few weeks. So it was not really a surprise for me to hear that line from the Gospel of Matthew at Mass on Sunday. God has a way of nudging me and winking at me when I’m dragging my feet.

In my last post, I shared an overture of the Enneagram personality model. But it’s time to get real and get personal. The truth is, I sometimes struggle with this tool because in studying it, I learned that I’m not who I thought I was.

In some circles, when the topic of the Enneagram comes up, people get all excited and start to rattle off numbers. With others, there’s a quizzical and skeptical look that emerges, and they might ask “Isn’t that a personality-cult-thing?” And still others respond with a blank look that tells me they have no idea what it is. So let’s give some basic info, dispel some myths, and start to build a common understanding.

I’ve never done a “word of the year” before. Each January, Facebook friends far and wide post about their words, but it wasn’t until this year that I finally decided to try it out. I guess I just got around enough people who use this practice that I wanted to be like the cool kids.

Boy, was I surprised by my word!

For the past two weeks, I’ve been trying to write this blog about moving through holiday time when you’re feeling anything but jolly, about how it’s ok to not be ok, about how it’s normal for grief, anxiety, depression and the like to show up as unwelcome houseguests during this season. But it turns out, it’s awfully hard to write about stuff like this when I’m in the middle of it!

What’s the last month of the year like for you? Even setting aside all the holiday craziness and extra “to-do’s” on the list, December often feels like a rush to get stuff done before the end of the year. Sadly, I suspect I’m not alone in the annual tradition of “beating myself up for all the things I didn’t do this year.”