To Serve well

Serving with Excellence for a Life of Excellence

Inspiration

Amplify the YES: Shake off what doesn’t build you up (the best you can)

AMPLIFY – Make larger, greater, stronger, extend, expand, increase…

Who could handle some AMPLIFICATION right now?

Expand my wisdom? Yes please!

Develop stronger patience? Why yes, I think I will!

Increase my energy? Heck yes! I would love that!

We can all use this message. We all need a reminder to AMPLIFY the good. We need to remember to manifest the positive, to essentially bring on the power and the good – as in truly amazing. I fully believe we have all been given the strength and gifts we need, be it through our own or from other people that have been placed in our paths.

I was with a friend recently, sharing the outcome of how I felt a serious conversation was going to play out. I felt I was being realistic with my not-so-positive response. She quickly reminded me not to put that negativity out into the universe, and instead that I should expect it would go well. I have to say, I still think I’m more than likely right, but so is she! I need to amplify the potential positive here. Easier said than done, right?

This week I am going to do my best to focus in just that way. At the same time “shake off” anything that doesn’t build up. What, or who, builds you up? Makes you have a spring in your step? Brings you energy? Flat out makes you the best version of yourself?

On the flip side, what brings you down? How can you stop or reduce that influence? What boundaries do you need to put in place to protect yourself? All important questions.

My great desire is that you will be built up; that you will close 2019 amplified. I hope you bring on the power of your best self and do everything you can to reduce the friction of what doesn’t. In fact, I’m praying for that right now as I write this. Have a tremendous week.

Simple Thoughts Sunday: The winding roads of life

God has interesting ways in which He guides us through life, to learn and to connect with great people and of course, to challenge us to be our best selves. To fully achieve our purpose.

Today, I want to share a few insights as we look toward the busy sprint that is the end of the year. I hope this is a reminder to you – as it was to me –to take in the beauty of this busy, sometimes winding, road that we call life.

  1. Beauty can be found everywhere. There is beauty even in life’s side roads that find you wondering why in the world you may have arrived there. Literally, if you set your mind to find the beauty (the good, the positive, the inspiring…) it is indeed there, and often front and center.
  2. God is leading and I am to follow. Those ideas about where, how and what we will be doing at any given stage of our lives are open to change at anytime. If you truly follow His lead, I believe He will use the right people and places and the right time and situations to bring you right where you are meant to be to achieve your highest purpose. Again it is up to us to choose to listen to those promptings.
  3. Finally, stay expectant. Sometimes change can be scary, but I choose not to look at it in that way. Choose instead to find clarity, and know that the right people are placed on the path at just the right time. If we step forward and reach out and do our best work, there will be honor found in the process.

So whether your path today is straight or winding, I hope you will find great beauty all around. Have the best week!

Simple Thoughts Sunday: 3 strategies to WIN the day

Win the day! We truly need to try to WIN every day! I am reminded (it seems weekly) that life is short and tomorrow is not promised.

What are some ideas around this thought?

  1. Start with what WINNING is to you! What brings you true joy? (Yes, that can include your career, school, etc.) Who are your “must haves,” as in I can’t imagine my life without [enter your closest friends and family names here]?
  2. inventory your schedule, specifically the last 90 days. Does your time line up with your definition?
  3. Align what your version of WINNING is with your next 90 days. Schedule that coffee date, start reading that book, connect with what or who fills you up.

Here’s to a week filled with owning a life that allows you to full on seek and find JOY.

Immersing ourselves in all seasons! (Bring on the fall leaves & eventually even the snow!)

There are some seasons of our lives we would rather just skip over. Some actual seasons, such as winter, that we may be compelled to do the same. (I’ll take the first snowfall and then give winter back…).

The idea of not skipping seasons hung with me for a bit, and I thought it may with you as well. I have found, through reflection, that all seasons are important and frequently critical to my personal development and ability to succeed better in the next phase. Whether that growth be emotional, spiritual, financial or professional. If I would have somehow been able to skip them or chose not to grow through and with them, I flat out wouldn’t be where I am today. I wouldn’t have the inherent wisdom I may have gained, and I certainly couldn’t share it, with the idea of helping others through a similar passage.

I have always believed our lives evolve with an intentional plan. A plan that God put into play when he designed this crazy beautiful (and also, separately, crazy & beautiful) world we live in. I believe we learn best from others sharing their journey and when we live out the seasons head on, taking the good …and the “not so much” as they come. When we commit to continuous growth and learning, we can use the stories and experiences of others – and our own – as arsenal to make for an even better season next time.

So…we are in the middle of fall, (AKA football season, all things apple, pumpkin spice, fires, jeans, flannel and, of course, boots!). I’m not sure where this season finds you in your life, but I hope that you will honor it for all it’s worth. Honor it with gratitude and eyes and ears that are wide open to see and hear where you can serve yourself and others the best. Even when the winter seasons come around – and they always do – we can choose to find joy and embrace whatever it is with the spirit of a child, ready to take it ALL ON! 

*Side note, with fall being a busy season, we are changing up the days we post to Wednesday/Sunday from Tuesday/Thursday/Sunday. I'd love your feedback! It is such a gift to be able to write and hopefully inspire, and I (of course) always want to know how I can do that best for those who take the time to read these short insights!

Don’t park at the place of your pain

This was one of those messages that hits hard. Have you ever “parked” at the place of your pain? As in, have you ever just “sat with it” for way too long, allowing it to simmer and create tides of sadness, fear or frustration in your life. I’m sure most people can either recognize this from personal experience or in observing a loved one who is not quite able to move on down the road (so to speak).

Here’s the thing, whether our pain was created by something we did to ourselves (think a bad decision) or by someone or something else, it still impacted us. We should be okay with owning that, because after all, we are living, breathing and fully human. Sometimes life is just hard. We do, however, have a choice to stay in the pain, or to spend the energy we need to in order to shift outside of it – and learn the lessons it provided.

The most important aspect of this to me, is that we need to give ourselves and possibly others the grace to do just that. My favorite definition of grace is “undeserved forgiveness.” Our lives are meant to evolve and we are best when we observe, learn and grow.

We shouldn’t “park” in our pain. We should extend grace generously (yes, even to ourself), and as quickly as we can and consider the pain a gift that helps us eventually live out our best life.

A learner’s mindset: Open heart, open mind and creative solutions

What can you do that you could not do a year ago?

What are some challenges your organization is facing?

Are your ideas and strategies innovative enough? Are they creating the meaningful impact you’d like in your work, family, community work, etc.?

What are you passionate about and wanting to spend more time doing?

What does the world need more of?

I was inspired by this idea of being better explorers of our world by Beth Comstock’s ‘Imagine it Forward.’ Solving today’s problems will require different thinking and approaches. I am confident that we all have the capacity to tackle them if we go forward with a learner’s mindset.

If we can keep our focus on constant learning – whether it be from peacefully watching a flock of birds and their patterns, diving into a good book, or engaging in conversation with someone who has a different interest or approach to life – I am confident we will be able to use that information to supercharge our thinking and creativity.

I hope you join me in getting out from behind your desk and regular routine to get out there and explore. The world is waiting for us.

Rewind! This is a throwback post – Cheering you all on as we end this week strong!

The small moments become the big memories

Cheering on a baby walking for the first time…

Encouraging the completion of a sentence in “Goodnight Moon.”

Celebrating family birthdays every year.

Raising a glass in honor of your friends.

Snapping a photo of the season’s first snow fall.

This is the last of this brief series on the importance of celebrations. It seemed appropriate to point out that celebrating and honoring others should be a consistent effort for each of us. I feel that it’s in the small moments we capture the essence of life, and that is where we ultimately feel the abundance it has to offer.

This week, I hope you will:

  • Jump on the bed…
  • Make time for a good ol’ fashioned pillow fight…
  • Go get cupcakes or ice cream, just for the fun of it…
  • Honor a teacher or coach with a meaningful message or small gift…
  • Thank the barista at your local coffee shop for waking early every day…
  • Throw a spontaneous dance party to the unexpected audience (even if it’s just your pets)…
  • Celebrate yourself for being the intentional badass that you are, slaying your goals every day….

What ways could you bring the celebration of small moments to your life?

Today, I celebrate each of you!

Confetti & a dance party: We are called to celebrate

Simple Thoughts Sunday

We are so much better when we praise. When we call out the light in others. When we express gratitude and let our love pour out to others. Doing that is pure CELEBRATION of all that God has provided for us! What’s great is that this doesn’t just sound good but it’s actually God’s idea, as you can see in the scripture above.

  • Party hats
  • Hands raised
  • Confetti
  • Bringing out the good wine
  • An all out dance party

All is wildly important. Our world is crazy awesome despite what the world may try to tell you sometimes. The people who God has surrounded us all with are truly good and helpful. (Short a very small handful that I am convinced are here mostly to refine our ability to overcome even the craziest encounters we may face. And maybe to add humor!)

Celebration is a form of praise.

Praise is a form of gratitude!

Gratitude is acknowledgement that you recognize that life is a gift.

That gift is meant to be shared with others. Celebrate them early and often!

Thanking God for each of you right now! Have an incredible week.

3 reasons to celebrate at work

I love hosting a version of this team-building exercise at work. It is a great example of celebrating others.

You simply take a large flip chart pad and put everyone’s names on them, post across the room, and then others go around with fun colored markers and write down the positive they see in their fellow team members. It is nothing but positive and it accomplishes so much! Both the writer and the receiver feel GREAT in the end!

Today, I’m going to launch a three-day blog series on CELEBRATION. It’s about now in the year when we have gotten ourselves fully in to back to school, the push for year end goal achievement in the workplace or perhaps personally. That ramp up period often means we may forget to stop and recognize we need to simply celebrate small and large moments with our tribes. Today, we focus on your teams. That may be at work, or heck, that may be your classroom, retirement community – whatever!

Let’s dive in…

Here are three really good reasons you should plan a celebration today…

CELEBRATIONS… 

  1. CREATE MOMENTUM! One of my favorite life experiences so far was attending the speed skating event at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. It was a scene of ongoing celebration. What I learned was that for the Netherlands, speed skating is their national sport, much like baseball or football in America. I loved the sea of orange representing their national colors and the celebration that ensued at every play. The celebration and cheers created momentum and ultimately helped them no doubt to achieve a medal on that winter day! When taking time to celebrate others we are in essence “cheering” them on to their next victory. We all need more victories.
  2. YOUR CULTURE DEPENDS ON IT! The Ancient Greeks initiated the Olympics in great part to promote peace during wartime. It was a chance to pause and allow disparate agendas to come together. The culture of our nations are notably more positive during these international games! I think a terrific example of planned celebrations. A life truth, which is applicable from parenting to the environment we sit in each day is that “what we focus on expands.” If we place our attention on creating a culture where we celebrate each other we are focusing on something we all want to expand and be a part of:generating positive energy, and thus, a positive culture. 
  3. MAKES US ALL BETTER! “A rising tide rises all boats.” We have all heard this, and it’s one to always remember. This one is short, because of how obvious it is: we must be the ones that ‘raise’ the tide. Celebrations are one way to do this!

Have a strong wrap to your week. I’d love to hear how you have celebrated, both small and large! GO CHIEFS ?❤️?.

Meet Myra – When opportunity is really a gift

Chance. Happenstance. Serendipity. Call it what you want, but sometimes you meet someone and truly feel like you may have encountered an angel, or perhaps you think of them as an unexpected gift. I had the opportunity just two weeks ago while traveling and I have to say, I still am feeling the energy from that introduction.

Here’s the thing: I probably only talked to Myra for 30 minutes, if that. (I share that because many times, I feel the best gifts come in the what seems small or seemingly-meaningless moments, and yet if we really allow ourselves to feel, we realize it was a great gift.) She greeted me in the corridors and we shared a walk to our next session. I then seemed to run into her several more times… Her smile, passion for life itself and her commitment to her health and wellbeing literally radiated around her.

Myra is 78 and from New York City where she’s led a full but hectic life. By my recollection of her story, she had been traveling to Canyon Ranch (where our program was) in Arizona for over 20 years. Somewhere early on in those years she decided her health and wellbeing (emotional, spiritual etc) were connected and that she would resolve to live her days out fully committed to being her best self in those areas of her life. Perhaps I saw myself in her story… realizing that her wisdom was something I needed to tune into?

I’m not sure yet what the purpose was for our introduction. Maybe when I go back next year I will meet Myra again and the story will unfold. Regardless, it occurred to me that there is opportunity around us each day if we open our eyes, minds and hearts to the many blessings and gifts that we are given. That simple handshake introduction today to a new colleague, that new staff member at your local restaurant or gas station, the person sitting next to you at your next event… They may be just the gift you need to inspire you to move your life to the next level. We never really know, but to me, it’s worth it every single time to greet someone with care, a spirit of love and a listening ear.

Have an amazing wrap to your week! GO CHIEFS!