To Serve well

Serving with Excellence for a Life of Excellence

Serve Well

The magic of humanity

Hey you.

Yeah, you. 

This post is about you.

As a woman of faith, one thing I know to be true is that God created us all with absolute perfection. Everyone you meet – every last one of them – was designed for a purpose, for the generation they were born into. Every person – especially the most seemingly hard to love – were once a child ready to be poured into and ready to pour out to improve our world.

It’s useful to be reminded, especially during the holiday season, that there are a lot of people who really could use this message. Our communities are filled with stories of pain, heart ache, dreams shattered, illness and love lost. The innocence of that once-happy child is only a memory now. It is up to us to recognize this reality and provide a light of hope and joy to those in our presence.

If you are reading this, I’m certain that you, like me, truly want to “serve well.” Your heart is willing and able and that is exactly what we need more of. We need to stand with an internal motivation to be on watch for those that could use some extra encouragement… to be seen, to be heard, to be loved. I feel this ability we all have is the magic of humanity. We have this great power to hold and be a lights for others, and that is where our beauty really shines.

Praying that you and your loved ones cherish the moments this week and that you are able to bring your joy to those who may be counting on you.

Rewind! This post is a throwback, but the topic is ever relevant. I hope you agree!

Happy Thanksgiving! I am grateful for all of you!

The history of Thanksgiving reminds us that taking time to celebrate the harvest is an important part of our country’s history. The idea that for generations we have maintained  integrity around “gathering” and offering thanks is powerful and necessary.

The first Thanksgiving in Plymouth, MA (1621) was a time for neighbors and family to gather with those who helped provide the bounty through hard work. Today, Thanksgiving provides us the same opportunity to carve out time to break bread, share our stories, and offer thanks.

No matter what you find yourself doing over this holiday, my prayer is that you will take the time to acknowledge those who have provided blessings to your life over the last year. I also hope that you take some time to breathe deeply and celebrate your own success (or survival, as may be the case) so far in 2019. This pause just might offer you what you need for the strongest finish to the year.

Cheers to all of you, your family, friends and loved ones. My goal every time I write is that it might impact at least one person.

It is an honor that you take the time to read these little insights and I am beyond grateful for the gift of your time.

Setting anchors: Those people & things that secure our place

I judged a Master’s program case study competition on Friday. One group started and ended with Maslow’s Hierarchy when presenting their solution to achieving health sustainability for a specific city. I loved it!

You may recall that the base of the “hierarchy of human needs” is physiological needs (think food and water), but the very next is safety needs (think physical security, employment, resources, property), and then we go to love and belonging (think friendship, intimacy, family, sense of connection). I would say that these three are the anchors. If we get to these, we can get to the next and final two, esteem (respect, self esteem, strength, freedom) and finally, self actualization (desiring the most that one can be).

I write and think a lot about fulfilling the calling on my life. Constantly praying, meditating and taking actions to move toward where I feel I am supposed to go. I got to thinking how smart these students were to tie back the very root to Maslow’s famous thinking. It’s so true that even if we want to get to our best self, we can’t get there without having anchors set in the key areas. WOW. Light bulb!

So, where do I – where do you; where does your family – need to set their anchors. Are the key areas locked in and safe? This expands to all manner of thoughts from the money in my emergency fund, to the schedule I keep, and margin I have created to allow me to get to maximum creativity and a sense of accomplishment.

Entrepreneurs often refer to “anchor clients.” Those who secure their business, ensure adequate cash flow and a baseline of success to grow upon. Who are your “anchor clients?” Who are those people who when you are around that enable you to be fully yourself and fully engaged? It always seems to come back to people. Who are those who need an investment and an established anchor?

It’s November! YAY! Two more months and we celebrate another 365 days (AKA another trip around the sun). Speaking of sun, I’m thankful for each day we have and, in fact, I think that should be stated as one of my anchors! Sun! Good for our Vitamin D levels –– and the soul!

Have a strong week my friends.

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!

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!

Simple thoughts Sunday: You don’t need to fight…

Nothing. Absolutely nothing.

Your best strategy during a difficult moment is to simply relax and give the fighting to someone better equipped to handle it. Wouldn’t it calm your mind to know that you don’t have to say or do anything? No need to come up with the right words. Let that sink in.

This could be anything. For example, a car repair gone wrong, a derailed project, a relationship issue, or perhaps an unexpected delay in achieving a dream.

One scripture I have often been pointed to is Exodus 14:14; 

“The lord will fight for you, you need only be still.”

One of the larger challenges in life is to give up our desire to be everything someone needs – to be the problem solver, the magic wand, and curator of solutions for ourselves or others.

My friends, we have the greatest gift in that we can rest in knowing that God has better answers and solutions. We need only be still.

Side note: I love the quote below so much.

“Prayer is the difference between the best we can can do and the best God can do.”

Mark Batterson

I pray that I can be better at not striving to fight my own battles and give them up to the one who can handle them much better.

Clear your day and let your mind move you

Tranquility | Quiet | Solitude | Time to truly think

Our days become full of “things” we want to check off of our lists – errands, texts, calls, meetings, studying, house projects… The list goes on.

We try to add balance by building in a workout regimen, scheduling lunch with a friend, or taking time to watch our latest TV addiction as the fall show schedule starts up.

What seems to be missing is time for true thought. Time to clear our mind. Margin to move from the to-do list to the dreaming of how I can make the greatest impact list. Time to think about what is necessary to achieve those dreams.

The human mind is powerful beyond our wildest imagination. It can navigate endless tasks and continually add new concepts and help us to learn and grow. Our minds are best able to help us achieve great things when we create time to think – freedom to have open space.*

Today, I hope we all might make a true effort to offload a few things. Heck, clear a whole day for nothing but staring into nature with the intention of allowing your mind to rest and rejuvenate. All while opening yourself up to big ideas and a clearer framework around current or new dreams.

Have the best wrap to your week!

*I could site several scientific resources here to support this. That's how important this concept is! Because I want these blogs to be easy-to-digest as you head into your day, I'll spare you the research. But, if you're interested, let me know!

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 ?❤️?.

Bring on the best days

I so loved the quote in the image above because I felt the sense of urgency in the message. I don’t know about you, but the days seem to go increasingly fast, and the desire to make those full of light and joy seems really important…almost critical.

Before we dive into some ideas on “running” to lovely and GREAT days (I like that better than walking-), we should first try to identify what that day looks like for us. Here are just a few thoughts/questions to get your minds tracking….

  • What does my schedule need to look like to ensure my attention is on things that really matter? (How much margin do I need to really thrive?)
  • How can I best feel like I “slayed” the day while honoring myself (i.e… not over-scheduling, sacrificing your health…) and in being in support of others?
  • What will give me the highest level of energy return?

So… now that you know some thoughts on what a great day might look like for you, how can you RUN toward that joy? A few ideas off of the top…

  • Be all in – make a commitment to be fully present in each moment.
  • Elevate every room you walk in with a smile and friendly greeting.
  • Get out there! Get into environments such as nature that bring you energy…
  • Listen to amazing music! “Walk like an Egyptian” anyone?
  • Call someone who makes you laugh…

Please add to the list! We would all love your ideas! I hope you find yourself RUNNING to MORE and MORE LOVELY DAYS.

The radical, strategic mind

Happy almost weekend! As we wrap up the week, I’m mindful that with school back in session, those of us in the workplace are also gearing up for a strong end-of-the-year play.

To me, this season is sort of like January where we rise to the occasion and develop tactical strategies on how to achieve our professional goals. Come to think of it, we do this for our lives in general as well. It’s the ideal time to assess our wins so far for the year, and those areas where we haven’t hit the stride mark yet. The great news for all of us of course is we have more than a quarter of the year left — that’s plenty of time to regain perspective, strength and eventually hit the ball out of the park so to speak.

So what is a radical, strategic mind to you? For me, it’s getting out of the norm in thinking and allowing ourselves to be truly creative… to paint outside the lines. It is a fundamental difference in how we view whatever challenge is in front of us. Radical minds are those that are the voices of social and political change advocates, and those that often make the greatest impact.

The end of summer is a great time to fire up the mind. In theory, we had time to rest a bit and soak up some sunshine, and our minds and bodies should be prepared for a higher level of energy. My personal game plan is to identify a few key areas — for me, likely career and relationships — to focus on for the year-end wrap up.

Asking the right questions is critical right now:

  • How can I maximize my time to ensure I achieve my goals?
  • What areas can I “cut” or reduce so I can make more time for what is important?
  • What are the “must haves” that I have?
  • Who are the people I need to connect with?
  • What projects must get off of the ground? Are there some that I can move to next year? Why do they matter? Who can help me achieve these? 
  • What is a different approach that may be better?

Those are some of mine. How about you?

Have a wonderful weekend!

Rewind! This is a throwback post!