This week is National Sleep Awareness Week which makes for interesting timing since many of us are still trying to find the hour of sleep we lost when Daylight Saving Time kicked in on Sunday morning. There has been no shortage of tips in the news this past week to help us build better sleep habits. I even recently taught a class on how to use Qi Gong to get a great night’s sleep, complete with a list of my top twenty suggestions for improving the quality and quantity of your sleep.   One of the recommendations that you often hear from sleep scientists is that you should never, ever press the SNOOZE button on your alarm clock or iPhone. You are setting yourself up for failure by starting your day negotiating for a few more minutes instead of hitting the ground running.   I have wanted to write a blog for awhile now about my “Three S’s Approach to Achieving Your Goals”. When I repeatedly heard the word snooze mentioned this week, it reminded me that I never shared the “Three S’s” with you....until now.   My Three S’s for Success are: SYSTEM, SCHEDULE and (DON’T) SNOOZE. Read More

Tyler Perry, who is a famous producer, director, actor, author and playwright, has been extremely busy recently making the rounds on the talk show circuit. His popular “Madea” movie franchise is coming to an end so he has been heavily promoting the film. When someone makes the Forbes list as the highest paid entertainer for two years in a row, it is easy to forget how far that person has come. Perry has been open about his humble beginnings and the fact that he was once so broke that he was homeless and forced to live in his car for six years. Times were so tough for Perry that the car (along with all of his possessions which were in it) was repossessed. That car was a blue 1992 Geo Metro and one just like it is now permanently parked in front of the 220,000 square foot production studio in Atlanta, Georgia that Tyler Perry owns and operates. The Geo serves as a daily reminder that his dream now overshadows his former nightmare. Tyler has challenged us to each go back in our lives and find something that didn’t work out and place it near all the things that did. I accept the challenge and I am inviting you to join me. Read More

I recently overheard my oldest son saying to my husband, “Hey, you left me on unread today!” At first, I did not know what he was talking about. Did it have something to do with Red vs Blue States? Had my husband gotten my son angry and “red” over something? I soon found out that “left on unread” is how the younger generation refers to the various forms of communication (emails, texts, direct messages) that haven’t been opened...also known as left “unread”. The assumption becomes that the recipient does not care about you because they have not even bothered to open your message. Apparently, my husband had (unintentionally) not opened the email that our son had sent him earlier in the day. What I like about this story is that my son let his father know how he felt about that. Like the lyrics of the popular John Mayer song...."say what you need to say.” Read More

I could listen to Frank Sinatra music all day, every day. There is just something about the melodic sounds of his voice and the compelling lyrics that warms my heart and always lifts my mood. As soon as I hear his voice, I am immediately brought back to my childhood home and the aromatic smells of Italian “gravy” cooking on the stovetop and my parents and grandparents singing along with the stereo. I am grateful that my own children inherited my love for the Chairman of the Board. All these years, I had no idea how Frank got his famous “Chairman” nickname. It was easy to figure out why people referred to him as “‘Ol Blue Eyes”. I assumed that he became known as the Chairman of the Board because he was always “in charge”. What I did not know was that Frances Albert Sinatra actually held the position of the Chairman of the Board. In 1960, he started his own record label - Reprise Records - and quickly became the company’s President and Chairman of the Board of Directors. Frank started the company as a vehicle for his own recordings and those of his best friends (and members of the legendary “Rat Pack”) Dean Martin and Sammy Davis, Jr.  There are many reasons why people are motivated to start their own company. It seems like it is the logical path to take if you are frustrated with the service (or lack thereof) that you are receiving. Can’t get your book published? Self-publish it! Hate the local restaurants? Open up one of your own. Can’t get your music recorded? Create your own record company. Not only will you seize control of your destiny, you will no longer have to deal with an unreasonable boss. Read More

The phrase “one and done” is used quite a bit. I didn’t realize until recently that “one and done” became popularized after a controversial National Basketball Association draft rule that was introduced in 2006. The rule stated that recruits needed to be at least 19 years old by the end of the draft year and one year removed from their high school graduation before they were eligible to participate in the NBA draft. The effect was that high school players, who might have gone directly into playing professionally, instead had to spend at least one year playing at the collegiate level - whether they wanted to or not. So “one and done” referred to the basketball players that declared for the NBA draft after playing only one year for their college team. I happen to know someone very well who has a “one and done” philosophy about life. If she tries a new restaurant and the service is slow, she says “this is a one and done, I am never coming here again!” If her favorite actress stars in a movie that she doesn’t enjoy, her response is “I will never go see another one of her movies.” I recall one time that she couldn’t find a parking spot at the mall. You know what’s coming next....she decided that was THE LAST TIME she was EVER going to shop at that mall! While these reactions seem very extreme to me, this “one and done” way of living suits my friend just fine. The way I look at it, if we cut people, places and things out of our lives after just one disappointment, we may not be left with much. Read More

This year’s Super Bowl has been dubbed the “Super Snooze”. It will be remembered for its notable lows...the lowest scoring game in Super Bowl history with the lowest viewership in the past ten years. While many people have been busy speculating whether Brady and "Gronk" will return for another year and debating which was the best commercial, I cannot stop thinking about the SIDELINES SUPPORT. The sidelines section is the area just beyond the playing field or court which is occupied by spectators, inactive players and coaches. If you are playing in the game, you are undoubtedly hoping that your sidelines section is filled with support.   One of this year’s Super Bowl’s two head coaches was Sean McVay of the Los Angeles Rams.Coach McVay has received a lot of media attention, not just for getting his team to the Super Bowl, but also for being the youngest modern day coach in the NFL and the youngest to ever coach a Super Bowl. McVay may be young, but he has the most uniquely supportive sidelines section that I have ever seen. Read More

The word VORTEX has been in the news a lot this week due to the dangerous deep freeze throughout the country being attributed to a “polar vortex” (a large area of low pressure and cold air surrounding the Earth's North and South poles and flowing counter-clockwise). Over 80% of the country is experiencing record-shattering temperatures below the freezing mark and 100 million Americans live in states which have temperatures below zero...colder than Antarctica and Siberia! Forecasters have said that the extremely low temperatures, coupled with wind chills that are 40-65 degrees below zero, have created such an extreme situation that frostbite on exposed skin will occur in less than 5 minutes. States are taking precautions such as closing schools, suspending postal services, and warming train tracks with fire.   My purpose for writing to you this week is not to pontificate on the effects of this spinning mass of arctic air. The Polar Vortex did get me thinking, however, about another cultural phenomenon...the “Swirling Vortex” that so many of us get sucked into on a regular basis. Read More

For years we have heard that there is clinical data to support that taking a daily dose of Vitamin B will reduce your stress and increase your energy. If you have ever experienced a low level of energy and/or chronic fatigue, you know that they can both heavily contribute to increasing your irritability and stress levels. This is why the B vitamins have always gotten great press for their ability to help you deal with stress by improving your cognitive performance, increasing your stability and helping to keep you calm. That’s a lot of support in a small bottle!   Lately, we are hearing more and more about a new “magic pill” - being mindful and living in the present moment. We are encouraged when we hear stories from people whose lives have been dramatically changed for the better when they started to be fully present and not overly reactive or overwhelmed by what is going on around them.   My special guest blogger, Michele Roemer, who is a successful small business owner and former high school English teacher, shared one such story. I loved reading Michele’s take on how a change in mindset can truly change your life.  Read More