It's the Journey

“If you want something you've never had, you must be willing to do something you've never done.” Thomas Jefferson One of my brain’s favorite things to do is to trace the path I’ve followed to where I am today. While dwelling on the past can be a waste of time and energy, painful and destructive even, learning to look for patterns of behaviors and habits to see what worked and what didn’t can be a...

“We are not rich by what we possess but by what we can do without.”  Immanuel Kant  “If all you want is more, you’ll never have enough”  Me :) In this this episode I’ll dive into some thoughts that have been bouncing around my head for awhile concerning what abundance and ambition means and Can mean for you as you make your way through life. As I said in my book , I chased the American Dream as it...

When we say yes to our dreams and follow the threads that pull at our hearts, it can lead us to new places and new people. My Yes Ands, as I shared in AfterLIFE, Waking up From My American Dream) lead me across the ocean to the homeland of my grandparents and that journey, with the help of Rick Steves, lead me to Jackie Alio! Last fall before I hike across Sicily, I spent 2 hours wandering the str...

This week I had a chance to sit down with my friend and coach Elli Richter to catch up and discuss her new book, WTF is Human Design, that she co-authored with Helen Hall. Elli is the coach I mentioned in my book who gave me the golden advice to learn to have my own back and be my own best friend. This advice has had a profound effect on the last decade of my life as I've healed and grown. I this...

"Man needs difficulties in life because they are necessary to enjoy the success.”― APJ Abdul Kalam My son was telling me about an essay test he had to do where his professor gave the class 3 options to choose from. As he was describing that I remembered actually enjoying those kinds of projects, especially when it was a subject I was interested in. I realized that's all I'm doing here except the e...

This week I took some time to try to crystalize some of the thoughts that were bouncing around my head on my hike through the mountains of Sicily from Palermo to Messina. Part of the reason one does such a trip is to hopefully think about aspects of our lives and I did just that for hours each day. For nearly 30 days during my stay in Sicily I lived out of a backpack. I became very conscious of my...

"Tell me what you pay attention to and I will tell you who you are.” ― José Ortega y Gasset I've have had many episodes where I spent time discussing planning and goal setting, but I haven't hit on the importance of our Values and how much they drive us in the right direction.   This week I'm excited to share this wonderful conversation I had with Julie Boll, CDTLF, CPCC on the importance of...

“The boldness of his mind was sheathed in a scabbard of politeness.” ― Dumas Malone Everywhere you turn these days there are articles and gurus promising Balance. When we are really into something or are super excited about a goal our lives can't help but becoming out of balance in the sense that certain activities take up a greater part of our time and energy. If we want to become really good at...

In my book I took a lot of time to talk about how important it was to learn to love and trust myself enough to say yes to the things I wanted to do, have, and be. I also talked about how important it was to build a tribe of people who were supportive and helpful along the way. There are always going to be people though who are scared or fearful and may cast doubt on whatever it is you want to do,...

Lots of people have been asking me if I’m having fun. Often, the things in life that make us happy are not necessarily pleasurable in the moment. Any big goal or challenge we’ve tried to tackle might not be pleasurable in the moment, but it can bring us great joy and happiness as we move towards our goals and ideals in life. Along with an update from the pilgrimage, I tried to dive into this a lit...

Over the last couple weeks I’ve been a stranger everywhere I’ve gone. This experience has given me food for thought on what it’s like to be an outsider, and how different people treat outsiders. I’ve never been treated horribly, just more welcoming and more human in some places. Here are some of my thoughts on being a stranger, treating strangers with dignity, and being patient with others who are...

Hey everyone, this is just a quick update on the road in Sicily. Yesterday I arrived at the halfway point of the city of Troina. I have 10 more cities to go that will probably take 13 or 14 days do, giving myself some rest days along the way. In this episode I wanted to give little bit of an update of how many days are and just an overview of what this trip is like.

Another episode of my thoughts that are stewing on the road from Sicily. I’m recording this again using the Anchor app and my iPhone. I don’t have access to my laptop so I’m unable to add this to my website of the time. But, you’ll be able to listen here on Anchor or anywhere you enjoy podcasts.

Some of you know that I’ve been planning to do a pilgrimage that will take me from one into the other of Sicily. I’ve been meaning to do an episode where I described what I’m actually doing and why and I finally had time to do that. I’ll try to keep doing updates as I go, but they’ll be more visual information on my various social media pages. Especially Instagram and Facebook.

In this episode, I reflect back on how I used my career to achieve my goals and develop as a person.  I recently was giving my son some advice as he started working a part-time job during college.  He's studying business and working at a pizza restaurant in the kitchen. I encouraged him to observe how the business itself functioned.  How he was managed and trained.  How they ha...

When are lives are so full of the "have to's" of life, we don't have time to think about what WE really want to do, have, or be.  Intentionally freeing up my time gave me the space to look inward. That practice helped me rediscover my path and my life has and is changing from this. Listen now to learn why you should created some space and time away from the grind to look at your path.

Since I retired from financial planning this year people have asked me 2 question more than anything else. What are you going to do, and How I knew I was done. Today I'm going to dive into the second one, because, like Steven Covey recommended, I think it's helpful to begin with the end in mind. That end, the lifestyle we think we want to live and how much it will cost, will evolve as we go throug...

"I always resented all the years, the hours, the minutes I gave them as a working stiff, it actually hurt my head, my insides, it made me dizzy and a bit crazy — I couldn’t understand the murdering of my years yet my fellow workers gave no signs of agony, many of them even seemed satisfied, and seeing them that way drove me almost as crazy as the dull and senseless work." Charles Bukowski, America...

I've written and talked about how our time in covid was like a collective time out for many of us, and if you've been following and listening a while you know during my timeout, I restructured a huge part of my life.  I was delighted to find yet another example of someone who did this as well who wanted to share their journey with you. Everett Morley took her time during covid to make changes...

How do you feel in your gut when you know the next day is Monday versus when it’s Friday? If we’re not careful, we’ll spend 5 days of our lives looking forward to 2, and 40 plus years looking forward to however many years we can live in retirement. We’re taught from an early age that’s the norm. For me, I learned it from family, friends, T.V. shows, that I was supposed to dread Monday and LOVE Fri...

Saying YES to our dreams and stepping forward in that direction, even if we don't have the answers or feel ready, is SO important.   Diane Marie did just that and she shares her beautiful stories and wisdom with us here.  I was inspired and so grateful for our time together, and I know you will love her story too.  Here are some key lessons I loved hearing and want to capture: Years...

“First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do.” ― Epictetus When I graduated college and began my first job, my manager loaned a copy of a Brian Tracy seminar to me. One thing he said that stuck out to me was that fewer than 3% of adults have clear written goals for their lives, but those who did often accomplished great things.  I was determined to be in that 3% a...

The cost of a thing is the amount of what I will call life which is required to be exchanged for it, immediately or in the long run.” Henry David Thoreau, Walden From time to time I see snarky comments floating around the internet with folks commenting about how they’ve been paying rent for 10 years without missing a payment, but the banks won’t qualify that person for a house. I absolutely unders...

Do you know why you do what you do every day? Why you sell a piece of your life nearly every day of the year and likely will for decades to come AND why you spend the fruits of you labor the way you do? What are you actually working for or towards? We tell ourselves we are working for our future for our family or some other grand and noble thing, but have you ever taken inventory to see if your ac...

I’ve said before, nothing had a greater impact on my ability to achieve my goals than simplification. My recent episodes have focused on personal life and the benefits of fewer material things to reduce the cost and complexity of my life and how this freed up space for my growth and development. This week I want to look at how this impacted my first business and former profession as a financial pl...