Inspiration
Empowering stories and advice from our friends to keep you on the pathway to success.
- When Your Body Is Carrying More Pain Than You...
If you live with chronic pain, you already know how exhausting it can be. Not just the physical sensations but the constant trying—trying to push through, trying to find answers, trying to explain something that feels invisible to others. The search for relief can become its own full-time job, […]
- When Your Body Betrays You: Finding Strength in a...
“The wound is the place where the Light enters you.” ~Rumi I didn’t know what it meant to grieve a body that was still alive until mine turned on me. It began like a whisper—fatigue that lingered, strange symptoms that didn’t match, a quiet fear I tried to ignore. Then one night, I […]
- The Great Horned Owl That Kicked Me Out of Burnout
“When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be.” ~Lao Tzu I’d known for months that I was burned out. The kind of burnout that creeps in quietly—behind your eyes, in your spine, in your calendar. I was volunteering in raptor rescue, monitoring eagle nests as the busy season ramped […]
- The Hidden Lesson in Projection: It’s Never...
“What others say and do is a projection of their own reality, their own dream. When you are immune to the opinions and actions of others, you won’t be the victim of needless suffering.” ~Don Miguel Ruiz For most of my life, I didn’t fully understand what projection was. I just knew I kept […]
- A Quiet but Powerful Shift: How Slowing Down...
“Slow down and enjoy life. It’s not only the scenery you miss by going too fast—you also miss the sense of where you are going and why.” ~Eddie Cantor In today’s hyper-connected and fast-paced world, slowing down isn’t just rare—it feels almost countercultural. For years, I tied my […]
- You Don’t Have to Be Strong All the Time
“Sometimes the strongest thing you can do is to ask for help.” ~Unknown We live in a world that praises strength—especially quiet strength. The kind that shows up, gets things done, and rarely complains. The kind that’s resilient, dependable, productive. But what happens when the strong one […]
- When the Body Freezes: On Love and Grief in...
“I was constantly seeking a balance between mourning what’s already been lost, making space for the time and moments we still had left, and making sense of this complicated process that felt like my heart was split between two contrasting realities: hope and heartbreak.” ~Liz Newman There is […]
- When Friendship Is One-Sided: Letting Go of...
“Finally, I realized that I was never asking too much. I was just asking the wrong person.” ~Unknown Friendship should nourish the soul. And in my life, for the most part, it has. I have a small, longstanding circle of friends steeped in a long-shared history. We’re basically a real-life, […]
- Finding Balance Through the Full Spectrum of...
“As a solid rock is not shaken by the wind, the wise are not shaken by praise or blame.” ~The Dhammapada, Verse 81 Some moments lift you like moonlight. Others break you like a wave. I’ve lived through both—and I’ve come to believe that the way we move through these emotional thresholds […]
- The Song That Surprisingly Brought Me Back to Life
“Music was my refuge. I could crawl into the space between the notes and curl my back to loneliness.” ~Maya Angelou I used to believe that healing and personal transformation required a lot of effort—writing page after page in a journal or getting up at the crack of dawn to carry out a […]
- 52 Mindful Morning Quotes that Will Bring You...
“What day is it?” asked Pooh. “It’s today,” squeaked Piglet. “My favorite day,” said Pooh. When you first awake, be mindful and take a second to think about what a privilege it is to be alive and relatively healthy. Breathe onto the bathroom mirror just to see how amazing your breath […]
- 3 Wake-Up Calls for Those Moments When You’re...
“Do not ruin today with mourning tomorrow.” Ever feel a little overwhelmed? Or really overwhelmed? This quick read is for YOU… Once upon a time there was a man who had been lost in the desert for three whole days without water. Just as he was about to collapse, he saw what appeared to be
- 12 Daily “Notes to Self” We Should All...
I know many of us are yearning for a simpler and selective range of life experiences right now — the happier days, the normal times, the settings and experiences that make us feel more comfortable. And yet, the full range of our reality often brings something very different. The days and weeks in […]
- 3 Thinking Errors that Often Drain 95 Percent of...
The essence of a strong mind lies not in what it thinks, but in how it thinks. As human beings we often make the same underlying errors over and over again. For example, deep down we know it’s wise to take it one step at a time, to maintain positive daily habits, and to seek
- 10 Wake-Up Calls for Those Moments When You Lose...
“Head up, heart open. To better days!” — T.F. Hodge Struggling to find your motivation? Feeling unsure about the next steps? There are just a few things you need to know right now. This quick read is for YOU… Once upon a time there was a woman in her mid-sixties who noticed that she had
- 7 Mindful Quotes for Those Moments When You Are...
You can’t calm the storm. What you can do is calm yourself, and the storm will gradually pass. So do your best to breathe when negativity surrounds you today. Let calmness be your superpower. The ability to not overreact or take things too personally keeps your mind clear and your heart at peace, […]
- 6 Mindful Reasons to Stop Proving Yourself to...
Embrace who you are, and revel in it. Sometimes we try to show the world we’re flawless in hopes that we will be liked and accepted by everyone. But we can’t please everyone and we shouldn’t try. Take this to heart. You won’t find your worth in someone else’s approval — you find it […]
- 7 Mindful “Notes to Self” We Should All...
Earlier today, I was sitting on a neighborhood park bench eating a sandwich when an elderly couple pulled their car up under a nearby oak tree. They rolled down the windows and turned up some jazz music on the radio. Then the man got out of the car, walked around to the passenger side, and
- 10 Choices in Life You Will Regret in 10 Years...
In the end, more than anything else, we regret the little things we wish we’d done differently. “If only…” Those two words paired together create one of the saddest phrases in the English language. Here are ten choices in life that ultimately lead to that phrase of regret, and how to avoid […]
- 6 Essential Daily Habits that Will Change the...
“How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives.” – Annie Dillard Are you willing to spend a little time every day like most people won’t, so you can spend the better part of your life like most people can’t? Think about that question for a moment. Let it sink in.
- 10 Good Reasons to Let Go in Life Sooner Rather...
The most powerful changes happen when we decide to take control of what we do have power over, instead of craving control over what we do not. Holding on is hard. Holding on contributes to stress, unhappiness, relationship issues, and so much more. Yet, as human beings, we cling desperately to […]
- 8 Wake-Up Calls We All Need to Receive in Life...
You have come a long way, and you’re still learning and growing. Be thankful for the lessons. Take them and make the best of things today. For my 18th birthday, many moons ago, my grandfather on my mom’s side gave me four lightly-used flannel shirts that he no longer needed. The shirts were […]
- 3 Thinking Habits that Often Drain 90 Percent of...
The goal is to change your response to what you can’t control — to gradually grow stronger on the inside, so less on the outside affects your inner peace and happiness without your conscious permission. The mind is the biggest battleground. It’s the place where the greatest conflict resides. […]
- 12 “Sticky Notes” We Should Read Each and...
It’s not what you say to everyone else that determines your life; it’s what you whisper to yourself that has the greatest power and influence. The best lessons we learn in life are the lessons we learn over and over again. The human mind needs lots of reminders — lots of practice — to […]
- 9 Essential Rules for Turning Endings into New...
Every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end. When you can no longer think of a reason to continue, you must think of a reason to start over. There’s a big difference between giving up and starting over in the right direction. And there are three little words that can release you […]
- 4 Effective Ways to Start Letting Go in Life...
On the average day happiness is letting go of what you assume life is supposed to be like, and sincerely appreciating it for everything it is. Over the past 15 years, as Angel and I have gradually worked with hundreds of our course students, coaching clients, and live event attendees, we’ve come […]
- 10 Daily Habits that Often Drain 99 Percent of...
You ultimately become what you repeatedly do. If your daily habits aren’t helping you, they’re hurting you. Here are some fairly common and widespread examples of the latter that will drain all your joy if you let them: 1. Focusing on how life “should” be every step of the way. Try to use […]
- 20 Essential Truths We Should Be Sharing with...
“Children must be taught how to think, not what to think.” — Margaret Mead Our children grow up so fast. Before we know it they’re out there somewhere in the real world, and we’re left hoping that we’ve done enough to prepare them for everything they’ll encounter. Marc and I talk to […]
- 10 Self-Limiting Beliefs 90 Percent of Us...
One of the strongest signs of your growth is realizing you’re no longer holding on to the beliefs that once used to limit you. I received a thank you email recently from a longtime reader and coaching client named Kevin (I’m writing about him today with permission). He said the work Marc and I […]
- 5 Habits that Kept My 90-Year-Old Grandma Happy...
“You only live once, but if you do it right once is enough.” — Mae West Twenty years ago, I was lucky enough to witness the humble, elegant, peaceful passing of my 89-year-old grandfather. As I sat quietly in his hospice room alongside my grandma and other family members, his nurse smiled […]
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