Be Kind, Not Nice

I recently received a bit of wisdom from a colleague of mine, and it was very important in a conversation I had today with a client, so I”m passing on to you. First, an important distinction between being NICE and being KIND Nice is about what the other person is thinking and feeling–it’s their perception … Read more

Exercises to Strengthen Your Emotional Muscles

You do crossword puzzles and Sudoku to keep your cognitive skills sharp, and you walk and life weights to keep your body strong… but what do you do to strengthen your EMOTIONAL muscles? Here are a handful of exercises to improve your Emotional Intelligence — an especially critical skill set for leaders and influencers.

There Are Other Places To Sing

A reader sent me this story as a response my post on Saying Goodbye.  I teared up as I read it, and now pass it along to you.  My Aunt Corrine passed on last Friday evening — she’s now singing in a different place. I hope you enjoy it. THE OLD PHONE When I was … Read more

Happy Coincidences

My wife’s brother is getting (re)married in a couple weeks, and we need to have a modest gift (it’s a third marriage, so no crockpot for this one!).  She came across an old photo of her parents’ wedding a few weeks ago, which sparked an idea. The bride-to-be is really “into” vintage photos, which hang … Read more

Happy Thanksgiving – Inventory Your Wealth

Happy Thanksgiving! As The Executive Happiness Coach® I especially love any holiday that carries a greeting of HAPPY in front of it. You know, many people say that Happiness is the “ultimate currency.” So when we wish each other a “Happy Anything” we are, in a way, wishing for them a life that is wealthy … Read more

Happiness and Healthcare

My dear father-in-law is currently in surgery — open heart surgery to repair his dissected (torn) aorta.  And we are sitting in the hospital totally happy! Lester M. Dunning (initials LMD, aka Lucky Mr Dunning) has been healthy for 80 years, until eight weeks ago when he *thought* he hurt his back making a difficult … Read more

No man is an island…

“No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main….”
I recently came across this short poem by John Donne, which I memorized in junior high school and am still able to recite (mostly) today. It’s always meant a great deal to me, to know that I am, always, a part of something much bigger than I.
Although the passage speaks of death, my ‘read’ of it is much more about how we all connect. We are emotional creatures, all linked to one another in deeper ways than most of us admit or realize….