Tag: goals


How do you achieve what you want?

How do you achieve what you want?

I’m a big fan of setting goals but writing down what I want is not the same as achieving it. My friend, Sara, and I have agreed to hold each other accountable for moving forward on our high-flying aspirations, since creative types often excel at using our creativity to procrastinate in new and interesting ways. That’s why I loved this…

How should we gauge happiness?

How should we gauge happiness?

Lately I’ve read a number of articles that discuss the difference between happiness and life satisfaction. In my market research role, I often discussed with people the importance of words in survey questions — asking someone if they are satisfied with a product is different from asking if they’re happy with it, for example. I’m satisfied with my light bulbs…

Feel the fear and do it anyway

Feel the fear and do it anyway

“Feel the fear and do it anyway” ~ Susan Jeffers I’m blessed to have some fabulous people in my life, including career coach Kim Ann Curtin. Kim met with me recently to help me strategize about where my career is headed and how to get there. As we talked about various possibilities, Kim asked what I was afraid of. My…

I'm grateful for: people I've never met

I'm grateful for: people I've never met

A guest post from the ever-fabulous Lara Zielin:   I probably spend too much time online and, if my increasingly strobe-light-like brain is any indication, it might not be doing me as much good as I think. But I will say one thing about the experience: being online, and utilizing social media tools in particular, has connected me to some…

e.b. white's new york (via explore. dream. discover.)

e.b. white's new york (via explore. dream. discover.)

“No one should come to New York to live unless he is willing to be lucky.” ~ E.B. White I have loved that quote since I decided I simply had to live in New York. It feels like it’s simultaneously a challenge and a promise of great opportunity. So I loved stumbling onto this post on the blog “explore. dream.discover”…

Moving On Up (via My first triathlon)

Moving On Up (via My first triathlon)

I liked this blog post because it’s an example of someone who set a life goal — doing her first triathlon — and is using her blog for motivation and accountability. She’s reaching out to her community for support, too, including being able to sponsor her hands and feet. This was a big, big week. Not only did I hit…

What are you doing to be happier?

What are you doing to be happier?

If happiness is good for your health, what are you doing about it? Yesterday I blogged about new research that shows a connection between mental and physical health. Deborah Kotz at U.S. News and World Report blogged about the same topic — but took it much farther by interviewing Gretchen Rubin, a New Yorker who spent a year working on…

Are you free? If you aren't, is it time to free yourself?

Are you free? If you aren't, is it time to free yourself?

Last night, John and I went to see Preservation Hall Jazz Band and the Blind Boys of Alabama — a phenomenal show full of joyous, uplifting music that makes my soul feel good. One of my favorite numbers of the night was Blind Boys singing the traditional spiritual Free At Last. Though it’s a powerful anthem of the Civil Rights movement,…

Focusing on one change at a time for two months each

Focusing on one change at a time for two months each

Zen Habits, one of my favorite e-mail newsletters, offered guidance this week on making New Year’s resolutions using the Six Changes Method. Here’s how it works: Pick 6 habits for 2010. Pick 1 of the 6 habits to start with. Commit as publicly as possible to creating this new habit in 2 months. Break the habit into 8 baby steps,…

What makes resolutions achievable?

What makes resolutions achievable?

Have you ever stood with your glass of champagne in hand and declared that this year is the one when you’ll run a marathon, lose 50 pounds or get a great new job? Then all you have to show for your half-hearted commitment is a champagne hangover? This week I’m blogging about making — and keeping — resolutions. Saturday I…