Inspiration Archives

I am an American who is fortunate to have had jobs that allowed me to travel to different countries. Over the past 30 years I've been in more than 35 countries in Europe, the Middle East and Asia. During many of those trips I was able to talk with hundreds if not thousands of people in those countries who represented different parts of the culture, community and workforce, such as company CEO's, and other executives, managers, engineers, production workers, hotel employees, taxi drivers, waiters and waitresses and others. Many of them were also parents. From all of those conversations, I…

Sometimes it seems like life flies by too fast. Sure, there are days where boredom stretches the hours or circumstances make a week feel like a year, but regular day-to-day living seems to have a tendency to accelerate over time. The opportunities, ideas, and dreams we start off with as teenagers slip through our fingers as we push through college and stumble into adulthood trying to make heads or tails of what we're supposed to do in life. We try and prioritize responsibly, putting first things like school, making money, and/or paying off debt. Often this cascade of to-dos never…

Imagine being told that your life is going to end very soon. Then imagine being told that before you die you are going to become progressively disabled. This is what I was confronted with ten years ago. This is not the type of news that most people will ever have to deal with, thankfully. But everyone will be challenged in their lives at some point, either mentally, physically or both. How should we deal with such challenges, especially life-changing events? I believe that our biggest enemy is fear. It can totally paralyse a person and stop us living a full…

One of the greatest failings in business school is that our future business leaders are taught to ask "what can you do for me?" or, in the words of Janet Jackson, "what have you done for me lately?" This isn't just a business view, however; this permeates modern Western culture and makes the words of John F. Kennedy ring hollow: "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country." (Few people also recall the next line in Kennedy's speech: "My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for…

"Know that you are loved." If I had one final opportunity to impart wisdom to the world, this would be my mantra. To my husband and our three year old little girl: Know that you are loved. To the people who have stood by me through the changing scenery of life: Know that you are loved. To the people whose short-sightedness and judgments created barriers along my way: Know that you are loved. To the soldier who stands guard in the dark hours of night. To the elected officials who sort through the legislation that shapes our society. To the…

You don't have to look very hard to find people being mean to each other. It is all over reality TV and in the office under the guise of 'office politics'. It happens in clubs, on teams and in volunteer groups. There are 'monsters in the minivan' at play dates and mean girls and bullies at school. But you don't have to allow it in your life. You can make it stop. You can address it by owning your power and taking control of conversations. Own your side of conversations. You have the opportunity to state what you need, want,…

The worst possible way to die is with regrets. Regrets for things not done, dreams left unlived, and desires left untended to. To die with regrets is to deny the life force we were infused with, to turn away from the road that leads to our destiny, and to never allow our true purpose to see the light of day. Most of us think that we will one day regret the things we did do, but it's the things we don't do that will bring us despair and a deep sense of loss when we leave this place. Each of…

Be recklessly generous and relentlessly kind. Therapists tell us that until we root out the deep, dark recesses of our unconscious minds, it's impossible to reach self-fulfillment. A fully-realized person, they insist, must dig for hidden secrets that make him feel unworthy, must dive for past cruelties inflicted by her parents. But what I want to know is, "While we were down there with flashlights, why didn't we look for our souls?" We've spent 20 years excavating the darkness, when right under the next rock is a world of wonder and brilliance. Yes, I'm talking about our spiritual side, that…

Many of us grow up with the concept that we need to prove something. The belief begins early in our lives. Baby Boomers adopted the notion upon starting school, but children today are indoctrinated as early as toddlerhood. The need to prove worth is implied even before the child can talk clearly, and it expands as the child grows older. Therefore, the pressure on the modern teenager is incredible. No wonder the suicide rate of adolescents is so high. The need to determine a person's value is all an illusion. It saps your energy and steals your power. In truth,…