To Serve well

Serving with Excellence for a Life of Excellence

Easter

Hello March: Nothing but blue skies ahead!

Here’s how I feel: We made it, we made it!

We came, we saw and we conquered the worst of winter! We (mostly) conquered cold and flu season. And maybe some exhilarating “go get ’em” goals for January and February! We did it, it’s over! Today is a new day and a new season is about to begin. Yahoo!

As you head into March, consider shaking off one season and head bravely into the next. Open the windows and breathe deep, because spring comes with promises of new life. The Easter story alone is breathtaking, but we also get sunnier days, flowers and fresh air. Oh, and for those in corporate America: one month left to bring home the big wins for a successful quarter. It’s beautiful. (Oh, and this year, the season opener in baseball is in March! That means it just has to be great!)

I hope this weekend you will shine a little brighter with the new month and make a decision to have your best month yet this year. We all have to make that choice each day really. How can we serve the best? How can we show up to meet our purpose? I recommend that, along with setting some goals, you think about how to inject some fun as well. This month is a good one to hit reset and laughing out loud is a great source of healing for the soul!

Make it great my friends! I was reminded again this week that life is short and we have to optimize our days!

Top books for the first part of 2017!

Whew! The first four months of 2017 have been a whirlwind and I can’t believe I’ve had time to read at all frankly.

Thankfully I love to read and find that I learn the most about living well and about leadership from some great authors and teachers. As many of you know, I like to share some of those top “reads” along the way. The picture is ALMOST all of them. There were two I gave to others to read (Seven Mile Miracle by Steven Furtick and The Women of Easter by Liz Curtis Higgs). There are also a couple that I bought multiple copies of to gift to others (Own It and The School of Greatness)… They were that good.

Please let me know if you read something I need to grab! Summer is coming soon and hopefully there will be time to take on something new and different. (I usually read one or two fiction books per year and summer is a good time for getting lost in a great story.)

Here are a few of my favorites:

  • All Tim Ferriss books: Tools of Titans, The 4-hour Chef, The 4-Hour body… As you might notice in the picture, his books are the big ones at the bottom. Frankly, he has a lot of great content. But better yet, he knows that content draws individuals in differently and that the ideas aren’t necessarily for everyone. He points this out off of the top and encourages the reader to find the areas that are valuable for them. One of my favorite quotes from the book: “Asking the right dumb questions is often the smartest thing you can do.”  – Alex Blumberg.The encouragement to ask the question everyone wants to ask, but it seems to basic, is called out by one of America’s great entrepreneurs.
  • Own It, Sallie Krawcheck… As mentioned above, I bought multiple copies of this. It may at first seem like a book for just women, but honestly if I were a male leader I’d put it at the top of my list. It’s really just solid advice and offers some great stories to drive them home. The primary message is about finding your purpose in your work. I thought this part was great on the topic of assessing risk as a leader: “When I was running Smith Barney and Merrill Lynch, I made sure that I assessed risk every day. When I was in meetings, I would ask again and again, “What’s the ‘everybody knows ‘ risks? What’s the risk we’re not seeing because we are too to it?”Whether you are a parent, a new grad, a physician or anything else, this is what I call key learnings… We must get really good at this.
  • The School of Greatness, Lewis Howes… If you are a motivation junky go grab this now. If you need to learn some basics on what will help drive you to success, go grab this now. And if you want to diversify your thinking with a contemporary leader who I have no doubt will eventually compete with the Zig Ziglars of my time, then grab this now.Lewis is a good one to follow on Instagram as well, @lewishowes. He was briefly a professional athlete and while sidelined from his dreams, he has not let that defeat him, but rather accelerate his potential. Here’s a part I thought you might like: “GROUNDING: Before I do pretty much anything in life, I like to have what I can a “grounding” moment. I originally experienced this process in sports. Before every game, the coach would prepare us for the battle ahead by getting our thoughts together and putting us in the right frame of mind. I call it getting grounded. This is where I commit myself to my vision, get connected to who I am, and focus on what I’m intending to create in that moment.”

    Good, huh?

  • GRIT, Angela Duckworth… Such a terrific book. This should be on everyone’s required reading before they launch into college. Angela Duckworth is a “pioneering psychologist” who helps crack the code for outstanding achievement by a focus on passion and persistence, aka “GRIT.” A fun excerpt:”There’s an old Japanese saying:  Fall seven, rise eight.  If I were ever to get a tattoo, I’d get these four simple words indelibly inked. GRIT depends on different kinds of hope. It rests on the expectation that our own efforts can improve our future. ‘I have a feeling tomorrow will be better’ is different that ‘I resolve to make tomorrow better.’ The hope that GRITTY people have has nothing to do with luck and everything to do with getting up again.
  • Unshakeable, Tony Robbins with Peter Mallory… (A Kansas City boy!) This is a book that requires ACTION on our part. If you have been following social media, you may know that Tony Robbins – a well-known motivational speaker – is on a campaign to make America smarter and richer. This is his second book in recent years on the topic, and in this one he partners with Peter Mallouk, Creative Planning, who helps us with the topics of risk, fees and in general how to maximize our retirement and savings. There are a lot of good actionable steps that you will want to use… This will give you a good idea:Whether you are a business owner or an employee, you can see how your company’s 401K plan stacks up by using his free online Fee Checker tool. It will analyze your plan and calculate within seconds how much you’re being charged in fees.

The others were terrific as well, but I like to keep those posts short and this one already exceeds my norm. Again, I’d love to hear what you have been reading!

 

Adventures of traveling with mom

I had the opportunity to take my mom on a business trip this week which we made into a long weekend and Easter celebration. I had no idea how this would go, but it was a joy with a lot of laughs.

My point is that if you have a living parent, an aunt/uncle or someone dear to you and you have the opportunity, try to make it happen. The very idea of it might overwhelm you at first, and if it does, give me a call. I’ll tell you my story and maybe it will help. I want to thank Dr. Mark Box, and Nancy Levota for inspiring me to take the leap! You both really inspire me!

Here are some things I learned (or was reminded of):

She’s a bit like me… I mean, when the fire alarm went off, she didn’t leave the room. I always think it’s a test (and it was), but that’s not the brightest conclusion… but we lived, so that’s for another day. Just an insight that in some way, shape or form, most of us end up like our parents.

She reminded me to stop and smell the roses and TO STAY AMAZED. I got a kick out of how her wonder of looking at the ocean was like a child. It was really cool actually. I too often don’t stop, although I honestly try. I can do better.

We all need to stop and celebrate. We toasted with real and virgin pina coladas, mai tais and iced tea. You really should do this with those that don’t expect it (AKA, in my world, older adults…).

She DIDN’T like the airport full-body, pat-down screening. Once again, being reminded that our WORLD IS CHANGING was good for her… Our world could use some simplicity, the kind technology doesn’t offer.

I hope this sparks your thinking! Do share if you decide to make the leap. I think even a trip to the zoo would be a delight!

What a beautiful day!

(Photo Creds: We Heart It)

REWIND: This post is from 2016. Enjoy your day!

Easter is an incredible holiday.

The Bible verse in this photo is my favorite and a perfect “simple thought” for Sunday. I love to remember that Jesus came to serve and save. The action has the opportunity to center us around a common purpose. I believe he wants us to serve others in the same spirit, every chance we get. We are in fact called to do so!

Let us pray today that our country will come together and unify around the idea of service and love for one another – ALL OTHERS.

Happy Easter my friends!

Simple thoughts Sunday: A week of Expectations and Hope

(Photo Creds: We Heart It)

What a beautiful day we are having today, the Saturday before Palm Sunday and the launch of Holy Week for Christians.

I love that the various religions have their special celebrations. For us, this is perhaps the greatest celebration. As Christians, we believe that Jesus came to earth in the image of God, lived a perfect life, was persecuted for his faith and three days later was resurrected.

This simple story is deep with HOPE and EXPECTATION for our religion. It is a story that, when “peered” into deeply, showcases that despite our human transgressions and the raw parts of this world, we have hope in a “risen” savior that promises an eternity of peace and beauty.

The human struggle has been on vivid display this week with the bombings in Syria. For those that hold on closely to the news, anxieties rise. For those with children or family serving our country, it is downright painful to watch and wonder where this might head. This is one example, there are of course hundreds more that grab our attention and show our vulnerability and weaknesses as a human race.

I have always found GREAT HOPE in the POWER OF THE EASTER STORY. As you go into this week, I hope that no matter your religion, you will consider what a life changing message HOPE brings. Hope gives us the expectations that just maybe, there is a RAY OF SUNSHINE at the end of our times of struggle. I LOVE HOPE! I need HOPE! I know you do, too!

Praying many blessings for all of you this week!

Simple thoughts Sunday: Stay the course

(Photo Creds: We Heart It…quote from Brian Houston, Hillsong, Live Love Lead book)

I am often asked how I navigate life… You know, make life-changing decisions, dodge bullets, celebrate the good AND the bad.

I think it’s my age, as I recall being a decade (or three) younger trying to figure out this puzzle.  My answer today is always based on the insight in the quote on the photo. I have only been able to be successful in anything from raising my boys to growing in my career to caring deeply and giving generously to our community through the gift of God’s word.

To be honest, even though I’ve had a strong faith since I was I girl, I was well into my 30s before I was able to get past the first few chapters of the New Testament.

As far as the Old Testament, I quickly lost interest after the creation story. It just seemed too overwhelming and perhaps a bit boring and even unrelatable. Wow was I naive! The word of God is not only NOT BORING, but it is funny at times, and pours out advice for a life well-lived. It seems like every day, at least one of the scriptures in my reading (I follow the one-year Bible reading plan), I am confronted with something that seems to be timely to what I am going through. It is incredible how the world aligns and speaks so clearly through His word.

I always wanted that “proverbial billboard” to show up on my way to work and shout out my next round of advice… a vision… a message that validated where I thought I was supposed to go or not go. The amazing reality is it was right in my nightstand… waiting to be opened.

I encourage each of you if you don’t regularly read the Bible, to give it another chance. I had to get the new living translation (NLT) version because I needed the commentary at the bottom to understand much of the Old Testament, but it is probably my favorite now. I don’t know about you, but I could use God’s direction pretty much in every area of my life. It is amazing what you will find when you simply open the pages.

Have an amazing week! Two weeks until Easter… Hope is rising.

Simple Thoughts Sunday – God Ideas!

(Photo creds: Pinterest)

This week we are going to talk about IDEAS!

We did the same at the end of last March. I don’t know about you, but I have an “itch” for spring (just not spring allergies!), and am ready to rev up the engines for a terrific second quarter of the year.

I feel like we are all always holding GREAT HOPE that we will have IDEAS that create something special, something fun, meaningful and perhaps even INCREDIBLE. An idea that brings our family closer, elevates our career, fills our financial needs, or brings meaning to those things we care about passionately.

I fully BELIEVE that “GOD IDEAS” (A God idea is one that you can’t stop thinking about; one that has grabbed your heart; one that surely must have come from God) are quite possible for us to attract if we simply give our lives to God in prayer and faith. As the picture captures so perfectly: Make Him your first priority and He promises a fulfilled life.

My prayers for you this week are for you to be inspired by GOD IDEAS and that HOPE continues to RISE in your heart as Easter draws near!

Rewind! Simple thoughts Sunday: Here Comes the Sun

(Photo Creds: We Heart It)

Here comes the sun… (My all time fav version Brooke White)

What a gorgeous weekend! Today I leave you with this song that I love and my hope is that you will sing, hum, or whistle this all week long!

It will make you smile and remember that no matter what is going on the sun is coming!!!

It’s Easter season and HOPE CONTINUES TO RISE this week! BE EXPECTANT!

Simple thoughts Sunday: His mercies are new every morning

(Photo Creds: We Heart It)

I love a country road.

Although this photo is not overwhelming beautiful, the simplicity speaks to the idea of new beginnings. I just finished reading Steven Furtick’s new book this week.

It is pretty much the Easter story, but his perspective on how we go through life via the “mile markers” of the story is fresh and new. Here are the “mile markers” he reviews:

  • Forgiveness
  • Salvation
  • Relationship
  • Abandonment
  • Distress
  • TRIUMPH
  • REUNION

I’ve been through these “mile markers” a few times and I know you have as well. I highly recommend grabbing the book if you are a reader.

My favorite for today’s insight is the quote captured above. If you take nothing else away, take this with you during your days. It is true. Mercies are NEW every morning… we get a new start to do whatever we need to do to fulfill our purpose. We can choose to view life that way and it should re-energize us and inspire us to take on the day. I of course also believe that God does indeed act on our behalf… over and over again. I know this from personal experience and it offers me hope and more than that… EXCITEMENT.

This is my birthday week – woot woot – so I am all about assessing where my life has taken me and looking forward to the work still left to do! NEW MERCIES… NEW OPPORTUNITY… NEW LEVELS OF SERVICE AND HAPPINESS.

Have an AMAZING WEEK!

Guest blog: The art of self care

​​The following blog post is from my friend and blog helper, Ashley, who is an education reporter in St. Louis. (Photo credit: Pexels)​​

I’m an outgoing introvert. Weird, right?

There is such a stigma around introversion that makes people think you’re bound to be a cat lady — or dog lady, in my case — who has a DVR packed with shows and no friends to go grab a bite with.

Au contraire. I have a dog, no television and I spend plenty of time with my pals.

But being an introvert, or someone who needs to recharge while being by myself, means I keep a pretty tight leash on my calendar, like Lori talked about in Tuesday’s post. In fact, it’s safe to say I’m a little obsessive about my priorities.

It’s not because I’m stingy with my time. It’s so I can share the best version of myself with each of the people I spend time with, whether it’s a source I’m grabbing mid-morning coffee with, a friend during happy hour or a grocery trip with grandma.

Covet your calendar. And schedule time for yourself each day.

Do you have a routine in place that gives you some time to reflect or recharge? Even extroverts need that. For me, it’s my hour or so at the gym each morning. For some it’s a long walk. A trip to Starbucks.

Here are a few suggestions for recharging that you can hopefully supplement with Lori’s point this week about taking control of your calendar for your best yes:

  • Meditate: So many of my friends are raving about the Headspace app that I’m tempted to buy it. There’s a free option that I tried a while back during a time when I didn’t let the value soak in. Headspace is a 10 minute per day guided meditation via an app. One of my friends uses the last bit of his lunch break each day to get his 10 minutes in before giving his attention back to the world. He swears by it.
  • Practice gratitude: Yogis, whom I respect, are big into gratitude. Heck, it’s part of some eastern religions, too. We could all get better at this. During your next drive, I challenge you to give it a shot, but focus inward. Turn the music down. Think about the things you did this week that you’re rightfully proud about. Let the feeling of productivity and gratitude for your own strength wash over you. I’ll try this, too.

Here’s a list of more ideas from a blog site, PopSugar, about self care. Read up and enjoy.​​