If the title of this blog post may shock you a bit, you are probably just like millions of people who have been raised to always put everyone else first. Perhaps it was your religious upbringing, or just a general belief that you should always sacrifice your needs and desires for the sake of [...]

Why is that some of the most talented, generous, good-hearted people are also their own harshest critics?

Does this sound familiar to you? Are you often judging and criticizing yourself for things you could be doing better, times you fell short of your goals, times you felt disappointed or distracted or disengaged? Do you feel guilty [...]

Even though our minds are often likened to computers, there are a two buttons missing that would be really nice to have sometimes – “volume”(or “mute”) and “delete”. If you’re like many people, throughout any given day your brain is bombarded with a barrage of harshly critical self-talk which you would never dream of saying [...]

Ever asked yourself this question, “Why me?”  or “Why do these things always happen to me?”  I’m sure we all have at some point in our lives. I have discovered that the better question should be “Why not me?”  The truth is that life is sometimes simply not fair. We do not always get the [...]

In the movie Precious, , who played the character Precious, visualized herself on the red carpet, in the spotlight, and as a star. This weekend I saw Gabourey Sidibe literally on the red carpet at the Director’s Guild Awards.  And today, she is an Oscar nominee for best actress. During a Good Morning America interview [...]

How do you define failure?  In fact, as you contemplate the word itself, what images come to mind when you think about failure?  Does it seem that failure has been part of your life far more often than you care to imagine?  Do you find yourself avoiding it at all costs?
Failure is a dreaded word [...]

Every January 1st, millions of people make New Year’s resolutions.  This is the year they are finally going to stop smoking, lose that unwanted weight, start exercising regularly, run a marathon, or find a new career….  The list is endless, the resolve is genuine, but the results….?  Well, very few people actually follow through.
By January [...]

From the time you were a little girl or boy you were probably given the message that you are supposed to get a good job (or go to college and then get a good job in your chosen field), get married, and raise a family once you “grow up”.  Whether you liked it or not, [...]

For most of us, this is a significant time of year. It is a time when we celebrate the birth of Christ. We gather with our families and friends and exchange love and gifts. It is also a time when it is very easy to be overwhelmed and stressed out by all of the festivities [...]