Monday Motivation: July 15, 2019

Hi, there!

So, some things have happened on the internet recently. They’re both fun, and have generated a LOT of conversation and community interest. Here’s what’s what:

Last week, I overheard a very strange interaction in a workspace that is adjacent to where a client’s workspace is. I’m being purposely vague because I don’t want to reveal the client or the workspace for privacy reasons. That’s not the point. Let me get back to the point (this decaf isn’t serving me well today, is it).

I overheard a strange interaction involving a supervisor giving editing feedback to a young professional woman. The young woman (in her late 20s by my estimation), did not take it well. Jaw-droppingness ensued. I sat with it in my brain all week, but couldn’t make sense of it. I talked with some friends and work colleagues about it. They shared their own similar horror stories. I decided to share the story on Twitter to express how certain behaviors affect how a person is perceived, and how that perception is then unfairly assigned to others in that person’s age group. You can follow the Tweet thread here.

I thought I’d have a few responses from friends here in DC and that would be that. BUT NO. It ended up as the #3 trending story on Twitter by Saturday morning and I’ve been getting calls and emails from podcasters, reporters, and radio stations around the world (shout out to Australia, which has had 5 different stations email me) who want me to talk about this and offer advice.

As much as I love a good press clip, I’ve politely declined and I’m not doing any of them. Why? Most of the folks reaching out to me want to turn this into a story about how 20somethings are awful. And I just don’t believe that. Most of the 20somethings I work with and/or teach at Georgetown are AWESOME and smart and have their ish together. Secondly, some these interview requests wanted me to discuss and dig into how the young person was raised. I’m not a parent and the last thing any parent wants to hear or read is some child-free woman “telling them what they’re doing wrong”. Which, obviously, is not how I feel about it, but it’s how parents often perceive someone without kids having an opinion about anything family-related.

Lastly, I just don’t have an interest in giving this story more oxygen. Sure, I could do a huge press tour on it this week and get some national coverage, but to what end? It doesn’t further my business, my mission, or the people I want to work with, and the things I wanna do. Sometimes, being a good strategic communicator is knowing when to say no, turn down opportunities, and let a story come to its natural conclusion.

This morning, a story I was VERY excited to be a part of ran in The Washington Post. The Post is doing a series this summer about the things many people think are AWESOME about summer but that a large portion of other people hate. Last week’s story was about picking and eating Maryland blue crabs (gross, hate it). This week’s story is about outdoor concerts (also, haaaaaaaate). You can read the story here: Stop pretending you’re having fun at this outdoor concert. I’m quoted throughout speaking THE TRUTH about outdoor music venues and the grossness that entails.

That’s how my week is kicking off. It’s a full-schedule Monday for me and a week that will see me checking off so many things on my to-do list it makes my head spin. I’m excited about some of the new projects I’m working on with clients, and I’ve started to revamp some of my curriculum for the fall semester Personal Branding class I’m teaching at Georgetown.

Wishing you an awesome week ahead. Let’s go do this.

Here’s a little look at some things I’m reading, listening to, or otherwise consuming this week:

What I’m listening to: A mishmash of podcast episodes from Recode Decode, Recode Media, Planet Money, and others. I’ve got a backlog of things that I didn’t want to delete, but that I haven’t gotten to yet. That’s this week’s priority … clearing out the podcast backlog so I can start next week’s downloads fresh.

What I’m reading: All I Did Was Ask, by Terry Gross. Did you know the host of NPR’s “Fresh Air” wrote a book? I did not. I can’t remember who told me, but I’m so glad they did. It’s really well written and I’m enjoying it.

What I’m watching: Stranger Things, season 3. I binged the whole thing the week of July 4 when my nephew was here, but now I’m going back and watching certain scenes in certain episodes because the story was good, the dialogue strong, and the ensemble work really fun.

What’s canceled: I mean, everything at this point, right?

What I’m learning: That people have, don’t use, and don’t like whiskey stones.

What’s making me think: Right now, the Large Hadron Collider is shut down for maintenance. Scientists and engineers are making changes and upgrades it to be able to do even more complex research. When it reopens in two years, can you even imagine what we’re going to learn about particle physics and the world around us? I’ve long been fascinated by atomic science, and my little pea brain cannot even comprehend the kinds of things we’re going to be able to know in the coming years. #sciencenerdalert

That’s all for this week. Now, go do the things that will make this week an awesome one. Do something that helps set you apart from others and makes you memorable. Be remarkable. Be YOU.

Monday Motivation: June 3, 2019

Happy Monday! I feel really good about the week ahead. Lots on the to-do list, but I’ve got good energy and I’m ready to tackle it all and get to Friday feeling like I accomplished some of my own work, instead of only the work for my clients.

I spent the weekend celebrating my nephew’s 11th birthday. Family dinner, movies, soccer game, some XBox time, and a party at an indoor trampoline park. He had a blast, and it was really fun to be there to celebrate the big day with him and his core group of friends.

It’s interesting watching a group of 5th and 6th graders together in a social situation. It was fascinating to watch leader/follower roles evolve in different settings, and interesting to see how some of their natural-born talents drive certain skills already at this age. And, it was really heartening to see their collaboration and decision-making skills at work in a play setting that contributed toward everyone feeling welcome, included, and part of the team. Gives me hope for the future of our workforce.

These past few weeks for me have been a blur — end-of-the-semester grading, client events, and program launches … I’m looking forward to the coming weeks and months where things are a little more manageable and allow for some down time on the weekends. When you’re self-employed, there’s a balance of needing to work (because your income is dependent on having clients and projects to do) and needing downtime to recharge. But, knowing that the hours you’re not working are hours you’re not billing is always stressful no matter how long you’ve been in this game. My father is a doctor (he retired last year at age 80) and I remember him only coming to the beach for the weekend portions of our family vacations in the summer because if he wasn’t seeing patients, there wasn’t income coming into the practice, and his employees needed to get paid. It always made me sad he wasn’t with us the whole time, but I get it now.

All that said, I’ve gotten much better about managing that stress and maintaining what I think is a really healthy balance of work and down time. I need that balance even more in the summertime, when I relish my evenings on the front porch reading a book, watching the hummingbirds at the feeder, and looking at all the pretty flowering plants in my garden.

I hope you’re enjoying this first week of summer, and that you get to spend some time today enjoying the sunshine. June is a great month for walks at lunchtime, evening gab sessions on the front porch or stoop, eating lots of vegetables and fruit, and taking time during the workweek to go outside and turn your face to the sun, even if only for a few minutes, to get that vitamin D recharge we all need.

Here’s a little look at some things I’m reading, listening to, or otherwise consuming this week:

What I’m listening to: 80s music!!! You GUYS! Every summer, I gravitate toward the music of my high school summers. I don’t know why I do this, but I always do. I used to scratch that itch listening to the 80s channel on XM in my car, or the 80s Pandora channel at home. This summer, I did some curated playlists on iTunes of some of the verrrrry specific 80s music that has verrrrrry specific memories and I am loving it! Tears for Fears, Til Tuesday, Alpahville, Phil Collins, Simple Minds, OMD, Roxy Music … just to name a few. It’s bringing me such joy!

What I’m reading: Drinking, A Love Story by Caroline Knapp. A colleague and friend of mine recently told me she has quit drinking and is sober now. She shared with me some of the challenges she’s experienced in doing this and told me that this book really helped her understand herself a little better. So, I’m reading it so I can be supportive and encouraging. I’m only about 30 pages in, and it’s fascinating and hurts my liver to read.

What I’m watching: Always Be My Maybe on Netflix. I only got to watch 15 minutes of it last night before I got really sleepy and decided to wait until later in the week to watch it, but I’m not gonna lie: here for the Keanu scene(s), y’all.

What’s canceled: IHOP. What in the hell is this fuckery?

What I’m learning: That people have different perspectives than I do about to-do lists. This article makes my shoulder blades twitch because I can’t imagine operating this way. However, reading it gives me insights on the people who do manage their work this way, so it helps me understand how and why people work in different ways.

What’s making me think: The Greater Good Science Center at UC Berkeley publishes a monthly calendar that can help foster happiness in a person’s life. Typically, I turn up my nose at this kind of thing: do these things every day and blah blah blah … but I’ve been studying with Dr. Dacher Keltner and Dr. Emiliana Simon-Thomas as part of a post-graduate program I’m enrolled in, and their work is really strong and I’ve learned a lot from them that’s helped influence the leadership work I do with clients. Here’s a link to June’s Happiness Calendar. I think I’m gonna give it a go!

Go make this week an awesome one. Do something that helps set you apart from others and makes you memorable. Be remarkable.

Monday Motivation: May 6, 2019

Sometimes your Monday Motivation comes on a Monday night when you’re boned tired after having worked 16 hours on Sunday and 17 hours today starting at 5 a.m. today.

Sometimes your Monday Motivation comes because you’re desperate to write something of your own, in your own voice, about your own life, instead of channeling others like you do all day.

Sometimes your Monday Motivation is hard to find when your Monday has looked like this:

• Dog barfed on the office rug at 6 a.m., 7:45 a.m., and 9:30 a.m.

• You broke your glass coffee carafe and, even though you drink decaf, you didn’t get to have the morning ritual you love so much.

• You were on back to back to back to back phone calls for 6 hours. Sitting and taking notes for most of them. And when you tried to stand up, your right hip muscle got all wonky and wobbly and so you googled “hip muscle cancer” because that is the solution to everything.

• Because you are a gun for hire, you completed everyone else’s to-do list but your own. Again.

• You got pulled into two client emergencies on a day with little to no margin for emergencies, one of which required driving somewhere to pick something up, witnessing a very elderly man tumbling to the ground on the sidewalk so you stopped to help him and called an ambulance because he cut his head and was bleeding profusely and was disoriented, and then worried the rest of the morning if he had family nearby or insurance or would be stuck with a huge hospital bill. And you’re still thinking about it now and hoping he’s okay.

• Your client’s order at the copy shop took 10 hours longer than it should have.

• You forgot to eat breakfast and barely ate lunch and really didn’t drink much water during the day so, by 5:30 this evening, you were dizzy and your nerve endings were crinkly and you felt like you had the flu (in addition to the hip cancer you diagnosed yourself with earlier in the day).

• Your event venue for the following night was broken into and all their audio gear stolen so you had to spend precious hours finding and booking a sound crew.

• Friends shared photos of the gorgeous DC skies on social media all day long, but damn if you got to see it from anywhere but your window.

• You have 17 voicemails you have to listen to tonight before bed and figure out how to respond to in the morning, and your email inbox has 342 unread emails you have to get to.

Sometimes your Monday Motivation is that little voice that says, “You love your work; your work changes behaviors and helps people in the long run. It may not feel like it today, but some of the things you’re working on have real importance and contribute to meaningful change.”

Sometimes your Monday Motivation comes from whatever it is in your DNA that makes you stronger as a business owner than an employee somewhere else. Sometimes it comes from knowing your value and knowing that everything you’re doing is helping you achieve some big financial and career goals.

And sometimes your Monday Motivation comes from not knowing how to be any other way, so you thank your lucky DNA stars that you’re made of grit and ambition and a little dash of badassery, and you prepare for another day.

Here’s a little look at some things I’m reading, listening to, or otherwise consuming this week:

What I’m listening to: Silence. In the car, and at home. When a week is as busy as this one is going to be, I can’t watch TV, catch up on podcasts, or listen to music. My brain requires quiet.

What I’m reading: The Most Powerful Woman in the Room is You by Lydia Fenet. I’m about 15 pages in and, while I know I won’t get to it this week until probably Friday night, I’m looking forward to picking it back up. It’s very voice-y, well constructed, and the writing is clear and direct. No woo-woo or dumb #bossbabe crap in this book. Seems to be solid well thought-out advice and storytelling.

What I’m watching: Hopefully, soon, the insides of my eyelids.

What’s canceled: So many things. I’ll elaborate more next week when my head is clearer.

What I’m learning: What my limits are, professionally. I am very good with boundaries (client, timing, workload capacity), and every now and again I like to push those boundaries to see how far I can stretch. It’s certainly changed over time. But I’m spending time this year with tighter boundaries and being verrrrrry choosy about when and how I expand or, more importantly, contract them.

What’s making me think: Why it takes me forever to make the smallest, dumbest decisions. Like canceling cable. Or switching my Amex card to a different type of account. Big decisions are easy for me. These little, meaningless ones? TAKE FOREVER. Are there studies on this? Send them to me, please, so I can figure out why my brain is the way it is.

Let’s go make this week an awesome one. Do some cool shit. Do something that helps set you apart from others and makes you memorable. Be remarkable.

Monday Motivation: April 29, 2019

Do you have a happy place? I do. It’s a cozy little beach town in New Jersey (no boardwalk, no bar scene) where I’ve been going forever and ever. I love visiting my friends there, playing cards, hanging out, shopping, and taking long walks by myself on the miles of quiet beach. Being there is both energizing and restorative at the same time.

On my drive there Saturday morning, I listened to my backlog of podcasts. One clip in particular made me think then, and lingered with me as I walked on the beach Sunday morning. Tim Ferriss interviewed Caterina Fake (Flickr co-founder and Silicon Valley investor) and the conversation covered the difference between social media and online communities. Caterina said:

I had to press pause on the podcast for a little while as I drove because she summed up what had been nagging at me for a few weeks now. While I like social media, I miss the online communities of the earlier days of consumer internet usage. I’m a dinosaur who ruled electronic bulletin boards and the AOL chat rooms of the early 1990s. I miss the sense of community one was able to find online not only to meet new people around the world who were into what you were into, but also to enrich communities and connections in real life.

Apparently, I’m not the only one who feels this way. Now that I’m attuned to what has been bugging me about social media as of late, I’m noticing others are, too. My friend, David Lebovitz, opined in a Facebook post that a blogging convention well known to the food world now hosted people that none of us OG food bloggers ever had heard of. That’s because social media influencers have broader appeal and reach, and brands love that.

On her podcast, The Dork Forest, he wonderfully hilarious Jackie Kashian interviewed Judith Stephens, a producer at Marvel who has been a longtime cosplayer, and they talked about the days when online communities helped you find your people, share common interests, and help one another.

I’m thinking a lot about community these days and thinking about what I can do to ensure that sense of connectedness doesn’t get lost in my little corner of the world.

Here’s a little look at some things I’m reading, listening to, or otherwise consuming this week:

What I’m listening to: Born Standing Up, the Steve Martin memoir on audiobook. I’ve read it twice and am on my third listen. When I need or want writing or creativity inspiration, I listen to this or to Stephen King’s On Writing. I’ve got some interesting projects coming up, so I’ve been listening to Steve Martin’s book for a half hour each morning.

What I’m reading: All That You Leave Behind, by Erin Lee Carr. Erin writes about her life when her father, New York Times media columnist David Carr, passed away unexpectedly in the newsroom one night after an event they had attended together. I had the great fortune of knowing David Carr professionally and he was a giant. This book is lovely and heartbreaking and so beautifully written.

What I’m watching: Nothing right now. I’m very into reading through my huge book pile from the library and catching up on my backlog of podcasts. I’m even thinking about canceling cable altogether … which is not easy for a PR person to do (we love the news!). But it might be time. We’ll see …

What’s canceled: White people. White law enforcement, to be exact. #WalkingWhileBlack

What I’m learning: Gamifying certain things in my life helps me build good habits. I have long loathed exercise. Until I got an Apple Watch a few years ago. Now, it’s my goal to close those three exercise rings every day. I gamify money, investing, and savings. And now, I’m gamifying some habit training. I downloaded the Streaks app, which lets you track whatever you want and

What’s making me think: The sound the baseball made when it hit Phillies player Jean Segura on the head during Saturday evening’s game against the Marlins. The pitch not only slammed him on the side of the head at a precarious angle, it knocked the batting helmet clean off. I can’t get that sound out of me head and cannot even imagine what it would be like to have something hit you at 94 mph.

::shakes off image/sound of batting injury, sits up tall in chair::

Let’s go make this week an awesome one. Do something that helps set you apart from others and makes you memorable. Be remarkable. Do some cool shit.

Monday Motivation: April 22, 2019

I had my family here for Easter dinner yesterday, and I ate way too much key lime pie for dessert. I also may have eaten a slice for breakfast this morning. My brother was a true gem and planted SEVEN hydrangea bushes for me, and puttered around doing other things in the yard I’ve been neglecting. Dad perused my bookshelves and helped himself to a few biographies (Cronkite, Lowe, Jobs) to keep himself busy back home. My mom also picked up some twigs and other debris from the wind and rain over the weekend, while I stayed inside and cleaned up and played Legos with my nephew and sister-in-law. In all, a good day and a nice weekend.

The past week was and this week is so jam-packed schedule-wise and brainpower-wise. Lots going on with work and work-adjacent projects.

Here’s what I care about this week:

• Getting shit done. Lots on the to-do list, and all of it is manageable and reasonable. Unless a client goes into crisis mode, then all bets are off. Lordt, let this be a week I can be productive and clear out these lists!

• Working out. Anyone who knew me before 2015 would be all “WHO EVEN ARE YOU WITH THIS WORKOUT TALK” because, historically, I have hated exercise and everything about gyms and workout culture. But, a few years ago, that all changed and I actually need and like exercise and, therefore, I plan to do a lot of it this week. I like feeling strong, plus getting in some reading time on the bike and treadmill always makes me happy.

• Adding some new books to my library hold list. I’ve got a million different lists in a million different places, so it’s time to get them all logged on Goodreads and my library hold list. I’ve got a four-day vacation planned in May where I’m going off the gird and will be reading books and napping for 4 days. Need to make some reading plans this week.
  

Here’s what I am so sick of and just don’t care about:

• Harry and Meghan’s baby: go away; all of you.

• Old Town Road

• Pollen. BE GONE.

• Marie Kondo

Here’s a little look at some things I’m reading, listening to, or otherwise consuming this week:

What I’m listening to: The Jackie and Laurie Show podcast. Laurie writes for Conan. Jackie is the hardest-working standup. They’re incredible supporters of other women in the business, and the podcast is a great (and very funny) way to start my week every Monday morning.

What I’m reading: A Lesson in Secrets by Jacqueline Winspear. The 8th book in the Maisie Dobbs series, I’m speed-reading through this series (for a second time) in preparation of reading her newest book in the series which I’m due to get from the library on my holds list very soon! I love me a good cozy British mystery.

What I’m watching: Downton Abbey, season one. The theme music still makes me oh, so happy. When the movie comes out, I’m hoping the “Matthew dies” storyline was just a horrible dream.

What’s canceled: Ancestry.com. This is what happens when only white people work at your company. Horrible.

What I’m learning: That I can burn a hell of a lot of time scrolling through TikTok, and that there are so many creatively funny people on there, and that I would have been obsessed with creating content for that platform if it existed when I was in high school.

What’s making me think: How interesting it is that Abigail Disney (niece of Walt) is calling out Disney CEO Bob Iger for a salary that is 1,424x what the median Disney employee income is.

Let’s go make this week an awesome one. Do something that helps set you apart from others and makes you memorable. Be remarkable. Do some cool shit.

Monday Motivation: April 15, 2019

“Don’t compare and despair.”

It’s what we like to tell ourselves and others when we think we’re not doing as well as (or better than) someone else, or when we see how cute someone looks on Instagram in their new spring dress while we’re sitting at home in sweats eating Thai takeout.

We think we’re comforting ourselves when we remind our hamster brain that we all work at our own pace and do our own thing and that what others do is their thing, and that we’re not in competition.

But we kinda are in competition, aren’t we? To some degree? And being in competition isn’t necessarily or inherently bad.

Maybe better advice would be “compare and prepare”? It’s human nature to compare ourselves to others. How we respond to it is what counts. Rather than telling someone to not do something, I’d prefer to give people (and, honestly, myself) actionable advice.

I’d rather coach someone that if they compare, they’d better prepare. Prepare to:

• set actionable goals and actually do things

• put some work out there that takes a stand, makes a difference, helps someone

• reposition how they think about themselves (we’re all doing better than we give ourselves credit for, btw)

• put more words and actions into the world so people can learn more about us

• let themselves be seen and heard for what they’re already doing

• produce, produce, produce, and then produce some more

• champion each other and lift each other up

Saying “don’t compare and despair” isn’t helpful. Instead, let’s try to handle this differently with one another. Let’s celebrate what people are doing, rather than despairing that we’re not doing it. Let’s encourage one another to use those comparison moments as motivation to put ourselves out there in ways that are authentic to us and that help us achieve our goals. Let’s purposely lift up other in our lives (or even those we admire from afar). And, let’s actively tell one another that we admire what they do, where they’re going, and how they inspire us.

Each of us, let’s get out there this week and do one thing that sets us apart from others, makes us memorable, gets us interested, and makes even just one person say, “Daaaaaaammmn, she’s REMARKABLE.”

Because you are.

Now get out there and compare and prepare!

Here’s a little look at some things I’m reading, listening to, or otherwise consuming this week:

What I’m listening to: A backlog of episodes from the following podcasts: The Tim Ferriss Show; The JV Club; Planet Money; Clear + Vivid; The Moment with Brian Koppelman; Houston We Have a Podcast; and Recode Decode. I have a lot of car time coming up this week, so I hope to continue getting through them until I get fed up and declare amnesty and delete them all.

What I’m reading: The Library of Lost and Found by Phaedra Patrick. A lovely story about a woman finding her way as an adult, volunteering in a library, remembering the stories she wrote as a child, and finding out some thing about her family that are quite surprising. It’s lovely and thoughtful, and I’m sad it’s coming to an end. I have just a few pages left, and I am dragging them out because I am enjoying the story.

What I’m watching: 30 Rock on Hulu and Parks and Recreation on Netflix. It’s my go-to, and I love it so.

What’s canceled: Whatever was on my schedule for December 19, 20, 21, and 22 because now that I’ve seen the new Star Wars teaser trailer, I’m clearing my calendar for those days so I can see this movie about eleventy billion times.

What I’m learning: All about the ulnar nerve, or “funny bone” because I’ve banged mine about 10 times in the past few days and the pain/pleasure is so intense.

What’s making me think: How the Fibonacci sequence is found in nature, particularly some of the flowers that are starting to bloom in my garden.

Monday Motivation: April 8, 2019

Ever have one of those weekends where you have a to-do list about 37 items long and you do exactly zero of them?

That was me this past weekend.

I’ve been go-go-going nearly non-stop since January, and I kinda just hit a wall on Saturday morning. I sat down at my desk to bang out a few work-related things and I just couldn’t. Couldn’t put words to paper, couldn’t reply to emails coherently. So, I laid down on the sofa in the living room with the dogs and just watched the birds at the bird feeder outside my window. I watched mindless stuff on YouTube. I puttered around the kitchen. I cleaned out a drawer of stuff I never use in my dining room. I worked out with my trainer. I took myself out for lunch at the local Indian buffet on Saturday and met dear friends for lunch on Sunday. I read a whole book in one sitting.

I forget how much I need these nothing weekends sometimes. It’s so easy to get caught up in the “If I do this stuff now, on Saturday, it will make next week so much easier to handle” trap. So, I gave myself two days off and now I feel so much more refreshed and ready to tackle everything that needs to get done this week. And, it’s a busy week of client writing deadlines, three events I’m producing, teaching, Hill hearings to follow, and a brainstorm session to plan.

I’m ready for the week. Ready to kick its ass and give myself permission to end the workday on Friday afternoon and give myself another two days off next week. Definitely something to look forward to.

Here’s a little look at some things I’m reading, listening to, or otherwise consuming this week:

What I’m listening to: Sarah Bareilles released a new album last Thursday, Amidst the Chaos and it’s GORGEOUS. I can’t stop listening to it. It’s so well done, and I think it’s her best work yet. That first track, Fire, is well…. FIRE.

What I’m reading: Queenie, by Candice Carty-Williams. Reviewers have called it “Bridget Jones meets Americanah” and I’m here to tell it it’s SO MUCH MORE than that. I’m only a third of the way through, and I already can’t wait to read all the other books this author is going to write. The narrative is really well written, and I love the characters and context of the story so far. It’s been wonderful to have some time to read fiction this year, and I am glad I picked this one up. I heard about it on the Professional Book Nerds podcast.

What I’m watching: #The100DayProject on Instagram. So many beautiful, creative, lovely things. I’m doing my own version of the 100-Day Project, but not posting it (not yet, anyway) for public consumption. So far (I’m only 8 days in), it’s helping me retrain a certain creative muscle that’s long needed attention. Go check out what people are doing on Insta — it’s inspiring. And, it’s a wonderful way to engage with new people, follow others’ work, and be part of a new community!

What’s canceled: Joe Biden. You know why, and you know I’m right.

What I’m learning: Statistics. I KNOW. 2019 is a year where I’m trying new things to see what kinds of new hobbies I might want to pick up. It’s also a year of education, and I’m purposely trying to tackle subjects I, historically, have been very bad at. Probability and statistics is one of those things. I’m taking a class to try and better understand it and see if I can maybe possibly even a little bit understand it. I love math and have always done well in math classes, but my brain never really fully grasped statistics, so I’m giving it another go.

What’s making me think: “Your Life in Weeks” from Wait but Why. Click on it. Try not to panic.

Monday Motivation: April 1, 2019

April Fool’s Day has long been a favorite holiday of mine. I love a good prank or practical joke. That said, I think the Internet needs to take a break from this holiday. Companies are losing their clever edge by forcing what they think is a funny April 1st fauxnnouncement, and it’s getting tired and old and not at all humorous or fun.

I think we all feel burned out and need a break for a year or two to let people press the reset button on their creativity around this holiday. I know I’ll be staying away from most social media today because I don’t want to be annoyed and silently cursing out people’s inability to craft the perfect prank.

Here’s a little look at some things I’m reading, listening to, or otherwise consuming this week:

What I’m listening to: Ben Platt’s new album, “Sing to Me Instead”. I was fortunate enough to see Ben play the lead in the Broadway musical “Dear Evan Hansen” three times and I was more than curious about how his voice would transfer from his anxious, emotional, and frenetic character to the person Ben is in real life and the stories he wants to tell. The album is beautiful, and it’s been in my headphones quite a bit these past few days.

What I’m reading: “The only metric of success that really matters is the one we ignore”

What I’m watching: The newest season of “Catastrophe” on Amazon Prime. I love Rob and Sharon, those wackos. The writing is SO SO SO SO GOOD on this show.

What’s canceled: Alcohol. I like wine. I like a good cocktail every now and then. But I am in no way a big drinker. And lately, my body has not enjoyed even one glass of wine. I don’t sleep well, and I feel gross for two days afterward. I used to enjoy a glass or two of wine with dinner here at home, and definitely out with friends, but I barely drink at home at all anymore, and only occasionally drink when I’m out on the town. I just don’t like the way I feel afterward. I think my body is trying to tell me something, so I’m gonna listen.

What I’m learning: That it’s emotionally safe to love my Philadelphia Phillies again.

What’s making me think: More than 80% of the earth’s oceans are unexplored. Jellyfish have been around for half a billion years. I’m obsessed with oceans as much as I’m obsessed with outer space. The possibilities for discovery seem endless for both.

The possibilities for you seem endless, too. Go out there this week and be remarkable.

Monday Motivation: March 25, 2019

When you are a founder and a CEO, and you are self-employed, you work a lot. It’s just the way it is with the kind of work I do. However, over the years, I’ve learned how important it is to take time away from work — even if only for 3 days — to fully recharge my batteries. For me, the best and most thorough way to do that is to go to the beach.

My little beach town in southern New Jersey offers the greatest respite. I have friends who live there year-round … other friends who live there during the summer … and I have an ocean that knows all my secrets and dreams.

With temperatures in the low 50s on Sunday morning, it was a perfect time to sit on the sand, stare out at the water, and do some thinking and resting. Maybe you need something calming this morning to help you get centered and ready for the week ahead? Here’s a little snippet of what worked (and always works) for me:

Here’s a little look at some things I’m reading, listening to, or otherwise consuming this week:

What I’m listening to: “The New CCO” podcast by The Page Society. The Page Society is the association for senior PR and corporate communications executives and educators who want to enrich and strengthen their profession. This monthly podcast features conversations with leading Chief Communications Officers in the United States and how they engage stakeholders.

What I’m reading: Dare to Lead, by Brene Brown. Dr. Brown’s work on empathy, shame, and vulnerability has led to some very real conversations among my students at Georgetown, and has helped with the way I shape some client discussions. I’ve just started this book, so I don’t have any insights to share with you but, if you’ve read it, comment below and tell me what you think.

What I’m watching: “Parks and Recreation” on Netflix. It’s my default. It never disappoints, and it’s always sweet and funny.

What’s canceled: Mindless scrolling on Facebook. Last year, I took a four-month break from the platform and it was a very good thing. I’m not the kind of person who falls into a compare-and-despair trap, but I am the kind of person who can scroll through a social media platform feed for am embarrassing length of time and have nothing to show for it. So, I’ve worked really hard to change that habit and not use the platform much, if at all, on my personal account. I like seeing what friends and far away relatives are up to, so I do check in from time to time. But I’m done with the mindless scroll. You should try it, too.

What I’m learning: Money laundering is a fascinating enterprise. NPR’s Planet Money re-released this podcast episode not long ago and I finally got around to listening to it. Really, really interesting: Episode 418 — How the Government Set Up a Fake Bank to Launder Drug Money

What’s making me think: How much emotional and intellectual effort people in (and out of) Washington put into waiting for the Mueller Report to come out, instead of focusing that energy and effort on building their political benches in local, state, and national races. Working in Washington as long as I have, there is nothing more frustrating that people outside this professional realm complaining about the system, yet doing absolutely nothing to change who gets sent to Washington to represent them. It’s exhausting, y’all. Coach, fund, and give professional support to candidates who can get shit done. //steps off soapbox

Now, you go get shit done. Kill this week. Be remarkable.

Monday Motivation: March 18, 2019

I meet waaaayyy too many people who get the Sunday scaries and the Monday morning blues. Not me. Well, most of the time, not me.

I actually secretly kinda totally love Mondays. I love my work, and I love the chance to start a fresh new week to kick some ass and get some great work done.

Here’s hoping your Monday gets off to an awesome start. Make that to-do list. Bang out one or two quick things as soon as you sit down at your desk. And set a goal to make yourself stand out this week. What can you do to differentiate yourself?

Here’s a little look at what’s got me goin’ to start this week:

What I’m listening to: Honestly? The ‘80s radio station in my car. I’m kind of brain-fried from all the podcasts I’ve been listening to, so I needed to take a break and jam out to the music from my junior high and high school days. One of the stations in the DC area just changed format from Top 40 to 80s, and I’m loving every minute of it. It’s always amazing to me that I can’t tell you without thinking really long and hard what years World War 1 was fought, but I have never forgotten a lyric or a guitar riff or drum solo from any songs produced between 1979 - 1990.

What I’m reading: The Amulet series graphic novels by Kazu Kibuishi. My 10-year-old nephew blazed through these books so I am reading them, too. I want him to stay engaged in reading, and if he sees an adult enjoying the books he loved, I’m hoping he’ll find more things to read that he can share with me and we can talk about on FaceTime or when we’re together. The Amulet series is an eight-book collection of really interesting stories with beautiful artwork.

What I’m watching: “Workin’ Moms” on Netflix and “Shrill” on Hulu. I binged these both over the weekend and they’re phenomenal. Women-centered stories and characters, relatable voices and storylines, and so incredibly engaging.

What’s canceled: This is hard to write, but it’s Michael Jackson. I haven’t watched “Finding Neverland” or the Oprah after-show, but I believe victims. I believe survivors. I believe Wade and James. Michael Jackson’s music was an integral part of my growing up. Off The Wall remained one of my most favorite albums of all time. He was a cultural icon. But, sometimes you have to let go of something you’ve loved because of something related to it. I choose to believe survivors of sexual assault. So, I no longer own any music by MJ. I switch the radio station if one of his songs come on. And, I have had to force myself to not sing or bop along in the grocery store when one of his tunes is in the mix.

What I’m learning: Patience. Every day. Every way.

What’s making me think: This quote from Seth Godin: “How dare you settle for less when the world has made it so easy for you to be remarkable?”  Powerful shit right there. And he’s right.

Go. Be remarkable. I’m watching and cheering you on!