Do you ever feel dread when you see you have 11 new messages on your phone? Do you wonder if people feel that before they hear your message? Do you still see your voice mail message as a chance for you to reach out and shine for those 30 seconds that someone is listening to your voice. Make it count!

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"Perfectionism is a twenty-ton shield that we lug around thinking it will protect us when, in fact, it's the thing that's really preventing us from taking flight." Brene Brown, PhD

You know you're not perfect, right? You're not struggling to be above reproach or beyond criticism. I know you're not like these people who study English/Spanish or any foreign language for 20 years and never speak a word of it because they're waiting to get it down perfectly before trying. Right? Read more »

First, a confession.While as a fanatical lover of language, I often play with imaginary book and movie titles; I even have started writing a couple of books. Recently, a mentor of mine, Brooke Castillo, wrote such a funny blog post on titles, I just had to copy her. You can read what Brooke wrote if you click here. What I want you to think about is what is that you always call "the story of my life" and what would you like that story to actually be? I promise you getting it down on paper is illluminating. Read more »

As many of you know, last Friday was a special day at our house as we celebrated the 13th anniversary of the arrival of Success Princess. Today at breakfast she remarked, "Mom, I just can't believe that depression really exists. How can people feel so sad that they need medicine to get through the day?" Research shows sales of antidepressant drugs total some $20 Billion in the U.S. An article in USA today cites the number of Americans taking this type of medication as 27 million, roughly 10% of all adults. Enough about that. Just to make the point that a lot of people feel really sad, and today I'm writing about feeling splendid most of the time.  Read more »