I’d been absent from the air waves for a couple months. Why? Mainly because of one key decision in 2018: to take the Portland Underground Graduate School class, Financial Freedom 101 (FF101).FF101 blew so many things out of the water for us in terms of what we “thought” we had to do in order to retire. It taught us things about money and time that we just can't "unsee" now. We realized we have options to "buy our time back" sooner but only if we make some different choices. Choice … [Read more...]
February 21, 2022 By Leave a Comment
Several years ago while visiting my mom, I stopped by to find her watching "Shark Tank," a TV show where entrepreneurs seek investments from wealthy "sharks" to help them take their business to a new, and sometimes substantial level. Back then, my mom was a little old lady in Indiana with no illusions of starting a business. I asked her why she watched it and she said she got a kick out of the show, that the sharks were "characters," and that she really loved that Mark … [Read more...]
February 21, 2022 By Leave a Comment
Raise your hand (or drop me an email) if you love being told what to do! I’m guessing there aren’t a lot of hands raised out there nor will I get a lot of emails from most of you. Whether you’re a teenager being told to pick up your socks or professional going through a process or system change, most of us don’t like being told what to do. It’s common for people to want control over your own destiny or, at a minimum, to feel like you are being brought along on the … [Read more...]
February 16, 2022 By Leave a Comment
A few years ago, my husband and I decided to apply agile to our life. If you’ve been following the newsletter for a while, you might remember. In fact, you might have been convinced that, like many resolutions made in January, this one would drop off by Valentine’s Day. To be fair, I wondered about that, too. We set our family goals using key categories such as Home and Family, Financial Abundance, Live Well, etc. For each area, we identified a list of actions that would bring us … [Read more...]
January 27, 2020 By Leave a Comment
It seems like it would be great to be from the south, and not just for the biscuits. Why? Mainly because of people like Dr. Phil. When he says something like, “You can’t change what you don’t acknowledge,” we all just shake our heads in agreement, “Yup, he’s right.” “Foundations are built, they don’t just build themselves.” - Kim LaFever If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, that’s what I would say to anyone working in a team setting today. It’s as true … [Read more...]
December 28, 2018 By Leave a Comment
Listening: The Secret Sauce to Great Results "When one person is doing most of the talking, no one is listening - not even the person talking." - Kim LaFever It’s the Meeting from Hell (MTH) and we’ve all been there. You know, the one where someone, or maybe two people, dominate the air time. Meanwhile, the rest of the group sits distractedly by, wishing they could get a word in, or hopeful that time will simply run out and they will be set free. The result? It might seem like we … [Read more...]
December 28, 2018 By Leave a Comment
What to Do When Your Work Looks Nothing Like the Ad? You know those “lifestyle brand” ads you see where all the people look healthy, vibrant, and radiantly blissful while doing yoga on the beach? The ones where the people always look so fit and happy? The ones you might envy and hate all at the same time (or maybe that’s just me)? It seems so perfect, right? Yeah, that is not your life and I’m guessing it's not your work life either. Last week I had a phone call with a … [Read more...]
December 28, 2018 By Leave a Comment
Happiness at Work Wouldn’t it great to feel happy at work most of the time and not just because it’s somebody’s birthday and there are cupcakes? I’m working on a class for the Portland Underground Graduate School (PUGS) about happiness at work which has me pouring through literature on happiness, authenticity, team work, longevity and more. When I left my job at Nike 6 years ago to start Positive Disruption I had big ideals. I had a dream of making the world a better place, … [Read more...]
December 28, 2018 By Leave a Comment
Culture Change is an Inside Job Wouldn’t it be great if you could bring back the company culture you used to love? What can you do if the leadership books you’ve been reading aren’t making much of a difference? Do you ever feel stressed and exhausted a few days after your vacation and not know why? Would you like to bring more of your true, authentic self to work every day? The secret to overcoming these and similar challenges is learning, even if only for … [Read more...]
June 4, 2018 By Leave a Comment
8 AM. The Lyft driver stops a few houses away. There is momentary confusion as I wave him up to my house. He jumps out and grabs my bag with apology. I hop in the backseat and immediately have that moment of awkwardness: where are you expected to sit in a Lyft when you are on your own? As we pull away, I ask him, “Where do most people sit? Up front or in the back?” He says it varies and some people sit up front, some prefer to sit in the back. We are already moving, … [Read more...]