Last Saturday, I sailed on the Chesapeake Bay with one of my best friends and two other amazing women.  As we prepared to head out on our sail, my friend shared that this was the first time she had ever taken this specific boat out without her husband or kids…it was a new experience.  Not to get you worried about our safety…she’s been sailing for decades and has lived on sailboats for long periods and knows her way around.  Usually, though, she has another experienced sailor with her.

When I saw that P!NK was coming to perform in the Philadelphia area, I knew I wanted to see her, and that my sister would be the best partner in crime. Not necessarily because we hang out singing P!NK songs, but I knew her energy would be compelling for both of us.  My sister booked our seats, our hotel, and our logistics…she’s the one who is the event organizer in our family.

I spend a lot of time in my head playing out scenarios, reviewing what’s happened, thinking about what I said or wish I had said, and trying to plan for the future. On the face of it, these aren’t bad things to do. However, they need to be in balance with two other critical items - feeling and doing. 

I have a variety of health and training goals - increase strength, drink more water, limit my less-than-healthy eating choices, get back to running longer distances, and I could probably add more to the list. It can feel like a lot. When it feels like a lot, there’s a big risk that we don’t follow through. And, I know my key success (or failure) factor is my consistency.

Carrying these extra weights around as a leader is like carrying heavy rocks in your backpack. You can keep going, but your progress will be slowed, and you’ll probably be causing your body to work in a way that isn’t healthy.

I started seeing a functional medicine doctor in the fall of 2021 when symptoms of my Rheumatoid Arthritis started showing up. As part of my intake appointment, my doctor ran a ton of blood tests… it almost felt like I was doing a blood donation! One of the outlier results was my Cortisol level.

Last weekend, I went to New York City for the day to watch Wicked on Broadway. Though it was the second time seeing the show, I love how it takes a twist I wasn’t expecting. In addition to a great show and lots of laughs, I’m always struck by the song lyrics to Defying Gravity (a snippet is in the quote section).

It’s hard to believe the first half of 2024 has come and gone. We can choose to look at this milestone as a glass half empty or one that is half full.

I’m going for the half-full view because there are so many great things on the backside of the year for me, personally and professionally.

Recently, I spent several days in Sedona, AZ, participating in a business retreat with other women entrepreneurs. The event had planned working sessions but also plenty of free space for reflection, outdoor activities, and overall well-being time. Much of the content for the sessions was anchored in mindset because it can be the fastest accelerator to success or the fastest decelerator.

We spend a lot of time making decisions each day. Last year, I identified three words to guide me in my decision-making: joy, intentional, and brave. Each day, I wrote an affirmation about how I wanted each of those words to mean for me that day. Since it served me well in 2023, I’ve continued my new tradition.