Happy Friday! Let's have some fun and get to know one another a bit more. Back to School Edition - Public school or homeschool? - Packed lunch or school lunch? - Sports or clubs? - Teacher's pet or class clown? - Math or Language Arts? - Dress code or wear what you want?

This I did not expect and just posted the question, why? on my facebook page... a little for comic relief but really I didn't understand why... Women giggled and made some smart remarks but one lovely man replied that it might be that men wanted to support their wives through it. So now I'm thinking maybe I'll create a group for men supporting women in menopause... or am I jumping the gun? I guess my real question is how many men asking the question signifies that there is an untapped need there?

I just got off the phone with a personal friend. Somehow, somewhere along the way, our conversation turned into a free coaching session. Normally, I don’t mind. I love helping people. I love when someone walks away from a conversation with me seeing something differently, feeling lighter, or knowing what to do next. But this particular week, it feels like everyone has come out of the woodwork needing a little piece of me. Can I pick your brain? Can you look at this? What would you do here? Can I get your thoughts on something? And when I hung up the phone, I sighed. Greyson looked at me and asked what was wrong. “I’m tired.” And my six-year-old, without missing a beat, said: “You’re tired because you’re the only one helping people, and no one is helping you.” Well. Okay then. 😂 Apparently today’s business lesson is brought to you by a six-year-old. Because here’s the thing: There is absolutely nothing wrong with helping people. Generosity is a beautiful thing. Community SHOULD involve us showing up for each other. I don’t ever want stop being someone who serves others. But giving freely and giving endlessly are NOT the same thing. 😅 👉 You cannot continually be the person pouring into everyone else’s cup while pretending yours doesn’t need filling too. (Some of us 🙋‍♀️ need to re-read that a few times…) And for those of us who run businesses around helping people, I think this gets especially muddy. We can start feeling guilty for charging for something we’re naturally good at. We tell ourselves things like: It only took me a few minutes. I already know the answer. They really need the help. But your knowledge didn’t take 20 minutes to build. Your ability to see the problem quickly is the result of years of learning, experience, mistakes, practice, and becoming really freaking good at what you do. And your time and energy are resources, too!! I need my business to make money. I need time for my family. I need energy for the things I’m building.

Let’s have some fun! In honor of the fact that I just now remembered that it’s Friday and posting this at 8pm 😜… Timing & Deadline Edition - Early bird or fashionably late? - Start projects early or wait til deadline? - Set reminders or trust your memory? - Over-prepare or just go with it? - Sleep on it or decide immediately? - Always running on time or always scrambling?

I'm working on a big presentation I'm giving next week for potentially several hundred nonprofit leaders, and I'm finding myself feeling burnt out. So, I remembered something a group of us did in a co-working session several years ago. Have you heard of or tired the Pomodoro Method (work for 25 minutes and take a 5 minute break, repeat taking a longer break after 4 cycles)? I started employing it a bit ago and it is helping. What is your experience with this?