If you have been reading my newsletter for a while, you know that I have started swimming. I recently tapped into my love of swimming from my childhood and decided it was the right way to round out my movement routine. Swimming is gentle on the body and, for me, calming on the soul.

I have had a need for efficiency since I was a kid. I struggle to do something inefficiently in the same way people can’t stand a crooked picture on the wall or a typo in an email. It is a form of perfectionism for me that is so hard to shake, even though I really don’t have to be as efficient anymore.

I am so happy to announce that my LinkedIn training, Beyond the Profile is HERE!! I have been working on this training for a long time and it is time to finally send it out into the world. I hope you LOVE it.

I have been thinking a lot about the people who keep showing up, even when things are tough. Below is my admiration for many of the ways we keep going.

When I was in high school, I went with a dozen classmates to Gijon, Spain and we each stayed with a different family. I had never been out of the country before. As the plane flew over Spain, I watched awestruck, I was about to land in a new country! My appreciation for the opportunity was immense. When I met my Spanish family, they immediately made me a part of their family. They wanted me to experience their country and their province on a deeply personal level. They loved teaching me about their culture. My time in Spain with that family was a pivotal moment for me. A reminder that the right people at the right time can make an experience exceptional.

“You never know your good breaks from your bad ones”. This was a line repeated over and over in Ina Garten’s memoir “Be Ready When the Luck Happens”. I appreciated this sentiment. You often hear people say things like, “it’s a good thing I got rejected from such and such college because….” “It’s a good thing I didn’t get the promotion because…” “I’m glad we didn’t get that house because…” “I am so glad so and so broke up with me because…” There are so many times we are devastated over things that turn out to be exactly the right thing. But you can’t know until later.

My friend Lourdes is a natural connector. When I was a yoga instructor, she was constantly recruiting new students for me and she wasn’t even one of my regular students. She is always thinking about how she can be helpful and you absolutely never need to ask. It is just in her DNA. When I work with job seeking clients, I ask them to take a moment to think about their friends who are natural connectors and encourage them to reach out to them first. So take a moment to think: who are your connectors? Write them down.

I recently started taking swimming lessons and my instructor is amazing. She is a mom of 5 kids and she glides through that water like she is on vacation at a resort. So I am going to listen to her when she tells me to take my swimming effort down a notch. She needs to remind me I am not going to the Olympics a shocking amount of times given the fact that I still need to use a paddle board to practice my kicking.

As a career coach, I see the magic of LinkedIn on a regular basis. Sometimes I have to encourage my clients move past their resistance so they can reap the rewards. Here are the top 5 misconceptions I hear when working with clients.

I know I have written in the past about how streaks are meant to be broken, but I must admit that my 51 day Duolingo streak is bringing a smile to my face. I am headed to Spain in March and I am committed to brushing up on my Spanish before I arrive so I can actually speak when I am there. Sometimes I do 15 minutes a day, sometimes over an hour. The repetition and consistency are helping me review vocabulary and remember grammar so I can understand and speak more easily. And Duolingo rewards me with music and trophies and awards to keep me happy and remind me of my progress.

Recently, I recorded the entirety of my first online training program, LinkedIn: Beyond the Profile. (Keep your eyes open for more information coming soon!) I set up my camera carefully, I pulled up my powerpoint and I reviewed my notes. After I recorded each section, I did a little happy dance around my office. I had been procrastinating making this recording forever. Finally, I made a commitment to my coach, my accountability buddy Katrina and my husband. I was going to record it and move forward to put the training out in the world.

Recently, I decided to make some reels (videos) to put on social media. I generally feel inspired to make a reel after a client session or when an idea pops into my head. That energy fuels my creativity and helps me articulate what I want to say. If I stopped to change my shirt, put on make up, get the lighting just right, I would never put out a reel. My initial inspiration would have evaporated. So I picked up my phone while sitting on an old beat up couch with no makeup or jewelry or filters, and I recorded my reel. I thought I got my point across, so I posted it.

The other day when my 82-year old dad opened his front door, he discovered his newly subscribed New York Times sitting on his welcome mat. What a happy surprise! No need to leave the house in his PJs and slippers to walk to the curb. He continued to discover his paper on his welcome mat each morning.

While I am the last person to say New Year, New You, I do feel that injecting something new into the New Year can be galvanizing.

Making more home-cooked meals has been on my “goals” list for several years and I finally did it this past year! Below I break down how I was able to cook more in 2024 and how I am going to use a similar framework to help me swim more (a new goal) in 2025. Perhaps you can use this framework if you want to do something new in 2025 as well.

One of the best scenes of Friends is when Rachel and Monica tried to guess Chandler‘s job (watch the scene here). They knew so many unremarkable details of each other’s lives, but they didn’t know his job—the place Chandler goes everyday. How is that possible?

I challenge you to play the same game over Thanksgiving. Everyone has to guess the jobs of each adult in the room. Could you do it? And even if you could say where the person works, do you really understand what the person does? I think you may be surprised.

There is so much noise out there in the world right now. Fortunately, we have the capacity to curate what we allow into our space. We can protect ourselves without putting our heads in the sand. We can stay informed in a way that works in this moment.

I had a wonderful meeting with Jenn Huber a nutritionist who runs the community The Midlife Feast. During our session, she encouraged me to vary my workouts. To use new muscles and challenge my body in different ways. I have been working out with Michael Romano, my wonderful trainer, for over 3 years and I am certain he varies my workouts, but outside of those sessions I stick to my usual tricks. 

I am part of a writing group led by the wonderful Anna Guest-Jelley where we listen to a poem, free write and then read aloud what we wrote. We are encouraged to “write as poorly as possible” to let go of the need to perform. This permission to write from the heart has led to some magical moments. When listening to each person read their writing aloud, there are moments where someone’s writing touches your soul. When a person has spoken their truth so beautifully that it reverberates with the group. It just has perfect pitch.

My kids and I recently spent a few days at my sister’s house and my parents’ house. We visited in order to see my nephew Jonah in a middle school play and to help my parents move into their new home. The play was adorable, Jonah was adorable and watching his siblings and cousins support him was adorable. It was good vibes overload. We all made a huge deal of Jonah and I know he felt the love.

I had my colonoscopy last week and of course had to do the icky prep that so many of us have had to do (isn’t getting older fun?). I had to drink that disgusting drink and a ridiculous amount of water within an hour. I decided the best way to do this would be to watch an episode of Hacks (HBO Max) while drinking the prep drink. I figured this way I would be a little distracted and watching comedy would likely to make the whole process a little less painful. It’s hard to believe I could laugh while doing colonoscopy prep–but I did.