Wednesday Wisdoms
Please enjoy! You will find Jennifer’s blogs below the Wednesday Wisdoms, which were the predecessor to WW’s.
Thank you for reading!
Someone’s Looking
Others are usually watching us, not in a creepy way, but in order to gain inspiration by learning how we react to frustration, disappointment, annoyance, etc. Even if we think we’re in our own little silos, working from home, away from the world, our attitudes and...
Crowd of Critics
Have you ever gotten in the way of your own success? Years ago, when I lived in Manhattan, my NSA (National Speaker’s Association) chapter voted me their representative at a national speech contest. As I prepared for the speech my ego kept reminding me I had to...
Just Because
There’s a silly bluegrass song called “Just Because” about a woman staying with a man, just because, he has lots of money. The song is fun to play, but the “Just Because” mentality is something I hear all the time in the business world. It goes like this: “I am not...
Do It Anyway
I took up the double bass because my guitar teacher told me to pick another instrument; my hands, he said, just weren’t configured to play a guitar. That was a disappointment, but I took up the double bass and loved it. I have never been a very good musician, but...
Leaving Footprints
In Betty White’s book If You Ask Me (And of Course You Won’t), she is quoted as saying “Everybody needs a passion. That’s what keeps life interesting. If you live without passion, you can go through life without leaving any footprints.” Kind of says it all, doesn’t...
Ode to Joy
Isn’t anticipation delicious? That feeling of excitement laced with the knowledge that something great is just about to happen. Children experience it the night before Christmas, while we adults often experience it right before a well-needed vacation or time off. What...
What’s Your Story?
Ever wonder what stories you’re telling yourself? Look around at your reality, and like me, you’ll know your stories. We are our stories, whether they dwell on politics, the economy, kindness, positivity, or something else. All of us see what we expect to see, and...
Embracing ELMO
My son and I were on a tour bus in Vienna, absolutely spell bound by the amazing beauty of the architecture and the history of this magical city. As we began the tour however, something incredibly strange happened, the driver/tour guide seemed intent on leaving...
The Leaning Tower Lesson
Our European GPS was on, but useless. I had googled “hotels near me” and every place had no parking. It was raining and we were really tired, renting our car from the airport and driving to the small town of Pisa. Finally, a beautiful site came into view, a hotel with...
‘Inner Puppy’ Permission Slip
Just finished working in Austin, TX and the last night in town I went to a glorious dog park, just as the sun was setting and the first stars of the evening appeared. I watched a variety of dogs dash around among the legs of their owners, some timid, some...
The Gift of the Unexpected
I have a one-eyed male cat named Nala, and when a friend gave me a book called Nala’s World, about a Scottish man cycling the world with a cat named Nala, it intrigued me; I immediately got into their adventures. And I got caught up in the fact that he chose, actually...
A ‘Clunker’ Point of View
When I was a teenager, I had a boyfriend who drove a car with a hole in the floor, right where my feet should go. I could watch the pavement as we drove; the car was that rickety. Makes me think of some of the world views I’ve driven around over the years, they’ve...
Wednesday Wisdom – Adapting the Lighthouse Theory
Steve Pemberton, author of A Chance in the World, uses an interesting metaphor for being the change we want to see happen at work, home and everywhere in between. He talks about becoming a human lighthouse. Referencing someone who made a difference in our lives, he...
Wednesday Wisdom – The Magic of Followers
I saw an old YouTube video that intrigued me. A person ventured out on an empty stage during an outdoor event, and started doing a really silly dance. The audience was milling around and ignored the guy completely until a second person joined him on stage and started...
Wednesday Wisdom – Watch Out for Blind Spots
Ignoring our blind spots while driving is not a wise thing to do. In fact, it’s downright dangerous if left unchecked. And our psychological blind spots can be just as hazardous, mainly because we don’t believe we have them. As an example, I can tell you right now I...
Wednesday Wisdom – Name it, Don’t Blame it
Have you ever felt really annoyed with yourself for judging a co-worker, losing your patience with a friend, or something else entirely, instead of cutting yourself some slack? Usually when we’re frustrated with ourselves we try to ploy through the emotion, and at the...
Wednesday Wisdom – Failing is for the Brave at Heart
Anyone who hasn’t failed please raise your hand? A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new, Einstein reminded us. Failure is often the result of taking chances, of getting comfortable being uncomfortable for a short period of time. And it’s much more...
Wednesday Wisdoms – A Radical Idea that Still Works
Have you ever heard of the rabbit effect? I hadn’t. In Dr. Kelli Harding’s book scientists did a study on how diet impacts cardiovascular health, using rabbits that were fed a high-fat diet. Surprisingly, there was 60% less damage to one group of rabbits eating the...
Wednesday Wisdoms – Please, just QTIP
I was teaching a class in Connecticut and one woman, sitting in the front row, kept her head down, eyes facing her lap for an hour and a half. It had to be incredibly uncomfortable; she didn't want to attend my class. A man stood up at the beginning of a two-day class...
Wednesday Wisdoms – Regrets
I need another 50 years to get it right, to learn from all my mistakes and to quit being annoyed with the major mistakes I’ve made. But realistically that isn’t going to happen. So, I set off to learn how to let go of regrets of things I didn’t do or did poorly, and...