Perhaps it’s time to bring back porch swings and actually meet your neighbours
There will never be a shortage of situations that put people in conflict with one another. From our strong opinions about vaccinations to the economics that drive decision-making. From differences of opinion about in-laws (and outlaws) to parenting to crime prevention and everything in between. Who owns the problem and how it gets solved are…
To quote a noted sage: “Do or do not. There is no try”
In modern society, we’ve wandered away from the thought of winning. It has become taboo. All focus has been put on ensuring that those who don’t place feel just as special for having contributed. However, this flattening of drive seems to have had some unintended consequences – diminishing confidence and persistence. And if you want…
Nothing good comes from whining and complaining
I have a Facebook friend who once posted some insights into a challenging year she was coping with. She talked about how much time she had wasted focusing on events that happened outside her physical control. At the end of a fairly long note, she concluded that being a person who refused to complain about…
What you focus on increases your chance of success
Most of us have a new year resolution in mind, even if we won’t say it out loud. The trick is to make it stick. We want to accomplish something or make some improvement. Perhaps we want to lose weight, change jobs, stop consuming alcohol – or even find a life mate. One of the main…
Accept your limitations and honour those activities that make you feel good when you do them
If you’re struggling with the holiday season, know that you are not alone: many of us scramble with all the responsibility and the desire to get things done. The perfect gift, the perfect wrapping, the cookies, sending out cards, attending school plays, paying the bills: the list goes on and on. With all this perceived…Your skill as a decision-maker depends on your willingness to make a mistake
Decisions, decisions. We face them every day. Big ones, small ones and ones we’re all terrified of getting wrong. Can someone just give us the blueprint guiding us to the right decision every time? Sadly, there’s no fail-safe way to ensure that the decision you make will be the right one every time. So we should just…
There are no perfect holidays. Accept your limitations and honour those activities that make you feel good when you do them
Not feeling it this season? Started getting stressed as soon as you saw the Christmas decorations go up the day after Halloween? I’m guessing that it’s not because you’re famous for being able to give the Grinch a run for his money. You get by most of the time without people thinking your heart is…
"My wife and I are snapping at each other constantly. I need it to stop or we need to go our separate ways"
Faith Wood knows how to resolve conflict. Her years in front-line law enforcement taught her how to effectively de-escalate any situation to a successful conclusion. Faith will use her knowledge of conflict management to guide you through the often stressful experiences you may encounter in your personal or professional life. Her Conflict Coach column appears…
Remain calm. You'll make better decisions than those who are stressed
It’s almost that time of year again – the shops are filling up, along with the roads, and people’s stress levels are increasing. Christmas is a time of tradition. Some people have huge family gatherings with relatives (lockdowns permitting) from all over the place; others prefer a quiet evening – fireplace, wine, blanket and time…
Christmas is about family and creating warm memories
It was a cold day – really cold. As I sat in a coffee shop with a cup of tea one Christmas season, preparing to answer a few emails during a break from Christmas shopping, I noticed four shivering teens – opting for fashion instead of warmth. They ordered hot chocolates, then headed to a…
Stop fixating on the most devastating critiques; focus instead on the ones that offer honest, objective and useful feedback
Is it just me, or do others find themselves overly fixating on criticism about their performance? I wasn't sure I had a thick enough skin after the first reviews came in when I began speaking professionally (and I was in law enforcement at the time). I prepared, practised delivery and made every effort to ensure…
Find your zone, connect to the world, tune into your purpose and then get specific
I once had the fabulous opportunity to chat with a group of executive administrative assistants on their final day of a national conference. They had spent a few days exploring what it takes to create positive energy for themselves and their organizations. When I met with them, they were elated, excited and maybe even a…
When we’re running from moment to moment, task to task, we lose perspective
Are we so afraid of spending time alone with our own thoughts that we find tasks to occupy every moment of our waking day? We must stop consuming our days in this unmitigated busyness. When we’re running from moment to moment, task to task, we lose perspective. Events and circumstances start to feel all-consuming. We…
Get what you want by stressing less about outcomes
Some of the biggest conflicts we face are about the frustration we feel when we don’t follow through and achieve what we’ve set our minds on. This causes us to become prickly in our relationships and take our irritation out on others. When I first started working in law enforcement, there were all kinds of…
Get rid of the negative thoughts and distractions and focus on what's important to you
The news is filled with folks complaining. From politics to economics and everything in between, people are focused on what we don’t have rather than what we do. It’s such a deeply-rooted problem that it makes me wonder if our focus is the primary culprit for all the unhappiness we perceive. When we imagine ourselves…