I come from a family of high achievers.

My work as a Life and Leadership Coach has me in constant conversation with leaders who would proudly carry this label. But in pushing the borders of exploring what it means to live a happy life, it has become clear to me that being a high achiever is no long...

A dear and wise client of mine, Jo, sent me a text last night with a seemingly simple question.

She asked, “How do you define success?”

I read this text at the end of a day that felt like anything but successful! I had failed to finish a 50 mile race that I had trained for with great commitment an...

Nobody ever jumped out of bed in the morning and joyfully exclaimed,

“I love creating new habits!”

Nobody ever!

That’s because we all know that forming new habits and getting rid of old, entrenched ones is a shitty process.

By shitty I mean it’s long, requiring higher than normal levels of c...

Worry is nothing less or more than a habit.

It’s complex only insofar as our individual tendency towards it, but otherwise it’s pretty simple and, ultimately, a decision.

Worry is self indulgence masquerading as concern and love for others.

Worry is letting our mind indulge in thoughts and scenar...

Trying to be relentlessly positive is an exhausting and often useless pursuit.

So many of us, especially women, got the memo that good people always look at the bright side and help others do the same. How often has your child come to you with a story of how she is feeling hurt, disappointed or eve...

“Wait, I’m confused…..”

How often have you started a potentially difficult conversation by feigning confusion? It was certainly my default response when I was actually angry and hurt but didn’t have the language to express myself without fear of blowing up the conversation or the relationship. It w...

“Mom, do you think you might have an eating disorder?” one of my children, who shall go unnamed, asked with more than a little hesitation.

My immediate reaction was, “Wait, what???” followed by confusion, anger and defensiveness. I have a complicated relationship with diagnoses. I welcome informati...

A great Coach isn’t smarter, more knowledgeable, or necessarily even more experienced than her greatest client.

A great Coach is deliberately on the road to mastering her craft and is in charge of the coaching process, not in control of the outcome.  This is the truth that I had to come to terms...

A dear and wise client of mine, Jo, sent me a text last night with a seemingly simple question.  She asked, “How do you define success?”

I read this text at the end of a day that felt like anything but successful.  I had failed to finish a 50-mile race that I had trained for with great commitment a...

This is the time of year that Professional Coaches are inundated with requests for coaching conversations.  Folks want to know how someone like me can help them achieve their goals.  It’s easy to set goals and create a plan to execute them.  It’s easy to download an app or hire a coach that promises...

Perk up your ears, and you’ll notice how often you hear yourself or others say, “I’m so stupid!”.  I know I do it.  Far less than I used to, but still, I catch myself saying it in my head and sometimes out loud with no consciousness.

As I’m fond of saying to my kids, who accuse me of “uncoachly”...

Much of the work I do with my clients centers around cultivating their sense of compassion, for others and for themselves.  I’ve found that most of us can find a level of compassion for others, but when it comes to our selves, we can be obstinate and harsh.  We expect so much of ourselves and confus...

A strange and different kind of year is coming to an end, and oddly, most of us are experiencing the same pre-holiday stressors as we do during any other “normal” year.  For a year that was seemingly “cancelled”, we sure have a lot to get done, right?

What this tells us, if anything, is that fee...

“You’re killing my soul!”, I whined to my Coach, more than once.  You’d think he was asking me to take action that put my life at risk.  What he was asking me to do - repeatedly, and time after time - was to block time in my calendar for all the things that matter to me, and then honor my calendar. ...

Growing up and well into adulthood, “How do I make it happen??”, was the question I asked myself most often.  I was raised and also had an inclination to be independent, resourceful and high achieving.  Bars were not set low in my family, and I not only accepted that life view but took it to a highe...

What do highly educated millennials and many high-achieving, fifty-ish women have in common?

On the surface, seemingly not much. However, because both are groups of people that I coach, one similarity connects them with surprising consistency. Often, both groups  are striving to gain clarity about ...

What comes up for you when you read the following?:

“After the birth of their child, Ruth Bader Ginsburg's husband was diagnosed with cancer. During this period, Ruth attended class, took notes for them both, typed her husband's dictated papers and cared for their child & her sick husband, all whil...

These are complex times and I thought long and hard before writing this blog.  There is so much “information” being hurled at us - whether we’ve invited it or not - and I wasn’t sure I would add value by creating yet another piece of content.

So I stayed quiet and under the radar, hoping that this ...

Do you want to be free?

I’m guessing that your answer is a resounding yes.  Mine was, even before I had the language to express it.  My earliest memories are of roaming in our magical garden in Iran, and feeling like I was free to do and be whatever I wanted.  That was my 5 year old mind’s definiti...

Life Coaching is about changing thoughts, shifting perceptions, and breaking down goals into bite size pieces.  As a coach, I don’t have the answers for my clients. I’m certainly not smarter than them. And although I hope to inspire, I’m not a cheerleader.

A good coach brings value by helping us se...

It’s no exaggeration when I say that I work with some of the most committed and courageous human beings in this world.

Every day and in every area of their lives, my clients are pushing the limits of what is possible for them. They don’t just talk about it, read and forward inspirational quotes, an...

“You make Mommy so happy!”

Those of us who are parents have uttered this statement at some point in our parenting.  If you have not, you are in the minority and you should be proud of yourself.

I became a parent long before I began my education to become a Professional Life Coach, and certainly...

Life Coaching - The Magic Is In The Client!

It's funny how our clients think we inspire them, but they truly inspire us more than they'll ever know. I was humbled and brought to tears while reading this piece, my beautiful and powerful client, Kathy Igou, posted today:

#LifeCoaching #Mojoactiveadv...