Incomia

What role does work play in our lives? Out of the many questions prompted by the pandemic, this is one whose impact remains front and center. In the absence of travel, daily commutes and the culture of busyness, many employees were finally able to fully engage in self-reflection to determine if their job, company and path truly aligned with their overall interests. So what if what you want to do is at odds with what you currently do? It might be time for a career break that allows for reassessment, rest and redirection. Burnout and unhappiness don’t need to be the end of your story. If you haven’t yet started the “it’s not you, it’s me” conversation with your boss, here’s what to keep in mind pre-break, as well as three tips to help you make the most of your time between careers. Plans fail when you fail to plan.  You’ve seen the Hollywood edit—that explosive argument between superior and underling, the dramatic exit and the self-satisfied look as the music crescendos and the cred

For Carlo Valdes, it’s not so much whether he’ll be successful. That’s become understood, an absolute really. It’s just a matter of what his next challenge will be. First, he landed a football scholarship to UCLA before later joining the track and field team and reaching NCAA regionals three times. After graduating with a history degree, the plan was to work in real estate or maybe sales. That was before his coach, Mike Maynard, and a teammate made a life-changing suggestion. Ever think about trying out for the U.S. Bobsled team? It wasn’t the craziest idea that Valdes, at 6-foot-2 and 220 pounds of almost all muscle, had ever heard, outside of the fact he grew up in Newport Beach, California, and knew absolutely nothing about the sport. Less than two years after graduating, Valdes not only made the squad, but his two-man team placed fifth at the World Championships in 2015. Three years later, he was one of the team’s two crewmen, or pushers, at the Winter Olympics in South Korea.

At 57, my fitness interests have ebbed and flowed over the years. I grew up as a tomboy, with many of my childhood days spent outside riding my bike, running, playing tennis and swimming. Later, I joined softball leagues and my high school volleyball team. Mind you, I was never “good” at sports, but I relished the feeling of moving, trying and improving.  But as I grew older—got married, had kids—my passion for fitness took a back seat. Sure, I’d joined a few gyms over the years to stay healthy. I hopped on the treadmill, lifted weights and took some aerobics classes. I even tried a few yoga sessions at our local YMCA, but I always felt like I was doing it “wrong.” I wasn’t a gym rat and didn’t enjoy exercise where I felt like I was just going through the motions. My “get-‘er-done” attitude put fitness on my to-do list, keeping me relatively healthy but not sparking any passion or long-term commitment. Then along came yoga. Or, as I like to call it, yog-ahhhh—that feel-good activity

The handwritten check arrived in a plain envelope. I signed and deposited it right away. Normally I would have then shredded it. But not this one. I’m saving this one. It’s from my friend Fred “Honey Pot” Williams, a 61-year-old gastroenterologist and beekeeper, and it’s the first revenue from a side hustle I started with another friend, the first check I’ve gotten since graduating college for producing anything other than words. It feels like the first check of the rest of my life. That’s certainly an overstatement. But I’m excited to stretch out into something new and for conceiving, planning and executing the first product: an adventure I dreamed up called 50-50-50 in which Honey Pot, eight others and I hiked 50 miles, biked 50 miles and canoed 50 miles, all in one five-day weekend. The 50s were a hook to celebrate my 50th birthday and just happened to form a great marketing shtick for an adventure trip.  I’ve had a thousand half-baked side hustle ideas; this is the first one I’v

Beneficial time management is something most of us struggle with . In a world that certainly has no shortage of distractions, it becomes all too easy to waste away hours or even days on activities that are neither useful nor really all that enjoyable. If you would like to start getting more value out of the hours you’ve been given, check out these seven mental techniques for improving your time management . 1. Visualize your daily goals. When you wake up each morning, decide then and there what you want to do with that day. What tasks do you want to accomplish? What activities do you want to enjoy? (It’s important to note that daily goals don’t necessarily have to be work related. Perhaps your goal for the day is to spend time with your family or enjoy a day on the golf course.) Then take a few minutes to visualize these tasks as already completed. How would you feel if they were already done? This sense of fulfillment will renew your drive to complete your tasks that day and not p

I’ve been through the challenge of not having enough money. I grew up in a small town in Montana, in an economically depressed Irish mining town. There was a lot of struggle there. It was a pretty tough town, pretty tough weather and pretty tough economy. I remember one time when the heater went out. And when the heater goes out in Montana in the winter, it is a dire situation—wind chill can drop to 20 and 30 degrees below zero. It was freezing, and we didn’t have enough money to fix the heater. My parents were waiting for their paychecks to come in at the end of two weeks. I grew up with nothing, but I grew up with total abundance. You have four kids in a house with no heat when it’s 20 degrees below zero. What are you going to do? My mom went out to the garage, grabbed our camping tent, sleeping bags, every parka and blanket we had. She brought them into the living room, set up the tent and threw everything inside, including us kids. The electricity went out at some point, so

Once you decide what you want to do or build or join or create, you’ve taken the first step in becoming a hero on a mission: you’ve invited yourself into a story. After you step into that story, you’ll exit what Viktor Frankl called “ the existential vacuum .” Life is now asking you a question that requires action to answer. Will you decide to work remotely and take your family on a yearlong trip around the world? Will you write that book? Will you start a community garden? How will it all work out? The story question is the magic ingredient that keeps you interested in your own life. And the action you take to answer that question pulls you out of the narrative void. Now, you might ask what story questions are creating narrative traction in your life? All stories are built around the main question. Will the team win the championship? Will the couple fall in love and live happily ever after? Will the hero disarm the bomb? The story itself doesn’t matter all that much as long as it

If you’re reading this, chances are you’ve experienced imposter syndrome at least once in your life. It’s something many of us are familiar with—that feeling of “not enough” creeping in the back of your mind, the voice whispering that you’re a fraud. There’s a vague sense that everyone is going to find out that you’re nowhere near as skilled or talented or qualified as you appear to be. If you’re not careful, these feelings can cost you.  In fact, I’m someone who has paid the price of imposter syndrome several times throughout my career. I’ve lost thousands of dollars to it—turned down potential clients, business opportunities and more—all because of a deceptively simple fear that I wasn’t good enough, and if I said yes to these opportunities then people would “find out” the truth: that I was a fraud. Imposter syndrome and my career  Like many people, I’ve spent years trying to combat my imposter syndrome. Initially, I thought my debilitating self-doubt could be conquered through ac

Over the past two years we have lived through a global trauma. We’re exhausted from dealing with fear, hopelessness, anxiety, demoralization, burnout and depression. But, there are some people who are able to remain optimistic because they use a set of skills that can help.  Let’s start with some good news: Anyone can learn optimism because it’s a skill, not a talent, which means it can be learned and refined. By studying and modeling people who consistently maintain optimism through difficult times, you can add these skills to your healthy coping mechanisms toolbox.  Gratitude  You’ve probably read elsewhere about how powerful gratitude is. You may already keep a gratitude journal, and that’s a wonderful first step, but are you really maximizing what you can get from practicing gratitude ?  In my coaching conversations, many people share what they are grateful for and follow it with a giant “but.” If you say “I’m grateful for my family, but… ” you’ve dismissed the gratitude and

W​​hen your business means everything to you, it can be hard not to feel like every single task is the most important thing. So how do you determine what is urgent vs. what is important? Does the distinction even matter? In a word: yes. Urgent tasks often have urgent consequences that can be devastating to your business. But if you only deal with the urgent and not the important, you’re missing out on crucial opportunities for long-term growth and development.  If you’ve ever felt like you spend your whole workday putting out fires, or you’re constantly busy but not seeing the professional or organizational results you want, it might be time to take a closer look at how you’re prioritizing the tasks on your plate .  Tackle the time-sensitive stuff. If a to-do item has a hard deadline that’s coming up fast, take care of it before tasks that have a more flexible time frame. Submitting reports, paying bills—get these things done and out of the way before they become a problem. Use th

Some of the most successful people in their field reveal the best investments a person can make—ones that don’t just add to your bottom line, but also make you a richer person. We’ve all heard the expression, Money can’t buy happiness . Or can it? We polled a handful of experts, in fields ranging from food to finance, and asked them to talk about ways you can spend your hard-earned money to achieve prosperity —not just the cash-in-your-pocket kind that comes from a profitable business, but also the kind of abundance that enriches your life and feeds your soul. And once you get right down to it, isn’t that the kind that really matters? Invest in education. When it comes to spending money to enrich your life, education should be a greater priority than entertainment, says Steve Siebold, speaker and author of How Rich People Think . “The world class knows that college is just the beginning of lifelong learning. That’s why you’ll see the great ones attending seminars, workshops, etc. T

Let me give you some thoughts on time management. Here is a list of things you should consider to make the most of your time : 1. Run the day or it will run you. Part of the key to time management is just staying in charge. Here’s what usually happens: We start something and we’re in control, but as the day starts to unfold, we start losing it. It’s like running a business. If you don’t stay on top of things, the business will run you before long. You have to stop every once in a while and say, “Wait! Who’s in charge here?” Here’s a good phrase to remember: “Some will master and some will serve.” That’s the nature of life, and you have to make sure you become the master. You have to run the day. You have to stay in charge. What is the key to staying in charge? You must have your written set of goals with you at all times. Prioritize your goals and decide which are important. Constantly review your goals, then make them a part of a well-written game plan. With your game plan in ha