The Part of Early Retirement I Wasn’t Prepared For

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Since leaving full-time work last April, people often ask me, “How is retirement going?”

I usually pause before answering. I think people expect me to say, “It’s great.” And in many ways, it is. I’ve traveled more, spent more time with my family, and had the luxury of deciding how I want to spend most of my days. I’ve also tried to take better care of myself, although my recent flare-up might suggest I still have some work to do on that one. ...  read more

What Changed When I Stopped Fighting Reality

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I’m now in the fifth week of what I confidently called a “four-week flare-up” in my earlier article, The Health Debt from Overwork. I laugh a little when I think about that now. Apparently, my body didn’t get the memo.

For the first three weeks, I was mostly in denial. I knew I was hurting, but I kept telling myself it was minor.  I thought if I just cut back on my phone and computer, rested a little more, went to my chiropractor and acupuncture, it would pass. ...  read more

Who Is Actually Running Your Life?

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A few weeks ago, during a group coaching call, one woman said something that stayed with me. I’ll call her Rachel to protect her privacy.

Rachel is around 40, a first-time mom with a three-year-old, and she’s worked hard for her career. Lately, though, she’s been feeling less motivated at work and dealing with some health challenges. Part of her wants to slow down, maybe take a break or even shift to part-time for a while. ...  read more

Let it Feel Sucky

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I cried almost every day last week. Not on purpose. I wasn’t sitting around thinking about sad things or trying to work myself up. It would just happen. I would wake up anxious, think of something in the afternoon, or have a small interaction with my daughter that normally would have irritated me, and suddenly I would need to go into my room and cry. ...  read more

3 Things You Need to Speak Confidently About Your Experience

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I recently had the chance to coach someone who was preparing for a job interview. Before we talked, I reviewed both her résumé and the job description. On paper, she was a strong match. Her experience lined up well with what the company was looking for, and the person who referred her to me spoke very highly of her work. ...  read more

What if What I am Doing is Enough

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“I am not good enough yet.” That has been an inner voice of mine for about 40 years. I probably started saying this to myself when I was a kid.  Whenever I came home with test scores, my mom would congratulate me but my dad would focus on the points I missed. Even if I got 97 out of 100, most of our conversation would be about what happened to those three points and how I could avoid missing them next time. ...  read more