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It’s Time to Set Your Annual Goals at Work – 3 Tips

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It’s that time again.   Most companies will ask professionals to set their annual goals by the first quarter.   As I think about how to set mine this year by March 31, I wanted to share 3 tips that may also help you with yours.   Even if you have already set your goals for this year, I recommend you still read tip #3 below.  I bet you anything you forgot to set this one.  It’s actually the most important one.   I look forward to your comments and questions :-). ...  read more

Tip of the Week – Give Yourself Permission to Do it Imperfectly

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I grew up believing “If I cannot do it well, I shouldn’t do it at all.”  Perhaps this is a typical Asian upbringing and teaching.   I am not even sure my parents actually said that to me.   However after receiving many “talks” from my dad about how I could have gotten a better grade on a test (e.g, 100 points vs 93), I think I told myself the above as I don’t want to “disappoint” my dad or get an extra long lecture. ...  read more

It’s Okay to “Cry” at Your Presentation

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This is what I told my six-grade daughter while I was driving her to school last week.  She has been fretting about her science experiment presentation for about a month now.  Last Tuesday was the day for her to present.  She got up early and was preparing.  She enjoyed doing her experiment and actually seemed to know her stuff.  Nonetheless, she was still super nervous.    She knows I have a lot of presentation experience, so I took the opportunity in the car ride to school to see if I can ease her nerves. ...  read more

When Things Go “Wrong,” Can I Still be Happy & Grateful?

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This seems like such a counter-intuitive question.  Usually when things go “wrong,” we can have a pretty negative response.  This may include anger, frustration, disappointment, fear, guilt, or any number of negative emotions.  Aren’t we justified to feel these in  a “bad” situation?  Perhaps or perhaps not.  While it’s natural to feel the sting of any unexpected situation when it first happens, how long we keep feeling that sting is our own choice.   We can keep recounting the unfairness of what happens for days, weeks, months or we can choose a different perspective – look for the gift and opportunity in the situation and act from there.   Let me explain with an example. ...  read more

How to Create New Year “Goals” That Inspire You All Year

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I don’t know about you, but I no longer like coming up with S.M.A.R.T goals for my new year resolutions.   This is mainly because goals like “I want to lose 6 pounds in six months” or “I want to launch a product manager bootcamp by x date.” are both rigid and demotivating as the year goes on.   It also doesn’t get at the heart of WHY I want these goals. ...  read more

4 Unexpected Gifts From My 2 Week Cold

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working while sick

It is the season to be thankful.  However, I felt far from it a few weeks ago.  I woke up sick one morning.  It was not COVID (at least according to my rapid test) and I didn’t have a fever.   I had everything else though – body aches,  headaches, sore throat, etc.

I thought I would recover in 48 hours.  I mean most common cold only last that long, right?  Boy was I wrong.  I felt worse after 3 days.  I started coughing and at night, my throat felt like I was swallowing glass. :-(.   It was worse than any common cold I have ever had.  I lost my voice almost completely and all my energy as well.   It felt like it would never end. ...  read more