Soft skills

What Did You Learn from 2020 – 3 Tough Lessons I Learned

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Happy New Year! Everyone wants to forget 2020; however I think it’s a year to remember. This has been the most memorable year in almost a century. Despite all the difficulties, I feel fortunate to have my family, health, and a better appreciation for the simple things in life.

While we all hope 2021 will be a better year, it is still unclear how long we will be in our current state or if we would ever go back to the way we were prior to March 2020. While I miss seeing my parents in person, traveling, and gathering with friends, I also gained much more time with my family and loved living a much simpler life with my husband and kids.  ...  read more

It’s My 7th Year, but I Really Didn’t Think I Would Finish Today

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With the pandemic raging, my hot chocolate 15K race today was virtual. I really thought about not doing it this year or reducing the distance. I had all the excuses in my head last night. 🙂

Excuses to Skip the Run

  • My friend who has always ran with me decided not to do it today. She was worried about her knees, which have been hurting
  • I haven’t trained for this 15K, although that has been the case for the last 6 years.
  • My left calf and ankle feel super tight from the last few weeks of moving. Yes, we moved apartments in San Francisco. It took 10 days of packing, unpacking and lots of standing and walking.
  • There won’t be a crowd! I love the energy of the other runners and that usually gave me the energy to finish this run.
  • There won’t be any water or marshmallow stations to reenergize during the run

I can go on with my list of excuses but you get the idea. On the other hand, I had some good reasons to do the run ...  read more

Impostor Syndrome – Definition and How to Use it To Your Benefit

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I had no idea what Imposter Syndrome was for many years. However I clearly remember feeling like a fraud when I graduated from college. Even though I graduated with honors in Electrical Engineering, I was convinced someone was going to find out that I didn’t know anything. What was worse was I took a strategic consulting job with McKinsey. What did I know about strategy or business? Nothing. I believed that I passed the case interviews only because I got help from a McKinsey associate on how to ace case interviews and I read the Mind of the Strategist.  ...  read more

How to Be Self-Confident – Listen to Ted Lasso & “Be a Goldfish”

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I am addicted to Apple TV’s show Ted Lasso. It’s about an American football coach, who moves to England to manage an Elite soccer team. Ted Lasso has no experience in soccer whatsoever. You don’t need to love sports to love this show. It’s funny, inspiring and entertaining. Most of all, every episode is a master class on leadership.  ...  read more

First 90 Days at Work – Focus on These 4Cs to Ramp Up Quickly

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Last week, I wrote that we should achieve these 5 goals in the first 90 days at work. Today, I want to provide you tips on how to best achieve the first of the five goal – Ramp up quickly. I came up with this 4Cs framework since I am currently 2 weeks into my new job as well. It is helping me keep in mind all the aspects I need to understand in a new organization and new job. I hope this can help you as well.  ...  read more