Simple. Smart. Sustainable.

The other day my friend and I had a discussion about making tough decisions. We talked about the difficulties on making life altering choices, especially when it involves other stakeholders- like spouses and kids. It’s not easy to bring everyone on the same path you want to follow- not easy, but definitely possible. First, let’s talk about the decision making process itself. We make decisions- big and small- everyday. Most of the time it’s easy for us to decide between the choices we have and move on with our day. Once in a while, however, life puts us in a situation were we have to make some tough choices. Big decisions, such as buying a house, getting married, changing jobs or careers, moving to a new city, affect our lives tremendously and we want to find the best solution for today’s situation as well as for our future. When faced with a big life decision, I tend to over-think and over-analyze all aspects of choices involved. The longer I ponder between the choices, th...

Lately, I decided to concentrate on my strengths instead of my weaknesses. My weaknesses, like for many people, were much more noticeable and the need to fix and overcome them was very strong. In my years, I've spent a lot of time trying to make myself better, to position myself for success at work and in my personal life: communicate better, negotiate better, write better, dance better, etc. The truth is, I still suck at all of it! While I gained some good insight and information, I am nowhere near the levels that the course objectives claim I should be at the end of taking these courses or feeling personal confidence in the knowledge I've gained. I'm just not good at it. And, I don't have the motivation to get better. Why is that?  Most people don't know or truly understand their strengths and weaknesses. Or if they do, they don't know how to use them fully in order to achieve the success they want. No one teaches us at school or in the workplace ho...

We all know that as human beings we have certain needs programmed in our minds and bodies. Some of those needs are being met without us doing a thing (like breathing) while others need our undivided attention (like making sure we have food to eat). Most of the time though, we don't pay much attention to our needs, beyond the basics of food, water and shelter. We inadvertently allow popular culture, advertisements, and the desires of others dictate our “needs”. We may feel like we are doing something tangible and productive towards meeting our needs, whether it's buying a house, climbing career ladder, or having 500+ Facebook friends, we still don't feel satisfied with what we have. In order to have all our needs fulfilled, we first must recognize which needs are important to us and which ones are just cover ups of unmet personal essentials. Unmet emotional, social or spiritual needs will manifest themselves in ways that don't serve us unless we intentionally sa...