Promise Fulfilled with the Greatest of Ease

Flying High at the NYTS

Yes, that's me flying on the trapeze at the New York Trapeze School at the Santa Monica Pier. This was one of the most challenging things I've ever done. It was also one of the most rewarding. Why trapeze? When I was five I went to the circus with my grandmother. I was completely enthralled by the aerial show. The following Christmas I received Dr. Suess's Book About Me, a fill in the blank book where kids can record their longest swim, how many steps it takes to get to the mailbox, how many door knobs are in their house, you know...the important stuff. The last page in the book read, "When I grow up I want to be ______________." I'll give you three guesses what I wrote.

Grown-up me was scared out of my mind at the thought of jumping off that platform. But, I wanted to get in touch with that little girl who believed that anything was possible, and that she should absolutely take center stage, dressed in sequins, and bathed in the spotlight. I'd lost her somewhere along the way, but she was still in there. Flying on the trapeze was 50% terrifying, and 50% exhilarating. But it was 100% a full circle moment for me. I'd fulfilled a promise to my little girl self, and that's one of the most satisfying kinds of promises to keep.

Question: When you were little, what did you dream of becoming when you grew up?

Challenge: Is there a way to incorporate some aspect of that into your real life today? For example, if you wanted to be a ballerina, why not try an adult ballet class? I hereby challenge you to go out there and make it happen. If you decide to accept, please let me know how it goes! Email me about your adventure (send photos please!) and let me know if I can write about it here in my upcoming Aspire to Inspire series.

How To Tame Your To Do List

If you're like me, you have a to do list that rivals War and Peace in length. Not only that, your list seems to have a medusa like quality to it...every time you cross one thing off, two or three new things crop up in it's place.

It's a losing battle.

Or is it?

There's one item that when added to the top of any to do list, makes the whole thing easier to conquer.

1. DELEGATE!!!

There you have it. Three little syllables that will change your life.

So go ahead. Write down everything you need to do. Prioritize your list in order of importance. Then, IN SHARPIE, write at the very top, DELEGATE!!!! Go back through your list with a highlighter and mark the items that someone else feasibly could do.


For example...how much time do you spend driving back and forth to the dry cleaner? Finding parking, waiting in line, and lugging the dry cleaning to and from the car is a massive pain in the you know what. Not to mention, it's a time waster. Especially when you consider the number of cleaners who offer a delivery service. Yes. They will drop off and pick up your dry cleaning right at your own front door.

Grocery stores also deliver, and you may also have a delivery plan associated with your prescription insurance. Take advantage of that! Pet meds also can be ordered online and delivered.

How about mobile car wash services? I have been trying to time errands at the mall with when my car is dirty because there is a car wash service in the parking lot that does a good job for the same money I'd spend at the place I'd have to sit and wait. Added bonus? I don't have to make like a shark to find parking. I just pull up, hand over my keys, and they wash it, park it, and have it all ready for me when I'm done running my errands.

Do you have kids? Do you pay allowance? Then they should be helping around the house. Assign some chores--it didn't kill you, it didn't kill me, and it won't kill our kids either. It's good for them actually.

I could go on and on, but I have a feeling if I delegate the task of coming up with more ideas to you, you'll handle it. See how that works?

Hope this helps make you feel more empowered to blast through your massive to do list. I also hope that when you get through that list, that you'll write at the bottom of it--IN SHARPIE--sit back, have a glass of wine and relax! You'll have time, so why not?

Obstacle Shmobstacle

What do you do when you're met with an obstacle--a roadblock if you will--on your path toward a goal? Do you sit down right where you are, and stay stuck in that spot? Do you turn yourself around and go back to your starting point, giving up on your goal? Do you try to find a way to work around it? I think most people would agree that working around an obstacle is the best way to get back en route toward that same goal.

But what if you didn't try to work around it? What if you stepped up on top of it? You might get a clearer view of that original goal, and perhaps, catch sight of something even better, slightly further off in the distance, that you never would have seen if you hadn't had the change in vantage point. In a nutshell, don't let obstacles keep you from your goals, just step on them to reach higher ones.