All posts tagged "Personal Growth"

  • Reasons you might be feeling the winter blues and how you can combat it.

    The Winter Solstice marks the “shortest” day of the year. So, there’s less light than on any other day. Most of us prefer light to dark. So, looking on the bright side of life, its good to...

    • Posted December 28, 2023
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  • Discover your four passions

    In a previous article on reinventing yourself, I mentioned four key Passions you must discover to recalibrate your internal compass and ensure that your next incarnation is more aligned with your authentic self. Here, in more detail,...

    • Posted March 9, 2023
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  • Study finds phubbing harms life satisfaction

    With the ability of smartphones to fulfill many of the conveniences we enjoy today from e-shopping and paying bills to entertainment and social media, our increasing dependence on our devices has affected our focus on relationships, giving...

    • Posted February 10, 2023
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  • Dry January

    What began as a public health campaign, initiated by Alcohol Change UK ten years ago, is still going strong around the world. The initiative to abstain from alcohol consumption during the month of January is trademarked Dry...

    • Posted January 11, 2023
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  • Why working from home is here to stay

    If you’d have asked me a few years ago if I thought that working from home was part of our future, I’d have said no way. For as long as I can remember, I’ve heard people wish...

    • Posted July 15, 2022
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  • The Covid division equation

      If you’re a mathematician, you may best know division as one of the four basic operations of arithmetic. In my world – that of understanding human behaviour – I associate the word division with the way...

    • Posted April 13, 2022
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  • Words For Thought

    When we’re using words to communicate thoughts and feelings, we don’t always stop to consider how loaded or powerful they are. In my line of work (both as an author and psychologist), words are always powerful. There...

    • Posted February 17, 2022
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  • Looking Up, Around and Ahead in 2020

    Now that it’s 2020, I have read several posts on social media playfully acknowledging this date in time as a period within which to view the world with increased visual clarity. As I age, so too do...

    • Posted January 9, 2020
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  • Why New Year’s resolutions fail.

    The majority of New Year’s resolutions fail for the same reason that so many businesses do – because people let their strategy limit their vision. Here’s a simple example. Jeremy determines what he will do for his...

    • Posted November 27, 2019
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  • Do you and your partner speak the same love language?

    In my practice, when counseling couples, I often hear from one or the other that they don’t feel loved. “But how can that be!” his or her partner may exclaim. “I tell you I love you all...

    • Posted April 9, 2019
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  • Do you talk to your children about money?

    Teaching money-management skills to children is climbing the popularity polls, as more secondary schools begin to include it in their curricula and the big banks dedicate numerous web pages to it.  So whose responsibility is it to...

    • Posted November 26, 2018
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  • Being An Authentic Mom Despite the Madness of Motherhood

    Motherhood is hard. Yes, it has its rewards. But especially in today’s economy where making ends meet requires both parents to be working outside the home, the recognition of exactly how much work it is to be...

    • Posted October 22, 2018
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  • The Tao of Deciding

    First of all, full disclosure: I am a lover of alliteration, not an expert in Taoism. As a coach and facilitator, however, I am an expert in supporting people and teams to make better decisions and take...

    • Posted August 23, 2018
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  • At the crossroads

    They say life is a journey, and some TF readers may not have expected to find themselves here as part of their “journey.” Perhaps you gave up a successful career to follow your spouse here on a...

    • Posted August 9, 2018
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  • Apply these principles in your life and make things better

      This past year I took on a new role as the Chair of the Parent Advisory Council (PAC) at my son’s school – a large public school in downtown Vancouver, Canada. It has been incredibly rewarding...

    • Posted July 15, 2018
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  • Together We Shine

    Closing the gender gap is more than just a moral imperative to benefit women, it’s an economic one that benefits everyone. As Prime Minister Shinzo Abe stated in his 2014 keynote speech at the World Economic Forum...

    • Posted May 23, 2018
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  • Changing the “WHY” you work

    In the same way that junk food isn’t a healthy way to satisfy your body’s cravings, it can damage your long-term well-being to attempt to resolve career cravings with solutions that don’t address their root cause. Last...

    • Posted April 19, 2018
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  • Taming Your Career Cravings

    Most spouses of expats living in Japan have left behind successful careers to experience the opportunity of living overseas. It’s possible that something was missing in your last career and you welcomed the opportunity to leave and...

    • Posted March 19, 2018
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  • A Brave New Year

    I belong to a women’s group that has been meeting monthly for over 15 years. We don’t have cocktails, or trade recipes, we drink tea and listen deeply to each others’ joys and struggles. In a world...

    • Posted January 7, 2018
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  • Perfecting Perseverance

    Willpower, in the form of “ganbare” is so woven into the fabric of Japanese life that it is difficult to navigate a day in Japan without hearing this term. Ganbaru or ganbatte means “give it your best”...

    • Posted October 18, 2017
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  • Time to Thrive Part 3: Staying on Track

    If you’ve followed the advice in parts one and two of this series, you’ve picked your focus, made a proper plan and started executing it. Despite this focus and organization, however, you’re eventually going to run into...

    • Posted October 4, 2017
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  • Ikigai and aging well

    Japan, along with many other countries in the developed world is experiencing a marked increase in the percentage of its population that is over fifty. With this changing demographic comes an increased interest regarding what it takes...

    • Posted September 2, 2017
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  • Time to Thrive Part 2: The Planning Paradox

    You’re smart, successful and ambitious. You work hard. You’re obsessed with being productive. So why do you always find yourself wondering where the time goes and if you’re really making progress? Last month, I introduced the first...

    • Posted August 15, 2017
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  • TIME TO THRIVE: Getting more life for your time.

    TIME is your most precious resource. Even more precious than money. You can save money to use in the future, you can invest it and it will grow, and you can get a second job or start...

    • Posted July 15, 2017
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  • Too Damn Busy: Why you are and how to stop.

    Here’s a statement about my life – and probably yours. The day I started writing this article, I got stuck in our elevator for 30 minutes – and enjoyed it! Somewhere in a day that was jam-packed...

    • Posted May 12, 2017
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  • New beginnings part 2: Barriers to a brighter future

    Making the move to a new and better stage of your life and career without getting overwhelmed by the inevitable challenges and uncertainty the process it involves, is a challenge. Last month I wrote about the importance...

    • Posted April 12, 2017
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  • New Beginnings Part 1: KEEP YOUR EYE ON THE PRIZE

    For most foreigners living in Japan, the time to leave eventually comes. Whether leaving out of desire or necessity, this transition can be fraught with stress. The good news is that it doesn’t have to be. I’ll...

    • Posted February 15, 2017
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  • Have You Found Your Calling?

    Vocation/ Calling: Vocation and calling are often used interchangeably because they have similar definitions. Vocation is defined as a strong desire to spend your life doing a certain kind of work and calling as a strong inner...

    • Posted January 12, 2017
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  • Create more meaning, fulfillment and impact in your work

    While holidays are a time most people look forward to because they can forget about work, being away from work provides a great opportunity to gain some perspective on it and develop strategies to make it more...

    • Posted December 22, 2016
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  • Saving your business without selling your soul

    A few years back I spent most of August on a self-styled writing retreat at a gorgeous house overlooking the ocean on Vancouver Island. I couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful or inspirational place to write....

    • Posted June 16, 2016
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