When you hear the phrase ‘pursuit of happiness’, what images does it invoke? The framers of the constitution modeled this phrase after the Greek word eudaimonia literally translated as the state of a ‘good spirit’. A more Platonian description of the word can be summarized as ‘a state of well-being and flourishing that results from…
Ah, the old adage: Are you living to work or working to live? Notice how both require work to support life, however, the turn of phrase reflects a deeper question. When you think about work, how does your heart react? Take a minute and ponder what you’re feeling. When your lifestyle begins to rob you…
Exercise: ex-er-cise, noun. “a process or activity carried out for a specific purpose, especially one concerned with a specified area or skill.” A good friend once said the teacher is one chapter ahead of the student. What an awesome encouragement to share with others what you are learning as you are learning it! Here is…
Filmmakers are very good at framing. Spending a lot of time ensuring that what you see on the screen focuses your attention. Zooming a frame out allows filmmakers to expand the context of a scene drawing the viewer in and giving them an “ohhh…” moment. Oh, now I understand why that character is frozen in…
The perspective you have will either limit or maximize the impact you will have on your world. The words you use internally to describe a person, place, event, situation, or yourself matter immensely. Moving forward requires a constant check in with the language we are using inside. Language that if you are not careful contain…
Ever have one of those days that just don’t belong to you? You get through three-quarters of it and you feel yourself saying “What the hell happened to today?” The letter “f” in the MVG FWD Reframe-work stands for “framing”. It’s a reminder that you have a tendency to frame things in your mind a…
You’ve heard the old saying there’s no “i” in “team”. It’s a catchy little way of framing that team members should not focus on themselves as individuals. There may not be an “i” in “team” but there certainly are enough letters to spell “me”. A great reminder that, at its core, a team is a…
“Free your mind… and the rest will follow.” En Vogue certainly nailed that lyric. Marcus Aurelius wrote “External things are not the problem. It’s your assessment of them.” Lenny Bruce penned “There is no ‘what should be’. There is only ‘what is’”. Kristin Neff’s Self Compassion advises “Pain is unavoidable, suffering is optional.” Perception is…
“You can’t evolve unless you change.” – Thomas J. Leonard Social conditioning has stunted your growth. All of us have learned in some way shape or form to stifle our responses in order to be “in control”, “civil”, or “courteous”. By doing so, you have trained your mind and body to disconnect from each other….
The “D” in the MVG FWD Reframe-work stands for dream. It’s the only forward-looking element, but let me use the wise words of Thomas J Leonard as a caution. “Hold your dreams lightly and [don’t] squeeze the soul out of them.” Dreams are important, they provide directionally accurate orientation, however, they are never fully realized. …