Hi there Reader,
Welcome to this edition of Meaningful eMail with the most recent takeaway and updates linked here at the top, and then a full article for your consideration.
Grab what's helpful today, then save others for future reference. You never know when you or someone in your network could use a boost!
Recent Takeaways & Updates
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Top Takeaway: Big Goals by Caroline Adams Miller
Ready to ditch SMART goals for something more effective? Try Miller's BRIDGE approach. The video version of my takeaways is on LinkedIn or read the article on my site when you click the button.
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Upcoming: The Credit Union Connection Roundtable 2/27
I'm honored to be a panelist for a live virtual roundtable discussing employee engagement! I'll be covering how employees can take ownership of their engagement. The other two panelists will cover how managers and the organization impact engagement.
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Earned: Conscious Facilitation Masterclass Completion Cert
The xchange approach to creating transformative events & workshops is a key element in my plan to help even more mid-career professionals reclaim their value & redefine their future. Stay tuned for workshop options later this year!
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Let's Explore
The brilliance beneath
I finally cleaned the blinds.
You know, the ones we keep meaning to get to but always push off for later? They weren’t that bad, I kept saying. From a distance, they still did their job - providing privacy, giving the room a tidy-enough look with their sturdy wooden slats. But when I took them down and saw them from a different angle, the layers of dust clinging to every slat muting their shine gave me a shudder.
So, I scrubbed. I rinsed. And when I hung them back up?
The difference was shocking. The room felt brighter. Lighter. Like I had lifted a veil I didn't even realize was there.
How often do we do this to ourselves?
We keep going, thinking we’re fine. We perform, we show up, we get the work done, climb the corporate ladder, and just keep going. But over time, layers of expectations, responsibilities, and routine settle in like dust. They dull our shine. They make us forget what we look like underneath it all.
And sometimes, we don’t even realize how much we’ve been dimmed until something forces us to stop and take a look around - to see ourselves again.
That 'something' could be becoming an empty-nester, a milestone birthday, new leadership at work. These type of shake-ups can disturb the dust that's built up.
A dirty truth
If we don't clear away the dust, it continues to settle and harden. And the longer we leave it, the trickier it s to clean. The longer we wait to find the shine again, the more layers we have to scrape off.
I see it all the time in people who've been at the same career for decades. They wake up one day and wonder why everything feels… off. Not bad exactly, but not quite right either. They question why the work that once energized them now feels like a weight. They're starting to recognize how dusty they really are.
But then what? Sure, they can try learning new skills, but if that doesn't work do they have to start all over again?
And often they feel guilty for even considering stepping away from a career they studied for, then spent years building.
They tell themselves:
“I should be grateful.”
“I’ve worked too hard to walk away.”
“I wouldn’t even know where to start.”
But here’s what I’ve learned:
You don’t need to start over. You don’t need to reinvent yourself. You don’t need to throw everything out and rebuild from scratch.
You just need to rediscover what’s already there.
Beneath the dust, beneath the layers of time and expectation, your strengths, your values, your real self are still intact. You haven’t lost them, you’ve just been looking at them through a filter that’s long overdue for a cleaning.
Your moment to shine
So here’s my challenge to you: What would it look like to pause and take yourself down from the window frame for a moment? To really look at what’s there, not through the lens of what you should do, but through the lens of what truly lights you up?
Because I promise you this: once you see yourself clearly again, everything else gets brighter, too.
The time to do this is now. The world could use as much light and love as we each can muster. Your family, friends, your community need you at your brightest, truest self.
And waiting any longer just makes the cleaning that much harder.
If you’re ready to wipe away the buildup and welcome a brighter future, I’d love to help.
Hit reply and tell me - when was the last time you felt truly you?
