Author: Maria Connolly

Your Best Year Yet? How Can It Be, When Others Are Suffering?

Written by Maria Connolly. Posted in Change Your Life, Self-Leadership Skills.

“Start by doing what’s necessary; then do what’s possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible.” ~ Francis of Assisi

We all started this year with a lot of optimism for the months to come. We were feeling inspired to make changes and improve some things. You were DETERMINED to have your BEST YEAR yet! Even if you knew that after a few months your drive was going to diminish, you had a backup plan for getting going again. And then things got ugly…

No one was prepared for the kind of changes 2020 has been bringing us…so much loss, so much pain. If you’re someone who is suffering, I grieve with you. And I want to encourage you to hold on and hope for better things, because they will come.

Racism and Social Injustice: I’m White. What Can I Do?

Written by Maria Connolly. Posted in Healthy Relationships, Self-Leadership Skills, Women in Leadership.

“For it isn’t enough to talk about peace. One must believe in it. And it isn’t enough to believe in it. One must work at it.” Eleanor Roosevelt

Empathy has been defined as putting yourself in the shoes of another, knowing within yourself how they feel and what they need you to do, or say, or not say, in the moment. But how can you have empathy if you’ve never had to walk the path that someone else has had to walk? Because of the recent, terrible acts of racism and social injustice, I’ve been thinking about how yes, I’m white, but what can I do to help. It’s causing me to examine my own biases, as never before.

Ignorance is a blinder to empathy. The trouble with ignorance is that we may not even know when we are “ignoring” something vital that’s right in front of us. Even more criminal is choosing not to know. This contributes to the problem just as much as actively participating in it. This is the time when doing nothing is not acceptable, for doing nothing is actively making the problem worse.

Change Your Thinking: 30 Ways to Make the World a Better Place

Written by Maria Connolly. Posted in Change Your Life, Positive Mindset, Self-Leadership Skills.

“I wanted to change the world. But I have found that the only thing one can be sure of changing is oneself.” ~ Aldous Huxley

The recent tragedy and the resulting protests across the world have made all of us think about how we can be a force for good in the world, not passively turning a blind eye or actively adding to the sorrows. I believe the solution lies in this: if you want to change the world, change your thinking.

Wouldn’t you agree that the quality of your life depends on YOUR attitude — the way you think about your life? It’s not dependent on your circumstances, who you’re with, or what you have. People can have it all and still be miserable. People can have so little and be joyful.

The quality of our world will be improved by each of us modeling the behavior we want to see. What qualities do you want to experience more fully?

Live a Better Life by Making Good Decisions Faster

Written by Maria Connolly. Posted in Life Skills, Self-Leadership Skills.

“When someone makes a decision, he is really diving into a strong current that will carry him to places he had never dreamed of when he first made the decision.” ~ Paulo Coelho

Who you are today is a direct result of the decisions, small and great, you’ve made throughout your life. Sometimes, this can be a bitter pill to swallow. However, once you accept it, you can purposefully alter the way you make decisions, so you can live a better life — one that you design for yourself, not one that’s been designed for you.

Some decisions you make rationally, after weighing the pros and cons. Other decisions you make intuitively, based on an internal sense of knowing what’s right for you.

How to Be Fearless — Courageously Meet Challenges Head On

Written by Maria Connolly. Posted in Fearless Mindset.

“Of all the liars in the world, sometimes the worst are our own fears.” ~ Rudyard Kipling

Public speaking…heights…revealing true feelings…snakes…what do these have in common? They all generate fear in the hearts of many people. Children seem to be fearless, but over time, we collect our own unique set of fears. What you fear and why, will not match up with what I fear. But the good news is we can all learn how to be fearless, in the sense of not letting unreasonable, out-of-control fears keep us small.

What is fear and how can we be fearless?

Author: Maria Connolly

Your Best Year Yet? How Can It Be, When Others Are Suffering?

Racism and Social Injustice: I’m White. What Can I Do?

Change Your Thinking: 30 Ways to Make the World a Better Place

Live a Better Life by Making Good Decisions Faster

How to Be Fearless — Courageously Meet Challenges Head On

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