Four years ago, I did something I didn’t think I would do again. I bought an alarm clock. I did it to remove the excuse that I need my phone in my bedroom ‘for the alarm’. Once I had the physical clock, I started charging my phone in the kitchen overnight, which kept the tech away from me before bed and upon waking. It was great… until it wasn’t. Last year changed things when having a family member in the ICU meant a call could come at any time, and I wanted my phone close by. But even after...
about 1 month ago • 4 min read
Thanks to everyone who answered last week’s poll. I’ll be offering a Spring accountability program starting March 23. Keep your eyes open for an email next week with more details. I didn’t even recognize myself in that moment. Tapping all over my phone screen searching frantically as if my life depended on it. After exhausting all the visible icons, I thought there might be a secret spot of the screen I could tap to change the playback speed. I mean, it’s YouTube after all. I can adjust the...
4 months ago • 3 min read
Even though today is the first day of the year, you’ve likely been seeing a lot of content these past few weeks about the start of a new year, goal-setting, setting intentions, and themes or words for the year. In my experience, there are two main reactions: bring it on ignore all the chatter I’m curious to hear which one feels true for you right now... Poll: Your reaction to 'New Year' related content I'm here for it No thank you Somewhere in between The Fresh Start Effect It turns out,...
6 months ago • 2 min read
I was so proud of what I had built. Which is why it stung a bit every Friday when I ignored most of it. Each week, I set aside time for a weekly review process, and a while back I took the time to create my ultimate weekly review. Since I built it in Notion, it allowed me to pull in views of projects, tasks, notes, and resources. I could do everything on this one page. And in the past two years, I’ve never completed a full weekly review. Turns out, I designed an overly ambitious weekly review...
9 months ago • 2 min read
A few weeks ago, I said goodbye to the strongest person I’ve ever known. My brother passed away after an extremely difficult recovery following surgery for esophageal cancer. To say I’m gutted would be an understatement. My brother Bryan was one of the good ones. He always has been. And listening to stories about him at the memorial left me feeling inspired. As friends and family shared their memories, I was reminded of his character and values. Given how much he inspired me, I wanted to...
11 months ago • 3 min read
When you ‘don’t know’ something, it can be one of two ways: You know you don’t know You don’t know you don’t know It’s all about awareness. Do you even realize you are missing information? I’ve been thinking about blind spots a lot recently. The potential harm from our own blind spots, but also from other people’s blind spots. Your blind spots Have you ever found yourself saying, “If I had only known this sooner…”? Sometimes these are small quality of life improvements—practical information...
about 1 year ago • 2 min read
Do you remember when Marie Kondo became a household name and suddenly people everywhere were holding a frying pan asking themselves if it brings joy? I know I do. I got about halfway through the book before I realized how dangerous it was to pull everything out of storage with the intention to go through each one. I would inevitably tire myself out early into the process and stop, leaving a pile of things that would haunt me for weeks. Um, okay Cat, why are you sharing this?? Despite the...
about 1 year ago • 3 min read
Are you someone who gravitates towards a challenge? Specifically, a time-bound, action-based challenge, like: 30 days of X 8 weeks of Y I’ve noticed people tend to fall into one of three types. Are you the type of person who... A - gravitates towards challenges, sometimes repeating them over and over B - appreciates a challenge occasionally, especially when starting a new skill or habit C - doesn’t see the appeal because they can just take action on their own Which type are you? Yes, please....
about 1 year ago • 1 min read
Once the idea took hold a few weeks ago, it was hard to shake. As I grappled with having less capacity than usual due to personal circumstances outside my control, I asked myself where I should focus my energy when I am able to work. It just so happened around that time, three things coincided: a new goal mapping process a podcast episode a book I’m reading Charting goals During a whiteboard brainstorming session, I wanted to visualize the different types of goals based on time horizon and...
about 1 year ago • 3 min read