After working with a brand consultant, she came up with a word for me that I just love. When I read it, I smiled. It felt like a compliment. I couldn’t wait to wrap it into my website copy and marketing.

But then I looked it up and discovered not everyone agrees. What’s the word and what did I find out?

I heard a woman question the value of resilience at a conference recently. She was pushing back against the idea that resilience should be honored as an important character trait. I’ve prided myself on my own resilience and admired those who display it in the wake of difficult moments. Nevertheless, I understood her point.

Does our respect for one’s ability to withstand and recover from pain inadvertently glamorize the pain? Do people get too attached to the background story of suffered loss?

Last night I watched the holiday classic, “It’s a Wonderful Life.” It’s a tradition. I watch it every year. I feel like I know the movie forward and back. But this year, I heard George Bailey say something I hadn’t heard in quite the same way before and it changed the whole movie for me.

I bought this hat the week my whole life fell apart.

Things continued to disintegrate in ways I couldn’t imagine, but these were the first blows. There wasn’t time to consider plans or even healing, just survival. But in the mess of it all, I needed to feel hope so I could find my way.

I’m planning another trip to the Adirondacks and circumstances are already inviting me to rethink my plans. It occurs to me that I have never ever climbed a mountain without an unexpected moment that required me to adjust my thinking. Every climb teaches me a new thing.

In a recent conversation with a client, we talked about his desire for more free time away from the demands of business ownership. I asked him to describe his ideal work/life balance scenario and then I asked him to imagine how the person who lived that life woke up each day.

Learn the same powerful tool I walked him through to create more balance and joy in his life.

I’ve had some really tough conversations with clients this week who are in a season of change. They’re living through unknowns as they grow in their belief that they have what it takes to design a different, more fulfilling life.

As hard as it feels, the work becomes even more important when you consider this one thing.