I’ve been working to stay consistent with the Big 5: Mindfulness, Movement, Connection, Food, and Sleep.

This week, Sleep stood out.

It’s one of those things that’s easy to trade off when things get busy, get a little more done, stay up later, push through. In the moment, it feels manageable…even more productive.

But over time, it shows up. Less patience. Slower decisions. More reactive.

This past week felt a bit over the top at times, and I caught myself in a few of those moments trying to push through but not showing up at my best.

A good reminder that recovery matters just as much as effort. Because leadership isn’t just, or always about doing more or working long hours. It’s about knowing when to recharge and making sure you have the energy to show up consistently. #Sleep #Rest #Relax #Restore

Each week, one of the Big 5: Mindfulness, Movement, Connection, Food, and Sleep, tends to rise to the surface and teach me something new. This week, Movement was the one asking for my attention, in both the physical and professional sense.

Lately I’ve been paying attention to how I move through my days both literally and professionally. And if I’m honest, the last couple of weeks haven’t been my strongest when it comes to physical movement. I’ve been aware of it, but I haven’t consistently made space for a walk, a workout, or even a quick reset between meetings.

What’s interesting is how quickly that lack of movement shows up elsewhere: lower energy, less clarity, a little more friction in the day. It also reminds me that movement isn’t just about exercise. It’s about momentum. It’s about intention. It’s about choosing to move even when the calendar feels full.

A few things stand out:
Small steps matter more than perfect routines
Physical movement fuels professional movement
And sometimes the hardest part is simply breaking the cycle

In leadership, movement isn’t measured by speed. It’s measured by how intentionally we guide ourselves and our teams forward even in the weeks when we’re not at our best. A good reminder that progress often starts with one small step. #movement

Over the last year, I’ve directionally anchored both my work and personal life around the Big 5: Mindfulness, Movement, Connection, Food, and Sleep. This week, Mindfulness stood out … mostly because I drifted from it more than I’d like to admit.

There were a few moments where I caught myself reacting instead of responding. Moving too quickly. Missing the pause. And in those moments, it became very clear how easy it is, even with the best intentions, to lose alignment.

What this week reinforced for me is this:
Mindfulness isn’t something you “achieve” once and carry forward. It’s something you practice daily, hourly, sometimes by the minute.  Especially as leaders, the pause matters. The breath before responding matters. The awareness of how we show up for our teams, our peers, and ourselves matters.

The takeaway for me this week:
Execution is important, but how we show up while executing is what truly defines our impact. A good reminder that leadership isn’t just about moving things forward it’s about staying grounded while you do. #mindfulness

I’ve centered much of the last 12 months around the Big 5: Mindfulness, Movement, Connection, Food, and Sleep. I’ve been thinking a lot about what connection means. What I realize is that it’s not just about growing a network. It’s about building relationships that actually matter – whether it’s a good conversation, a shared idea, or even a small moment of support can go a long way. Grateful for the people, near and far, who make the journey more meaningful. #connection

Life is not a constant. It changed forever this past year. As I look back, I can see life, love, laughter, and connection were at the heart of it. My old soul reminds me every day to celebrate. Some days easier than others. In that spirit, I am going to share 17 days of what brings me joy as #destination55 nears.

Day 1: I love new traditions. My mom, brother and I start each day with a good morning text and end each day the same. #octoberreflections#celebrateoctober#life#love#laughter

Create. Important moments. Spaces – Home. Life. Family. Social. Self-love. Adventures. Alignment of your ideal life, where there are no regrets. This past year has transformed nearly every aspect of our world – home, life, family, work, and social. Coming out of the pandemic is the perfect time to re-imagine. Re-imagine what’s important. Re-imagine spaces. Re-imagine happy. Re-imagine what fills your bucket. No one said it would be easy. There will be good days. There will be not so good days. That’s okay. It is about building life by design. A Day in the Life. It’s a new world. Get out and find it.

Re-Imagine. Create. Find. Opportunities to #liveyourbestlife.

The last 8 months. If I had to choose one word to sum it up, it would be “crossing.” Crossing paths that at times have seemed endless and at other times had clear direction. I have learned a lot, I am still learning, and I know I still have more paths to cross.  But I am learning. Learning to take care of myself, learning to acknowledge me and most of all, learning that I enjoy the so many people I have crossed paths with in my almost 52 years.

I have learned I do not have a fear of being alone. Here’s why. When I stop and look around, I see you all smiling at me. But you see a person that is not always clear to me. I am not sure why I have this blurred vision of myself at times. Maybe fear, or maybe a sense of I can always be better. In either case, my support system is beyond what I could ever ask.  And through it you give me the strength and encouragement to find my true self.

This takes me back to my first blog entry. Creating my life. Creating my fences. Over the last 8 months, the fences have been unwieldy. And at times it seems as though the actions I have taken are not the ones that moved me closer to the alignment of my ideal life. But they really are. The successes and struggles over the past 8 months are real. And real in the sense that I had to experience both to be in the place I am today. A place I can say I have learned a lot and have few to no regrets. Is today the ideal?  I don’t think so. But this crossing allows me the opportunity to keep finding my way and myself.

The plan remains to build a life by design. Crossing through the different paths as I learn “a day in the life of me” is still forming and that’s okay. Sometimes you must “unbecome” yourself to reach a better self.  When it’s all said and done: Be good to yourself. Listen to yourself. Take care of yourself. And most importantly, be okay with yourself.  It does your soul good.

“Many people suffer from the fear of finding oneself alone, and so they don’t find themselves at all.”

Journey, process, destination, adventure – it’s all part of the buzz we speak about when we refer to the ups and downs of our daily lives. Some days good, some days not. And when it’s not, we’re pressed to explore the “process,” reminding ourselves that life is a journey.

Twenty seventeen was one of the most challenging years of my life, career and being. I hit what I consider an all-time low. It was a continuous circle of trying to figure out how to break the daily cycle – the not enough hours in the day to meet the demands of home, work, and the social & professional network. My job was challenging in ways I had never experienced before. Fitness levels declined. I was gaining weight. I felt unhealthy.  I experienced sleep deprivation. I lost my motivation to get up in the morning. I was in this continuous loop and could not figure how to jump out. Frustrated, anxious and tired.

Yet twenty seventeen was not all bad. It was the year I turned 50. I called it the “year of me.” Celebrating every chance I got en route to #destination50. We hosted a “party of the year” with family and friends, which turned out to be one of the best times and memories of my life. I served as President of the Sacramento Area Human Resource Association. Something in the the past I ran away from because I didn’t think I was good enough.  Still,  I served what I would consider a very successful term and the association experienced many successes during the year. Here I was experiencing two of probably the biggest milestones in my life. Not all bad, right?

But it seemed no matter how hard I tried, I could not find the right combination of mindset, fitness, and nutrition to break down the barriers I had inadvertently created for myself. I was moving through the motions and it was not fun. I was tired. About ready to give up. It was not until I recently realized that all of this happened over period of time, and it was going to take a period of time to work my way through it. I was trying to hard to “fix” it all.  All at once. I was living life by default. Not life by design.

That bring us to today. Creating my life. Creating my fences. Creating time to take care of me. This is my journey. I want to share the adventure I am taking. Looking at how the actions I take to move closer to the alignment of my ideal life – where there are no regrets.  I want to share what I identify as conscious awareness as I build of life of  family first, fitness, food, and most of all fun. This is about sharing the experience of my struggles and learning to celebrate my successes. No one said it would be easy. There will still be good days. There will still be not so good days. That’s okay. This is about my plan to build a life by design, A Day in the Life of Me. In doing so I hope I can help others strive to #liveyourbestlife.