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Gutsy Woman

Appreciate & Embrace the Authentic You

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Once, after giving a presentation, I was thanked for my vulnerability. No one had ever told me this before and in reflecting on her comment I realized I was not being vulnerable, I was simply being authentic.

“Because at the end of the day, we want nothing more in life than to be ourselves. That’s the feeling we’re all chasing: that simple, awesome joy that comes from not having to pretend to be something we’re not. We call that feeling ‘authenticity.’” – Jordan Harbinger

At times, it is n…

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Feel the ‘GULP’ and do it anyway

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"A man who says he has never been scared is either lying or else he's never been any place or done anything." - Louis L'Amour 

Think of a time in your life when you were just about to take a big leap forward by doing something you had never done before. What did that feel like? Perhaps you felt anxious. Perhaps your heart was racing, palms sweating. Perhaps your breathing was shallow and you were nervous and shaking. Perhaps you wished you were any other place than where you were at that moment…

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How to Get Back in Whack

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“Real generosity towards the future lies in giving all to the present.” – Albert Camus

Feeling out of whack lately? No wonder. Our lives, as we used to know them, are not working properly because our life’s natural balance and order (or what we had of balance and order) has been upset, turned over, and feels like constant chaos. 

Spending the last month sheltering in place has been a pretty nonproductive time for a lot of individuals who, like me, had visions of accomplishing so much more …

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Gutsy Women...Who Do You Know OR Are You One?

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Congratulations Hillary and Chelsea Clinton on the release of your new book The Book of Gutsy Women: Favorite Stories of Courage and Resilience. In this book, the Clinton’s share the stories of the gutsy women who have inspired them.

As Marian Wright Edelman, Founder and President of the Children’s Defense Fund once said, “You can’t be what you can’t see.”

Hillary stated that she hardly knew any women who worked outside the home so she turned to her mother, teachers and to the pages of Life ma…

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My Quest for Leadership

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"The familiar life horizon has been outgrown; the old concepts, ideals and emotional patterns no longer fit; the time for the passing of a threshold is at hand" ~ Joseph Campbell



A few years ago I participated in a wonderful three and one-half day retreat with an organization called Rites of Passage.

This retreat called Quest for Leadership brought me back in touch with nature. Not only with nature surrounding me, but most importantly, with my own nature. With my innate wisdom.

One of the m…

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The Three Most Impactful Coaching Skills for Leaders

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"The problem with communication...is the illusion that it has been accomplished."

~George Bernard Shaw

I have been in the business of coaching for almost 17 years and whenever anyone asks me, what is the number one thing you coach on, I tell them regardless of the reason I’m hired, it frequently comes down to how to communicate with others. 

This includes not only what’s being said and how it’s being said, but also (and sometimes more importantly), what is not being said. 

Communication is …

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My Melancholy Memory of My Mom’s Miracle Marigolds

I don't know what this has to do with being Gutsy, other than look at my Mom in that bikini at around 50!

That was gutsy!

I just wanted to share this memory of someone who taught me that Gutsy is also about taking time to stop and smell the marigolds. When I was a little girl, I remember the small backyard of our two story flat in Chicago was mostly grass. My Dad took care of it.

He watered it, mowed it, trimmed it, watched it grow, and admired it. There was a small strip of dirt between the …

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Get Gutsy...Wake Up and Go to Sleep!

“I love sleep. My life has the tendency to fall apart when I’m awake, you know?"

–Ernest Hemingway

I never imagined I would be writing on the topic of sleep, but I know what the impact is of not getting enough of it on my ability to think, act, and react. It's not good. I also know how getting enough sleep makes me feel ready, confident, and capable. I prefer getting enough sleep.

Most importantly, as Hemingway implies in the above quote, sleep allows me to get away from it all.

Tamara Magel Home Rikki Snyder Photography Pinterest

 Photograph…

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