My dad spent his career as a Pedodontist, treating children from infancy through early adulthood.  Part of his job was to inspire and motivate the kids that were his patients. And part of his job (potentially a bigger part) was motivating and inspiring their parents to encourage good oral hygiene habits at home.  In doing so, he discovered (and taught me) some important lessons. Including this: people won’t change until they come to the decision to change on their own. And how do people come...

As 2025 comes to a close, I’m realizing I remember far less about what I checked off and far more about what I felt. The quiet moments. The clunky ones. The days where nothing dramatic happened but something small shifted anyway. This year reminded me that growth doesn’t always arrive with fireworks or a LinkedIn announcement. Sometimes it shows up as a pause. A boundary. A deep breath taken five seconds sooner than last time. None of these lessons arrived fully formed. They snuck in during...

Ever feel stuck when given a storytelling prompt? You hear something like “out on a limb”  and your mind immediately jumps to the obvious or literal ideas. Maybe you think of climbing a tree, taking a risky bet, or doing something crazy. The method I use to generate multiple story ideas from a single prompt is called “Exploding the Prompt.” Step 1: Start with the Obvious Begin by writing down the first few ideas that pop into your head, even if they seem boring, cliché, or “bad.” The goal is...