Are you ready to live your best life? Using proven philosophies and methods, this four-week class will share an Agile approach to happiness, living a fulfilling life, deepening relationships and accomplishing your dreams. This set of seminars, along with the exercises, will help you gain the skills to transform both your professional and personal life. During the first week of class you will pick a goal that you would like to have completed by the end of the four weeks. This can be anything from losing weight to starting a business to learning a new skill. Each week we will talk about concepts, tools, and techniques to keep you on track. In the final week you will “demo” your goal for the class. There is no failure, only learning. Besides learning productivity techniques to help you accomplish your goals, you’ll learn more about communication, relationships, and emotional intelligence. You’ll learn how to coach one another for success. The mindset shifts and reframing techniques will provide a base for you to continue improving your relationships and happiness throughout your life. Initial class: Come prepared with an idea of a goal you want to work on throughout the month. If there's interest, a team goal might be to plan a local excursion. Each class will consist of a 1 hour interactive lecture, followed by an optional 1 hour discussion session. The topics will include: Week 1: What is Agile? Mindset vs. Framework Giving and Receiving Feedback Coaching and Accountability Partners What goal would you like to accomplish by the end of Week 4? Week 2: Emotional Intelligence Self-Awareness Mindfulness Body Language Teamwork Week 3: Time Management Working in Iterations Prioritization Focus Backlogs Week 4: The Demo Review Celebration Adaptability Planning and Next Steps Cost: Since this is a new class that I’m developing, I’m offering it at a highly-discounted rate. The first class is free so you can see if it appeals to you. The remainder of the course is $50 for the virtual class and $100 for the in-person class. You can receive a 50% refund for providing feedback and a full refund if you are dissatisfied in any way. Where: I’ll offer this class both locally (at my home in Superior, CO) as well as virtually, so you can pick whichever you prefer. (Note that everyone in my household is fully vaccinated.) When: in Person: Saturdays starting May 1, 3-5pm at my Superior home (address given to those who RSVP yes) Virtual: Thursdays starting April 29, 6-8pm. https://us02web.zoom.us/j/3038036263 My Credentials: I’m a professional Agile coach in the Corporate Leadership domain. Agile frameworks are often used for software development teams. However, the tools and techniques are adaptable and can be used in any domain. They focus on relationships, collaboration and productivity. I also have studied positive psychology, wellness, and self-improvement. I’ve been using Agile techniques to optimize my own happiness and I’d love to share these methods with others!

A friend of mine passed along an article that highlighted some big ways in which medical treatments have been tested on men, with the assumption that gender wouldn't matter. In fact, it's been found, that women have responded differently. In some cases, this discrepancy has been a matter of life and death. "What we're telling women is, every time you go to the doctor, ask, 'Has this treatment or drug been tested on women?'" https://www.marieclaire.com/health-fitness/a26741/doctors-treat-women-like-men/

Personally, I love them! I'm always so motivated on January first, especially to eat more healthfully. I think a big reason for that is because I take a break from healthy eating during the last couple of weeks of the year, enjoying the holiday season, but after OD'ing on fatty foods and rich treats, I've had enough. I look forward to getting back to structure and discipline in January, and it's always a very productive month for me. For the past few years, I've incorporated a lot of the habits I've picked up from my Agile training into goal setting, including working in small iterations, reflecting and adapting. These practices are meant to help with project management during uncertain times, so they're especially relevant these days both in our professional and personal lives. One of my goals is to help pass along some of these Agile practices to others and I'm doing that in a few different ways. Today I wrote a blog post about New Year's Resolutions during uncertain times. At the end of the month, I'll be hosting a "New Month's Eve" Virtual Party for people to share something positive about January. It can be progress on goals they set, or something simple, like a new podcast they discovered, a good book or movie they saw, a beautiful photo, or a story of something that brought them joy. It's nice to have a place to share and celebrate our accomplishments and joys. Then we will anticipate February and, hopefully, have that same renewed sense of motivation for the new month. We'll see how this Virtual Party goes. In the "Agile way," I'll reflect on what worked well and what could have been better and what I might do differently next time! If you're interested in joining, I've created the event on Meetup and on Facebook. I'd love to hear in the comments about your goals, joys, discoveries or thoughts about January, 2021 or New Years Resolutions in general.

Here's an interesting article I read this morning about how the Oxford dictionary is updating outdated and sexist definitions of the word, 'woman.' I'm fascinated by words and connotations and how they shape our thinking.

In Season 2 of my podcast, Carpe Diem Connections, I'm going to be doing a deep dive into finding joy.  I've become enamored with Ingrid Fetell Lee and her recent Joy Makeover workshop. She offers a workbook and a very interesting set of interviews, digging deeper with topics about things such as how our joy is affected with 11 different topics starting with time, money, and relationships. One thing I noticed is that each of the 11 people who Ingrid interviewed were bright, successful women! It's been inspiring to hear the perspectives about how we can find joy in our lives. I know 2020 has been a difficult year, and there have been so many struggles. However, those struggles are what help us build resilience and learn more about ourselves, to grow, to persevere, and the overcome challenges. I'm really enjoying Podcasting, but I want to hear your thoughts and have more of a discussion than podcasting really allows. How nice that Aparna has provided this forum! Let me know if any of you also are participating in the Joy Makeover and let's share what we're learning! Here are my responses to the first 4 "pre-work" questions. Joy inventory What parts of your life bring you the most joy? Friends Relationships Playing Warm Weather Time Learning Health Food & Drink Beauty Kindness Whimsey Home Creativity Joy Goals What parts of your life would you like to transform for more joy? Snowbird Home Deeper Relationships Travel Learning Adding value to society Joy Barriers What is currently getting in the way of you feeling more joy? Politics Covid Worries and Restrictions (Other things that can be Joy-Suckers) Financial Stress Other people’s hardships Grief Disappointments with Relationships Fears Bad Health / Pain Rejection Decline with Aging Loneliness Joy Vision What would happen if those obstacles were removed? What does a more joyful life look and feel like to you? A feeling that I was always experiencing the comfort of security, gratitude, and love. A continual feeling of awe and excitement at experiencing and learning new things and connecting with people.

I've avoided posting anything about politics on social media because it can be so divisive. It's been a stressful week of waiting with so much at stake. For me, it's a time for celebration and relief, but I know for millions, it's a time of anger, fear or sadness. My family of origin are Republicans and have supported Trump. Apparently, so did about half the nation. It was hard for me to understand because my news media was almost exclusively anti-Trump, so I had felt confident that he'd lose by a landslide. However, I now realize that Republican's news feeds are probably almost exclusively anti-liberal, breeding fear of what will happen with a Biden/Harris Presidency. It's amazing how much our environment, news feeds, and social circle can influence our belief system. I hope with this reset, we can come together as a nation, and work together, listening and trying to understand one another. Here's a podcast that I recorded on Thursday night before finding out the results about finding joy, despite our political differences: https://anchor.fm/carpediemconnections/episodes/Finding-Joy-in-the-midst-of-Election-Anxiety-em4is4/a-a3p6l45 Whether you lean blue, red, (or like me, purple!) I hope we can all get to a place where we can feel free with expressing ourselves and listening to one another without fear.

Aparna Saligrama, the creator of this network, is a great role model for us all! It was fun to have the chance to interview Aparna Saligrama on my podcast and feature this great network on my blog today: http://www.carpediemday.com/aparna-saligrama-quiet-value-woman/

I'm just passing along something I got in my inbox today since it's pertinent to the advancement of women in the workplace. I haven't tried this service myself so can't vouch for it one way or the other, but thought I'd pass it along: The email reads: Hi Yvette, I'd like to personally invite you to join Fairygodboss, the largest digital career community for women. You may be asking yourself: what is a Fairygodboss? A Fairygodboss is a person who elevates women at work. We listen, we encourage and we share what we know so you can take on the world.  When you create your free account, you're joining millions of women cheering you on. You'll have access to: Intel about companies and how they treat women through our anonymous reviews News and advice to help you navigate and succeed in your career Hundreds of thousands of jobs listings with companies women love A network of women for support and guidance on everything from salary negotiations to work disasters Get started with your free account today! Cheers, Mary

Have you ever wanted to start a Podcast? I'd thought about it for a long time, and about a month ago, I was listening to another podcast which advertised anchor.fm as the easiest way to start a podcast. I got on the site and by the end of the evening, I had my first episode! Then, I thought, wouldn't it be cool to interview people... I'm constantly reading blogs, listening to podcasts, and finding sites (like this one!) run by people I admire. Social media was full of people I could interview! Now I'm doing a YouTube video (recording a Zoom call), podcast, and blog post every week and I'm having so much fun with the project! I'm calling this first "season," my "experimental season" where I'm learning. I'm keeping the podcast episodes short (5-6 minutes), just taking a short clip from the 20-minute interview that I have on YouTube. The people I'm finding are people that are positive and energetic, sometimes doing something with positive psychology or communication. They're starting new ventures or building communities. I'm always interested in their projects, their views on living a meaningful life and making connections, especially in the midst of the pandemic. The podcast itself is about living life fully and fostering meaningful connections. Though I don't have many followers yet, I'm excited about talking to and learning from a variety of thought-leaders. In fact, I'm excited that Aparna will be joining me as a guest in the future talking more about QV Woman! If any of you are interested in being a guest, let me know! Oh, and I also started a Facebook Group: Carpe Diem Connections that has been very active! I've been asking people for "Happy Songs" or pictures from their weekends. I'm loving the participation! No politics or bickering.. just people being friendly and supportive! Please join me!

I wrote a couple of blog posts today on my site about my beautiful community of Superior, Colorado. In My Staycation in Beautiful Superior, Colorado I briefly talked about how clean my community is and in Create a Walking Scavenger Hunt, I posted pictures of things in my neighborhood that made me happy like purple flowers, rocks with inspirational messages, beautiful scenery, etc. At a time when there is so much sadness in the world, I'm grateful that I live in such a beautiful place amongst a caring community. But I also realize that I've had the privilege of living in a safe and well-kept community and many people don't have that. Though I'm grateful and want to show appreciation, I also wonder if it might be insensitive to share my good fortune at a time when there is so much grief and sadness about the recent events. What do you think?

I've been writing a series of blog posts on my personal blog about a Non-Profit I've been working with, Seniors with Skills, an innovative organization helping socially isolated seniors. Seniors With Skills - How You Can Help Bridging the Age Divide - Students Helping Seniors and Boomer Zoomers Each of these posts ends with a section about how to help. The group primarily needs help getting senior centers or isolated seniors to sign up for the Online Buddy Program. Though we've all been reaching out, the senior centers are a bit overwhelmed right now and often don't return calls or emails. If you know of a senior center or an isolated senior who might benefit from the Online Buddy Program, see below about how to let them know about the program. Join the Online Buddy Program Isolated Seniors: Do you know anyone who is facing social isolation who might want to join the Online Buddy Program?  Please have them contact SWS at volunteering@seniorswithskills.org. Senior Facilities: Do you know of a senior facility that houses seniors who would benefit from receiving video chats and might want to be part of the Online Buddy Program. Please have them contact SWS at volunteering@seniorswithskills.org. Volunteer: Do you want to volunteer to be an Online Buddy?  Fill out this form. Spread the word Do you know anyone (news, blog, social media?)  who might be interested in featuring this story to raise awareness of this cause, and encourage more seniors living at home who are facing social isolation to join the Online Buddy Program? Please share this post with your network Contact volunteering@seniorswithskills.org for a news story or blog post. Social Media Follow Seniors With Skills on: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/seniorswithskills/ Twitter: @seniorswskills Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/seniorswithskills/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/seniorswith-skills/about/ Donate GoFundMe to help provide iPads to senior facilities.