Wishing all of my followers in the USA a happy Memorial Day weekend. As we gather with friends and family around the BBQ, let’s take a moment to reflect on the true meaning of this holiday. Let us honor and remember the brave men and women who have made the ultimate sacrifice to protect our freedom.
God bless our armed forces and God bless the USA.
We all have those days when we feel like we are “stuck”. We set a goal for ourselves, start out with the best intentions, and then somewhere along the way we get sidetracked for whatever reason. Maybe it’s a project that has stalled, or we hit a plateau on our fitness journey, or we slip back into an old habit that we are trying to break. These “stallers” tend to have a negative effect on how we see ourselves.
Here’s what you need to remember: it’s a marathon, not a sprint. Transformation doesn’t happen overnight. It’s a journey. You are a work in progress. So am I. We all are. From time to time we are going to falter. It’s ok. Don’t be so rough on yourself. Get back on track the next day, and commit to doing your best every day. Above all, adopt an attitude of gratitude. Find one thing to be thankful for each day. It will change your attitude and foster a positive mindset – which will help you get through the tougher days.
With Earth Day around the corner, leaders have a great opportunity to spend some quality time with their employees. Whether you are a manager or the CEO, if you want to create an activity that will foster team work and boost employee engagement, look no further than volunteerism. Of course you don’t need to wait for Earth Day to get started, but there is something to be said about seeing senior leadership rolling up their sleeves and getting their manual labor on with the rest of the team. Bonding at its best!
If you’re looking for volunteer events near you, check out Volunteermatch.org. As a reminder, Earth Day is celebrated globally on April 22. Check listings in your area for Earth Day events and activities in your city, or visit EarthDay.org for information on how you can help celebrate our planet and raise environmental awareness.
Whatever you do, do it with a genuine passion. If you don’t feel passionate about the project, it may be time to re-evaluate your purpose in taking it on.
When I began my journey of writing my first book over a year ago I could not have imagined how much I would learn about the writing and publishing process -- and myself. I knew it wouldn’t be a walk in the park, and it has definitely been a challenge at times. Writing a book while working a full-time job was not easy. With only weekends and late nights to devote to my project there was very little "me time" left over. There were days when I wondered if I’d bitten off more than I could chew. Through it all what kept me going was my passion and the strong belief in what I was doing.
I set out to write “A Million Dollars In Change” because I want to make a difference in the world. I want to inspire corporations to be more active and invested in supporting their community. As Director of Community Relations at my company I manage all of our charitable giving. I see this book as my personal way of giving back to the world. I built my company's community involvement and giving program from the ground up, and now I hope to inspire other companies who want to do good by showing them how easy it is to support their community by engaging their employees via volunteerism and charitable work.
I did not write this book with the hope of becoming a best-selling author, or to make money. My intention from Day 1 has always been to put it out into the world so that others can use it as a guide for doing good. If someone were to ask me what has sustained me through the stressful process of creating a book proposal, writing and editing my manuscript, and pitching to agent after agent, I would point to the previous sentence. My intention. It has always been to just create and share something good with the world.
Find your passion and use it to make a difference.
PS - I look forward to sharing my book with you all later this year. Stay tuned for release date!
Yesterday I tried Halotherapy for the first time. For those not familiar with the term, Halotherapy is salt therapy. The name is derived from the Greek word "Halo", meaning salt. It’s a treatment that has gained a huge following and is among one of the trendiest holistic therapies of the moment. After hearing so much about it, I decided to try it for myself. The idea might seem modern in theory but it is actually ancient in practice going back centuries among different cultures as a way to treat respiratory and other ailments.
There are different types of salt treatments from bathing in sea salt to using salt scrubs on your skin, to breathing in salt infused air. You may have seen those rock salt lamps made of Himalayan pink salt all over the place lately. People put them in their homes, on their desks at the office, just about anywhere. The light from bulb inside the lamps is said to release negative ions into the air when the salt heated, which acts as an air purifier. Halotherapy on the other hand involves breathing in salt infused air, which is like the lamp idea but on a bigger scale because salt particles are actually pumped into the room via air vents. This is what I tried, while sitting in a “cave” made of pink Himalayan salt.
Salt caves are all the rage now and many have opened in places like yoga schools, 5 star luxury hotels, and spas of all kinds around the world. The cave is actually a room with walls made out of chunks of pure pink Himalayan salt. Pink Himalayan salt is said to contain over 84 minerals and trace elements. The reason why it is so popular is because it is considered the most pristine salt in the world, supposedly because it sat protected under layers of lava in the Himalayan mountains for thousands and thousands of years and therefore not exposed to toxins and pollution. If you look online you’ll find a wealth of information and articles with claims of salt therapy aiding in everything from balancing electrolytes to regulating water content in our cells, to alleviating symptoms of acid reflux and muscle cramping. Advocates of Halotherapy also say that breathing in the salt air provides relief from allergies, sinus issues, upper respiratory problems, lyme disease and a variety of skin conditions. Other health conditions also listed as benefiting from salt therapy are arthritis and digestive disorders. While these claims have not been scientifically/medically proven, testimonials abound online from those who swear that Halotherapy has made a significant difference in their ability to cope with their symptoms. In fact, there were a few people at the spa where I attended my session who extolled the virtues of the salt cave and the positive impact the therapy has had on their quality of life.
The floors of the cave are covered in salt pebbles that make you feel like you are at the beach, only the “sand” is pebbles of pink salt so it’s a bit prickly on the feet. You can wear socks if you like, or not, it’s up to you. But you must remove your shoes. Other than that, you can wear whatever comfortable clothing you like to the session. There are usually others in the room with you. There were about 10 people in my session. We were provided with blankets because the room gets a bit chilly though I found it to be comfortable -- and I’m a big baby when it comes to cold temperatures!
So how does it work? You are asked to turn off your cell phone and to not talk during the session. You are free to meditate or nap, if you like. You sit in silence in zero gravity reclining chairs, for 45 minutes. During that time salt particles are pumped into the air and calming Zen music is played through speakers. The ceiling in my salt cave was made of twinkling led lights that resembled stars, very pretty! Behind the wall of salt and interspersed throughout the cave are lights which emit a warm orange glow. There was a salt “fireplace” in our cave which was illuminated, as well as a large illuminated salt boulder. The heat from the lights acts like your little home or office salt lamp to purify the air, adding to the benefits of the salt particles being pumped in via the ducts in the ceiling.
The verdict? I definitely felt calmer when I left, and I slept really well last night. Whether that was from the salt or from the meditation and Zen music in the cave, I can’t tell. I’ll have to go back for a few more sessions before I can say for sure that I see the benefit in the therapy. I will say this, however. I had been dealing with sinus issues the last few weeks and last night my head and nose were clear, and still are this morning. Also, when I put my side-zip boots on yesterday morning before I went to the session they were a bit snug. When I put them on again after the session they zipped right up and were actually loose around the top of my calf. Was it the salt? Maybe. Again, more visits are needed to determine if it is indeed the cave doing its magic.
If nothing else, this therapy is a great way to relax and calm the mind. The 45 minutes in silent meditation is in and of itself a huge benefit for anyone. Of course, if you have a medical condition you should check with your doctor before beginning any type of treatment or therapy.
Here is a photo of what a salt cave looks like. This is not the one I went to, but rather a photo from the internet to give you an idea of what you’d see. They can look different depending on where you go and what type of facility it is (ie spa, yoga school, etc.)
Wishing you all a peaceful day!
Corporations have an opportunity—and a responsibility—to make an impact on the communities where their employees live and work, but many business leaders, fearing that the process will be expensive and antithetical to a company’s bottom line, are deterred from creating community partnerships.
You may think that corporations are already leading the way in nonprofit funding. Think again. The vast majority of nonprofit funding comes from wealthy individual donors or foundations. According to Charity Navigator, in 2014, donations from individuals accounted for roughly 75 percent of all donations. Add gifts from bequests and family foundations, which are essentially gifts from individuals, and the category accounts for nearly 90 percent of all giving.
According to the Small Business Administration, there were 27.9 million small businesses and 18,500 firms with 500 employees or more in the United States in 2010. Imagine if each of these businesses had a charitable giving or philanthropic program. The impact they could make by working with nonprofits and community groups to solve social, environmental, and financial issues could be tremendous. Indeed, for decades human resources professionals and business leaders have been alert to the importance and impact of Corporate Social Responsibility. Numerous articles, white papers, and books discuss why it’s in a company’s best interest to adopt charitable giving as part of a business strategy. Yet when it comes to the how of creating such a program, the available information either skims the surface or targets only large corporations with big budgets. As a result, many smaller to mid-sized companies are dissuaded from starting giving programs and getting involved in their community because they incorrectly assume that they don’t have enough money and/or resources to make a meaningful impact.
No effort is too small, but getting started can feel daunting. That’s why I wrote A Million Dollars in Change. I want to help you get started. Sign up for updates on my book's release date and keep an eye on this blog for more information and tips for engaging your employees in community service. You can also reach out to me directly with questions about starting a program. Click on "Contact" for information on how to reach me directly.
It’s important to create a calming environment at work. We spend 40 (or more) hours at work each week, so our environment should be one that allows us to be productive while maintaining balance and peace of mind. I like to decorate my office in a way that invites people in and makes them want to stay a while. In fact, many tend to linger after meetings citing the “calming effect” of the decor. Personalization makes our workspace less sterile and inspires creative thinking, which leads to more engagement.
Here is a photo of one of the corners of my office. Of course cheerful decor can't make up for a toxic work environment, and if this is what you are experiencing then you must make your health a priority by removing yourself from that situation. Toxicity and stress takes its toll on your mental and physical well-being over time. So take yourself out of it, even if it means leaving. You come first.
PS - the votives are flameless ;-)
Do you see the heart in the orange? I tend to see heart shapes often, in many forms in nature and other settings. Random appearances of heart shapes are very common for me.
Energy is powerful. The energy we create with our thoughts, words, and actions doesn't just affect us. It affects everyone and everything around us. The Law of Attraction says that “like attracts like”. What this means is that we attract the same energy to into our lives that we emit. If we focus on negativity we will attract negativity and negative experiences. Positivity attracts positive energy and experiences.
The most powerful and healing energy is love. If we focus on love, in all its forms, we attract loving and healing energy into our lives. Meditation strengthens our ability to focus and channel energy to help calm, heal, and restore our mind, body and spirit. Whether you mediate or not, take a few minutes each day to think about something that makes you happy. Focus on a positive thought or a happy memory. Do this each day. Then watch your life change!
Happy Sunday
Welcome to my blog. You'll find tips and helpful information here on how to create and launch a corporate giving program that will go beyond charitable donations to engage your employees and create measurable and lasting change in the community. You don't need a million dollars to make an impact. A little goes a long way and small acts over time lead to big change. That's what we call "million dollar change". You'll also find my thoughts on leadership, and some of my favorite books, authors, and things. Views expressed here are all mine. You can view my older blog posts here: http://agivingculture.typepad.com/my-blog/.
