Well, here we are, mid-May, and the world seems to be settling into two camps. Those who are taking precautions seriously by maintaining social distance and wearing a mask (for the protection of others) and those who are flouting all that is logical just to grab a beer (or something equally inane).

I sincerely hope you all are healthy and happy. I know there is an end to all this but I feel it will be sometime before we can move about safely and I caution you all to heed the advice of public health officials. Until such time as we can resume a somewhat normal routine, I challenge you to make the most of this time – which leads me to my post.

I haven’t posted over two weeks and for good reason. #1 – I celebrated my birthday. It wasn’t much but it was a nice day made special by a dear friend who sent me an adorable little cake from NothingBundtCake! Sweet, tasty, and adorable! I also did my annual exercise of taking stock of my life. Each year, I ask myself if I am better off now that 12 months past. So far, the answer has always been yes.

This year, part of that is due to some educational opportunities to which I have availed myself. While my wallet is a bit chafed, my brain and CV are totally digging it! I just wrapped up a course from MIT Sloan School of Management on Organizational Design for Digital Transformation and can highly recommend it. It is directly aligned to the type of corporate work I do and was a great chance to learn, reinforce existing knowledge, and network with a global cohort.

Following that, I wrapped up a program on coaching and am excited to report that I received a designation as a Certified Coach Practitioner. This was an intense accelerated program and gave me some new models I can use in when I coach, which is the other reason I’ve been absent here. As something I have been planning for some time, I am in the processing of launching my coaching practice. I already coach my corporate clients when we are working on a transformation project and it is something that has been successful, so I have decided to give it a go as a side business. These days, conventional wisdom advises to have a secondary source of income and this is a perfect adjacent business that allows me to use my education, professional experience, and newly minted credentials. Eek! I am excited and have been planning for weeks to get ready for an official launch. As of now, I have a few non-paying clients that I am taking through the process and have been refining the flow of sessions – sort of a soft launch and definitely exciting.

Ideally, when I can travel again, my hope is that I can expand the coaching to become the main source of income. I have set some concrete goals, established a timeline, and invested small and thoughtfully, so we’ll see how I go.

What about you? How are you making the most of this time we have at home? Let me know in the comments.  I’d love to hear what you are doing to stay sane, care for yourself and others, and cope with quarantine.

Stay safe, stay healthy, and thanks for stopping by!