I Wanna Be Me When I Grow Up
I'm Kara. I create content about personal growth, productivity, and technology, faith, and my well lived life. Subscribe to my weekly newsletter to get a fresh new article, a roundup of anything I published this week, and other fun stuff in your inbox (most) Monday mornings.
Who's Writing The Story?
Who's Writing The Story? I use an app called Whisper Memo to take notes while I'm driving and listening to things. The workflow usually goes something like: Hear a cool thing on a podcast. Hit pause. Open up the Whisper Memo app on my watch. Make the memo. Send it. Go back to listening to the podcast. Sometimes I'm really good about recording which episode something came from, and sometimes I'm not. In today's example, I didn't record anything about what I was listening to when I made the...
Logical, Biological, or Psychological
Title a literal roadblock Logical, Biological, or Psychological I was listening to a recent episode of the podcast Focused and it happened to feature Cat Mulvihill. Cat and I have crossed paths online several times so I was excited to get to learn a little bit more about her and her work. Cat is certified in a framework called Immunity to Change. I was first introduced to Immunity to Change in 2013 when I had the privilege of completing the Harvard Graduate School of Education's Institute for...
Follow the path of most resistance
Follow the path of most resistance A creek along the path to Ash Cave, Hocking Hills State Park, Ohio My sister Susie and I, accompanied by our dad Frank and my dog Kona set off to Hocking Hills, Ohio for three days last week. Susie and I were off on our second annual reading retreat. Dad and Kona tagged along for the ride. We read, toured the area, put together a puzzle (a beloved shared past time), failed at starting a fire on multiple occasions (the wood was just too wet), and just...
Look for the Helpers
Look for the Helpers Frank and Mae Monroe in front of the new fire truck purchased for the Williamsburg Volunteer Fire Department, Williamsburg, Indiana I took another unplanned newsletter hiatus. This one was different though. It wasn't about time or schedule or life getting in the way. I had Newsletter time on my calendar and could easily have produced newsletters these last few weeks. It also wasn't because I didn't have an idea. It was, in fact, the opposite of that. I had an idea and it...
Are you listening?
Are you listening? A person standing near a large body of water, listening to something in her headphones I've been attending a conference this week and it's made me think about the role of listening in our lives. This pondering started several weeks ago during a very frustrating meeting. Over three hours, I listened to the other party and spoke only three or four times. I was happy to play the listener role. This person had real reasons they needed to get things "off their chest". However, I...
How do you CHOOSE?
How Do You CHOOSE? Reminder: There is just one week left to sign up for my new class, Off The Clock, On Purpose, for the “it will never be lower” price of $99. And, as a member of the inaugural cohort, you’ll also get lifetime access to the course. So, even if you think it’s too early for you to plan for retirement (which, it’s never too early), you can buy the course at the best price it will ever be and take it later. Kona showing off our new rug Gayle and I have been looking for a rug for...
Allow me to introduce you...
Register for Off The Clock, On Purpose This week, I wanted to do something a little different in the I Wanna Be Me When I Grow Up Newsletter and feature my new course, "Off The Clock, On Purpose." Allow me to introduce you to Off The Clock, On Purpose As many of you know, my picture of retirement looks a little like the photo above - a shaded spot near water. And, this picture is one of the first places that Off The Clock, On Purpose is different from other retirement planning options. Most...
Just Start
Just Start Photo by Gia Oris on Unsplash I've had this idea in my head for a "product." I use Obsidian daily to do my own Bible Study. Currently, the only Bible versions you can legally download to Obsidian are those in the public domain (think King James Version). I'd like to produce a version that has more modern translations like NIV, NRSV, etc. and include the Bible Study templates that I love using with my current setup. To create something like this, I have to get copyright...
Building an Ideal Day
Building an Ideal Day Approaching July 2, aka Halfway Day, I always get more introspective. Somehow this week or early next, I'll set aside some time to do my Quarterly Review which is a key practice for trying to keep from feeling just like I feel right now all year long. You see, I'm overwhelmed. It's overwhelm in the best possible sense of the word. I've got projects I’m enjoying with people I love and lots of things on the horizon that I can't wait to get to. As I was driving home from...
Paved with Streets of Gold
Paved with streets of gold Kona and I enjoying a morning walk by our freshly paved neighborhood street. Your environment shapes how you live. I know this firsthand, because I've lived in three very different ones. I've lived in Indiana nearly my entire life. I grew up in a county that currently ranks in the bottom quartile in terms of income. When I moved from there to the state's capital area, I moved to Marion County which ranks about 59th amongst Indiana's 92 counties. When Gayle and I...
I'm Kara. I create content about personal growth, productivity, and technology, faith, and my well lived life. Subscribe to my weekly newsletter to get a fresh new article, a roundup of anything I published this week, and other fun stuff in your inbox (most) Monday mornings.