Heal Honestly and Loudly
October 31, 2023
The Power of Words
January 3, 2024
Oh December, you overstuffed month of holiday hype, give me space to breathe.
On top of wrapping and decorating and traipsing out to holiday parties in the dark, allow me time to reflect on 2023—the year Taylor Swift apexed. The year of chaos. Unthinkable chaos.
Thankfully, there were welcome moments of unexpected clarity, too. For example, I set three personal goals in January. Here are the outcomes.
- Walk 1,000 miles to lose weight. It’s almost December and I have already logged nearly 1,900 miles. Weight-wise, I am a few pounds down, but unfortunately, I have developed quads of steel, not bird legs. Still, I’ll take it and vow to get more accurate at goal-setting next year.
- Publish my next book. I did the podcast and posted the funny memes and am forever grateful to those who supported me in my second effort. The most-consistent feedback readers shared? “Thank you for writing a short book with short chapters.”
- Generate consulting revenue. Writing and blogging and speaking typically don’t generate huge amounts of income. That’s because so many others are writing and blogging and speaking, too. What those activities do for me is open doors, inviting me to meet and work as a strategy advisor with accomplished entrepreneurs seeking to amp up their businesses or plan their leadership legacies.
What I Learned
Here are my top takeaways from 2023:
- Although I don’t have all the answers, I help others discover their answers within themselves.
- Even when I’m nurturing, harvesting, or resting, I need to simultaneously plant potential seeds of opportunity.
- When a cause no longer feeds my soul, the best thing I can do is share my opinions honestly and gracefully, then walk away.
- My favorite quote from a client: “Diane makes me feel heard.”
One last thought. Remember the jokes we made about the ThighMaster frenzy Suzanne Somers started in the early 1990s? Well, sadly, she died from breast cancer in October. But on a podcast last year she revealed she made almost $300 million from the ThighMaster toning system she invested in and helped promote. She also wrote numerous books on good health, starred in a goofy 1970’s sitcom, and offered a whole range of organic, toxin-free body products, but it was the ThighMaster that made her a fortune. “It still sells to this day even though we don’t advertise,” she said on the podcast.
By the way, I still use a ThighMaster for resistance training, which likely contributes to my quad situation.
And round and round we go.
Holiday blessings to all,
