Shelagh Meagher's Blog, page 2

What’s Holding You Back?

The gap between what we dream of doing and what we manage to do is often so big we can barely see the thing we want on the other side. How do people who live more adventuresome lives make their dreams happen? They use some very simple, very effective tools. Adventuresome people aren’t magically born […]

3 Little Words can Change Your Life

No, not those ones. Over the past couple of years I’ve written quite a lot about the virtue of tenacity. My writings are a tiny blip in the mountain of other words telling us about all the miraculous stuff that’s happened in the world because someone stuck with it, through thick and thin, to the […]

A Second Chance to Set Your Compass

Want to get off auto-pilot and start doing the things you really want in life? For those of you who couldn’t attend the Set Your Compass webinar last week: Vaishali and I have decided to do it again because it went over so well the first time. You also get the benefit of having all […]

Why I’m a Conscientious Objector to Valentine’s Day

  Ah, the official day of love expressed! What’s not to like? A lot, in my mind. I’m all for feeling and expressing love, but the idea that we need an official day to remind us to do so is a bit sad. Really, Valentine’s Day – regardless of the saint behind it - is […]

A Story of a Woman Astonishing Herself

I received this story the other day from an Aussie gumptioneer living in Italy, who has continuously pushed beyond her comfort zone to astonish herself with what she can do. I was so taken with it I've decided to pass it on here in it's entirety: Dear Shelagh, I’ve been enjoying reading your blog about Gumption and […]

What Happens When Men Take Baby Steps

I’ve been a fan of the baby steps approach to building gumption for awhile now. Instead of scaring the pants off yourself trying to do something massively challenging, you try getting yourself where you want to go one little step at a time. Recently, a friend of mine has been unwittingly proving how well this […]

Think you can’t do it? Here’s how to change that.

One of the most common barriers to achieving our goals is the idea that we’re not capable of doing whatever we’re trying to do. Sometimes the idea is utter bull, a limiting image of ourselves we can’t seem to shake. As in, I can’t step into that management position because someone might discover I don’t […]

Way better than resolutions

I don’t like New Year’s resolutions. The most popular resolution, every year, is weight loss. Really. All the victories, dramas, crises, and dreams of a year gone by get boiled down to berating yourself for a few pounds of extra fat. How can that possibly be fruitful way to launch into the new one? But […]

I never thought I’d be a person who tweets what I eat

But last night was almost an exception, it was that exciting. A young, local man who is not a chef got the idea, with a bunch of friends, that he wanted to serve a sophisticated, 8-course meal with wine pairings. Not just to his buddies but to a significant crowd. So they created a pop-up […]

The part of moving that goes beyond your stuff

This is my 23rd home in my adult life and my 5th long distance relocation. I have some experience lugging my stuff, my pets and my heart around. I used to lug my family, too, but the kids have grown so this time it’s just me and the one cat who’s outlived the other pets. […]