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The path to becoming Wagalicious

Cookies, Campfires, and Leadership girl scouts leader leadership success Mar 11, 2025

As I sit here eating yet another Samoa, I remember my single-digit days when I’d don my green uniform, carefully arrange my badge-encrusted sash, and head out to knock on neighbors’ doors, Girl Scout cookie order sheet in hand. There was an iceberg in my stomach and my knees knocked as I pressed the...

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How Far Will You Go to Achieve Your Dream? dreams goal setting goals iditarod leadership success Mar 04, 2025

Have you ever thought about harnessing up 16 sled dogs, putting them in front of a sled loaded with dog food, survival gear, and a few protein bars for you, and heading out for a week or two into arctic weather, 1128 miles of rugged trail conditions, and wildlife that might want to hurt you?

Yeah, ...

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Are You Team Hug or Team Personal Space? hugging law of attraction leader leadership mental wellbeing personal development success Jan 21, 2025

Today, let’s talk about hugs. Are you a hugger? I am. Whenever I feel a connection to someone my default is to want to hug them. Not everyone’s a hugger, though, so occasionally the hug impulse has to be squelched.

Why do humans hug? Have you ever wondered about that? Turns out, hugging is addictiv...

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What do You Scoff At? Should You? law of attraction leader leadership mental wellbeing personal development success Jan 14, 2025

‘Tis the season that those of us in the northern hemisphere bundle up. And those of us with dogs, especially the small and relatively hairless ones, bundle their dogs up, too. If that’s you today, you have unwittingly celebrated today’s fun holiday – it’s Dress Up Your Pet Day.

I’m not ashamed to a...

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How to Trick Your Brain Into Resolution Success? keeping a resolution law of attraction leader leadership mental wellbeing new year's resolution personal development wagalicious Jan 07, 2025

Last week a dear friend asked me a question, and I’m going to ask you the same one: do you make New Year’s resolutions?

My answer is no. I’ve been on this planet long enough to have experienced my pattern of good intentions and so-so results when trying to make life changes in the middle of winter,...

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What's the Big Deal About Tonight, Anyway? law of attraction leader leadership mental wellbeing milestones personal development wagalicious Dec 31, 2024

Oh, we human beings cherish endings and beginnings. From baby showers to funerals, housewarmings to homecomings, and of course to the hoopla around the changing of the year, the celebrations for the milestones in our lives show us just how important these events are.

But why?

Many of the tradition...

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It's Nobel Day - How Prize-Winning Do You Feel? #wagalicious leadership life purpose nobel prize success Dec 10, 2024

If there’s a high-water mark for brains, Alfred Nobel probably etched it. In his last will, signed in Paris on November 27th, 1895, he left the bulk of his fortune to a special prize fund. He passed away just over a year later, and his legacy lives on today with the awarding of this year’s Nobel Pri...

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Confusion, Change, or Appreciation? leadership succcess veterans day Nov 12, 2024

Are you a veteran? Thank you! Are you the parent or sibling or child or spouse/partner of a veteran? Thank you! And yes, Veterans Day was yesterday – there are not enough ways to thank those who choose to serve in ways that most of us wouldn’t. Veterans are vital to the survival of our country – tha...

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What are You Passionate About? leadership passion sphere of genius succcess Oct 29, 2024

What are you passionate about? What do you do to share your passion? When you’re sharing your passion, do you feel like you’re in your sphere of genius? 

Today I’m at the Saint Bernard Club of America’s National Specialty, a huge annual show held this year in Loveland CO. Do I have a Saint Bernard?...

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What Would Lucy Do? leadership life lessons lucille ball personal development success Oct 15, 2024

Six seasons. One hundred eighty episodes. Syndicated in dozens of languages in countries worldwide. Almost 75 years since it debuted, the I Love Lucy show still attracts over 40,000,000 viewers each year.

How’s that for a silly half-hour sitcom?

Turns out, the sitcom created as a showcase for Luci...

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Did You Ever Want to be a Nurse? leader leadership nurses vet tech Oct 08, 2024

When you were 7 or 8, what did you want to be when you grew up? I wanted to be a nurse. Nurses were glamorous – they wore white uniforms with matching white shoes and hats, and I was convinced that’s what I’d be. It wasn’t long before I was on to the next thing I wanted to be – a veterinarian, then ...

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United was How This All Started freedom happiness leadership mental wellbeing Sep 17, 2024

Two hundred thirty seven years ago, in a document with forty-five hundred words, thirty-nine men took their lives in their hands, put quill pen to parchment paper, and defined a new way to look at governance. Today is Constitution Day, a celebration of the definition of the United States. For eleven...

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Want to Let Go of Feeling Overwhelmed? leadership mental wellbeing overwhelm personal development world suicide prevention day Sep 10, 2024

Hi {{ first_name }},

I don’t want to overwhelm you with this, but do you feel overwhelmed a lot? If I gave you an exhaustive list of what creates feelings of overwhelm in people, just reading the list could overwhelm you!

So…let’s not do that, shall we?

Feeling overwhelmed is very common. Each da...

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Easing the Weight of Responsibility dog leader leadership responsibility responsible responsible dog month Sep 03, 2024

Responsibility. That word can cause feelings of dread, perseverance, or pride. It can make your heart sing or sink. It can make you feel very grown-up or like you want to ditch adulting forever. How can so many emotions be wrapped in one simple word?

The answer – because it’s not simple.

Responsib...

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Doggedly Determined to Succeed #success dog days of summer in the moment joy leader leadership Aug 27, 2024

Do you love dogs? Yeah, me, too. We’re in good company – a third of the world’s households have at least one dog, and most people consider their dog (or dogs) to be part of the family.

That describes my family – we had a dog as soon as Mom thought my youngest brother was old enough to understand th...

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Policing Your Idea of Police leader leadership national night out police trust Aug 06, 2024

There’s a 40th anniversary today that you might not know about. Have you ever been part of one of the “first Tuesday in August” neighborhood festivals? Maybe your neighborhood or town had a cookout, or a little parade? Chances are, police officers were everywhere at the festival.

Not only were they...

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Leading Through a Turbulent Political Season election leader leadership Jul 23, 2024

Every four years, we Americans forget who we are. We forget that we have power. We forget how to use that power. We forget to be civil as we use our voices and our fingertips, and sadly, sometimes fists and other weapons, in our attempts to move hearts and minds to our way of thinking.

You can make...

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Teachers, Teaching, and Top Traits leader leadership succcess teachers teaching May 07, 2024

Quick – name a teacher who helped shape who you are today. If you’re like most people, and like me, you can name a few.

Mrs. Sharrett, my 4th grade teacher, who made paying attention pay off. She used operant conditioning on her willing subjects, making intentional mistakes and paying the first stu...

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How Giving Gets You Far More #success leadership volunteering volunteerism Apr 16, 2024

What do you have such a passion for that you give up your free time to support it? For some people, that’s a sport they play. For some, it’s a hobby like sewing or gardening. And for some, it’s being part of an organization in some sort of volunteer capacity. And whether you know it or not, the worl...

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Are You Organized or Dis? create systems leadership organize succcess wellbeing Mar 12, 2024

It’s a week before spring officially begins in the Northern Hemisphere, so maybe a little bit early for spring cleaning. It’s a month before tax returns in the US are due to be filed, and if you’re like me, perhaps you’ve found a lot of things to do instead of getting organized for that chore.

Toda...

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Wanna Go to a Name Party? celebrate leadership name succcess wagalicious wellbeing Mar 05, 2024

Quick – what’s your name? I bet you know the answer to that question by heart, right? One of the first things parents teach their babies is how to recognize and use names – mama, dada, doggie, and the child’s own name. But what’s in a name and why are they so important that they get an entire week’s...

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The Many Hats of Leadership leader leadership succcess wagalicious Feb 20, 2024

Today let’s talk about leaders, and the leader that lives inside each of us. It’s easy to think about leaders as those who are somehow above our level – the president of your division, the president of your company, the president of the United States – and those are all leaders.

Did you know that y...

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Patience, Planning, Creativity, and You creativity leadership patience planning Dec 12, 2023

Have you ever built a gingerbread house? I’ve admired them, wished I could taste them, and never actually built one. Some of them look wonderfully basic and homey, some can be very elaborate, and I wonder how that gingerbread tastes after sitting around through the holidays. Have you ever had a bite...

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Tackling a Touchy Topic Today #mental health leadership mental wellbeing petindustry stress stress relief success vetlife world mental health day Oct 10, 2023

Today is the day for an observance you probably don’t know about. By the end of this newsletter, I hope you’ll be planning ways to make this day a better one for you and those you love before October 10th 2024. Today’s observance is all about something I work with veterinary teams to improve – menta...

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What Dogs Teach You About Leadership #veterinary dog leader leadership national dog week petindustry succcess team dynamic vetlife Sep 26, 2023

Do you have a dog? Two? More? Are you dogless and get your dog love from friends’ dogs? Or maybe you’re someone who just doesn’t see the appeal of dogs?

If you love dogs, you’ll probably love this article. If not, read on anyway because there’s probably something here for you despite your distaste ...

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Are You a Praise-Worthy Leader? appreciation encouragement leadership national day of encouragement praise recognition success Sep 12, 2023

Whenever leaders get together to talk about what’s working in their businesses, staff recognition is always high on the list. As a matter of fact, on nearly every list of the top ways to reduce turnover and increase employee engagement, recognition and/or encouragement make the list.

Happy National...

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Leadership Lessons from Jimmy Buffett jimmy buffett leadership resilience success Sep 05, 2023

When the word “leader” is bandied about, most people don’t think of recording artists. They usually think of world leaders, prominent business leaders, religious leaders – not famous musical performers.

That’s a mistake because much can be learned from them. As an illustration, let’s look at the li...

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Staying Afloat in a Sea of Uncertainty #wellbeing leader leadership mental wellbeing stress success uncertainty Apr 04, 2023

Countries are at war. Banks are failing. The stock market is teeter-tottering. Inflation is behaving like a spoiled brat, refusing efforts to control it. Politicians are taking dirty laundry and gleefully hanging it out for all to see. And all of this is coming in the wake of a worldwide pandemic, w...

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The Time to Plan is Now happiness leadership mental wellbeing success vacation wellbeing Jan 31, 2023

It’s the last day of the first month of the new year. And it’s cold. OK, it’s winter and it’s supposed to be cold. Seriously, Mother Nature – 18 in Maine, 4 in North Dakota and minus 1 in Minnesota? The freezing temperatures are coast to coast, north to south, and make me want to hibernate. You, too...

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I'd Like to Compliment You on Your Complimenting Skills! compliment leadership veterinary wellbeing Jan 24, 2023

Quick – when was the last time you gave someone a compliment? I hope it was sometime today, because today is National Compliment Day. Actually, I hope you’re in the habit of giving compliments. If not, keep reading, because giving compliments to others has many benefits for you!

Since smiling is a ...

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I'd Like to Compliment You on Your Complimenting Skills! compliment leadership veterinary wellbeing Jan 24, 2023

Quick – when was the last time you gave someone a compliment? I hope it was sometime today, because today is National Compliment Day. Actually, I hope you’re in the habit of giving compliments. If not, keep reading, because giving compliments to others has many benefits for you!

Since smiling is a ...

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How to Finally Ace Your New Year's Resolution...or Not! brain pattern failure happiness keeping a resolution leadership new year's resolution success Jan 03, 2023

Welcome to the first “official” workday of the new year. Around half of Americans make resolutions to start a new year, and of those, fewer than 10% will follow through and succeed at their newfound resolve. Of the other 90+ percent, most will quit this week. This.Week. Ouch!

Before you get all bum...

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Are Your Team Members Strong or Weak? leader leadership neuroplasticity not one more vet the veterinarians champion vet veterinarian veterinary vetlife Aug 05, 2021

Are you surrounded by strong people or weak ones?

A great way to discover the answer is to hear how they talk to others. Strong people offer uplifting comments, offer help in a non-condescending way and talk well about their colleagues even when they’re not around. Weak people gossip, tattle-tale a...

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Become a Model Leader leader leadership not one more vet the veterinarians champion vet veterinarian veterinary vetlife wellbeing Jul 22, 2021

Great relationships – like great marriages – happen because people choose where to focus. People get along for a while and then they start noticing things they don’t like. Instead of focusing on what they do like, they get fixated on what they don’t like. Before you know it, feuds are happening on t...

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Are You an Adapter or a Leader? leader leadership not one more vet the veterinarians champion vet veterinarian veterinary vetlife Jul 16, 2021

Are you an adapter or a leader?

Adapters are chameleons – they scope out the lay of the land and blend in. Leaders scope out the lay of the land, see what needs doing and set about doing it. That’s why you often hear people say that certain leaders have great vision – they’re on the lookout for way...

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