I haven't written in a while. Between raising a 1 year old, taking care of the house, and managing my own free time and sanity, I somehow found a mental space to ask myself: "If I were, in this one year away from work, to do something else, something that truly defines me, what would it be?" After ...
Motherhood, changes and the new tools for a good life

So a few months ago, I became a mom. I'm still undecided if posting pictures of babies online is an ok thing to do. So, here's a pic of me with a huge belly just before giving birth. Pregnancy was quite surprisingly easy to bear. I had no nausea, didn't gain much weight, got over my insomnia... But ...
Wanting it all vs letting it go
In the past week I've been confronted with three stories on the conflict between wanting it all vs letting go. I call it the Universe really trying to tell me something. All three of them are successful women, quite career-focused, ambitious and hard-working. However, at one point in time, they all realized that some other things may ...
You are your search
A collection of things I love. In the past weeks - no, even months! - frequently I start discussions about trivial or business-related topics with people, then surreptitiously slide into personal, even spiritual topics. There's something in me, that, when asked "So, how are you doing?" keeps wanting to answer 100% honest, brutally even: "Well, you ...
Creating space for family
{source: link} As my uncle passed away this week, I spent some brief time with his family. His kids, my favorite cousins, and their mother, closest sister of my own mom. We were close when we were little, but somehow grew apart and shared only the occasional phone calls or a brief visit once per year. Somehow stressed by ...
Are we all asleep?
This is a post responding to Alis' thought-provoking post from last week, in which she challenged people who are "asleep" in their own lives, living mechanically, like Neo from the Matrix before taking the red pill. She said people who live consciously, breaking away from the nice warm beds of mundane lives, those are awake. That ...
My view on happiness
I haven't posted in many months. Partly because 2013 was a difficult year for me, full of emotional rollercoasters and long trips into the darker areas of my mind. Partly because I couldn't think of anything useful to post to my (few) readers. I went into a dark corner sometime around spring, and decided around that ...
Focus: Learn something new
Life without meaning can be very depressing. Having no purpose behind what you do everyday can make your days grey and foggy like a November morning. But once you discover something you love (or someone , sometimes :) ), all rays of light seem to gather to shine on that new purpose. It puts an engine ...
When NOT getting what you wanted became the next best thing

The way this blog started to exist was from deep unhappiness. In 2009, I had, after long attempts to score a much desired job, received an assignment that to me seemed difficult, unrewarding and so much different than what I was built for. Compensation & Benefits was an area that didn't interest me, that I found ...
Do less. Be more.

I love October, it's one of the months when everything around pops with colour, I feel nostalgic and more attentive to the changes around, in the air, as it shifts from warmth to breezy to cool, in search for winter. October is also one of the busiest months of the year, full of long meetings, last ...
Young careers – why passion won’t (always) get you a job

I saw two very good candidates today. Both very young (just out of University), both talented and with potential. However, only one goes forward to get the job. It is not the one who was ambitious, hard working, pursuing a passion and full of drive and energy. It is the one who steps back, takes a good look ...
How to define yourself outside work
People frequently ask me how I have time to work on my hobbies. It's easy - I love them so much that I make time. Somehow, I believe that who I am and what I do outside work defines me more. I know, all the Career renegades out there will say that probably my job doesn't ...
Why Gen Y-ers are so confused
[caption id="attachment_870" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Luiz Vazquez/©Gulf News"] In the past year I've been invited to several career events, to coach or hold speeches about choosing a career, a life vision, or something similar. At first, it was kind of surprising, since this blog's aim is not career planning. But there is a need out there, and ...
Does happiness really come from doing what you love?
As a corporate worker, I'm one of the lucky ones who get to do something they really enjoy, and something I've wanted to do for many years. Some might even say "living the dream". However when I draw the line at the end of the day, the answer isn't always "happy". As a human being, I'm ...
What you hate is what inspires change
I'm going through some confusing, yet change-prone times. It seems to come around every few years, a restlessness and need to re-define my life. Normally it includes hating what I've worked hard to earn, and a feeling that unless I do some big change around here, I'm not - ever! - going to be really ...