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35 Inner Thoughts of the Working Woman NEW

35 Thoughts of a Working Woman

By Catie Welvaert / Work & Money, Life & Culture

Ladies, we work hard. How we pour ourselves out to provide for ourselves and/or contribute to our families varies in form and schedule. We 9 to 5-ers become some sort of steady-yet-intricate balancing acts as we up-keep many aspects of life. In our always changing day to day, I bet we working women share many of the same utterances in our minds: 35 Thoughts of a Working Woman: “There is nothing better than feeling rested after a good sleep—sure wish I could get one.” “I’m just going to snooze a little bit longer and shower without washing my hair. What’s another day of dry shampoo?” Hearing a steamy trickle from down the hall…holding back the urge to yell, “Thank you!” to whoever […]

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5 Steps for Setting Goals, Changing Dreams into Done

By Jenni Catron / Purpose, Work & Money

I absolutely love the start of each new year! A fresh start… a clean slate… wide open horizons… Pick your choice metaphor and embrace the new year’s energy with me for a minute. Fast forward to late January, and my motivation is waning. My guess is the same thing happens to you. In fact, statistics tell us that only 8% of us actually achieve the New Year resolutions we set! Our resolutions break down because we fail to create a plan to achieve them. In fact, rather than creating resolutions, I create goals that are important to me for the coming year. Goals vs. Resolutions It might seem like semantics to set goals versus resolutions, but here is the subtle difference between

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Ask Dr. Zoe – How Can I Get a Promotion at Work?

By Dr. Zoe / Ask Dr. Zoe

‘Want a Promotion’ Asked: One of my goals for this year is to get a promotion. What’s the number one thing I can do to get noticed at work and prove to my boss he should promote me? I hate talking about myself but I know I’m good at my job and I’m valued in the workplace. Dr. Zoe Answered: I love working with women to help them get promotions! What better time than the new year to go after that promotion! There isn’t just one main thing that can lead to the promotion of your dreams. It’s a combination of things. So, I will give you the top ones: The most important thing to understand is that your value at work

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Teaching Is Harder than Ever, But I’m Going Back to School Anyway

By Molly Dockweiler / Life & Culture

As a public school teacher for the past five years, and with many friends of faith in education as well, I have some thoughts about a school system that we all know has changed so much. I wonder what comes to your mind, teacher, when you think about going back to school this year. The news keeps saying it’s going to be another hard year for teachers, but they’re not the ones who are about to experience it. The Hard Parts of Going Back to School, Teacher Edition – Maybe you think of teacher shortages, which will cause you to have to cover other classes during your planning period or take on half of the class next door into your already maxed-out

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This Is How to Use Your Gifts to Build Your Business

This Is How to Use Your Talents to Build Your Business

By Christy Wright / Work & Money, Life & Culture

Recently, I learned something that absolutely shocked me: the average American spends 90,000 hours at work over the course of their lifetime. That’s more than 10 whole years of your one and only life—at work! If you love your job, maybe that doesn’t seem like much of a sacrifice. But if you’re among the 70% of Americans who report being unhappy at work, that’s a whole lot of precious time wasted. But here’s the good news: it doesn’t have to be that way. Imagine what it would be like to work for yourself. To set your own hours, work from home, earn an extra income for your family, and help people by using your gifts! Sound too good to be true? Well,

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5 Quotes That Will Encourage You, Working (Super) Mom

By Ashley Johnson / Work & Money, Motherhood

Working moms do it all—but it’s hard! The struggle to find work and life balance is real, but in the end, what really matters is that you tried your best. At least, that’s what I’ve been told from the women who’ve seen it through. One thing I know that all of us working moms could use is a little encouragement. Just a quick note that says, “Hey, I see you. I see all of the obstacles you overcome every day. It’s not always flawless, but you put your heart and soul into it. You are a strong woman, and you’re a good mom.” So, working mom, these 5 quotes that will encourage you: “I think every working mom probably feels the same thing:

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3 Keys to Successful Leadership in the Midst of Chaos

By Jenni Catron / Work & Money, Life & Culture

Have you ever found yourself in a situation where the answer just wasn’t clear? Maybe it was a decision to take a new job in a different city. Maybe it was a really confusing or inconsistent relationship. Maybe it was taking a risk that didn’t seem to have a clear reward. We face tough decisions every single day. And as a woman, you’re not only facing your own decisions but also navigating the decision making for your family, your team at work, and for some of you, your entire organization. Living Within the Tension Leaders live in a constant state of tension. We live between what is and what could be. We straddle the known and the unknown. We wrestle the probable

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The Thief I Let In: A Day in the Life of a Working Mom

By Carolyn Gordon / Work & Money, Best Of, Motherhood

It was a typical morning. The alarm went off at 6:40 a.m. Snooze was hit once. There was a sleepy, teething baby girl that took over the spot of my husband, who had left for work. Our son was already up, sitting on the couch and watching cartoons. His pleading for pre-packaged blueberry muffins woke up his sister. Ready or not, it was time to kick it into high gear and get ready for school and work. Sounds of the blender, breast pump, and electric toothbrushes filled the house. A computer charger, matching sock, and school folder couldn’t be found. Then, the realization that I didn’t have a sitter for my daughter for that afternoon’s work meeting, the lab stealing the last

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5 Job Interview Tips to Help You Land the Position

By Darlene Brock / Life & Culture, Work & Money

Through the years I have hired (and fired) a lot of different people for a bunch of different positions. I’ve hired accountants, truck drivers, radio promoters, executive assistants, and even band members. The good news is the firing part didn’t happen often because I quickly learned the qualities I wanted in any employee. Something I frequently noticed while interviewing for a position was the majority of people were not very good at this process. They didn’t interview well! But those that almost always rose to the top had a few of the same job interview approaches. They possessed many of the same character traits. They got my attention and inevitably landed on the top of the pile to pick from. If you’re

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10 Quick Ways to Be More Productive While Working from Home

By Marlys Johnson Lawry / Life & Culture

When my four adult children were in town for their father’s celebration of life service, they strategized over possibilities for my future as a new widow. “Mom, we think you should take an early retirement,” my son, Jeremy, and daughter-in-law, Denise, said over dinner. “We think you should keep blogging, get back into speaking, and write more books. And here’s how you can afford to do that.” Whereupon, they presented three options. And so, it was with astonishment and a slight tug on my heartstrings that I submitted my resignation at the St. Charles Cancer Center. And now I have one of those jobs where you wake up in the morning and have to think for a moment what day it is.

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How to Take Back Your Time with Christy Wright – 166

By Smart Living with Grit and Grace / Podcast

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | Android | TuneIn | RSS | More “How do I find a work-life balance?” seems to be an eternal question, one we just keep circling back to as the to-do list grows longer. Whether it’s our jobs, homes, family or friends, there’s always something or someone who needs us. Life feels demanding and 24 hours in a day to get everything done just doesn’t cut it anymore. Author and speaker Christy Wright joins Darlene Brock and Julie Bender to offer her take on this question—and it has nothing to do with balance at all. Taking cues from her new book, “Take Back Your Time,” Christy discusses five ways that we can create time

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Ask Dr. Zoe – How Do I Nail a Job Interview?

By Dr. Zoe / Ask Dr. Zoe, Life & Culture

‘Weary Traveler’ Asked: Six months ago, I quit my management job. Since then, I have been doing travel contracts outside of my home state. I have applied for several jobs and had a few promising interviews. I have not been offered any of the jobs though. I want to get back home and be with my husband and daughter. What am I doing wrong in my job interviews? Dr. Zoe Answered: I don’t know what you are doing in your interviews, but I know that most women don’t sell themselves well. We are conditioned to be humble, not boastful, to be a “nice” girl. We don’t want to be misconstrued as arrogant or the “B” word. We even stray away from seeming

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Follow These Teachers Now for Classroom Inspiration

Instagram Teachers to Follow for Back to School Inspiration

By Molly Dockweiler / Life & Culture

As a teacher, I spend a lot of time on Pinterest looking for lesson ideas, bulletin board inspiration, and so on. What I’ve found on Pinterest looks great, but many of the ideas have never been tested in the chaos of a real classroom. While great in theory, these ideas often flop. My time has been better spent looking through different Instagram accounts of teachers who are in the classroom full time—tried and true—dealing with whatever is thrown at them on any given day. Here are several of my favorite Instagram accounts of elementary classroom teachers who will spark your inspiration for this new school year, as well as additional teacher-oriented accounts for all grade levels. Teachers of Primary Grades (K-2) @aroundthekampfire

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Teaching During Covid Is No Joke, but We Can Finish Strong

By Carey Melton / Life & Culture

Picture it: a school in 2021. Welcome signs and student artwork are replaced by Covid-19 warning posters. Full faces are replaced by masks revealing only the eyeballs and up. Physical bodies are replaced by foreheads or ceiling fans on a screen. Class sets of copies are replaced by scanning > saving as a pdf > downloading to your computer > then adding it to Google Classroom. All the while, we teachers are getting our in-person students started on their bell-ringer and signing onto the Google Meet with virtual students. We do all this with the same smile we started the year with, although now it’s a little forced. We click, talk, answer questions, pass out papers, and write on the board simultaneously!

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Are Your Compromises Hindering Your Freedom and Integrity?

By Allison McCormick / Purpose, Faith

At 36, Elizabeth was proud of her accomplishments. A thriving career, a loving marriage, a bright energetic daughter, and an entourage of friends that loved and supported her. Yet, when you talked with her or spent any time around her, you detected a brokenness that was difficult to explain. There was the person she wanted you to see, an accomplished professional with a full life, and a distorted reflection that was her true self. People say you know a person by the company they keep. I think you know the person by the compromises they make. People are what they do in the secret spaces of their hearts. The truth of their lives surfaces when the pretense that keeps their image intact

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Ask Dr. Zoe – Should I Finish My Degree or Change My Career Path?

By Dr. Zoe / Ask Dr. Zoe

‘Still Not Graduated’ Asked: I have been very blessed that my parents have been able to financially support me as I seek higher education. The problem is I don’t know what I want from this education. I recently realized that I am extremely unhappy pursuing my current degree, but I do not want to change course and begin working on a different degree. However, since I never did any internships in school, I have no experience and cannot find employment. I feel that my parents have invested so much money in me, and I have nothing to show them in return. Should I finish my degree and try to gain experience? I am at a loss for what to do now. Dr.

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Stop People Pleasing Now With Cherlyn Decker – 159

By Smart Living with Grit and Grace / Podcast

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | Android | TuneIn | RSS | MoreDo other people’s opinions affect how you feel about yourself? Often find yourself trying to please others, hoping they will see you as you want to be seen? If so, you’ll appreciate this episode. Darlene Brock and Julie Bender interview Cherlyn Decker—a speaker, writer, and coach who has helped hundreds of women turn their struggles into a source of strength. They discuss everyday battles many women face: people pleasing, mom guilt, and obsessing over what others think of them. Cheryln shares practical tools that can help you turn from these harmful habits, encouraging you to look back on past life experiences for how they “stack” on each

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