The Simple Joy Of Saying Yes To Having A Dog

Ever surprised yourself with an about turn decision? I’ve channeled my inner Roy Kent for the last ten years when any of our kids have asked for a dog. (Ted Lasso reference) My ability to say no in a multitude of ways has been endless.  Until I changed my mind. I’d heard from many close friends of the emotional support a dog can bring a family full of teenagers and so I went from ABSOLUTELY NEVER to considering the idea of having a dog.  It is surprising how freeing it is to completely change your mind on a major decision.  What changed in the Wright House? We are now at home far more than ever before, we just bought a new home, our 11,11&13 year olds are able to help out, and it just seems like we can make the space and time.  But what really changed for me was asking this one question: “What will I regret more?” …will I regret having a dog and our newly renovated home be covered in a few scratches? …will I regret when our three girls leave home that I was the evil parent that wouldn’t give them what they really wanted - a dog.? …will I regret being the miserable one who kept saying no because the idea of more work seemed like a step too far? …I first shared my mantra once our twin babies came home from the hospital and our first born wasn’t yet two years old. We sold our salt water aquarium and I boldly stated: “never will we have anything else with a heartbeat enter our house!” So we surprised our daughters this weekend with our news and now we are deep in research mode on the right dog for our family. So if you have any ideas for the best breed for a hypoallergenic dog under 25lbs let me know. - pictures welcome too! If you also have recommendations for shelters in the LA area that may have puppies available for adoption I’d love to hear.  Meanwhile, stay tuned next week for news about my third book!

Dedicated to growing your business,

Val

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The Unexpected Social Trend That You Might Be Feeling Too

As companies open back up more of their office doors and conferences start to return in real life there is an unexpected reality occurring.  A reluctance, unwillingness, and an avoidance of social interaction.  Despite an expected craving of adult interaction once lockdown was lifted, not everyone is joyously celebrating and embracing social activities.  Perhaps 18 months of being trained to avoid physical contact, unnecessary interactions, and exposure to strangers has retrained many of us.  The results are smaller energy reserves for social conversations, a reluctance for spontaneous interactions, and just more people opting out of the social commitments that used to consume our calendars.  But it’s ok. It is not all pointing to life as hermits… Those friends who matter, matter more than ever as I’m seeing everyone pull their close friends closer.  Those social moments that are intentional, deliberate, with a thought out group of people are appreciated.  It was too easy in the past to say yes to a plethora of social commitments and now embracing saying no to events you truly don’t want to be spending time at. Protecting your social time is important.  But as you lead teams with new hires, or you know people who have recently moved to your company or city…or even perhaps new neighbors on your street….those are who to take care of as those transitions are not easy.  I’ve been even more ruthless lately with the flood of invites expecting an rsvp. It’s ok to decline, delay, or just show up for a short time to any invite you receive.  And a final thought for those who run events, host social gatherings, or are organizing work events… just give everyone the space to join or not at their own pace.

Dedicated to growing your business,

Val

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Want A Morning Boost? Remember This Time Last Year.

Skip back 365 days on your calendar… Where were you? How were you running your work life and your whole life? How was your team? Your customers? Your family? I’d just finished giving a virtual keynote to 600 global attendees and preparing for a strategy session with a leadership team on Zoom. All this with my three kids trying their best at online school and five of us sharing wifi.  Today I am grateful to be planning a real life strategy session at the end of this month and a speaking event each month for the rest of this year.  …most importantly our kids are walking to school, in real life. No more on screen teaching. For which I am incredibly grateful.  It’s easy to move so fast you forget where you were even last week, but take a minute this morning to remember where you were a year ago and be grateful for today’s realities.

Dedicated to growing your business,

Val

P.S. I hope you enjoyed this week's VAL-uable Insights, sign up here to get them in your inbox each Monday morning: http://valwrightconsulting.com/newsletter-sign-up/