“The power isn’t out there, its in you.” This is how Marie Forleo starts off her book Everything Is Figureoutable. It is powerful and inspiring. Everything is figureoutable can be the “cornerstone of your reality.” I’ve taken this advise and things have become better for me at work and at home. Hey, don’t worry Isabel, we can figure this all out!
Marie advises to put pen to paper and choose the most important change. Put all of your hopes and dreams on paper. “Limiting believes are bull sh*t” she says.
In chapter 4, called Eliminate Excuses, she quotes Richard Bach “the worst lies, are lies we tell ourselves.” It’s true. The biggest lie I tell myself is, are you kidding?! you can’t do this. But as Marie puts it, its all figureoutable! You can do it. You really can. Put your mind to it and you can figure it out.
Marie says that there are two words that you can tell yourself. You “CAN’T” or you “WON’T.” For example, I “can’t” ask for a promotion because I am not good enough yet. Or, I “won’t” ask for a promotion. Using “won’t” makes you responsible for your life. “You are in charge of your thoughts and actions” she says.

Another few quotes that I like are “All progress begins with a brave decision. Long before any guarantee of success.” “Action spawns courage.” And, “you must disobey the voice in your head that says I’m not ready yet, because that voice is bullsh*t”

Here are some start before you’re ready strategies:
1. Research and planning before you’re ready.
2. Get skin in the game. Search online for apps.
3. Value growth and learning. plant your feet in your growth zone aka discomfort zone.

Another piece of advise Marie provides is to embrace, “being able to suck.” I remember being pretty bad at my job in the beginning. I was very slow at it at first. I think I really sucked at it. But once I got the hang of it, no one could stop me.

She also says to “strive for progress not perfection.” And “cultivate patience.” These are two great pieces of advise.
She then goes on to define perfection vs progress. In her own pieces from her life and others’ lives as well.
In the end she tell us all that “now is the time to go after your dream. Get your a*s moving.”

I’ve been listening to Becoming by Michelle Obama and I’ve really been enjoying it. It is the story of her life and it starts right in the beginning of her life. The first few chapters are about Michelle and her younger years in school, her friends, parents and her older brother. She talks about how her older brother being in the same school gave her comfort. She then goes on to college and she talks about how she got into Princeton University. This is also where her brother wound up by playing basketball.
By Chapter 8 Mrs. Obama talks about how she met a one Barak Obama at her job in a law firm. They became fast friends even thought Barak was late on his first day on the job. And she was not happy about this at all. She was his advisor and he the summer associate.
I’ve learned that Barak’s nickname was Barry when he was a kid in living in Hawaii with his family.
Fast forward a few years and she goes on to talk about her wedding and their first fight as husband and wife. Also at the time her new husband went away to work on his book. He took a trip out to Hawaii for a few months to concentrate on writing his first book.
Michelle then talks about her difficulties in getting pregnant and having a miscarriage. She says, about her miscarriage that, its lonely failure and demoralizing. It feels like a failure but she then says it is not a failure at all. So they tried ivf. She goes on to talk about all of her trials and tribulations with ivf and then, she became pregnant with her first baby girl, Malia.
As a mother, she was now working at the University of Chicago as part time for 20 hour per week, but we all know that working part time turns out to more like working close to 40 hours per week as there is always so much to do. She then talks more about motherhood and then having another baby via invitro. Then having her baby girl Sasha. She then gets into the time Barak was running for Senate all the while she was working for the Hospital at the University of Chicago. It wasn’t easy having two little girls and a very busy husband.
I’ve been listening to the audiobook during bedtime and at one point I feel asleep and woke up to her talking about hurricane Katrina and how devastating it all was. I then turned off the audiobook and went to sleep.
The next day I turned it back on again before bed and Michelle spoke to me about her husband running for President of the United States. When he was asked if he was running, in the early days, he said that he was thinking more about it. But, what he was really doing, was waiting for Michelle to say yes to his running for president.
She thought about it and the initially answer was, no. She did not want him to be president. And then, after much thinking and time passing, she said yes. She thought it is a good idea for her husband to run for presidency. At the time she did not think he would win. As she put it; after all, he is a black man. She thought he would never win. Turns out she was very wrong.
As the First Lady of the United States, she stared a campaign about getting children to eat healthier. This was after she learned that her youngest daughter’s body mass index was on the brink. She realized that the nutrition intake was a little too much on the fast food end and less on the fruits and vegetables end. So she decided to create a vegetable garden right at the Whitehouse and have students from a bilingual school come and help with the planting.
She then goes on about how her clothing choices and how they were a thing. She decided to wear American designers. Meanwhile, a few other designers were not happy she didn’t choose them.
Then, there were more stories about her being the FLOTUS to her POTUS.
She then goes on about her being in the Whitehouse and continuing with her nutrition motives for children and keeping out of politics as much as possible.
In the end, she has a message for us: You belong, you matter.

I have been listening to Radical Candor by Kim Scott. Her main advise to me it so “keep your superstars challenged.” And to not “squash them or block them.” She also talks about how to have your people criticize the manager in a radical candor kind of way. Scott tells the tails about working in Facebook and Google and working with Sheryl Sandburg, CEO of Facebook. She says to always offer guidance. And, you don’t always need to have a solution. She also says that criticizing a person should be done in private. I’ve had multiple bosses who liked to criticize me in public, not very nice of them I think. One of those bosses turned out to be clinically bipolar and that is why he used to criticize people whenever he wanted and at one review even said that was immature. Another boss who liked to criticize in public wound up calling me when I was already working on my other job to help him and figure out how to use a certain machine. Did you call him back? Because, I didn’t. No way Jose! The other boss that liked to criticize me in public got fired. After many years of not doing much at her job, she was let go. Bye boss, nice knowing ya!
The author also says that stating “I think” its wrong as opposed to “that’s wrong is..” a better way to communicate. Also, saying “don’t take it personally” to someone, already makes the person take it personally. Scott also mentions that one of the most difficult things about being a middle manager is that you “wind up executing decisions that you disagree with.” She goes on to explain what to do with your people during these trying situations.
Something that surprised me in this book is that she states that “men also cry at work.” I had no idea. I thought that men only cry by themselves in the shower. Sorry to the men who are more sensitive than I’m used to. As for me, I’ve cried twice at work. Once when I was being let go from my position at a radio station. I asked for another chance but I did not get it at that time. The other time was when I was told that I was being very hostile at work. That people were not liking my attitude due to my being so aggressive. I thought I was being assertive and getting things done. But, turns out I was just being an a**whole. Then I cried about it.
Another thing the author says is that as a boss do “not let another person talk smack about another.” Have the direct reports “talk it out with each other” preferably without you, the boss. “If they can’t, offer to have a three way conversation ideally in person.” And never have tough conversations “over email or text.”
Something that struck a cord with me is that Scott says to have actual “conversations with your employees as it will have a big impact.” This shows that “you’ve done something that show you care.” Something else that I liked was when she said; “when you understand what motivates a person and why, you are much better able to understand their dreams.” Because you care so much about about your direct reports you tend to see the best in them.” She cautions however, that it can turn to unconscious bios in a really big team and if you’re not careful you may think the most senior people are your “rock-stars.” Finally Scott states that “ensuring fairness cultivates growth throughout the organization and avoids unnecessary resentment.”
I really enjoyed listening to Kim Scott. She has a lot of great ideas that I will be taking with me to my daily routine.

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I really enjoy listening to Rachel Hollis. She keeps me inspired and keeps me going. I really enjoyed her first motivational book, Girl, Wash Your Face. I thought her book was all about a hot mess with sprinkles of fashion and beauty and it turns out they are about the beauty inside all of us.

I am now listening to Girl, Stop Apologizing. She says that “confidence matters.” Even if confidence means wearing hair extensions and makeup. I tend to lack in confidence an am always looking for some sort of inspiration and confidence and Rachel gives me just that. She tell us @msrachelhollis that a “Morning routine is EVERYTHING. When the world around you feels uncertain, your daily habits are the way to feel centered.” This is why I do my best to have a morning routine that I can follow. Running and coffee are my morning routines. I run every other day and have my morning cup of coffee every day. I have gratitude for my coffee pot and the fact that it has a timer on it. My husband is so helpful and places the coffee in my thermos so it stays nice and hot. He does this every single morning. Thank you, husband! I give thanks that my mother-in-law bought the coffee maker for us. I think she bought it for us for mother’s day no less. What a treat. Thank you mother-in-law!

In the book Rachel also says to, “Replace your to do list with a Results list.” I follow her advise and have a journal with just that. I write “I am Successful, I am Worth It, I am Enough.” I also write “Today is the best version of me.” I write these every day and the more I write them down, the more I start to believe them.
In the book, she also goes deep into her personal life and I feel like we are good friends. What she went through when she had her first kid, and the twins and also some other personal beauty things. Read the book, you’ll know what I’m talking about. However, no judgements here. Fake eyelashes, fake hair, fake whatever…you do you sister.

She says that she wrote this book for “the community who is hungry for their dreams. It’s for my hustlers who are up till 2am working towards their goals. It’s for my mamas who are being pulled in ten different directions and are still making time for their personal goals. It’s for anyone who is striving to be the best version of themselves.”

She also gives me inspiration and states that “It’s not your job to fit into anyone elses’ ideal. It’s your job to start believing who you are and what you’re capable of. It’s time to be yourself, unapologetically.”

And then she says that “It’s time to stop apologizing for who you are. It’s time to become who you were meant to be.” And that spoke to me. I feel like I keep on hiding my true self. I like being my weird self and having people laugh, with me, at my weirdness. At times I feel like I have stop it and be “normal.” I don’t want to be normal, normal is boring.

She also does gratitude through meditation at the very end. If you are listening to the audiobook, make sure you are in an area where you can sit for a little while and feel a moment of gratitude.

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