On Thursday, I woke up burnt out. The old Kari would have just pushed through the day. Instead, I told my team that I was taking the day off for a mental health day. I had the mini-adventure that I talked about yesterday. It was awesome. By the end of the day, even though I didn’t ‘work,’ I had made some significant company decisions. I then woke up the next morning energized and ready to kill it. The best thing I can do for my company is to have clarity of thought. Som

Today, I needed to take the car to the shop. The last time I had to, Joe booked a garage in the middle of nowhere. This time, he luckily booked it in a cute part of town that I’ve never explored. I spent this morning at two lovely coffee shops enjoying some me-time and even had a leisurely venture to Whole Foods sans kids. Somehow what could have been drudgery has been one of my best mornings in a while. Part of the magic was that the exceptional circumstances were such a su

In my coaching, I love analogies that help you tap into values you want to tune up in your life. The one that’s made the biggest impact in my life right now is finding my ‘Monk.' I can get way too caught up in the 'doing' of life — endless to do lists and overpacked weekends.  I have calendar blocks labelled ‘down time’ and embarrassingly have even pencilled in ‘sex.' My inner-monk approaches life differently. He’s: Intentional vs. on autopilot Calm vs. frenetic Tied to a hig

Here at Uplift we want to give you easy things you can implement to make your life easier and happier.  What gets tracked, gets managed. So here is a quick exercise this week to help you decrease daily stress. Step 1: For one week, document each time you are stressed and what caused it.  What struck me for my list was that 80% were things that could easily be prevented. For example, here was my list: Not being able to find my keys Having a fire-drill at work Not having a conf

I hate to admit this, but I have sat, crying on my bathroom floor asking myself why I became a mom.  I was exhausted, stretched too thin and dealing with a toddler melt down that broke me. I love my kids.  They are the best thing that ever happened to me on so many levels.  But, it's hard.  It's really, really hard.  Almost every mom I know has said they've had a similar moment (if not more). I am hoping that some of Uplift's tips can help reduce the frequency -- encourage yo