My weekly emails are for you if you want a transformational SHOT OF POSITIVITY that makes you think, gets you laughing, and sparks a positive change. Start each week inspired.
Compelling or cringe?
|
Reader, are you feeling bombarded? I've never been big on New Year's resolutions, but in the past few years, I've found this tradition especially cringe. Part of this response is having enough decades on the earth to know that I have never once followed through on my previous New Year's resolutions in a sustained way. The other part is the proliferation of marketing messages exploiting this tradition to reinforce messages of scarcity and insufficiency. Who needs more of that sh!t in your head? Losing my Dad so suddenly in September was a blessing and a curse. In the moment I had peace letting him go and focus as I prepared to honor him as we celebrated his life. The time after has proved a greater challenge. During this time of grieving, I've given myself permission to step back, which also created space to assess. My husband is retiring in the spring. My younger daughter is heading to college in the fall. My older daughter is pursuing her post-college life in a new city. My life is entering a new season that I didn't understand until I stepped into this moment. I thought this would feel like a season of harvesting and yet it feels like a season of planting. I find myself on the folcrum of mourning and anticipating, seeking to balance the emotional rollercoaster. I'm not ready to lean in, make bold plans, or conquer. 2024 was my best and toughest year all in one and the turning of the calendar to 2025 isn't a magical reset button. So my word for 2025 is CHANGE. My #ShowUpPositive message has never been more true for me. I am the master of what is next because I am choosing to embrace this reality that mourning and anticipating are the natural response to change and making room for both is the path to wellbeing. My plans for 2025 are to
My dad grew up poor. His family had a farm that provided 90% of their food. He farmed all through my childhood. Farmers know that soil doesn't endlessly produce. It requires fallow period and restorative cover crops to refresh the vital nutrients that maximize yield. This year isn't about high yield for me because doing more of the same no longer excites me. Instead of a new book I'm launching a video podcast with conversations about breaking free from these internal stories holding us back and I'd love to speak about having you as my guest. You'll still find me Monday-Friday offering tips to inspire on Insta and LI and greeting you each Monday here in your inbox. I have a lot of ideas and few solid plans for 2025. So I am just starting. I am embracing the imperfect and messy and telling my inner Polly Perfect to hush. So if you are like me, know that you are in good company. Choose progress over perfection and be the change. You are enough and you got this. And if I can cheer you on, I'd love to do so. Drop me a line or connect with me. 🥰New Keynotes for the New Year 🥰Reader, have an event in mind for one of these talks?As a special thank you, please allow me to gift you a 90 minutes coaching or strategic consultation session for each speaking event introduction you make. |
Rita Ernst, Positivity Influencer
My weekly emails are for you if you want a transformational SHOT OF POSITIVITY that makes you think, gets you laughing, and sparks a positive change. Start each week inspired.
Hey Reader! 👋 This will floor you. We spend 90,000 lifetime hours at work. For most teams, a massive chunk of those hours is drained by one silent productivity killer: Friction. It’s the subtle workplace drama, passive-aggressive complaining, and unresolved interpersonal conflict that sucks the energy out of the room and leaves everyone exhausted. As I was reminded during my conversation with Alexia Georghiou (founder of the Knoxville Happiness Coalition) on The Story I'm Telling Myself...
Hey Reader! 👋 When my daughter was in preschool, we watched "Bob the Builder," a cartoon about believing in yourself, having a "can-do" attitude, and fixing things. During my conversation today with Dimple Dhabalia, I was reminded of this show, so grounded in our Western culture of productivity. We’ve been sold a lie that productivity is the ultimate measure of worth. Since the dawn of industrialization, we’ve been conditioned to prioritize "output" over connectivity, community, and even our...
Hey Reader, you don't want to miss this one! 👋 Let’s be honest: most of us are "hungry shoppers" in the supermarket of life. We show up starving for purpose, without a list, and we grab whatever looks shiny in the moment—a new job, a bigger paycheck, a different neighborhood—only to find that our "cycles of dissatisfaction" are getting shorter and shorter. This week, my guest on The Story I'm Telling Myself Podcast, Suneet Bhatt, explains that we fail to find happiness because we treat it as...