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Your Path to Breakthroughs: Insights from Jan McDonald

From hopeless drunk to 30 years sober and helping hundreds of individuals and organizations unlock their 'and then some', I distill all the lessons gained from those transformational life experiences and share them with you in this space.

I invite you to explore these insights as way to help you breakthrough the challenges that are stopping you from becoming who you want to be.

The Unknown Struggle Jan 10, 2022

“Life is either an adventure or nothing at all."

--Helen Keller

Adventure is my word for 2022.

Reading through last years journal, I realized that I spent a huge amount of time struggling with control issues. In fact, it wasn't just last year's stru
...
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Forget The Attachment Dec 27, 2021

“Attachment is the source of all suffering."

--Buddha

Attachment is a feeling that binds one to a person, thing, cause, ideal, or the like. It is the state of being attached. Many of us have new goals for 2022 and we're excited about them! If we ar...
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Lessons From Badger Mountain Dec 22, 2021

“It's not the mountain we conquer, but ourselves."

-- Sir Edmund Hillary

 

Badger Mountain is not Mount Everest,  but I get some of my best ideas and hardest workouts hiking there.  When the gym closed during the COVID quarantine, I worked out at ...

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Families Are Like Fudge Dec 21, 2021

“Families are like fudge, mostly sweet, with lots of nuts.”

--Anonymous

I know the holidays can be stressful. When you put different people together from different backgrounds, with different expectations--well...sometimes it's hard to know how to ...

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Meet Your Thief. Dec 07, 2021


“Comparison is the thief of joy."

 
― Theodore Roosevelt
 
The holiday season can be brutal when it comes to comparing ourselves with others.  All those gatherings with family can bring up past issues. Even the parties with friends can invoke com...
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Relearning Lessons From 2019 Nov 30, 2021

“The most valuable lessons aren't learned they are experienced."

  
---Anonymous 
 
I wrote this at the end of 2019.  The subtitle of that email blast was "2020 is going to be awesome!"  Hahaha! But I thought the lessons I learned in 2019 a...
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Steps to Stay Focused in 2022 Nov 23, 2021

"Your life is controlled by what you focus on. "

---Tony Robbins


This last year turned out way better than I thought. December is the month that I go through my journal and planner and look at what I have learned. AND what lessons I may have missed...

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Hope Dealers Nov 15, 2021

"Hope is the positive expectation of something great happening... and soon. "


---Jan McDonald

It has been said, “Man can live about forty days without food, about three days without water, about eight minutes without air...but only for one second w...

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Magnanimity Nov 08, 2021

"We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give. "

--Winston Churchill

Magnanimity is a fancy word for generosity.  I thought that might get your attention:) Generosity is the selfless act of giving with no expectation of anything ...

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Tricks for Treats Nov 01, 2021

"I don't know what your destiny will be, but one thing I know: The ones among you who will be really happy are those who have sought and found how to serve."

--Albert Schweitzer

Over 200 years ago, a man in civilian clothes rode past a small group ...

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How Are You Treating You? Oct 29, 2021

“Self-care is how you take your power back."


--Lalah Delia

Eighty-three percent of workers are experiencing symptoms of burnout. Nearly 1 in 4 employees experienced the more severe signs, including reduced professional efficacy and cynicism towards...

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What Stories Do You Tell Yourself? Oct 18, 2021

"Self respect is produced by inner triumphs, not external ones."

--David Brooks

 

The first time I quit drinking was when my ex-husband and I split up. It was his fault, after all (yeah, right.) I totally quit cold turkey and began a fitness craze w...

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Rake In Your Harvest Oct 04, 2021

" So let’s not allow ourselves to get fatigued doing good. At the right time we will harvest a good crop if we don’t give up, or quit."

 

--Paul, the Apostle

I love this time of year! It's still warm and sunny, but usually not above eighty degrees. ...

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Make The Chili Sep 27, 2021

"Tomorrow is never promised, so love and appreciate the people who are in your life."


--Me

 
Last week I wrote about Dennis's and my encounter with Covid and the awareness that we developed from going through that together. There's one more messag...
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Attitude IS Everything, Especially During Covid Sep 20, 2021

"The only disability in life is a bad attitude."

--Scott Hamilton

I wrote this email a couple weeks ago and just never sent it.  Dennis and I both caught Covid and life was upended for a bit. We weren't too adversely affected, and we didn't want an...
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Baggage...or Memories? Sep 06, 2021

"Wouldn't it be great if emotional baggage could be lost just as easy as aircraft luggage?" 

― Anonymous

My Facebook memories have been about the move from Grandview to Tri-Cities that we made September 3, 2019. I'm still amazed at all the stuff we...

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