Savoir Vivre Vignettes
Christmas Calendar Countdown Day 14
The Gift of Forgiveness Friendships aren’t always perfect, and misunderstandings can create distance. But the holiday season is a time for healing. Forgiveness doesn’t mean forgetting or condoning—it means freeing yourself from resentment and opening the door for connection. Think...
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Christmas Calendar Countdown Day 15
The Magic of Shared Laughter Laughter is one of the quickest ways to strengthen friendships. In the midst of life’s challenges, a shared joke or a moment of silliness can lighten the load and bring you closer to your friends....
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Your Life in Transition: A DIY Toolbox for Reinventing Yourself
Reimagine, Redesign, Reconstruct: The Ultimate Guide to Life Transitions What we need for life transitions, aka major life changes, like for building IKEA furniture, is a manual, preferably with cryptic diagrams that don't make you doubt your intelligence, and leave...
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Christmas Countdown Calendar Day 16
The: Making Friends and Maintaining Friendships Rekindling Old Connections The holiday season is the perfect time to reconnect with old friends. Life transitions often pull us in different directions, but that doesn’t mean the bond is lost. Sometimes, reaching out...
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Christmas Countdown Calendar Day 17
The: Making Friends and Maintaining Friendships The Strength to Say No Friendship also means setting boundaries to protect your energy, especially during challenging life transitions. It’s okay to say no to invitations or expectations that don’t align with your well-being....
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Breaking Free: Recognising and Escaping Toxic Friendships
How Toxic Friendships Make Burnout Worse Let’s face it: relationships are like plants. Some thrive with a little neglect (looking at you, cactus friendships), while others wilt the second you forget to water them. But when life hands you burnout...
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Christmas Countdown Calendar Day 18
Theme: Making Friends and Maintaining Friendships Friends as Chosen Family The holidays can highlight the importance of family, but for some, traditional family relationships may feel strained or distant. This is where friends can become your chosen family—a group of...
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Christmas Countdown Calendar Day 19
Giving Without Expectations The holidays remind us of the joy of giving, but sometimes, we hesitate to give in friendships because we’re afraid it won’t be reciprocated. However, true generosity in friendships isn’t about keeping score; it’s about showing care...
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Christmas Countdown Calendar Day 20
Theme: Making Friends and Maintaining Friendships Embracing Quiet Moments Together In a season often marked by busy schedules and loud celebrations, there’s something beautifully grounding about quiet moments shared with a friend. Sometimes, the best connections don’t need words. Think...
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The Courageous Entrepreneur: How to Face Challenges Head-On
Explore the mindset shifts that empower entrepreneurs to confront obstacles with confidence. Definition of Entrepreneurial Courage If you are thinking about leaving the corporate world and starting a profitable business, you are going to need wheelbarrows full of courage. Ask...
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Christmas Countdown Calendar Day 21
Theme: Making Friends and Maintaining Friendships Gratitude Strengthens Bonds Friendships are like gardens—they flourish with care and attention. And one of the simplest yet most powerful ways to nurture them is through gratitude. Think about the friends who have supported...
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Silent Superheroes: Why We All Need Introverted Friends
The Surprising Benefits of Befriending an Introvert Introduction As I have several introverted friends (and I am an introvert, or a covert-introvert, myself, ) I have discovered that introverts can provide invaluable support during life transitions. We excel at providing...
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Christmas Countdown Calendar Day 22
Nurturing New Friendships The thought of building new friendships during a life transition can be intimidating. But this season of warmth and connection offers the perfect backdrop to meet new people who might bring unexpected joy into your life. Christmas...
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Christmas Countdown Calendar Day 23
Reaching Out Without Fear Life transitions can feel isolating, especially during the holiday season when everything seems to revolve around joy and togetherness. But even in the darkest times, we don’t have to face challenges alone. True friends want to...
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Christmas Countdown Calendar Day 24
A Season for Connection The holiday season is here, and for many, it can feel bittersweet—especially if you're navigating a major life transition. Christmas often brings reminders of what has changed, but it also offers an opportunity to embrace something...
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Your Friendship Manifesto: Making Friends and Maintaining Friendships
In recent years, the world has been grappling with an increasingly critical social health crisis: the loneliness epidemic. The COVID-19 pandemic dramatically accelerated this trend, with social isolation and digital communication replacing meaningful human connections. This loneliness epidemic underscores the...
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How Susan’s Short and Simple Vision Statement Helped Her Cope with Uncertainty
“All great things begin with a vision… a dream… I’ve always believed that success comes from not letting your eyes stray from that target. Anyone who wants to achieve a dream must stay focused, strong, and steady.” Estee Lauder It's...
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Why I Stopped Working Harder and How I Started Working Smarter
It's not the load that breaks you down. It's the way you carry it. - Lena Horne At least once a year I revisit the concept of "working smarter, not harder." Why? Because I quickly forget. I forget that working harder...
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The Critical First Five Years of Business: Why Most New Ventures Crash and Burn
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reports that 49.7% of businesses fail within 5 years. In other countries, the failure rates are often similar, but cultural, economic, and policy differences can influence the exact percentages.
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Remote Work: A Tale of Two Temperaments – Introverts and Extroverts
Remote work offers unique advantages for introverts, but success requires intentional strategy and self-awareness. By acknowledging both the benefits and challenges of this work style, introverts can create systems and habits that support their natural tendencies while protecting against potential...
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A Light-Hearted Guide to Dealing with Difficult People at Work
“The key is not to prioritise what’s on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities.” – Stephen Covey We've all been there. That colleague who seems to have a PhD in pushing your buttons, the office drama enthusiast who turns every...
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Knowing Your Life Purpose: The Secret to Living Longer
Living a long and fulfilling life has been a goal of humanity for centuries. While advancements in healthcare, nutrition, and lifestyle have extended lifespans, the quest for longevity often overlooks one critical component: having a clear sense of purpose. Understanding...
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Understanding Empathy Burnout and How to Recognise It in Yourself
Lise came to a From Troubled to Triumphant Transformational Retreat at the beginning of autumn as a last-minute booking. She said she was going through a "career change" life transition. She couldn't cope with her job as a doctor anymore,...
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Grateful, But Still Terrified: How I’m Tackling Anxiety in the Middle of a Life Transition
Because quitting your job at 42 without a backup plan deserves a little help from a gratitude journal (and a lot of coffee). Can Gratitude Really Reduce Anxiety During a Life Transition? The one thing I teach everyone who comes...
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Hot Flashes, Mood Swings, and Midnight Binges
Midlife crisis - the word makes it sound like you’re about to ditch your responsibilities, dye your hair purple, and join a punk band called Existential Dread. But really, it’s just a dramatic way of realising that life is finite....
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During a Life Transition: Make Thanksgiving Less Stressful
Do Something Different this Year (see the end of this post) Thanksgiving: the season of Gratitude, Gatherings, and Glorious Food. For many, it’s a day filled with tradition, joy, and perhaps a competitive round of family board games. But what...
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Moving to the South of France
From Crunching Numbers to Munching Croissants: How I Swapped Spreadsheets for Spectacular French Sunsets Written by Denise G. who moved to France in the middle of a Midlife Crisis after attending a From Troubled to Triumphant: Find Solid Ground during...
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Camino de Santiago Hiking Adventures
Confessions from the Camino: Blisters, Bliss, and Big Life Epiphanies Written by Nina S. a proud Empty-Nester who attended a From Troubled to Triumphant: Find Solid Ground during a Life Quake retreat in the sun-blessed southwest of France #LifeQuake Series...
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How Limiting Beliefs about Money can make Life Transitions 20X worse
Are Your Ingrained Money Myths Secretly Sabotaging Your Progress? During life’s big transitions, we would all like to think we’re making cool, calculated financial decisions. But here’s bad news: your limiting beliefs about money—the ones we picked up from childhood,...
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Books that Bridge the Gap: 12 Must-Read Books to Help You Thrive During Life Transitions
Explore stories and strategies that inspire resilience in the face of uncertainty. Life transitions—moving to a new city, starting a new job, or surviving a break-up that feels straight out of a Netflix drama are like plot twists - they...
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