RUGGED OPTIMIST

RUGGED OPTIMIST BRING THE BAD➡️GET THE GOODS. Speaker. Trainer. Coach. Systematic methods, not fluffy motivations.

Aroadmap for analytical hope charted over 10+ years alongside DV survivors, consulting employers, partnership mgmt, & living with multiple sclerosis.

03/04/2026

My disease's subtype has transitioned, presenting challenges in my life/work that I honestly didn't anticipate contending with so soon.

🍋The lemons keep coming. So we keep squeezing.

Two-cent Tuesdays: And, today, 2¢ is about all I have to give.It's rare that my feels this bad. However, as we get i...
05/13/2025

Two-cent Tuesdays: And, today, 2¢ is about all I have to give.

It's rare that my feels this bad. However, as we get into the warmer months, it becomes less of a rarity.

Take my legs, take my arms, but leave my brain. Please. That's always been my stance on the matter.

But today, attempts at a brainstorm were offering little more than brain-drought. Can you imagine a day where you struggle to think a thought?

However, I recalled something I have shared with a number of my clients struggling with transitions in their careers. I have found that it is all-too-common that they had this or that "detour" or "off-track" experience that didn't align with their professional goals. Some even harbor a sense of shame about it.

In working with them, I most often discover that what "veered away" from their path could offer key elements to their personal branding.

What they initially wanted to successfully "hide away" or "make unnoticeable" could become their competitive edge. Together, we reorient, reframe, and reimagine their personal narrative and unleash a newfound confidence. Storytelling is difficult when dancing around vulnerabilities.

My advice? Lean into it. Lean hard. I help clients make the connection so obvious that people feel kinda dumb for not seeing it before.

Today, I was struggling to think thoughts for because of my multiple sclerosis. So, I'm taking my own advice and leaning hard.

"How does your incurable neurodegenerative disease supposedly equip you as a speaker, trainer, and coach?"

Hit me up on LinkedIn or grab time on my calendar. I'll help you feel kinda dumb for not seeing it before.

RUGGED OPTIMIST

Make your vulnerability go hard.

——————

👋 Hi. I developed multiple sclerosis around age 16 and didn’t get diagnosed until I was 24 when my legs weren’t working.

➡️ Nonetheless, I’ve gone from being a domestic violence interventionist, to hiring consultant, to managing corporate partnerships, to speaking nationally in every U.S. time zone.

⭐️ My audiences have included everyone from corporate leadership teams to high school classrooms.

📝 i have 3 slots left for people needing their roadmap to logical hopefulness in 2025.

🥊 Event speaking and team training also available RUGGED OPTIMIST. Hmu here or at [email protected] 💯

05/02/2025

BGSU studied human perceptions of AI versus human-created art. The result?

People struggled to differentiate between AI-generated and human-created art. They correctly identified the source only around half the time (and with low confidence in their judgments). However, participants nonetheless consistently preferred human-made artwork.

When artwork-sources were still unknown, participants rated the human art higher in self-reflection, attraction, nostalgia, and amusement. Researchers suggested this unconscious preference was due to subtle imperceptible details that humans can feel but cannot articulate.

Those who miss these insights are likely the same folks scratching their heads at trends and missing their window of opportunity to leverage authenticity and vulnerability, if they even preserved the situational awareness to do so. Frankly, they're asleep at the wheel—are you paying attention?

"FIGHT ME, CLAUDE." 🤖Recently through our portal: "Does use AI?" The real question isn't "if" but "how" professional...
04/28/2025

"FIGHT ME, CLAUDE." 🤖

Recently through our portal: "Does use AI?" The real question isn't "if" but "how" professionals leverage AI.

We're considering giving a training on this topic - thoughts?

So do we? Yes BUT with meticulousguidelines against the reckless and unthinking misuse that proliferates today.

Look, AI can be a powerful tool for:

✅ Challenging assumptions
✅ Pressure-testing logical foundations
✅ Enhancing problem-solving
❌ But never for replacing critical thinking ❌

⚠️ Data shows passive AI consumption correlates with decreased analytical thinking and problem-solving skills.

🚩 A Cautionary Tale 🚩

A LinkedIn member's recent embarrassing moment: He was being inexplicably combative about one of our mindset trainings—only to realize his AI-generated walls of text had actually begun agreeing with us? Like, 3 comments back?

❗️ AI mimics understanding without comprehension.

👉 So use AI to help you reflect; to assist in problem-solving, to test conclusions in different scenarios.
🧠 However, remember AI cannot do any of these unto itself.

Don’t uncritically rely on AI. Doing so turns us into passive consumers of lowest-common-denominator thinking (see studies on this in comments below ⬇️).

💡 Pro Tip: Make AI FIGHT to agree with you rather than just starting into a hall of mirrors when you need to climb mountains.

AI doesn’t make you look smarter. Using it like that is just the updated version of the emperor’s new clothes.


FACT: Circumstances aren't good right now (and are likely to get worse before they get better). Dear gratitude journalis...
04/18/2025

FACT: Circumstances aren't good right now (and are likely to get worse before they get better). Dear gratitude journalists—it’s time to move beyond gratitude that relies on reactive thankfulness. ⚔️ Don’t let your gratitude benefits become victims of circumstance.

🙅‍♂️ "What are you grateful for?"
👉 Try these questions instead:

💡 "What part of a recent project surprised you with unexpected value?"
💡 "What initially frustrated you that revealed something valuable?”
💡 "How did a resource/relationship benefit you differently than intended?"

Start expanding your gratitude beyond simple retrospection. Build appreciation through opportunity awareness—seeing what others miss. That will give you something actually useful that you can appreciate without rose-colored glasses. 💪 (link in comments)

3 complaints employees make about corporate "gratitude initiatives" (but nev3 complaints employees make about corporate...
04/17/2025

3 complaints employees make about corporate "gratitude initiatives" (but nev3 complaints employees make about corporate "gratitude initiatives" (but never to your face):

⛔ Forced participation in inauthentic "gratitude circles"

⛔ "Positive-thinking" real problems away

⛔ Watching gratitude rituals replace actual workplace improvements

⚠️ Your team doesn't hate gratitude—they hate shallow implementations.

👉 Ready for meaningful workplace appreciation instead? Check out our latest article with the questions you should actually be asking! Link in comments.

04/12/2025

Honestly, how often do you feel as if you're reacting to life as it "happens to you"?

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