Back in the olden days when we spent most of our work lives in offices, we separated our days with countless little breaks. We went on walks, ate snacks in the break room, had conversations with our fellow team members, and more—and we never thought twice about it.

This far into an unprecedented year, I’m willing to bet that you have your remote workflow down pat. You know when to start your day, how to reach out to clients and teammates for help, and what to do if Zoom crashes during an important meeting.

These TED Talks teach you how to be an effective risk-taker. If you want to advance your career, taking risks is a necessary evil. If you want to rise above the competition, risks push you out of your comfort zone.

"People will forget what you said, but they will never forget how you made them feel."

This is one of my favorite quotes--often attributed to poet Maya Angelou and others--because it highlights something everyone in business struggles with--focusing on the entirety of the experience rather than one isolated activity.

During the beginning of the year, when all of us were adjusting to the COVID-19 pandemic, we didn’t have to devise a perfect work-from-home strategy. Even if you had some experience working remotely, you probably weren’t planning for a day when going to the office would be an impossibility. It’s only natural that corners got cut in the rush to transition.

Sometimes the most complex issues in business and life can be solved by the simplest of means. The Greek philosophy of stoicism teaches you the basic truths about life. Embracing this wisdom can provide the guidance you need to be a better person at work and home.

Instead of work-life balance, strive for work-life harmony. Forget what you might think you know about work-life balance. It's almost impossible to have true balance between your professional and personal life. After all, balance implies that there needs to be a strict tradeoff between the two.

I enjoy collecting inspirational quotes from luminaries, but I have found sports personalities especially intriguing since sports and business have so much in common.

In order to succeed at the highest level, athletes and coaches must have passion for their endeavor, a strong work ethic, and a constant drive even when faced with incredible setbacks and obstacles. This is something every business person can relate to. What can you specifically learn from the world of sports?

As a business owner, I call upon some of what I have learned as a yogi to get through the day, especially the stressful ones. I often rely on what I know to calm my mind and refocus when I need it most. I have found that just a minute or two of mindful breathing or a quick meditation is all I need to lower my stress levels, recharge my brain, and be more mindful about the task at hand.

Given that we’re now months into our response to the coronavirus pandemic, I bet you’re getting used to working remotely. In fact, many people are considering the benefits of making work-from-home a more regular and permanent facet of our professional lives. Once you’ve adapted to new technology and created a personalized workspace, you may find that doing your job at home is just as feasible as doing it in an office. However, it’s important to remember that the daily tasks of your role don’t make up the whole of your professional existence.

In this time of so much unrest and pain, many of us turn outward in anger and frustration. It is a natural tendency for us to react in this way to the horror we see around us and the growing stress we already are experiencing in our daily lives. It can leave us feeling helpless and sad, so what is left is more noise and opinions on what others can do. We often can think that when we look at problems of racism, prejudice, school shootings, the environment, and so on, that the issues seem so overwhelming that we don’t know where to begin.

Over the past weeks and months, the COVID-19 crisis has touched all of our lives. Some states may be beginning a cautiously guided reopening phase, but there’s no telling which restrictions will remain in place and for long. The situation is, in a word, unprecedented. With such rapid and seismic change—whether that change means losing your job or doing it in a whole new way—it’s only natural that people are feeling a little down and struggling to adjust.

As a business owner, I call upon some of what I have learned as a yogi to get through the day, especially the stressful ones. I often rely on what I know to calm my mind and refocus when I need it most. I have found that just a minute or two of mindful breathing or a quick meditation is all I need to lower my stress levels, recharge my brain, and be more mindful about the task at hand.

The old adage goes that curiosity killed the cat, but lucky for us humans, intellectual curiosity poses no such dangers. In fact, cultivating and maintaining a sense of intellectual curiosity is one of the most beneficial traits a person can have. Curiosity serves as a catalyst for both the success you have in the workplace or the fulfillment you find outside of it. As the great Dorothy Parker once wrote, “Curiosity is the cure for boredom.”

These are stressful times for all of us with all the worries about the coronavirus pandemic and the impact it will have on our family and friends, and the nation at large.

My yoga practice is helping me manage in these difficult times. You don’t need to practice yoga though to learn how to calm your mind (though it helps). I have found that we all have natural abilities within us to calm our minds through meditation.

In these strange and unprecedented times, those of us fortunate enough to work at all are doing so from home. With stay-at-home and shelter-in-place orders being issued in an increasing number of states and the federal government urging folks to stay inside at least through April, working remotely right now isn’t much of an option.

In her podcast, Breaking Beliefs, Amy recently interviewed Jana Axline, who is the immediate Past President of the Project Management Institute, Mile Hi Chapter in Denver, Colorado. Jana is a focused project management leader and consultant who drives ideas from initiation to implementation, achieving successful outcomes for clients. In this interview, Jana shares her insights on the importance of mentors and building relationships at work with clients and colleagues.

One thing is true in business, nothing will go right all of the time. Eventually, you will face a crisis in your business. It could be internal like a project coming unhinged, team conflicts, financial issues, or a break down in an everyday process. It can also be external, such as dealing with troubled clients or a public relations issue.

As a top motivational keynote speaker, Amy Vetter recently presented at the 2020 Project Management Institute Mil Hi Symposium in Denver. The focus of the symposium was on “Leadership in the Digital Age: The Changing Face of Project Management.”

There’s more than enough for all of us to grow into the people we want to be. Once we acknowledge that fact, we can start to see abundance where we once saw scarcity. That shift in perspective can change so much, and it will definitely make your more highly effective at whatever you do.