No New Year’s Resolutions in 2020

January. The time to set a resolution for better living and better outcomes.  Have you set one or two or ten?  Resolving to be better is always a good thing but resolve rarely accomplishes.  As Paul David Tripp says in New Morning Mercies for the December 31 devotional:  …the reality is that few smokers have actually quit because of a single moment of resolve. Few obese people have become slim and healthy because of one dramatic moment of commitment. Few people who were deeply in debt have changed their financial lifestyle because they resolved to do so as the old

A Pound of Prevention

“A pound of prevention is worth an ounce of cure” is a phrase I heard for the first time this week. I was at lunch with an attorney who specializes in employment law, and she said that phrase as we were talking about clients who don’t see the benefit of proactive, preventative measures and instead just hope everything turns out alright. I immediately wrote it down and googled when I got home, and the internet says it’s a Benjamin Franklin quote. Apparently, Franklin wrote an anonymous letter to his own newspaper in Philadelphia in 1735 about the importance of preparing

The Confusion Over Cannabis

Written by: Lorrie Coffey, Horizon Point Consulting Ten states plus DC have legalized marijuana for recreational use. Thirty-four states have legalized it for medical use. And CBD oil is readily available in most states.  But marijuana is still classified by the Drug Enforcement Agency as a Schedule 1 drug, which means it is still illegal to grow, buy or sell, possess, or use under federal law.  Oh, and while CBD shops popped up on every street corner as soon as the Farm Bill was signed back in late 2018, the Farm Bill did not legalize the general production, sale, or

3 Quotes to Consider When Leading Volunteers

Throughout my career, I’ve had the opportunity to lead volunteers as a staff member as well as a chair of an all-volunteer board. It can certainly be a challenge, but it is also a great privilege and offers surprising rewards! I remember planning an awards event several years ago that went awry. We had more than a dozen people show up that did not RSVP. My first thoughts were: where will we seat them & will there be enough food? As I look back, I am so thankful for the volunteers who jumped in to help. That was one of

Killing the College Misconception

Did you know that Alabama has a “College Application Campaign”? A statewide initiative with the goal of having EVERY high school senior in the state apply to at least one college. I found this out last week thanks to the high school guidance counselor’s weekly email blast. I’ll be honest, as an HR professional, I had to hold myself back from sending her an email outlining the negative impact of such a campaign. I’m still tempted to.  I graduated high school many moons ago, in an era when high schools still had classes like shop, mechanics, and electrical design. I