4 Steps to A Stellar 2020 Holiday Season
“The human soul can always use a new tradition. Sometimes we require them.” ― Pat Conroy, The Lords of Discipline The 2020 holiday season certainly isn’t looking like what we’re used to. With COVID-19 cases skyrocketing and important safety guidelines in place,...
A 2020 Guide to Self-Care in Stressful Times
Practicing self-care isn’t a new concept, but the meaning of it has evolved over the years but especially in 2020. As a coach, facilitator and speaker, the subject comes up quite often either when I’m working with Vida Aventura clients, facilitating workshops, or...
5 Fabulous Ideas for Remote Team Celebrations
My birthday is in October, and believe me, I stretch out the opportunities to celebrate throughout the entire month (even if my friends and family get a little tired of hearing about it). I don’t mind … I am a very enthusiastic birthday girl. Leaders should be...
4 Ways Leaders Can Foster a Culture of Accountability in Remote Teams
By now, businesses that have transitioned to virtual office environments are settling in and getting back on track. Leaders have their teams in place, they've found solutions to supply chain disruptions, and a sense of normalcy is returning. Concerns are pivoting...
10 Powerful Movies to Inspire Leaders, Managers and Teams
Take your passion And make it happen Pictures come alive You can dance right through your life What a feeling ― Lyrics to What a Feeling by Irene Cara, featured in Flashdance Movies have always been a great source of inspiration for me. I mean, who can forget...
Team Building For Leadership Transition: A Case Study
What happens when a colleague and team member gets promoted, and becomes the one in charge? It can certainly present challenges, but it can also lead to a more united and productive team. Just ask Sarah Waddle, State Director, AARP Indiana and Vida Aventura...
Top Tips for Leading a Virtual Team
"There’s a misconception that people who work from home let their home-life distractions spill into their work. For many remote workers, however, the opposite is often the case. " - Robert Glazer How do leaders create a company’s culture and unique remote work...
How Practicing Gratitude Impacts Everything
Gratitude. I sometimes get an eye roll or a sigh from a Vida Aventura client when I mention the importance of gratitude, just because the word is used so often. Keeping gratitude journals and having an “attitude of gratitude” have become automatic suggestions by...
New Global Fortune 500 Remote Work Policy Hits The Mark
Have you started day-drinking yet? I’m only half-way joking. In a recent Vida Aventura blog, I discussed ways executives, leaders and managers are changing things up a bit by breaking the rules - and recreating what the workplace looks like. I also shared how I’ve...
22 Quotes You Need Right Now
I recently had to make the grueling decision to put my beloved Ani, an 18-year-old Lhasa Apso, to sleep. Her health had been failing over the past year, and while I knew the day would eventually come, it was beyond challenging to get through it. I’m still trying to...
WFH 2020: Day Drinking & Breaking the Rules
Are you a rule breaker, or a rule follower? There’s certainly a time and place for everything, but right here, right now - when everything seems like it’s been turned upside down and inside out - maybe it’s time to break a few rules. As Mary Engelbreit famously said,...
5 Tips on Making Boring Tasks More Engaging
Are you doing a task that’s taking forever to complete because you don’t find it exciting? Whether you have a dream job or doing something you aren’t passionate about, boredom often creeps in. When it does, performance can nosedive. Luckily, there are ways to make any...
8 Resources to Take Action, Be An Ally, Support #BlackLivesMatter
Earlier this month, I shared a message regarding racial inequality, global protests and the need for change, including my heartfelt statement, “It’s time to do the work.” Whether it’s with colleagues, family members, friends, children, neighbors or loved ones,...
It’s Time To Do the Work
Deseri Garcia, Founder of Vida Aventura, shared this message with clients and business partners on June 2, 2020 in response to recent global protests, racial injustice, and the Black Lives Matter movement. Like many of you, my heart is breaking from the...
5 Coping Tips For 2020: Coronavirus, Protests and Uncertainty
Hardly a day goes by without a client or friend calling me to talk about the unusually high level of stress and anxiety they’re experiencing right now. It’s not a coincidence. Researchers and mental health professionals are sounding alarms because stress and anxiety...
The Significance of Developing Strong Company Culture
The term “company culture” gets thrown around a lot in the business world, and it’s not uncommon to not fully grasp what it actually is, and how it fits into the workplace. Basically, company culture defines an organization’s values; it’s the personality of the...
21 Quarantine Quotes to Help Get You Through The Day
I’ve always been a quote lover and sharer. There’s something wonderful about a powerful sentence or paragraph that succinctly describes a feeling, experience, or thought. Over the past few months, I have found them even more helpful in my shelter-at-home routine....
6 Leadership Tips for Managing Work From Home Burnout
When was the last time you heard about a Fortune 500 leader telling all employees - almost 119,000 of them - to take the day off? For me, the answer is ... well, never. But that’s exactly what happened last week when Google CEO Sundar Pichai announced a company-wide...