Watch for my new book - Puzzle Pieces

Is your life one big puzzle?

Every day is a challenge. How do we meet deadlines and face daily pressures of relationships, family, and work with joy and enthusiasm? How can we put the pieces of our life’s puzzle together without feeling overwhelmed, discouraged, and unhappy?

Are pieces missing from your “personal puzzle?” What are they, and how can you reclaim them?

Read Puzzle Pieces. You’ll discover strategies and insights to help you build confidence, feel capable and achieve success. Puzzle pieces found in this book include tools to:

● build your brilliance

● improve self-esteem

● re-frame personal labels

●identify your resistance to change 

●live a life of purpose

●decrease stress while increasing productivity

●resolve interpersonal conflict through assertive communication

Identifying those missing pieces in your life is the first step. This book shows you how.

Advance Noise for Puzzle Pieces

“Puzzle Pieces is an insightful collection of articles that inspire adults, teens, parents and business leaders alike to acknowledge their power of choice. Success and happiness are a choice. Being recently divorced and a new business owner, I am discovering puzzle pieces I never knew I had. Thanks Vikki, for sharing your knowledge and wisdom with the world.”

Kabi Catalano, CEO of KBella Strategies

“The content in Puzzle Pieces feels active, interesting. It puts me in the mode to take action. It works for me.”

Jane Thomas, Television Producer

 “Vikki Carrel has done an outstanding job of providing poignant, valuable and exciting insights into today’s 21^st century family and life environment.  This is a book that you cannot put down once you open the front cover!”                                                                                                          
Joe Michels, PhD, P.E., C.P.L.                                                                                                                                                         
Principal, Solomon Bruce Consulting LLC

To learn more visit  www.vikkicarrel.com/books.php

Celebrate Stress!

Most people view stress as unhealthy because of the negative emotions associated with stress like anger, sadness, frustration and fear. The good news is, positive emotions can also occur during times of stress. Here are a few ideas to help you recognize the “up-side” of stress:

• Be resilient. Resiliency is one’s ability to tap into available resources and strengths to effectively manage stress. Times of stress can provide opportunities for personal growth and self-improvement to occur.
  
  
  My neighbor’s husband lost his job because his company downsized. This was an extremely stressful time for the entire family. Due to their circumstances the older children got part-time jobs working at local businesses. After several months of interviewing, her husband found a new job. She told me that the job loss was initially devastating, but the outcome was extremely positive. It caused her family to pull together, work together and grow together. Her children learned the importance of utilizing personal resources in an effort to manage stress.
   
• Re-evaluate priorities. Stressful situations can encourage people to gain new insights and re-evaluate their priorities.
   
  A good friend of mine shifted her priorities when her mother was diagnosed with cancer. The circumstances caused her to take on additional tasks like getting her mom to chemo treatments, to doctor appointments and attending to her daily needs. This situation prompted my friend to re-evaluate her priorities. Through the process of caring for her mom, she gained new insights about herself, and her ability to focus on the essentials in life, and to let go of the nonessentials.
                                                                
• Learn new skills. Adapting to stress may lead to personal changes, that can be changes for the best. Change is difficult, and too often we resist opportunities to change but, through change, new strengths and skills may be acquired.
  
  
  Over the years, our family has moved several times. With each job promotion we found ourselves packing up and relocating to a different state. Finding a new home, getting the boys settled in new schools and establishing my career in a new city was challenging. These changes caused stress but, I learned new skills because of these challenges. I learned to network, advocate for myself and our children, and to be adaptable. 
   
• Increase your confidence.  To effectively manage stress you need to confront and conquer the stressful situation. Coping with stressful circumstances in a healthy way will help you respond to the demands of each situation. When you successful manage stress in your life you feel more confident and capable, and your self-concept improves.
   
  Years ago, my son came home from grade school upset because he got a poor grade on his math exam. My first instinct was to react, and yell at him for his poor performance on the test. A better approach was to calmly talk to him about what he could do moving forward to improve his grade and study skills. Healthy coping strategies were required to help me, and my son manage the stress of the situation. I knew my son would feel more confident taking his next
  test if he made positive changes in his approach to learning the material.
   
  Stress is part of life, and people deal with it every day. Take the time to celebrate stress. Recognize that courage, perseverance, and resilience are strengths that can promote positive effects of stress.
   
  The Empowerment Project   www.vikkicarrel.com