Leadership – Melissa Schlies

On Finding Balance the Midst of Change

When I was a kid, the place I most wanted to be in the summer was the beach. As we were fortunate to live close to one, it was where my mom took me and my sisters almost daily. After all, there are endless activities to entertain four girls at the beach. There are sandcastles to build, sea shells to find, and waves to chase. Only, that last one didn’t always go as we planned. I remember my sisters and I running into the ice cold, foaming salt water just far enough so we could ride the waves into shore. [...]

By Melissa Schlies|2020-07-15T23:46:26+00:00July 16th, 2020|Categories: Balance, Change, Character, Conflict, Failure, Lead, Leadership, Learn, Love, Love Learn Lead, perseverance|Comments Off

Five Important Lessons I’m Learning About Friendship

Have you ever been to a school dance or wedding reception, where the DJ was really good? Where not only did they have a phenomenal playlist, but they also had fantastic transitions from song to song? When this happens, the music literally doesn’t stop, and neither does the dancing. Sometimes, I wish it was like this with friendships. Similar to the way a DJ smoothly changes from one song to the next, I wish our friends would move in and out of our lives just as seamlessly. Ok, truthfully: I wish some friendships would never end. Period. But because people [...]

By Melissa Schlies|2020-02-27T11:56:27+00:00February 27th, 2020|Categories: Adulting, Friendship, Lead, Leadership, Learn, Love, Love Learn Lead, Relationships, Self Care|Comments Off

Six Rules For Fighting Fair In Marriage

Here is the thing they don’t tell you when you get married: some of the rules of your relationship change along the way. Or rather, you and your spouse keep changing so how you handle crisis and times of stress isn’t always the same. Even if your marriage is good, you can hit a rough patch and be completely blindsided. It is kind of like being on a long road trip with each other. Sometimes, you or your spouse can handle getting lost and even losing a tire with complete patience and grace—for an entire stretch of your journey. But [...]

By Melissa Schlies|2020-02-18T16:04:59+00:00February 20th, 2020|Categories: Adulting, Change, Conflict, Lead, Leadership, Learn, Love, Love Learn Lead, Marriage, Relationships|Comments Off

Just What You (May) Need to Hear

It is the second to last day of January. How did that happen? I don’t know about you, but 2020 has already thrown me a few surprises. Some good, some really hard, and more than a few I am not ready for—yet here we are. And as much as my planner self hates to admit, there are only a few things we actually have control over in life. We can fill out our Start Here: Dream Planners, and come up with brilliant strategies for how we want to approach 2020. But that doesn’t mean everything is going to go to [...]

By Melissa Schlies|2020-03-26T16:40:25+00:00January 30th, 2020|Categories: Adulting, Balance, Change, Freedom, Health, Hope, Lead, Leadership, Learn, Love, Love Learn Lead, Mental Health, podcasts I love|Comments Off

Things I Loved in 2019

What will you remember most about 2019? I’m not talking about the serious, life altering stuff—though those things are obviously important. Rather, I am talking about the songs that years from now, will bring you back to your 2019 life. The TV shows you’ll binge when you are home sick one day, that will transport you back to when you saw them for the first time. The ones that will make you remember who you were with or weirdly, what you were eating when you watched them. More importantly, of all of those things, What did you love this year? [...]

By Melissa Schlies|2019-12-19T14:51:10+00:00December 26th, 2019|Categories: Food, Lead, Leadership, Learn, Love, Love Learn Lead, podcasts I love|Comments Off

Love Learn Lead December 19, 2019

Last Friday night, Tony and I baked Christmas cookies. Then we decorated them the next day with our best friends and their kids. But in between putting batches of Christmas tree shaped cookies into the oven, we watched Home Alone on TV. Neither of us had seen it in years. Though like any movie one watched over and over as a kid, we could still quote most of the lines—and not just the iconic ones. Some movies just stick with you, especially those watched at Christmas. This is a season rich with nostalgia and meaning. It’s a time when an [...]

By Melissa Schlies|2019-12-19T14:02:28+00:00December 19th, 2019|Categories: Christmas, Lead, Leadership, Learn, Love, Love Learn Lead, Preparation, Uncategorized|Comments Off

Love: Christmas Gifts Ideas With a Story

In my most idillic thoughts, Christmas shopping looks like holding a Holiday inspired latte in one hand and bags of already purchased gifts in the other. It looks like walking down a small town street lined with adorable little shops filled with local or fair-trade goods. And of course, in this beautiful dream, snow fills the air. Oh what Hallmark has done to us all. In reality, for me and Tony, Christmas shopping often looks like a combination of long days shopping for our nieces and nephews, combined with hours scouring online for the right, age-appropriate gifts. And, as we [...]

By Melissa Schlies|2019-12-12T00:32:17+00:00December 12th, 2019|Categories: Christmas, Leadership, Learn, Love, Love Learn Lead, Preparation, Story, Uncategorized|Comments Off

When It’s Actually Ok to Compare

In our kitchen, on the shelf just above our toaster, you will find a small bronze colored tool that looks like a wrench. It came with a piece of Ikea furniture we bought years ago. And somehow, it got repurposed for pulling things out of our toaster oven. Once our food is cooked, the hot oven rack is too small to grab with a mitt, so we reach in there and hook it with this “wrench.” Then, we drag it out. Only, it doesn’t work that well. In fact sometimes, I still burn myself. Yet here we are, years later, [...]

By Melissa Schlies|2019-10-24T13:12:10+00:00October 31st, 2019|Categories: Acceptance, Calling, comparison, Lead, Leadership, Learn, Love, Love Learn Lead, Uncategorized|Comments Off

How to Focus on Your Lane & Avoid Comparison

Every now and then, I meet someone who’s never struggled with comparison or insecurity. Or at least, they’re very good at pretending. There have been times where I’ve admitted to such a person that I’ve struggled with an insecurity or wanting to be like someone else, either in my present or my past, and only received a blank look. Other times, I’ve received a confused expression like “Why would you worry about that?” My response is usually to drop it like I haven’t made any confession at all, and move on. When inside I am always thinking, “I don’t know [...]

By Melissa Schlies|2019-10-24T00:39:38+00:00October 24th, 2019|Categories: comparison, Declutter Your Mind, Habit Making, Health, Lead, Leadership, Learn, Life Coaching, Love, Love Learn Lead, Mental Health, Self Care, Success, Uncategorized|Comments Off

How to Choose Curiosity Over Comparison

I’m a big believer in paying attention. Not just to stop lights or people talking to me, but also to myself. In my twenties, I learned the hard way that to live a healthy life, it’s crucial to pay attention to both our bodies and our emotions. But our emotions are tricky things. Wrapped up with our thoughts, they can direct us toward beautiful and wonderful endeavors. Or, if our thoughts aren’t good, they can send us spiraling for hours or days down a destructive path. In other words, to take care of our emotions, we need to guard our [...]

By Melissa Schlies|2019-10-14T14:41:37+00:00October 17th, 2019|Categories: comparison, Lead, Leadership, Learn, Love, Love Learn Lead, Mental Health, Self Care|Comments Off

On Finding Balance the Midst of Change

Five Important Lessons I’m Learning About Friendship

Six Rules For Fighting Fair In Marriage

Just What You (May) Need to Hear

Things I Loved in 2019

Love Learn Lead December 19, 2019

Love: Christmas Gifts Ideas With a Story

When It’s Actually Ok to Compare

How to Focus on Your Lane & Avoid Comparison

How to Choose Curiosity Over Comparison

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