Listing Your Strengths

Keeping a journal will help you clarify your thoughts and feelings as you look at all aspects of your life. As you begin to make an inventory of your assets, include what you have done and the value you have created in the past - as student, family member, career associate, community volunteer, friend. Now think about what you are currently doing in your life that you feel proud about - the gift of time that you give as a Sandwiched Boomer to you growing children and aging parents as well as those around you.

Identify your strengths. What are some of your natural talents? These are the things that come so easily you often don't notice it. And how about the acquired skills you have used successfully? You may have worked hard to perfect them. Both your talents and your skills make up your abilities - your greatest personal strengths. Think about what they are and how you use them. These could encompass, among others, attributes as diverse as a love of learning, a sense of humor, loyalty, an appreciation of beauty, the ability to love and be loved. Recognize how you apply them in your life everyday.

Consider how others view you and your contributions. Who uses you as a role model and in what areas? Realize that all of your life experiences have led you to the wisdom you now possess. Honor this insight and find ways to share what you already know well with your own children – or, if they are already grown, mentor students learning to read, become a Big Sister, coach a soccer team at the youth center.

To read more tips about how to build your strengths and prepare to utilize them, click on the post title above to take you to our article, Captain Sullenberger: Heroes and Lessons Learned, on our website, www.HerMentorCenter.com.

Making Your Own List

Now that the year is ending and the '00 decade is coming to c close, pundits have been opining about all kinds of topics. You can find a list of the 10 films of 2009 most likely to be nominated for an Academy Award, the 20 most interesting books, or the 50 best songs of the decade. In addition to spending some of your spare time reading through these lists, how about taking some personal time this week to create your own list – of your 10 most important assets?

It may seem unusual for you, a member of the Sandwich Generation, to concentrate on yourself instead of on the needs of your growing children or aging parents. But take a deep breath, put your feet up for a moment and allow yourself to focus on and embrace your own development at this pivotal time.

Creating your asset inventory will give you a leg up on beginning the next decade from a position of power, but how do you begin? To help you, we've created a short list to help you focus on your assets - not the financial ones, which may still be down, but the personal strengths you own. Use this process to discover some of your hidden passions. Reflect on your answers or discuss them with a trusted friend as you create an expanded sense of yourself. Whether or not you're a Sandwiched Boomer, be sure to tune in all week for our tips to get you started.

If you've had trouble in the past taking the first step toward change, click on the post title above. It takes you to our website, www.HerMentorCenter.com where you'll find Sandwiched Boomers: 7 Tips on Fighting Inertia, with its suggestions for overcoming these hurdles.

Practice and Train for Success

The crew of the Maersk Alabama is preparing to head home, with Captain Phillips soon to join them. Americans are cheering their actions and those of the Navy Seals who rescued Capt. Phillips. So how can you incorporate their heroic behaviors into your life?

Respect your job and take it seriously. Capt. Phillips is an alumnus of the Merchant Marine Academy where, undoubtedly, he was trained about what to do in numerous emergency situations. He had a plan to protect his ship and crew and immediately instituted it when the pirates attacked. Train hard for your job and give it the significance it deserves. If you are a Sandwiched Boomer, your work at home is just as important as your career. Pay attention to what is going on in your family and have contingency plans for how to keep members safe.

Don't give up, even when all seems hopeless. Captain Phillips was in a frightening situation when the pirates attacked. Yet he didn't surrender his ship and crew, rather he put his own life at stake. Hot and alone with his captors on the lifeboat for five days, Capt. Phillips didn't admit defeat, instead, when he could, he jumped out of the boat and attempted to swim to safety. When tremendous difficulties hit you, hang in there. Draw upon your personal character strengths - like persistence, hope, leadership, integrity, creativity, bravery, spirituality - to carry you through the ordeal.

Click on the title above to take you to an article on our website, How to Inventory Your Assets. It will help you identify your valuable strong points so that you can draw on them when facing challenges in your life.

Acknowledge Your Progress in Fulfilling Your New Year's Resolutions

Today we give you our final tips to help you keep your New Year's resolutions.

Give yourself credit for what you are accomplishing. You deserve rewards all along the way - for making the decision to change, for taking the first step, for achieving each objective. Acknowledge the difficulty of your mission and congratulate yourself when you reach your goal.

Accept that you are not perfect and that you will fail sometimes. Your path with likely not be a straight line, rather one with several ups and downs. Make a Plan B to use when you can't proceed as you originally intended. Don't be defeated by your slip-ups. They are not a reason to give up on yourself or your goal. Instead, get back on track and think about what you have learned from your mistakes.

You have been working to accomplish the goals you set for yourself in 2009. Click on title above to take you to a www.HerMentorCenter.com article, How to Inventory Your Assets. It will help you focus on your personal strengths and the resources that help you move forward.

It can be difficult for Sandwiched Boomers to maintain a sense of optimism when emotional circumstances are complicated and perhaps even painful. But you owe it to yourself to begin to better understand and cope with your changing moods. Talking about your negative feelings can increase your awareness and mitigate symptoms. In addition, you need to flip the coin and look on the bright side – for example, recognize the insight, strengths and skills that are already an integral part of you.

Some experts say that you have to feel better before you can change your behavior. Others advise you to behave positively and the feelings will follow. Try something as simple as being friendly when you're feeling shy, or act happy when you feel sad. You know what happens when someone smiles at you. You can't help but smile back - and that feels good. Make a commitment to look at life through a more positive lens, starting right now.

This ends our posts of how you, as Sandwiched Boomers, can take care of yourself as you juggle family responsibilities:

1. Draw upon your strengths – both personal and spiritual – as you put one foot in front of the other and do what you have to do each day. You know best what sustains you in difficult times – love, duty, loyalty, faith, hope, compassion, bravery, forgiveness.

2. Create boundaries to protect yourself. Don't beat yourself up for the mistakes you make - learn from them. Rather than give up, allow yourself the opportunity to regroup and try something else. Keep in mind that you are human and not all knowing. You deserve another chance.

Remember that this stage of your life, as are all others, is a process of inevitable movement. One day your children will be grown and your parents will be gone. What you will have then are the memories you have collected today. Resolve to take care of yourself this New Year so that they will be ones you will cherish.