The Sparks Blog

According to one of my psychology textbooks, happiness starts with self-knowledge. I agree. But I’m also surprised at what people don’t know about themselves. I know people who don’t really like their current job, but when I ask what they would like to do, they say they don’t know. Um, keep looking? Apparently this isn’t […]

There’s a loneliness epidemic according to a recent Meta-Gallup poll. 25% of people worldwide feel very or fairly lonely. Everyone has felt at least a little lonely at some point in their lives. Hey – who hasn’t thrown a good old pity party lamenting the fact that “no one really understands me”? The good news […]

Burnout is everywhere lately. I guess going through a global pandemic, shifting to at home work, going back to the office, getting your brain around AI, dealing with labor shortages, and trying to keep up with about 192 different communication channels might do that to a person. But you know what really might be responsible […]

There is no better time to work on your mental health than during the supposedly lazy days of summer. The weather is warm, the sun is shining, and the living is easy. Or at least that’s how it looks in the movies. Reality might be more like the humidity is high, the kids are on […]

This is the kind of email every motivational speaker wants to get – one letting you know your words really had an impact, that they generated a good return on investment: Ms. Ryan, I recently attended your presentation during the NC Rural Water Supervisors conference.  The exercises from your presentation helped me to realize a […]