Since the inception of Meaningful Trainings we have presented one simple message. We bring that message into everything we do - creation of experiential learning, each of our unique Projects, MT series of resources, The Box and MT Recovery Professional Series. That is who we are, our experiences & aspirations contribute to our primary motivations, engagement levels and how we socialize. Commonly referred to as "soft skills". The extension of this logic says - development of these core understandings (via mindfulness, self-awareness, communication skills. self-care practices) will produce increased output, efficiency and innovation among individuals & teams.

We can safely relay that it's not an easy row we hoe with this message. No matter the bottom-line cost and recurring savings/increased output that flows to a bottom-line from a sustained investment in an organization's human capital, believe me it's a tough sell. So when the hardened heart of a cast of engineers decides "soft skills" are the leading contributor to organizational performance - we are giddy!

For your review and our joy we present the following link to Google's own report of the value of "soft skills". Thank you Google...thank you.

https://rework.withgoogle.com/print/guides/5721312655835136/

New Year's resolutions.
Goals. Objectives. Targets. Plans. Lists.
I just passed along a daily planner to a friend. A month at-a-glance I've been picking up at my barber shop for years. This year I picked the landscape of Denali and the Grand Canyon. No better time to go "BIG" than the beginning of a new year! This tool has fostered an awareness of what's next, in me, for over two decades. Even as the utility of the pocket-size tracker wanes each year I always take a couple. Part memory and part Pavlovian twitch.

I'm reminded of another useful tool as I embark on another circle round the Sun. Maybe as useful and effective, if not more so than a transcribed plan for the day. That's a consideration of what was accomplished last year. Part reflection, part gratitude and quite a bit of fond remembrance. A list of what was done. Which to my surprise has become a vital segue into what I plan to do.

The suggestion of a list that notes our past has been around for quite awhile. The most formal is a resume. Once I imagined updating it yearly, monthly, weekly or daily it's utility became enlivened. Literally it transformed my vision from a linear path forward with a shrinking past to a wonderful circle where I rarely disconnect from my history. Even in this bitter cold Northeast winter things always seem not that far away from a grateful renewal infused with the warmth and possibility of Spring.

Never underestimate the power of a list!