Hi {{ person.first_name|default:'there' }},
As a subscriber to this newsletter you've heard me talk about Values. Also: Aptitudes. And yes, finally, Economically Viable Interests. But if you're still not quite sure how it all fits together, I'm hosting a free 30-minute webinar to show you exactly that, how the Becoming You methodology actually works and why I believe it's never been more essential than right now.
Come! It's free. It's 30 minutes. And it might just be the thing that makes everything click.
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My 50th high school reunion is coming up and so last night I attended a small dinner event to talk about planning such a thing. I’ve never even considered attending a reunion in the past – for anything – so I have no idea what came over me. Except this: In the past 50 years, I’ve discovered that most people are interesting and vulnerable and good, and it’s dumb not to get to know as many as you can while you can. |
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Right again! It was a tender evening. One of us observed, “No one is competing anymore. There was never a race anyway.” We exchanged messy stories about kids and love and work. At one point, I declared there should be amnesty for all parents, and we drank to that. At 8pm, we all checked our phones and saw a ceasefire had been declared, and we drank to that too.
Look, I am not sorry about very much in my life. I have a healthy, adoring family and I have experienced great love. I have a wonderful career and have spent my years in the company of marvelous dogs. My best friend can read my mind; I am able to wander through the MET when I want to. How could I ever regret anything?
But I do wonder why it took me so long to cut other people a break. And to cut myself one too.
We are all just fellow travelers on this journey of life. The road is winding and treacherous. It hails, it sleets. There is always distant thunder. We can do it alone or together. Is there even a choice?
Sometimes late at night, I wonder what really drove me to create Becoming You. I mean, really. In a recent podcast, I explained that I invented the methodology because I needed it to reset my life after being widowed. And that’s completely true. But teaching Becoming You led me to create a language of values, and ultimately The Values Bridge, a tool expressly designed to increase understanding and compassion – of ourselves and others.
The Values Bridge doesn’t measure virtues. Everyone needs more of those, and I don’t consider them optional. It measures values, which are choices. If you’re not hurting anyone, they are yours to live fully. And the same is true of everyone you love, and want to hate.
I think there is a chance I also created The Values Bridge because I spent too many years in life not understanding my own values, and feeling the ache of that, and judging other people for their values, and their ache too.
All I want to do now is walk across the bridge of humanity and talk, and connect, and seek to understand. I want to keep going to dinners like last night. And someday, I want us all to stop checking our phones for signs of truce.
Because truce will be everywhere. |
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I have been in the animal protection movement for decades, and I have seen some stuff no one should ever see, because it should never happen. But the annual baby seal slaughter in Canada is the worst. I don’t just hate it. I revile it, because it is barbaric and unnecessary. No one needs a fur muff. I’m sorry, they don’t.
It is an absolute honor to serve on the board of the world’s largest animal protection agency, Humane World for Animals, which leads the fight against this annual horror. If you are moved to help us end it, click here, and also, I love you. |
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Lots of hooting and hollering around the Becoming You HQ today because my book, which was recently acquired for translation by a Korean publisher, was also just acquired by a large Chinese publisher, which will make it available to that country’s, oh, 1.4 billion people. Yay! |
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Now, coincidentally, we are also about to release The Values Bridge in China. (Translating an assessment tool is complicated, by the way.) Same plans for the UK and India.
My "hmm" is what we may find out about national differences in values, perhaps around Achievement and Eudemonia. Any predictions? If so, drop them to me at [email protected].
No surprise, I certainly have my own thoughts. Let’s compare, and hey, even if we disagree, you know I’ll meet you on the bridge to talk it through.
Yours as always, |
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What's coming?
→ 92NY Secrets of Leadership Series with Suzy Welch tickets here
→ May 2026 Three-Day Becoming You Intensive here
→ June 2026 One-Day Becoming You Intensive here
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FAQs: You Know What You Want. So Why Can't You Get There?
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At some point in the Becoming You journey, questions are inevitable. Questions about who you are, how you got here, and what it really takes to build a life that feels authentic. In this FAQ episode, I'm answering everything you’ve been wondering. Why do some people feel more lost after a self-discovery breakthrough than before? When does a passion become a calling, and when is it just a really good hobby? And what do you do when you can see exactly where you're supposed to be going — but getting there feels like too much? |
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