Views expressed in guest blogs are the author’s own. 

The pace of your mind usually follows the pace of your breathing. I learned this simple fact over the summer, and it changed the way I think, work, and move through life.

I am a software engineer with a degree in applied math. Growing up, academics always came easily to me, yet sustained focus was more of a challenge. If there is an article out there about productivity and time management, I have probably read it. I have tried countless strategies: from setting a timer to break up work into intervals, to disabling all social media, to eating certain superfoods that are supposed to help you “think better” (spoiler alert: this one does not work!), all in the name of improving my focus and the clarity of my thoughts.

My goal was to improve as an engineer, so I was treating my brain as an optimization problem: trying different strategies, noting the results, iterating on past attempts…and the whole time, I was trying to solve the wrong problem! I was changing my external factors and expecting internal change.

This summer, I completed a 200-hour yoga teacher training program, and for the first time, I felt like I developed a disciplined sense of focus. I spent 12 weekends learning about yoga, both anatomy and philosophy, with a cohort of 15 people. I committed to daily yoga practice and meditation. Committing to yoga practice every single day made me slow down the frantic pace of everyday life, take breaks from my work, and allowed me to direct my focus inward.

As I developed my proprioception (the body’s ability to sense movement, action, and location), I noticed how often during the workday that I was slumped over in front of my computer. As I worked on improving my posture, it became easier to spend time in front of my screen, working through complex problems without the headaches and jaw-grinding I would previously experience. Challenging yoga poses taught me how to approach challenging engineering problems:

1. Do not be afraid to try something you have never done before.
2. Put in all the effort that you can.
3. Be humble: meet yourself where you are at, and ask for help when you need it.

I expected yoga to only be a physically strengthening practice. To my surprise, daily yoga practice acts as a positive feedback loop when it comes to my job: after spending time in moving meditation, I am able to think more clearly, solve problems more systematically, and communicate more effectively.

Am I saying that yoga is a magical cure-all? Of course not!

For me, yoga is an outlet through which I can practice patience, gain perspective, and connect with other people. Engineering is the outlet through which I get to use my brain to solve difficult challenges in creative ways; the combination of these two passions of mine has helped me grow immensely.

Views expressed in guest blogs are the author’s own.

When was the last time you noticed your breathing?

 The pace of your mind usually follows the pace of your breathing. I learned this simple fact over the summer, and it changed the way I think, work, and move through life.

I am a software engineer with a degree in applied math. Growing up, academics always came easily to me, yet sustained focus was more of a challenge. If there is an article out there about productivity and time management, I have probably read it. I have tried countless strategies: from setting a timer to break up work into intervals, to disabling all social media, to eating certain superfoods that are supposed to help you “think better” (spoiler alert: this one does not work!), all in the name of improving my focus and the clarity of my thoughts. 

My goal was to improve as an engineer, so I was treating my brain as an optimization problem: trying different strategies, noting the results, iterating on past attempts…and the whole time, I was trying to solve the wrong problem! I was changing my external factors and expecting internal change.

This summer, I completed a 200-hour yoga teacher training program, and for the first time, I felt like I developed a disciplined sense of focus. I spent 12 weekends learning about yoga, both anatomy and philosophy, with a cohort of 15 people. I committed to daily yoga practice and meditation. Committing to yoga practice every single day made me slow down the frantic pace of everyday life, take breaks from my work, and allowed me to direct my focus inward. 

As I developed my proprioception (the body’s ability to sense movement, action, and location), I noticed how often during the workday that I was slumped over in front of my computer. As I worked on improving my posture, it became easier to spend time in front of my screen, working through complex problems without the headaches and jaw-grinding I would previously experience. Challenging yoga poses taught me how to approach challenging engineering problems: 

1. Do not be afraid to try something you have never done before.
2. Put in all the effort that you can. 
3. Be humble: meet yourself where you are at, and ask for help when you need it. 

I expected yoga to only be a physically strengthening practice. To my surprise, daily yoga practice acts as a positive feedback loop when it comes to my job: after spending time in moving meditation, I am able to think more clearly, solve problems more systematically, and communicate more effectively. 

Am I saying that yoga is a magical cure-all? Of course not! 

For me, yoga is an outlet through which I can practice patience, gain perspective, and connect with other people. Engineering is the outlet through which I get to use my brain to solve difficult challenges in creative ways; the combination of these two passions of mine has helped me grow immensely.

She / Her / Hers 

Software Engineer | Intel 

Recent Posts

Views expressed in guest blogs are the author’s own. 

To be honest, I felt the loss of these opportunities when I left college and entered the full-time workforce in a brand-new city. I felt that I had skills to contribute to someone or something, but after moving and just trying to get used to my first job, I didn’t know who or how I could help. So, I settled into the work of being myself and getting to know the people and places around me. For me, that looked like making friends at work, joining a church, volunteering with different community organizations, and exploring Akron, OH with my husband.

Food pantry boxes and cans

I’ll spare you the details of what the first 7 months of the pandemic were like for me, but suffice it to say that by October 2020 I was ready for a project and ready to get out of my apartment! That’s when my husband and I got a call from our parish Priest about a beautiful, uncertain, and humbling opportunity. We were asked to take on the volunteer leadership role of managing our parish’s food pantry as it reopened after being closed since March 2020. The food pantry is a ministry we have always loved helping with, but we weren’t sure we were ready to take on the responsibility of managing a 30+ year old ministry that had been led by the same people for the last 13 years!

There were some key things we didn’t know that made the decision a little unnerving. First, we weren’t given a defined list of the responsibilities or expectations for leaders managing the food pantry (no ‘job description’!). Second, we didn’t know all the processes and people it took to run the pantry…let alone how best to operate with new protocols and ensure the safety of volunteers and clients due to COVID-19! But, in the midst of these unknowns, we did know that the pantry needed to continue to serve the community. We also knew that we had plenty of time to learn new things and that we had an incredibly active set of core volunteers to support us. So in the end, we said yes to managing the pantry. 

By God’s grace, we’ve been managing the pantry for about a year now. It hasn’t been easy, but it also hasn’t been overwhelmingly difficult. In short, this journey has been an incredible opportunity to grow in faith, humility, and as a servant leader. Speaking of grace, something that the previous pantry manager told us as we were transitioning into the leadership role was that “God always provides what is needed”. We have seen this play out every month in one way or another, even as unexpected challenges present themselves.

For instance, when we needed a delivery truck driver to pick-up our orders from the foodbank, it turned out that one of our volunteers had been a delivery truck driver in Akron in his college years, so he was happy to navigate through snowy city streets with a U-Haul full of food. (I don’t know what I would have done without a capable truck driver!) Another aspect that always works out is how many volunteers we have for any given event. When I worry that we might be short-handed for a distribution, it often turns out that fewer clients end up coming by anyway. And the times we end up having more clients than usual, we always have volunteers show up that we didn’t know were coming! And then of course there is the food itself. The foodbank always has wonderful fresh items for us to provide to our clients, and we have never run out of food during a distribution.

Hard at work in the pantry

Finally, the volunteers we get to work with, in this ministry have been absolute blessings. They have given us room to shake things up and use our unique skills (i.e. computers, Excel, and process improvement methods). They have also been incredibly reliable and willing to jump in whenever we need help. Most of all, our volunteers show genuine care and respect for the people served by this ministry and are always making sure we keep what is best for our community at the forefront. We are learning so much from our fellow volunteers.

So, to all of you out there considering taking a measured risk and becoming a volunteer leader, I offer you these points of encouragement:

1. Remember to include positive “unknowns” on your list of uncertainties.
Uncertainty is challenging for all of us. Sometimes I think it can help to frame uncertainty as a possibility. Some helpful questions to ask yourself are “What if we succeed?” “What can I bring to this leadership role that will help evolve the organization for the best?” “Who can I learn from to help me grow into this role and how might my life be better for it?”

2. Remember that it is okay to ask for help and to not know exactly what you are doing.
Leaders don’t have to know how to do everything required to run an organization. Leaders should realize when they don’t know something and seek advice from those with experience when possible. In a long-running organization, this can look like asking a seasoned volunteer for help understanding a process. The volunteer will likely appreciate your honesty and the fact that you trust them enough to ask for their help.

3. Remember that you will not be alone in your mission.
Where there is a volunteer group to be led, there is a group of people who want to see your organization succeed in its mission. You can and should leverage these people, their ideas, and their talents when delegating to get the work done.

I strongly believe that getting comfortable with the three points above will set you up for success as a volunteer leader as you lead through your own beautiful, uncertain, and humbling endeavors. My challenge to you now is to be BRAVE and GO FOR IT!

Public Service Announcement:
If you or someone you know is out of work, struggling to make ends meet, or just having a hard time paying the bills and saving for the future, The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) may be able to help. Each state determines its own qualification criteria for households, but you can click the link above to learn about the specifics in your state.

Views expressed in guest blogs are the author’s own.

Volunteer leadership is a beautiful, uncertain, and humbling thing. Through my high school and college years, I was blessed to have many volunteer leadership opportunities through school groups and professional organizations. Each opportunity brought new experiences and broader responsibilities. I found great joy in both the personal growth I experienced and in what my friends and I were able to accomplish together in these groups.

To be honest, I felt the loss of these opportunities when I left college and entered the full-time workforce in a brand-new city. I felt that I had skills to contribute to someone or something, but after moving and just trying to get used to my first job, I didn’t know who or how I could help. So, I settled into the work of being myself and getting to know the people and places around me. For me, that looked like making friends at work, joining a church, volunteering with different community organizations, and exploring Akron, OH with my husband.

pantry boxes and cans 

*Enter the COVID-19 Global Pandemic*

I’ll spare you the details of what the first 7 months of the pandemic were like for me, but suffice it to say that by October 2020 I was ready for a project and ready to get out of my apartment! That’s when my husband and I got a call from our parish Priest about a beautiful, uncertain, and humbling opportunity. We were asked to take on the volunteer leadership role of managing our parish’s food pantry as it reopened after being closed since March 2020. The food pantry is a ministry we have always loved helping with, but we weren’t sure we were ready to take on the responsibility of managing a 30+ year old ministry that had been led by the same people for the last 13 years!

There were some key things we didn’t know that made the decision a little unnerving. First, we weren’t given a defined list of the responsibilities or expectations for leaders managing the food pantry (no ‘job description’!). Second, we didn’t know all the processes and people it took to run the pantry…let alone how best to operate with new protocols and ensure the safety of volunteers and clients due to COVID-19! But, in the midst of these unknowns, we did know that the pantry needed to continue to serve the community. We also knew that we had plenty of time to learn new things and that we had an incredibly active set of core volunteers to support us. So in the end, we said yes to managing the pantry.

By God’s grace, we’ve been managing the pantry for about a year now. It hasn’t been easy, but it also hasn’t been overwhelmingly difficult. In short, this journey has been an incredible opportunity to grow in faith, humility, and as a servant leader. Speaking of grace, something that the previous pantry manager told us as we were transitioning into the leadership role was that “God always provides what is needed”. We have seen this play out every month in one way or another, even as unexpected challenges present themselves.

For instance, when we needed a delivery truck driver to pick-up our orders from the foodbank, it turned out that one of our volunteers had been a delivery truck driver in Akron in his college years, so he was happy to navigate through snowy city streets with a U-Haul full of food. (I don’t know what I would have done without a capable truck driver!) Another aspect that always works out is how many volunteers we have for any given event. When I worry that we might be short-handed for a distribution, it often turns out that fewer clients end up coming by anyway. And the times we end up having more clients than usual, we always have volunteers show up that we didn’t know were coming! And then of course there is the food itself. The foodbank always has wonderful fresh items for us to provide to our clients, and we have never run out of food during a distribution.

hard work at the pantry

Finally, the volunteers we get to work with in this ministry have been absolute blessings. They have given us room to shake things up and use our unique skills (i.e. computers, Excel, and process improvement methods). They have also been incredibly reliable and willing to jump in whenever we need help. Most of all, our volunteers show genuine care and respect for the people served by this ministry and are always making sure we keep what is best for our community at the forefront. We are learning so much from our fellow volunteers.

So, to all of you out there considering taking a measured risk and becoming a volunteer leader, I offer you these points of encouragement:

1. Remember to include positive “unknowns” on your list of uncertainties.
Uncertainty is challenging for all of us. Sometimes I think it can help to frame uncertainty as a possibility. Some helpful questions to ask yourself are “What if we succeed?” “What can I bring to this leadership role that will help evolve the organization for the best?” “Who can I learn from to help me grow into this role and how might my life be better for it?”

2. Remember that it is okay to ask for help and to not know exactly what you are doing.
Leaders don’t have to know how to do everything required to run an organization. Leaders should realize when they don’t know something and seek advice from those with experience when possible. In a long-running organization, this can look like asking a seasoned volunteer for help understanding a process. The volunteer will likely appreciate your honesty and the fact that you trust them enough to ask for their help.

3. Remember that you will not be alone in your mission.
Where there is a volunteer group to be led, there is a group of people who want to see your organization succeed in its mission. You can and should leverage these people, their ideas, and their talents when delegating to get the work done.

I strongly believe that getting comfortable with the three points above will set you up for success as a volunteer leader as you lead through your own beautiful, uncertain, and humbling endeavors. My challenge to you now is to be BRAVE and GO FOR IT!

Public Service Announcement:
If you or someone you know is out of work, struggling to make ends meet, or just having a hard time paying the bills and saving for the future, The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) may be able to help. Each state determines its own qualification criteria for households, but you can click the link above to learn about the specifics in your state.

She / Her / Hers 

Senior Business Analyst | The J.M. Smucker Co.

Recent Posts

Views expressed in guest blogs are the author’s own. 

Views expressed in guest blogs are the author’s own.

Personal finances are one of the most bewildering, yet essential aspects of adulting. Without a doubt, how you handle your money today, tomorrow and into the future, will affect your quality of life, and the life of everyone around you. If you find yourself asking the person in the mirror: “We learned algebra in school. If I can add and subtract, why is money such a difficult subject?” You are not alone. I do not claim to know the answer to this question, but by struggling to understand it I have learned to use a methodical approach when it comes to handling money. I want to show you a set of simple rules surrounding money that I follow in the hopes that they shine additional light on the subject, or maybe help you rediscover things that you already knew to be true. 1. Define your relationship with your money. First things first. Do you own your money, or does your money own you? This is more than a question, this is actually the moment where you change your relationship with wealth, and you begin your personal finance journey. You need to get to the point in your head where you visualize yourself as the CEO of Y.O.U. INC. If you are not the CEO of your own life, you are the employee of someone else’s! 2. Seek wisdom first, wealth second
The Richest Man in Babylon, my favorite personal finance book, taught me to first seek the knowledge of professionals before I make any decision with my money. Find yourself a financial mentor, or multiple mentors, and learn all that you can to avoid their mistakes. When was the last time you asked your banker for advice on an investment? Who better to ask for advice than someone who handles money for a living?
If you are struggling to find a mentor go to the library, into the Finance section and pick out your favorite. Surround yourself with individuals doing what you want to do, make friends with those people, and then you won’t have to look for opportunity. It will be drawn to you. 3. Create your life plan
You want to get a certain job. You attend a CMD resume building workshop. The workshop clearly outlines your skill and experiences in a simple and concise way. You can now see what are your strengths and what your next steps need to be. That is how your money plan should be. Clear, simple, and efficient. A. Budget your necessary expenses
B. Never borrow money for depreciating assets (things that sell for less than what you purchased them for)
C. Make a plan to be debt free in less than 2 years.
D. Save 3-6 months of your income for “a rainy day”
E. Save up a down payment for a house in 2 years
F. Invest 15% into your Roth 401K
G. Begin saving for that one thing you always wanted to do
H. Begin saving for the next thing you always wanted to do
I. Repeat G & H
J. Do the above in sequential order! How is that for, clear, simple, and efficient? I guarantee, if you sit down and budget out your money, you are going to regain control of your life. 4. Automate the little things, so you can focus on the difficult things
Keep It Simple Stupid (KISS) is something my father would say to me (not the stupid part) and he is correct. Life is hard. If we follow the Pareto Principle, or what some people call the 80/20 rule, we can assume that 80% of our results come from the top 20% of our efforts. Signing a check and licking a stamp to pay your electric bill on time is not going to make you a millionaire, why waste time doing that? We have these little things called smartphones, websites, and computers that can automate almost anything. Automate every bill and investment you make, and you will have more time to think, process, and commit to the 20% of things that ACTUALLY matter in your life. Once you have some automation in place, and you feel in control, then you can go back and optimize. I feel many people, myself included, fall into the trap of “optimization before implementation.” Simply put, stop THINKING about starting, and actually START. You can always change “it” later. 5. Never stop iterating, never stop learning
Confucius says, “a person who knows everything, cannot learn anything.” This is a warning: If you are not open to learn, adapt, or change to this world, you will be swallowed by it. I am not saying that is right or wrong, it just is. Some of that learning is failure. Failure is the best teacher, if you are willing to listen. My own monthly budget, yearly budget, investing goals and auto payments look NOTHING like they did three years ago when I first started my finance journey. I HOPE they don’t look the same when I am three years wiser. These 5 simple rules have allowed me to reach my goals, simplify my finances, make faster and better choices, and live a comfortable life. The last thing I will say is that personal finance consists of two major components: Income & Expenses. While I am a big fan of trying to reduce expenses, the lowest you can go is zero.

Your income, on the other hand, has no conceivable limit, and therefore you should put your maximum effort into bettering yourself, career and business.CMD has many resources to help you gain control of your career, which in turn will help you gain control of your personal finances. Attend a workshop, or schedule a one on one career navigation session with CMD and you will be one step closer to achieving your dreams.

Richie Croce 

He / Him / His

Mechanical Engineer | FlowTherm Systems

Recent Posts

Views expressed in guest blogs are the author’s own. 

Positivity can be helpful in relation to a person’s mental health and also be used to benefit those around them. The ability to not allow negative events to affect one’s headspace is not always easy, but a useful skill. That being said, the goal here is not to inflict toxic positivity but encourage a push towards a better mindset.

Toxic positivity needs to be acknowledged because often it results in someone feeling like their emotions are invalid when they are legitimate. This can happen when people are told, “don’t worry, everything will be fine” or “just shake it off”. While it is beneficial to try to maintain a positive mindset, it is important to not dismiss the emotions of oneself or others.

A year ago, I didn’t know how to take any meaningful steps forward. Though every situation is different, I hope these three tips can help you find positivity in difficult times – like a pandemic.

STEP 1: Find someone to talk to. Even if you may not think that your challenges are extreme, your feelings are always valid and should not be lessened by the idea that others may have it worse. Everyone can benefit from seeking help whether that be therapy or finding someone trusted to confide in. In order to benefit from therapy, you must be open to receiving help. Personally, I learned that finding a therapist can be difficult, draining, and expensive – so it’s ok if you choose a different outlet or path. Even confiding in a close friend or family member can be calming and help you refocus. In this strange, virtual space, I found that keeping consistent contact with loved ones helped to provide a sense of normalcy to balance out the uncertainty of these times.

STEP 2: Highlight the positives. When things were tough, I found myself overwhelmed by the ugly. To try to pull myself out of what started to feel like a never-ending dark hole, I started what I called a “positivity journal”. For this practice, I would set aside about five minutes every morning and record statements of gratitude, self-affirmations, and hopes for the future. Before I even checked my cell phone notifications, I wanted to gift myself a little positivity.

This concept is similar to a diary. However, I didn’t just record all my thoughts and feelings of the previous day. Instead, my positivity journal enabled me to focus on and extract out positives in life, even when times felt fairly bleak. Looking back at my journal, I wrote about being grateful that the Oregon sun came out, appreciating the calmness of morning, and even threw in a few self-affirmations (“I can graduate, I can pass this test, I am powerful”). The writing sometimes felt purposeless at first, but looking back, the days, weeks, and months of bite-size positivity helped me to persevere through the tough times. Whether you do this at the beginning or end of your day, it can help alleviate stress, anxiety, and depression.

Excerpts from my positivity journal

STEP 3: Incorporate movement into your day. When I started my self-help journey, I found it difficult to dedicate time for my mental health. By blocking off time to either walk, work out, perform grounding exercises, or stretch daily, you are simultaneously bettering both your physical and mental health. These activities allowed me to take some desperately needed time away from screens, virtual college and internships, along with specific stressors in my life – replacing that with a new perspective. Additionally, if you are able to do these things outside, your body will appreciate the sunshine and fresh air.

As we experience a new phase of the pandemic in 2021, it can be hard to pull yourself out of the rut of the past year and a half. For many of us, our environment has been limited to four walls and a computer screen. Change is scary (even if you’re not a recent college grad starting a new chapter of your career in a new city). Trying just one of these tactics suggested above, or finding one that works better for you, could make a great deal of a difference for your mental health. Who knows? A single entry in a positivity journal could evolve into your own storytelling journey. You might just realize your story is even brighter than you gave yourself credit for.

Views expressed in guest blogs are the author’s own.

This past year was not what anybody expected. It is definitely not what I had pictured for the second half of my junior year and full senior year of college. I thought this period of my life was going to be full of excitement, socialization, and personal growth. Instead, I – and the rest of the world – was greeted with unprecedented fear, grief, and loneliness. During this time of immense uncertainty and fear in the world, I knew I needed to be grateful for the health and safety of my friends and family. However, as time went on, I found it difficult to maintain my positivity without an end to the pandemic in sight. In the fall of my senior year, I made a conscious decision. I was going to dig myself out of this rut, improve my headspace, and take small actionable steps every day.

Positivity can be helpful in relation to a person’s mental health and also be used to benefit those around them. The ability to not allow negative events to affect one’s headspace is not always easy, but a useful skill. That being said, the goal here is not to inflict toxic positivity but encourage a push towards a better mindset.

Toxic positivity needs to be acknowledged because often it results in someone feeling like their emotions are invalid when they are legitimate. This can happen when people are told, “don’t worry, everything will be fine” or “just shake it off”. While it is beneficial to try to maintain a positive mindset, it is important to not dismiss the emotions of oneself or others.

A year ago, I didn’t know how to take any meaningful steps forward. Though every situation is different, I hope these three tips can help you find positivity in difficult times – like a pandemic.

STEP 1: Find someone to talk to. Even if you may not think that your challenges are extreme, your feelings are always valid and should not be lessened by the idea that others may have it worse. Everyone can benefit from seeking help whether that be therapy or finding someone trusted to confide in. In order to benefit from therapy, you must be open to receiving help. Personally, I learned that finding a therapist can be difficult, draining, and expensive – so it’s ok if you choose a different outlet or path. Even confiding in a close friend or family member can be calming and help you refocus. In this strange, virtual space, I found that keeping consistent contact with loved ones helped to provide a sense of normalcy to balance out the uncertainty of these times.

STEP 2: Highlight the positives. When things were tough, I found myself overwhelmed by the ugly. To try to pull myself out of what started to feel like a never-ending dark hole, I started what I called a “positivity journal”. For this practice, I would set aside about five minutes every morning and record statements of gratitude, self-affirmations, and hopes for the future. Before I even checked my cell phone notifications, I wanted to gift myself a little positivity. This concept is similar to a diary. However, I didn’t just record all my thoughts and feelings of the previous day. Instead, my positivity journal enabled me to focus on and extract out positives in life, even when times felt fairly bleak. Looking back at my journal, I wrote about being grateful that the Oregon sun came out, appreciating the calmness of morning, and even threw in a few self-affirmations (“I can graduate, I can pass this test, I am powerful”). The writing sometimes felt purposeless at first, but looking back, the days, weeks, and months of bite-size positivity helped me to persevere through the tough times. Whether you do this at the beginning or end of your day, it can help alleviate stress, anxiety, and depression.

Excerpts from my positivity journal 

STEP 3: Incorporate movement into your day. When I started my self-help journey, I found it difficult to dedicate time for my mental health. By blocking off time to either walk, work out, perform grounding exercises, or stretch daily, you are simultaneously bettering both your physical and mental health. These activities allowed me to take some desperately needed time away from screens, virtual college and internships, along with specific stressors in my life – replacing that with a new perspective. Additionally, if you are able to do these things outside, your body will appreciate the sunshine and fresh air.As we experience a new phase of the pandemic in 2021, it can be hard to pull yourself out of the rut of the past year and a half. For many of us, our environment has been limited to four walls and a computer screen. Change is scary (even if you’re not a recent college grad starting a new chapter of your career in a new city). Trying just one of these tactics suggested above, or finding one that works better for you, could make a great deal of a difference for your mental health. Who knows? A single entry in a positivity journal could evolve into your own storytelling journey. You might just realize your story is even brighter than you gave yourself credit for.

Megan Lewis

She / Her / Hers 

B.S. Business Administration | University of Oregon

Recent Posts