You Thought It Was Clarity. Turns Out You Got Used to the View.
Break The Frame Blog
by Alli Polin
2y ago
The windshield was so smudged and grimy; I could hardly see out the front window in the bright sunlight. Looking for a less blurred section, I noticed friend’s initials smeared onto the glass, probably a remnant of McDonald’s run for french fries.  I decided I wouldn’t clean it for the young driver in my household but instead let her take responsibility for the mess and the resolution. After all, how long could she drive around with a clouded splodge in front of her face every time she got into the car.  Ok, if you’re a parent or someone who was once a teenage driver, you probably k ..read more
Visit website
The Most Important Leadership Lessons I Learned from Selling a House
Break The Frame Blog
by Alli Polin
2y ago
We all know someone with a pair of favorite jeans in the back of the closet “just in case they fit again.” No thought given to changing style trends; they’re there, taking up physical and mental space. For me, it wasn’t jeans in the closet but a house in Virginia. Nine years ago, my family and I moved overseas. We tearfully packed away our six-year-old son’s favorite train table and polar express train, and we promised our nearly nine-year-old daughter that her trundle bed would see a lot of action when we returned. TVs from before the flat screen era, tchotchkes, and treasures were all boxed ..read more
Visit website
How to Stop Sabotaging Your Confidence and Authority
Break The Frame Blog
by Alli Polin
2y ago
It finally happened. No more supporting roles only for me. A director cast me as a lead.  At one of our early read-throughs, the director turned to me and asked, “Why do you keep doing that?” “Doing what?” I questioned.  “Your voice goes up at the end of your sentences.” Huh. News to me.  I did not make my voice rise at the end of my sentence on purpose; it wasn’t a conscious choice. Had I spent years turning the period at the end of my sentences into question marks? For the production, I had to change quickly. The same held true off of the stage. Speaking with authority meant ..read more
Visit website
What Happens When You Hire an Expert Who isn’t an Expert?
Break The Frame Blog
by Alli Polin
2y ago
We live in a modern-day Field of Dreams. If you hang a cyberspace shingle, they will come. Sometimes they do, in droves, and yet there’s a price to be paid beyond the final invoice.  Companies hire them. Individuals trust them. You know who they are – the self-proclaimed expert who’s better at marketing than doing the work.  We’ve all been there. The job complete, there’s an undercurrent of dissatisfaction that ranges from “WTF did I just pay for?” to “Do I need to hire someone else to fix this?” to “Forget it. Let’s move on and never speak of it again.”  I have trees that look ..read more
Visit website
When Life Gives You Lemons It’s Time To Get Creative
Break The Frame Blog
by Alli Polin
3y ago
We’ve all heard the quote or seen the memes: “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.” Lemons are an opportunity for change, creativity, and the transformation of sour into sweet.  The quote implies you turn something yuck into yum. However, lemons are just lemons until you do something with them. They are not inherently good or bad.  Ask Yourself:  Is stress my go-to response at the first sighting of a lemon? Do I take in the landscape and begin to notice the possibilities before jumping to conclusions? Do I crave sour or sweetness? (At work and in life, some people crave c ..read more
Visit website
7 Must-Ask Questions to Avoid Multitasking Pitfalls
Break The Frame Blog
by Alli Polin
3y ago
We live in the age of multitasking. Your eyes are locked on your phone while having a conversation. Checking email and on a conference call. Turned off the Zoom video so no one can see you’re making lunch and checking in on your toddler, who no longer has daycare available.  We blast from one task to the next like we’re an octopus with eight arms. Unfortunately, we still only have one brain which can only focus on one task at a time.  Multitasking isn’t what you think. It’s not focusing on more than one task at a time; it’s task switching. Stop there. If you’re about to argue that y ..read more
Visit website
50 Things You Can Do Today That Will Positively Change Your Life
Break The Frame Blog
by Alli Polin
3y ago
Over the past week, I’ve spoken to several stressed, barely treading water, and flat-out exhausted people. They all share a general malaise that isn’t about to disappear overnight.  Maybe you can relate to some of their experiences: Taking care of kids during the day while daycare is closed due to COVID and working all night. Giving up the things that once made them happy and now living life on a loop, as if on a hamster wheel that never stops. Feel like everyone is against them and assume they know the intention behind other’s words and actions. Spending so much time working, because t ..read more
Visit website
How do you learn to trust your gut instead of someone else’s?
Break The Frame Blog
by Alli Polin
3y ago
Change starts with a choice. Many times a day, you’re faced with a this or that option. Sometimes, your choice is clear, and other times, you’re stuck. The funny thing is, it’s not the magnitude of the choice that keeps you marching in place but your inability to trust your gut. As you well know, it’s just as easy to get hung up on the big stuff as the minutiae.  So, what do you do when you have to make a choice? Let’s say it’s picking where you go to dinner, the font size to use in your presentation, or getting new eyeglasses. What about taking a new job, buying a house, or having child ..read more
Visit website
Need to Make a Decision? 5 Questions and 5 Tips to Get You Into Action
Break The Frame Blog
by Alli Polin
3y ago
There I was, standing at the metaphorical fork in the road. I’m guessing it’s one you know well too. I need to make a decision, I told myself, yet I was temporarily stuck between what-is and what could-be. A million questions floated through my mind, but none so persistent as: What if I make the wrong choice? We obsess over our decisions, big and small, because we’re worried about that one nagging question. It’s the one that keeps us up at night: Which option is the wrong one? Notice, it’s rare to ask yourself which choice is the RIGHT one. Most often, it’s about avoiding the WRONG one.  ..read more
Visit website
What You Need to Know to Be More Successful at Work
Break The Frame Blog
by Alli Polin
3y ago
Our house has been under renovation for ages. It started with the kitchen, moved on to our kid’s bathroom, and now we’re halfway through our ensuite bathroom. For the kitchen, I acted as the general contractor and then got smart for the bathrooms and hired a company to manage the process from end to end.  The plans were finalized at the end of last year, and the demolition of the bathroom in early February took no more than a day. The rest has been less straightforward.  Workers came to our home for an hour or two here and there. One cut the floor, the other moved the plumbing, the ..read more
Visit website

Follow Break The Frame Blog on FeedSpot

Continue with Google
Continue with Apple
OR