Dreams Archives - Sharon M Weinstein

January 31, 2020 By Sharon Weinstein

There is no box…not even on the golfcourse!

When I learned to play golf at age 50, the topography was beautiful and challenging. As we approached the 14th fairway one Sunday afternoon, my husband said, “Start thinking about how you will manage that water hazard.” Hazards on a golf course may be lakes and rivers, man-made hazards such as bunkers, or a tall tree or thick rough. If it gets in your way, it is a hazard. I looked ahead and then said, “Water, I don’t see any water.” Of course, there was water ahead, but I knew that I could not let it get in my way. It is that concept that has taken me through a myriad of countries, opportunities, challenges and success stories.

We all face challenges in our personal and professional lives. By looking beyond the hazard, or outside of the box, we see opportunity. We forge ahead and achieve success. See what I mean here!

I grew up in a big box and was told that I should not ask, nor should I try, because I would never amount to a thing. Moving beyond that box opened many doors and a chance to ask for what I needed and get it. Many of us are stuck in that box…unable to get out because of perceived barriers to change. We must encourage others to thrive and survive. I am who I am today because I learned how to ask. A storyteller, I go beyond “once upon a time” to a place we’ve all been – where obstacles stood in our way and held us back.

President/Founder of SMW Group and the Global Education Development Institute, I educate and train others to be the best version of themselves. A native of Philadelphia, I completed my nursing education at Pennsylvania Hospital, followed by undergraduate and graduate degrees in Florida and Texas. I’m a graduate of the Kellogg Executive Management Program and a recipient of the Frist Humanitarian Award. I use my nursing platform to create change and empower others to succeed.

#removethebox #mindset #leadership #serviceexcellence

December 16, 2016 By Sharon Weinstein

Your Environment…your choice

Your environment is your space…it is your body, and the settings in which you live, work, and play. Your body probably started out on an even playing field 25 or more years ago. And, your home and work settings have influenced your body’s ability to adapt – to thrive and survive today and forever. Think about where you live, work and play, and think about the sources of stress that present on an almost daily basis and influence your ability to be well and to stay well.

Let’s begin with choice! The choices that you make, about what you put into your body and that with which you surround yourself, impact your outcomes – how well you feel, how productive you are, and how good you look. Are the choices that you are making healthy, or will they impair function? For example, is a can of soda on your desktop – eager to turn your body into an acidic environment that will slow you down, swell you up, and put you to sleep? I hope not!

The work-life connection

A crisis exists today. Millions of people are unwell, suffering from the stresses that are part of modern living: lack of sleep, poor nutrition (and obesity), exposure to dangerous pollutants, no exercise, and time pressures. And people — millions of people — are looking for solutions.

Workplace wellness programs are beginning to earn their place among necessities within the environment. Model programs for disease management are decreasing days lost from work, enhancing lifestyle, and increasing performance. As workweeks are expanding and stress levels are rising, more hours are spent at the workplace, and health takes a toll.

One of the greatest sources of stress for workers, regardless of professional role, is work-related. We all have the same requisite number of hours in a day – only 24. And yet, we try to extend those hours and make them equal 36 or more. It is virtually impossible, and our productivity demonstrates our failure to adhere to the ‘work day’ as a somewhat normal work day.

A workplace is only as good as how it treats its workers. Today’s employers are constantly seeking ways to assist their workers in managing their job responsibilities and their personal responsibilities and needs. Strategies for work/life balance help create supportive, healthy work environments; strengthen employee commitment and loyalty; and result in more productive workplaces and improved customer satisfaction.

As professionals, we have expectations from our work environment, from those with whom we work, and our future. Oprah Winfrey suggests that, “right now you are one choice away from a new beginning—one that leads you toward becoming the fullest human being you can be.”

If your path is paved with good intentions, but your work is unrewarding and your time is not your own, negotiate. Think things over and make a change. Negotiate for change in the workplace; work with your employer to improve the environment, your outcomes, and the company’s success.

As workweeks are expanding and stress levels are rising, more hours are spent at the workplace, and health takes a toll. Initiatives aimed at producing a healthy workforce, enhancing recruitment and retention, decreasing overall healthcare costs, and enhancing productivity and bottom line are evolving. Workplace Wellness Programs provide the structure, encouragement, incentives and ongoing support that many individuals need in order to make lifestyle changes. Embark on the journey to workplace wellness…and begin by treating your staff well!

It’s your choice! It’s your business! It’s your future! Make it a healthy one…

Life Balance…it is what I do and who I am! I work with organizations that want to learn how life balance can drive safety, satisfaction, and success!

Sharon is an energetic, motivating and highly skilled professional speaker and author specializing in work/life balance. After all, she wrote the book. She is the founder of SharonMWeinstein, an LLC and two not-for-profits.

She holds the coveted Certified Speaking Professional (CSP) designation, the highest earned international recognition for professional speakers. This makes her one of only 12% of all speakers to hold this designation and one of only 22 nurses in the world with this credential. www.sharonmweinstein.com

Are you ready to embrace a life in balance in 2017 and beyond?

October 3, 2016 By Sharon Weinstein

New Beginnings…for the year and for communities across the world

brodsky_synagogue_in_seventieths Working in Ukraine was a privilege between 1992 and 2002. There were hospital visits, collaboration with many professionals, and cultural exchanges. History came live on the streets of L’viv, Odessa, Luhansk, Donetsk, and of course, the capitol city of Kiev.

As families near and far celebrate the coming of the New Year, Rosh Hashanah, it seems fitting to revisit The Great Synagogue, also known as the Central Synagogue, the Brodsky Synagogue and the Choral Synagogue, which was returned to the Jewish community of Kiev in 1992 after many years as the State Puppet Theatre. Until it was shut down by the Soviets in 1926 as the Communist Party began to consolidate its hold on society, the Great Synagogue was the place of worship for many, including Shalom Aleichem, the Jewish Ukrainian writer, and Golda Meir, who would become the prime minister of Israel in the 1960s.

Preparations were extensive for the March 21^st ceremony, and involved efforts by Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-OH), then co-chair of the Congressional Ukrainian Caucus in the U.S. Congress, whose grandparents emigrated from Ukraine. She presented a crown, delivered by Rabbi Yaakov Pollak of the Shomrei Emunah Synagogue of Brooklyn, N.Y., and presented to the director of the renovation project, Chief Rabbi of Ukraine Moshe Reuven Azman, several days before the rededication ceremony. The rededication ceremony also included a standard ribbon-cutting ceremony, as well as the traditional affixing of the Mezuzah, an engraved metal container attached to the main doors that holds parchment inscribed with biblical passages. Dr. Mira Brichto of Cincinnati, founder of the R’faye-nu Society, helped build a network of religious leaders, both Jewish and Catholic, to work together on the restoration. She also brought the project to the attention of Rep. Kaptur, Fr. Ken Nowakowski, untitled President of Caritas Ukraine, who oversaw its charitable works and directed the Press Office of the Catholic Churches in Ukraine during His Holiness John Paul II’s visit in 2001, and to me as Director of Premier’s Office of International Affairs. Fr. Ken and I officiated at the ceremony and added the finishing touches to the synagogue, including plants, lighting, brochures, and a warm welcome to the thousands of visitors. We escorted elderly women to the balcony, many of whom had last visited the site as young children.

Originally the rededication ceremony was to have taken place the previous week, on March 14, but because of the Krasnodon coal mine disaster, in which 81 people lost their lives, we decided to postpone the ceremony and offer a memorial service to the miners instead. Members of several Jewish organizations raised some 100,000 hrv, which was delivered to the miners’ families. A significant contribution was made by Premier (founded as the Consortium of Jewish Hospitals with 16 members in 1983), including household goods, shelter, food and more.

The Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah, is about new beginnings. Many believe that our actions during the High Holy Days impact our lives; thus, the holiday period is a time of reflection. Moments like those in 1992 are also cause for reflection: on a rich past, our present and new beginnings.

About Sharon:

Life Balance…it is what I do and who I am! I work with organizations that want to learn how life balance can drive safety, satisfaction, and success!

In 1994, with the assistance of Rabbi Azman and Father Ken Nowakowski, she visited her family’s homeland in Volynia.

September 29, 2016 By Sharon Weinstein

Preferment…the new retirement

Today I spoke to a speaker colleague who told me that she ‘retired’ from accounting to begin her speaking career. Yesterday, it was a nurse who told me that she ‘retired’ from clinical practice to begin her coaching career. And last week, it was a corporate executive who told me that he ‘retired’ from manufacturing to pursue his consulting career.

Were they retired, still working, working part-time, or picking and choosing those projects with which they wanted to align themselves? Nearly all of the responses addressed the concept of ‘picking and choosing’ or preferring one project over another and one subset of professionals with whom to work over another. Did each of these professionals actually retire…to begin the next phase of their lives? Or, did they extend into the arena known as “PREFERMENT” meaning that they now get to do what they want, with whom they want, and when they want?

My own professional colleagues vary in age group from millennials to the C-suite and from sometime work to full-time plus work. Having worked full-time plus in the past, logging over 100 hours per week, 3 countries per week for over 10 years, I fully understand the idea of ‘picking and choosing’ one’s activities and potential partners.

Still intrigued, I researched the word and discovered the concept of prefermented dough to improve quality naturally and traditionally. Great concept, but being a non-bread maker, the term did not meet my immediate needs. Preferment is also the name of a champion horse; a non-equestrian, I continued my search for the right description. I was seeking information on what happens post-official retirement – in the healthy, seasoned professional population.

I can easily relate to the idea of retirement as a significant milestone and adjustment for my peers. Healthy, financially secure and energetic, they are revisioning postretirement life and moving from the comfortable rocking chair to a state of preferment, with an opportunity to refocus on new structure and purpose, including time for leisure, continuous learning, new pursuits, and perhaps encore careers.

It’s not retirement, it’s preferment, because this phase of one’s life provides the opportunity to do the things you prefer and are most meaningful to you. Only you can determine what those things are. Only you can identify where you want to spend your time and with whom. Only you can decide whose lives you want to impact and in what ways. As professionals, those of us in the clinical arena or in academia have been blessed with extensive careers during which we have done meaningful work. We are the seasoned professionals!

The word preferment is perfect for the new retirement. Regardless of their past positions, my colleagues are adopting this term as one of endearment and creating their own next Act…the one that will ignite their passion, bring fulfillment, and be preferred. Speaker – Coach – Consultant…they are excited about what the future will bring!

About Sharon:

Life Balance…it is what I do and who I am! I work with organizations that want to learn how life balance can drive safety, satisfaction, and success!

April 12, 2016 By Sharon Weinstein

Adding a smile, and a laugh, to life’s challenges – the secret to balance.

As the author of B is for Balance, 12 Steps to having balance in life and at work, and as one who has lived it, I know the important of laughter…the best medicine. With today’s hectic pace, we need a few moments of daily laughter—the more the better. It is free of charge and readily available. In the face of frequently dispiriting news from around the globe, it is easy to become glum and irritable, and that can quickly and quietly throw off your balance. What can laughter do? Laughter is good for you and your health. It relaxes the entire body, boosts the immune system, triggers the release of endorphins, and protects the heart! Laughter makes you feel good, relaxes you, and relieves tension. Woe – are you starting to realize the impact that a smile, a little, joy, and a good laugh can have in your own life?

I have taken my career to new levels – consistently reinventing myself along the way, but always appreciating the joy in each step of the journey. Have something in your workplace that makes you happy, that fulfills you, and that makes you smile.

As a diploma graduate from Pennsylvania Hospital School of Nursing, Philadelphia, I continued my education in Florida and Texas as I moved around the country and around the globe – somewhat of a pioneer at the time. No, I was not in the military, although that might have been a great choice. Rather, my husband, a successful hospital CEO, and I took turns relocating for one another – always advancing within our careers. During this time, I also had three children…and they became expert networkers as they navigated within school systems and new neighborhoods. To some, this might appear stressful. To us, it represented a journey, an opportunity to meet new people, make new friends and to exercise humor in the process.

And so, our journeys enabled us to own 14 homes in as many states and an apartment in Moscow. Our journeys enabled us to look on the bright side of moving about – clean closets, constant purging, lack of clutter and the development of incredible organizational skills. In spite of this constant activity, or per- haps because of it, our adult children are incredibly well-adjusted, outgoing, and yes, they do see laughter as the best medicine.

As director of the Office of International Affairs for an 1800-hospital alliance, I created partnership opportunities for our North American hospitals and their foreign counterparts. I served as U.S. advisor to the Kremlin Hospital (Central Clinical Hospital in Moscow) for 10 years and created the international patient department.

As founder of the International Nursing Leadership Institute (INLI) hosted by the American International Health Alliance, I had the opportunity to collaborate with many nurse leaders as we shared knowledge and expertise with our peers from the new independent States of the former Soviet Union and Central and Eastern European nations. We focused on learning as fundamental and we put the edutainment in education. Our goal was to create a cadre of nurse leaders/educators. A series of leading management books were used by faculty to generate the curriculum. Students and faculty, in full costume, acted out the stories. For example, the parable, Who Moved My Cheese, encouraged students to have contingency plans and to expect change. The book, The Oz Principle, told students that they could be or do whatever they wanted…if they wanted it badly enough! The book, Goldilocks on Management, featured a series of revisionist fairy tales for serious managers. Thirty-four of our graduates have been granted international membership in the American Organization of Nurse Executives (AONE) and many more have been inducted as community leaders within the Honor Society of Nursing (STTI). And, in 2014, we chartered the first chapter of STTI in all of Eastern Europe, in the Republic of Armenia.

So, what about laughter? For years, our children referred to me as 50 percent…meaning that 50 percent of the time (or less), I had a good sense of humor. I actually “got” a joke; I could laugh at myself. I think that I have now graduated to nearly 90 percent. Sometimes, I am the first to see the humor in a situation or to come up with a great line. Of course, family members are still amazed! Sometimes, I get “it” – whatever “it” might be! And, my level of awareness has increased as I have transitioned within my career from a focus on intervention to one of health and wellness – prevention and health promotion.

It is fascinating to work with colleagues who embrace ownership of one’s body and the need to advocate for self-care, self-reflection, meditation and laughter. Laughter definitely has a place within every aspect of one’s life. Laughter has enabled me to change my mindset, shift my paradigms and it has enhanced my well-being! As nurses, we all need to assume responsibility for the joys of life! As nurses, we work in stressful environments. Humor allows us to deal with stress more effectively; humor impacts healing and recovery time. And, humor has enabled me to grow personally and professionally. As I have transitioned within my career, a sense of humor has definitely helped. In my work with foreign Ministers of Health, Education and Finance, I always needed to see the big picture of what was possible, but perhaps not always probable. In my consulting practice, I have integrated humor in my work related to positive practice environments and wellness.

So, like me, step back, look at the big picture and use that perspective to help people feel good about themselves…that is the critical skill that′s allowed me to touch the lives of people like you and me on a global scale! I have had a long and exciting nursing career; I often joke that I should be at least 100 years of age given all that I have crammed into 40 years as a nursing professional. And, the best is yet to come as I continue to enlighten audiences around the globe with my speaking style and sense of humor!

“Laugh and the world laughs with you, snore and you sleep alone.”- Anthony Burgess

To start the process: