Jane Schuette952-994-6192

Blog

Building YOUR
brilliance in words

Reflections on working, living, and the everyday practice of joy.

34 entries

Welcome to Jane’s Blog

BlogSeptember 1, 2026

Welcome to Jane’s Blog

This space is dedicated to building your brilliance in real time. Useful, brain-based ideas you can apply to bring more joy into your life and help you shine.

Mapping Your Career: How to Take Control of Your Identity and Your Career

BlogFebruary 1, 2020

Mapping Your Career: How to Take Control of Your Identity and Your Career

When introductions reduce you to a job title and a company, your true identity gets lost. A six-step career-mapping exercise to own your brilliance and reintroduce yourself with intention.

Dearly Beloved

BlogApril 1, 2016

Dearly Beloved

When Prince died at 57, the news hit hard. A pause to reflect on what his life teaches about personality, persistence, and passion — and the hard questions that can rev the engine of your own brilliance.

You Cannot Buy More Hours

BlogJune 1, 2016

You Cannot Buy More Hours

In 15 years of coaching, one topic shows up in every partnership: how to fit what a person needs and wants into a real week. Four steps to spend your fixed hours on purpose.

Time to Think

BlogApril 1, 2017

Time to Think

A canceled flight and a long conversation with a professor prompt a practical list of ways to carve out time for critical and creative thinking.

Healthy Media – Who Is Responsible?

BlogApril 1, 2020

Healthy Media – Who Is Responsible?

Just as “you are what you eat,” what you feed your mind shapes your well-being. A four-step mind-nutrition check-in to take responsibility for your media diet.

Polish Up Your Brilliance with Positivity

BlogMarch 1, 2016

Polish Up Your Brilliance with Positivity

Keeping your brilliance sharp takes daily positivity routines—much like brushing your teeth. Three of the most useful tools: meditate and pray, practice gratitude, and journal.

Sitting Is the New Smoking

BlogJune 1, 2020

Sitting Is the New Smoking

Years went by without much exercise—until a cold-water surf lesson became my wake-up call. Why daily movement is key to your brilliance, and small ways to start.

Chance to Change Your World: Lessons from 9/11

BlogSeptember 1, 2016

Chance to Change Your World: Lessons from 9/11

On the anniversary of 9/11, a personal story of loss and a call to reflect on how we live from here — managing our stress, looking for the good, and letting our brilliance show up as ordinary kindness.

The Creativity Gap at Work

BlogMarch 1, 2017

The Creativity Gap at Work

A look at research points to ten practical ways to get the juices moving again — because creative thinking can be learned, or relearned.

Brilliant Masterpiece or Big Mess? Is It Possible to Embrace Both?

BlogMay 1, 2020

Brilliant Masterpiece or Big Mess? Is It Possible to Embrace Both?

We are complex and wonderful human beings — brilliant one minute, a pitiful mess the next. Embracing both is part of our humanness, and the path to brilliance runs straight through the mess.

Snackified Communication

BlogMay 1, 2017

Snackified Communication

Life is becoming more snackified — shorter intervals, smaller bites. Healthy snacks support a body; short electronic bursts can support a relationship, or wear it down. Six checks to keep your communication nourishing.

The Clever Campaign to Bump Up Your Confidence and Brilliance

BlogAugust 1, 2020

The Clever Campaign to Bump Up Your Confidence and Brilliance

Raise your hand if you have ever felt insecure about whatever is next. A six-step personal ad campaign — built on affirmations, music, and a call to action — to be the best you!

All in a Day’s Work

BlogJanuary 1, 2018

All in a Day’s Work

Originally a speech presented in 2018. When a fan rushed the stage, Céline Dion turned a potentially dangerous moment into a masterclass in handling stressful situations with others. Four simple practices to finish the workday steady.

Managing Stress: Back to Basics

BlogSeptember 1, 2020

Managing Stress: Back to Basics

Originally published in Fall of 2020. A pandemic summer of rejuvenation at the lake turned into a reminder: when you start getting on your own nerves, it’s time to get back to the basics of managing stress.

What Do You Want?

BlogMarch 1, 2020

What Do You Want?

Originally published in 2020. Dream attainment is hard work. A practical road map — write out what you want, prioritize with the Eisenhower Matrix, confront the brutal facts, and expect setbacks — to get back to work on your BIG dream.

Getting Your Creative Juices Flowing . . . Again

BlogFebruary 1, 2018

Getting Your Creative Juices Flowing . . . Again

A bag of odd cardboard shapes set a 9-year-old’s creative soul on fire. Two tips to ignite your natural creative juices and set your brilliance ablaze.

Olympic-Sized Dreams, Everyday Lessons

BlogAugust 1, 2016

Olympic-Sized Dreams, Everyday Lessons

Two weeks of the Rio 2016 Summer Olympics left three lessons worth keeping — purpose runs deeper than the hardware, real winning uses both competition and support, and celebration should include a pause.

Enjoying Life at -18 Degrees! – It’s all in Your Attitude

BlogJanuary 1, 2014

Enjoying Life at -18 Degrees! – It’s all in Your Attitude

A harsh Minnesota winter is a reminder that a bad attitude follows you wherever you go, regardless of the temperature. Four steps to change a bad attitude into a positive outlook.

Don’t let the Ball Drop on Your New Year’s Resolution

BlogJanuary 1, 2017

Don’t let the Ball Drop on Your New Year’s Resolution

Follow-through on New Year’s resolutions is hard — but five practical tips, from keeping it realistic to reinforcing with support, can move you into the group that sticks with it.

Six Ways to Calm the Air

BlogJuly 1, 2018

Six Ways to Calm the Air

A stressful, delayed flight to London became a lesson in open, honest communication. Six key points to calm the air when confrontations heat up.

6 Practices to Stop Complaining in Its Tracks

BlogNovember 30, 2018

6 Practices to Stop Complaining in Its Tracks

Devil’s advocate, critical fault-finder, or realist — chronic complaining isn’t fun to be around. Six practical ways to move from resident crab to the positive person people want to be near.

Don’t Miss Out!

BlogFebruary 24, 2014

Don’t Miss Out!

History in the making on two fronts — the 2014 Sochi Olympics and Jimmy Fallon’s Tonight Show return. A few Jimmy Fallon–style thank-you notes and the life lessons our Olympians offer.

Don’t Phone it In

BlogJanuary 1, 2017

Don’t Phone it In

Are we giving the performance, or are we phoning it in? From a second-grade teacher’s Oscar-winning lesson to Bruno Mars and Denzel Washington — brilliance is built from the next small, careful performance.

Will 2017 Be Your Year for Adventure?

BlogJanuary 1, 2017

Will 2017 Be Your Year for Adventure?

Originally published in 2017 — guest blogger Sam Gustafson. Adventure, the great developer: travel, creative, and common adventures, and the gifts each can give at any stage of life or career.

Twenty Seconds of Leadership

BlogJanuary 1, 2016

Twenty Seconds of Leadership

A twenty-second pause to listen and show concern can do more than another check on deliverables. Three ways to listen better—and lead more brilliantly.

Eureka Prefers a Trail

BlogJanuary 1, 2017

Eureka Prefers a Trail

Time in nature offers three real gifts for the mind and for how we work: easing stress, loosening creative thinking, and giving you time to reflect.

March Madness to April Classiness

BlogApril 1, 2019

March Madness to April Classiness

After Virginia’s 63–62 Final Four win over Auburn, Charles Barkley showed what pure class looks like — three steps of emotional intelligence that any leader can practice when the stakes are high.

Have you had a good laugh today?

BlogMay 1, 2017

Have you had a good laugh today?

Humor is an emotional reaction, and emotion is what connects us. Seven practical ways to bring more laughter into the workplace — without becoming the captive-audience comic.

Where Everybody Knows Your Name

BlogJanuary 1, 2018

Where Everybody Knows Your Name

A gym clerk greeting you by name is a small thing that fills a big psychological need — belonging. Why names matter, and a word of caution about using them sincerely.

Solving the “Do More with Less” Dilemma

BlogJanuary 1, 2016

Solving the “Do More with Less” Dilemma

“Do more with less” may not mainly mean fewer people or supplies — it may mean thinner information, priorities, and direction. Three things you can do so people do not burn out.

Give the Team a Moon

BlogJanuary 1, 2016

Give the Team a Moon

Leading a team without a clear vision is like taking a cab with no destination — you burn time and money. From Kennedy’s Moon speech to seven prompts, a practical guide to setting a vision people want to follow.

Whose Side Are You On, Anyway?

BlogJanuary 1, 2020

Whose Side Are You On, Anyway?

In a culture that demands we take a side, we turn out to be the harshest critics of ourselves. How to use an Anti-Judgmental Notebook and positive self-talk to get on your own good side.

The Gift of Charisma

BlogJanuary 1, 2018

The Gift of Charisma

Charisma is the gift of grace—kindness expressed as effective communication. Six practical steps to become a charismatic connector and lift your whole team.