🤔 Brainteaser of the day: What can never be put in a saucepan?
Click here to see the answer.
✅ Today’s Checklist:
📅 Upcoming Event: Make your 1:1s count—learn practical scripts + coaching tools in our free workshop 9/23 @ 9am PT / 12pm ET. Register here.
💰 Money stress got you spiraling? Here’s how to get back in control.
💸 Professional financial advice that actually makes sense.
⛺ Don’t book your next adventure until you see this national park ranking.
✅ The productivity stack you didn’t know you needed.
World Gratitude Day on September 21st isn’t just another calendar filler. It’s a reminder to pause and notice something science says can truly boost your mental health, relationships, and overall well-being. For busy professionals juggling endless to-dos, practicing gratitude might feel like one more task, but research shows it’s worth the time.
The Research-Backed Benefits
Decades of studies from UC Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center show that people who practice gratitude report stronger mental health, less anxiety, and a lasting lift in mood.
The perks go beyond psychology. The American Heart Association notes gratitude is linked to better sleep, stronger immunity, and healthier hearts. Other studies suggest that a grateful outlook can lower blood pressure, ease chronic pain, and build resilience in tough times.
Simple Ways to Practice Gratitude Today
📔 Write it down. Keep a gratitude journal and jot three things you’re thankful for each day. (Need inspo? Here are some cute Etsy templates to choose from: bundle, tracker, and coloring sheet.)
💌 Send a thank-you. Text, email, or call someone who made a difference in your day or week. Be specific about what they did and how it helped you.
🧘♀️ Pause with purpose. Before meals, meetings, or bed, mentally acknowledge something you appreciate about your current situation.
🙏 Spot the helpers. In stressful moments, intentionally notice the people who are trying to help or make things better.
💚 Appreciate your body. Thank your body for what it does for you! Carrying you through the day, allowing you to hug loved ones, or recovering from illness or injury—it does a lot!
🎉 Celebrate small joys. The feeling of clean sheets, a friend’s laugh, or finding a good parking spot. Small appreciations add up.
Making It Stick
The secret to building a gratitude practice isn’t perfection; it’s consistency. Although it may feel contrived at first, this mental state grows stronger with use. Start small. Even acknowledging one thing you’re grateful for each day can make a difference.
Consider pairing gratitude with an existing habit. Write down what you’re thankful for while your morning coffee brews, or reflect on the day’s positives while brushing your teeth before bed.
The Bottom Line
Gratitude isn’t about ignoring struggles. It’s about recognizing the good alongside them. Practicing it helps shift focus from what’s missing to what’s here—creating perspective, balance, and resilience during tough times.
Want to build trust, boost performance, and keep your top talent happy? Start with how you pay them.
Payroll might not be the flashiest system in your business, but it’s one of the most impactful. When it’s clean, consistent, and clear, it becomes a silent performance multiplier. When it’s not? Cue the late nights, tax headaches, and “hey, did you get my paycheck?” Slack messages.
Here are three tools we love that help you run payroll like a pro—no matter what stage you’re in:
Perfect for scaling teams that want robust support. It goes way beyond payroll—think benefits admin, onboarding, time tracking, and compliance in one platform. Great for companies ready to treat compensation like the strategic tool it is.
Simple, streamlined, and budget-friendly—OnPay is ideal for smaller or leaner teams who want full payroll functionality without the bulk. Tax filings, PTO tracking, and benefits? All in one easy dashboard.
If you’re hiring globally or managing remote teams across borders, Multiplier makes international payroll actually manageable. Pay contractors or full-time employees in 150+ countries—without the compliance nightmare.
Helpful tips to level up your payroll game:
Audit your payroll process quarterly to catch errors before they become expensive
Set clear payday expectations and stick to them
Document your compensation policies to reduce confusion and protect your team
Automate wherever you can so you’re not stuck in spreadsheet purgatory
Bottom line? Your people don’t just work for their paycheck, they stay because they trust you to get it right.
📚 Read: Ikigai: The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life by Héctor García & Francesc Miralles
What’s your reason for getting up in the morning? In researching this bestseller, the authors interviewed residents of a Japanese village with the highest percentage of 100-year-olds—one of the world’s Blue Zones. The result: a gentle, practical guide to ikigai, where passion, purpose, and longevity meet.
📺 Watch: Dope Girls
Set in 1918 London, this BBC series dives into a gritty, glam underworld of crime, queerness, and club culture — think Peaky Blinders meets riot grrrl energy.
🎧 Listen: Smooth Sailin’ by Leon Bridges
A soulful groove that puts swagger in your step and sunshine in your earbuds.
If you’re spending way too much time wrestling with spreadsheets, the problem isn’t you—it’s your process.
Miss Excel’s free 60-minute class will teach you how to:
🧹 Clean messy data in minutes instead of hours
🔁 Record beginner-friendly macros once and reuse them forever(no coding needed)
⚡ Automate your most tedious spreadsheet tasks
You’ll walk away with practical skills and time-saving shortcuts you can use immediately—plus a taste of what 1M+ Miss Excel fans already love.
👉 Register free and finally let Excel do the heavy lifting.
Swoosh is a six-year-old mixed breed who joined his family in October 2020. Back then, his separation anxiety was so intense that he once leapt out of a second-story window to follow them.
Fast forward to today: he’s a happy pup who loves surveying the yard, barking at the mailman, and patrolling the garden. He’s all about kid playdates, dog park runs, hiking trips, and car rides. A true trickster, Swoosh can bow, pray, give knuckles, and even cover his eyes when his humans embarrass him.
🐾 Got a cute fur baby? Submit them to be our pet of the week in an upcoming issue.
🗓 Mark Your Calendars: CREATE Conference 2025 is happening on Oct 11–14th (Salt Lake City). Women-led. AI packed. Grab your ticket here. (Joanna will be there, too—come say hi!)
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