🤔 Brainteaser of the day: What moves forward without ever looking back, is unstoppable but invisible, and is the most valuable yet wasted resource?
Click here for the answer.
✅ Today’s checklist:
- Cameron gets real about caretaking
- 3 at-home-date night ideas
- A motivating podcast
- TA reader Kara shares how to deal with adversity
- Meet our pet of the week: Pacino
QUICK LINKS
🏠 Home: 12 outdoor sectionals for every style and budget.
👀 Job Search: Key strategies for gaining a competitive edge in today’s job market.
🗣️ Communication: Use this SCRA framework for storytelling in business.
🧠 Mind: How to train your brain to be more optimistic.
🪺 Health: The future of fertility — what happens with frozen eggs and embryos?
CARETAKING
POV: Caretaker at 25
Most people my age don’t think about being a caretaker.
At 25, my friends are focused on launching careers, going out on the town, and enjoying their freedom with few responsibilities beyond bills and rent.
But my life requires more responsibility — I share the role of primary caretaker for my grandma with my mom, a role I wouldn’t trade for anything.
My grandma is my best friend. We’ve shared many adventures and have a close bond. She’s always been there for me, so when her health declined, I didn’t hesitate to step up.
I live down the street from her, and my mom lives just across town. We take turns assisting with medication, appointments, and anything else she needs.
Recently, when my mom was away, I was the sole caretaker after my grandma’s heart surgery. While it’s a privilege to be there for her, it was exhausting. Caretaking is hard work — both physically and emotionally.
There are tough days when my grandma is frustrated and doesn’t feel good. There are days when I am frustrated too, thinking, “Can you please just trust me and let me take care of you?!”
On those days, I have to muster patience and the power of positive thinking. I constantly remind myself that I am her support, her constant. If I can stay positive, it will help her be more positive too.
But at times, my social life, responsibilities, and personal relationships take a backseat. I can’t help but get major FOMO seeing friends’ party posts on social media while I’m caring for my grandma.
That’s why it’s vital to have a strong support system. My closest friends and partner rally around me, giving me respite when I need it.
At work, my boss (Joanna) has been amazing, accommodating my need for flexibility and time off when my grandma requires my full attention. When I opened up about my caregiving duties, she was tremendously supportive and helped ease my workload.
At first, I felt guilty taking time off for appointments or to check in on my grandma, but I’ve learned you can’t feel guilty about prioritizing family.
Despite the ups and downs of my grandma’s health, it makes me appreciate the time we’ve shared. I think of this as a new adventure, even though things may look different now.
Whether we like it or not, we all get older. Our abilities and health will inevitably change.
Cherish any time you have with your older loved ones, and never take your health or abilities for granted.
Cameron (Newsletter Ops for TA)
SKYROCKET PRODUCTIVITY
Stop Those Sunday Scaries (Seriously)
Dread Mondays? Let’s change that.
Take a few mins to organize your upcoming work week with monday.com so you can stop your Sunday Scaries forever.
Perfect for professionals struggling to:
- Prioritize tasks and stay focused.
- Manage overwhelming project loads.
- Keep teammates aligned and productive.
- Optimize daily time management.
Customize your workspace, color-code tasks, set deadlines, and collaborate seamlessly. Turn chaos into clarity and start loving your work week again.
WEEKEND PLANS
Embrace JOMO with At-Home Date Nights
Forget about the Fear of Missing Out (FOMO); the Joy of Missing Out (JOMO) is where it’s at, especially when it comes to spending quality time with your loved one.
Here are 3 at-home-date ideas you can try:
1. 🎲 Analog Game Night
Ditch the screens and engage in a little friendly competition.
How to pull it off: Choose 3-5 new games you’ve never played, set up your game space, and play together. Have snacks ready and maybe a fun prize for the winner.
- Required:
- Games like Spicy, Six Second Scribbles, Tapple, Mancala, Jenga
- Comfortable seating
- A way to keep score
- Make it Extra Special:
- Themed snacks & drinks
- Cozy throw blanket
- Fun prize for the winner
2. 🍿 Build-a-Fort Movie Night
Transform your living room into a cozy fort for the ultimate movie night.
How to pull it off: Gather all your blankets, pillows, and some chairs to create your fort. Set up your laptop or TV inside the fort, pick a lineup of your favorite movies, and get ready for a night of cinematic magic. Don’t forget the popcorn and snacks!
- Required:
- Blankets and sheets
- Pillows and cushions
- Chairs or furniture for support
- Laptop or TV
- Make it Extra Special:
- Fairy lights
- Popcorn maker
- Hot cocoa or your favorite cozy drinks
- Comfy pajamas
3. 🔪 Chopped Cooking Challenge
Bring the excitement of a cooking competition into your kitchen with a Chopped-style date night.
How to pull it off: Each of you selects a few mystery ingredients for the other to use. Set a timer, and get creative cooking up a delicious dish with the surprise ingredients. Present your dishes, taste each other’s creations, and crown a winner!
- Required:
- Make it Extra Special:
-
- Personalized aprons
- A timer to keep the competition authentic
- Scorecards to rate each other’s dishes
- A small prize for the winner
-
STAFF PICKS
The Mindset Mentor Podcast
Hosted by Rob Dial, The Mindset Mentor Podcast is a must-listen for anyone seeking motivation, direction, and focus in life.
Rob’s approach is real and down-to-earth, helping listeners become the best versions of themselves. With hundreds of episodes covering topics like overcoming anxiety, goal setting, and productivity, there’s something for everyone.
Some episodes are even bite-sized “mini-sodes” for quick motivation.
With a passionate following of over 3 million on social media, Rob blends neurology, neurobiology, psychology, and cognitive behavioral therapy to help you understand how your brain and body work together.
For fans of: The Tony Robbins Podcast, The School of Greatness by Lewis Howes
Listen to it: During your morning routine, at the gym, or whenever you need a boost of motivation.
EMPLOYEE RECOGNITION
Want to Motivate Your Employees? Start Recognizing Them!
At my previous company, we used Bonusly — a simple yet powerful platform that energized everyone.
Employees felt immense pride whenever they received points and recognition, driving them to excel further.
Why Bonusly works:
- Encourages frequent recognition: Points don’t roll over, motivating you to celebrate wins regularly.
- Public recognition feed: Everyone, including executives, sees your achievements.
- Redeemable rewards: Points can be exchanged for exciting rewards (I once bought flights to Cabo!).
- Easy setup and scalability: Perfect for growing companies, even those with 1,000+ employees.
Try Bonusly free for 14 days and experience all its features.
Joanna (Co-Founder of TA)
PRIDE SUBSCRIBER SPOTLIGHT
Dealing With Adversity
How do you navigate and stay strong amidst negative opinions and judgments as a trans woman?
To deal with any adversity, internal or external, you have to be able to be resilient.
And the only way you’re going to maintain your resiliency is by taking care of yourself.
That means, spending time on fulfilling hobbies, taking care of yourself physically, hanging out with people you like.
It means doing things that make you want to engage with life.
You have to have that backlog of resiliency to rest on to be able to bounce back quickly from anything.
Kara M. (She/Hers)
JUST FOR FUN
PET OF THE WEEK
Meet Pacino
Be careful what you name your pup! Pacino is named after Al Pacino from The Godfather. He truly embodies some elements.
He is sometimes underestimated given his size, yet at 14 years old, he is full of energy and always creatively escapes his baby gate every day to meet me at the front door.
He loves tennis balls, belly rubs, and food. This dog will take you on a walk vs. the other way around. Don’t let his mild arthritis fool you.
For 5lbs he snores like a 500lb individual!
💌 We’re huge pet lovers at The Assist — submit this form if you’d like us to feature your fur baby in a future issue!
JOB OPPORTUNITIES
🚨 Job Alerts
- Inventia Life Science is hiring for a Digital Marketing Manager (Remote).
- The Hollister Group is hiring for a Human Resources Business Partner (Boston, MA/Hybrid).
- PCT – Pacific Cast Technologies is hiring for an Engineer Coordinator (Albany, OR).
- Gray Dawes Travel is hiring for a Human Resources Business Partner (Miami, FL/Hybrid).
- The Judge Group is hiring for a Product Marketing Manager (CA).