Welcome to Brunner & Associates, Inc.

Our passion is helping individuals and organizations to be all they can be.

 

Brunner & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in helping organizations and individuals with strategic planning, coaching, and other organizational and management issues. We also provide facilitation services to organizations and groups, helping them to address issues and reach agreement on important matters.

 

Fri

01

Jan

2021

Simple Wisdom Tip #110: Be a Learner

For decades, I have been a learner and continue to be.  There is so much we can learn from others, from books, and from courses and seminars.  A couple of years ago, we were visiting the Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum in Abilene, Kansas.  In one of exhibits, I found this incisive quote that is so apropos to learning.  Ike said it much better than I could:

 

“Always try to associate yourself closely with and learn as much as you can from those who know more than you, who do better than you, who see more clearly than you.  Apart from the rewards of friendship, the association might pay off at some unforeseen time – that is only an accidental byproduct.  The important thing is that learning will make you a better person.” – Dwight David Eisenhower, At Ease:  Stories I Tell to My Friends, p. 200

 

 

Tue

01

Dec

2020

Simple Wisdom Tip #109: How to Be Happier

Here is a great tip I got from reading Shawn Achor’s book, The Happiness Advantage.  He recommends that each day a person write down three good things that happen to him or her.  They don’t have to be large things but even relatively little things such as:  got a lovely compliment from Sally, had a good nights’ sleep, Phil invited me to lunch, enjoyed a wonderful walk outside, completed a challenging project, had a productive coaching call with a client, finished my taxes, etc.  Achor maintains that, when you write down “three good things” that happened to you that day, your brain will be forced to scan the last 24 hours for potential positives; in just five minutes a day, this trains the brain to become more skilled at noticing and focusing on possibilities for personal and professional growth, and seizing opportunities to act on them.  And…you’ll feel happier.

 

I’m blessed by being naturally positive and optimistic but I began this practice in 2017 and love doing it.  It works!  I’ve never had to look very hard to find some rays of sunshine in an otherwise challenging day.  To me, it is interesting how just writing down three simple little positives every day can improve one’s mood and outlook.