I am a big believer that every woman needs their own toolbox. I’m not talking about the metal kind that most men have in their garage. I’m talking about a skill tool box that we keep at our side to help us do our jobs and tackle challenges that we face in our careers and lives. Women need different tools than men to be successful, but once we recognize what these tools are and put them in our toolbox, the sky is the limit on what we can accomplish.

As a Human Resources Executive and business leader for over twenty years, I have had the unique experience to watch and help women navigate career decisions and personal challenges both in and out of the office. Through this great experience and my own journey of trial and error, I have learned what tools women need in their toolbox and when to use them.

One of the most important tools we can have in our tool box, but sometimes forget to use, is the Power of “What if?” It’s understandable, as life gets busy, and balancing careers, motherhood and families is a tough job that takes all, or most of our energy every week. But, what if we took a few minutes once in a while to ask ourselves “What if?” when we were navigating through career and personal decisions that have a direct impact on our success and happiness?

#ThrowbackThursday to #Blogher14. I just stumbled upon my the #TimelineProject photo I took last year. The Timeline Project was all about declaring your dreams and goals to the world (or just yourself), physically writing them down, and then keeping the photo visible to constantly stay motivated.

But sometimes we experience setbacks or slowdowns.

I’m 40 1/2 (not 39 3/4), and still haven’t launched yet. But it hasn’t stopped me from working and going and doing. I almost see the finish line (or shall I stay, the ‘starting from scratch’ line).

The point of today’s post? Don’t let setbacks throw you completely off course. Embrace the setback, honor the setback, and then get back on the horse and keep trucking. No one says you have to abandon your dreams just because your #TimelineProject is a little off.

The 9 to 5 lifestyle is slowly fading into oblivion. With the blurred lines of office hours at work, options like telecommuting and flexible work hours, doesn’t necessarily equate to shorter work days. Most American’s work days stretch from about 9 a.m. until whenever they get their work completed (which is well after 5 p.m.). People are hardly taking vacations anymore and quite often are making work decisions out of fear. Even millennials are worked to the point where the thought of starting families, or taking decent time off to rest their bodies and minds is ludicrous.