Showing posts with label life. Show all posts
Showing posts with label life. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
The first to apologize is the bravest...
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
Intelligence defined. ~ by Dodinsky
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
Sunday, June 24, 2012
One Day On Earth - 10/10/10 a.k.a. The Day I Almost Disappeared
Where were you on October 10, 2010? That was the question I was asked prior to attending an LA Idea Project dinner series that hosted speakers Kyle Ruddick and Cari Ann Shim Sham, the team of One Day On Earth on February 12, 2011. This will be easy to figure out was my immediate thought. After all, among other things, I am a planner, a journalist and a photographer. I document and highlight key life moments daily, taking notes and pictures constantly of anything that intrigues, inspires or interests me. Or so I thought...
The day of the dinner, I searched high and low for evidence of my whereabouts on that day and came up blank. No notes or agenda written on my calendar, no pictures on my camera from that day, no emails written or received, no purchases made on my bank statements. The day was blank. How was this possible? I wondered... What did I do that day? I know I existed for here I still am. I didn't disappear. I must have done something?! Dig deeper, I thought. I must have some record of that day.
As it turns out, in order to detox, remove and release some of the stress and pressure of an incredibly full & productive life in the big bustling city that is Los Angeles and to truly relax, maintain balance, stay healthy, focused and grounded, sometimes I decide to simply slow things down and take a day for myself to just be quiet, rest and reflect. As I researched further, I realized that Sunday, October 10, 2010 was one of those days. Not yet having discovered One Day On Earth's cause, I thought it was a perfectly auspicious day to do so given it was a Sunday and the date was numerically aligned & significant, a perfect day for silence and reflection. I did receive two phone calls according to my phone records but other than that, I had nothing physical to contribute to the project. Still wanting to participate, I submitted a postcard with a 24-hour circular timeline with two small pie pieces marking the time of those phone calls as my contribution to the evening, "The Day I Almost Disappeared".
That evening, I discovered and was in complete awe of clips of this incredible crowd sourced documentary of everything that had been transpiring around me in the universe while I had essentially disconnected. While I was taking a brief and rare moment of silence and reflection, people from every country in the world were participating in the global film experience that is now the film documentary One Day On Earth.
The film is currently screening until June 28th at the Laemmle Music Hall 3 in Beverly Hills. After much excitement and anticipation to see the finished film, yesterday I finally experienced the final incredible connected documented journey of that One Day On Earth and highly recommend you experience the beauty of it for yourself. People from every country in the world documented and submitted footage on a variety of beautifully passionate topics from life to death including children, animals, nature, the environment, love, health, war, famine, politics, the economy, music, passion, and more. The film's Director, Kyle Ruddick was at the screening I attended yesterday for a question and answer session. For more information and to participate in future events, please visit http://www.onedayonearth.org/
So do you know what were you doing on October 10, 2010? Do your homework to figure it out and then go witness the film and experience all that was simultaneously connecting to you to life on Earth on that one day. It's perspective is collaborative, participatory and inspiring all in one moment.
I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. Please also show your support by sharing this information with others. Thank you. :)
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Connections
I first met Steve Connell early on a Saturday morning
when he and Sekou Andrews woke me up with words
by opening the LA Idea Project Conference with beautiful poetry in 2009.
I've been enjoying the truth, inspiration and energy of their Spoken Word ever since.
Steve speaks here about the real meaning of CONNECTION!
Love this!
Technology advancement has provided us with incredible instruments to share, connect and gain knowledge easily accessible at our finger tips. When I saw this I paused, humbly reminded that my grandma never had a cell phone or used a computer and our connection was deep, real and in person. The best and most rewarding & memorable experiences of my life didn't happen while browsing the internet, but while I was out enjoying the moment, fully present. Some of my best and most interesting friends in the world don't participate in online social media or even have Facebook accounts and one of the most important lessons I've discovered from the 140 character limit on Twitter is that brevity is not my forte. I've been procrastinating seeing one of those friends for a while now so this week I'm going to make time for her as well as turn off the distracting background noise for a night and make my playlist of 2011 favorite songs.
Stay connected without getting lost.
Thursday, January 19, 2012
A (wo)man travels the world over...
Photo Credit: Vanessa Gibson
Sunday, January 8, 2012
Creating My Vision for 2012
2012 has just begun and I'm very excited about the upcoming year. Embarrassingly late, I finally purchased my 2012 Franklin Covey Planner in the style/size that I prefer yesterday and am making my plans for the month and year. I think it's amusing that my refills for 2012 were sold out at most of the stores until yesterday and I had to compromise my usually well-organized life until I finally found one copy at Staples in Hollywood yesterday. Apparently my organizer is very popular. Next year I'll remember to order it online in advance (October To-Do) and avoid days of chaos and scratch paper.
I personally maintain balance and organization throughout the year best by writing things down. Years of experience managing multiple people, projects and priorities has taught me, If I don't write it down, I don't do it. Now I love technology that keeps me organized but it actually became tedious to manage multiple online organization system resources (including Outlook, Google Calendar & Tasks, Blackberry, etc.) some of which only worked if I was logged into that particular program on that particular computer. Then one sad day my Blackberry crashed and I lost important irrecoverable data (with the best of intentions I didn't find or make time to backup my phone as often as necessary) and I decided that going forward I wanted to keep all of my important goals, ideas, appointments and to-do's recorded in one place that could move with me throughout the day, eliminating duplicate work and saving me time (my most valuable resource). The 2-page per day Franklin Planner has always been my most effective way to manage multiple life priorities at once. My approach to determining what will be in my calendar each year is a bit unique as explained here. I hope you find these ideas informative and helpful.
VISION CARDS
Four times each year, I sit down and brainstorm add to a list I created years ago called Vision Cards (flashcards work well). It's a simple one-word-per-card list of things I love including my highest priorities, values and joys in life. Once I've run out of ideas, I divide the Vision Cards into the following Life Categories:
It is important yet challenging to maintain balance between different areas of life. I use this system to get a better sense of my long-term goals, values and priorities in each area of life. I then honestly rate myself in each Life Category using a simple Green/Yellow/Red system. Green is good. Yellow is o.k. Red is bad. This helps me to prioritize where I most need to focus my attention. If I'm confident that I'm "Green" in a particular category, I may not spend as much time attempting to make change in that area if I have another "Red" area that truly needs more of my time and attention.
Aware that time limits the amount of goals I can focus on accomplishing in any given time frame, the next step in the process is to break each category's goals down into three specific and actionable things to accomplish over a period of time with a start and end goal date. This changes based on what the highest priority items are for that period of time and how long each goal will take to accomplish. I attempt to be realistic, specific and action-oriented when I set these goals always including one or two larger-than-life goals that I know will be more challenging. This keeps me interested by challenging myself to push the limits beyond what "I think" I can accomplish.
I keep a copy of my goals for each area visible in my organizer, reviewing them as I make my daily plans to stay on track. I also review my vision cards each quarter to track progress, adding items as I complete things and/or as my needs/values/priorities change. Not every area requires daily or even monthly focus. For example vacation/travel is usually limited to certain times of the year. In general, any more than three goals at a time in each area becomes overwhelming and I find I'm less likely to stay focused and on target.
Next, I create a schedule of daily/weekly/monthly routines to accomplish these goals that I add to my planner daily. It works best when I review/write my list first thing in the morning and review/write it again right before bed. I add to-do items/brainstorm ideas/notes from meetings to it all day long so it is usually not far from my side.
I have two additional cards that are my personal rules guide. The first one says, "DO EVERYTHING to the best of my ability... no matter what it is!" and the definition to Areté: being the best you can be, reaching your highest human potential. The other rule I've created for myself is, "Say NO when an activity/person does not fall into one of these categories/priorities."
If I am struggling with a particularly challenging goal, I will maintain an awareness that this may be an area of weakness for me, ask for feedback and support from friends, family and other resources and attempt to continue to keep that goal on the list until I accomplish it. Whatever it takes as long as I never give up!
One of the many commitments I've made towards progress this year count is to replace a few of my bad habits with good habits. Changing habits is a difficult thing for all of us. I googled "how to change a habit" and am committed to making my own plans using the techniques in The Habit Change Cheatsheet: 29 Ways to Successfully Ingrain a Behavior. I will be writing down my plans this evening.
I hope that by sharing some of my successful organizational strategies throughout the year, I may help you to accomplish your goals and commitments as well. Whatever your plans for 2012, I am wishing each and every one of you to have love, peace of mind, good health, and prosperity in this new year. May your day and year be bright!
I personally maintain balance and organization throughout the year best by writing things down. Years of experience managing multiple people, projects and priorities has taught me, If I don't write it down, I don't do it. Now I love technology that keeps me organized but it actually became tedious to manage multiple online organization system resources (including Outlook, Google Calendar & Tasks, Blackberry, etc.) some of which only worked if I was logged into that particular program on that particular computer. Then one sad day my Blackberry crashed and I lost important irrecoverable data (with the best of intentions I didn't find or make time to backup my phone as often as necessary) and I decided that going forward I wanted to keep all of my important goals, ideas, appointments and to-do's recorded in one place that could move with me throughout the day, eliminating duplicate work and saving me time (my most valuable resource). The 2-page per day Franklin Planner has always been my most effective way to manage multiple life priorities at once. My approach to determining what will be in my calendar each year is a bit unique as explained here. I hope you find these ideas informative and helpful.
VISION CARDS
Four times each year, I sit down and brainstorm add to a list I created years ago called Vision Cards (flashcards work well). It's a simple one-word-per-card list of things I love including my highest priorities, values and joys in life. Once I've run out of ideas, I divide the Vision Cards into the following Life Categories:
- Spiritual
- Home and Family
- Relationship
- Health
- Financial Freedom
- Career and Business
- Friends
- Vacation/Travel
- Hobbies
- Contribution to Larger Society
It is important yet challenging to maintain balance between different areas of life. I use this system to get a better sense of my long-term goals, values and priorities in each area of life. I then honestly rate myself in each Life Category using a simple Green/Yellow/Red system. Green is good. Yellow is o.k. Red is bad. This helps me to prioritize where I most need to focus my attention. If I'm confident that I'm "Green" in a particular category, I may not spend as much time attempting to make change in that area if I have another "Red" area that truly needs more of my time and attention.
Aware that time limits the amount of goals I can focus on accomplishing in any given time frame, the next step in the process is to break each category's goals down into three specific and actionable things to accomplish over a period of time with a start and end goal date. This changes based on what the highest priority items are for that period of time and how long each goal will take to accomplish. I attempt to be realistic, specific and action-oriented when I set these goals always including one or two larger-than-life goals that I know will be more challenging. This keeps me interested by challenging myself to push the limits beyond what "I think" I can accomplish.
I keep a copy of my goals for each area visible in my organizer, reviewing them as I make my daily plans to stay on track. I also review my vision cards each quarter to track progress, adding items as I complete things and/or as my needs/values/priorities change. Not every area requires daily or even monthly focus. For example vacation/travel is usually limited to certain times of the year. In general, any more than three goals at a time in each area becomes overwhelming and I find I'm less likely to stay focused and on target.
Next, I create a schedule of daily/weekly/monthly routines to accomplish these goals that I add to my planner daily. It works best when I review/write my list first thing in the morning and review/write it again right before bed. I add to-do items/brainstorm ideas/notes from meetings to it all day long so it is usually not far from my side.
I have two additional cards that are my personal rules guide. The first one says, "DO EVERYTHING to the best of my ability... no matter what it is!" and the definition to Areté: being the best you can be, reaching your highest human potential. The other rule I've created for myself is, "Say NO when an activity/person does not fall into one of these categories/priorities."
If I am struggling with a particularly challenging goal, I will maintain an awareness that this may be an area of weakness for me, ask for feedback and support from friends, family and other resources and attempt to continue to keep that goal on the list until I accomplish it. Whatever it takes as long as I never give up!
One of the many commitments I've made towards progress this year count is to replace a few of my bad habits with good habits. Changing habits is a difficult thing for all of us. I googled "how to change a habit" and am committed to making my own plans using the techniques in The Habit Change Cheatsheet: 29 Ways to Successfully Ingrain a Behavior. I will be writing down my plans this evening.
I hope that by sharing some of my successful organizational strategies throughout the year, I may help you to accomplish your goals and commitments as well. Whatever your plans for 2012, I am wishing each and every one of you to have love, peace of mind, good health, and prosperity in this new year. May your day and year be bright!
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