Tag: writer

The Perfect Reading Companion….

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We read to know we’re not alone

What is your favorite  activity when you grab that delightful book, and get lost in its world of Imagination? Barnes and Noble asked the question. Is it a cup of tea? Your pet? A cozy chair? Foreign? What’s your perfect reading companion?

Here I share  excerpts of those who enthusiastically shared their favs.

  • Rain, snacks, home alone, quiet
  • A cloudy or rainy day
  • Tea and chunky blanket
  • Dog, a blanket, and Earl Grey
  • My bed
  • Reading with a nice cup of ice tea
  • A warm blanket and the sound of the rain
  • A cosy chair with a cup of tea and a cat curled in lap
  • Coffee and comfy chair
  • Silence
  • Strawberry Milk and China Anne McClain
  • My couch
  • Relaxing music, PJs
  • Solitude
  • Rainy day by a fireplace
  • Wine, red wine

Be You…

It’s gonna be great! Excitedly he posted it on social media. Tentatively he waited, and waited, and waited. Hours later, no likes. Not a single one. Didn’t they understand why he posted it? Didn’t they get the picture? Angrily he tossed his phone…walked away, depressed.

How many of us are like that? We take vacations. Go to exquisite restaurants. Attend envious events. Then we share, share and share alike to show the world that “hey I’m worthy! You should love me! I’m important. Recognize this and give me the value I deserve! Like-my-stuff!!”

Living For What Others Value

Our society is in a bad state. So many are like that. We live for the value others place on us. We search for jobs, and work in careers that are attractive to others, yet we hate. We engage in relationships so others can envy us, yet we are miserable.

What we forget is that somehow society’s values have deteriorated. It’s common to see dirty news in the media just before an album, or movie is released. Infidelity sells.

Indeed sad.

Today I encourage you to be you. No one else is like you. Find the value in yourself. Do the things that bring you satisfaction. Don’t do it because you want to be recognized by others…be it family, friend, or foe.

Get out of your comfort zone. Do you. For sure, you’ll have no regrets.

Need help in making the move? Let’s connect.

Cheers!

What Inspires You?

Once a staff member fell seriously ill with a progressive disease. Apparently she hid it from most but as it progressed, it became more evident. Word finally reached me. That was when I called to tell her of the concerns raised by her co-workers. It was then that she shared her situation. It was grave… with a Crescendo of physical issues, she wouldn’t survive. I immediately jumped into action-mode to assist in the best way that I could.

In reflecting on the question “What Inspires you?” I realised that what inspires me is the ability to make a difference in the lives of others. Helping others inspires gratification. Here I share a brief synopsis from the perspective response of what inspires others.

  • The random people I meet and the random conversations that take place. It’s incredible what inspiration you can find from genuinely listening to people’s stories.
  • Lemon drops or just candy in general. Also pieces of jewelry but mostly necklaces. I have this sea glass necklace that’s inspired 2 stories already. If anyone needs inspiration I would suggest going downtown and just walk around and look at stuff.
  • Music lyrics inspire me. Sometimes a  certain sentence just sticks. Travel and nature and of course experiences .
  • Daily things around me.
  • Life
  • Mythical creatures, music, horror stories/movies, different people I meet and talk with.
  • Sparking a love of reading in kids and young adults.
  • Lines of Shakespeare and Emerson. Walking in nature. Autumn and Winter inspire with the scenery and feelings they give me…old things, antique shops, bookstores, leather-bound journals, maps, Fall evenings.
  • My friends, music, books, scented candles, and history
  • The inner and outer universe.
  • I find what if questions to be really useful.
  • Love and how it compels people like Rose looking for Jack at the bottom of the ship while its sinking. That’s love.
  • My weird perceptions of human nature and civilization
  • Pictures, people, and most of all moments in time.
  • Rain, grey skies, other art and gardens. Sometimes cats, animations or music
  • Everything. There is beauty and inspiration in all different things in life
  • Sound. the way you pour water into a glass, sons, the sound of the wind, the rain, etc.
  • Music, love, sadness
  • Struggle. Finding light in darkness
  • Stephen King
  • Current events
  • Humans and their flaws
  • Reading. Going to the bookstore.
  • Button poetry
  • Audience
  • Sweet misery
  • Ice cream and rainy days
  • I think nature. Happiness inspire me and says do something different for others.
  • Philosophy and knowledge
  • Fear of failure
  • Drawings
  • Dreams
  • Logic
  • Passion
  • Travelling
  • Anything creative
  • Strange occurrences
  • Challenge

What about you? What inspires you? Do share…wanna hear!

Cheers!

How To Plan Your Week: 9 Simple Steps

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I hate Mondays!

This is a common cry of many workers whose jobs are like a desert. A place that is dry and parched. A place that’s without hope. Indeed so many hate the job they do.

Why stay there? Why not take the steps to do something more satisfying that you can step out with a Shimmer of hope, and breathe ahhh…tis Monday! I love what I do!

Well the reality is that for most people that seems like a passing dream. Often there is so much to do that many go the Casual route. Wish it away! Get stuck …unable to do anything.

Need help? Here are 9 tips for those interested in their performance, as adapted from Joe Duncan’s list. This will help you plan your week.

9 Tips to Plan Your Week

  1. Look back on the past week and list everything you did well.
  2. Do the same for those areas that you think you can improve upon this week
  3. Think about the coming week. Set your expectations for your personal performance
  4. Write down the top 5 things you have to get done this week, and by what date and time you plan to get it done
  5. Next to each of the 5 points write down 3 points on how you are going to make them happen. Simple things will do. Don’t make it complicated.
  6. List the top 3 things you are going to do this week that will move your life forward in a big way. Consider, (i) who you can network with; (ii) your biggest income generating opportunity; (iii) identify one skill you can practice or learn to become more valuable in the market.
  7. Write down 2 things you will do every morning before you get ready for work, or for the day.
  8. What’s the one thing that you are going to do this week that will make you feel alive and that will make you feel the greatest sense of joy and accomplishment? This includes things like taking family somewhere nice for dinner; doing something for you (massage, exercise, other), or even just buying toys and giving them to the kids in a hospital
  9. Write it down. Plan it. Schedule it…make it a priority

Cheers!

Perfection Is The Killer of Dreams…

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Perfection is the killer of dreams

Perfection is the killer of dreams. Curious, one reader questioned it. I replied….

Perfection is a common factor with high performers. We try to make our tasks as ‘perfect’ as possible much to the demise of getting goals done. We do get them done but (like an Allergic reaction), after doing them over, and over, and over again; double checking and triple checking to ensure everything is in place. Our desire is to avoid a Cacophony of our work.

Meanwhile our competitors who do not care as much, often complete their tasks even with errors. The challenge is they sometimes are accepted giving excuses for ‘errors’.
My suggestion to high performers is to double-check and get it done especially when it’s an application or something where there are others vying for the same contract or position.

So stop triple-checking. Make it Viable…just get it done.

Cheers!

How To Plan Your Week: 9 Tips to Make it Easy & Practical…

img_4704

I hate Mondays!

This is a common cry of many workers whose jobs are like a desert. A place that is dry and parched. A place that’s without hope. Indeed so many hate the job they do.

Why stay there? Why not take the steps to do something more satisfying that you can step out with a Shimmer of hope, and breathe ahhh…tis Monday! I love what I do!

Well the reality is that for most people that seems like a passing dream. Often there is so much to do that many go the Casual route. Wish it away! Get stuck …unable to do anything.

Need help? Here are 9 tips for those interested in their performance, as adapted from Joe Duncan’s list. This will help you plan your week.

9 Tips to Plan Your Week

  1. Look back on the past week and list everything you did well.
  2. Do the same for those areas that you think you can improve upon this week
  3. Think about the coming week. Set your expectations for your personal performance
  4. Write down the top 5 things you have to get done this week, and by what date and time you plan to get it done
  5. Next to each of the 5 points write down 3 points on how you are going to make them happen. Simple things will do. Don’t make it complicated.
  6. List the top 3 things you are going to do this week that will move your life forward in a big way. Consider, (i) who you can network with; (ii) your biggest income generating opportunity; (iii) identify one skill you can practice or learn to become more valuable in the market.
  7. Write down 2 things you will do every morning before you get ready for work, or for the day.
  8. What’s the one thing that you are going to do this week that will make you feel alive and that will make you feel the greatest sense of joy and accomplishment? This includes things like taking family somewhere nice for dinner; doing something for you (massage, exercise, other), or even just buying toys and giving them to the kids in a hospital
  9. Write it down. Plan it. Schedule it…make it a priority

Cheers!