Do You Have the Opportunity to Do What You Do Best Everyday?

To help you uncover your talents, read the book and take the online assessment provided in "Strengthfinders 2.0" a popular (small, easy to read) management book. It changed the way I look at myself.

Now I know what my strengths are and what makes me happy - so I try to spend most of my time working to those strengths. I will NEVER be good at some things I hate doing, so why bother (a little different philosophy than what some people have. They may say, "keep doing what your not good at so you will get better." I say NO WAY, Not if you hate it).

I absolutely love learning/discovering new information. I also am mesmerized when it comes to talking about new technologies and ideas. I love sharing what I learn. I think the reason I love reading my nieces blogs is because I am uncovering new information and I can give advice (sometimes by using new technologies or ideas). I am actually giddy with excitement when I learn new information from one of their blogs or just talking to them!

It can be something simple...I didn't know raw milk did not keep well in plastic, but lasts much better in glass. Wow! I didn't know there were all these new age baby stuff (like cloth diapers) that people are using again. As long as I am learning, I am in seventh heaven.

Well, I am going to have some dinner...maybe I will add more to this later. AND, I will send "Strengthfinders 2.0" to anyone in my family who asks for it.

Signed,

Work to your strengths and your power will be never ending. You can always hire someone to do the other crap.

I am so glad to be "home"

Milwaukee was a mess this morning. A few inches of wet, slushy, slippery snow and I drove 8-32 mph all the way to work. Backend of my car fishtailed every time I VERY gently stepped on the gas.

My flight is always late, going or coming. Tonight we were supposed to leave at 4:45 and I think we finally lifted off at 5:30. Plane is always packed to the gills.

I was glad to get home to Brandy & Dave's tonight and chat with them, then crawl into "my" bed for about the last time. It is actually Allie's bed and Bailey and Allie will be moving into their own apartment Feb 1, so I will lose my comfy twin bed. I have had plenty time to get a new bed. Guess I will check out one of these mattress factory places in a couple weeks.

Anyway, it was really good to get back to Minneapolis tonight and talk to family.




Milwaukee Art Museum
http://blog.aia.org/favorites/2007/02/59_milwaukee_art_museum_quadra.html

"Daily" thanks

Almost every day I change my note on my blog picture to say what I am thankful for. I was thinking, I should save all these little notes somewhere.

Today, I am thankful for quality dress socks that:

1. Do not roll down while walking and become a lump under the sole of my foot,
2. Do not come out of the dried looking like a linty towel (yes, some of my socks startedlooking that way),
3. Look good...like have a herringbone pattern and compliment those new pebble leather, black, thick soled, high heeled, excellent quality, and comfortable shoes I just paid an arm and a leg for.

Well, I better get my butt in gear, I have to drive to work!

(I am feeling a little tired, I was busy last weekend and will be busy at the museum board meeting this Saturday...then drive back to Mpls Sunday for another flight. I have already started dreaming about a late Saturday morning in bed).

It's Saturday - goals

Ok, I am home and it is Saturday. I am going to focus on some of my goals today.

HOME: #4. Do a good Saturday AM cleaning

HEALTH: #13. Exercise for (20-30) consecutive minutes. I think combining that with cleaning will be satisfactory!

HOME: #2. Redecorate my bedroom. I will order my bedding and curtains today. AND some new towels for the bathroom.

COMMUNITY: I plan to have a meeting with the Museum Director in Perham, I have to pull together my materials for the Board and get her continued input/vision. This will support my mission:

My Mission: To do good. Family, friends, co-workers, company, community and self.

Yahhooo! It should (will) be a good day. :-)

I also had to add this:

If you don't know where you are going, you will probably end up somewhere else.
~ Laurence J. Peter ~

Do What You Love...some books of interest.

Here are some books about doing what you love.

This post is for several people in my family who are seeking new jobs.

(I am just fine, in case my boss reads this!)

All are from Amazon, "Get a Life, Not a Job" was very highly rated.

"Do What You Are" would be one of my first choices.

"I Could do Anything, If I Knew What it Was" looks really good too.

http://www.amazon.com/Do-What-You-Are-Personality/dp/0316167266/ref=pd_rhf_shvl_1

http://www.amazon.com/Work-Passion-What-Love-Living/dp/1577314441/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1295582495&sr=1-1

http://www.amazon.com/Its-Only-Late-Dont-Start/dp/0440507189/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1295582537&sr=1-1





http://www.amazon.com/Get-Life-Not-Job-Talents/dp/0137058497/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1295582586&sr=1-1#_

http://www.amazon.com/Get-Life-Not-Job-Talents/dp/0137058497/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1295582586&sr=1-1#_



http://www.amazon.com/Could-Anything-Only-Knew-What/dp/0440505003/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1295582786&sr=1-1

Excited

My niece Karen asked what we were excited about today, so here goes.

It always excites me to learn new things. I am at a new client in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. I don't see much but gray skies and gray snow and gray buildings, but I am still excited about learning new systems, people and processes.

Artistic talent excites me. Last night on my way home, the sky was brilliant dark blue and the moon appeared full (and the snow appeared white instead of gray!) I thought of Jeremy's girlfriend Trisha, who takes such beautiful night/evening/morning nature pictures. I hope she gets a real good camera so she can take more pictures...I would love to have a collection of framed photos from her and my granddaughter Amber (as well as some art from Britney, it is so unique. She doesn't realize her talent and potential!!) Katie is going to art school and doing well. So much talent in this family. It makes me excited to know so many young members of my family have this wonderful artistic potential.

Will these family members follow their dream? Will they do what they love? Do they KNOW what they love to do and what makes them happy?

Ups and downs - random thoughts

In a few hours I will get up from bed. Get on a plane. Go up in the air. Come down again.

Ups and downs. Life is like that. Hopefully more ups than downs.

When life throws you a downer, what can be done? Persevere. Maybe occasional, hopefully brief, periods of downers are part of the payment for having many, many UP days.

It's an old cliche, but life isn't perfect. Sure wish it was. Wish every day was gloriously happy, successful and without a care.

Maybe think of it in percentages. My (life/day) is 90% great. :-)

What am I REALLY interested in?

This morning as I sit here listening to Valley News Live and getting blasted with new info on internet sites I am subscribed to, I asked myself: "If I created a new "large audience" blog, what would it be about? What am I REALLY interested in?

Well, the answer is not easy. I am interested in pretty much everything. Especially anything new. New technologies, new tips, new discoveries: from 34,000 year-old skeletal remains in the Gobi desert to tips on how to fool your computer from going to sleep (i.e., overcoming your paranoid IT department settings).

It made me think. What about a new blog that just provided 2-3 sentence tidbits with links to weekly NEW discoveries in (5?) key areas:

1. TECHNOLOGY


2. TRAVEL


3. FOOD


4. SCIENCE


5. MEDICINE


6. OTHER

Maybe that is too broad. I am mostly interested in technology. I will keep thinking about this.

Affirmations

The belief that repeating affirmations to achieve goals has been around for a long time. I do believe in affirmations, but I also believe the subconscious is insidious ... and can turn success into failure much faster than it took to be successful.

I recently read an article that spoke to this. Liping Feng, Ph.D. has been practicing different kinds of meditation for more than 20 years. She is the founder of Sunlight Leadership Institute, the author of Bliss @ Work: mini meditations you can do anywhere. In a nutshell, she states:

• Find the right affirmation. The energy is in the phrasing. Use prayer or an inspirational quote from someone you admire. You will know if it is right if it leaves you feeling energized.


• Don't allow your affirmation to be canceled out by negative thoughts ("no way can you lose 20# by July"). To help your affirmation, do a 3-10 minute mediation daily.

"A 3 to 10-minute mini meditation works best with our busy modern lifestyle. There are many types of meditation to suit different personalities or different purposes: for visualizing what you want in your life, for releasing tension and stress, for increasing energy level, etc. If you have a meditation routine already, you can incorporate your affirmation at the end of your meditation, when your mind is in an open and peaceful state."

• She also writes that mediation & repeating affirmations is best done right away in the morning and right before bed .


• Finally, do it for 40 days...before you see results

I bet you have already done affirmations in order to achieve what you have already achieved. You may not have even realized it...but you repeated to yourself, "I will succeed...I will pass this class...I will be a better person...I will drink 60 oz of water today...hmmmhmmmmhmmmm"

Liping's article can be found here:

http://www.witi.com/wire/articles/191/Why-Some-Affirmations-Work,-While-Others-Don

Goal #15 - drink more water

Trying to get back to drinking 60 oz. or more of H2O each day. I believe I am close.


To help me accomplish this, I will:

• Keep a 20 oz. water bottle at my desk every day & drink at least 2 or more.
• 
  
• Continue to keep a 20 oz. bottle by my bed and drink about 1/2 to all of it during the night.
  
• Drink a glass of water 1/2 hour before meals.

Next week I will recap how I have done with this one goal. If I have managed to drink 60 oz. or more each day, I will give myself a star on GOAL #15.

I haven't been home to be able to do some of the homebody stuff! Plan to this weekend.

I am thankful for: Holiday Parties in January

Bruce and I have had a great weekend in the Cities - a birthday party for my 3 year old great-niece on Saturday, dinner with another niece that evening.

Tonight (Monday) we went to a holiday party my company gave at Osaka in Eden Prairie. Bruce looked smashing in his 4 button black suit, purple stripe shirt and purple, multi-color tie. Dang, I should have taken a picture. He doesn't dress up that much any more. DARN!! We should have had our pics taken for next year's Christmas card. Oh well.

We had a very nice time. Food was fabulous and our chef put on a great show with flashing knives, forks and sake being squirted into guests mouths....(we had several chefs and several tables/grilles flaming away).

I am grateful my company took employees and spouses out to such a nice dinner.

2011 Goal #3 - giving away clothes

Step One: Roseville. I cleaned out my Roseville closet and had one garbage bag of clothes, Brenda said she would take everything. (I couldn't bear to give away the 9 beautiful suits that are too snug because I stopped my ass at every DQ the past 2 years...but, that's another goal).

Step Two: Dent closet & dressers ... to be done.

2011 Goal: Redecorate my bedroom - phase 1

Colors: I love my burgundy reds, but it is time for a complete change. I love the two tones of blue I have in the basement, (slate and ocean blue) so I have pretty much decided to go with that. Ivory might be a nice accent, or chocolate brown, but I don't want to look too trendy. It needs to stand the test of time, 'cuz I do not redecorate very often.

Style: I like a modern, bold, geometric look.

Function: It cannot show cat hair, so I have liked my satiny burgundy quited comforter set. Therefore, my new set cannot be ultra suede or any fabric that animal hair adheres to. It needs to be satiny, without looking cheap.

Cost: I expect to spend $300 or less decorating (looking for sales!). I have plenty of paintings I can relocate and blown glass in blue tones...etc. I need to buy drapes too.

I have searched on a few sites (JC Penny and Kohls comes to mind), but I haven't found exactly what I want. Open to suggestions with links.

Pictures are from Amazon.com, and are only examples.

Collaboration: The fast path to success

I was just thinking...

Today I was able to redesign my blog, because of collaboration. Karen and I had a design challenge. Becky researched Blogger until she came up with a solution. Voila, we fixed it in just a couple days.

It makes me wonder...

What other successes will now occur because we will collaborate on even more challenges or goals.

Powerful.

Three things I am grateful for today

1. Husband. That my husband will be calling me, like clockwork, in one hour. We share our day. We tell each other "I love you...sleep tight".
2. Work. That I wrote 2 contracts for my company today for work in Milwaukee, WI that I will be doing with another co-worker from Salt Lake City.
3. Co-workers. That a kind co-worker called me today, shared a bunch of B.S., then read me Mother Teresa's guidelines for life. I really appreciated it, and passed it on to others.

5 Simple Steps to Happiness...

This is from Shawn Achor, author of the "Happiness Advantage" and founder of Good Think, Inc.

1) Write down three things you are grateful for each day. Added bonus: Do this in the morning for a preworkday boost.
2) Spend 5 minutes each day journaling about a positive thing that happened to you. Achor suggests being as specific as possible.
3) Meditate. Achor's firm encouraged employees as a software giant to take their fingers off their keyboards for 2 minutes each day and focus on their breathing. It works as a welcome break from our usual manic multitasking.
4) Perform one random act of kindness each day. Hold the door for someone, give your cab to a harried looking stranger, put an extra quarter in a soon-to-be expired meter - it feels good to help others.
5) Exercise. You don't have to spend the afternoon rock-climbing, just do what you can. the reasoning, says Achor, is that exercise creates a pattern and a belief that your actions and behavior matter - or, optimism, an important key to success.

Weird stuff-1

I saw the WEIRDEST thing coming home from the Minneapolis airport tonight.

I was on Snelling Ave. and an ok looking van next to me had crumpled up paper, newspapers and plastic bags COMPLETELY, TOTALLY obliterating the windows on the passenger side (where I was driving). It looked like the van was FULL of garbage. I wanted to take a pic, but my phone was dead. A sticker on the side of the van said "Adopt a homeless pet". There was more writing on the van, but I was so mesmerized by the garbage, I couldn't stop staring. ...insulation?

It was WORSE than this pic. http://www.boingboing.net/trashkar.jpg

If I won the Lottery...

On FB, Valley News Live asked yesterday, "What is the first thing you would do if you won the lottery?"

I responded:

I need to think bigger than the "first thing" I would do: First, I would be anonymous.

1. Pay all bills
2. Replace old rusty vehicles with new
3. Give kids an early inheritance
4. Support a local non-profit with a life gift
5. Give immediate family members a one-time gift
6. Set up a foundation to fund college for kids from Roseau County, MN
7. Invest for my life
8. Provide a yearly Easter gift to Salvation Army.
9. Travel with my hubby
10. Get a house cleaning service.
11. 0h, and have my hubby's garage insulated and wired.

Dante's Hell (AKA Minneapolis Airport)

Courtesy Mark Virkus - Toggl Blog

It's been awhile since I really did the "road warrior" thing, traveling weekly cross country for my job.  Although, traveling from Minnesota to Wisconsin is not in the same category...or maybe it is?

The Minneapolis airport is my version of Dante's Hell.  I arrived at 11 something for a 1:10 PM flight.  I had not checked in/printed my boarding pass (remind me to buy a printer for my place in Mpls!)  So, I am punished by standing in a long, snaking line of fellow, unhappy-looking passengers.  hundreds.  I knew I had made a mistake by not going online, checking in and printing my boarding pass the minute I entered Ticketing. (I won't go into deatil about the gargantuan labyrinth they call the parking ramp.  I just have to remember: Green, Floor 4, by the west? edge overlooking the abyss.  With no unique parking spot # ).  When I got to the first TSA employee who checks tickets and ID, he looked at me and says, "so, your plane boards at 12:30."  Underneath that statement was, "Why the hell didn't you get here at 4AM like all the responsible people?" 

I made my way through (I mean past) the Xray machines (I hate MN winter!) with my big coat, scarf, hat & gloves, sheepskin-lined boots, heavy suitcase (ONE suit in it...oh, and a laptop) and my briefcase/tote rapidly slammed into plastic bins to be examined for nitroglycerin, bomb materials, drugs and any objects that could be quickly carved into a weapon, or sharp object to open that bag of peanuts you get on each flight.  Oh yes, I had to pull out my laptop for yet another bin.  I FORGOT to pull out my see-through cosmetic bag.  Nevertheless, they let me through. 

Of course, MY GATE (G20) is at the VERY END of G concourse, about 1 mile from ticketing.  Now I understood why the TSA agent had a "bet you can't make it" look in his eye.  Red faced, flushed and dragging my carry on and huge coat, etc., I am glad to see they are still boarding for my (35 minute?) flight to Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

It all made me wonder, is TSA really concerned terrorists are headed to Milwaukee?

Becky's list of (40+) things to do in 2011

On FB Becky wrote she had created a "to do" list on her blog. Well, I am a curious person, so I popped over to check it out.  She had many simple things ... like adding photos to frames, keeping apartment cleaner...that I really needed to do myself.

You know, that got me thinking.  Why couldn't we have a virtual "to do list" party.  I am thinking out loud here.  It's all well and good to make a list, but you really need to put some dates to it.  What if a bunch of us created to do lists, all agreed to complete 1 action per week, then take a pic of our accomplishment to share or blog about it.  Would we be motivated to keep doing that?  Sounds kinda simple.  Now I am tired and starting to ramble.

I want Becky to succeed, and I have a bunch of stuff I want to do too.  Simple stuff I have been putting off. Getting rid of clothes in my closet/dressers.  Finishing putting photos on my family wall.  Buying some nice area rugs for basement and my office.  Re-organizing my office. LOSING WEIGHT.  Well, I will keep thinking about this.  Wonder if I can create a 2011 list that shows on the side of my blog like Becky has.  That looks motivational...'cuz she would see it every day.  Then, she crosses off each accomplishment.  Hmmm.

You know, life is so short.  There are so many exciting things happening, and that will happen...that I never will see.  Well, I will save that snippet for another day.

Snippets

Hello, fellow blogees or blog readers.

Well, I have missed my Xanga blog for quite a long while. Due to my nieces Becky and Karen's influence, I am back to blogging. Facebook cannot take the place of a blog, as it is meant for small notes, not long ramblings... [Large: Blog, Medium-small: Facebook, Small-tiny: Twitter...]

About Xanga: I googled my name and my Zanga blog popped up some time back - there it was, the entire blog (a few years worth) out for all to see...absolutely no security. But, it was delightful reading. It was rather instructive too, as I was challenged at a previous job, and documented overcoming that challenge.

Too bad I only had (2?) followers. I guess I have to come up with something fantastically interesting, besides my life, to get a lot of followers. I do recall I didn't really care, I just enjoyed that at least ONE person read what I had to say. Plus, writing my thoughts, observations and feelings was cathartic.