I need to raise a glass! A cocktail glass full of a strong espresso martini!
Today is the day that I finally launched the digital planner that I first realized I needed to create 5 years ago!
And I realized that I needed to say something about ideas. All the ideas that ever was and every is have already been ideated. The only thing left is for us to uniquely execute the idea. The uniqueness comes when we put our own spin on an idea – that’s the easy part! But execution is where perfection and fear can get in the way! And it’s the fear and perfection that prevented me from executing!
Suffice to say – we should keep practicing the execution. Because success comes from 10% of an idea and 90% of execution!
I just logged into my blog and saw that I have a dozen or so posts sitting in drafts! I know we are in the age of 150 characters and dizzy transition videos…but I love long form media just like I love my spring bound planner and books from the library. So I’ll keep blogging until the internet is taken off line LOL
Today was mothers day and I for some reason was feeling exhausted. So a little story time. I’m still recovering from this crazy thing that’s taken over the globe. Two areas I’m trying to get back to base level are my workouts and my mental concentration. I’m giving myself grace but lets just say that 2km is the most I can do and skipping journalling for scrolling mindlessly are what I’m trying to work through.
Well I took it a little easier with February and decided on a fiction read that I knew was already streaming ;)
Little fires everywhere by Celeste Ng
Usually when I start a book, it takes me a few pages or at least a chapter before I start to connect the dots and actually start to “listen” (read: pay attention) to what’s going on. Which means I don’t always get the story line right away. I also didn’t follow the story until Moody was watching Pearl from afar after biking to her new home. What really drew me to the story initially was Mia’s story line. I loved that she is a mixed media artist and a photographer in the truest sense. This book was full of little twists and turns but in a way that wasn’t too abrupt or aggressive. Seeing the juxtaposition between privilege and humble family lives was both lovely and painful. I enjoyed how the author made little links between Mia and Elena’s life (as mothers, women creating careers/pursing their life’s work and as humans living a traditional and not so traditional North American life). Another small detail I love about this book – it’s set in the 90s!
In my head I imagined Mia/Pearl to be Asian (in the book their race is unspecified but not in the show adaptation). And it wasn’t until we learn that Lexie is in an interracial couple that I noticed that race was an underlying theme of the book. I really appreciated that the novel talks about race, biases and the way a community my think they are “doing better” than the rest of the world/country.
If you need a weekend read or a vacation read. Or just a break from the business/strategy/self development books (like me) I would definitely suggest picking this book up!
I’ve been trying to read 20+ pages a day which has really helped me to read more efficiently. And because of that I managed to finish 2 books in a little over a month! I’m trying to diversify what I read because I’ll normally read business/strategy/career books and get bored and not want to read for a while. Or read thriller/suspense/fiction one after another and then I feel like I’m consuming without learning anything. So to prevent that – I switch it up (ie: thriller, followed by business, followed by fiction, followed by self growth, followed by thriller etc). It’s a good way to stay motivated and the habit of reading a certain number of pages of day helps too! Read on to see my reviews :)
How Women Rise by Sally Helgesen and Marshall Goldsmith
This book had me nodding in agreement throughout! The authors present 12 habits that women specifically do to serve them well earlier in their career – actually end up holding them back when they further their career. What I really like about this book is that they talk about women-specific behaviours that I’ve learned also learned from other sources (like women not speaking up for their accomplishments). The peer reviewed sense of it really made me feel like these things I do are common to all women and I shouldn’t feel bad. More specifically, the habits of building relationships and never leveraging them or try to be perfectionists – I was immediately able to see the habit in me and other women I knew. With each habit, the book provided an example and actions to overcome it. A great book and something I will reference and read again.
This book is about a close knit community and the strange things they know about one another and the efforts they go to preserve what they believe to be the truth about their neighbours. The story reads well and although I wouldn’t say it’s a page-turner, it was definitely something that kept me engrossed. Harper’s roommate is sentenced to 20 years in prison for a crime. But her conviction is overturned which sends all of her accusing neighbours into a frenzy (and against Ruby). Including Harper, who although believed Ruby to be innocent, but now wants to remain on the inside with her community. There are twists, turns and random pieces of information that don’t necessarily add to the story but are still interesting info about the characters. Definitely a great vacation ready! *fingers crossed* we’ll be able to take vacations this year ;)
If you can’t get to the entire post, I’d like to highlight the following
Vision boards are great tools to help you conceptualize and work towards your goals
Even though I’m posting this on the last day of the year, #VisionBoards can be created ANYTIME (of the year) you need an extra boost of motivation
Scroll to the bottom for the FREE download!
I’ve been a big proponent of vision boards for a long time – and still am!
I’ve created them yearly (sometimes several times in a year) and find them to be a great way to focus and hone in on my goals.
I believe in them so much that I’ve got my girls in on it. I want them to know what it feels like to both be strategic and reflective when it comes to goal setting. I want them to know what it feels like to reach milestones and accomplishments they set for themselves. I also want them to know that getting to those goals, doesn’t happen overnight – and what progress feels like.
Also want them to know what it feels like to be internally driven. Not told to do something because the school system, an adult, society or their friends etc have told them to do something. And although yes, I do give them some guidance – I really ask that they think of the specifics around the goals. The journey throughout the year is really amazing. They consistently view their board, talk about it with me or between themselves and find ways to make their dreams a reality.
I’m so glad I introduced them to vision boards early. I only learned about them as an adult so I’m still learning and right now, I’m pivoting as well. So two things of note:
I’m currently perusing the book #FutureBoards for more inspiration and knowledge
I’m taking on a different approach where instead of doing a vision board for the entire year, I create a vision board for a month or a quarter
Creating a vision board doesn’t need to only happen at the start of the year
Some tips I’ve started to use when creating my vision boards are:
Come up with a goal statement and write it as if you’ve already achieved it! (very empowering) Remember you can also have several goals in different buckets (Personal, Professional, Fitness, Family etc)
Next write out a detailed story of each goal – be as specific as you can. You really want to help your brain see in your minds eye and your heart feel emotions attached to achieving the goal. If you have a why statement you may find yourself leaning on or tweaking that as part of this exercise.
Break down that vision into milestones, 4 works really well because that can fit nicely into quarters of the year or weeks of a month.
Now with each milestone, figure out activities that will help you get there. As an example if you want to change careers you might have a milestone to apply to your dream job. Activities for that milestone could be to research companies that align to your values, update your resume and then apply to jobs. Milestones can have many activities, so try to keep it to three activities so as to not overwhelm yourself.
Now here is the best part! You can create a vision board based on the goal statement, goal story OR on the milestone activity! Like I mentioned above, I’ve always created the vision board based on the goal story (macro level based on what you want to accomplish in the year), but this time I’m creating it on the milestone activity (micro level based on what I want to achieve in each quarter of the year).
I don’t think there is any right or wrong way – I do think you have to try it out and see what works for you.
If you are planning on creating a vision board or set intentions/goals for the new year – enjoy! I wanted to share two motivational wall papers (for your phone and desktop wallpaper).
I’m a little rusty in coding/developing. It’s been 4 years since I last SQL’ed.
With all that said, I am building my skills. I am completing courses. I am learning and I am getting better with every action I take.
Just like I do every time I pick up my camera or lace up my asics.
x = ‘artist’ y = ‘athletes’ print (x + ” are not like ” + y + “. ” + x + ” cannot win gold. “)
txt = x + ” cannot ‘beat’ other creatives. “ print(txt)
txt2 = “an ” + x + “‘s craft is subjective.” print(txt2)
txt3 = x + “s create to connect to the people who need their energy. “ print(txt3)
txt4 = “Create in your way.” txt5 = “, show up, and focus on your unique brand of magic.”
print(txt4) print(“we are all ” + x + txt5)
Artists are not like athletes. Artists cannot win gold. Artists cannot ‘beat’ other creatives. An artist’s craft is subjective. Artists create to connect to the people who need your energy. Create in your way. We are all artists, show up, and focus on your unique brand of magic.
