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Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! I'm so thankful for my amazing daughter and husband who bring laughter and joy to my life everyday. I'm grateful for my family and friends who give me so much love and support. I'm thankful for this wonderful life that I have--full of family, friends, time outside, eating good food, and the opportunity to choose what I want my life to be about--not everyone is so lucky. I'm thankful.

Monday, November 21, 2011

Decide what to be and go be it

That title is from a song by the Avett Brothers--it sticks with me.

I had a long phone chat the other night with one of my best friends in the world. She's living in Tokyo right now so between kids, life and the time difference it can be really difficult to connect. After talking with her I felt re-energized and refocused. It was good to talk about our lives and talk about my goals and dreams, out loud, with her. I created this blog as a way of vocalizing my goals but sometimes it's even better to talk about them with the people that are closest to you. The feedback and response that I got from my friend helped me remember the bigger picture and reminded me that we're all on this path of trying to achieve our dreams and goals.

If you're feeling stuck give your friends a call. These are the people that you know best, know your strengths and weaknesses and are often your biggest cheerleaders. We all need input, help and support.

Friday, November 18, 2011

More goals

So I've decided that my new short term goals need to focus on where I'm at right now. My goals should be focused not so much on building my resume but making a difference right now in my job. So I'll work to be best I can be right where I'm at with the intention of making a difference.

I'm working on having faith that I am where I am supposed to be according to the Universe's plan. I definitely doubt that often but since I can't predict the future I want to have faith in the present. I think I've narrowed my path and goals over the past few months in a way that is beneficial. I'm not sure what the end result will be but I'm trying to keep my eye on the prize and it helps me to set short term goals so that I can see actual progress.

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Here and now

I needed some inspiration today. I'm feeling in a bit of a lull after all of the excitement of the past few months. I haven't taken the time in the past couple of weeks to sit down and identify new short term goals for myself. Taking the time to write down short term goals is critical for me--it helps me stay focused and on track toward the greater goal--professional fulfillment and challenge.
 

I went to Oprah's website and looked at some of her "Lifeclass" lessons for some inspiration and found this:
 
"Do you have an "intention statement" for your life? If not, write one now by answering these two questions: 1) How do you want this world to be different because you lived? 2) How do you want to be different because you lived in this world?"
 
Here's my response:

I want this world to be more just, more compassionate and focused on intentional living, being mindful of how today's decisions affect tomorrow with regard to the environment, money, children, energy, relationships. 

I want to be more compassionate, patient, kind and generous because I've lived in this world. I want to put energy into the world that is positive rather than reactive or negative.
What do you think? What's your response?

Thursday, November 10, 2011

Excelling where you're at Day 22

While I'm on a pursuit to define my calling and hopefully readjust my professional situation to better suit that calling, it's important to be present and excel at my current job. There's always a lot to learn and while there are real challenges to changing the status quo I'm going to do my best to be excellent where I'm at and work to pursue goals that would be beneficial to my community.

It's not always easy but I think it's important to maintain motivation, excitement and excellence even when you're not exactly where you want to be. We'll see how this goes--some days are better than other, as always.

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

What's next?

Most of the projects that I've had in the works for the past few months are completed. I've accomplished a few goals and a few others didn't happen. I think I'm closer to my true path but I feel my momentum slowing a bit. What's next? I think I need to reevaluate and establish new goals and benchmarks.

At this moment I'm not quite sure what the new goals and benchmarks should be. Reviewing my overall goals and thinking about where I want to be based on what I've learned over the past few months should be helpful. For me writing everything down allows me to think it through and often gives me better insight than when it's just rambling around in my head.

I want to keep up the momentum and energy I've had for the past few months. Short term goals seem harder for me than long term goals. The shorter goals are often more tangible and require quicker action which makes them seem harder to accomplish sometimes.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Monday, November 7, 2011

Taking a breath Day 20

The past few weeks have been really busy with work, a trip and all the other everyday life stuff. This past weekend was a quiet one at home. The weather was grey so we cooked, rested and played--it was great. I didn't spend a lot of time thinking about *big* life stuff--I just tried to enjoy the little things--dinner with friends, swimming with my daughter and napping.



Although pursuing my calling is one of my primary focuses right now it's good to take a break. I needed to reset myself and my rhythms. Every day and every minute cannot be about pursuing the calling--sometimes it's nice just to read a magazine or mindlessly bake muffins.

I made some tasty carrot raisin muffins from a recipe my neighbor gave me. Here's the recipe:

1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cloves
1/2 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs
1/2 cup honey
1 1/2 cups finely shredded carrots
1/4 cup orange juice
5 tablespoons melted butter
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup raisins

Preheat oven to 400. Whisk together dry ingredients. In separate bowl mix eggs, honey, carrots, orange juice, butter and raisins together. Let the wet ingredients stand for 10 minutes (this allows the raisins to soak up some of the moisture). Add flour mixture to wet ingredients, along with walnuts and mix until just combined. Spoon into greased muffin pan. Bake 15 to 18 minutes.

Friday, November 4, 2011

Maximizing Opportunity Day 19

I would describe myself as a bit of a shy person. Whenver I go to conferences I always feel uncomfortable introducing myself to new people and "networking" at the social events. I never know what to say! Since I've been working to create new opportunities for myself I've realized how important it is to network or ask the people that you know for help. It's not my strong point but I'm working on putting myself out there in different ways in the hopes of opening up new opportunities.

Photo courtesy of Xavier Fane

I've applied to participate in projects, contacted publications trying to get my work included and contacted people that I know peripherally in the hopes of making things happen. Here's the thing--it seems like it works. It's the whole "ask and you shall receive." If you never ask the question or put yourself out there, how would anyone know what your interested in or that you're available? I have to say though, email makes all of this a lot easier. It's much easier to send off a quick email to someone you sort of know than to call them. Maybe it's cheating, but it's pretty standard for our times.

I'm still not sure I can go to a conference and network but maybe that will be my next challenge!

Thursday, November 3, 2011

Following the clues Day 18

We are each getting little clues all time about our calling. I've been searching out several different paths but my little clues have been refocusing my attention on my current profession. I read somewhere that most people are generally in the right field but are often just in the wrong niche within that field. I think that's about right for me. There are many aspects of my current profession that I enjoy but I think a slightly different approach may better suit my skills.


I've been doing a bunch of writing lately, some work related and some on a freelance basis. I'm learning that I have a skill set better suited to some audiences than others. It's a great realization and a small but significant shift in my path. So I'll readjust my path a bit and refocus my energy.

I've found that I've gotten positive reinforcement and feedback in the opportunities that I've pursued within my current field, rather than those outside of my field. This helps me to modify my path enough to figure out how I can incorporate some different elements into my current field to better reflect my skills and interests.

Are you working in a field that is your calling?

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Believe in yourself Day 17

What I took away from my trip last week was that we all doubt ourselves and we are our own worst critics. One of the other consultants on the trip had more experience on some issues than me but she was just as nervous when we had to give our big presentation. We all worry about measuring up but I think we forget that everyone around is in the same boat and probably not paying nearly as much attention to us.




I'm working on being confident in my skills and abilities while at the same time completely open to learning from others.