Tag: Resolutions

Continuing Education – finding time is easier than you think

This blog is to all of the busy people out there that are entrenched in their day to day and think they have NO TIME left to continue to learn as they grow and age.  Well, you are wrong.  And I say this because I was one of those people for so long until I decided to join the masses and start listening to “Books on tape”.  Yes, I know that the word tape is null and void at this point, but I’m an old lady so hang in there with me and allow me to use “old terms” now and again.

At work, the leadership team was challenged to read a book to begin a new process of leadership and management to allow the company I work for to go to the next level, leaving the plateau we have hit in the dust.  Now, I love to read but reading for work and a business book at that, hard pass.  I just don’t have the time.  Nevertheless, it was a requirement so the time I would find.

I have many friends that listen to books on tape.  As they exercise, walk the dog, etc.  Now as a wife, grandma and mom, these times are usually accompanied with a spouse, kid or grandkid chatting it up about their day or the latest issue in their lives and I am not willing to give up these precious moments.  Reading in my spare time, is an activity I love but to be honest, I like to hold the book, physically turn the pages and do this in my pajamas under a blanket with a cup of coffee.  So how do I read this book and how does this relate to continuing education?

I subscribed to audible.  It’s a program with amazon and of all of the programs I checked out, this is the best and most affordable and allows me to a few options.  With my subscription (which is incredibly reasonably priced), I get monthly credits to download books.  I can add books to my wish list and I can keep them in my library.   Ok, this may all sound very “normal” to the younger generation out there, but this is what I really want to share..

I was picking my grandson up from school one day and my “Book on tape” was playing thru the blue tooth connection in the car.  He says to me, “Grandma what are you listening to?”  I smiled and said this is my homework.  To which he replied, “You don’t have homework, you don’t even go to school!”

Immediately a bell goes off in my head!  What a teaching moment for my little guy!.

“Sweetheart, grandma is listening to this book for work.  I want to keep moving up in my job and keep going further.  To do that, I have to keep learning and growing.  This is a book teaching me about leadership so I can help the others in my company grow as well.”

“Is it boring?” He asks.

I laughed and said, “Well, boring is a mindset.  I am listening to this and as I am, I am thinking about how it applies to what I do and how I interact with people. So, no not so boring.  Now if I was in a mindset of cooking your dinner, then this may be very distracting.  Much like you and your schoolwork.  It is hard to do your schoolwork when your friends are over, or you are watching a tv show.  But if you are focused on what the schoolwork is, then you may find it easier to understand and it may “stick” in your brain better.   So, as I was driving to pick you up, I chose to listen to this recording.  I just left work and that mindset was fresh.”

To my surprise, he asked if he could listen to it on the rest of our trip home.  I obliged.  And yes, he talked thru the whole thing.

My point here is that if you commute, if you take a lunch break, or even if you take shorter breaks during the day, these are all prime opportunities to grow and learn that do not take away from our busy life.  You may even find it refreshing.

Below is a link to get you started and a few book titles I have found interesting.  Enjoy and keep learning!

Books to check out:

  • Traction: Get a Grip on your Business
  • Good to Great
  • The 6-Minute Workday: An Entrepreneur’s Guide to Using the Power of Leverage…

As always, have a happy day! ~Mrs. Go To Girl

 

 

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Resolutions… Let’s lighten them up

We all have the best intentions when we make resolutions. Go to the gym more, eat better, get to sleep earlier, wake up earlier, make more time for family, save more money, even invest in the future. Almost every year they are the same. This year I want to put a little spin on our New Year’s resolution list and add some humor. Below is a list of some pretty hysterical (and maybe a little honest) resolutions to tickle your funny bone and start your New Year off with a smile!

  1. This year I will complete my New Year Resolution list I made in 2009!
  2. Not to go to the gym on a day that ends in Y
  3. I will do less laundry and use more deodorant
  4. I will remember my password because it makes the IT department angry every time I ask them to reset it.
  5. I will no longer consider an apple martini part of my daily fruit intake
  6. This year I will actually maybe kind of sort of eat better.

Enjoy!

By the way… when in doubt, January is a practice month and you can always start again in February! Wishing everyone a safe and very fun 2019! Always remember to laugh at yourself first! Life is short, don’t take it to seriously, no one gets out alive!

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You are responsible for your own happiness

I learned a long time ago that no one can MAKE you happy or MAKE you sad.  You in fact are responsibly for your own happiness and the way you feel.  Now, don’t get up in arms so quickly, finish reading with an open mind before you come up with a hundred scenarios to try and prove this statement false.  Yes, there are many, many many situations that are very very sad, even tragic.  And there are many many situations that are so filled with joy is can bring tears to our eyes almost uncontrollably.  Now I ask you, do these feelings last?  Do they last five minutes? Five days? Five years?  Because if they do, than maybe I’m wrong, maybe these are the things that make us happy and sad.

What I mean when I say we are responsible for our own happiness is just that.  I allow what others say and do to affect me negatively or positively.  Take the birth of a child.  If my friend has a baby, I may be filled with joy for their new arrival.  I may be filled with jealousy over wanting a little bundle of joy.  I may be filled with concern over their ability to care for the child, or for the child’s well-being in general should there be an issue.  None of these are brought on by the mother or the children they are all in my head and in my heart and I choose to feel them and think them.

Recently I lost a friend due to alcoholism, liver failure to be exact.  I chose to not be filled with sorrow though I was very sad.  I choose to embrace his memory and his struggle and use it as an example of what alcohol can do.  Share his story and move forward.  I think I would have a good reason to be very sad for a good length of time considering the back story on my particular friend and the situation,  but again…. I am responsible for my feelings and my thoughts.  This is my choice.

When I was a child and was angry or upset, my parents would ask me how long I intended to be angry.  At first I thought it was strange, but then it became normal behavior.  If I responded with twenty minutes, than for twenty minutes, they would leave me alone and let me sulk and be very very angry with them.  However, at the end of the twenty minutes, they would come to me and let me know my time was up.  It was time to change my outlook on the situation.  Now there were situations as I grew older that required full days or even several days of anger or sadness, but just the same, at the conclusion of my time frame, my parents would come back to me and check to see that my frame of mind had adjusted and let me know it was me responsible for my happiness and it was time to find that within me once again.

I watched a video this morning on this very topic.  It spoke of being responsible for your own happiness within a relationship (marriage specifically).  If you are not happy within and responsible for your own happiness, than you come to the partnership with an empty cup, constantly rattling it begging for someone else to fill your cup for you.  If you both come to the table that way, it is destined to fail.  If one of you comes to the table that way, it is destined to fail.

A partnership is defined as a relationship resembling a legal partnership and usually involving close cooperation between parties having specified and joint rights and responsibilities.  Notice the words “joint rights and responsibilities“.  JOINT.  Not part, not sum, not half-way.

Come to the table with your own joy from within.  Throughout your marriage there will be many peaks and valleys.  Sometimes you will pull 50% of the line and sometimes 70%, even 90%.  Just remember, there are days when your partner will be pulling the same amount when you are in a valley.  If you are responsible for your own feelings, it will make towing the line int he relationship so much easier.  As thought there is no anchor weighing you both down.

I hope you find your happiness within and enjoy your journey through life.  As always, have a happy day!

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What is a resolution?

Every year so many of us make a list of our New Year Resolutions.  What does this mean and what is the point?  I think I either need a better understanding, a change in perspective or a new list (and oh I love lists!)

First, lets define the word resolution.  According to Google, it is a firm decision to do or not to do something. Ok.  That being said, let’s define the word goal.  Again, according to Google, it is the object of a person’s ambition or effort; an aim or desired result.  Slightly similar, but I like goal better.  A resolution is a firm decision, thus not allowing for a stumble along the way and let’s face it, we all do that.  Maybe this is why not many of us succeed at resolutions.  A Goal is an object, a focus, sort of a light at the end of a tunnel, thus allowing you to fall as many times as you want as long as you keep going.

My point here, is that let’s make New Year GOALS this years.  I challenge you to make a list of things you want to accomplish this year.  Places you want to go, things you want to do, books you want to read, etc.  Make them realistic, budget minded and creative.  Write them down.  Hang your list up somewhere in your home where you will see it on a regular basis.  Mine will be hung in my bathroom.  My husband and I have been talking about making our list for a week or so now and thinking about the things we would like to plan for the new year.  He has a few items as do I that we would personally like to see happen this year and combined I think our list will make for a great 2018.

I hope this ignites a fire in you and your family for a creative and fun start to your year and helps to keeps the spirit of family, sharing and caring in your heart from 2017.  As always, have a happy day.

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Happy New Year!

I always get super sentimental this time of year… Goodbye 2017, hello 2018. Lessons learned. Friends made. Loved ones lost. Memories made. Here is my list (I do love a good list) of lessons/thoughts/memories/ I will keep close to my heart.

1. Always keep it simple and when all else fail go back to what you know… Back to the basics. It will always help you find your way to the right side of the road.

2.  Put a little of yourself and everything you do and the details really do matter.

3.  When seeking the opinions of others be sure to seek the correct ones. Don’t ask a professional ballerina how to fix a car just because she is your best friend. Everyone has a gift but not everyone has every gift. And remember that everyone will have an opinion, you don’t necessarily need it.

4.  Find the best in everyone. We all have bad days. I know I have and will. Love people despite your differences.

5.  Try new things. Even if it means trying food that touches!  You might just like it. You only get one shot at this life. Make it count.

6.  Smile often. It’s contagious. (But be careful, apparently so is the flu). Just the same, give hugs to your friends and family. You might just make their day.

Happy New Year to all of my friends and family. I Love You for being a part of my very strange beautiful roller coaster ride of a life. Thank you for loving my silly gypsy spirit.  As always, Have a Happy Day!

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