The trade-off of focusing so intently on a desired future state is that it distracts me from living in the Now. Once I decide something, […]
The Magical Mumbo Jumbo
Do you remember when the book The Secret came out? I was in high school when I remember the craze. Every time I checked the book out of the library for a patron I really just wanted to know what the secret was. One of my friends read it and loved it and tried to explain. But I didn’t get it. It sounded like magical mumbo jumbo and this from the girl who would do nearly anything to believe in magic.
Practicing Practice
I lead a monthly lunch & learn series at work for past graduates of our in-house leadership development program. It’s a discussion based program where I curate content – often a First Round article or Ted Talk – and we eat sandwiches and share our thoughts. It’s relatively well attended, though I couldn’t get any interest in the month I chose the theme diversity (the general squeamishness indicative of a bigger problem).
Pomodoro Technique
The more I try to cram efficiency into my days, the more I see how natural distraction comes to me. Even things like picking up a book and reading I’ll find myself getting distracted by thoughts before I pick up the book. As I wrote about previously, I’m interested in doing more deep work and decreasing my phone time every day. All in all, strategies like scheduling focused time, locking my social apps during the day, and shutting my office door occasionally have helped.
Writing Update: Progress is Progress
I’m making it a habit of writing about writing on Tuesdays. It’s been two weeks of writing at least a sentence of fiction every day. My accountability trick has worked since I’ve always written more than a sentence … the first one is the hardest. The last one is hard to pick so I’ll write another and another until I’m satisfied and the plot has moved another 200 words.
Writing Update: Hum Before You Sing
Writing check-in. Last week I made a plan to work on my fiction every day by writing at a minimum one sentence. I had hoped that one sentence would lead to more. The real barrier was beginning at all.
Creating a Personal Vision Statement
I am brave. I show up. I move forward. This is the introduction to my personal vision statement I created in May of last year. Prompted by work, this idea resonated strongly with […]