All I need to know in life I learned from Ice Fishing?
I had a great time learning how to ice fish with my 83 year old Uncle yesterday. I watched in amazement as he spent the better part of an hour in preparation for the big event, shoveling a path onto the lake, drilling holes in the ice, measuring the depth to the bottom of the lake to prepare the line and baiting hooks with maggots! Finally, we were ready to go and dropped our lines in, ready to catch the “big one”. After about an hour, and 12 new ice holes drilled, I asked my Uncle if we were ever going to catch a fish. He told me that he had no idea, and that all we could do was show up, be prepared and let the rest happen naturally.
As I sat in the beautiful sunshine, surrounded by pine trees on his private lake, I couldn’t help but ponder the truth in his words. While ice fishing, there clearly was nothing I could do to achieve my goal of catching a fish.
In fact, showing up and being prepared was all I could really do. How often is that true in the rest of our lives? When we attend a trade show, a customer meeting or a job interview, all we can really do is show up and be prepared and open to what happens next. So often we are disappointed in ourselves when things don’t go the way we had hoped, but the truth is the outcome was never in our control, only the “showing up and being present” part.
For the next major event in your life, I want you to focus on the parts that are 100% under your control, and NOTHING ELSE!! Make sure you are on time, looking your best, that you have planned out your objectives for the meeting, that you have the tools and equipment need to do your job (including a positive attitude). It’s the effort that really counts, and when we consistently improve our effort, we enjoy a greater probability of successful outcomes.
A Goal is a Dream with a Deadline
My kids are an endless source of learning and inspiration for me. Yesterday was just another example of that. My youngest son Brett is in second grade and he is very competitive. He decided to try to beat the prior year high score winner of the person who had read the most books during the school year. About a month ago, using the calculator on my Iphone, we figured out how many books per day he needs to read from now till the end of the school year to claim the number one spot. That number was three.
At his school they take online quizzes after they have read a book to make sure they thoroughly comprehended the story and to keep track of the number of books they have read. Every day, like clockwork, I get email verification of the three stories he has read. He is eating the elephant—one bite at a time—and making progress towards his goal.
Ironically, once we put forward motion into achieving the things that are important to us, there are unexpected benefits that we realize. For him, it was an award he achieved yesterday for reading the most books in his classroom, and in his entire school during the last grading period!
I don’t know about you, but I have spent the last month complaining about my post-holiday weight gain. Its now almost the end of January. If had followed his approach, I would have lost the weight I wanted to this month, instead of talking about it. Today, I will humbly acknowledge the lesson I have learned from a 7-year-old and put my goals into action for 2010.
Test your Jewelry-Q this month and win with BooJee Beads!
What’s your Jewelry-Q?
Well, why not find out and win great prizes, too?!? Answer daily jewelry trivia questions posted on http://www.BooJeeBeads.com/contest winners, then check for updates and winners on Twitter and Facebook, and read the “Question of the Day” right here on my blog, Behind the Beads.
Here’s today’s question:
Where did the tradition of the diamond engagement ring originate?
Just submit your answer by sending me a comment here on this blog, and you’ll be automatically entered to win! Be sure to include your name and email address, too, so we can contact all the lucky winners.
We’ll have a drawing each week of the winning entries, and each weekly winner will receive a special BooJee prize!
So dazzle us with your knowledge of jewelry and its traditions, and win! Be sure to join us all this month for the celebration!
Happy Holidays!
Kimberly Martinez
Business.Mom?
As you may be aware, I chose to live in Florida after I started Bonitas International but 95% of our business is based in a small town on the east side of Cleveland.
We have run the company virtually since its inception, on a business model we liked to call Business.MOM!
The concept was simple: like the dot com era, we have a company that is run based on technology. We are a global organization, infinitely scalable and we are about about delivering results. The difference for us is that we used the technology to enable people to have a job and a life…to be able to weave in the parts of life that don’t cleanly fit into your life before 9 or after 5. To hire talented, driven people into jobs that have measurable output and to hold them accountable for their results.
That approach enabled us to attract highly talented people across the US to join our team without the expense or consideration of relocation, both of which were probably not realistic for our young, cash- strapped company located in a market with a declining population base.
The model was successful and got us to the first million in sales just 3 years after we opened our doors, a feat achieved by less than 3% of women-owned businesses. Heck, it got us to $2 million as well…. But we have since centralized more jobs in Cleveland over the years most of our team is in one space now, and it has gotten to the point where I am frustrated by trying to run the business via Skype, GoToMeeting and WebEx! I am missing the ability to read the body language of my coworkers, the thrill that comes from pulling a group of people into a conference room, making a decision and watching its flawless execution. While I would consider myself a techno junkie, I miss the ability to feed off of human energy on a daily basis and I have decided to temporarily relocate to my Cleveland office for the next few months to try to rework our business model and take our business to the next level.
As a result, I have packed up my life and today I got on a plane with 3 kids, 11 bags and Toby, the family dog to temporarily relocate to my Cleveland office. To hell with the cyber world, I am looking forward to life in the human race again for a while.
The Engergizer Bunny isn’t human, is he?
As I started to type this, I got a pop up notice on my laptop that told me I was low on battery and I needed to switch to another source of power or risk shutting down completely. Ironically, I am writing this on a sun filled glorious morning sitting poolside at my home in Florida where I have come to recharge my personal batteries!
As an entrepreneur and a parent, it is extremely challenging to make the choice to find time for you.
Time doesn’t ever just “become” available. Like you, I often find myself weighing the priorities of how I should spend the next 15 minutes. Should I try to answer these last few emails or start packing the kid’s school lunches? Do I respond to the flashing red light on my telephone advising me I have new voice mail message or do try to finish up my past due expense reports? Sound familiar?
Creating time for you is a conscious act that many of us put off for too long. I know I often did. Personally, when my battery pack was empty and I still forged ahead on my power reserves, I became dramatically less effective. Stressed out, unenergized, and unable to manifest the positive vibes and confidence that is demanded in my role as a leader and a mother, I was significant less effective. About a year ago I decided to consciously create time for myself, and it has been life changing for me.
On trip down here, I was assisted with a heavy piece of luggage by a fellow airline passenger. After a bit of polite traveler small talk, I learned he had 4 kids and the oldest was 6 years old. I inquired if he had a lot of family in the area and he told me he didn’t. He then proceeded to tell me proudly that the children had NEVER had a babysitter. Now he looked pretty refreshed after his good night’s sleep at some hotel last night, but my mind could only wander to what his poor wife was experiencing. Does being with your kids 24×7 for every day of their life make you a better mother in his mind? How are they nourishing their marriage which has to feel the strain of no ability to interact without children around? How does his wife gear up for yet another day of wiping up spilled grape juice, changing diapers and comforting endless temper tantrums?
What I do know is that as I entered my home Friday night, I declared to my husband and my three kids that I was on vacation and Dad was totally in charge for the next week. I just finished my third cup of coffee listening to the sound of the wild parrots that live in the trees in my yard, and I am headed to the beach to look for dolphins before the little people I live with pop out of bed. I’m plugged into my power source on track to get a back to a full battery level. The kids Dad will do a great job of pouring cereal for breakfast, and life is good.
Oh, Thank Heaven?
ok- just had to pop around the corner to my local Hong Kong 7-11
convience store
Decided to pass on the chips- please note the flavor!
Please Note: To See Picture: Please Click- Read The Rest Link. thank you!
BooJeeBeads in a LifeTime Movie!!
We got a call from a woman working on the costumes for a Lifetime movie called “America” Two of our fashion boojee lanyards will be featured in the movie! We knew our BooJeeBeads are Stars– now the world will too!! Not sure of the airing dates but will keep you posted. See the styles here… http://www.boojeebeads.com/cart/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=106
And keep ruining them as college freshman!~
We start them as BABIES wearing those ugly lanyards!
“The All Aboard for Kindergarten program will offer a package of literacy materials to families with children who are entering kindergarten this year. The package includes a newsletter for parents with information and literacy-boosting activities, a poster of the 100 Books to Read in Kindergarten and an invitation for children to get a FVRL library card.” See full story here….
My God! Now I suppport reading with my three kids, but at age 5 they get a lime green shoelace? There has got to be a better way…….
When lanyards become historical relics
Unbelievable…A Lehman Brothers lanyard (ID card string) has been auctioned for $39 on ebay!
I guess the shoelace style lanyard does have some value to some users when it is a piece of history
