I first saw this on SwissMiss* and just had to share. If you click on the image, you can see a larger version.
* A flowchart by Wendy MacNaughton for a Forbes article on how and why to ignore your inbox.
I am all about finding great resources and building your success toolbox. And more often than not, I’m also all about sharing those resources with you guys.
Usually I do this over on the Success for Solopreneurs Facebook page (link) or directly on my business blog (link). I figured that since today is my birthday, that I’d share the gift that I offered up to my friends, fans and followers.
It might not e the sort of thing you’re into – you know, not being an entrepreneur and all – but if that is you’re thing, I do hope you enjoy it. And if you know anyone that could benefit from this great list of resources, feel free to pass it along and share the wealth.
Image: VintageAdBrowser.com
Have you ever had one of those days where you know you have work to do, you’re trying to get something done (oh, I don’t know, like a newsletter or a blog post…let’s just say), but you find your attention being pulled in 20 different directions?
Did you know there’s actually a name for that? It’s called Shiny Object Syndrome. And boy howdy do I seem to have it this week!
You see, it’s not quite ADD or ADHD where you can’t focus on anything longer than for a few moments. It’s more like while you’re trying to focus on a particular task, your mind gets pulled into another direction and then another. It becomes really frustrating when you have something that really needs to get done.
I’m set up for jury duty next week so I’m trying to get ahead on things like blog posts, newsletter articles and status updates and tweets for my business. But somehow, instead of focusing on the tasks at hand, I’m out there thinking about a whole bunch of other, non-business, non-task oriented things…
Oh Lordy!
Hopefully now that I’ve gotten all these raging questions out of my head I’ll be able to get back to work on the 3 other articles I’d like to write today before heading out.
click image to enlarge for more information
Ladies, there’s a new networking group in town for professional, savvy women and I’m honored to be a part of their “Let Them Eat Cake” ChickChat LA launch party on Wednesday, February 23rd.
It’s sure to be a decadent, French-themed soiree. And instead of feeling guilty for letting those New Year resolutions fall to the wayside, we’ll all be toasting the remainder of the year with wine, martinis, champagne, and of course…cake.
And because they believe that a woman can have her cake and eat it too, you’ll have the opportunity to Speed Network with Coaches (like avec moi!) who will help you create a plan for moving forward with your goals in 2011…or maybe they’ll help you find some better and more exciting goals 😉
Included in your ($40 door) ticket price are:
A portion of the proceeds from the evening will benefit Dress For Success. And anyone who brings a business/work appropriate belt to donate to Dress For Success will be entered into a raffle to win a Zune MP3 Player.
For more information About ChickChat LA and the Let Them Eat Cake launch party, click here.
Hope to see you there!!
by Peter John Chen
Well, I could whine and harp about how I’ve been so busy that I haven’t had time to blog in ages. But really, what would that accomplish?
Instead I figure it’s best to acknowledge that I’m by no means perfect (who is?) and just jump right back in and start blogging again.
And of course, now that I say I’m going to do that, I can’t exactly think of something pithy or witty to say. Go figure.
I have realized though that often times, we hold ourselves up to some lofty and crazy expectations. In my case, I recently decided to sign up for a ten week business program with a 2 hour+ weekly commitment.
I knew that this wasn’t the best time. I was already way behind in blogging (both personally and professionally) and I haven’t touched my newsletter in weeks. I was also just finishing up my Beyond Social Media Basics Intensive with immediate plans to redesign and relaunch the program.
On top of it all, I managed to book 4 out of town trips within an 8 week window. One of those trips is yet another business conference. And all the while I need to finishing putting the office back together (some might call it organizing, I’m thinking it’s slightly closer to breaking the pre-hoarding cycle).
And as could only be expected…I feel behind in the (10 week ) program that I paid some good money for.
I could beat myself up about this. But instead, I figured I might as well practice the fine art of imperfection.
I knew before I even started that I wouldn’t be able to keep up with it all. No one could.
So instead, I’ve decided to move at my own pace and be grateful for being able to do so. I have to say, once I decided to allow for this (and chose to not beat myself up), it felt like a weight was lifted off my shoulders. I’m no longer clenching my teeth. I feel more relaxed.
Which of course makes me wonder…why do we often hold ourselves up to such high and often stress-inducing expectations? Why can’t we just go with the flow and allow stuff…life…to just happen?
As Ieyasu Tokugawa reminds us, “Persuade thyself that imperfection and inconvenience are the natural lot of mortals, and there will be no room for discontent, neither for despair.”
That works for me.
I know I haven’t been around here much these past couple weeks, but we’ve had quite a bit going on. You see, we’ve been gearing up for the big layoff. We knew it was coming, and to be honest, we are quite excited about it.
And now it’s official. My husband is officially a socio-economic statistic.
Well, technically, it was official last Monday, but I was too busy running errands to say much about it.
Now both of us are working from home. Although for the past week, I basically spent most of my time trying to get things in order. I figure with the temperatures about to be on the rise and the hubs now working from home, I needed squeeze in one super good cleaning and do as much laundry as possible (still have sheets & blankets to do…hate the laundromat!).
On top of the basic household chores, I’ve been doing some shopping. I mean, FSA funds are use it or lose it, so you better believe we were using it! That’s a lot of doctor appointments to squeeze into two weeks. So I also spent a little time on Drugstore.com in their FSA store. Did you know that condoms and athlete’s foot treatment qualify for spending down those FSA dollars? Who knew.
Not to worry though. He knew it was coming (they all knew it was coming). His next project launches tonight!! Woohoo!
And presently (or at least until I’m done teaching this semester), my primary goal is to come up with lunch and dinner menus. We figure we spent a good chunk of our money eating out (together for dinners or alone for lunches), so the quickest and easiest way for us to save some cash from the getgo is to cook at home.
Now if only I knew what to cook. Or how to plan a menu.
Any suggestions? What’s your favorite at home, lunch item? What about dinner – what sort of easy recipes do you fall back on?
In particular…any killer ideas for leftover rotisserie chicken (we tend to eat a lot of rotisserie chicken here…especially when the triple digit days come and it’s just too crazy hot to even boil water).
In the meantime, I’m sure things will be getting pretty interesting at Casa de LA Blogger Gal…two of us, working from home, all day, with a dog that barks at anything in a two bedroom apartment that in mere days will surely be 85 degrees WITH the air conditioning running. Oh yeah, it should be fun.
I’d start with an apology, but really, that’s just lame. So let’s not even dwell on the fact that I haven’t wandered into this blog (or any of my blogs for that matter), in a couple weeks now. But I can’t help but wonder where the hell did March go? Or more importantly, where did the entire winter semester go?
I had the semester off, so for the most part I spent it working on my business. I’ve had some teaching gigs, a goodly amount of client consults, speaking engagements and even one-on-one client VIP packages to work with. So I guess, when you actually get down to it, I’ve been quite busy. I’ve even designed a couple new products that I’m in the process of finishing up before I get serious about launching.
Alas though, today I had to start focusing on teaching again. I sat down today and started working in the syllabus. Nothing like putting it off until the last minute, I know. Thing is, that syllabus is one of the many things I’d planned to work on last week while I was home alone and the hubs was in Austin for SXSW.
Too bad I caught some crazy cough and was totally and completely useless. I basically spent the entire week like a bump on a log watching really bad (and some not so bad) movies on TV. Times like that makes me regret that we don’t have premium cable channels.
The good news, I finished reading The Help and have to say…I think it’s the best book I’ve read in a long time. This is the first time in a long time that we read a current book – meaning, it’s a book that many are reading at the same time. Typically, we focus on older books that we can easily pick up used or at the local library. It was nice to read something that so many others have also read. And like I said, I thought it was a great read – good story with characters you enjoyed reading.
On that note, I’m just going to take a moment and kind of hang around in the whole “I can’t believe that school starts up again next week” world. I don’t feel like I’ve had enough time off. What I wouldn’t do for just one more month off. But hey, my syllabus is finally written, so I’m more than ready to get going.
How is your March coming along? Are you ready for Spring?
I feel like Seth Godin wrote today’s post “I Don’t Feel Like It” just for me. For a while now, I seem to have been either fighting myself or holding myself back. And whenever I stop to question what the hell it is I’m doing (or in this case NOT doing) I find myself falling back on the “I don’t feel like it” whine.
All I can say is NO MORE!
We’re going to tell a new story now.
What’s it?
Why do you need to feel like something in order to do the work? They call it work because it’s difficult, not because it’s something you need to feel like.
Very few people wake up in the morning and feel like taking big risks or feel like digging deep for something that has eluded them. People don’t usually feel like pushing themselves harder than they’ve pushed before or having conversations that might be uncomfortable.
Of course, your feelings are irrelevant to whether or not the market expects great work. Do the work. Ignore the feelings part and the work will follow.
So a while back, I mentioned the awesome LA Cupcake Tour I was lucky to go on thanks to the Best of Tours folks and GM/Chevy. This time around, the Best of Tours/Chevy gang were partnering with CraveLA for their take on the Best of Women Owned Businesses in Los Angeles.
A little full disclosure before we even get started…1) I know Nicole, the gal in charge of creating the Crave LA book and 2) I’m actually one of the featured Intelligentsia in the upcoming LA book.
Now that that little bit of clarification is over with, let’s get on with it.
For starters, we have the vehicles: Camero, Avalanche, Equinox and Malibu. Luxury all the way. I wasn’t able to ride in all of them, but I was able to check out both the Avalanche and Equinox. And if I didn’t say it last time…I’m loving that Equinox. And chauffeur driven shopping, who could ask for more (unless we were maybe getting paid to shop too…that would be just too good to be true.).
Onto CRAVE (twitter): It all started in Seattle in 2001 when Melody Biringer realized that she was missing spending time with her friends. Many were being pulled in different directions due to the work, family and social lives. Melody thought a new way to connect was in order and CRAVE was born. To put it in their own words, “CRAVE innovatively connects urban gals to the sassiest, gutsiest, most inspiring people they need to know in town. Soirees, gatherings and online networking—we are your guide to everything you CRAVE in your city.” What a fun concept!
The gang at Best of Tours/Chevy and CraveLA did an amazing job of picking our locations. Of course, out of the possible 125 women owned businesses to be featured in the book, we wouldn’t be able to visit each and every one of them. We started with just four this time around: Calleen Cordero, The Dry Bar, Studio Beauty Mix and Valerie Confections. And what a fantastic group to start with.
I would like to spend a little more time on each business, so for now, I’m just going to keep it short and sweet. That plus, I’d really like to visit each of them another time where I can maybe spend a little more time chatting with the fab women in charge as well as their products and services. Well, that and I don’t want this post to be forever long with photos and rambling.
So until then we’ve got this…
First up, Calleen Cordero (website | twitter) on Beverly. Calleen makes some of the most amazing and fabulous looking shoes and bags you’ve every seen. Everything is made by hand, from the carved wooden soles to the rivets in the design. Just gorgeous.
Onto The Dry Bar (website | twitter) in Brentwood. The Dry Bar is not a bar at all…it’s better! It’s perky salon that only does blow outs. No cuts. No colors. Just a wash and style for $35. What this concept so long to come to be? Definitely worth checking out when you want that fantastic blow out…I was eying the Cosmopolitan, big-curl style myself. I will be back.
Next up, Studio Beauty Mix (website | twitter) at Fred Segal in Santa Monica. Oh.my.god. Why have I never been to this store before? It’s like Sephora meets Lucky Magazine meets Nordstrom with your own personal shopper…but better! This boutique has everything from hair products, skincare, bath products, make up, candles and perfumes (I can’t wait to play around with creating my own fragrance at the Memoire Liquide counter) and even JimmyJane vibrators (I’m sure you’ve heard about their “FU*K LIMITED” 24k gold and stainless steel vibes). I could get lost in this store.
And our final stop after a long drive through the city was Valerie’s Confections (website | twitter) located somewhere between Koreatown and Silver Lake. It may have been a long drive, but it was so very worth it. Valerie let us sample a couple of her handmade chocolates and all I can say is wow! You heard each and every one of us ooh, ahh, mmm or exclaim in delight over how amazing her chocolates were. I can’t decide which I liked best, the caramel, the champagne truffle, the salted toffee or the rose chocolate. I do know that I came home with some toffee bites and two caramels and neither lasted the night. Yes, they were that good.
The day lasted quite a bit longer than I think anyone expected. But I have to say, it was so worth it. All I can say is I sure hope that CraveLA and Best of Tours decide to do a couple more of these tours supporting local women owned businesses. With 125 women in the book, there’s bound to be more stores and restaurants to visit.
Did I shop? You better believe it.
Will I be back to visit each and every store on the tour? Oh, hell yes!
Will I tell everyone about how I spend my weekend? I think I just did. 😉
CraveLA, thank you for introducing me to some fabulous new places to spend my hard earned money. Best of Tours/Chevy, thanks for helping to put it all together.
I didn’t realize how busy my week was until I had to cancel my scheduled day today. I’ve basically been booking my days solid with client phone calls and meetings.
Today I was scheduled to visit with one of our clients down San Diego way but had to reschedule. Dork that I am, I booked a massage before my chiropractic adjustment and well, managed to mess up my back.
Yes, you read that correctly. I got a massage (before my scheduled chiropractic adjustment). And yes, that massage fucked up my back. So much so that I could barely walk out the door.
So I rescheduled today’s drive down south and decided to stay close to home today. And sit with some ice.
Little did I know that this being the first day in over a week that I had a “free” day, I would also lose any motivation to do much of anything. Which I guess could be a good thing considering the hubby came home sick today. If only I had a good, non-business book to sink into.
And then there’s Valentine’s Day coming up…I can’t decide if we should stay in and cook (as I’ve done in the past), just order in something like Chinese or Indian, or maybe, since it’s a weekend to just go ahead and head out somewhere. I’m just typically not a fan of the prix fixe menus and massively increased prices solely because it’s Valentine’s Day. Eh, then again, I’m one of those that really do see the Hallmark-ization of the day. Who knows.
That said, it’s time to settle down with an ice pack yet again, so…what are your plans for Valentine’s Day?