No More Honor Role.

Comparing ourselves to others is a key driver of unhappiness. Tom DeLong, author of Flying Without a Net, even describes a "Comparing Trap." He writes, "No matter how successful we are and how many goals we achieve, this trap causes us to recalibrate our accomplishments and reset the bar for how we define success."And as we judge the entirety of our own lives against the top 1% of our friends' lives, we're setting impossible standards for ourselves, making us more miserable than ever. -Daniel Gulati

What have you accomplished this year? How about in the past 5-10 years? Some may say that they have not accomplished much. If you take a closer look, however, you may find that you have accomplished many new things. I find that when I accomplish something new I have a tendency to behave as if it is no big deal. I think to myself, "Oh anyone could have done that." A good friend of mine pointed out that I need to take a moment and enjoy my successes. I may not be where I want to be yet, but I am better than I used to be. If I do not appreciate what I have accomplished now, I won't appreciate it when I get to the future "there" either. I want to encourage you to take an assessment of where you are in your life. What great things have you accomplished? Did you learn something new? Did you create something? Did you help someone? I'm positive if you look closely enough, you will find that you have accomplished quite a lot. -Kizzy Preston

Choices.

It's nice to have them. Not everyone has as many as we do. It's a very freeing thing to recognize/remember. If you're not happy or satisfied with something, you very often have the power to choose a different path. You just have to do it--with conviction. Being around a complain-a-thon is NO fun. I'm guilty of being one every once and a while but, it takes too much of everyone's energy to stay in that space. So, remember...

It's not about the opportunities that are available to you.
It's about how you respond to the opportunities.

It's not about what you have in your life right now.
It's about what you do with what you have in your life right now.

It's not about getting other people to change.
It's about you changing.

If you can choose, wonderful. If you can't, remember...you can always choose your response.

This moment is the end of your past and the beginning of the rest of your life. In each moment we can and do make choices and decisions. In each moment we decide about our future.

Keep Gas Prices From Bankrupting You This Summer.

Gas prices have gone nowhere but up over the last few years, and it doesn't look like that's going to change this year. With summer road-trips approaching, here are some quick gas-saving tips to remember after hitting the pumps.
Conserve Fuel

-Mind the basics. Go easier on the gas pedal and shun your A/C if you're just driving around town.
-Work with your car, not against it. Clean the junk out of the trunk, let off the accelerator earlier when approaching a stop, speed up be fore hills to make the climb easier, and use the cruise control more.
-Keep those RPMs low. Learn how to skip gears if you've got a stick-shift, avoid engine braking, and reacquaint yourself with Neutral (it's not just for towing).
-Take care of your car. Tire pressure, spark plugs, air filters, oil—they all make a huge difference.
-Pick the right station. If you can save a whole dollar by going to a different station in town, by all means do it. If the difference is just a few cents, you're probably not saving much by driving several miles to the cheaper station.
-Don't drive if it isn't necessary. Public transportation can be a wondrous thing for your wallet, and walking or riding a bike are even better if your destination is nearby.

- Matthew Rogers, lifehacker.com

Productivity.

Principle 6: Devote Time
No matter how capable or gifted we may be, it’s an illusion to think we can do it all. We can do anything, but not everything. At every moment, we’re presented with infinite possibilities — we really could be doing anything! But freedom to do whatever we set our sights on comes at a price, and the price is that we need to constantly make choices about what really matters to us. These choices, at the most fundamental level, always boil down to how we allocate and spend our time. The value of our achievements is primarily determined by what we consistently invest our time in. We need to be aware of that every day, diligently investing the time in what matters and letting the unimportant stuff go.

Principle 5: Focus Your Attention
If the previous principle was about allocating time for the things that matter, this one is about how well you’re able to spend that time. Very often it seems we just can’t concentrate, even though we know what we should be doing, right? Resistance, procrastination, allowing ourselves to get sidetracked by distractions: these are formidable obstacles even for the most resolute people. Developing a strategy for overcoming resistance and dealing with distractions, then, is essential for maximum productivity.

Principle 4: Honor Commitments
Personal productivity is not about cramming as much stuff as we possibly can in our days. The feeling of being productive comes not from the quantity of tasks we do, but from honoring the commitments we set for ourselves. Doing what we said we would do is what we should primarily strive for. Tasks that keep being left undone in our to do lists are broken promises to ourselves, and are a sure recipe for frustration: no matter how much we do in our days, we’ll always look at them and feel bad about ourselves. Before trying to get more stuff done, make sure you honor your current promises (to yourself and to others): Be clear about them, drop those that you know you won’t be able to honor and then ensure that you really complete the ones that remain.

Principle 3: Develop a Sustainable Pace
We need to strike a balance between work and play — between engagement and rest, between creation and recreation. In the productivity game we should take our leisure time as seriously as our work time. Even if we feel energetic and motivated to work long hours, the most effective long-term strategy is to hold ourselves back when feeling too enthusiastic and follow a sustainable pace instead. Also, defining clear boundaries between work and rest is very important: “Work when you’re working, rest when you’re resting”, I often say. Whenever I forget this, I end up in a very ineffective ‘not-quite-working/not-quite-resting’ zombie-like state.

Principle 2: Keep Moving On
More important than setting big goals is to just keep going. Now, what does work for me is to constantly think about how to improve my life and define little steps to make it happen. Think continuous improvement. Take small steps and see how things change. Experiment. Sure, it’s perfectly fine to have a general direction, but don’t get too obsessed about it: circumstances will change — you will change. It’s in each step that you learn and adjust your direction. Assess your projects and tasks every day and make sure that you define next steps for all your projects. Make them small, but ensure you make progress every single day. Forget New Year’s Resolutions. Plan, review and adjust frequently.

Principle 1: Feel Good. Now.
“Being productive” only makes sense if you’re enjoying yourself as you work on the stuff that’s relevant. If you’re not, none of the things we discussed here really matters. Personal productivity is a state of mind: a feeling that you’re doing what you believe is important and that you’re happy about it — not that you’re making sacrifices day in, day out. For me, a good rule of thumb is that we should feel tired at the end of the day. Yes, tired, but in a good way: that’s very different from feeling spent or drained: it’s feeling that we poured our energy into the stuff we care the most. The feeling that our energy was put to good use. Going to sleep looking forward to the next day is, in my opinion, the ultimate measure of personal productivity.

Food for thought.

So, here's something that's been at the forefront of my mind over the last couple of days. Evaluation: Assessing where you are, what you want and where you would like to be. It's good to check in with yourself every once and awhile. I've just finished up a project that required much of my time and energy for the last month. Today, I took a breath and it felt great! Before the weekend began though, I couldn't help but recognize some cues around me that led me to this thinking.

One of my colleagues at work shared a documentary with us called Lemonade, directed by Marc Colucci. While some of it's content is pretty heavy, it's inspiring too to see people discover what they love and make a career out of it!

http://www.wikio.com/video/lemonade-trailer-1506137

After work on Friday, I went over to my friend Kate's house. She's decided to start up a business. She has always loved candy. So, she is going to make it and sell it. The first items up for grabs are these delicious looking and tasting gourmet marshmellows! Cinnamon, Almond, Vanilla, Chocolate...so many flavors! I think I had six of them at her open house. I am really excited to see her business grow! She's a great person with lots of drive and an undeniable sweet tooth. Congrats Kate, for taking the first steps. What an adventure! Oh, and you can order them here:

http://www.candykates.com/index.html

While I was online this evening, I ran into this: "Don't ever be really good at something you don't really want to do."

It's such a common sentiment but, I'm glad I read it tonight. It makes you think about what you're doing with your time. You do have a choice after all. It's good to get reacquainted with that truth every once and awhile.

Head UP!

I hate it when I wish days away. I need to stop that! Time is precious. Regardless of how grueling the coming days may seem, I know I'll get something out of the experience-even if it's the tiniest of lessons. So, head up! Appreciate all of it, even the tough parts. Not everyone has the opportunity to face such challenges and the occasion to really learn something new from them.

Here is my inspirational picture to go along with my self-help speech:

Car Repair Woes

I've had a 1998 Honda Civic for the last 9 years! She gets great gas mileage (you can drive to the moon and back and still have a 1/4 of a tank left) but, she's getting old. Today, I had to go in to get my center pipe replaced at Meineke. I was just there three months ago getting another new muffler installed. At the end of my visit today, I asked the manager to kindly print me out a detailed history of my visits to his establishment which he did, reluctantly. 

After three years, three mufflers and 37,247 miles I decided to write a letter to Meineke. Although many of the parts are free with the warrantee, I shouldn't be spending hundreds in labor to replace below average parts...especially after I made the initial investment in a lifetime warrantee for my muffler. 

February 2006 Mileage: 75,230 new muffler         

November 2007 Mileage: 88,567 new muffler           

July 2009 Mileage: 109,014 new muffler                 

November 2009 Mileage: 112,477 new center pipe   

I wonder if I'll get a response? Rucchi, I'm following your lead on this one.  And while I'm at it...PLEASE, don't ever get your car repaired and Handy's Texaco. If you need a ride somewhere outside of town that might be less convenient, call me! I'll drive you.

September

It’s September already? How did that happen? Sometimes, the month of September feels more like a new beginning than January does. It’s not a new year but, it sure feels like a very definitive start or finish to something--depending on how you look at things. The approaching Fall season often brings a fresh energy. If you don’t feel it yourself then, you may feel it with the arrival of the students. There are simply more people buzzing around the streets of Burlington.

I live right behind an elementary school.  Earlier this week, I heard the new principal of the school giving his orientation speech to the students and staff over the loud speaker. I could hear his message clearly as I walked out to my car. I chuckled at the thought of all the kids who were so attentive to his speech - it was delivered in a very slow and sensitive manner. The students were likely excited to be back in the classroom. Why wouldn't they be? It's so invigorating to start something new!

I always had my, “First Day of School” outfit and school supplies mapped out and packed up well before the first day arrived. I even remember wishing away the latter part of summer vacation so I could get home and start preparing. I'm a Virgo, no apologies.  : )

Summer is my favorite! It's inevitably filled with sun and fun! But, with the shorter days and cooler weather, I think some of us naturally begin to refocus. How will the next year be different? While I ponder that question for myself...I’m going to look forward to the long Labor Day weekend. I’ll be working a half day on Friday and then I’m off to enjoy, what I hope will be, a few glorious days of sunshine in Vermont! 

Warm welcome.

It’s 80 degrees today. The sun was shining through the haze until just a few minutes ago when the rain finally came on the tail end of a light breeze. It smells like summer. The rain is cooling off the warm pavement and the air is a little thicker. It slowed me down to my summer pace during my walk back up Maple Street earlier this afternoon.

I have a glass of chilled white wine in my hand and I’m thinking about what a wonderful day I had yesterday with friends. We explored, discovered, anticipated, planned, shared, realized, sang, danced, laughed, ate and drank together throughout the day and into the wee hours of the morning. A day when you decide to do all of those things (and get to do them with such amazing people) is an extraordinary day. I feel lucky.

Now I'm off to start one of my new books and to snack on a few strawberries I picked hours ago at the Charlotte Berry Farm. Thank you for the warm welcome, summer!

Début.

Here we are. We? Well, maybe just me for now. My first blog post. I've been thinking about starting a blog for some time now. What would I name my blog? What would I write about? I don't have all of the answers just yet but, I feel like it's the right time to dive in. With friends and family near and far it seems like the best way to share with everyone, especially the people I can't enjoy a cup of coffee with on a regular basis. Adding to my routine is sometimes a challenge for me but, I hope I can incorporate this activity into my life whether it be daily, weekly or monthly. See you again soon!