You Are Remarkable…Now Believe It!
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‘Tis the season to start thinking about performance appraisals. I know, it’s not the most pleasant of thoughts, but for most of you it’s going to happen.
If you have the opportunity to provide your boss with a summary of your achievements before 
he/she writes the appraisal, by all means do it!! Don’t let their distracted memory dictate what shows up in your permanent file.
Ever Second Guessed a Second Guess?
By · CommentsIt was a typical weekend morning when I was out and about running errands. I was walking into one of my most favorite stores (Target) when a lady pulled up beside me in her car. Normally this would have caught me off guard (I’m not always as aware of my surroundings as I should be!) and made me a little suspicious but for some reason I felt ok.
This lady was just asking for directions on how to get to the freeway. Easy enough, right? It struck me as a little odd though since you can practically see the freeway from where we were and she would’ve had to have driven right by it to get in the parking lot.
So I proceeded to give her directions. As I was giving her directions I could tell she wasn’t fully grasping what I was telling her. I tried to simplify even more. “Just remember right, left, left, then you’ll be on the freeway,” I told her. She nodded, drove off, and I went upon my merry shopping (I was at Target, y’know).
But of course, this is not the end of the story. Now I don’t know if my new acquaintance ever made it to the freeway based on my simplified directions, but my inner voice walked in and started badgering me…could I have done more/something else/something different??? My first second guess.
As I walked through the store, it struck me that I should have gotten in my car and told her to follow me to the freeway entrance. I wasn’t in a big rush and it wouldn’t have taken all that long. So that was it, I should have escorted her to the freeway. Ok, that’s good. Next time, I’ll think of that. Shopping commenced. Read More→
I Never Walk Alone
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October is Breast Cancer Awareness month so this is a great time to think about those around us who have been impacted by this disease. Everyone has a story of how breast cancer has impacted their lives so I thought I’d share mine.
I didn’t know it at the time, but breast cancer came into my life when I was around 5 years old. That is when breast cancer took my mom and changed my life forever. I don’t remember a lot about her, but I do know she was caring and loving, she could knit and sew, and baked me chocolate cake with white frosting and chocolate sprinkles for my birthday. She was only 40.
As I grew older and started learning and understanding what happened to my mom, a new presence seemed to be with me. You may know it, it’s that voice in the back of your mind that says things like, “will this happen to me,” “when will this happen to me,” “what will I do if/when this happens to me.” I didn’t like it, but it was always there.
It wasn’t until my 30s that I was actually able to talk about my mom without getting emotional. She was such a big part of my life that had been missing that it always made me upset. Then a very dear friend of mine helped me to realize that my mom’s spirit is with me wherever I am. She’s protecting me and guiding me through all the good and the bad. Read More→
Utilize iGoogle to Improve Productivity
By · CommentsI am the type of person that truly enjoys structure. You know, a place for everything and everything in its place. So when I came across iGoogle not that long ago, I was amazed by all of the possibilities to add some structure and organization to my internet home page. And as someone who spends a lot of time at the computer, I saw iGoogle as a way to streamline a lot of my computer activities and increase my productivity.
Customize the Look
First, you can customize the look of your homepage. I know for me, I enjoy my online experience a lot more if it is visually appealing. There are hundreds and hundreds of themes to choose from — I’m currently using a Martha Stewart theme because of the pretty flowers, but depending on my mood I can change it with a few clicks.
Customize the Content
Next, you can add any number of gadgets in the main part of the page. There are so many to choose from that I was a little overwhelmed by all the choices. I still have room to add more, but so far I have added 5 that I use consistently:
- Google Reader — This gadget shows all new posts for RSS feeds for which I have subscribed. With one click I can read the post right there or click again to go to the website. Some posts are set up to only show the first couple of lines and then have a ’see original post’ link that takes you to the website. My preference would be to have the entire post available in Google Reader so I could just read it and move on, but that’s just me, I guess.
- Weather — This allows me to see the current temperature and conditions and see the forecast for the next 4 days. Clicking on this gadget will bring up a more detailed description of the weather forecast. Because I run and bike a lot, this has definitely helped me plan my workouts.
- Google Bookmarks — I know bookmarks can be added in Firefox, Internet Explorer, Safari, etc., but if you change between internet gateways your bookmarks don’t follow. By having my bookmarks all in iGoogle, then no matter what platform I use to get to the internet I know my bookmarks will be there.
- Wikipedia — This gadget has a search field that will bring up Wikipedia in a separate window. I don’t search for a lot on Wikipedia, but this gadget saves time by allowing you to type in your search term and clicking go to bring up Wikipedia.
- Local Gas Prices — Because I work from home, I don’t drive a lot so I don’t fill up my car with gas very often. I just thought this one was really cool. It’s nice to see the gas prices and then decide if I should fill up or wait awhile.
There are literally thousands of gadgets to choose from — gmail, finance, YouTube, news, games, quotes — you name it, there’s probably a gadget for it. Read More→
A Lifetime of Career Guidance
By · CommentsHave you ever stopped to look back on your life and wonder how in the world you got to where you are? And then you start reliving some of the decisions you’ve made to really understand the journey you’ve taken? For the first 20+ years of my working life I spent much of my time trying to make my way up that “corporate ladder” only to see more rungs added each time I reached a certain milestone. In the back of my mind there was always a little voice telling me there was something else out there…but what??
For years I’ve known I wanted to be a business owner, but I never thought I would be running a website. I’ve always known I wanted to help inspire and empower other women, but I never realized it would be through stories of my experiences. I’ve always felt challenged and invigorated by taking on a new risk or engaging in some kind of change, but I’ve learned I can adapt to it better if it’s on my terms and not someone else’s idea. I have known for a long time that with a vision you don’t necessarily need to know ‘how’ to make it happen as that will come through with persistence and perseverance.
So how did I get here? I can tell you this didn’t come to me as a vision all put together but rather bits and pieces that started taking shape over a number of years. I can recall several moments in my past that led me down this path. My first memory is from the early 1990s. I was living in Southern California, and as the story goes, it was a beautiful day. This happened to be one of those perfect beautiful days where the sky is bluer, the temperature is “just” right, and all seems right with the world. Well, I was walking back in to work after lunch and something just came over me. I thought to myself this life is just too short to be sitting in an office all day. That is when the first part of the picture started forming…I want to own my own business. Read More→