Monthly Archives: March 2012

Love Note – 3/30/2012

March 30, 2012 – 7:00 pm

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Wise Words – 3/26/2012

March 26, 2012 – 11:27 pm

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Love Note – 3/23/2012

March 23, 2012 – 7:00 pm

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A Good Idea

March 22, 2012 – 5:45 pm

“Why didn’t I think of that?”

I often hear people ask this question.  I have even asked it of myself a few times.  Most of us have wished that our ideas were more creative at one point of another.  The truth is that most of us have more creative ideas than we give ourselves credit for.

One of the reasons that we don’t always recognize the value of our ideas is that we are too quick to tell ourselves that our ideas are no good or stupid.  We often dismiss them before they fully form in our minds.  We come up with all sorts of reasons why our ideas are worthless.

“That couldn’t possibly work.”  “That would cost too much.”  “I don’t know how to do that.” 

Do any of these sound familiar?  What do you tell yourself when an idea pops into your head?

Our self talk of why something will not work can be endless if we’re not careful.  But if we can shut down our internal naysayer, we may surprise ourselves with the good ideas that spring forth.  After all everything that exists started with an idea.  The clothes that you are wearing right now started with an idea.  Google, Facebook and Twitter grew out of an idea.  Even this post originated with a single idea.

So let’s free our minds and give ourselves permission to see how many ideas we can come up with.  Remember, just because something has not been done, or does not seem possible at first glance does not mean that it cannot be done.  It is out of the arena of the new that great innovations are born.

Think about it.  What would life be like if the Wright brothers never thought that man could fly?  I cannot imagine how many times Orville and Wilbur Wright must have questioned whether they would really be able to fly, or how many people must have laughed at them when they talked about men flying.  But neither their failures, nor other peoples’ jokes deterred them.  They continued to brainstorm and to tweak their flying machine until it literally took off.

You may still be thinking that you cannot come up with any ideas, but starting your flow of ideas is simpler than you may think.  The best ideas often start with a what if question.  I’m sure that somewhere along the way, the Wright brothers asked, “What if man could fly?”

A few months ago I asked myself a what if question.

“What if I commit to writing regularly instead of just thinking and talking about writing?”

What was the result of my what if question?  I now write more, and writing more led to a more consistent blogging schedule and several good ideas for a couple of other writing projects.

Still think that only other people have good ideas?  Maybe it’s time for you to ask yourself some what if questions.  I challenge you to unleash your creativity and start generating ideas.  Even if none of the ideas are anything that you want to follow through on, you will still benefit, because tapping into your creativity allows you to connect more with who you are.

I would love to hear about how you unlock your creativity and start your flow of ideas.

Happy brainstorming!

“The best way to have a good idea is to have lots of ideas.” – Linus Pauling

Blessings.

See.  Live.  Enjoy.

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Wise Words – 3/19/2012

March 19, 2012 – 7:00 pm

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Love Note – 3/16/2012

March 16, 2012 – 7:00 pm

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Just One Step

March 15, 2012 – 12:03 am

An ordinary event occurred at work today.  A meeting request arrived in my Inbox this afternoon.  There was no indication of a conflict, so I accepted the invitation.  But something inside of me said that I needed to check my calendar for the rest of the week.  I did.  Only to find that there was very little time during the next few days that was not already scheduled for me.

The anxiety started to creep in as I thought about the deadlines hurdling toward me.  As if my schedule for the next couple of days did not turn up the heat enough I decided to peek at my calendar for next week.  Different names and meeting titles appeared in the time slots, but the same volume of meetings and calls showed on my agenda for the coming week.  I thought about all that I needed to do.  I wondered how I would get everything done.

As I pondered my situation, I moved my mouse cursor to open one of the requests to see more details about that particular meeting.  Instead of opening the meeting request I accidentally changed the view of my calendar.  At that point I only saw my schedule for today, not for the entire week.  When I only looked at a day rather than a week, a sense of calm flowed over me.  As the saying goes, I could not see the trees for looking at the forest.  My obligations did not change, but how I saw them did.  I had a new perspective.

I sometimes get a bit intimidated when I try to tackle a large task without looking at the smaller components that are a part of the bigger picture.  Life can be like that.  We sometimes go through periods where we encounter challenge after challenge.  After awhile we start to see one big problem.  If we try to address the one big problem we may fail, because we have not dealt with the smaller issues that are a part of it.  Even challenges that seem impossible to overcome may look more resoluble when we break them down into smaller pieces.

I’m learning to pick one piece of a task or problem at a time and focus on it rather than looking at the matter as a whole and panicking.  When that part is completed, I move on to the next piece and handle it.  The reality is that I make more progress and accomplish more when when I focus on and deal with one thing at a time.

Yes, we need to be able to visualize the big picture, but the big picture should not keep us from seeing the little pieces that make up the whole.  Is there a task or challenge in your life that is overwhelming you by its size?  Perhaps breaking it into smaller parts can help you shift from “I can’t possibly to this” to “Yes, I see a way to accomplish this.”  After all, pretty much anything that we do in life is like walking.  We have to take one step at a time.

“One may walk over the highest mountain one step at a time.” – John Wanamaker

Blessings.

See.  Live.  Enjoy.

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Wise Words – 3/12/2012

March 12, 2012 – 7:00 pm

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Love Note – 3/9/2012

March 9, 2012 – 7:00 pm

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More Than Enough

March 7, 2012 – 7:29 pm

Not too long ago a friend and I discussed some of the concerns and frustrations that he was experiencing on his job at that time.  We brainstormed about what we thought was really going on and some strategies that he could use to deal with the situation, including looking for another job.

Weeks went by and nothing changed at his job.  Still he decided to hang in there and opted not pursue other opportunities.  Why?  There are probably a number of reasons, but when he and I talked about the situation again, it was clear that the overriding reason was that he did not think that he had what he needed to make a change.  He believed that he needed more credentials and experience in certain areas.  The belief that he needed to do and be more paralyzed him.

I pointed out that he had everything that he needed.  Few, if any, of his co-workers had experience that matched his.  His skill set allowed him to step up and find solutions to problems that no one else could solve.  The team members that he supervised loved him and appreciated the guidance and leadership that he provided on projects.  The bottom line is that he did not need to be or have more.  He simply needed to recognize, appreciate and use what he already had.

One of the conversations with my friend replayed in my mind this morning as I sipped my cup of tea.  A light bulb went on in my head.  I realized that I was guilty of what I accused him of doing.  There was a time not too long ago that I was not using what I had.  I stopped blogging and writing for months, because I felt that I always needed to write long blog posts.

For several months I did not post anything.  During my time away from blogging I agonized about what I should write.  I started several posts, but I never finished them. Each time I convinced myself that those posts needed to say more.  The belief that my posts needed to be more shut down my blogging.

Fortunately my desire to write and blog was stronger than my concern about word count. That desire finally made me give myself permission to publish short posts, and freed me to launch “Wise Words”, a recurring post in which I share a quick thought that I find insightful.

One insight that I gained from this experience comes from a saying that states if we do not use what we have, we will not be blessed with more.  It’s not that I have to be or have more to be happy.  I don’t.  But I do believe that I have a responsibility to be a good steward of whatever is given to me, and that includes using the talents, gifts and opportunities that I have at any moment in time.

I may not always have the time to write a long post, but that’s okay.  Not everything that I want to say requires five hundred to a thousand words.  It’s more about the quality of the words that I write rather than the quantity.  Sometimes less is more.  After all, tweets are literally changing our world, and they are doing it in 140 characters or less.

With that in mind, I decided that my posts will be enough regardless of the word count. That decision broke away the shackles that prevented me from moving forward with my writing and helped me to start blogging again.  The bottom line is that I’m committed to using whatever I have wherever I am.

Is there something that you keep putting off until you have more, or think that you are more?  Do not over think it.  Start now.  Start where you are with what you have. Whatever we are and have at any given moment is usually more than enough for us to at least step out and start something.

“Whatever you’re ready for is ready for you.” – Mark Victor Hansen

Blessings.

See.  Live.  Enjoy.

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