Mo’s blog

In pondering habits a few days ago, I came across an article about Stephen Covey's philosophy on the Seven Habits of Highly Effective People.  I owned this book more than a decade ago and have not thought about it much since. These habits are, in short:

Be Proactive
Begin with the End In Mind
Put First Things First
Think Win-Win
Seek First to Understand then to be Understood
Synergize
Sharpen The Saw.

Of the seven, the second resonated with me the most this time: "Begin With The End In Mind."  That has always been a cherished philosophy, when beginning any endeavor, see it as having already been accomplished, and then work with tireless, ceaseless energy to ensure that it becomes reality.

A compelling component of this habit is to craft a personal mission statement.  I've done this at least a half dozen times over the years.  The statement is supposed to articulate one's life purpose and serve as a guide by which one acts, thinks, speaks and makes decisions.  It is useful to do this when starting out in life to gain a better understanding of one's mind and motivations.  

Having attained a bit of maturity, I am seeing this from the other side now.  Having achieved a profound level of self knowledge, rather than engage in this inquiry to craft a personal statement, instead, if I choose to, my reflection can be on how the core elements of my values, beliefs have played out in my decision-making and thus impacted my life.

We make course corrections along the way don't you think?  Things happen in our lives that cause us to take pause, and change, or not. Sometimes despite information to the contrary, we persist on paths that may not be beneficial.

The question then becomes, how do I make it different without exerting much effort?

I woke up thinking about habits today, having slept well last night, and consequently am enjoying a peaceful, productive day.  It has bothered me for months that I have not made the time to post to this blog, so the need to revisit and add an entry has been pressing.  

The title bouncing around in my head for months was "Unfulfilled Promises".  A useful title that could go any number of directions.  What it refers to is unfulfilled promises I made in my first few entries.

My recollection is that a lack of caffeine headache led me to research caffeine withdrawals.  I stumbled on an exciting study that had been conducted at Johns Hopkins Medicine in Baltimore, that I wanted to tell you about.  Then I started reading a book titled Starbucked, and had hoped to share some of those insights in greater depth.

My plan was to use this blog, my first, as a training tool.  I'm one of those writers who could stand to get into the habit of writing every day.  That got me thinking about procrastination, that act of putting something off to yet another time - emphasis on the yet, as I kept doing it over and over.  Honestly,  I don't think it was that I procrastinated so much as I was managing multiple priorities.  

I recall a religious passage from some years ago stating that sometimes we had to choose between the important and the most important.  That makes sense to me.  My grander scheme had not yet elevated my Vox blog to most important.  I had gone from Slow Mo to Fast Forward, and while loving every minute, naturally some things fell by the wayside.

Lately, I have had the good fortune of nearly three weeks of unstructured days. This respite carries some responsibility, but mostly it is offering me the time to engage in some labor intensive, time consuming online learning tasks. I've been trying out this daily writing habit, in the hopes of keeping it going.

In the spirit of completion, I will stop now and pick up again, hopefully, tomorrow.

Generation KBC

Dear Diary:

Have you had the opportunity to see any of the ads by HMO giant Kaiser Permanente? My favorite is the little girl in a bathing suit decrying ever being a part of generation XXL.

I feel equally as passionate being a card carrying member of generation KBC (keyboard culture). So far, I still manage to go to coffee shops for coffee, conversation and pastry sans laptop. But lately I’ve been fantasizing about being alone with an IBM ThinkPad at a favorite French bakery during their late morning lull.

Do KBCers Connect?

I remember waiting at a stop light a month or so ago, observing a couple sitting in front of a local coffee shop. She was reading a book and he was interacting with his laptop. Neither were interacting with each other. Maybe they were. Perhaps they were just enjoying quiet time in public. (A bit like my private journal on Vox).

Honestly, there is no judgment in the description. It was just an observation. My overactive imagination conjured up all kinds of interesting relationship possibilities and dynamics. I wanted to hop out of my car and feign a "man on the street" interview, but better judgment stopped me, besides the light had changed. And I didn't have any recording equipment in the car.

It really had me pondering connection though. Years ago I read somewhere that each time we greet our lovers, we should hold the kiss for a minimum of 10 seconds, to truly connect. Who does that every time? A three second, sincerely soulful kiss could be just as meaningful right?

Do you watch Dancing With The Stars?

I usually catch the show via ABCs stream after it airs. Last week, the remaining stars were headed for semi-finals. Motivational guru Tony Robbins was asked to give his assessment of the remaining celeb dancers.

What stuck with me most was what he said about "killer instinct" in the context of a dancer that lacked it. I understood what he meant - that raw drive, and determination to do your best, and give your all - to win. And I paraphrase Mr. Robbins "You have to own the win".

There's a lot of truth there. If I stop to reflect on the times I achieved my goals, I owned the eventual outcome of success. If there was any doubt in my mind, it got quietened, and I forged ahead.

Bigger, Better, Stronger, Faster! - than the next guy. (Mike F's success tip)

That’s what it takes to win. KBC mores? There’s no denying that if you’re a gamer.

Have More, Be, Do, More, MORE!

MORES

mo·res (môr'āz', -ēz, mōr'-)

pl.n.

The accepted traditional customs and usages of a particular social group.

Moral attitudes.

Manners; ways.

[Latin mōrēs, pl. of mōs, custom.]

Ironically, all of that energetic effort is so that we can have more time to be with our loved ones, and do less work and more of the things that really matter to us.

Speaking of Success

As a matter of course on my electronic journey to certain success, I opt in to a lot of small business lists. One of them led me to sign up for an online event hosted by Mr. Howie Schwartz, whom I had never heard of.

A week ago I found Vox while looking for information about Howie Schwartz. My online search for a little insight into this mystery man was in preparation for a "webinar" he was hosting. I must confess I abhor that term. It's right up there with "newbie". Remember "bling"?- [insert regurgitation graphic here].

I attended the web presentation by the esteemed Mr. Schwartz last week and although the lead generation business opportunity presented was not my cup of tea (I prefer coffee), I stayed for the pitch anyway. Mr. Schwartz was engaging and his cyber tracks are compelling. I have much to learn from him about dominating online conversations.

Speaking of coffee, in my next post I will share what I learned about caffeine-related headaches. I suffered a brutal one a couple of weeks ago.

Goodnight Diary, Cheers!

Veterans day Cheers to my much loved cousin in Germany!

I know it's late, but just a little more wine, and I'll write a couple of sentences for my first post, and then I'll go to sleep so I can focus at work tomorrow. The truth is, I'll just ask for an extra shot of espresso instead. 

Oh, I can't this week.  I'm cutting back again, from four shots to three.  Oh yeah, I do quads most days. The bitter bite complements and therefore soothes my otherwise grouchy morning temperament.

Usually I can switch from coffee to tea without too much difficulty. Although yesterday,  I woke up with the mother of all headaches. It was only my second caffeine-free day. For a couple of days I had been indulging in ginger root tea alternately sweetened with a homemade simple syrup infused with green tea and rosewater or unsweetened with fresh lime juice. Either way, the libations were luscious.

It's been said that magnesium eases the withdrawal stress from caffeine, but I didn't have any on hand.  Besides, I doubt it would have provided immediate relief.  I tried to tough it out but the steady hammering left me useless. I didn't want to waste a precious day off sleeping.  So I relented and reached with trembling hand for the ibuprofen, cranked up  a favorite musical quick mix and ate my pillow.

That being said, there's about one sip of wine left.  It's tempting to pour a bit more, but I'd better not.  I wanted to say hello to the Vox community.  I found my way here and to Howie Schwartz in a rather circuitous manner.   I promise to tell you more next time.