inspiration
I may be an old dog, but I can learn a new trick or two! I love learning now so much more than I did when I was younger. And, I’ve come across a couple of online learning options that I thought I would share.
Lynda is an app that offers classes in almost everything digital. You name it, it is on Lynda. It isn’t free, but if you have a library card you may be able to get it free of charge (I have one, yippee). Free is the best! So, if you can get it for free, you might be more likely to try something new, something that you wouldn’t spend a lot of money on. I love that. It allows you to dabble a little.
There is another site that I am wanting to try, however, it isn’t free, no matter how many library cards I have. Masterclass.com offers tutorials from the world’s best, like Aaron Sorkin, Kevin Spacey and Dustin Hoffman. I think I might splurge on Valentine’s Day and spend it with my new boyfriend, Usher. Here’s the link. http://bit.ly/2kGeE20 Now go get your own boyfriend!
Read MoreAt a Starbucks that I drive through a couple of times each week, the Barista hands me my drink and says, “Go get ’em!” The first time I heard it I thought he was talking to someone else. Then, I realized he was talking to me and every other car that goes through the window. It made me think about what it means. Now, I have started saying that to myself every morning when I wake up. I don’t say, “Rats, it’s morning.” Actually, some days I do say that. But you can’t lay in bed for another 20 minutes after you say to yourself, “Go get ’em.” You just can’t do it.
Now, I don’t say to myself , “Oh no, hello morning. I am not ready for you.” Actually, some days I do say that. But you can’t lay in bed for another 20 minutes after you say to yourself, “Go get ’em.” You just can’t do it. It feels lazy.
So, I try to have my day laid out in my head when it hits the pillow, so I don’t worry about it in the middle of the night and toss and turn. That allows me to “Go get ’em.” I find myself in such a bad mood when my day gets derailed: when the things that I wanted to accomplish just get put on the next day’s list. It makes me grouchy. So, I look at my calendar every evening to get myself ready for the next day, even if my day is wide open (isn’t that about the best feeling on earth?). If I am working out first, I get my workout clothes out and ready to be slipped on, so I can sleep until the final second, then “Go get ’em.”
If it is not a workout day, I have my clothes all picked out. I don’t like the feeling of having to hear the weather forecast them come up with something when I could have done that the night before. I have my bag ready and my electronics ready for action. I know, I know, it is a little silly, but it works for me. I like the feeling of being in control of the morning.
For me, what “go get ’em” means is that I am ready for that busy day. I am charging forward and making progress daily. I like that. I find that the older that I get the less time I want to waste. I want to fit everything into every day. I don’t want to just coast.
That doesn’t mean I want to be on the run all the time. I do not. I love my downtime. But I find that the more I “Go get ’em,” the more downtime I create for myself. It’s the best.
Whatever it takes to put that spring in your step, to get you fired up for the day, do it. It makes life so much more enjoyable and satisfying.
Go get ’em!
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I picked up a little book when I was traveling with my daughter and set it next to my bed when I returned home. It is called Design Your Day by Claire Diaz-Ortiz. It is maybe 100 pages. I didn’t pick it up for weeks and honestly I only moved it to dust, which means I didn’t move it at all. So a couple of nights ago I read a little of the book and I got to a point and stopped: it really had me thinking. Don’t you love books like that? Books that, with a few paragraphs, make a huge impression on you.
In the book , Diaz-Ortiz talks about picking one word of the year. The year might not be a year: it might be a season or a time period, like before my son’s wedding, or this fall, or before the holidays. But, I like the concept of the word. So I started thinking about what my word should be. I had a few in mind, but it took some time to zero in on just the right one.
My first thought was…freedom. That’s what I am trying to accomplish in my personal life certainly…attaining freedom. But, it wasn’t quite right. Then, when talking to a friend, a young man, someone I wouldn’t expect to get it, he said, “Good, but every time you think of the word freedom it will remind you of a time that you didn’t feel that freedom.” Wow, that was deep. So freedom was out.
My next thought was the word success. But that felt too final. Like something you’ve achieved, not something you work on every day. While I like finding small successes in my daily life, success comes at the end, not the during the journey. And, if I have achieved success, then what? Not quite right either.
So, here it is, here is my word for now (drum roll please)…forward. My word for the next, I don’t know, 6 months to a year is forward. That is what I am about and that is where I want to go and that is who I want to become, someone who is always moving forward. To me it means that what I think, say or do should be helping me to achieve forward motion. And, if I feel like I am off track or if I feel like I am moving in the other direction, I can shift my focus and get going again.
That is as far as I read in the book. I wanted to wait to continue until I had my word, so now I can read on. This is not a book recommendation since that’s as far as I read, but just that piece itself has helped me get some perspective on my direction and I plan to read further.
What’s your word? If you are not moving in the right direction for you, maybe you need a new word, one that reflects who you are or who you want to be. Once you have it, you may be more clear about your life and your goals and can plan how to get there.
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