Handling Speed Bumps and Diversity in Life

Positive Quote: “I don’t even know who someone is until I’ve seen how they handle adversity.” – Shonda Rhimes

 

This quote reminds me of a time early in my career when someone told me that the person who loses their composure (cool) first loses. The loss could be in credibility, respect, or a myriad of other things.

 

We all have tempers to some degree and we all have those pesky trigger buttons. The quandary is learning how to deal with them and not let them control you.

 

I am a people watcher when I travel, when I am out of town, and in general. What is very interesting to me is how people handle inconvenience, a minor version of adversity.

 

Have you ever watched someone at a store checkout and if the person in front of them seems to be taking a longer amount of time or when at a stop light and the car in front of then doesn’t immediately move when the light turns green? Is it worth the sighs, the frustration, the honking?

 

I typically think to myself that if that is how they handle the minor speed bump of life, what about the biggies?

 

For me, I tend to take a step back mentally and tell myself that maybe their day is not the best and it is not personal. Then I tell myself it is not death, so a few minutes/seconds aren’t going to ruin my day.

 

How do you handle both adversity and the speed bumps of life?

 

Have a great day!

Priscilla

 

What experiences are you learning today?

Positive Quote: “Experience is the teacher of all things.” – Julius Caesar

 

Experience, this can be good, bad, or you may not know at the time. We can get caught up in living the day to day that we don’t realize we are gaining something valuable, experience.

 

This experience can be transferrable and leveraged to do other things. It is all in how you view it, think of it, and embrace it.

 

Each day I work to learn something new and add new experiences to my life.

 

What experiences are you learning today?

 

Have a great day!

Priscilla

 

Making goals easier to achieve

“Nothing is particularly hard if you divide it into small jobs” – Henry Ford

 

This quote takes me back to my heavier project management days, thinking back to the super huge goal and having to go backwards to determine how to make it happen, complete with milestones.

 

Over the course of my career there have been many a project and many a PROJECT. From version upgrades to telephony upgrades to opening new stores and a new corporate office in another country, that spoke another language. That was a doozy. The fact that it came in on time without too many hiccups, that was all due to the small steps. If an issue occurred at one of the small steps, there were methods to mitigate and overcome to not severely impact the whole. I am a firm believer that bad news doesn’t age well. Knowing sooner helps you achieve the end result.

 

I’ve also found that this works well in aspects of life. It is when I don’t break things up into steps that I don’t achieve the goal, or I don’t even start. I’ve had this one personal goal for about 10 years and not once have I started it, all due to lack of steps. Recently, as of a few months ago, I took the time to break it into pieces and sure enough, I am working towards it now. I should have it completed before the end of this summer.

 

What goals, wishes, dreams do you have that have not been started? Is it time to break and chunk it up into bite size pieces?

 

Live life with no limits

Positive Quote: “If you always put limit on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there – you must go beyond them.” – Bruce Lee

 

Limits, isn’t it funny how most limits are self-imposed. I am not a painter, not because I don’t have talent (I don’t know if I do or don’t) but because I tell myself that I am not an artist. Yet, what if I could be?

 

Being an empty nester with my daughter turning 21 very soon, I find myself looking inwards and outwards. What am I doing for myself and what am I doing for others…..Am I on a plateau?

 

I am a huge fan of self-reflection and self-improvement. This quote is a reminder that there are no limits, except those we put on ourselves. While I may not have the time or the money to do things today, like traveling to every continent. If that were a goal I aspired to, I need to make plans, take steps, and bring it to life one step/day at a time. I think this plays into life overall.

 

I will renew my focus on going beyond what I think I can do and spread my wings.

 

What limits have you imposed on yourself unknowingly?

 

Who are you shaping yourself to be?

Positive Quote: “In the long run, we shape ourselves. The process never ends until we die. And the choices we make are ultimately our own responsibility.” – Eleanor Roosevelt

 

Perhaps I am on a choice shaping theme. It could also be that in the past month I have known several people who have died either very young (to me) or in their 90’s. Either way, it has me thinking of my own mortality.

 

Have I pursued my dreams and goals as strongly as I could have? Am I living life to the fullest? Am I happy?

 

I agree with Eleanor, we shape ourselves. Who do I want to be is the question. I have an answer, now to do what it takes to achieve the results.

 

What are you shaping yourself to be?

 

Life is full of choices

Positive Quote: “Everything can be taken from a man but one thing; the last of human freedoms – to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.” – Viktor Frankl

 

Choice, how is it that sometimes we forget that we have a choice? While not all choices are what we want, we do have the choice.

 

I have not blogged in quite a while. Life, life happens. From weather to work to getting my first ever bout with bronchitis, to the things that pop up as a homeowner, a wife, and a mother of a young adult….it adds up and choices are made. I chose to not blog for a while and now I am choosing to write once more.

 

Every action we take is a choice. The choices we make shape us into who we are today and impact our tomorrows.

This quote has me thinking of choices I made over the years that at face value were not major ones. Yet, those small choices had bigger impacts. For example, choosing to read versus watch television. While, minor, in many cases reading current events or industry news tends to trigger random thoughts that, in many cases, led to me working out an issue I was focused on elsewhere. The resolution of the issue led to tighter process controls for future potential events.

 

While not earth shattering, the one decision (choice) led to other impacts and effects.

 

I am thankful that I am able to choose… not just decisions but my attitude that I bring to things and others.

 

What do you think of this quote?

 

Have a super fantastic day.

Priscilla

 

Are you in charge of your own change?

Positive Quote: “Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for.” – Barack Obama

 

Change, such a small word that has a large impact. Some people avoid change, some embrace it, and some try to ride the middle road.

 

I believe that to change is to live, it is to grow, it is to strive for. Not all change is good and not all change is bad. One must know themselves and hopefully have an end goal in mind that they can hold the change up and see if it fits who they are and more importantly who they want to be.

 

Change can lead to fear or anxiety. It can also be exhilarating, like riding a roller coaster or pushing ourselves to try something new. When you look back, do you smile?

 

I believe we are in charge of our destiny, we choose what action we take or don’t take. Each decision leads us down or up or across a road to somewhere.

 

Where are you going?

 

I hope you enjoy this quote and have a wonderful day.

 

Priscilla

 

Can you see the invisible?

Positive Quote: “Vision is the art of seeing things invisible” – Jonathan Swift

I was pulled to this quote today. The words that resonated with me are ‘Vision’, ‘Art’, and ‘Invisible’.

Vision, to most this suggests the future, yet I think it can be both the future and the present. The picture you paint for what is and what will be both tie to the future and what is.

Art, to me this speaks to creativity. Seeing what can be or what is possible versus just what is. Taking what is and repurposing things or finding ways to streamline or even creating a presentation. These are all aspects of art. Putting together an amazing PowerPoint deck is an art form. Continual Service Improvement is both creative and takes design skills. To be able to look at something and chase out and down what and where you want it to be and become, all while ensuring it is scalable, controlled, and doesn’t add needless overhead.

Invisible, typically that which is not seen. However, even when things cannot be seen today, you can visualize tomorrow, the future. We do this so much as part of a normal day. This could be from knowing what the result needs to look like to a reorg of how things are structured to aspirational goals.

When you put all three words together, you have the depth and breadth to make great things happen. Yet, you need to remain open to seeing what you cannot grasp and what you may not have come up with. Having idea sharing and brain storming can lead to innovation. This can be applied both professionally and personally.

For example:

• Buying a house for the ‘bones’ and knowing how and where you would like to remodel
• Setting a career path and gaining skills and knowledge to achieve it
• Taking courses or other learning methods to improve in areas to achieve a goal
• Taking something that is clunky and not working and streamlining the process to save time and unnecessary work

 

The quote reminds me that I need to know where to best focus my time and energy while not being caught in the misperception that items don’t require creativity or imagination, or vision.

What do you think of this quote?

Have a great day.

Priscilla

Are you in a lifelong attempt to acquire knowledge and wisdom?

Positive Quote: “Wisdom is not a product of schooling but of the lifelong attempt to acquire it.” – Albert Einstein

 

I am a firm believer that there are many ways to obtain knowledge. It is not as important how you obtain it, it is more important that you are attaining it. This could be from professional resource groups, professional organizations, courses, books, collaborating with subject matter experts, and a host of other ways. The goal is to keep learning.

 

Some examples:

 

• If someone at work says an acronym you don’t know, do you ask them to specify what it stands for?
• If you are in a conversation and something doesn’t make sense, do you speak up?
• If there are SMEs in your field, do you ever ask them how they learned what they know?
• Do you ask SMEs for their recommendation on what you could do to improve that area of knowledge?
• Do you read or listen to books that deal with your professional like; soft or hard skills?
• Are you a member of a professional organization? If yes, do you attend meetings or sessions to talk to others in your field?
• Do you ask for help, guidance, support, direction…. whichever the case may be…. When you come across something you don’t know or a hurdle?
• Do you know what magazine, paper, website, etc… is the industry source of knowledge for your specialty?

 

What do you think of this quote? What are you doing to demonstrate a lifelong attempt to acquire knowledge and wisdom?

 

Have a great day,

Priscilla

Do you risk enough to push yourself towards growth?

Positive Quote: “Only those who risk going too far can possibly find out how far they can go.” – T.S. Eliot

 

I really like this quote. It reminds me that I can do more than even I think that I can. One must stretch to build muscles. How better to build our mental and emotional muscles, but to go further than we think we can.

 

Some would call this stretch assignments or stretch goals. I like to call it a stretch mentality, a stretch life.

There are several key pivotal points in my life where I stretched so far, I was unsure if I would break or keep stretching. Thankfully, the stretch made me stronger.

 

For example, when I was in my early 20’s I moved alone from Texas to North Carolina to a new job, new industry (IT) with no Plan B. I was committed to making it work and succeeding. This was in the time before GPS, before today’s smart phones, I used an atlas map to plot my route. This move had me step back from leadership to an analyst.

A few years later, I would make the move back to leadership, yet in the IT industry.

Across the years there have been experiences that stretched me more than others. It is those experiences that have been pivotal to my career and personal development as a leader. So for me, if/when the future offers up an opportunity to stretch me in ways I may not be comfortable with I don’t immediately say ‘No’. I look at the opportunity and ask myself if it will help me grow, be a better me, or get me closer to a goal. If the answer to one of those is yes, then I jump in. Life is not predictable and these ‘risks’, be they small or large, are what help make us who we are.

 

What do you think of this quote? Are you stretching yourself and taking risks?

 

Have a great day,

Priscilla