In the past few years, I've gotten out of the habit of posting my New Year goals (not resolutions). I've done some really cool things that were planned and some on a whim! This year, I'm going to be intentional about what I want to accomplish.
My big goal is to run 365 miles in 2014. That's a mile a day or a couple miles a couple times each week.
Smaller goals just for fun:
Run in a fun run with silly costumes. (In 2013 we did the Bad Prom Run and it was fun!) I haven't picked the race yet, but it will be fun!
Beat my 10k time from 2013. I'll be running in the Wounded Warrior 10k on June 8, 2014.
Host a dinner party to celebrate something....anything.
Use organic beauty care recipes and avoid buying new products when possible. (I ordered a recipe book that has things like face masks, hair care, body scrubs, etc)
At work in the leadership space, we’re facilitating meaningful
discussions around the Principles & Qualities Genuine Leadership. In one
of the classes we ask participants to think of a leader they admire and share
what made them great. Sometimes people
talk about the Color Profiles, Myers-Briggs, Keirsey, Strengths Finders or any
other method of assessment, and it’s tempting to look to a successful leader and
try to figure out their profile. Pretty
harmless fun!
What shouldn’t be tempting is to force your style to emulate
someone else’s and expect the same results.
While some of our leaders may ‘lead with red’ or have M-B preferences like
INTJ, there are also successful leaders that are described with different
colors or assessment labels. It doesn’t
make one right or wrong – it’s just evidence that it takes all kinds to make up
a team and a company. For example: I’m proud to lead with green, be
labeled an introvert, and INFP! But
heaven help us if everyone in the company was like me. We’d probably be indecisive and 5 minutes
late - but we’d feel really bad about it! :)
Introverts sometimes get a bad rep since they aren’t as open
or obvious with what they’re thinking or feeling. I’ve seen a lot of articles posted on FB and
LinkedIn lately about introverts and the place they have in business. I wanted to share one I found particularly
interesting.
Never under estimate the power of an apology…no matter how
delayed.A woman from my office just
stopped by to apologize for her behavior from over a year ago.
In HR, you’re used to being beat up (verbally)
by employees that don’t like what you have to say, so her screaming hissy fit
wasn’t all that traumatizing.But I forever
associate her name with her temper tantrum and how nasty she was in that moment.
These days our paths rarely cross and I have no influence on
her professional future….yet she took the time to seek me out. Her spontaneous apology couldn’t have been
comfortable and frankly took guts.It
made me wonder if people associate my name with a bad behavior from
years/months/days ago.
We all have bad moments but I remembered a valuable lesson
of an apology from a very unlikely teacher. A very humbling experience....
This past weekend I went over to my parents’ house to spend a little quality time and to cook mom a (very belated) birthday meal. I wanted to make something special, delicious, and dad-taste-bud-friendly.
A decision was made, a challenge was accepted, and I was off to make Julia Child’s Beef Bourguignon for the first time. It took hours to prepare (including patting dry every piece of cubed beef), and more time to check on, add more ingredients, move from stove top to oven, adjust slightly, dirty more pans, move from oven to stove top….Mouthwatering smells emerged from the kitchen and leaked out to the patio as it cooked. It was delicious! Beautiful! Friends, it tasted remarkably like other meals I’ve thrown in the crockpot on my way off to work.
There’s something to be said about making one of Julia’s recipes, but I think my mom said it best: Julie Child's was a bored rich, house wife. Now that I’ve earned my cooking badge of honor, I’m back to the trusty crockpot.
A few weekends ago, I watched my nephew while my sister was
out of town. We had an AWESOME time!
*To have context for the rest of this story, it is important
to note that Auntie Beth doesn't keep Lawson toys at her house.*
I had activities lined up for us which included exploring
around my neighborhood, feeding the turtles in the canals, camping out in my
living room, roasting s’mores on the fire, watching a movie, etc.
….We blew through those activities in the first few
hours. (see above note re: toys)
So Auntie Beth and Lawson ventured out to Target to get some
toys. We left with a Power Rangers mask
and a Transformer. We immediately needed
to go outside and practice our “awesome moves.” Video of said awesomeness here:
We eventually got bored and hungry so we came back home and
ate everything in Auntie Beth’s pantry. Then we went to a park, ran around for
a little, but got hungry again. So we
went to McDonald’s to have the 4th meal of the day (at 2:30pm) and to
run around on the playground. What
happened here inspired me to write this blog.
There was another little girl playing in the tunnels and
slides at McDonald’s. Her parents were
sitting at another table and only spoke Spanish to her. Lawson and the girl had never met but they immediately
took off running and played for the next hour.
That’s when it struck me.
Kids have it figured out.
They don’t care who you are, what language you speak, what
clothes you wear, who your parents are or if you live in the “right”
neighborhood. They don’t make small
talk, and don’t care if they’ve hung out before or will ever again.
In the innocence of childhood, the only important qualifier
that needs to be asked and answered is, “Wanna play?”
