Monday, February 20, 2017

What I've learned since moving to D.C. (some of which should be obvious): 0102

5051.  Job satisfaction requires three components: 1.  Passion – This is where it begins.  What do you care about?  What moves you?  What problems do you want to solve or issues you want to address?  If your heart is not in your work, you have a job but not a calling; 2.  Proficiency – Passion alone is not enough.  You have to be good at what you do.  Being good enough will not give you the satisfaction you desire.  You have to excel at your craft and be awesome.  Mastery is the goal; and 3.  Profitability – To enjoy a successful career, people must be willing to pay you for what you do.  You don’t have to get rich, but there must be a market for your product or service.  Otherwise, your career is not sustainable;
5052.  If you have passion and proficiency without profitability, you have a hobby;
5053.  If you have passion and profitability without proficiency, you have failure;
5054.  If you have proficiency and profitability without passion, you have boredom;
5055.  If you want to win with people, they not only have to know you; they also have to trust you.  Likability is the bridge between the two.  It’s a prerequisite to trust.  Why?  You’re not going to trust someone you don’t like;
5056.  Seven easy ways you can improve your likability quotient and up your trust with the people you meet and work with: 1.  Smile more.  Smiling is ground zero for likability.  It puts people at ease and draws them in.  It’s also contagious, so it lifts everyone’s mood.  Of course, the reverse is also true; 2.  Remember people’s names.  This isn’t easy for most of us.  And that’s all the more reason to try to improve. It sets you apart and gives you an edge.  Why?  People love being remembered and acknowledged by name; 3.  Look in people’s eyes.  Looking into people’s eyes communicates interest and worth.  When we connect eye-to-eye we demonstrate how much we value and appreciate the other person; 4.  Ask questions.  People love talking about themselves.  That’s important to know for two reasons.  First, it’s easy for leaders to monopolize conversations and alienate people.  Second, if you want to help people feel happy and engaged, giving them the freedom to talk about their own interests and projects is one of the easiest ways to do it.  That starts by asking great questions; 5.  Listen carefully.  It’s not enough to ask questions, you need to really listen.  We crave empathy and tend to like those who offer it to us; 6.  Be grateful.  If you want to make people feel as if their contribution really matters, take note and show gratitude.  When a teammate does something positive or helpful, recognize it.  When people feel valued by others, they usually respond in kind; and 7.  Celebrate milestones.  High achievers sometimes struggle with this last one.  Writing in Harvard Business Review, Teresa Amabile and Steven J. Kramer say this, “Of all the things that can boost emotions, motivation and perceptions during a workday, the single most important is making progress in meaningful work.”  Leaders, they say, “have more influence than you may realize over employees’ well-being, motivation and creative output.”  When we celebrate our progress, we not only validate our work, we also improve the mood.  All seven of these ways share one thing in common.  They demonstrate value and appreciation and that’s the key to likability;
5057.  Even if you don’t consider yourself a good listener, anybody can develop this skill.  Try these five practices: 1.  Be fully present; 2.  See it from their perspective; 3.  Clarify and echo key points; 4.  Focus on them, not your response; and 5.  Develop genuine curiosity;
5058.  Whatever the game, it usually takes more than skill to prevail.  Believe it’s possible, believe you are uniquely equipped to succeed and stay focused on bringing home the win;
5059.  We cannot always control our circumstances, but we can choose how we respond.  The hard thing is that sometimes we forget we have a choice.  We feel like the choice has already been made for us and we’re stuck with it;
5060.  No one runs your life unless you let them.  And you have far more power than you think;
5061.  Until you take responsibility, you are a victim;
5062.  The great thing about responsibility is, once you own it, you can begin fixing it.  This eliminates a lot of wasted effort in playing the victim and blaming others;
5063.  It is also important for leaders to take responsibility for the good results they produce;
5064.  Acknowledge what happened.  You can’t move past a setback if you don’t;
5065.  Failure is not the end unless you quit;
5066.  Tickets on the (Washington) Capitals Ticket Exchange (TicketExchangeByTicketmaster.com/Washington-Capitals-Tickets) may be cheaper than (tickets on) StubHub!;
5067.  Debbie Matenopoulos is rather attractive;
5068.  (I can say) I’ve been to the National Christmas Tree Lighting;
5069.  The Hallmark Channel has some serious directing issues (at least for the National Christmas Tree Lighting);
5070.  (I can say) I’ve sang Christmas carols (specifically “Feliz Navidad” and “Jingle Bells”) with President Obama(, Marc Anthony, Garth Brooks, James Taylor, Trisha Yearwood, Kelly Clarkson, The Lumineers, Yolanda Adams, Chance the Rapper and Eva Longoria);
5071.  Braden Holtby (of the Washington Capitals) orders carryout at Virtue (Feed & Grain) (VirtueFeedAndGrain.com) in (Old Town) Alexandria;
5072.  Kristy has cold hands;
5073.  Apparently, 1 in 10 babies in Europe is conceived in a bed made by IKEA;
5074.  Who would’ve thought that bacon and chocolate actually work (well) together?
5075.  Hot chocolate with rye whiskey is actually pretty good;
5076.  According to Luisa, I give good back massages;
5077.  The amount of (acting) talent in “Love Actually” is (rather) staggering;
5078.  Apparently, Tove Lo’s idea of a bra is pink tape covering her nipples;
5079.  Tove Lo can sing;
5080.  Daya can sing too;
5081.  It’s (kind of) strange when your date won’t look you in the eye when she’s talking to you;
5082.  The single most important tool to being in balance is knowing that you and you alone are responsible for the imbalance between what you dream your life is meant to be and the daily habits that drain life from that dream.  You can create a new alignment with your mental energy and instruct the universe to send opportunities to correct this imbalance;
5083.  However absurd it may seem to others, if you want to restore the balance between your dreams and your habits, you need to make a shift in the energy that you’re contributing to your dreams.  If you’re out of balance, it’s primarily because you’ve energetically allowed your habits to define your life.  Those habits, and the consequences thereof, are the result of the energy you’ve given them;
5084.  You get what you think about, whether you want it or not.  Commit to thinking about what you want, rather than how impossible or difficult that dream may seem.  Give your personal dreams a place to hang out on the balance scale so that you can see them in your imagination and they can soak up the energy they deserve.  Thoughts are mental energy; they’re the currency that you have to attract what you desire.  You must learn to stop spending that currency on thoughts you don’t want, even though you may feel compelled to continue your habitual behavior.  Your body might continue, for a while, to stay where it’s been trained to be, but meanwhile, thoughts are being aligned with your dreams;
5085.  Far away in the sunshine are my highest inspirations.  I may not reach them, but I can look up and see the beauty, believe in them and try to follow where they lead;
5086.  Your intention to feel successful and experience prosperity and abundance depends on what view you have of yourself, the universe and, most importantly, the field of intention from which success and abundance will come.  The way you look at life is essentially a barometer of your expectations, based on what you’ve been taught you’re worthy of and capable of achieving.  These expectations are largely imposed by external influences such as family, community and institutions, but they’re also influenced by that ever-present inner companion: your ego;
5087.  Your expectations are largely based on the beliefs of limitation, scarcity and pessimism about what’s possible for you.  If these beliefs are the basis for how you look at life then this perception of the world is what you expect for yourself.  Attracting abundance, prosperity and success from these limiting viewpoints is an impossibility;
5088.  Kristy is an I.N.T.J.;
5089.  Georgia is north of Turkey;
5090.  Apparently, they serve turkey in Georgia, but not in Turkey;
5091.  Short-wavelength blue light plays an important role in determining your mood, energy level and sleep quality.  In the morning, sunlight contains high concentrations of this blue light.  When your eyes are exposed to it directly, it halts production of the sleep-inducing hormone melatonin and makes you feel alert.  In the afternoon, the sun’s rays lose their blue light, which allows your body to produce melatonin and this starts making you sleepy.  By the evening, your brain doesn’t expect any blue light exposure and is very sensitive to it.  Most of our favorite evening devices – laptops, tablets and mobile phones – emit short-wavelength blue light brightly and right in our faces.  This exposure impairs melatonin production and interferes with your ability to fall asleep as well as with the quality of your sleep once you do nod off;
5092.  If you can’t appreciate what you have now, you won’t be able to appreciate the “good life” if you ever get it;
5093.  You can edit a bad page, but you can’t edit a blank page;
5094.  I really like the Shepherd’s Pie at Ireland’s Four Courts (IrelandsFourCourts.com) in Arlington.  I think it’s (because of) the gravy;
5095.  Chicken has more flavor if you cook it with the skin on;
5096.  Reflection: 1.  What was awesome about this year?  List 3 awesome things that happened in each month of the year; 2.  Next questions are: A) What are you grateful for this year?  B) How did you feel about your life this year?  C) How do you want to feel in your life next year?  List as many things as you can in the gratitude department.  Reflect on how you felt about your life in 2016 without judgment.  Allow yourself those feelings.  No matter what they were, acknowledge and honor them.  Do a little meditation on how you want to feel in your life next year; 3.  Think about how you can apply the lessons you learned this year: A) What did you learn?  B) What could you have done to make this year better?  C) How can you build upon the lessons of this year to make next year rock?  Take your time with this process.  Reflection is not meant to be rushed.  Allow yourself to steep in the reflections for the last few weeks of this year.  Do some journaling on it.  Keep a notebook with you and jot things down as they come to mind; 4.  Finally, when you’ve done all that, say a little prayer of sorts.  Thank the universe for guiding you and helping your true potential to unfold.  Express your trust that everything is happening for your highest good and your belief that the universe has your back always and in all ways;
5097.  You won’t learn anything new if you think you know everything;
5098.  There are free performances every day at 6 o’clock (in the evening) at the Millennium Stage inside the Kennedy Center (Kennedy-Center.org/Video/Upcoming);
5099.  (George Frideric) Handel repeats a lot of lyrics in the “Messiah;”
5100.  The duck jerky at Left Door (LeftDoorDC.com) in D.C. is pretty tasty;

No comments:

Post a Comment