Too many ideas in my head this week! Instead of a series of smaller posts, I bring you a compilation of assorted musings, findings and random thoughts instead:
- Book / Decision-Making Framework: I stumbled across Suzy Welch on Twitter and noticed she wrote a book called 10-10-10. Curious about the meaning of the title, I found the following description on Amazon: “When you’re facing a dilemma, all it takes to begin are three questions: What are the consequences of my decision in 10 minutes? In 10 months? And in 10 years?” This seemed like a helpful shortcut for wrestling with big decisions (or processing something upsetting). Something tells me I don’t actually need to buy the book to fully understand this strategy (but by all means, correct me if you’ve read it and I’m wrong).
- Generosity: I feel very lucky to have had several conversations with people I admire recently. Each one of them asked me, “How can I be most helpful to you?” at some point during our chat. Each time, I was overwhelmed by the generosity of that question, and felt immense gratitude to be on the receiving end of it. These people are all busy, with incredibly full, rich lives (hence, my admiration!) and yet they still took time to put an open-ended “let me know how I can help you” offer on the table. It speaks volumes to me about their generosity of spirit, and reminds me to do the same for others as much as I can.
- Technology & Communication: The Wall Street Journal ran an interesting article yesterday: Why Email No Longer Rules (and what that means for the way we communicate). As someone who often feels overwhelmed by my email inbox (apologies if you’ve ever waited two weeks for an email from me!), I wonder about whether multiple short communication streams (Twitter, Facebook, Blog comments, etc.) make correspondence easier or just add to the deluge. On one hand, the article says “People overused email – now they can use the right tool for the right task.” (Agree) On the other hand, “We get lured into wasting time…and we will no doubt waste time communicating stuff that isn’t meaningful, maybe at the expense of more meaningful communication. Such as, say, talking to somebody in person.” Or writing a blog post about miscellaneous musings??
- On Being Busy: Danielle LaPorte, of White Hot Truth, posts today with a great reminder: We Know You’re Busy. Now Shut-Up About It. Danielle says, “Even as a well-intended social pleasantry, ‘Sorry, I’ve been busy,’ has a little victim ring to it…Whatever is on your plate got there because you said yes to it – in the fullness of ambition and desire and wanting to eat life whole. Busy can be good. Busy can be bad. Busy is most often a choice.” So what to do about our tendency to use busyness as an excuse? Danielle says, “Report on life rather than whine about it.”
- Conditioned Consumer: I am officially a wussy Californian when it comes to the weather. Today marks our first rain of the season and I acknowledged this occasion by oversleeping, skipping my morning workout and stopping by Starbucks on the way to work. Nothing says “comfort me to make up for the dark-grey-pouring-rain weather” like a double nonfat mocha with 1.5 pumps of chocolate and whipped cream. And no, my high maintenance drink orders are not an indication of my dating habits. I SWEAR.
- Fun: I’ve seen this video before, but it never fails to make me grin uncontrollably from ear-to-ear. If you haven’t watched “Where the Hell is Matt” do yourself a favor and go check it out.
As a final note, thank you so much for all the birthday wishes last week! I had a fabulous weekend with friends in San Francisco (and if you had ANY doubt, yes I bought myself a red velvet cupcake to celebrate). The article I referenced in my video is WiseGeek’s “Why Do Snakes Shed Their Skin?” and I’m still waiting for a Personal Branding Expert somewhere to give me a citation for comparing myself to a snake.
You'll get my 
