HOW TO MAKE A DOUBLE HOOK OR TRIPO

And creativity alive!!

What Your Taste in Chocolate Says About You?

You are sophisticated, modern, and high class.

Your taste is refined, but you are not picky.

You are often the first to try something new.

You are mellow, spiritual, and philosophical.

You are a true humanitarian. You enjoy helping people.

Your heart can be too open at times. You sometimes over-extend yourself.

You love new adventures and activities. You enjoy living a full life, even if it is chaotic.

You feel lost when things are quiet. You rather not think... you prefer to just do!

5 Point Plan To Lean, Strong and Fearless For Life

If you had to run from one end of an airport to another to catch a plane while wearing heels and carrying your bags, could you physically do it? Do you have enough "body dollars" in your "bank" to do it?

Some random facts:

• On average, 1/3 of the people on any given flight cannot fit through the emergency door.
• For mortality/morbidity calculations for safety reasons, the FAA assumes women to be 150 pounds and men to be 170
• Icelandic Airways has actual interviews for people who want an exit-row seat. They want to make sure that they're putting the fittest people there. Who's sitting in your exit row? Chances are it's somebody who needs the extra room, not the fittest person on the plane (who would presumably be the most helpful in an emergency)
• Receptors for neurotransmitters are now believed to be found all over the body, not just in the brain. This makes the mind and body one entity.
• Mice that were physically active actually created baby brain cells - neurogenesis. This has been replicated in human studies (from what little I know it has. Search for neurogenesis and exercise).
• When women/secretaries first got computers, they gained 15 pounds per year. This was due to the lack of walking around to find people, filing, bending over, lifting heavy documents. etc.

The 5 Point Plan

Mind

Women are hard-wired to scan around rooms and be alert at all times (example: even if you've never had a child, your body reacts when you hear a child crying). We ruminate a lot on what others think - when walking into a gym, do you look around to see if you're the fattest one there? If you're the best dressed? Lifting the most? Running the fastest? If you said no, I know you're lying =)

Women's brains secrete less serotonin than men so we go for foods that will raise it - chocolate, starch, fat, salt, and sugar. You have to be aware of this.

Our stress hormones actually decrease when we're in a food coma. That's why it feels so good.

Mouth

Eat 5 colors a day (and no, eating Skittles doesn't count!) - 5 colors of vegetables. The deeper the color is, the more anti-oxidants it has.

Eat every 3-4 hours (about 500 calories each) with small meals in between (100-200 calories each). If you wait until you're really hungry you're going to overeat because you'll eat fast and not realize you're full. It takes about 20 minutes for your stomach to tell your brain that you're full. Think about that. Most people's meals don't even last that long!

Muscle

Physical activity is non-negotiable. Most of us sit on our asses 8 hours a day, we're not from the hay-lifting generation anymore. It's not a part of our lives.

If you're not lifting weights, start. No excuses.

Breast cancer, heart disease, diabetes all take 15 years to develop. Prevention starts NOW.

Money

As sad as it is, you need money to be fit. Healthy food costs more than junk food. (See previous post.) Sneakers cost money. Gym membership costs money. Get your money in order!

Macrocosm

You can't take care of yourself if your life isn't set. You need to be organized (at least mentally organized, if not physically). You need to go food shopping once a week and not just on demand so you buy junk food. Put all your gym stuff in one area so it's easy to get to. Less clutter, be it mental or physical, is less stress.

My Favorite Poem

i carry your heart with me (i carry it in

my heart) i am never without it (anywhere

i go you go, my dear; and whatever is done

by only me is your doing, my darling)

i fear

no fate (for you are my fate, my sweet) i want

no world (for beautiful you are my world, my true)

and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant

and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows

(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud

and the sky of the sky of a tree called life; which grows

higher than soul can hope or mind can hide)

and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart (i carry it in my heart)

--ee cummings

Thinking On Your Feet

What is thinking on your feet?

• Being able to synthesize thoughts on the fly - getting the thoughts together and communicating them
• Adopting and adapting strategies on the go - how to communicate effectively with different types of people
• Thinking and speaking in a short amount of time without getting flustered about the short time window

Plan to improvise (it's really not an oxymoron!)

Know the basics of speech - these are your tools

• Volume and diction: speaking softly does not command attention
• Breathing: Trailing off at the end of a sentence makes you look weak
• Pitch: This is hard to control without practice, but usually a high-pitched voice makes you sound like you're lying
• Pace: If you relax your pace, your pitch with automatically go down
• Gap fillers: um, like, er, etc. Very distracting! Listen to yourself, catch yourself, and slow down. These words mean that your brain isn't ready for your mouth to start talking yet.

Know your subject matter

• Read broadly and read deeply not just in your area, but anything that would be related in a business context
• For planned meetings, know your stuff cold
• Prepare for the "worst possible question"
• Predict where people will drill down
• Expect to speak where the material is the weakest - it's where people will have the most questions
• Be prepared to extend and elaborate
• Think about the next phase, the next revision
• Make your list longer than you think you will need (if people ask you for the top 3 problems, know the top 5 or 6)

Know your audience

• Know where their knowledge is deep and where it is shallow
• Know what previous positions they've held - their background will shape their questions
• Know their hot button issues - customer service, interface design, etc.
• When working with senior decision makers
• Seek advice from others who know them
• Know their preferred communication style (visuals, numbers, etc.)
• Have somebody who knows them role-play so you can practice

Ok, I'm prepared. Now what?

Structure your thoughts

• Elevator pitch: boil your idea down to be as concise and as precise as possible
• Three as a magic number - say the three most important things about your idea
• Longer pitch
• Sandwich: introduction, meat of the story, conclusion
• Tell the what you're going to tell them, tell them, then tell them what you told them
• Value proposition, supporting arguments, call to action (here's what I need, why, and when I need them by)

Update your knowledge

• Update your subject-matter knowledge
• Where you were shallow
• Where the material was the weakest
• Update notes about participants
• Where did they drill down? (Try to find patterns over time)
• How did they like their information presented?
• Generalize feedback into your personal checklist
• Where was your thinking fuzziest?
• Did you always get stuck on a strategy question or a team leadership question?

The best thing anybody can do is practice. Talk "back" to the TV or radio. Have gentle debates with a family member. Record yourself and listen. Join a Toastmasters.

The Curse Of The Good Girl

Rachel Simmons has written a book called The Curse of the Good Girl that is getting a lot of attention, for good reason. It makes sense! Right now this book is 4th on my reading list, but it may be moved up =) 

I definitely think I fit under this curse. People who know me know that I always put others before myself, and yes, sometimes it comes back to bite me.

Let's take a step back. What is a good girl? Simmons calls a good girl somebody who is always polite, selfless, and modest. The curse is that people will walk over you, and sometimes it's not helpful to yourself or anyone else to be a good girl all the time. You don't have a full range of emotions because you're too busy being polite - so your anger builds up and you explode at improper times, or worse, you never get your anger out.

Good girls also grow up to be diminished in the workplace - they often begin sentences by "I don't know if this is correct, but this is my opinion." Do we want young women growing up to diminish themselves? Of course not!

This all leads back to how you were raised. I'm not sure how I was raised. Yes I know to put on a pot of tea whenever somebody comes into the house, and always serve food and drink on a tray, even if it's one person, but what does that have to do with giving my opinion?

I'm not sure there was enough discussion in my house when I was little to even have something to discuss. I know as I've gotten older, my parents do ask for my point of view because I generally have a complete 180 opinion than they do. And of course, if I ever do share it, they tell me I'm wrong. Is that part of this?


I have no answers unfortunately, just food for thought. If you read the book, let me know what you think.

JUST A THOUGHT

I am usually interested in many things (at once). I find myself doing a little bit of this, and that, and back again to "this". I find myself getting rather excited, to connect a meaningful thought or two until the thoughts evolve into an idea. These days, I am writing ideas in a plain old blue blank journal book. Something about the ink on paper, and the fact that my words cannot be rubbed away or deleted is comforting.

Revisiting ideas and building upon them happens when I pull out the journal and read. To think deeply, and to intentionally concentrate on one big idea is luxury these days.

I recently read a study that suggests that unregulated technology use in children may actually change their brains...that skimming superficially for information rather than digging, understanding, and internalizing information has become the norm.

Any good thing can become too much of a good thing. Technology too, if we aren't careful. And I LOVE being able to use it, but in moderation.

My Love Of Music

My piano is back home in Georgia, but two guitars are leaned up against the wall of my living room. I listen to music, but I haven't played in so long. The strings on my guitars glare at me, and dare me to tune them.

I stopped in the music store, and walked through.

"Feel free to try anything you like out..." the guy running the place said. So I wandered about, and tried a Fender or or two. Wandered out again, and drove home. Looked at my guitars, and tuned one and strummed a bit.

Earlier this year, I stopped at the Blues Benefit for the County Humane Society. And wow...I sat through some good tunes. I was only there for about an hour and a half, but my toes tapped the whole time. I wish I knew someone who'd come with me...but I don't know anyone here yet that likes that sort of thing I do, so I went solo.
Course, when there's live music, I'm rarely lonely!

Women Body Builders

Much of the public include the misconception to all female bodybuilders are muscle bound, steroid popping Amazons, who look like Arnold Schwarzenegger.

There are certainly a small handful of women who will fit into this sort and they compete in the elite championships such as the Ms Olympia, however the vast majority of women who are involved in bodybuilding are using it purely on behalf of complementary the body and on behalf of fitness.

Female bodybuilding is an admirable sport on behalf of immature women to strengthen their muscles, burn fat, and feeling of excitement their overall fitness levels so they can compete next to a top level in other sports.

By lifting weights women can essentially lose body fat, as the muscle they are building needs energy, and this is derived from using the energy to is stored in their body fat.

The be an average of female bodybuilder is implausible to build gargantuan muscles exclusive of the aid of special supplements or steroids.

This is due to the piece of information to women include a low level of testosterone in their body and it is testosterone to is required to build the muscle to men can so readily improvement.

Along with improved muscle tone, importance lifting besides aids in the strength of the empathy and the bones. This is particularly foremost for the reason that many women suffer from deterioration of their bones in afterward years.

Specific exercises on behalf of abdominal development will besides help with the strength and support of the back and this can be very beneficial on behalf of women who are taking into consideration having a baby.

Having the status of you can foresee, present are many atypical areas everyplace women can benefit from bodybuilding, and specifically importance training, exclusive of the relate to of looking like an Amazon next to the point of their training.

Most certified sports these days include importance lifting as part of their training routine and this besides applies to female sports.

A female bodybuilder will include a top level of fitness and a let down level of bodyfat than the be an average of women.

Who This Girl Really Is

•  I am not a complex person, far from it. 
•  I do not need to be rich "Sure everyone has to have money to survive"
•  I am not a greedy person, but one willing to give and help others. 
•  I am one that is happiest when everyone around me is happy.
•  I never ask for anything of others, but out of respect will accept a gift within reason.
•  I truly have love and compassion for everyone.
•  I love to make people laugh, laughter is contagious and good for the soul.
•  I am always smiling even when there is a frown beneath the surface,
•  I smile to make others feel at ease and if for only for one second know someone cares.
•  I am passionate about helping those who cannot help themselves. 
•  I still want to volunteer in Kenya with some colleagues to try and pay it forward.
•  I consider myself blessed and want to use my training in helping others
•  I would gladly give up a years salary to help in a third world country.
•  I know seeing me now with my mani and pedi I do not look as though I could ruff it, but this is where    my Country Girl Survivors Training  comes into play. I have been taught to live off the land.
• I know that sometimes I feel as though I do not do enough to help those in need. Helping others is far more than volunteering at a soup kitchen or handing out blankets to the homeless on the coldest of Baltimore nights. 
• I want to make a difference in the lives of others.
• I know there are some that judge the homeless, but in America the average family is three pay checks from becoming homeless think about that. Some are Vets that served our country well, but cannot function in the real world because they came back from war scarred for life if not physically then mentally. 
• I never tell of my volunteer work because I do not want to sound boastful, and believe me I am no saint for I have hardly touched the surface in the needs of others. 
• I have in the past, but with work I had no time, but I would love to start working on a crisis hotline again. It could be a teen needing to get out of a situation with her mother boyfriend, to someone 50 year old not feeling that life is worth living. I do want to help in some small way if only to save a suicidal person for at least one more night. 
•  I have shut down my own heartaches by spending time volunteering with a stranger and trying to help them find the will to live again. This has made me sane in the process.
• I at one time and have again shut myself off from dating, commitment, for how can I be good for someone when I constantly live in the past. I am talked to about a future filled with love and commitment, but my days are still to this day filled with the memories of a dead man. 
• I am a true romantic, I believe in the power of love, yet have never found someone to truly love me for my interior, but lust for my exterior.
• I feel the only way I will truly love again is find someone that can see past my exterior and take a long hard look into my very soul. Someone that will be willing to love me and only me for as long as we both shall live. Someone that loves my heritage, where I come from, my funny little Southern drawl and everything that makes up this (broke the mold Southern girl)
• I always feel that I put out there far more than I ever receive in return from a guy. 
• I feel a guy wants his cake and eat it too. 
• I feel that if someone truly loved me they would care about how I feel about things and not think all of the above a total waste of time. I hear these people need to get off there asses and work, but where is the work these days? Especially for a Vet in his 60's that just need a leg up. Where is someones compassion?  As for younger people if you look into there home life growing up most of the people were battered, abused, raped, made to prostitute themselves at the age of twelve by one or both parents. The people that brought them into the world and was suppose to protect them at all cost, is putting there kids out on the street to supply money for there drug habits. Not every thing or everyone in this world is full of love and light, but rather hate and darkness.  
• I was within a short time without my mama and the man that I loved with all my heart (my Soul Mate) so I put everything in my studies, work and volunteer work and shut out the world. Yes, I made mistakes along the way, but I will never regret anything. I have not dated that much, but I do know someday I will find someone who can put up with me and love me for who I am. I am in no hurry except I want to have children and I am pushing thirty. I want my children to be conceived in love and have parents that truly love one another to raise them. 
• I believe in the power of love and all that true love can bring into ones life. 
• I believe in miracles.
• I believe in God.
• I believe in you.
• I pray
• I pray for everyone.
• I feel I am a good person, although I know that good deeds alone will not get you into the kingdom of heaven. 
• I was once so trusting and I have been hurt along the way, but I pray for those who spitefully use me. 
• I pray for those who judge me. 
• I shall continue to pray for everyone that there minds and hearts shall become open. 
• I pray that God will give me the courage to open my heart again and love romantically.
• I pray for everyone reading this blog and may God bless and keep you.        
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