"Genius is one percent inspiration and ninty-nine percent perspiration." ~Thomas Edison
Always keep in mind...Desire only gets you so far. Edison quotes are some of my favorite. The Keyword here is Perspiration. "Winning is a habit. You've got to play with your heart, with every ouch of fiber in your body." ~Vince Lombardi Vince's speech is quite possibly one of my favorite speeches ever. His words ran through my mind last week, as I lay on the gym floor exhausted, sweaty, and ready to mutter some choice words under my breath about my instructor. After months of being drenched in sweat 4 or 5 days a week at the gym, I realized I had actually accomplished my goal through MY hard work and PERSPIRATION. A favorite quote of his ran through my ears at that same moment... "I firmly believe that any man's finest hours, his greatest fulfillment to all he holds dear, is the moment when he has worked his heart out for a good cause and LIES EXHAUSTED ON THE FIELD OF BATTLE, VICTORIOUS." ~Vince Lombardi It was liberating to feel what he was talking about. With enough drive and determination, anything is possible, but you must DO in order to BE THE DREAM. In doing, you MUST perspire if you want to WIN. I dare you to perspire. Watch the video that changed my life.
It seems that things come into our lives when we most need them. Sometimes we feel like we could do without them and other times we really wish we didn't have to deal with them at all. I am a firm believer that everything happens for a reason.
I am allured by a sense of discovery and adventure. I know many people are. It's exciting and creates drama and suspense. Sometimes it seems that watching a movie with drama and suspense is more palatable than experiencing it ourselves, however many decide to embark on journeys that push the envelope and change their own or quit possibly the world's reality and current state of being through paths they chose to encounter or sometimes are forced to encounter.
Today, I bring to you an excerpt from a book called Flow by mihaly csikszentmihalyi.
At some point, I think today may have been what I would call the worst day ever. I will spare you the details, however, I managed to get through it. I took a break and cleared my head and got back to work. I've been working on a project that seems to be giving me a bit of trouble and difficulty.
Later in the day, I was looking for something that I thought I slid into a book. I picked up the book Flow and proceeded to look for what I was missing. I have yet to finish this book, but I grabbed the spine and flipped through the pages hoping the paper I needed would fall out. This book is a national best seller. Its sub title is 'the psychology of optimal experience.' The New York Times describes it as "Important...Illuminates the way to happiness." This book is about finding your flow with what you do best and making the most out of your life.
As I got to the end, without any luck...so I thought, I scanned what looked like highlighted text in the back of the book. Someone had highlighted a section in the post script portion in the book, toward the end. I can't recall if I did this, which one would assume I did because I bought the book new, but I do have a bad habit of jumping to the end of a book that I feel is just repeating itself to get the moral of the story. I wasn't recalling marking up this book at any point though.
As I proceeded to read it, I felt like a guardian angel was looking over me. Now let me just tell you a little bit about my day. Since I was perceiving it to be awful, you can imagine my state of mind was not quit in alignment, possibly slightly irritated and maybe using some choice words because of the challenges that I was facing. (keep in mind I said possibly. I would never act immature or childish in anyway if I was upset, just so you understand me correctly) What I began reading was...
"A few, like the ones who tell their stories in this book, are more responsive to the rewards of discovery. But we all respond to both of these rewards; the tendencies toward conserving energy as well as using it constructively are simultaneously part of our inheritance. Which one wins depends not only on our genetic makeup but also presumably on our early experiences."
I was feeling intrigued by this. Interested in the fact that my prior experiences in life were allowing me to react to my day as I was. What really jumped out at me was...
"However, unless enough people are motivated by the enjoyment that comes from confronting challenges, by discovering new ways of being and doing, there is no evolution of culture, no progress in thought or feeling. It is important, therefore, to understand better what enjoyment consists of and how creativity can produce it....It was clear from talking to them (those telling their stories in the book) that what kept them motivated was the quality of experience they felt when they were involved with the activity...it often involved painful, risky, difficult activities that stretched the person's capacity and involved an element of novelty and discovery. This optimal experience is what I have called flow."
So, flow is something that just happens like magic after lots of practice and new ways of development occur, however, what is important to note is that there is often pain, risk and challenge that go into finding flow and it is the element of experience that keeps us hanging on and pushing forward.
Interestingly enough, the Progressive Insurance commercial spokesperson, Flo, comes to mind. She seems to have a certain flow about her. She knows her stuff and is willing to put herself out there to prove her point. I think we can all take some advice from Flo(w).
We all need to recognize that difficulties that stretch our capabilities are often the most pivotal in our lives and that working through the pain, risk and/or challenge is what makes us who we are. If more of us aren't willing to endure this, than our culture will remain status quo.
I'm sure I must have read this portion of the book at some point and skipped to the end to highlight probably the most important statements of the entire book. However, I'm sure glad that on a day when I needed to hear those words most that they jumped off the page right at me to help me recognize what I was feeling was natural and part of figuring out these challenges and opportunities in front of me. At the end of the day, I realized it really is my duty to carry on. Que the music...Fun, Carry On. (official video)
Rally for climate change February 17th in
Washington D.C.
40,000 Anti-bodies Spread the Message on Capital Hill for Energy
Change
An estimated 40,000 activists from over 30 states joined
together in front of the Washington Monument, Capital Hill and The White House
to voice their concerns on the future of our planet rallying for change in how
our commodities are used in our energy choices and the consequences of passing
the Keystone pipeline project from Canada.
Young and old banded together to reinforce the message that
some things have got to give when it comes to making choices on Capital Hill
and how reckless decisions will do nothing but kill our planet.
Jackie Thomas Government Chief member of the Frou Indian
Clan in Canada said she stands behind shutting down the Keystone Pipeline
Project. The process needed to put this through is too dirty for our
environment. She stands behind taking care of our land so that our land will
take care of us.
The President of The Sierra Club, one of the organizations
that helped build this rally was arrested last week at a demonstration on
climate change. He stands strong behind his belief in clean energy choices for
the future of his children and all children on this planet.
Other members of the rally even came from across the country
like Rosario Dawson, a Hollywood actress who played in Men in Black II. She stands behind building our
countries legacy and creating a power shift in how we use our energy sources to
cleaner, green options.
All the stops were pulled out when it came to signage and
making a point from astronaut suits and decorated wagons that donned the
message about change in our choices for the clean, green energy choices our
President needs to help facilitate to form a new energy legacy. One stroke of a
pen allows for change.
Join The Sierra Clubs 100 days campaign at www.thesierraclub.org
and help support change to move forward with clean, green renewable energy
technologies.
It has been said, many times in the theater, silence is golden, but tonight at the Golden Globes, Miss Jodi Foster was everything but silent. She received the Lifetime achievement Cecil B. Demille Award at The Golden Globe's 70th annual ceremony presented by Robert Downey Jr.. She worked a stunning navy Georgio Armani sheath gown across the floor as it refracted, not only the light in the room, but the light her heart was exuding throughout the room as she proudly raised her firmly trimmed biceps, proclaimed her pride about being 50 years old and showcased the important people who have made her life as real as it could be, living in front of a camera.
She spent most of her speech discussing the private details of her very public life. She has been Foster for the People since she was just 3 years old. Privacy, for those in the public eye is scarce. With the growth in smart phones and social networks our digital footprint is hard to contain as a private matter. She brought light to a dark situation that looms over the privacy cloud in our current reality and discussed how sacred privacy really is.
As the speech progressed, she got into some details, which began to make me feel slightly uncomfortable, as I watched the words spill off her tongue. I began to feel as if I wasn't the only one to spilled her guts a little too often. However, as she brilliantly pulled each piece of her speech together, there was not a dry eye in the theater, including my own, pointing out that it is the real moments of our lives that actually make us who we are. The trials and tribulations in our lives that make us or break us. The times when things get uncomfortable and are full of raw reality are the times that make us who we are.
One could feel her heart reaching out, not to take the part, but to take part in what she called life, which has been lived in Hollywood during the 47 years she's spent in front of the camera. She was raw, real and connected to those in her life. She spoke of her friends, publicist, children and her mother in a touching way. She reached out to each one of them and told them how much they meant to her. She gave a wish away to her mother, hoping that she take the words I love you and engrain them on her heart as she moves on to the after life in years to come.
In my mind, Jodi Foster not only took home the Cecil B. Demille Award, but she just chalked one more performance, not for best actress, but for life's best reality speech ever.
You go Jodi Foster. Live the life you deserve. Claim the life you want to live in your self proclaimed new future off the screen. You truly are an amazing woman.
"I am not interested in the past. I am interested in the future, for that is where I expect to spend the rest of my life." ~Charles Kettering*
Ohio born inventor, businessman and graduate of Ohio State University in electrical engineering, Charles Kettering was a man who believed in the future, because as he stated, "that is where I expect to spend the rest of my life."
Charles held 186 patents. He says, "A problem well stated, is a problem half solved." One can see that he must have been good at stating problems if he held 186 patents.
Have you ever found yourself stuck in a slue of problems? Have you ever found that you are constantly uncovering problems all the time? Well, this might be considered a character flaw in some, however, as Kettering says, you are half way there just by defining your problem.
Inspiration comes from so many places, especially if your eyes are open. Today, I wanted to lift someones spirits. Someone who I have never met, yet comes into my living room on a regular basis. I found the Kettering quote and thought it might help. Then, I decided to go one step further and find out who Kettering really was. I was so inspired by him, that I decided to write this post.
"Keep on going and the chances are you will stumble on something, perhaps when you are least expecting it," says Kettering. As I read this quote from him, I was wondering if the founders of StumbleUpon had ever happened upon this quote.
I continue to be inspired by inventors, scientists and futurists. They are what keep me going; keep me pushing; keep me stumbling. Life is like that. If you have your eyes open, you can see 1,000 times more things than those who are living nothing more than a mundane life completely content with the status quo. Now, don't get me wrong, there are good qualities about mundane actions. We really can't avoid them, but not looking forward to the future and being content with your problems will never grow you; evolve you.
Oddly enough, I stumbled on the fact that Charles Kettering helped establish the New York cancer research facility, The Sloan-Kettering Institute. The journalist that I was trying to lift up is Robin Roberts from GMA, Good Morning America. She happens to be battling a blood medical condition classified as pre-leukemia and going through Chemo and a bone marrow transplant on Thursday and lives in New York.
Somehow, life has a way of bringing everything together. Somehow, I am going to believe that my donated quote that was looking to raise spirits will do more than that; that it will bring an energy from Kettering to me to her that will carry her into the future...because that is where we will all spend the rest of our lives. Inspire someone today. It's the little things that matter in life.
So Ms. Roberts, I send positive energy your way. I see you have a bright future. I see everyone in the future with fear, however, fear with energy creates courage. I wish you courage for these coming days. I send you energy for your tired body. I send you energy to lift your spirit. I send you hope for a bright future where we all will live.
You inspire me, Ms. Roberts; as a journalist and a kind human spirit. Carpe Diem.
"The future can be anything we want it to be, providing we have the faith
and that we realize that peace, no less than war, required 'blood and
sweat and tears." ~Charles Kettering
*Quote pulled from Norman Vincent Peale, Words That Inspired Him.
Interestingly enough, the quotes that I found on-line differed slightly from the quote I pulled from Peale's book. And so it goes, the battle to define fact checking in journalism.
Facebook is not looking into building a phone. Mark Zuckerberg made that clear during the 30 minute, standing room only interview with Michael Arrington at TechCrunch Disrupt in San Francisco this past Tuesday. It seemed like Mark had quite a bit to cover on his agenda. He spoke like a man with a mission spewing stats about mobile and covering topics from regrets to open graph product opportunities.
He said, "building a mission and
a business go hand in hand." As much as he believes in the company
mission of building a more open and connected world and a focus on long
term growth; he recognizes the importance of both. He had plenty to
discuss as his first public appearance since the IPO in May. He was
laden with stats and what sounded like a plan that was now humming like a
well oiled machine focusing on mobile. You could feel the energy
exuding from Zuckerberg as he chatted it up with Mr. Arrington. He spoke
quickly to get out all the data that he wanted to share with everyone.
It was great to see Zuckerberg really does have things under control,
despite investor feedback and forecasts.
What Facebook has done is
retool the product infrastructure and the way they build product from a
more vertical model into more horizontal product grouping beginning
last December. Mark said this retooling did have an impact on the growth of the
company. They have just released the iOS improved mobile Facebook app
and expect to deliver an Android version in the near future after switching from HTML5 to Native. Mark admitted he regretting putting all his eggs in one basket re HTML5, however they have moved on from that and are in a good place using Native.
Mark said
today, "We are a mobile company." He had the stats to prove it. There are 5Billion phone users. Engagement and users are up from Facebook mobile. Mobile users are likely to use Facebook 6 out of 7 days per week. Mark appeared confident in his mobile strategy going forward.
Another idea they have been working on is a search product.
Currently, they have 1Billion queries a day. Most users are looking for
people, however, they are also looking for pages and apps from a business perspective. Mark said
that they are looking to take a new approach to the search engine style and use the data
that they have to answer questions that people want to know. He feels
that this is a huge opportunity for Facebook, as well as a unique one since they are the only company with this kind of big data about users.
For Mark, he says,
"It's not really about the fun. It's about the mission." He wants people
to work for Facebook because they believe in the products and the
mission. He wants people to be proud of what they are building and share
it with their family and friends. It's a great time to be involved with Facebook as a user and an employee.
Mark said that Facebook is very self critical and that he
prefers to be in the like of the underdog position where he can take
risks and come out wowing stock holders and consumers. It seems this interview spurred on a rally on Wall Street and raised the stock price to close at just under the $20 mark. This begs the question...has Facebook passed it's darkest hour? If you haven't bought stock yet, this might be the best time to buy because based on an interview like this, the forecast looks good.
