It’s True – It’s All in Your Head…
July 27, 2008
Yes, I know. I owe you guys about 4 other posts from BlogHer and my trip to San Francisco in general. I’ll get right on that with my usual alacrity…
But sometimes a concept keeps coming up repeatedly in my life from different avenues and different vectors – and I’ve learned over time that when that happens, it’s in my best interest to pay attention to it – and usually right now.
So there’s this thing, this life-lesson if you will, that has popped up several times this week and I think I’d be more than a little remiss if I didn’t put everything else on the back burner and write about it.
You see, earlier this week, I was having a conversation with one of my best friends. He’s in the middle of a job hunt – but his field is one that isn’t exactly opening up. Rather, it’s becoming more limited and more specialized. Kind of like watch repair. Not many people going in to watch repair these days – because the average person probably just replaces a watch that breaks since it’s either digital or inexpensive. Sure – there’s always a need for those who can repair really expensive watches with internal mechanisms – but it’s not like it’s an expanding field.
So my friend? He says to me the other night “how do I even get started here? All of the guys I’d be competing with have 30 years experience in the field – why would anyone want to hire me over them?”
My response kind of surprised me… but it was something both he and I needed to hear right then, so it boiled up from my subconscious where these things develop until I need them.
“See that’s where your problem is – you shouldn’t be asking the question ‘why would anyone want to hire me over them?’ you should be answering the question. For them and for yourself. Why hire you over someone with 30 years in the business? Maybe because you’re young and still passionate about it? You’re not just going to phone-it-in because you’ve been doing it for so long you’ve lost the drive? That you’re able to blend the experience you do have with a modern perspective? I can keep going if you’d like…” I told him.
He’s a smart guy. He got the perspective shift right away.
There have been a few other instances where I’ve found myself telling someone this week “you’re looking at it wrong – you’re asking the question when you should be answering it.” Don’t say “Why should I go to BlogHer when I’m not an a-list blogger and I don’t already have a group of friends there to hang out with?” Say “I should go because I have my own unique voice to add, and I can learn things too, and besides, I can make a group of new friends to hang out with this year and any other that I go.” Don’t say “Why should they select me to speak at that conference when there’s so many people with bigger reputations and more experience speaking at these things?” Say “they should select me because I’m passionate about this, and I want to share that passion and my knowledge about it with others. I can’t get more experience if I’m not putting myself out there and this is the right time for me to start letting people know that I have a voice worth listening to, too.”
See – I know there is someone who will read the above and think “hey… is she dissing me because I *do* have 30 years experience in my field?” and the answer is not at all. If you’ve got 30 years of experience (and success) in your field, it’s because you already know this part. Intuitively or expressly, you know that rather than asking “Why should someone hire me when I’m getting older and there’s all these hot-shot young kids around trying to climb the ladder?” you say “Of course they’re going to hire me – because I’ve got experience, perspective, and a proven ability to add value. My track record speaks for itself.”
One of the many secrets to being successful in any field is to be the one who answers the question “Why me?” rather than the one asking it.
Think about it for a second and you’ll probably find that you know a lot of people who don’t put themselves out there because they always come up with the “Why me?” questions rather than being able to answer them… and you’ll also realize that they’re the ones limiting themselves. If you can’t answer the question – how do you expect someone who doesn’t even know you to answer it?
Yeah, they won’t. They’ll move on to the guy/gal after you who does have an answer for it. Sometimes, you have to go the step beyond believing in yourself and communicate it to someone else effectively. Otherwise, you’ll find yourself asking “why him/her and not me?” too often.
Okay. Moment of enlightenment over. I’ll get on those other posts next. But I’ve got some company coming over and I’m going to go enjoy myself. Because I deserve it!
Day 1 In the Bubble… BlogHer 2008
July 18, 2008
The whole day I’ve been “thinking out blog posts” – but it seems somehow like if I took the time to slow down and post them, I’d miss what I was here to experience.
So here I am, at nearly 1 a.m. local time trying to pound out a blog post before I surrender to sleep, having passed up the opportunity to get food with @sendchocolate & @califmom (which I really needed – haven’t had much in the way of sustenance today despite many catered events.)
Perhaps if I’d actually slept last night, things would be different. But I went to sleep nearly 24 hrs ago, intending to get 4 hours before packing – only to find myself popping awake 2 hours later and incapable of sleeping again due to excitement (tinged with a touch of panic about forgetting something important – I forgot my iPod & my sunscreen.)
The alarm rang at 6 a.m. and my darling GeekDaddy offered to reset it for “another 10 minutes of sleep” which I passed on. Why lie in bed awake longer?
Several hours later, having had a lovely breakfast of Cherry Butter Braid & coffee made by my wonderful husband – we loaded my suitcase and laptop bag in the car, put Buttercup in, dropped her off at Theater Camp and headed for the airport.
I should’ve had another cup of coffee.
While the check-in at curbside went smoothly thanks to GeekDaddy’s steady presence, when I got to the TSA screening, I was so absorbed in remembering to take my laptop out of the bag and put my shoes in the nifty Zappos.com bins that I kind of forgot something. So I walked thru the trusty watch-and-keys-detection gate to have the TSA agent say “whose bag is this?!”
Looking around at the lack of any other possible culprit, I said “mine, I guess?”
“And did you have any liquids?” she asked archlly “um, oh crap, yes…” I replied, realizing that they were still in the front pocket of the laptop bag. “Uh huh, and they would be where?” she asked. “In the front pocket in a quart-sized ziploc that I totally forgot to take out?” I said. “That’s correct,” she said, displaying them for me before saying “have a nice day” and shooing me along. How could I help but say “you’d think I hadn’t done this before, eh?”
The flight was long and hot – there were three (not 1, but 3!) infants under 3 weeks old within 3 rows each of me. They were not happy. They shared their unhappiness with us, and with each other. Somewhat like a round of row-row-row your boat – only with less words and more hysterical crying.
I won’t even go into the state of the San Jose airport.
I should keep typing and tell you all about the cool car (a black PT cruiser) and the drive up. And the hotel. And the shuttle ride to the Kirtsy/Alltop party at Guy Kawasaki’s house. And the party itself. And the rest of the night… But it’s going to have to wait until tomorrow if I can remember it that long. Because my back is killing me and my bed looks comfy.
I’ll finish that up tomorrow. I’m sure you understand. After all… *yawn* Tomorrow is Another Day!
How LazyMom Looks Like UberMom Today
July 16, 2008
I haven’t done a lot of product reviews on this blog up to this point, unless you count software or online sites. But some days, my life is all about the super cool product I’ve found somehow and I usually find myself telling friends and family all about it.
At this point, you guys are friends, right?
I will note that nothing I’ve reviewed on this site so far, including what I’m about to talk about has been pitched to me, nor have I been remunerated in any way by any of the companies whose sites or products I have reviewed. If that were ever to happen, you’d better believe I’d be up front about it. But in the case of the stuff I’ve reviewed so far, it’s just UberCool stuff I thought I should share.
Okay, that out of the way. Let’s talk about two UberCool products that I’m all about today.
The first one is Downy Wrinkle Releaser.
Now this little bottle has a magic potion in it. Seriously. I went out and bought a new bottle today to take with me to San Francisco this week. Because when it comes down to it? I loathe ironing.
I first heard about this product last year before going on a cruise. The folks over on the DisBoards were all raving about how wonderful it was – especially since you can’t take irons on-board a cruise ship – not even travel irons.
I got my first bottle thinking “yeah, well, at worst it will work as well as a spray bottle filled with water – but if it does work better, cool!”
Now? My husband has to convince me not to use it on everything. Yeah, seriously, it’s cheaper to iron. But it’s faster and easier to spritz something with this, tug a bit, and Voila! you have a garment that looks better than it does after most ironing jobs.
And if you really want to be rocking it? you can use this as a spray before ironing. It gets the wrinkles out faster and easier and leaves a nice clean scent too.
Before someone posts to tell me how “Product X” works pretty much the same or that you could do the same thing more cheaply by just hanging suitcase-creased clothes in a steamy bathroom – let me just tell you – if you had tried this, you wouldn’t say that. It’s kind of creepy how well it works. Especially on those “little girl dresses” that look so pristine in the store, on the hanger, but the first time they come out of the dryer are a mass of wrinkles that defy any normal-sized iron…
I honestly recommend this product to everyone & anyone who will listen to me. The do have a nifty 3 oz. Travel Size option for those business travelers doing the carry-on routine – but I’ve never seen it in the stores. But, once you are hooked, you can always by them in bulk here. I meant to do that before this trip but time slipped away, so I’ll be lugging enough for a dozen other BlogHer friends to de-wrinkle-ify themselves too.
Still, if I were traveling as much for business as some of my friends, believe me, I’d be knee-deep in these carry-on size ones. Faster, easier, and better results than the hotel iron.
Trust me, LazyMommies always find the easiest way to do something!
Speaking of which, today while I was at the store buying the bottle of liquid de-wrinkling magic known as Downie Wrinkle Releaser, I sort of stumbled into another completely unrelated product that will now be going on my list of must-haves.
Duncan Hines Oven Ready! Homestyle Brownies
Oh. My. Gosh.
Buttercup, ever the eagle-eyed dessert connoisseur, saw these when we were standing in the Frozen Desserts section while I was perusing the 100-calorie-won’t-make-you-feel-guilty frozen offerings.
“Mommy! Brownies!” she squealed, looking at the conveniently placed at a 5-yr-old’s eye-level box you see here.
Granted, she’s been teaching herself how to read for the past few weeks – but who needs reading skills when there’s a picture like that on the box?
Since I succumb willingly to MommyGuilt on a regular basis, and since I’m leaving tomorrow and won’t get to see her until Sunday, and since I personally love a good brownie and plan on excising them from my diet when I get back next week, I took the box out and looked it over.
Did I mention it was the last box left in the freezer? Surrounded by dozens of other tempting treats that were all fully stocked, this one lone little box was sitting there looking like it might disappear if I waited too long. (Yes, yes, I know – but I’m good at rationalizing stuff to myself!)
So. The box said that I could take out the little tray that the batter is in straight from the freezer, peel off the plastic, put it into a 350 oven for 25-27 minutes and *Poof!* perfectly baked “Homestyle Brownies” in a disposable tray. No mixing, no mess, no cleanup.
How could I resist?
Well you know I couldn’t, so I didn’t. We got home, pre-heated the oven, opened the box, peeled the plastic, threw the little trayful of frozen brownie batter on a cookie sheet, popped it in the oven and waited 27 minutes.
Annnnnd then we waited another half hour because GeekMommy is evil & mean & cruel and forgot that she was waiting for them to cool down until a forlorn Buttercup reminded her with “can we have a brownie now Mommy??!!?”
Okay, granted, these only taste “homestyle” if the only kind of brownies you’ve ever made in your home come from a box. But if the only brownies you’ve ever made come from a box? These are bound to be better.
Maybe it’s that the industrial mixing & measuring that occurs long before it exits the Duncan Hines factory – which is surely more efficient than what we can do in our little home kitchens – but these are darn near perfect brownies.
Just ask Buttercup. She snarfed hers down quickly and asked for another one. (No, not until after dinner! I’m lazy, but I’m not really that bad of a Mom.) Okay, yeah, 5-year-old-palates may not be that discerning when it comes to brownies – but mine disappeared just as quickly. Yeah, I wanted another one too. But I’m trying to save the rest for when GeekDaddy gets home and we’re done with dinner. Given that you get about 8 decent sized brownies out of the tray, that means 2 more for each of us.
Shh! He doesn’t have to know that Buttercup & I already snarfed one each, does he?
Meanwhile, I’ll be putting a couple of these in my freezer for those times when I need to look like UberMom by “actually baking” without really having to do anything much. I highly recommend it for anyone needing to take brownies to a ‘function’ as well – I mean, the tray is disposable. Cool. So Duncan Hines Oven Ready! Homestyle Brownies get a huge thumbs up!
Okay, now I’m going to go play with Buttercup given how much brownie-fueled energy we both have!! See ya!
Possibly the Most Important Thing I’ve Read This Week
July 9, 2008
The Blog Post I’m Referring To Can Be Found Here
I’ve been waiting for this to round out a little bit today before linking it… but I think it’s an important matter to bring up.
Aaron Brazell [@technosailor] at Technosailor.com has posted about an on-going issue with Congress and the current attempt to keep their members from using Social Media tools like Twitter and Qik.
Congressman John Culberson (R-TX) [@johnculberson] has weighed in on the issue making it as simple to understand as can be… something that he would not be allowed to do if the Democrat side of the house has their way on this one. There are congressmen & senators using the internet right now just like you and I do. That needs to continue without censorship in my book.
But rather than recreating the wheel – just go read Aaron’s amazing post on it.
Make Your Life a Little Easier
July 4, 2008
Okay – I know I haven’t been posting much… but are you ready to love me for this one?
I’m going to post two links that are going to make your life much easier. At least one, if not both of these applications is going to make the day-to-day stuff so much easier that you’ll wonder how you got along without them.
I need to credit Chris Pirillo [@chrispirillo] for bringing my attention to the first one and Aaron Brazell [@technosailor] for the second one. All thanks go to them, not me. I’m just sharing my giddiness!
Ready?
Okay then…
Application #1
http://whenisgood.net/
You know how freaking hard it is to schedule anything in your life? Especially when you’re dealing with your busy friends and family – or trying to set up a meeting or something fun…
You send a ton of emails back and forth, right? You say “let’s get together! Do you have any time next weekend?” and you get back “Um, maybe on Saturday, what works for you?” and you say “How about 2pm?” and get back “um, we’ve got a prior engagement…”
I’d keep going – but I’m sure you know the routine from here. A dozen or so emails later you have “penciled in plans.”
Not any more.
Now you go to When Is Good?
screen shot of the whenisgood grid
1) Click the grid for all the times that are good for you – you get a link to email to your invitees.
2) They see your proposed times and click on when they are free.
3) You visit your results page and see when everyone can do.
No sign-up form. No password to choose. No fuss at all.
And when you’re done marveling over how easy it was to find a time that everyone can get together this time – you’ll be sending the link to everyone who ever asks you ‘When is good for you?’
Yes, if we’re in the same town you can send me a link some time to let me know when is a good time to celebrate your freedom from this little scheduling dance!
Application #2
http://awayfind.com/
landing page awayfind.com
Now this one is Private Beta still. So you’ll have to apply for an invite on the homepage – or wait until they go open to the public – but if you wait, you’ll be kicking yourself when you do get around to it for not applying sooner!
What exactly it does is a bit more complicated – so rather than reinvent the wheel, I’ll let you go to AwayFind.com yourself to see the full description. But what if I told you that you could stop obsessively checking your email all the time – and only check it a couple of times a day – knowing that if it’s something really important, you’ll get notified?
The Reader’s Digest version is that AwayFind.com allows you to manage your inbound email whether you are in the office or out on vacation so that the truly urgent stuff finds you. Need to delegate a certain type of email? You can do that too. Want to be able to ‘pre-sort’ your email so that it goes to different email addresses depending on the type of contact it is? Yep. You can do that too. How about having notices sent to your phone if it’s an emergency or even just that one email you’ve been checking obsessively for? Yep. You guessed it.
Alright – I won’t keep you any longer. If you’ve read this far, you’re already itching to get over to AwayFind.com and see what the heck I’m talking about. Go on. I’ll be around.
But later? Let me know what you think of it.
Because after all… that’s the only way I know whether to post more of these things for y’all or not.
Have fun being more productive!!
