March 2019 – Mixing Pods

Checkpoint: How are you doing with your goals and that one word for 2019?

So it’s already March 31st, the last day of the first quarter of the year (dang that went fast!). It’s time for a checkpoint on those goals that we set for the year and how we are doing on that one word for 2019 that we talked about on January 1st.

Commitment. That was my one word for 2019. I also posted a blog in December on why having fun at work would be a top goal in 2019. I’m doing pretty good so far (this blog is still getting posted), and there is always room for more fun.

However, those that know me well (or have picked up on it by reading this blog) know that I am a goal fanatic. I love setting goals, creating sub-goals, grouping goals, prioritizing goals, and talking about goals. I sort of treat personal goals like Wayne Gretzky treated hockey goals.

” You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.”
Wayne Gretzky

My take is that it costs you nothing to set a goal. So why not put a goal out there if it is something you are thinking about achieving. Goals can be dynamic and might change season to season.

So my 2019 word, commitment, has developed into more of a theme that applies to the goals across 4 categories: Family, Work, Community, and Personal. (Commitment to …)

To measure progress, I take a simple color-based approach to see how I am doing and where to refocus my energy. I score myself as either ‘green’, ‘yellow’, ‘red’, and a new label of ‘blue’.

Green = On Track – Making progress and hitting milestones
Yellow = Need to Recommit – Put more energy and focus on it
Red = Way off Track – Totally Refocus or Evaluate if it was the right goal
Blue = Eliminate = The goal it was DOA (Dead on Arrival)

This past week, I listened to Seth Godin’s, The Dip and he talks about ‘strategic quitting’. So for those goals in red, determining if it is worth persevering get through the dip or if it’s a cul-de-sac, and the goal is a dead end. Should that goal that is in red, be turned to blue? It’s a quick read/listen, so I won’t dive too deep into Seth’s book here, but I highly recommend checking it out.

The good news is tomorrow is April 1st. We have an opportunity to start the next quarter off fresh and it’s a perfect time to do an assessment to determine if you had the right goals to start with or not. How are you doing with that one word you set at the beginning of the year?

Take some time to celebrate your successes and ways to keep the momentum in areas where you are on track. Determine if you need to make some minor adjustments or totally refocus in the areas you aren’t makeing progress. Or lastly, the insight from this blog may be evaluating if it is time to ‘quit’ a goal or think through a word that is a better fit.

There is no need to beat yourself up if you are not on track because no matter how awesome you are, even you can’t change the past. And if you never set a goal in the first place, why not start today? You have nothing to lose.

Addie’s version of writing down her goals!

Have you REALLY explored what gives you joy?

So my friend Candace Mau hosts a weekly radio show on Mondays called Everyday Joy. It’s a show dedicated to ‘choosing to live a deliberately joyful life!’ She was out of the country this past week with a few members of her extended family and asked me to guest host the show. I just had to open and close the show, and facilitate a Q&A with a guest. She convinced me, I can do this!

Well, I found out a few minutes before the show was going on the air that the guest I was supposed to interview was not going to make it. So I was going solo on the air (it is streamed live) for ~45 minutes or so to talk about joy.

This was a learning experience in so many ways. First, I learned from the producer that I couldn’t have dead air, so I had to just keep talking (kind of like Dory in Finding Nemo… just keep swimming, just keep swimming). I also learned that it is kind of fun to be unscripted. I think that I struggled the most when I was trying to follow something I had jotted down, rather than just speaking from the heart and letting the words flow.

During the first break, the producer helped me figure out the name of the show, Finding Joy Through Connection. I think that was the real gem that came out of this experience. I don’t know if I could have articulated that before we started. However, by talking out loud what joy is to me, how I get it, how I share it, it all just sort of took shape.

I’ve spent hours talking to Candace about similar topics, but I hadn’t ever sat back and organized my thoughts on what truly gives me joy.

Below are some of the key insights that surfaced for me during the show:

Living a joyful life is a choice worth exploring
Asking yourself questions and letting the answers surface is a beautiful process
There is joy in a simple life
Joy doesn’t have boundaries (Socioeconomic, geography, etc.)
Gratitude and connection can get us through anxious moments
Daily dog walks (or just any outdoor walk) allows us time to recharge, connect, and stay grounded
White space is important for me and my family
Self-depreciation is my fasted path to connection
Of course, my family and girls are great sources of joy, I explored this a few months ago in a blog about the day after Maggie was born.

However, the biggest insight for me that won’t surprise many of you reading this blog, is that mixing pods is a great source of joy for me and this blog is a creative outlet. Mixing together my various personas covers most of the items listed above.

How many of you have taken that amount of time to talk through and discover something like what joy means to you? Maybe it’s time for a long car ride, a long walk, or an hour-long radio show. In fact, I think this could be my new approach to discovering more things for myself in the future. Pick a topic and just riff about it, who knows what will surface.

If you would like to listen to the show, you can catch it here. You can also explore Candace’s show, Everyday Joy here.

Joy in long walks and watching the girls try and chase down the Super Worm Equinox Moon on 3/21/19

Picking a snowball fight with your grandma!

We had a steady stream of snow storms in Colorado during February, many coming in on the weekend. This meant that on the following Mondays, which are ‘Nani days’ (our girls call my mom Nani), there would be snow on the ground for a snowball battle.

These battles take place when we are leaving my parents house, after dinner, when it is dark and cold outside. Temperature doesn’t seem to matter and I think the girls get an adrenaline rush that makes them invisible to the cold.

It only lasts a few minutes, with a few opportunities to reload. I am asked to be the official snowball maker.

So after the initial snowball battle, we had settled into the car seats and I was reversing out of the driveway. The girls were still giggling in the pure joy of ‘winning’ the snowball fight and warming their hands in their blankets.

Nani’s snowball left it’s mark on the window!

Then wham! A snowball bursts across the windshield with a big thud. The girls go quiet for a second, and then Maggie says, “Nani just blasted the car!”. And then another hits the window. This time followed by “Let’s get out of here, Nani is really good at throwing snowballs!”

As I was driving us home, with the girls, the insight for this blog hit me.

Never pass on an opportunity to have a snowball fight with your grandma!
Mixing Pod Insight

These moments in life don’t and won’t happen every day. Embrace them and celebrate them when you can!

Is it time for a road trip?

The past 4 weeks have been incredibly busy and I have been mixing in another pod, my altMBA cohort. Saturday is reflection day.

This weekend we took a little road trip up to Glenwood Springs to watch the high school musical production of Mamma Mia! We were there to support my sister Lisa, who puts her heart in soul into engaging with her students. We were definitely due for a family trip and my parents joined us for the 4-hour car ride.

For me, road trips are less about rest and relaxation and more about connection, presence, and reflection.

Long car rides allow us the time to connect with others about things on our mind, as well as, provide an opportunity to dive a bit deeper. It also gives us time to listen without distractions (of course while focusing on the road). The good news is that the other person can’t run away from the difficult ones. Their verbal and non-verbal queues (like turning up the radio) let you know if they are into it or not. Katie and I have talked over a lot of our dreams, goals, and our futures together on the highway.

Our girls Maggie and Addie can’t get enough traveling and it doesn’t matter where we are going. They love the snacks in the car, the occasional stops, and of course the hotels (especially if there is a pool). These trips provide an excellent opportunity to be present and focused on experiencing an adventure together. Getting all of us out of daily routines and focusing on each other. I’m starting to realize PTO doesn’t stand for Paid Time Off, but Present Time On. This is where those boundaries become so damn important.

I also use road trips as a time to reflect and give extra thought to those ideas that have been incubating and just need a little bit more of my attention. Not in a to-do list sort of way, but in a way that allows my mind to wander the outskirts of the idea. I surround it with other thoughts that act as catalysts. The open road provides a reminder of this vast world and an opportunity to be grateful for so much in our lives.

So if you are going through a major change in your life or just need some time to reset, maybe a road trip is what you need to get your mojo back. Or maybe you just need some time to be present with others or even just some space by traveling alone. There is so much for you to explore outside and in the inside!