Blog

I have been graced with celebrating my 30^th birthday this year. Although I tried to act as usual around my birthday, unaffected by yet a new number to recite to anyone inquiring, I struggled a bit with this year. I’ve gone through many changes in my life -- both personally and professionally -- within the last five years. Here are some of the milestones:

• Marriage – I committed to be part of a team of two “until death do us part.”
• Move to Savannah – As a Michigan native the 1,000 mile difference has been acute at times.
• Children – My son (4years) and daughter (6months) are two of the greatest joys of my life and also the biggest mirrors!
• Employment – Worked a temp job that I hated and quit. As an office manager at a vacation rental company on Tybee the view was amazing but the sudden closing of the business left me anxious for my future. Now as COO of Alpha Financial Management, the journey thus far has been an amazing learning and growing experience and the future is bright.

Laughter and tears have been my companions but I am stronger and smarter than when I was 20 and am anticipating the future.

I read in SELF magazine of a woman who thinks of her age not as getting older but as a percentage of awesomeness. Some of the ways that I plan to get more “awesomeness” are:

• Cardio exercise 1 hour 3 days per week – Yoga 2 days, Running 1 day
• Toastmasters International weekly – Public speaking and leadership development
• Simplify my budget through weekly tracking using Mint.com by the end of December
• Reading one book every 2 weeks (current goal: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People)
• Organic and Local food for my family – Less meat, more vegetables!

What percentage of awesome are you? What ways do you plan to increase your “awesomeness” in the next year? Remember that goals should be S.M.A.R.T. – Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time-Bound. Now go and enjoy your percentage of awesomeness!

The introduction to The Artist’s Way at Work: Riding the Dragon  begins with this phrase. The authors, Mark Bryan, Julia Cameron, and Catherine Allen, go on to say:

Intellectual capital – ideas as money, money as ideas – is today the real currency of the business world. This capital is more than technical knowledge or bits and bytes of data. It is a wide range of social, emotional, intuitive, and interpersonal skills that together comprise the creative spirit. It is our goal to bring those skills to fruition, integrate them, and reawaken that spirit.

Now who wouldn’t want to sign on to the program – a twelve-week adventure that will be like riding a dragon: thrilling, joyous, chaotic, and powerful? Everyone here at Alpha Financial Management thought it was a good idea and chose to begin the program at the beginning of the new year.

The aim of the program is to give us a more satisfying, fully creative life in which we feel a sense of camaraderie, not competition. We are promised to become more creative not only in our business life, but in our life as a whole.

I am more than just a little intimidated by the notion that I am going to be working on my creativity. What if I fail? What if my co-workers think my attempts at being creative are any thing but? Well, I am told by the authors that intellectualism is a primary block for many creative people. We are also told that we can expect our intellectual skepticism to be our adversary and constant companion throughout the twelve weeks. In my last blog I encouraged everyone by reminding you that you can do it! So now I am telling myself, I can do it.

So it is OK to be skeptical. I will just keep reminding myself that as the authors emphasize: all of us can become more creative than we already are, and this will make us happier, healthier, more productive, and more authentic in everything we do. By acting – just doing it – I can overcome the skepticism.