Working with clay can be kind of messy … but writing can be messy, too. Creating a bowl on a potter’s wheel or a piece of sculpture with modeling clay is very different from combining groups of words into sentences that (eventually) form a story or an article. But there are a lot of similarities,…
Memories of baking cookies with my mom may be one reason I prefer baking over cooking. But cooking is more similar to the way I run my business. The main difference between cooking and baking (other than the fact that most of us probably associate baking with desserts) is that you don’t have to worry…
Going overboard with organization can become meaningless – like posting blank sticky notes everywhere. The result? Less clarity, more stress. “Being organized” means different things to different people. Some think it’s unacceptable to have anything out of place in their home, and will pick up a glass that a guest has set down on a coffee…
The choices you make now can impact you for years … so choose wisely. I think I was in my late 20’s when someone I looked up to as an authority told me: “You have choices.” At the time, I didn’t want to hear it, because I thought she was hinting at a decision she…
Looking at obstacles from a different angle is often the first step to take. Actually, I don’t think there really is just ONE key to overcoming the obstacles all of us face from time to time. Other than the idea that we can’t give up! But since it takes a lot to keep going in…
Artists aren’t the only ones who get to be creative. Sharing stories in your content is one way to show off your OWN creativity! Much of creativity is “thinking outside the box.” Sometimes we just have to move the box around a little! I’ve always admired artists. Early in my life, I realized that creativity…
Traveling to new destinations – in ALL areas of your life – can be exciting! “Adventure” and “excitement” are two words I’ve always associated with travel. The first long trip I remember my family taking was when I was 4 years old, when we drove from California to South Dakota (or was it Minnesota?), for a family…
Taking mini-breaks can lower stress AND increase productivity. Taking a break when we were kids was easy. Most of us probably had long stretches of time with “nothing to do” in the summer or on weekends. And if you’re like me, you learned early on that if you had too much free time and complained…
Years ago, while attending California State University, Chico (CSUC) for a degree in Mass Communications, I took a class in Technical Problem Analysis (aka “Creative Problem Solving”). Our textbook was The Universal Traveler: A Soft-Systems Guide to Creativity, Problem-Solving and the Process of Reaching Goals, by Don Koberg and Jim Bagnall. (The latest edition of this book was published in 2003.)…
hab·it – a recurrent, often unconscious pattern of behavior that is acquired through frequent repetition. We all know what habits are, and probably take them for granted most of the time. But bad ones can hold us back in our careers and personal lives, and good ones can propel us forward almost effortlessly. Take exercise, for…