Success Project

Less to say more to live

2012-02-13T21:17:00.000-08:00

I'm sitting in my bed, listening to the backstreet boys, in a pair of 5 year old pjs, and I just noticed that the last time I updated this blog was 5 months ago...its funny, it seems like backstreet boys just came out with their first album last month, that my pj's are still brand new and that I just wrote my last update yesterday...we blink our eyes and so much time passes by...

So much remains the same, and at the same time soo much changes. I'm still working at MC but my perception has changed; I'm still working towards my CMA designation, but my perception has changed; I'm still living, but my perception has changed. I cannot stress enough, the power of perception.

What we see and the decisions we make are based so heavily on perception; so why not choose to see things for what they are. Why not see time as fleeting, love as sanity, laughter as a cure, and truth as a necessity.

New people enter your life, new memories replace old ones, and we move further and further away from who are if we hold on to things that pass. We are meant to live in the present.

I'm satisfied in saying that my most cherished accomplishment is learning to live for today; this minute; right now. I don't wait for weekends, I don't wait for that next big thing to happen in my life, I don't wait for someone....I take what I get and run with it.

Time is fleeting; I want to enjoy every minute I have. Whether its raining or whether its a bright sunny day, it makes no difference, everything...everything is meant to be experienced. I live every moment to be happy; that is my objective in life. When I can no longer say I am doing this; its time to reconsider the path I am on.

Love is sanity; Finding the one person that understands your craziness, and loves you just as much as you love them, is a feeling of completeness that cannot be described. They become your breath of fresh air in this crazy unpredictable world. They put into perspective, the value of today and the importance of being you, and you stop trying to be someone else.

Laughter is a cure; In the worst moment, laugh. Nothing cures a bad moment like laughter. Learn to laugh at yourself and you'll realize that life is less serious than you think. The worst thing that can happen, is never really that bad. And the more you laugh the more laughter you attract.

Truth is a necessity; Be true to yourself. It's simple, don't lie about who you are, what you want and most importantly how insignificant you are in the big picture and how thats completely okay.

Let the good times roll!

2011-09-11T20:01:00.000-07:00

Permanent position ...check!
Benefits.....check!
Greeat compensation....check!
Awesome company...check!
Work hard play hard environment....check!
Secured before September 01....check!!!

I'm so thankful that I was able to achieve what I wanted within the time line I had set for myself.! Opportunities are presenting themselves and I will continue to jump into each one without hesitation. Momentum is building and I refuse to slow it down. I have such a good feeling about where I'm headed and the path I've chosen. There's a lot on my plate right now and I'm gonna continiue to move forth without hesitation. No questions will stop me from progessing forward. No one will make me think twice about my ability to reach my goals and my desire to maximize my potential and happiness~

What I want..

2011-08-07T17:36:00.000-07:00

I will have a permanent position in Calgary. I will have a position that will give me all the experience I need to finish my CMA designation in the 2 years that I do the SLP. I will work in an industry that I will find interesting (oil/gas, manufacturing, technology). The companies policies will include flexibility with my work schedule, 4 weeks of vacation , a salary of at least $40,000 and financial support for the CMA designation. My co-workers will be young, hard workers, who also play hard. I'll be working downtown in a great location and I will have this job by September 01, 2011.

This is your time to shine..
Laugh out loud,
Work hard,
Play hard,
Feel,
Stand up,
Take a bow when you deserve it,
Wake up tomorrow and know your open to any possibility and that the possiblities are there for you. One leap at a time, its all coming. That feeling you always had that something bigger and better is gonna happen is now.

What's right....There's a lot that's right in my life at this moment...

2011-08-07T17:23:00.000-07:00

What's right...

I'm healthy for the first time in my adult life. This is huge because for the past few years I've been wanting so badly to make some big moves in my life but so many times my physical health problems translated into emotional instability. I felt like me but I know I wasn't performing to my highest potential; I couldn't focus like I had in the past, I couldn't laugh like I had in the past, I couldn't be what I knew I was capable of. The last time I felt this good was when I was 17, except today I actually have enough control over my life to make decisions that allow me to be the me I know I can be.

What's right...

I feel closer to my family now then I ever have since I was a little girl. Back then I didn't have to say anything because they seen who I was everyday. Over the years not seeing them everyday made me feel that it ws hard for them to know who I'd bbecome because it had to be communicated through words, and expressing my feeling orally has never been my strongest suit, so with time a gap developed. I still loved them unconditionally and universally, but I just felt alone because they didn't know who I really was. I've lived a fairly placid life, so they never had the opportunity to see me in my most vulnerable state, my happiest state , or my most persistant state. Their idea of who I was , was based on who I was on those summer vacations when I was hovering around stability. Today I feel that who I am and who they see is as close as it can get to someone outside of you knowing you. This has taken such a weight off of me. Not having to worry about walking this earth alone without ever being truly heard, seen or felt by the ones you love so deeply.

What's right...

I consider myself a dedicated student of life. I love experiencing new things, new feelings and watching others live their lives. I know that good or bad I can be in their shoes at a drop of a dime. Sareo, I think of what I would do in their situation abd why they're doing what they are. In the past few weeks I've been blessed enough to take what I've learned over the years and apply it to my own experiences and the moment you realize that y our hypothesis created from you observations actually works, is one of the most rewarding feelings ever. That feeling surpasses any feeling of loss because you've gained so much more at a personal level.

What's right...

Anything is possible. I feel that I've been living in a glass box for so many years; I could see what could be mine but everytime I walked towards it, I'd be stopped by this invisible wall. At times it was agonizing and frusterating. Today. I feel taht the glass walls have broken, and I can run and get whatever I want. Maybe, I have angels watching over me, who built this glass box to protect me until I was truly ready to become who I knew I could be, and now that I am ready , they've removed those walls themselves.

What else is right...

-a clearer career path
-a car thats reliable
-time for myself
-feeling beautiful inside and out
-taking time to enjoy life
-a great gym routine
-guilt free
-making decisions for me
-financial/ emotional support
-rediscovered confidence

i feeel good

2011-08-01T21:22:00.000-07:00

I feel good...i knew that I wouldd....

There is so much uncertainty in my life. I wake up each day and look forward to what its gonna bring. I don't spend my days at work waiting for the weekend, I don't spend hours in my day waiting for someone, I'm living my life completely for me...probably for the first time in my life, and it feels good! I feel that I have allowed myself to open up to a world of possibilities. I walk out the front door and truly believe that ANYTHING is possible. I can get promoted today, I can win a car, I can meet the most amazing people....literally anything is possible and everything that comes my way results in good. The truth is that everything that happens is always for our good, its just a matter of how we choose to perceive it.

After the rain comes the sunshine...

2011-07-13T23:14:00.000-07:00

Throw out an idea of what you want to see happen for you, and see it come to life. Don't focus on how the plans will unravel or how you will get from point A to point B, just know where you want to go. The universe and its energy, god , or whatever you want to call it will bring you there. What I've learned is that most times we don't know how to get ourselves where we want to be. We guess what route will get us there but the problem with that is that we end up factoring into our route, things in our lives, that to us,seem best for us but in reality are a road block in the way of getting us where we want to go.

In one month my life has changed drastically, did I plan it? No. Is this the route I would have thought to create? No. Am I happy with where its heading? Yes!

In the beginning of my journey to transform my life into what I want, I set out a vision of what I wanted from life. I worked hard for months and thought I knew how it would all end up. I was wrong, in that my idea of how I was getting there was a safe route that would only let me partially achieve my goal. The universe did its thing and I ended up exactly where I wanted and need to be. I lost some things along the way , but I gained so much more.

My best friend, love, favorite person in the entire world, left me. I felt rejected. I applied for so many jobs and got no positive feedback. I felt even more rejected. I was staying at my sisters house sharing a room with my 3 year old niece. I had no money, no idea of what was going to happen with me over the next few weeks. It was by far one of the worst weeks of my life. What did I learn? I learned that even in the worst moments of your life theres a lot of positive to look at. I had so many people supporting me and reinforcing the fact that everything was going to get better. That's one thing I have in my life that can make any day a good day....my friends and family.

I am also so proud of myself. They say that if you really want to judge a persons character observe them in their most trying moments. I would have to say that in my most trying moment I was strong, I stayed true to my values and who I am, and I remained optimistic. I'm sure if I had broken down, then I wouldn't be starting a job today, and seeing so much prosperity in my future.

I'm proud of myself and everyone that I associate myself with. Life is always as good as it seems...if not better!

Struggling

2011-06-19T22:25:00.000-07:00

So I'm on the lookout for a new life and its a struggle. I feel like everything is turning out the opposite of what I had envisioned. Send me positive vibes!

Motivation, Dedication and Confidence

2011-06-14T17:09:00.000-07:00

Today I finished a 9 month challenge, today I finally wrote the Entrance Exam. The last 9 months have taught me a lot about myself. Along with my ability to learn and understand accounting rules and procedures, I learned that the way I train physically, I can train mentally. Just like training for a 10 km run, I trained for a 4 hour exam. I had to build up my endurance to stay focused for 4 hours and to maintain a steady pace. At first I struggled; with time I got better. By the end I could finish the exam in less than 4 hours on a really good day. What kept me going though, was the same voice in my head that tells me to run a little longer, or lift a little heavier, it was telling me to try and understand the material a little better , to see questions in a different manner. Although the results were not always immediate, the overall satisfaction of accomplishing something that challenged my mental and emotional endurance is an achievement that will always remain very precious to me.

I started off with the motivation to change the direction of my career path, I remained dedicated to the challenge and set aside time each day to achieve this goal. Ultimately, through good days and bad, I gained more confidence in my ability to achieve great things and to make a positive change not only in my life but in the world. Let this be the end of one chapter but the beginning of another chapter that will result even better, in ways I have yet to understand. Good luck!

Everyone needs to give and receive a little l.o.v.e

2011-05-17T23:50:00.000-07:00

To love someone is difficult
To let someone love you, is sometimes even harder
To let yourself be loved requires giving someone else the opportunity, the chance, to show their love.
Sometimes this requires putting YOUR love on pause, and letting go of the control, and the fear that you may not be loved back.
It's difficult to love, and sometimes even harder to let someone love you, don't be so hard on yourself.

Don't love with the anticipation of being loved back, but love because you feel something deep inside you, that tells you that in this moment he or she really needs to experience your love. When and if that feeling dissipates, than maybe what you were sent to do for that lucky person, has been accomplished.

Love is universal.

The Perfect Run

2011-05-17T23:39:00.000-07:00

It was the perfect evening for a perfect run; how perfect it was going to be, I had not anticpated. It was the blue sky, the light breeze, the trees around me changing colors, the people going about their business, the animals; birds chirping, cats hiding behind car tires, and dogs barking as I ran by. It was finishing my run and falling onto my lawn to rest, and realizing I was in a moment that I thought I had lost; a moment that I expected to yearn for, but never experience again. It was the feeling of knowing everything is gonna be okay, the feeling of being present and in the moment, the feeling of belonging; it was the feeling of being a kid again, not because someone else is treating you like one but because your giving yourself permission to treat yourself like one. I was letting myself experience what was around me, and just as importantly what was inside me.

I live my life speaking little about my real fears or real desires, I don't want to expose my weaknesses. Where does this need to suppress my deepest, darkest thoughts arise from? I'm not sure. Is it something that plagues me on a daily basis, absolutely not. Has it created roadblocks at some points in my life, definetely. Perhaps, in a world full of people wanting to be heard, I have at some point decided to not compete for my time to talk. But maybe its time to put on my running shoes and join the race and actually try to be heard, I think its the perfect time.

Addicted

2011-05-17T23:23:00.000-07:00

I'm addicted to testing my body and pushing it to the limit. This curiosity has always been 'there' but in the past few months I have caught myself craving the feelings associated with this addiction. The fatigue of muscles in my body that are not often used, the sweat dripping down my forehead and down my lower back, the force from deep inside that drives my kick or punch, the concentration required to isolate, strengthen, utlize, or simply stretch parts of my body that I normally ignore...ahh the feeling. I find myself yearning to go to the gym, to go for a run, to stretch, to do a head stand (weird but it crosses my mind too often), to go swimming, to garden, to dance. At this point in my life there is no satisfaction greater and no rush stronger than what I get from this. It calms my mind, it gives me peace, it gives me confidence, it makes me happier, it makes me remember me, in times when I let everything else thats going on around me affect my mood. If you can catch me in these moments you can find who I REALLY am.

So how am I gonna find this 'feeling' in work? How can I take what I've written above and apply and live it through my career; it is only then that I will be truly sastisfied with spending my time at work. It's not a place, nor a set of duties that will motivate me, it's gonna be a feeling of self reflection in my work that will help me succeed. It will have to be something that "calms my mind, gives me peace, gives me confidence, makes me happier, makes me remember me, in times when I let everything else thats going on around me affect my mood. Something that supports who I REALLY am.

Up up and awayy...

2011-05-01T22:04:00.000-07:00

Yup, so the plan I created nearly 8 months ago , is beginning to materialize! Last class, May 5; last internal exam, May 13; entrance exam, June 14! Wow!! Then the actual career search begins!

I've actually already jump started my job search, just not full throttle yet. I met with some very 'integrated' people in the job market and, THANK GOD, it went really well!! They seem enthusiastic about my future and willing to help me find an opportunity!! I've never felt like someone wanted to give me an opportunity more, in this regard! I feel like all the hard work I've put in is actually paying off; the AP program, the excel program, toastmasters, everything!! I hope that the pieces fall exactly where they need to, more than where I want them too.

Self confidence is huge...but sometimes you want to hear from someone else how great they think you are! It helps reinforce your belief and helps keep you motivated to reach your goals. Whats even better is when someone with authority or expertise, or even someone you respect, compliments you; it can give you ultimate satisfaction in yourself. I experienced this feeling, so strongly, this past week, and it felt great!! I put myself out there, I got some help from my bestie, and left with a standing ovation, for being myself. It feels great to know that who I am is more than enough to be successful....lets hope it stays this way !

Some words just mean more to us then others.

2011-04-12T17:08:00.000-07:00

Be careful of your thoughts for your thoughts inspire your words. Be careful of your words for your words precede your actions. Be careful of your actions for your actions become your habits. Be careful of your habits for your habits build your character. Be careful of your character because your character decides your destiny.

Out of clutter find simplicity.

Whether or not all is lost, depends entirely on whether or not I am lost.

you=me=equality

If you have to choose between a piece of ass and a piece of mind, always choose a piece of mind.

The smartest person in a room is never as smart as all the people in the room.

Business goes where it wants to go, but it stays where its appreciated.

You can't make the other fellow feel important in your presence if you secretly feel that he is a nobody.

The dawn of a moment that shall never set.

If you told me you were normal, I would think you are weird.

Everything is only gonna get better.

We are often thankful for answered prayers, have you ever taken the time to be thankful for unanswered prayers?

Most people are good people.

Be real.

Perception is just that, perception. It's a strong tool thats rarely used honestly.

It's not easy being green.

A collective idea...

2011-04-12T16:52:00.000-07:00

I believe in visualization and manifestion. I believe that what the mind can see the man can achieve. I also believe that although we are all individuals we all have one collective consciousness, meaning we are all connected at a level that we are not even aware of. So when you have more people that believe in you and your idea, you have more collective energy directed towards this goal which makes it more likely to be achieved. This is why it's important for you to share your ideas with the people around you and for you to persuade or convince people that your goal is attainable and that you are worth it. Here is what I visualize when I think of my ideal job.

I wake up in the morning, and I pop out of bed because I'm excited to go to work! My team and I are presenting a project to the board today; a project that I truly believe in. My company is a progressive company, that has a great culture and is very dynamic. I work as part of a team that is smart, fun, cutting edge and ambitious. We all have our areas that we excel in and we recognize and appreciate each others skills. My strength is in presenting ideas and explaining what we are doing to our employees, boards, or potential investors. I understand the accounting and financial implications of what we are doing and I am able to convey this to my audience. When I'm not presenting I'm working in my office towards completing a project, looking at new projects, and finding investors. I don't have a traditional accoutning job; I help with budgeting and forecasting and ultimately marketing.

So I pop out of bed, shower and put on my black dress,tie my hair into a low ponytail and put on my heels. I get to my office which is a very energy efficient office. We have a clean, chic office with a lot of windows and a very positive energy.

I live a good life, I'm compensated well for my job and I have other investments bringing me extra cash. Some of these investments are passive, and some are more passion driven. Life is good!

Screw that sh**!!

2011-03-20T22:16:00.000-07:00

Life is changing. Possibly faster today than ever before. Choices are being made for us, without us even knowing. Many of us are eating our lives away packed into our living rooms, in front of tv's like sardines. Whatever happened to neighbours coming over for coffee, or a friendly walk down the street to see what others in your community were up to. Whatever happened to sitting out in your front yard as opposed to only in your backyard. When did privacy become so integral to our existance? It's this privacy that splits our society. It's our privacy that stops us from having colletive thoughts, and having strength in numbers to stand up for what we think is wrong. I encourage you, to step outside of your shell today, get out and talk to others. I'm tired of this negativity that exists in our world.

-You can't trust anyone
-All people are greedy
-It's a dog eat dog world
-People are always judging you

I say screw that sh**. I feel that most people are good people, I feel that although greed exists within us, we are able to overcome it, I believe that although we all want to succeed the majority of us would choose humanity over personal triumph, and I believe that judging one another is overrated; its natural for humans to judge, its not natural for us to be so paranoid about anothers opinion that we stop ourselves from being better people.

I say travel without your ipod, turn off your cell phone, turn off the tv, sit in silence, ask a neighbour for a cup of sugar and tell someone your truth. It's only then that we will recognize that our best life is when we stand together, not when we stand alone. I know that I will contribute to this world, and I hope you feel you will to.

These past months I appreciated seeing fall turn to winter and now winter to spring. I enjoyed every temperature fluctuation, every snowflake, and every ray of sun that touched my cheek. These past few months I actually tasted the food that I put in my mouth, I actually paid attention to my body and its wants. These past few months I realized that life is precious and that one day in this world is 24 hours, 1440 minutes, and 86,400 seconds and that, that is all we need. It's all we need to see the beauty in everything around us, to feel the power of love through touch, to hear the most powerful sounds of nature, to taste natures wonders, and to smell the fragrance of life. When I close my eyes I see myself standing a top a beatiful cliff, looking ahead at the vast and forceful ocean in front of me, listening to the howling wind and seeing the golden sun set in the background, to me that is my happy place, not me sitting alone in my bedroom with the door closed.

I say screw that sh**!! I say your better than that. I say buy the homemade cookies from a local baker wrapped in a brown lunch bag, rather than the store bought cookies that are over packaged. I stay at a family owned bed in breakfast, rather than a fancy hotel, I say screw all that sh** on tv about money. A famous person, whose name I don't remember, and whose name I think is irrelevant, said that the only thing that money does for you is remove the worry of not having money.

How is my successful career going to support my value of " screw that sh**" ? I mean I'm studying accounting, isn't that all about money and making money, which is all about greed? I say screw that sh**! Accounting doesn't have to mean all that, business does not have to mean all that. Are there not millions of people around the world who start businesses in the hope to simply support their families and hope not to do this at the expense of the environment or society? I know there are and I want to WORK WITH YOU!! Because like me you say screw that sh**!!

Making strides!

2011-03-12T13:58:00.000-08:00

Wow..I didn't realize that it's been one month since I last wrote on here. In my defence I was SUPER busy. I was studying for my third exam , working quite a bit and preparing for my speech at Toastmasters. I've also been feeling a little, I don't know off balance. So lets start catching up....

I am SOOOO happy to be 3/4 done the accelerated program! I'm exhausted from studying. The good news is that I didn't find the third exam, which is suppose to be the most difficult, insanely difficult. My biggest problem was time management, not a lack of understanding the material. I haven't got my results back but I'm confident that I didn't fail, at least. Now we are heading into our last two week session of taxation. I HATE TAXATION. It is seriously the most boring subject I have ever encountered in my life. I just can't seem to focus on this material, but I've got to keep trying, I have no other option : )

Work has been interesting. It's a good way to get out of the house and take my mind off of studying, and also a good way to network. It's also been good for reminding me how office politics are so silly, it's like highschool all over again. The funny thing is that even in highschool I hated and stayed out of the drama. I do the same at work. The thing is that I don't care what anyone thinks about me. I have no animosity for anyone who does not like me , it's their opinion. Actually I think it's this characteristic of mine that works in my benefit, because I don't let anyones opinion slow me down :)

My first speech at Toastmasters was definetely a success!! All my feedback was positive. People who have been there for a few years, even said that it was one of the best icebreaker speeches they had ever heard. According to all the members, I exude confidencea and have great presentation skills. I took a different approach with this speech also, in comparison to other speeches I have done. I tried to add in humour, since I love comedy so much, and to my suprise it worked and I felt comfortable with it. I feel that I did really well with this speech. I didnt' let my nervouseness come through in my voice or in my face expressions, and I did not check out in the middle of my speech. What I mean is that in the past I've kinda forgot what I was talking about because I was focused on things other than my speech ( like being nervous), but this time I focused solely on what I was delivering and it worked!

Okay now for some housekeeping. I know that I was suppose to learn Excel back in February and it didn't really happen. BUT, I have enrolled in an Advanced Excel course that will be starting next week. So this should take care of that for me.

Ahhh well other than that. I'm not sure why I've been feeling off balance. I mean I've been successful the last few weeks in things I've been pursuing but internally something just doesn't feel right. I've been feeling lonely I guess. I talk to my close group of family and friends all the time, but for some reason it's not enough. I'm lacking that sense of completeness. I know this is the success project in regards to my career, but everything is intertwined. I can be successful but will I fully enjoy my success feeling like this? I'm probably feeling like this because we've had a really long winter and my Vitamin D levels have been low, but its a thought worth exploring. I don't want to let this feeling control what I am doing so I've been taking out some extra time for me for the past few days, sleeping in a bit, listenting to up beat music and I've just been trying to stay positive. Everything will come around, it always does :)

To leave on a positive and empowering note, I am now a complete believer that anything is possible if we apply ourselves. It doesn't matter what you want and how difficult it seems, it can be done! It won't happen with just a wish of course you have to work hard for it, and even if the opportunity does arise with just a wish you still have to be prepared to take advantage of it. Each of us have such high potential, but instead of focusing our attention on ourselves we tend to take the easy route and focus on what others think of us. I can't tell you how many times I hear people blame others for why they are not where they want to be in life. SUCK IT UP and get moving! The roadblocks you create for yourself create a lot more difficulty for you then those created by other people. The truth is that we are sometimes afraid of putting in the effort. We tend to get greedy, we want it all, and are willing to make zero adjustments today to get to where we want to tomorrow. I love this line : We are today who we wanted to be yesterday. Tomorrow we will be who we want to be today. So the amount of work we put in today to be who we want to be, the happier we will be with the results of who we are tomorrow. Be different, stand out from the crowd and run the extra 5 minutes on the treadmill, make that phone call you've been avoiding, speak up so everyone hears you, empower the person looking back in the mirror and watch yourself transform into the person you know you can be.

Things I don't likeee

2011-02-13T20:51:00.000-08:00

A couple of months ago my sister mentioned that I have a lot of things that I don't like, and that I seldom say things that I do like. I wasn't sure if this was true because I never really paid much attention to this, but for the past couple of months its been in the forefront of my mind, and she was absolutely....right! I don't like it when people are late, I don't like it when people are too emotional, I don't like grapes, I don't like it when people expect me to read their mind, I don't like it when people touch my face, I don't like it when someone changes my schedule without my consent, I don't like it when someone asks me repetitve questions, I hate it when people put down others to 'empower' themselves, I hate decorating and I absolutely don't like it when people victimize themselves....and the list goes on and on and on. Now for someone who is usually happy, and calm this seems a bit bizarre. The truth is that its just my personality, I tend to find things I don't like and then I cannot rest until they are forever out of my sight. But here is where I run into a problem;I don't like people that victimize themselves, unfortunately I cannot remove every one who feels this way from the planet..lol. I just like to fix things, and I just think that my way of life = less stress. But I know this is not true, my happiness does not = your happiness. Soo, I will try to adjust this because it may not be a big problem today but, it surely can become a problem in the future at work or at home (which also ultimately affects work).

I'll start today: I like taking baths, I like simple foods like eggs and toast, I like people who can manage their own emotional baggage, I love comedy, I like to challenge myself physically, I like working with a team, I like telling people what to do ;), I like presenting ideas and results, I like being given challenging responsibilities, I like environmentally and socially responsible companies, I like buying local, I like taking care of my body, I like my alone time, I like empowering people, I like giving advice, I like socializing, I like going to different events and trying new things (as long as it doesn't mess up my schedule, and its planned) and I like to succeed.

A good start I think! I came up with a lot more than I would have imagined. This actually felt really good!!! I suggest everyone do this. Its a good way to focus your attention back on to the things that you want to surround yourself with, rather than the things you don't want to surround yourself with. Positive ideas = positive results :)

Unexpected Lessons

2011-02-06T12:07:00.000-08:00

It's funny how you learn life lessons in the most unexpected situations or from the most unexpected people. This happens to me all the time. I'm quite an observant person and I tend to look at someone elses situation, and then picture myself in their shoes to come up with what I would do. This 'game' that I play has came in handy many times. I can't even tell you how many times I've made a good decision based on thinking back to what someone else I know, had done when they were in a similar situation. I just don't understand why I wouldn't learn from someone elses mistakes when I can...makes sense doesn't it?? Save yourself the trouble. I know a lot of people say that you have to make mistakes in life to learn, and I get that. But why would you make the same mistake someone else made? I would rather just jump that hurdle and make a different mistake for which I have no background information. Why I look at it as such a process I'm not sure. And obviously I don't go through this process for every decision, but for the big ones I must say I do.

Alright now that the dorky speech is out of the way I'll tell you what sparked this thought. It actually started at work. I was in taken aback by one of my co-workers approaches of dealing with our rather irritating and aggressive corporate trainer. Her and I were both working when this corporate trainer came over and said that she had to train my her on something. Right away my co-worker said in the most non apologetic tone, "I'm busy right now." Our trainer wasn't too thrilled to hear this and said " You can do that later," and then my co-worker replied " No, this has to be done, I'll do this first." The trainer looked at her and left. She came back about 15 minutes later and asked us to complete the task for which we had not yet been trained. My co-worker replied, "Obviously I can't do this, you haven't taught me how too." Our trainer replied,"Well when I came over here to teach you, you said you were too busy." Then my co-worker replied, " Well I'm free now, so teach me now." With this the trainer said okay and then turned around and left. My co-worker then went to our manager and stated, " I can't deal with this attitude (from the corporate trainer) I don't deserve to be treated like this, I have a lot of other work to do. She almost made me cry."

Now I was watching all this from the sidelines, and let me tell you I would never had dealt with the situation like my co-worker did. It was to me a little unprofessional and a little too dramatic ( but I love my co-worker!!) However this made one thing very clear to me, the way I have been dealing with work related conflicts or work related anything was wayyy to passive. I need to let my co-workers and supervisors know that I'm working hard, that my time is important, and that I deserve to get what I want at work. What my co-worker achieved was recognition for her work, recognition for her feelings, and ultimately support from our manager. That same level of support would take me 2-3 months of hard work to get.

So what did I do, I kept thinking about this and when an opportunity arose, I experimented with this idea. Near the end of the day I was left with a ridiculously tedious, long and boring task. Usually I would stay after work and finish it off without really mentioning it to anyone, or acting like it was no problem. Instead I walked over to my manager told her I had been working hard on it for 45 minutes and that it would take me a long time to finish the rest of it. I had packed it up and labelled it appropriately and told her that it wasn't completed and someone else would have to finish the rest of it. To my suprise she thanked me for what I did and appreciated the fact that I tried to finish it and was willing to pass it on so somene could share the burden with me! So lesson learned, toot your own flute and never under play what you have done.

Here are some other lessons I've learned or re-learned recently:
Demand that your work be noticed, and demand that your needs be met.
Don't judge someone based on who they are today, look at who they can be tomorrow.
Never take for granted those who support you most.
Leave no dream of yours to be fulfilled by the next generation, do it yourself, or at least a modification of it.
If one solution doesn't work out for you just move on to the next one.
Jayz puts it best:
"I move onward the only direction,
Can't be scared to fail
Searchin perfection......
I got a million ways to get it
Choose One
Bring it back
Double your money and make a stack
On to the next one
On to the next one.." lol

One step at a time....

2011-02-03T21:41:00.000-08:00

I attended my first Toastmasters meeting this week!! I'm excited for this because this means I can cross another task off of my list of things to do for my success project. It was only my first day, but I made it a point to take every opportunity I was given to speak up. I've never been keen of public speaking, but I 've always just jumped into it with both feet, and tried not to think too hard about it. It's suprising, that regardless of the fact that I'm not a confident public speaker I'm often perceived as someone who would be a great public speaker...it's crazy how my perception of myself varies so much from someone elses perception of me. I guess I've been following the 'fake it till you make it' stream for public speaking, and I think its about time that I make it! I have a good feeling about Toastmasters and I can already envision how it will improve my public speaking and confidence. Although I come across as a confident person, I'm actually not always as confident as people take me to be. I guess this is a good thing however, that I never let people see me sweat it...hmm possibly a leadership trait..lol.

In addition to toastmasters I've also started my Excel training although its off to a slow start. I don't have too much to write about this yet, other than the fact that I'm not looking forward to it LOL!

Because this is my success project, I wanted to include in here a recent success story of mine, which is not directly related to my career. Over the last 5 months I've managed to lose 10 pounds and get into the best shape I've been in since I was in highschool, if not better! I was never overweight or excessively out of shape but my body and health was not a reflection of what I felt I was inside. I really respect my body and health and with University and work I just got so caught up in everyday things that I put my health on the back burner. Now I feel fabulous! I can't remember feeling this good. Along with feeling lighter, I feel more energetic ,more focused, and I really feel like the person looking back at me is a reflection of how I feel inside. I am so proud of myself!

Rock your Sock

2011-01-27T21:05:00.000-08:00

The last couple of days I've been feeling a little overwhelmed. Why you ask? I have this ridiculous tendency to put in 110% of my effort and then to give myself credit for only 85%. For example, I have been studying my ass off for quite a while now, and I've managed to do above average on the two exams I've written. Clearly this indicates that I'm doing something right..I mean sirenes should be going off alerting me of this. But no, I still feel like I am going to fail, even though I have not changed my formula for studying. WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH ME! I seriously need to learn to give myself more credit.

About 3 months ago I wrote a few affirmations on my wall in regards to this program and the results that I will achieve. It took me 3 months to actually believe what I was reading out loud to myself!! What has this taught me?? That I am my biggest critic, that I am not a logical person when it comes to myself , and that I am a pessoptimist. Yes, thats right a cross between a pessimist and an optimist, and no it does not equal a realiast. I'm an optimist for you and a pessimist for me. But no no no...not for much longer. To be successful in my career I have to be an optimist, I have to believe that I am capable of doing whatever is thrown my way. I've spent way to much time thinking that someone is going to find out that I'm actually not as smart as my results portray me to be, or as hardworking as I seem to be while putting in 110% of my effort. What I should be thinking is, "if I don't feel that I performed to the best of my ability and I still rocked everyones socks than goddamn I must have what it takes to be successful, because they ain't seen nothin yet! "

What can I do now to prepare for later....

2011-01-22T19:28:00.000-08:00

I've been looking for a temporary accounting job; it makes sense to obtain experience in the field that I wish to enter. I have had NO luck in finding a job. I'm at the point now, where I figure any job is better than no job. With a job I can:
1) get out of the house and take a break from studying
2) make a few extra dollars
3) network

Because I had no luck in accounting I started looking at some other jobs and as a result I am starting a part time job this coming week. The good thing is that it's a position at a tax office the not so good thing is that my position is...wait for it... front desk receptionist....womp womp womp!?! I'm won't lie, I was hesitant in accepting this job. Why? Because I am once again underemployed and also, becasue like most everyone, I have an ego. But after weighing out the pros and cons, that I mentioned above, I came to the conclusion that this is a good move, and who knows maybe it will give me an opportunity that I have not listed in my pros.

Alright, so now that I'm not getting hands on accounting experience from my job, I have to find other ways to sharpen up my skills. Here's the plan...

February: The month of 'excelling' in Microsoft Excel
March: The month of 'mastering' Quick Books
April: The month of Negotiating

And....to add to the things I can sharpen up on, I've decided to join toastmasters. I hope that from this my public speaking will obviously improve, and more importantly my confidence will increase, especially when conveying my opinions in a professional atmosphere. I know that in the SLP I have to do a lot of presentations so now would be a good time to prepare!

The Who, What , Where , When, How

2011-01-20T22:55:00.000-08:00

My sister recently heard about something called the Happiness Project. From my understanding, it's, as the name implies, changing things in your life to be the happiest you. She heard about it from one of her co-workers who decided to challenge herself by engaging in a one year Happiness Project. When I heard about it, I thought it was a pretty neat concept... and that was about it. My sister asked me why I didn't start my own happiness project; my response was simple, I'm already happy.

It's true, there's not much in my life that I would change; I have an awesome relationship with my parents, I have 3 older sisters who are pretty cool, I have a boyfriend that I'm crazy about, and over the years I've built up a handful of solid relationships with friends, who all make up what I consider my extended family. Even in other areas of my life I'm happy; my health is great , I'm satisfied with person looking back at me in the mirror, I'm educated and worked hard to get my University Degree and ultimately I believe I'm in a position in life where I can do what I want and be me.

So ......why am I writing then? Well, while I was working out at the gym today, an idea popped into my head stemming from my sisters idea. One of my main motivating factors in life right now is to be successful. Now I know that success has many definitions and often times a dollar sign attached to it. Myself, I don't really have a definition for success, I associate it with more of a feeling. It's something I've felt before and something I want to feel again. It's knowing that I worked really hard for something and that because of my dedication and persistance, I got it and I deserve it. Obviously there are a million different ways then, that one can feel successful but my objective is to feel success in something that I have never felt it in....my career. So why not create a Success Project? It will keep me accountable to what I say, and its a good way to look back and see what ideas worked and which ones didn't.

In hindsight this project started 5 months ago.... at that time I just had no name for it, now its been classified. As I briefly mentioned above, I have my Bachelors of Commerce, I've also been out of university for 3 years and I've had various jobs. The truth is,I hated every single one of my jobs because I could not accept being underemployed. I was making decent money, I worked with nice people, but I was a paper pusher and I could not be okay with that, no matter how hard I tried. I would try to keep myself as busy as possible and as interested in my work as possible but, going through each day and knowing that my time was worth a lot more than what I was doing, was something that I did not want to promote. So....I knew it was time to make a change. I decided that everything I did from that moment on needed to move me one step ahead in life and that one step at a time I would make my way up.

I started off by making the decision to work towards my CMA designation. I didn't feel that a University Degree was enough to give me the type of career opportunites that would suit my needs. I chose this designation because after doing some research on jobs that would interest me I found that the skills and knowledge learned from this designation would put me on the right track to finding my ideal career path. Next, I quit my job, a bold move in this economy, but every day spent there was a strike against my goal of engaging in only those things that moved me one step forward. Luckily, I had some money saved up so I wasn't too devastated, but I knew that I had to make some changes if this was the way I wanted to live my life. First of all, I couldn't afford living in the lower mainland with no job, second of all if I was serious about my designation I needed to focus on studying. Next, I decided to move to the north back in with my parents for 9 months, while I studied and shifted my career in a new direction.

So here we are, I moved back on September 13,2010 and today it's January 20, 2011. What have I done in the past 5 months, STUDIED! I'm so proud of myself because being the curious and energetic person that I am, I've managed to prove to myself that I am one focused and dedicated person. I gave up a lot for a 25 year old, to try and find something that I have no gurantee of achieving; I gave up my financial independence, my social life, entered into a long distance relationship, and took on the risk of having a gap in my employment....and some days I feel nervous thinking about the outcome and the probabilities of what can happen.....but you know what I'm still one happy person, and thats why I didn't need a Happiness Project.

This is my Success Project.