Some subtle changes have been afoot (or not so subtle). With those changes, an entire exchange of adjustments are required in all the many applications and associated social network profiles attached to the website, as well additions and/or corrections. Some of the changes you will find:

Welcome Monique

• Please welcome  new author, writer, collaborator, and my daughter, Monique Tinsley, to Administrative Sparkle. She will be bringing a fresh perspective to our young professionals who are starting their careers and/or going to college and finding themselves working in administrative fields while they kick-start their careers.
• She has been included in the Contact tab and she is at work creating her About Monique page so you can know all about her background and experience. In general, you are invited to get to know who she is, what she’s about, and what she hopes to contribute in her writing and articles.
• I hope you will find her to be as fabulous a writer as I do. She has the gift for the “joy of writing” and now she can channel it into entertaining pieces for you.

Subscription Updates

• You may not be getting your subscription updates as the primary website has been changed on the website host from www.koalatassistant.com to www.MyKTA.com and chose to drop the former. The former was the initial and primary website, but knew from the beginning typing that address would be too much and set up the latter to “Keep it Simple.”
• I wasn’t able to release Google Adwords from one Google account to another. Last resort was to delete the address (ugh, that brought up all other kinds of replacement issues regardless of managing the website).
• If the old RSS and email feed seem to be effectively sending you updates, it may not last long. Nevertheless, the subscription feed has been changed and would love for you to re-subscribe. Once I receive your re-subscription on the new feed, I will remove you from the old one so your inbox does not receive duplicate updates.
• In addition, the website statistics will be more accurate by eliminating the old subscription address (the new feed is primary and the old feed will no longer be tracked).

Learning From Change

Accepting Help

• I am learning to allow other people to help me, which is really hard for me to do.
• When other people help, don’t make it their responsibility. Accept help when you can, because we can’t do everything on our own. Just remember to keep abreast of any updates, changes, and commitments they are assisting you in the process. Dependability is important, but ultimately it is your responsibility. If they forget or get dates, times, or information mixed up, it is you who must make the correction.
• Take ownership, follow-up, and know what is going on in what is being done so you are showing up when you are supposed to, meeting deadlines, and following up on promises that are being made on your behalf.

Be Gracious

• We all make mistakes. There really isn’t a whole lot that can’t be fixed. If you find it better to do it yourself, say, “Thank you, I appreciate everything you have done. However, it is important that I stay on top of this and would be more comfortable taking care of it myself. I hope I can still count on you when I need you and know that I am there for you to be able to count on me when you need me.”
• Don’t be offended. People will take things the way they will. If they are understanding, know that you are taking care of your business, and that you are not projecting accountability onto them that which is your responsibility, they may even be a little relieved. You may have a friend or friends who want to help, but they could also be biting off more than they can chew when there are repercussions for even a small mistake.

Administrative Sparkle Evolution

• When I write, I write about things I know or things I’m learning. This gives you a window into who I am, what is going on in my life, and that I am just like you. You will discover glimpses of challenges I may be going through, successes and accomplishments that I get to share with you, but this website isn’t meant to be one-sided. With that, I encouraged to share your challenges and successes with me.
• If you, too, love to write, check out the Guest Writing tab for instructions on how to submit an article to Administrative Sparkle. I would love to feature a “Star Sparkle” on a regular basis and present an interest that is important to you that reaches others who believe the topic is important and interesting as well.

Thank you for being a part of the Sparkle experience. I’m looking forward to connecting with you on the various social networks and any suggestions you may have. I couldn’t do this without you. I have always felt like you are my biggest support team.

No related posts.

What makes a “Sparkle” admin stand apart? They have style and grace. They are well-mannered and respectful, biting their tongue when others lack this social grace. Their style is a reflection of their taste and self-image. They will greet you with a smile and a kind word. They are continually learning and evolving. They help others when they can and distance from those who live for drama. They are resourceful, funny, talented, crazy smart, compassionate, kind, and beautiful.

Their sparkle comes from the inside out.

I am incredibly grateful to have you as a part of Administrative Sparkle. As part of the Sparkle family, I encourage you to “Like” the various Administrative Sparkle Pages on Facebook and collaborate, encourage, strike up conversations, and “Friend” one another.

Related posts:

1. Thank You

Designing your life with clarity means you are clear about your choices, how they affect you and others. A simple way of putting purpose and clarity into your life that allows you to drive the choices you make is by creating a Mission Statement and/or Vision Statement.

On August 16, 2010, I wrote the following Mission Statement:

To inspire others to be and become their personal best. To live my life with integrity, gratitude, excellence, and passion in all my personal and professional dealings, interactions, decisions, and actions. To love what I do, the people I am with, and myself.

This is my written Purpose Statement, which was written on the same date:

My purpose in life is to use my outgoing and dynamic personality to guide and inspire others to create a more beautiful and nurturing life that encourages one another to interact with love, compassion, and kindness.

To be honest, I am disappointed in myself that I have not had these posted in a place I can view them every day. These are beliefs that I hold at my core. However, it is easy to stray the path when life takes it turns and you need these reminders the most. I also found it interesting that, to date, I would not change a word.

Two examples that are all about the care and respect of people are medical and dental. I have been deluged with appointments for the past month going to UC Davis Medical and Cancer Centers in Sacramento, and Laguna West Dental Care in Elk Grove. I have been completely transformed in my thinking of going to medical and dental appointments. I have always dreaded and feared going to the doctor and the dentist. While I just completed two years of intensive work done on my teeth, I have to admit my experience with Dr. You and his staff at Laguna West Dental Care has always been a treatment in care, respect, and sensitivity. The kindness, professionalism, and absolute courtesy that I have received from UC Davis’ Medical and Cancer Centers are bar none.

Needless to say, my experiences with these two professions in the past have been very uncomfortable and my concerns dismissed. How unfortunate as they hold the keys to our very health.

I want to share with you both of their Mission Statements because, in my experience, they live and execute it every day with aplomb.

UC Davis Health System

Our Mission:
Improving lives and transforming health care.

Our Vision:
A healthier world through bold innovation.

Laguna West Dental Care

The mission of Laguna West Dental Care is to help patients by recommending the most appropriate dental treatment that is in the patient’s long term best interest, delivering the service with utmost professional skills, and working with the best laboratories—all done with patient comfort, first and foremost.

Have you considered creating your own personal Mission, Vision, Philosophy, and/or Purpose Statements? Have you actually written down what you stand for and what you represent? How do you want others to see you, what do you want your legacy to be? How can you strive for something you haven’t defined? Take time today to write down your own Statement and start living your life with more clarity and purpose of direction.

With great affection to my Sparklers!

Related posts:

1. Lists for Life
2. Charmed Life: Age Gracefully
3. This Week’s Inspiration: Create a Charmed Life

A New Year – 2012

Exciting isn’t it? Well, it should be. With a new year comes surprises, adventure, challenges, dreams, change, and lessons to be learned. Some will rollover from the old year and many new to come.

Surprisingly, in the last month of 2011 over the course of a week, I got married, quit my job, moved, and found out I have cancer. Wow! A lot to process for the upcoming year. I will make mistakes along the way, learn my strengths and weaknesses, patience and love, and find out what I’m made of along the way. I wonder if I can do it all. With the love and support of friends and family, I will navigate my way through whatever comes my way.

I believe with every challenge comes opportunity, tests your resilience, and helps you to grow into a better person.

I wish for all the people who come to Administrative Sparkle a wonderful year of opportunity, love, and success. I hope to bring you many engaging articles, fun and interesting tips, and just some good reading to inspire you as the great administrative professional I know you to be.

With great love, Happy New Year!

Related posts:

1. Happy New Year
2. Happy Thanksgiving!
3. A List for a Year

You may keep a mental list or have a written list. A written list makes it permanent. You can go back and review it, update it, reference it to remind yourself of your expectations or what you’re looking for. Lists are GREAT!

Interestingly, we make lists of things we need to do or our expectations of other people or our circumstances. Mostly our standards tend to be a mental note.

• Don’t associate with people who do drugs.
• A job that is challenging, encourages growth and learning, in an atmosphere of respect.
• Hunting is cruel.
• Treat people with dignity and respect.

Those are just some examples. We judge people by our own expectations. I remember doing an exercise where you write the story of your perfect home, husband, marriage, job, life, etc. Remembering this prompted me to retrieve the book I learned of this idea, THE SUCCESS PRINCIPLES by Jack Canfield. By the way, excellent book and should be in your library.

Here is the basic essence of the exercise:

Start by putting on some relaxing music and sitting quietly in a comfortable environment where you won’t be disturbed. Then close your eyes and ask your subconscious mind to give you images of what your ideal life would look like if you could have it exactly the way you want it in each of the following categories:

The categories include financial, job/career, free time, relationships with friends and family, personal life, and community. Your vision of each is prompted with probing questions to encourage you to go deeper with your visualizations.

Lastly, you are instructed as follows:

You can write down your answers as you go, or you can do the whole exercise first and then open your eyes and write them down. In either case, make sure you capture everything in writing as soon as you complete the exercise.

Naturally we tend to look externally at how we see the world and how we would like to see the world. Lately, I have been looking internally. It’s easy for us to have standards on what surrounds us, it’s much harder to define and become your ideal set of standards. More specifically, holding ourselves to the objective of “ideal” standards we naturally create for others.

• If you were a man, what would be your ideal standards of your perfect wife or girlfriend? Or
• If you were a woman, what would be your ideal standards of your perfect husband or boyfriend?
• If you were a boss, what would be your ideal standards of a perfect employee?
• What would be your ideal standards of a mom or dad?
• What would be your ideal standards of a brother or sister?
• What would be your ideal standards of a friend?
• What would be your ideal standards of a co-worker?
• What would be your ideal standards for a client or customer?

Take a moment to visualize it, write it down, put together a plan, and execute.

Not so easy is it, to withhold judgment on others and hold ourselves accountable?

As much as we want to blame anything else for where we are in our life, it takes courage to take responsibility for ourselves, our actions, and how we interact in the world. This is a great thing. It means the most important project you will ever have in your life is yourself and you have your whole life to create yourself and improve on it.

We can’t always control the people or circumstances around us, but we can take responsibility and action for ourselves. It may be the hardest thing we can do, it’s also the one thing that can make a huge impact on all the external stuff that we judge and hold standards for.

Anyway, my thinking is we need to look internally first before making judgments and expectations externally.

What are your thoughts? Are you the person on your ideal list? I have to be honest, I have a lot of work to do.

I wish to all my Sparkle Peeps “days of excellence!”

No related posts.

I love beautiful shoes.

There are still some hard and fast rules, especially if you are interviewing. If you want to get your foot in the door, keep it classic, stylish, and conservative. The office may run the gamut from flip-flops and tennis shoes to open-toed sandals, but the interview is not the time to put your most fashionable foot forward. Save that for later.

Once you are in the office, you still want to adhere to the general guidelines of what is acceptable. However, like the evolution of hosiery, covered in an earlier issue, shoes have evolved. If your office has a dress code, ask for something in writing. If you are ever called into question, you can refer to the explicit guidelines.

Look For

A Statement

Shoes, even men’s shoes, have become a statement piece, not unlike accessories. As long as you keep them in the general scheme of your ensemble, shoes can make a beautiful finishing touch to any outfit. It can reflect your taste, style, and personality. When putting your ensemble together, pay attention to the shoes. It’s all in the details!

Classics

Classic is timeless. That said, you will want to comprise the majority of your wardrobe from a wide array of classic pieces. Trendy can be fun and, on occasion, give your outfit a bit of pop and personality. Not a bad thing, as long as it doesn’t take away from the rest of your look, but instead, enhances it. When all somebody notices is the shoes, you’ve missed your objective.

Quality & Maintenance

An item is an investment when it’s well-made and maintained, resulting in many years of enjoyment. Needless to say, shoe styles change all the time and you may not be able to get a favorite pair of shoes again the next year, or several years down the road, to replace them. To extend the life of my shoes, I get my shoes re-heeled; some more often than others. Cobblers are harder and harder to find these days because we find ourselves in a very “throw away” society. It can mean spending around $10 to $15 to get the bottom of the heel replaced, compared to $50 to $100+ to replace a favorite pair of shoes. That’s a deal.

Suggestions

Maintenance

When the heel is worn down enough to where you are walking on the metal spike, STOP wearing them until you can take them to a shoe repair shop. It only takes a day or two to get your shoes back. It is worth the wait and keeps your shoes from the trash. NOTE: you can’t get just one heel fixed, the price is for the pair.

Sales

I always get my shoes on sale. Department stores have pressure to keep abreast of new collections arriving and clearance sales are the result. Yay!

Hazards

Shoes sustain our weight gains and losses, the beatings of constant wear on concrete, grates in a walkway, slats of a boardwalk, the uneven levels of cobblestone, and the elements of the weather. Shoes, literally, have no protection. Wear trainers (sneakers, tennis shoes) on your way to work and change when you get to the office. The office floors are much kinder. It will save your shoes and feet serious hardship.

Don’t Be One of Those

Some shoes don’t belong in an office: flip-flops, tennis shoes, sandals, and sky-high platforms. These shoes belong in the garden, gym shower, and the nightclub. I’m not saying that your office has a problem with whatever shoes you choose to wear, but it is my hope that the Office Chic series inspires you to create an image of professional style and elegance.

Change It Up

Have a couple pairs of shoes to wear throughout the week. Give your shoes some time to breathe and refresh.

Take pictures of yourself in a complete ensemble that you wear to the office with each pair of your shoes. You really don’t get the full idea of how they look till you see them in a picture. Kind of like our weight. We don’t realize how we look outside of ourselves till we see a picture. Also, you might be surprised to discover what shoes don’t work and what shoes turn out to be quite fabulous with an outfit until you see it in a photograph (like red shoes with a black skirt – especially with the holidays around the corner).

Wear shoes you love and get rid of the ones you don’t. They just take up space for your next great pair of shoes.

What are your thoughts on shoes in the office today? Have some fun and fill out the shoe poll. You should be able to see the poll results.

With love to all my Sparkle peeps!

Related posts:

1. Office Chic: Hosiery
2. Office Chic: The Pencil Skirt
3. Office Chic: The Blouse

With issues relating to the Excel 2007 documents, I have added a secondary download link for a 2003 version (which does not seem to be an issue across platforms).  Please notify me if there is a download file that executes as a ZIP file (this was the prevalent issue for Excel 2007 spreadsheets). It is possible I may not have found them all within the Administrative Sparkle library.

Also, BIG NEWS, I have added Free Downloads in “Categories.” Yes, I’m thinking of you.  I am currently working on a page where you will have access to all the downloadable documents as well.

Let me know if you have any ideas or thoughts that might make it easier for you to find information you are looking for and/or what some of your favorite things are or would like to see.

Thank you to everyone for insight on how to make this place a better resource for you!

No related posts.

It has come to my attention that some of you might have problems downloading the documents I create for you to modify for your own use.  It downloads as an unmanageable ZIP file. Aaaaargh!

So to resolve this, I am asking you if I should save the document down (MS 2003) as this will resolve the issue of it going to you in a ZIP file. You can always contact me by email to send you the document, but I really don’t know how big the issue is or if it is just a select few.

So take the poll and let me know your thoughts. Simplicity of experience is what I am going for here.

Related posts:

1. Pin Down Your Recent Documents
2. Bookmarks in Word Documents
3. Word 2007: Change Your Style

Check Out InPictures

I came across InPictures when looking for some ideas on an Access database project I’m trying to pull together.  You really need to start at the beginning with Access, unlike the other Microsoft programs. A database is all about the “foundation” and how it can pull and display the information you are working with.

Learn With Pictures, Not Words.

InPictures online tutorials are based on pictures, not words. They’re the easiest way to learn computer subjects. There’s no complicated multimedia, just pictures that show exactly what to do.

They’re Free!

In Pictures online tutorials are free for anyone to use. There’s nothing to buy or download.

I really like InPictures and think you will too.

Would love to know what you think of the various resources I provide on the sidebar. I encourage you to share the ones you like, share some of your own that you think should be included on my resource sidebar.

Related posts:

1. Suggested Resource Link: Custom Guide Online Learning
2. Suggested Resource Link: GrammarBook
3. Suggested Resource: Deskdemon

Image via Wikipedia

With the intention of creating a more interactive Facebook Fan Page to Administrative Sparkle, I will be posting a new activity to implement each week. Join and participate. It will be fun to learn from each other, as well as learning useful and creative tools that make us better.

This week’s topic is: Activity for Week of 09/19/11 – Be Friendly. You can find it in “Discussions.”

I was inspired by Jeffrey Gitomer‘s Little Black Book of Connections.  It is filled with fantastic snippets and suggestions on connections.  It’s not just about collecting names that you mistakenly believe is a network, but about making connections with the people you meet and want to be in your network.

Join along with me to implement the skills it takes to be a better people person and maximize our relationships with the people in our “little black books.” Better yet, pick up the book and follow along as we move from inaction to ACTION! It will defintely be fun and interesting.

I look forward to your thoughts and what you learn from the exercise.

Related posts:

1. Success Recap for Week of January 16, 2011
2. Success Recap for Week of January 23, 2011