My cousin Cheryl is a very wonderful person. Today I just wanted everyone else to know it

Here is something you might like to read, hint, hint

• links for 2009-01-05
• links for 2009-03-19
• links for 2009-01-18
• links for 2009-05-06

Here is something you might like to read, hint, hint

• 24 BlueWave Media Cafe – Kimberly Beaven
• 9 BlueWave Media Cafe – Kimberly Beaven
• links for 2009-02-19
• To My Cousin Cheryl

Okay, so just having some fun here — but it makes you laugh and realize how media is tweaked and changed to dilute or expand our perspective.

Here is something you might like to read, hint, hint

• links for 2008-12-16
• Planning for 2009
• Life Equals Risk
• links for 2009-04-09

Are you one of the many people who find themselves at the intersection of where you are and where you want to be? The main aspect to remember is that you are not alone.

We have all gone through rhythms of joy, fear, dumbfound and plain old,

“What the heck am I doing here?”

About 9 years ago I was working as a graphic designer for a company where I was creating CTP (computer to plate) outputs for a Heidelberg printer. The press operator was a great guy to work with, and I still work with him in my own business. However, the owner was a very difficult man to work for (way too many reasons why and not the point here). I was still running my own company at the time and thought I could make it through my daytime job by having my own joy-filled work in the evenings and weekends. Was I wrong. Every time my partner would pick me up from work  at the end of the day (we had one car), I jumped in the car and shouted “DRIVE!” It was all I could do to ask her if she could just slow down, not stop, fling open the passenger side and like the Dukes of Hazzard, pull away from the enemy. Something was gradually happening inside of me that didn’t rear its ugly head until I really sat down and pondered why I was so tired, unmotivated, feeling like I was losing my voice. I was dying from the inside out.

Fortunately I saw the progression and where it was heading. I caught it in time before I lost my sense of self. I left there and started working for myself full-time.

I choose to let my soul live.

On the wall of my office is a statement that I read every time I walk into it in the morning, throughout the day and every time I need a bit of a reminder. It states,

“Wish It…Dream It…Do It.”

Just let that resonate within you for a moment. Don’t rush. You are the navigator to your sense of fulfillment, the orchestrator of the music of your life and the one who knows yourself best. Don’t sell your soul to just exist, find a way to truly live.

Finding our place is a momentous task in itself, but eat that elephant a chunk at a time (Not that I am promoting the harming of any animals – but that phrase just fits).

Who are you? I mean, really, “Who are you?” What are you interpersonal skills, your talents, your desires? Are you an entrepreneurial spirit, or more of a manager and organizer? Do you prefer to cloister yourself in code with all of the lights off and get joyed by the glowing jQuery on your computer? Knowing the finer points of you will help to discover if you are heading in the right direction.

We are  often having to wear many hats in our daily lives which often flows into our work. I love the design aspect as well as the project management and the down and dirty coding. It allows the artist and the mathematician in me to breathe. It is a harmonious balance for me. Maybe you prefer one specific area, or a couple of seemingly unrelated work identities that make sense to you. I think our careers are like a good pair of jeans that have accompanied us on camping trips, cleaned out the garage or just relaxed on the couch. It takes time to get them to fit ‘just right’. We have to allow time to weather our steps. I believe the path we take is not just a well lit straight highways, but rather a well worn path in the woods.

Sometimes it rains and you get your feet dirty, but it allows you to see the beauty and view that gets revealed as you go.

When you take that first step to allow yourself to be honest with yourself you have taken a choice to allow your voice to be heard. Use a vision board to post up clippings and ideas or words that mean something to you. Make your possible future working identities more visible and tangible. Don’t just write down your ideas on scrap pieces of paper or in Evernote (or whatever digital tool you use) and leave it there to collect dust. Plan and implement. Make it measurable and assess often. Find a good friend or colleague you can be accountable to. Seek out a corporate mentor. Just do it.

When your soul knows it has been heard and it allowed consistent input into who you are and where you are going, there is a sense of balance, ‘rightness’ and peace.

You deserve to dream. So what’s stopping you?

Here are a couple of links to some personality tests to help you discover you.

Personality Tests

Personality tests based on Jung

Topical Related Posts:

• In Between
• Planning for 2009
• Finding the right road
• Wear the Right Pants

Every now and again I am reminded about how important it is to truly hear and understand your client’s perspective. I had a client on my old server and moved them to my new server — mostly because of reoccurring emails issues that for some reason presented themselves as oddball gremlins that were often difficult to figure out. With the new server, it made this easier. All good right? Well no. I received a very panicked phone message that they were not getting their email although their clients had sworn it was sent. The reason they were not seeing them — easy enough to figure out: they were using POP email and now they are using IMAP and the mail was safely tucked in the Spam box in their Apple Mail account program. Now, I have a range of clients and all of them on many different levels of experience of knowledge with technology. I had explained the difference between IMAP and POP mail but I HEARD my client today when it dawned on me they did not know exactly what that meant in this instance.

You might be saying, “Well of course Kimberly, that’s quite apparent.” Yes and no. I agree with the fact that they did not fully understand from the training and setup, but it was more difficult to “See” how they saw the change. To them, it just works right? To us, the service providers, it works but and often needs a quick check of  a few things to trouble shoot that will quickly solve those small issues first. I think if we see things from our client’s perspective we will understand where and how to bring what we see and know to the table. In the end, better communication, better services and customer support and finally, a happier client. Lesson learned.

Here is something you might like to read, hint, hint

• In Between
• links for 2009-05-26
• Who is the hero of the world?
• Wordpress for Blackberry

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• I am using a MAC rap
• Life Equals Risk
• How are you being affected?
• Tell your clients

Project 365 is a global movement to record a photograph each day for the next 365 days — a historical photo journal.

Here is the page where the photos for 2010 Project and a bit more information about what it is.

Here is something you might like to read, hint, hint

• Reminders – Sciral Consistency
• Bookmarks Resources from BlueWave Media
• links for 2009-01-28
• links for 2009-01-08

Mac vs Pc: I’m on a Mac (I’m on a Boat spoof) ft. PC-Pain – SwitchToMac.com

Although I do have a lot of clients on a PC, I have to say that this video made my morning. Over the past year many of them switched over to a MAC without me having to rap at all — but I think I will show folks this video instead of recording a Run MAC version myself. Yes, I heard the sigh of relief out there.

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Having a website that appeals, woos and involves your clients and visitors is the main goal really. By finding out what they think about your current sites layout, language, usability and focus you gain priceless information and feedback  about why you are or are not growing as a company. Your site must take the visitors and your target market in mind. If it is pretty but not functional or jammed with too much, hard-to-find information, you are practically slamming the doors on their heels. Time to fix that.

Also want to say a special Happy Birthday to MichelleOxman. Say to her on Twitter!

Here is something you might like to read, hint, hint

• links for 2009-07-02 Wordpress and Productivity
• links for 2009-01-22
• links for 2009-06-16
• T-Shirt Fridays: London Knights

Original Source Credit:
by Socialnomics09 and orig video

Topical Related Posts:

• Job Search with Social Media and Mobile
• Social media: Please stand up and be counted
• Graphic Conversations
• 24 BlueWave Media Cafe – Kimberly Beaven