You know the phrase “stop and smell the roses?”
I always thought it sounded a little cheesy. But now that we’re in the seventh month of quarantine (wow!), I’m starting to think that whoever thought of that phrase has the right idea.
I used to be all about bucket lists, but I want to introduce you to the “Thimble List” — AKA “the stop and smell the roses list.”
For the first 18 years of our life we are focused solely on learning. Kids these days are learning every day by going to school, and still learning when they go home and watch cool songs with a learning theme. We study, make flash cards and brainstorm new ideas. For some of us this learning goes on well into our twenties with college. But once we leave university, most of us move on from learning into the workplace and never really go back.
I loved learning when I was a kid and I always make it a point to learn something new whenever I can. As a journalist I’m naturally curious and one of my favorite parts of my job is that I get to become an expert in many different subjects even if just for a day.
Just because you’ve left school doesn’t mean you have to give up on life-long learning. In fact, many of the long-term bucket lists that I see include learning a language or new skill. But these long term goals tend to get overlooked because they can be quite costly or because people don’t think they have the time to achieve them. Read more
I can check something off my bucket list — Keynote Speech!
I was so honored to speak at the New York Women in Communications Student Communications Career Conference at NYU this weekend.
I started the day off with a visit from the GlamSquad for hair and makeup. If you haven’t used the service, you have to give it a try. The artists are punctual, friendly and very talented. I was super pleased and would use them again. They show up right to your door and you can get beautified in the comfort of your own home! Brilliant!
I spoke before a few hundred students about what it was like to be a producer, win an Emmy award and write Listful Thinking. Some of them told me afterwards they were thankful I shared my experience with the “F word” — failure. I talked about the ups and downs of my own career and how it wasn’t always sunshine and rainbows. I failed too. I took two jobs back to back that weren’t good fits for me and I was miserable. It happens.
I shared that I had gone on a tour of the set of World News Tonight with Peter Jennings when I was about 14 years old thanks to a childhood friend’s dad who worked at ABC. That Dad became a keystone in my keynote! He’s the one who got me hooked on the news business and on TV just by opening up his world to me and showing me what he did for a living. (PS Now we actually work together all these years later!)
His kindness though always stuck with me and I try to do the same for anyone who is interested in what I do. That’s why being asked to do this Keynote was even more special. I was able to tell young women who are aspiring journalists, publicists and marketers about my world. Being able to give back that gift is priceless.
Here’s a small video clip from the event, where I talk about what I wish I had known when I was 21!
A few weeks ago I teamed up with skinnyscoop.com to do a Bucket list contest. Now the results from the competition are in! The winner of the contest has been notified but the fun doesn’t stop there. I wanted to share the top ten items from everyone’s list:
So what do you think? Are these items on your bucket list too? To help your goals become a reality I recommend starting with a vision board.
It’s helpful to think about what you want from the upcoming year and specific goals you have in mind. I included Venice on my vision board last year and I got to go there in March. So start planning to make your bucket list dreams come to life in 2015!
The week before you go on vacation is filled with excitement, tension and anxiety as you rush to get all your work done before you go. For some, that last-minute panic is the only thing that can inspire them to get completely caught up on your work. So why not use the “vacation feeling” to get more done? If you want to catch up on your back log at work just act like you’re going on vacation so you can stay laser focused.
Here are some ideas to get you going:
Clean up & Close up – Make a list of everything you need to get done. Think about all the odd jobs you haven’t gotten around to finishing. If you know there’s something you’ve been putting it off, best to get it over and done with and then you really can relax over the weekend. Read more