Genuine Insights

Practical Genius Top 10 Lessons of 2010

1. Shut down.

The greatest lesson I’ve learned this year was the power of granting myself time for mental stillness. Carving out time to shut down for 30 minutes and tune inward does small wonders to sustain a healthy mind. Turn off the television, radio, and hand-held devices and allow yourself to physically and mentally chill. What you will quickly notice after doing this for 10 consecutive days is you will be sharper because of it. Solutions to problems will take shape in your mind, new ideas will reveal themselves, and you will also begin to enjoy greater intuitiveness. Remember, in order for your mind to create meaning it needs meaningful rest.

2. Find what you LOVE.

One of the greatest aspects of self-discovery is finding what you love. Many of us have ignored the yummy places within our hearts and minds and I have learned that if you commit to finding what you love and decide to make love to it, life as you know it changes. Ask yourself: what do you love? Is it innovation, fitness, technology, dancing, literature, travel, discovery, ideation, the environment or something as simple as food. What ever “it” may be, find “it”, act upon “it” and honor your love of “it” by investing the time to explore and enjoy “it.” As with all matters of the heart, you will know it when you find “it.”

3. Change it up.

Change is powerful and not as hard you think it is. This year I changed how I managed my time and what happened was life on every level began to change because of the direct impact of just shifting one particular aspect of it. So I want you to change it up a bit. This could mean changing how you manage your time, changing the furniture in your family room or changing what you eat – or even when you eat. It doesn’t matter which slice of your life you decide to change, just pick one aspect and commit to making the shift. When you commit to it, a domino effect for the better will happen. I promise, its powerful.

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Posted Dec 28, 2010 Tagged under: inspiration, lists, reflection

Miami, where Global Tribes Meet

When you decide to take on a challenge as great as attempting to replicate one of the country’s leading gathering experiences (a TED conference) you really have to equip yourself with the right combination of scuba tanks, gear and dive buddies for the deep-dive experience that is the production of a TEDx event. This past week a group of amazing minds all based in Miami accomplished what many thought wasn’t possible for our great city.

Viewing the experience as a truly explorative journey, our quest was to celebrate not the obvious success of Miami’s cultural diversity but to experience the diversity of ideas and innovation that is being born in our back yards and rarely recognized. Basically, we wanted to “out” local genius and with the right due diligence, we identified eight fat brains who were willing to commit to the quest for excellence in content and delivery.

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Posted Nov 11, 2010 Tagged under: art and music, events, ideas and innovation, inspiration, networking, social media and technology

Top 5 Lessons I learned from Oprah

This past weekend I celebrated mother’s day with 6,000 women in attendance for O Magazine’s Live your Best Life Weekend and of all the lessons I learned from Oprah and her tribe which included my favorites, Martha Beck, Suze Orman, Adam Glassman and Nate Berkus, the following were the greatest insights.

1. Live boldly.

Not one but three of the speakers, including Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat, Pray Love all shared the importance and power of living boldly and I couldn’t agree more. In the last 15 months, I have taken risks, conquered fears and have realized the more chances I take, the bolder my life becomes and the bolder my life becomes the greater the rewards.

2. Fill your cup first before you fill the cup of others.

“Wow,” I thought to myself, as I listened to Oprah share this simple yet profound piece of advice at Radio City on Saturday night. Both men and women suffer from this but women are the biggest culprits.. Why is it that we take care of our mothers, our husbands, our children, our cats and dogs before we even begin to think about our own needs? Why, why, why? If I could stress one insight the most, it’s this one. Fill your cup first ladies. And remember you are really doing a disservice to everyone you love by continuing the role of sacrificial lamb, so stop.

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Posted May 11, 2010 Tagged under: inspiration, lists, motivation

What Matters Most

As we begin to prepare for 2010 i find myself thinking of what will matter most in my life, in my community and for the world over the next twelve months. Searching, writing and setting out my own futuristic projections i find comfort in knowing I am not alone with many of my crazy projections. Guru Seth Godin today posted what will probably be the greatest gift I will receive this season and for this i share it with all of you. He answered my question by bringing together more than 70 thinkers to inspire us all on what really matters. This saved my Monday morning and i hope it infects you with hope as it did for me. My favorite insights are: Neoteny, by Joichi Ito; World Healers by Martha Beck, Slow Capital by Fred Wilson and of course, Autonomy, by genius, Dan Pink.

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Posted Dec 14, 2009 Tagged under: inspiration

Julie, Julia and Gina

Last night, I had the great pleasure of curling up with Stephen and our cat Mouse after putting Lucas to bed to watch Julie and Julia. When the film was first released, I received so many emails from readers, friends and family telling me that I had to see this movie. Now I understand why.

The parallel stories of these two amazing women mirrored my life in so many ways as it probably does for millions of writers out there in the world holding on dearly to a dream of one day being published. As I watched the journeys of Julie Powell and Julia Child, of course I couldn’t help reflecting on my own over the last two years. I was reminded that all writers walk up and down reality lane every single day, wondering, “Am I crazy to be doing this?” It was comforting to know that not only was I not alone but this has been the journey forever for so many female writers.

What I also loved about the film is the accurate depiction of the grand level of pleasure that comes from writing. Writing is delicious. I mean it. If I could chew and taste some of the words that I love, I’d do it. And although life as a writer is challenging, sometimes lonely and always confusing, I would not change a thing about it. I started this blog two years ago and it’s brought me more satisfaction than I ever imagined. Really expensive dark chocolate kind of satisfaction.

As Julia demonstrated with her food, you have to love it, and when you reach that level of yumminess with any passion you know its worth it.

In the spirit of sharing recipes, here are three lessons I just learned which I think are worth sharing:

Lesson #1. Everything that is good takes time. Whether it’s making Boeuf Bourguignon, writing a book or mastering your marriage, getting it right takes time It also gets better with time.

Lesson #2. There is a whole lot of fear that goes along with writing anything — a blog, a book , even a report or a piece of correspondence. Every time, the fear requires that you take that big giant leap and start writing, one word at a time. That’s all it takes. So all you “closeted” writers reading this post, this take a moment and write something. Do it. I mean it. I’m watching.

Last but least, Lesson #3. There’s no such thing as not being able to cook. We all can cook and like everything creative it just takes a big cup of passion with a pitch of courage and a dash of patience and we all can create amazingly tasty dishes in our lives as long as we follow the recipe. Recipes are key.

Tomorrow I will make the Boeuf Bourguignon …what will you try?

And if you are still looking for a unique inspiring Christmas gift for a friend in search of herself, pick up Julie and Julia. I give it two thumbs up.

Bon appétit everyone!

Posted Dec 10, 2009 Tagged under: inspiration, reflection