What the Meditation Light Taught Me!

I was giving directions to my university the other day to a friend. "Take a left at the top of the exit ramp, go across the bridge and then turn left at the meditation stoplight..." "Wait a minute", my friend interrupted, "What is the meditation stoplight?"

I quickly realized that I had used my pet name for the extra long stoplight that I wait at everyday. I also realized that some further explanation was needed...

When I first began to commute to Winston-Salem, I explored the fastest, smoothest routes to work. And the route that I just described is the fastest route, except for the annoyingly long left turn light at Reynolds Blvd. When it does turn green, only a few cars make it through before it changes again. If you are five cars back, you can count on two cycles before you will be on your way. And the cycles allow each other set of traffic to proceed in turn - a process much like watching paint dry. Couple that with impatience to get to work and it quickly became the bane of my morning. So one day, I decided to take the other way around. I quickly whipped over into the other lane (oops, car in that lane probably had to brake a bit), gunned it on down to the stop sign, did a quick rolling stop (hmmm, that car probably had to slow down when I cut in front of him), gunned it a bit more and reached the stop light ahead that was turning orange. I did a quick right onto Reynolds Blvd just as the light turned red. Score! I had managed to turn in front of the car that I had once been behind at the previous slow, slow light. And after the brief adrenaline rush subsided, I thought "Have you lost your mind?" Sure, I had managed to avoid the wait, by driving aggressively, cutting in front of people, and short cutting the stops - all behaviors I deplored and would have never believed worth the risk. This was one of those times I needed to have a serious talk with myself. The really crazy thing is that, years before, I had described in a workshop how I used the string of stoplights on the way to my previous office as a sort of "stoplight rosary" where I focused on a meditation or positive thought at each one, rather than sit there gunning for a jack rabbit start or speeding up to try and beat the lights. I described how that attitude had really made a difference in my day, and probably helped me avoid being "an accident waiting to happen." Colleagues had even told me years later how much that idea had meant to them. And here I was, totally ignoring my previous counsel, creating chaos and certainly endangering myself and others.

So, I began to practice what I preached. Now, when I head across the bridge and get into the line at the meditation stoplight, I use that time to say a prayer for my day, to remember any I know who need a blessing, or just to take a few deep, centering breaths. I noticed that if I am pretty far back in line (guaranteed to take two lights), I can look to the right through the trees and see Sauratown Mountain. The granite sides glisten in the early morning sun and it is such a majestic sight. I can then proceed on through, calm and grateful, rather than impatient and annoyed.

So what ways have you learned to rethink encumbrances, put a positive spin on obstacles or "practice what you preach?"

NCCDA Presentation on Linking In, Social Media and Personal Branding

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NCCDA Presentation

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Meet my good friend, Droid

It's a bit disconcerting... it happens when I am out in meetings, social events or other places. I may be talking with friends or colleagues, or just casually minding my own business, when someone suddenly says, "Whoa, is that a Droid? I've heard about them (seen the advertisements, thought I might want one, wondered what the hype was about, etc.)" They immediately start quizzing me... do I like it? what's the big deal? is it better than an iPhone? what do you use it for? So in the interest of providing info for any possible new Droid owners, here's the deal...

I needed a smart phone and did all the research. Really wanted an iPhone but just couldn't do AT&T. Knew it had to play nice with Exchange. Wanted the option of lots of apps. Had to be user friendly. Needed to pull together all my "stuff" and be a workhorse for me. I found out that Verizon was launching an android-based phone and decided it was for me. I headed to the Verizon store at 7:00 am on November 6 to get it on opening day. An hour later, I was back in the office, Droid in hand and connected to my work server, all email accounts, work and home calendars, facebook and accuweather. I had cute little pictures for all my contacts and custom ring tones for my family (Lohr's is Barbie Girl and Kent's is Unchained Melody). And what does it do for me? Well....

I am way more productive with it. I am a compulsive email checker and handler. My students and clients email at all hours and I like to respond quickly. Before, I was constantly going to the computer logging into my home account, logging into my work account, only to quickly see that there were no new emails. What a waste of time! Now, I can actually sit in another room, reading or whatever, and know that no blinking light means no new email. I have texts, alerts, reminders, etc. right at my fingertips at all times. I can post new calendar items that instantly sync with my other calendars. I can add items to my task list or mark them off. I even keep a note pad folder to jot down songs to download from itunes. (and I admit, I have a notepad folder to jot down where I have hidden Christmas gifts as well...aging isn't fun sometimes).

So, I am happy to introduce people to my Droid. I like hearing what people love about their iPhones or other smart phones as well. I love gadgets, particularly gadgets that make my life easier or more interesting. What gadgets do you love and why? (I just might have to have one of those, too)

Get this party started?

The weekly reminder was getting annoying. For the last year or so, I had set up a calendar reminder that was supposed to finally spur me on to do some of the things I knew I needed to do in the branding arena. After all, I strongly believe in practicing what I preach (and we in the career world are all intensifying our preaching on branding to each other and to our students and clients). And doing the blogging thing, and the LinkedIn thing and the twitter thing would only add to my "tool kit" in my profession and in working with my students.

So why did I hit the "snooze" button on this reminder for a year? Well, of course, time is one of the big reasons. All evidence points to branding failure if you don't stay on top of it. Committing ongoing time to the care and feeding of an inanimate object was way down on my list of priorities when I have the care and feeding of many, many living and breathing objects right in front of my face. I was balancing family, students and clients with the incredible task of developing and implementing a whole new program at work in record time. I already felt like I ran in 24/7 mode without adding new (and face it - nonessential) tasks to my list.

Another reason I was reluctant to embark on this is, well, fear of failure (or at least fear of inane, redundant mediocrity). I mean, who wants to spend time and energy on something only to realize that it just isn't very good. And while I am pretty good at knowing what I am pretty good at, this was uncharted territory. I had bad dreams of people whispering behind their hands and pointing saying, "yes, that's the one, the very boring yet slogging on irregardless one. What a pity."

And a final, very embarrassing reason is this... I don't type. Yes, there I've said it. While I once turned out a 250 page thesis and regularly churn out reams of written materials on a daily basis, I do this in under 30 words a minute. While it is not true that I only use two fingers (I am up to three fingers on one hand and two on the other, thank you very much), I do look at the keyboard, which slows things down a bit. So what would take a good typist very little time takes me a little more. And time is short.

But here I am. I finally set a "must do" date. I signed up for all the right venues and resources. And I googled myself. I saw to my amusement that Sam Leonard Beck (me) is the writer of several articles (including much work out there on the Junior Order of United American Mechanics and their Children's Home), the receiver of several awards and the employee of several organizations. And I realized that some of this information is in places that I didn't put it. So my "stuff" is out there already. As personal branding goes, my challenge then is to get that control (or at least direct it from my end). So here goes...