I Did It! I Did It! Goal-Tackling.

Before January started, I outlined several objectives for this year. But I also outlined a couple of distinct goals for every month of the year (that job isn’t finished yet as I’m sure something will come up mid-year). Besides two minor goals and one medium-difficulty goal, I decided to really test the willpower waters and wrote down:

• Go to the gym 15x (and work out, duh)
• Do not consume any alcoholic drinks all month

Aaaaand I did it. I worked out 17 times in January, and each session was at least 30 minutes, burning at least 350 calories. The average was actually closer to 500 calories per session. My cardio endurance skyrocketed. I now CRAVE going to the gym. Seriously? Me? also didn’t have any alcohol.

I exercised my willpower, I followed my goals, and I put health above everything. If I absolutely couldn’t work out after work, I went in the morning. The person I was a year ago would say “Is she serious?” “Who the hell does she think she is?” and “Weirdo.” Seriously, I agree. But I also love whom I am becoming. Remember I wrote about wanting to become a gym rat? Well, I’m on my way.

How did turn around 180 degrees and do all this? Good question.

1. It started with a personal assessment and goal visualization. I really looked at where I was in terms of fitness, and then I visualized where I’d like to be.

2. Quantify goals. I put a number on my fitness objectives. Instead of saying that I will follow through with a complex diet-weight training-cardio program, I just set a one simple goal: do as much cardio as you can in the gym, fifteen times, rain or shine. Put a number on it! And track it. I wrote down “Gym #…” on every day that I went. You’ll feel better once you get into the double digits.

3. Give yourself a month. I tried the “I’m going to the gym 4 times a week!” thing and it didn’t always work. We all know that some weeks are busier than others — friend from out of town, conference, business travel, birthdays, events, whatever. Other weeks are meant for vegetation. So try to give yourself a month to achieve your goals. One week I went to the gym 3 times, another week I went 6. Evens out. Same analogy can be applied to the “A book a week” rule. It’s hard to do it in a week, but it’s easier to accomplish the “4 books in a month” rule: some weekends are quieter than others. Give yourself a month.

4. Don’t be hard on yourself. Emergencies and unpredictable situations cause you to skip gym. Sometimes you go out for dinner and can’t work out after (try to work out in the morning in that case). Other times it’s -20C and it’s tough to get up at 6:30am. It happens. You need to do work instead of gym – also happens. Just don’t stress about it. Sometimes skipping gym actually helps you achieve better results when you do continue to work out.

5. That being said, No slacking! You made a promise to yourself. You’re accountable to yourself. Imagine how crappy you’ll feel if you fuck up? …And how you’re going to shine when you do achieve your goal? That’s what helped me with the no alcohol goal. Well, that and saving money, the ability to exercise my willpower and to almost boast that I indeed can say no to a drink and not be bothered by it (by the way, that gets easier as time goes by. What’s another month of total sobriety and not even light intoxication?).

6. Are you doing it for the right reasons? In my baby steps in Buddhism, I became really intrigued by the idea of intent. Whether you’re doing something for a good cause or for the right reasons makes all the difference. With fitness, I looked at why I was doing it and realized that I just want to be super healthy. I want to live forever, I want to be in good condition, and a side-product, of course I want to look my best. With alcohol – that’s a whole other post, really, – it’s more complicated. But the intent was a big theme. Do you really need that glass of wine? Do you need the extra? Do you have to say “yes” to what’s offered?… You get it. The old saga was over.

I hope some of these tips were useful to you. I’m undergoing major, major changes in my life. I like who I am and I love who I am becoming. The world is really becoming a playground and I will achieve anything I set my mind to. You should hear the giant theme of this week, ohhhh boy. But shh, all in due time

With the Vigor of a Jihadist

Enter The New Year, Ebulliently. 2010 started on an absolutely tremendous note. I chiseled a plan. I bit my lip and dived into. I just started doing it instead of thinking about how awesome it would be to have done it. And it became easy.

I started pursuing about 3-4 hard paths. All at once. With the vigor and fervor of a jihadist. The reason I refer to the latter is because with a similar level of passions I want to abolish all my bad habits, negative patterns and so on. Lots of energy and proclamations on my part.

In the attic of my soul I found a mysterious box and opened it. It contained all the will in the world, all the energy in the world, all the creativity in the world, all the compassion, understanding, peace and love. That box flooded the contents of my soul, and I am happy it did.

Back in November I have been setting out a path I’d like to take not only in the new year (this one), but also in a new decade. I thoroughly thought about the person I would like to be and become. I remembered something I read a while back. It went along the lines of: act like the person you want to be. Stop with the planning, just adopt the mindset of someone you’d like to “be”. And then be it.

I’m going to share what I have been doing when this month ends. There is still a week left, I may get derailed completely come Wednesday (slim chance), hehe

What I’m trying to say though, is that the first step to ANY change is to ACT it. Act as if you’ve always done X, act as if Y is what you’ve had all along, act as if B liked you, and so on.

Some of the best outcomes in my life happened when I already (mentally) owned whatever it is I was going for. I said, this is mine, I deserve it. 9 times out of 10 I got it. Some of the best outcomes happened when I broke down large goals into smaller pieces; when I gave myself a break; when I rewarded myself (a.k.a. bread with Nutella after a loooong workout, heh).

There IS enough time in the day! You can make time. You can make the time for everything. The first step is to make a list of things you WANT to be able to do. Make a list of things you HAVE to do. Make a list of things that aren’t as important to have done.

Make a schedule. Record your accomplishments. Keep track of things you did. Monitor the number of sleeping hours, take note of most productive times in the day, remember what made you happy and why you want to do it again.

More than anything, open your mind. You can do anything you want. It’s never too late. And – you are not alone in this.

Stay tuned. I’ve got some announcements to make when January ends.

My Mom Asked Me to Pick Only One Word

from this list:

Positive Energy;
creativity;
healing;
wealth;
protection;
love;
intelligence;
strength;
health;
serenity;
growth;
motivation;
harmony;
knowledge;
courage

And this is what I said:

I think growth.

I mean I would pick several ones, but growth is not possible without motivation, strength, intelligence, courage. Knowledge can be equated to growth, so can wealth (like Growing your bank account); creativity is a form of growth, and so is love. I am already full of positive energy, and seek harmony in my relationships; that comes naturally and I don’t see it as something that’s a pinnacle of my essence.

So GROWTH. I’m all about it.

Harvard and Realities of Unrealities

There is something unreal about Harvard, yet it pinches you with an overload of reality. What does that mean?

Every person, who is conscious enough, knows about Harvard, heard about its excellent programs, 340+ year history, accomplished alumni and, most importantly, the hefty price tag of the brand name degree.

But not everybody gets a chance to visit the campus, or has the desire to. I won’t preoccupy myself with those who don’t want to visit, but those who do. I’m one of those people. I haven’t had a lot of prior images of Harvard before I showed up, neither did I really research the school. Actually, little did I know that Transformers 2 boasted a stint on Harvard campus, involving some massive destructions inside the Widener Library, until I went and checked myself.

Being on campus, though, was certainly real. Yet the whole time I felt like Harvard was still this imaginary place that exists in this unapproachable world. A lot of people never think they’d come to the best educational institution in the world. And those who do, are probably in awe. One can only imagine what an enrolled student feels like. Or should probably feel like.

I feel that this visit has influenced a change in my middle-term strategy, a change that’s going to flower in the next 5 years or so…

We Got 5 Years

5 years ago, when I was 17 and about to finish high school – first let me tell you, it was an exciting time because I was a genius in History 12, secured two hot career preparation program placements, got into the university of my choice, had a rockstar boyfriend, grand plans, read the some of the most influential books and was just so happy to reach the peak of my teenage days, – I wrote a collection of prose poetry a la Dreamtigers (you can read parts right here!).

Called From A Dreamtiger, with its mantelpiece is My Baby Krishna (the pictured object on the left), the collection centers on my perceptions of colors, relationships between numbers, memories of friends of the past, and travels. I was really proud of it because it was my first non-childish collection of pieces that really channeled . My writing instructors liked them, as well as MFA writing candidates that I used to talk to a lot. Back then I used to say that every five years I feel like writing about things from the past, and I will probably write about 2004 five years down the road.

In the past month I started to recall more and more little and big things from roughly 5 years ago – events, details, light, people, words exchanged. I remember the walks to the theatre in the falling snow, picnics in the forest, writing papers on the horrors of The Satyricon, frantically trying to comprehend the stock market in a race to win, Spanish visitors, multiple bars in Vancouver with equally multiple sins and vices, music and music and music, the film and modeling, bright future, eternal union, new member of the family, utter confusion borne out of fear of loss and changes, and more and more, expressed in frail and sensitive terms.

I feel the coming of the second chapter of my recollections, which I will add to the first and start looking for publishing opportunities.

Spring Words and Prime Numbers

I’ve never looked forward to spring as much as I have this year. Using the left side of my brain, I can deduce that it has something to do with my age. Most of my older friends always rejoiced about spring when I couldn’t care less what season it was; now I feel their joy. It’s sort of like the feeling you get when you’re about to write all your exams and burst into summer vacation.

The book I read last week reminded me of the more subdued version of that feeling – the quiet joy, the fleeting happiness you feel when noticing the most beautiful details of our lives. The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa is about memory and math. It’s about kindness and perseverance, family and understanding. What got my attention, of course, was the role mathematics played in telling this poignant story. Set in 1992, it is about a new housekeeper assigned to the brilliant professor whose short-term memory lasts only 80 minutes as a result of a serious car crash that happened in1975. His memory stops at that time, and he resorts to writing notes and attaching them to his suit. The housekeeper is a patient and kind woman who finds professor’s math trivia interesting. So does her son. I won’t jump into details of the novel, but I highly recommend this book for your spring reading list. It is the kind of story that makes one’s heart clench at the sight of tiny, unnoticable things of our daily lives; it makes you appreciate the present moment (try imagining only having 80 minutes of memory!); and it may even cause you to entertain the thought of eternal love.

You Like Girls? You Have to Know About Fashion Too

“…And that’s the way it is. That’s what I wanted to say.” 1 2 3 4 by Miss Kittin & The Hacker (download the MP3). I’ve grown increasingly annoyed with my wardrobe, as I still possessed 4-5 year old items that I would never wear again, despite my stubborn belief that I might use them. Last month I donated 2 garbage bags full of clothes, and I’m not done yet. My current wardrobe seemed disappointing too, as it represented a cool, eccentric university student look too much; the jackets, winter boots and sweaters were becoming a too old or too cute for my liking. So I decided to buy new pieces in line with the hip, sophisticated young woman image.

On a mission to sync my wardrobe with my new attitude and lifestyle, I randomly stumbled on a Henrik Vibskov unisex black crinkle trenchcoat at Delphic (they’ve got amazing stuff). Luckily it was on sale. I love its lightweight and interesting paper-like texture, metallic tone, and waterproof and windproof features. My interpretation is on the right (the belt makes all the difference), pardon the poor photo quality.

I also found a perfect elongated cardigan online, since the stores had either incredibly expensive goods (Henrik Vibskov yet again), or plain cardigans in boring colors. I found a Grey Ant knit cardigan ($352) at 75% off. More Henrik Vibskov – black stretch twill pant, originally priced at $236, and reduced to $59. If that isn’t great value for wardrobe defying pieces, then I don’t know what is. Can’t wait for them to arrive. Can’t wait for Jeffrey Campbell biz bootie – a perfect flat bootie with buckle detail, – to show up in the inventory, too.

Monopolist Half The Time

We return to you once again. In the past week our orders skyrocketed and we couldn’t manufacture enough to meet the demand. Process innovation, in which we engaged,now allows us to produce more, faster and at a lower cost.

Speaking of which, I’m enjoying my Industry Analysis class. My professor, a former art director, is an eccentric, socialist wine connoisseur Dr Richard Michon, well-versed in creative positioning. I’m loving the class, despite originally wincing at the Economics of Strategy text. You see, I didn’t really like to listen during econ lectures back in the day, but it came back to me.

Strategic thinking and seeing the big picture are my strengths. I kinda drool over the military terms that we deal with, and I learn useful things on positioning and sustainable competitive advantage. I’m eager to do the best job I can on the class project which involves a novel-long analysis of a particular industry and maybe more.

One line I’m going to remember for a while and possibly invite into my fleet of mottos, came from a discussion of early mover advantage. Some firms may not want to move in first only to share space with other, possibly improved products of competitors. But! “It’s better to be a monopolist half the time than oligopolist all the time.” I’m running for the market! Bye for now!

clear out the junk

Originally uploaded by dreamtiger

I used to allocate a lot of my personal & precious time to things like being mad at my boyfriend for insignificant things. In reality, there were maybe about five things I should have really been mad about. I must’ve had too much time on my hands. I also loved to devote my time to getting angry at friends for silly things, although those frenzies didn’t last long.

Behold! I noticed that on Friday Darren kept apologizing and apologizing, and asking me if I was mad about x, y, z, and then not believing me. It was actually cute. But I wasn’t mad. I’ve spent so much time of my young life worrying about insignificant things and ruining mine and other people’s days that I simply don’t have the energy or desire for that anymore.

I’m proud of that development. I am quite easy-going, and don’t vigorously succumb to the drama. I don’t want to hurt anybody anymore (and, obviously, do not want to be hurt myself). There is no time to waste, no need to be angry with one’s close folks.

Expanding Horizons

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act, but a habit.” Aristotle

During September some bolts have been twisting and turning in my head and heart, as a result of which I have been actively looking to expand my horizons. I’ve got the energy of a billion bears. I am increasingly interested in activities at Ryerson University, which I’ve never experienced before (or at UBC), and so I applied to the Ryerson University Finance Society case competition which is going to be happening all day on November 7. It’s not the prize – $4,000 for winning team plus some lucrative internships, – that’s motivating, but the fact that I want to do it.

I am also going to write an article for Ryerson Marketing Association – I’ve been thinking about a lot of recent developments, and will definitely write something interesting. I have an increasing interest in getting to know my fellow classmates more, which I never cared for before, heh. I’ve also been developing relationships with my professors, who are all super awesome people. Lucky me this semester.

To quote VHS or Beta’s “You Got Me” (download Baby Daddy’s remix), “Everything’s better off this way” Oh yeah, I’m researching shooting ranges near Toronto, as well as looking for archery lessons. I’ve got a good eye, better put it to use.

Hot Product Alert: Last week I went to Sephora in search of an amazing shower gel, and KORRES natural products caught my eye. Their products are “skin-compatible, environment-friendly, joyful and effective”. I grabbed the wonderful jasmine shower gel, and oh, wasn’t I impressed!! Korres is fabulous! Their claims are all true. I suggest you check this Greek skin product line out. (I’m trying out the Sunflower and Vitamin F shampoo for coloured hair really soon and can’t wait!)

why hello

Originally uploaded by dreamtiger

this is from such a long time ago! well, well…. 2004. I remember, those were the days. Summer after we graduated from high school, the days before university, texting my boyfriend at the time (finance engineer guy, heh), we just spent the afternoon shooting 35 mm and speculating about the future. The sun shone brightly, the belt felt heavy, we felt the lightness in our stomachs and were so full of optimism… Speaking of, the positivity is even higher now.

CDOs, CDOs squared, cubed, synthetic…

Ladies and gentlemen, these days I cannot express how outraged I am at the financial world, or rather, the organizations that let things plummet to such lows. Today, for the first time ever, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 777 points, resulting in a $1.1 trillion loss.

I don’t need to reiterate what you can read on the Marketwatch, Yahoo! Finance (being my favorite) and the likes.

The news that really affected me and me question the point of saving these ethically challenged companies is the fact that Lehman Brothers had a $2.5 billion to spread between 10,000 employees days before the bankruptcy. What.the.hell? I know, working for the company like that is probably a blast, since you get rewarded for driving the firm to the ground, but for Christ’s sake!

I am taking a really good class this semester – Ethics in Finance with professor Allen Goss. It’s amazing. Although Finance is my minor (Marketing being teh major), I am really quite enjoying this class and am never bored. I also appreciate a healthy dose of current events as opposed to the theoretical boredom. I am also a fan of “overthrowing” (i.e. pushing aside as ‘irrelevant’) traditional views everyone gets taught in finance. We just got exposed to the Agency Theory Capital Structure and Pecking Ordering Theory as opposed to the Static Theory…

The point is, I am becoming increasingly sensitive to the ethics at play in pretty much any industry. I am becoming more concerned with socially responsible brands, with sustainable practices, with the things that won’t blow up in your face pretty much. I don’t know what it is, but my Gordon Gecko days are over; same as the days of adoration of Gordon Geckos are over.

September’s Developments

I haven’t written all the posts about Europe, but I will continue to post more about my tour as I keep a to-do list of blog posts and I’m back (unfortunately). While I am hesitating to start reading Michael Porter’s Competitive Strategy, which is the big bang book in bussines strategy, I will write a little about what’s going on, especially since Hans pointed that studies have shown that blogging is quite good for you. Agreed.

The first week is so far very hectic. I straightened everything out with with my bank, Ryerson and work, signed up for the gym (to play squash, do cardio, swim), for pilates (let’s try this out), and cross-training group classes. Having paid $30 for the latter, I can go to as many classes – which include Cardio Camp, Spinning, Yoga, Abs & Butt, Boxing and Cardio Kickbox, – as I can, every week. First session tomorrow. I’m also doing a major health check this semester, it’s long overdue.

I’ve become a big proponent of cooking at home, and have a well-stocked fridge at the moment. After fabulous excesses of European food, I’m switching to lighter choices, and eliminating meats from my diet; let’s see how it goes. I compiled a weekly menu for myself to make sure I get all the recommended daily servings of various foods, that I prepare certain products earlier on to avoid spoilage, and to save the time spent on meal contemplation in front of the fridge.

One is more likely to get into a habit of doing particular things if one has a schedule, and since I want to improve time management skills and accomplish more in this busy time of my life, I set one up. Incorporating time for classes, studying, work, exercise, leisure, self-development, online tasks, it will go in effect starting next week.

Tarot of the Day

The Eight of Wands card suggests that my power today lies in climax. It has all led up to this moment of anticipation and “there ain’t no stopping it now.” I have thrown my “hat” in and given it my best shot and have just as good a chance as any — but the outcome is still up in the air. I am ready to accept what lands, sticks, misses, or hits the fan. “When it rains, it pours.” I am empowered by the potential payoff in this direction and I transform through timing or focus under fire.

That´s precisely what I thought this morning. Dum dum dum….!! (that was a drumroll)

Ladies and dudes, I present to you – Garbage Island

In case you didn’t know (neither did until David pointed it out yesterday), some areas in the ocean are covered by accumulated plastic that just floats on the water. Makes sense, right, since you probably weren’t the only 10-year-old kid throwing plastic bottles and whatnot off the coast back in the day.

This is ridiculous, however. The patches are massive! The exact size is unknown, of course (and it’s probably constantly increasing anyway), but it’s estimated “range from 700,000 km² to more than 15 million km²” according to Wiki article on this phenomena.

Just after I stopped interning at Vice, VBS.tv started the new series, that investigate this Great Pacific Garbage Patch! You should really watch all 12 episodes, just so you know what’s happening “out there”, far from the reality of your personal world.

And while you’re at it, ponder this harshly affected creature -> I’m really surprised that it remained alive, poor thing. Nature finds a way. It can’t find a way of dealing with birds and other ocean creatures swallowing plastic, choking, dying or enduring whatever other pains there could be, yet.

Heh, I’m becoming more and more concerned about things in the world that are not directly affecting my life as it is. I am saddened by the decreasing silverback gorilla population, I am saddened by this goddamn garbage island. Where is all of this going to lead us?

Of course I don’t let myself get bogged down by this;I’m still a happy person who enjoys her every day and who wants to make the world a better place.