Slight Change of Plans

In January and February I had a clear vision of what my new routine (for 2010) routine was going to look like. I achieved it for the first three months of the year, but I sort of fell off the wagon in April. Not in a bad way. Priorities shifted to a couple of new projects on the horizon, I met some interesting people who played a role in some of my new decisions, and everything is generally going for the better (especially once I move and settle in my new apartment).

I’m writing this post to remind myself and others that it’s okay to not meet your goals sometimes (if you’ve been working hard previously). This month I am not going to hit my gym goal because I have been too busy socializing, working, packing or being tired from either of those things. I also just wanted a break from terrorizing myself about the gym.

It’s all right to take a break. I plan on getting back on track and tackling a couple of additional items on my to-do list. It’s okay to take a deep breath sometimes.

Especially when it’s your first serious month on the new job, when you’ve decided to move into a new place and when you’ve been frolicking for some part of the month. So just sayin’, May will be an action month again (in a more productive and tangible sense).

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.

35 And 120 Are Very Special Numbers

Before the New Year, secretly, in November I thought about what I wanted to accomplish (from the creative perspective)  in 2010. I’ve got my career goals outlined all right, and I’ve a plan, and, in fact, tonight after leaving the office I plan to attack said goals with vigor inspired by the new Starbucks VIA instant coffee (oh what a nice plug, can I get a pack of it for free now?). Or the espresso machine that got installed in our office.

Sp. Creative side. I dusted off my Holga. I’ve had it since 2005 and I have been taking photographs with it, but not many. I’ve thoroughly researched various Ilford films and found places where I can buy a fun variety of film rolls:

• Ilford SFX 200 120:  medium speed black and white camera film for creative photography. It has extended red sensitivity and is especially suited for use with a filter to create special effects. By using a deep red filter skies can be rendered almost black and most green vegetation almost white. Its unusual tonal rendition ensures interesting results for a range of subjects, including portraits, landscapes, townscapes and architecture.
• Ilford XP2 400 120: a sharp, fast, fine grain black and white film. It can be used for any photographic subject, but ensures excellent results when there is a wide subject brightness range. The film yields high contrast negatives and has an extremely wide exposure latitude making it suitable for use in varied lighting conditions.
• Ilford Delta 3200 120: an ultra-speed black and white film, ideal for fast action and low light photography such as night time, sport, or indoor architectural applications where flash photography is ‘forbidden’. This is a genuine high speed film with an ability to record highlight detail that sets it apart from other films.
• Ilford H5 400 120: a high speed, medium contrast film making it especially suitable for action and press photography and also an excellent choice for general purpose photography. Nominally rated at ISO 400, it yields negatives of outstanding sharpness and fine grain under all lighting conditions.

I used to take pictures like this. And I even had them printed, but prints have disappeared into a storage abyss:

Update: Last weekend the wonderful Colleen and I went uptown to relax and hey, I used the Holga. I’ve got 12 shots that are being developed as we sit here in front of our computers. I also have 24 b&w exposures and 24 color exposures from last year. It’s happening.

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…

Gimme 15, Gimme 20, Gimme 30

I’ve been saying this for two years now: “When I graduate and have a decent job, I will get a personal trainer to get in stellar shape.” This phrase became especially important when last semester I fell into Pizza Pizza’s trap and final examinations’ pit. Then I spent three weeks aboard a couch in my home base in Vancouver, and you can figure that my lady self-consciousness and body image concerns shot up (LOL).

So in April, my month of taking control and shooting forward through the highways of life, I went and got a membership at Extreme Fitness gym. Reserve your criticisms of this gym, please, I’ve done my research. Roger complained about Extreme, because there are a lot gym rats and avid bodybuilders that it’s not always pleasant to pump iron around them. On the contrary, this ardent drive sparks my own motivations to work out and PUSHHH TEH LIMITSSS. I just love this whole, YEAH! GO! attitude that’s at Extreme Fitness, because it sets my blood on fire.

I got a personal trainer and now love working out. He’s awesome, but many muscles keep hurting for days (although stopped this week). I am in the conditioning stage for another 8-9 weeks, after which I step into the muscle building stage and meet with a nutritionist to develop a proper meal program. On top of training 3x a week, I burn 1000 or more calories a week by running, however, I’ve yet to make hot yoga a definite staple of my workout week. Besides having to adjust a couple of elements of my current diet and burning even more calories, I’m on the right path and feel energized, happy and in control of my own self. *Runs off to the gym*

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!

2009 Goals

1. Make health and fitness my top priority
Tactics: personal trainer, planning my meals, scheduled food intake, not eating out, and running regularly.
2. Make fly career moves
Tactics: do my best during the internship that starts in a week, kick serious buttocks in the Industry Analysis class, read literature on Advertising, blogs, meet relevant people and pick their brains, keep up with the hype.
3. Go back to Europe (Czech Republic, Germany and Greece). I can’t wait to go to Greece – parents’ friends have a house in Athens. I can actually see Sparta, Crete and emerge, like Venus, out of the foam. Eat perfect souvlaki and keep Dionysus at bay.
Tactics: save, save save, flight alerts.
4. Start meditating
Tactics: thanks to M for a wonderful introductory lecture. Start slow, practice, dig deeper, take the trash out of my soul.
5. Get through that pile of Russian classics that’s been growing on my floor.
Tactics: read when commuting, read before bed (goes well with #3 goal)

Highlights of 2008

I’m glad the year of the Mouse/Rat is over. It was a tough year, but also a very rewarding one, filled with events, color and life. It was definitely a great one for meeting new people and leaving the dead end contacts behind. It was a year of travels, learning, emotional change of scenery, breaking the habits, and finding peace. In short:

Vice internship, movies with Slava, Barbi, snow angel challenge, high tea, cuckoo New York trip, mad revelations and heartbreaks, the legendary night of the Justice show at the Great Hall, indoor pool voleyball in Richmond Hill with a blizzard outside, Montreal for the first time ever, straight to Vancouver, the return of Dimitri, straight A’s that semester, “I love nature” cottage visit, summer internship, more Montreal, Lemeac, Rajni, Ottawa, Rafael Nadal, gourmet adventures with Roberto, Magdalena’s return, dancing late and coming to work early, Osho, red eye to Europe, constantly ringing cell in Berlin, Baltic Sea, goth party in the bunker, wasp attack, Kunstwerke, Michael and Karin’s epic search for a gallery, scootering in Ibiza, flying, getting lost in the hills with fuel running out, Gaudi, Joan Miro, Catalan people, Faulkner’s Light in August, La Tomatina, Valencia’s paellas, the girl from Jupiter, getting lost in Barcelona with a flight to catch, gloomy London and port, vintage stores in Shoreditch, Strategic Planning, yoga, wonderful professors, wonderful people, PalmsOut in October, jerks stealing my possessions, Vosges chocolate in SoHo, Coney Island freak show, Mad Men, calming down, peace of mind, movie night with dear C.L., playing the tambourine till 4am, BBDO, roommate reunion, blizzards in Vancouver, the return of Scotch, securing that opportunity, The Sacred Book of the Werewolf, light at the end of the tunnel, Russian madhouse, caviar and champagne on New Year’s Eve.

End of Semester Musings

The semester ended on a very positive note. In fact, the last 4 months were the most productive in 2008, most positive and great – except for the strip between mid-Nov to mid-Dec: never again. I established relationships with my professors (3 out of 8 all time favorites are from this term), finally figured out what shape my career should take – accounts in the advertising business or strategic planning, particularly for creative ventures. God knows creative folk need help with directions (love y’all). Last semester was actually the best semester one, school-wise and life-wise. Marks were: A+, A, A- and B. Pretty satisfying, considering I didn’t study for the Int’l Mkt final, and got a B, and I pulled myself out of the B zone in Ethics in Finance. In fact, that class was one of the best ones I took, thanks to the amazing prof Allen Goss.

I leveled out and gained some perspective; I don’t take no for an answer and don’t feel lost at all. I’ve thrown out skeletons out of my closet and become more honest than ever before. I stopped wondering what this person’s and that person’s opinion of me would be if I did this and that. I am my own kind of person, I’ve done my inventory, and I patiently wait to break bread with my nearest and dearest (R, W, H, B, T, R, P, M, R in particular!).

I’m ready to hit the ground running and I cannot wait for the next year to start. Two thousand and hate is over, that ridiculous, cleansing, all-encompassing year, and now it’s time to conquer the next one. All my dreams will come true, and there is not a single thing I won’t be able to claim as my own. Look out, two thousand and mine! Sneak peek:2010 is to explode, considering it’s the year of the Tiger. And guess who’s the tiger here.

Party in Style (N. America excluded)

While working on compiling Travel Packs for PlanetEye, I found some pretty interesting spots. Reading Forbes Travel makes me so much more excited about traveling in general. First of all, their writers are amazing. Second of all, they really do know what to select, especially if you have your AmEx ready to pay for the recommendations.

The story on Insomnia in Style a.k.a. after hours locations from Madrid to Hong Kong. What caught my eye is the fact that people start partying later, and go all the way to the morning, ending a night on town with breakfast. The place I wanna go to in London after hopping from place to place is “London’s first 24-hour upscale brassiere, Vingt-Quatre, is a cross-Channel import meant to fill the hungry stomachs of Chelsea’s party clique with staple French food.” Yeah! Yeah!

I’m not a big fan of extremely upscale venues, because usually the music is not so good and it becomes more about your designer outfit or a quid stack. Maybe I’m too young Oh yeah, since this post is about “partying in style”, London’s Intercontinental recently started to offer the “3am to 10am exclusive experience” priced at $7,000. It buys you one of the four Signature Suites at the Park Lane property and plenty of Belvedere vodka, mixers and soft beverages for you and 9 others.

Oh, also a while back when I had an issue with squirrels, I wanted to find out if any restaurants cook it. And what do you know, London’s St John Restaurant offered squirrel. Apparently it’s like tender rabbit, or a very gamey chicken or something like that. Point being, why not try that. Unfortunately, it seems that August is not the squirrel season, and I won’t get to try it. When I live there, then.

PS. Jebus Christ, I really do blog about food too much. Well, excuse me, fine food, company and conversation are some of the most important things for me. As are respect, productivity, health and trendhunting.