The Hard Work Paid Off!

Congrats to the Dallas Mavericks for winning the NBA Championship. It was a great series - one of the best of all time in my opinion.

There were some interesting things that happened, did you see them? For one Mark Cuban was almost unheard from.  The Heat lost (I’m so happy – I picked them to lose anyway). The Mavs were a defensive force and Dirk wasn’t the best player in the clinching game.

Sports always have twists and turns, upsets and debacles so that is no surprise.  The thing I liked the most from watching this all year is the Mavs created a sound plan and followed it perfectly. They made the decision to bring in a defensive minded coach, bring some tough players and make a run. They seemed very goal driven.

I think business and sports are so similar. It’s all about building a great team, understanding your competition and working toward predefined goals. It’s also about change if change is needed. The job of a coach is to make adjustments during a game or a critical part of the season. The same goes for a business owner or manager.

Companies don’t play for one season but the mindset should be similar. I’m inspired and hope you are as well.  

Wherever You Are, Be There

I'm making a commitment to myself, and by default, to my loved ones.  I'm putting down my iphone.  I can't believe I actually have to make a physical and mental effort to do this, but I do. After 6+ years of using a smartphone and having the immediate ability to surf the web, facebook-stalk, respond to emails, play games, check my banking activity, look at photos, text and check-in to restaurants,  I'm FINALLY realizing that I'm no longer living in the moment I happen to be in.  If my eyes are glued to my phone, then I'm not laughing with my son, looking at my husband while he's talking to me, watching the road while I'm driving (yes, I'm a bad, bad person), and just paying attention to my surroundings.  I was almost run over yesterday walking out of the Hunch Free Lab.  Texting while walking...just like driving...is a dangerous activity! :)

We only have so much time with our family and friends.  I'm vowing to be 100% actively devoted to that time, which means not reading an email while Ben and I are plotting our next home construction project or texting my best friends in Chicago when I could easily pick up the phone and share that funny story out loud. So when I limit my phone use for all the things that make it not a phone,  I have a feeling I'll start having more conversations with people I care about.  I will no longer rely on their facebook status to "know" what is happening in their lives.  Because technology cannot be a replacement for one-on-one interaction.  We can't let that happen.

I'm putting down my iphone.  And where I am is where I'll be.  

(p.s. I'm buying this shirt for my son, Finn, who will totally appreciate my new endeavor)

 p.p.s. after looking for an image for this post, I found an entire movement dedicated to iphone addicts!

Charity Donations Skyrocket Thanks to Social Media

Text a 5-digit code to a not-for-profit organization. Sign up for a 5K via Facebook. ReTweet a message in order to donate $1. Email your address book about buying Girl Scout cookies.

Nowadays, it’s harder not to donate than it is to actually do it.

On April 14, 2009, Hugh Jackman donated $50,000 to Operation of Hope and Charity: Water because they best described — via Twitter — why their organizations most deserved the money.

And in my opinion, we’re only in the infant stages of it all.

Our social media accounts, for many of us, are making us better citizens. They’re allowing us to be patriots of this country. To realize that by clicking a link and punching in your credit card information for a small donation, we’re helping less-fortunate individuals across the world. We live in a world where power is shifted so far in our favor that we can’t even fathom living in need of everyday essentials.

Don’t let your ignorance define who you are. We’re all guilty of it. Every one of us reading this (including the author).

Even if it’s just once in 2011, donate a few bucks to an organization that works daily to make those less-fortunate peoples’ lives a tad better, even if only for a day or week’s time — through cleaner drinking water, a new outfit for school or a hot meal on a cold day.

For me, April means race season is finally here. For the next 6 months, I’ll be signing up for just about every 5K, 10K and Half Marathon I can get my hands on. I follow their pages on Twitter, interact with their walls on Facebook, e-mail blast my friends to join with me and share the donation links with anyone willing to help out.

Next weekend, I’m running in the Susan G. Komen: Race for the Cure in Mid-Michigan with my 6-person running team.

If every Race participant raises just $100 in addition to their registration fee, the event would bring in $500,000 to support local screening, treatment and educational programs in the Michigan community, and an additional $175,000 for national breast cancer research.

It’s true what they say: Together … we can save lives.