Power Pose

Good day my fellow creatures.

I watched an interesting Ted Talk the other evening. 

It was about "Power Posing" which is a practice to help increase confidence in life! The talk explained how body language can determine how your brain perceives your level of confidence. Basically, you stand/sit in a powerful position to trick your mind into feeling influential, positive and in control. Strike this pose for two minutes. The woman advised to "activate" yourself before something important, like a job interview, an exam or a meeting! Or in everyday life. I thought this was very interesting. 

The woman also shared the results of her findings from a recent study she conducted. You'll have to watch the talk for more info, but basically the data showed that people who strike a power pose before doing something important displayed more dominance, which led them to getting higher marks in their scoring. 

As some of you may know, I am a pretty confident person. So I decided it would be best to try this power posing in my own daily life. I often come off as being comfortable in my own skin, to say the least. But I did it anyways and went ahead with my experiment. The results are IN! I tried this in a couple different situations. During a meeting, before a meeting and one morning before my day began. In each situation, I felt like I was in control of the outcome. I literally made my body position trick my brains into thinking I could handle anything that came my way. I would have to say that the morning experiment was also done in conjunction with my "eating the frog" edits to my daily life. BUT it did have a more positive response than just a normal eat the frog kind of day. In conclusion of my tireless effort to become a more awesome person, I will be striking these "power poses" whenever I see fit. I strongly urge you to try this fun thing out! See how it helps you in your life. You can view the video here: http://www.ted.com/talks/amy_cuddy_your_body_language_shapes_who_you_are.html  

So if you see me in the bathroom at work striking my pose, you'll know why.

Happy living, loved ones.

Always remember, the best is yet to come! 

Taylor 

Garden. Haven. Taman. V3

Good morning, bright and beautiful world! 
Today is going to be spectacular. 

I apologize for not updating my garden's status sooner! :) But fret not, my friends. Today is the day.

Quick side note: I'm awake. It's so early!! 

Last week, I made the trek with my sweet plants out to the balcony. It seemed like perfect timing- the sun was shining, they were freshly watered and I was feeling agile. That day and the next 2 days were sweltering hot with the unforgiving sun beating down on them. They started to look a little sad! Their leaves got a little less green, their step had less spring. I felt terrible. No matter how much talking and loving they got from me, I didn't notice any positive differences. Then came the weekend! I enjoyed some hammock time on the balcony with them as I started to see strides of improvement! The sugar snap peas seemed to have stronger stocks, and my pepper leaves were vivacious! The carrots, however, are still quite reserved. 

Everyone seems to be adjusting to their new climate and conditions outside. They're blowing in the wind and experiencing life as if they were in a real ground garden.

Let's all stop and think for a moment about fruit flies. They are such a pest!!! That was another huge motivator for the plants making the big move. I started noticing my little green friends were producing and fostering their growth and reproduction. I quickly realized that 2 flies turns into about 40 in a couple of days. Murrph. NOT what I was hoping for! So I decided to make some traps for them; I made a couple different models, the total captured? 3. A realization hit me: these little guys wanted to be with the plants and in their dirt, not flying around in my apartment. So that was pretty cool. There were a couple stragglers that made their way into my kitchen. But not to worry. My ninja-like accuracy and my cat-like reflexes made me the ideal fruit fly capturer. 

Anyways- next time I shall have photos and more stories of their gallant efforts outside. Please post any comments if you have specific questions about the plants and their overall well-being. 

Always believe, the best is yet to come! 
Taylor (the plant whisperer)
 

The true meaning of Earth Day!

Good day! 

It sure is. It's Earth day! Yahoo!! 

I've only recently started thinking about what the American dream is, and what it really should be. Is it creating a life for your family and your future children that is more expensive than the one that you had? My thoughts are that the "American Dream" should be one that creates a sustainable lifestyle for generations to come, and not just sustainability, but creating something more, a world full of vitality and beauty! Is that really so much to ask? Instead of worrying about adding square footage to your home, shouldn't we be passionate about reducing waste? Growing our own food? Teaching our children about survival without smartphones, running water and clean socks should be higher priority than teaching them about "keeping up with the Kardashians." 

This is why it is of utmost importance to teach yourself these things before teaching others, and understanding the volume this lesson will teach the future.

 

That is my little ditty about Earth, and this special day devoted to making it better.

 

Always believe, the best is yet to come!

TMM (a daughter of Mother Earth)     <--- side note... too hippy-ish?! 

Garden. Haven. Taman. V2

Hey gang!
I'm back at it again with some fresh looks at my blooming buddies! As all of you can imagine, these little beauties are totally and completely treated like royalty. :) it's just too darn fun to spoil them!

Anyways- on Tuesday of this week, I repotted my toddlers into their first pots. SO cute! They grow up so quickly!

A quick report- I planted the following flowers: cosmos, asylums, and moonflower! I also planted the following veggies: carrots, peppers and sugar snap peas! The race to see which is the quickest grower goes to my sugs. The race for most coverage and overall improvement goes to the carries. The one that looked like dirt the longest: peppers. And I honestly thought the moonflower was looking a bit like lettuce for a long while. Perhaps they were switched at packaging? :)

As you can see, each are getting to be so mature! I won't see any full maturation until another 45ish days! Whoop!

I was at Home Depot purchasing their new homes and I came across some strawberries, so I decided to purchase along with a pretty yellow flower situation. Hopefully they fit right in with my babies.

Garden. Haven. Taman. V1

Garden = English
Haven = Danish
Taman = Indonesian


Wow! What a great time of year it is. The snow is melting (slowly) and the sun is shining!
I have decided to plant some green things in my apartment. Some call me crazy, but I started from seeds! This extravaganza began on Thursday, March 28th!

Aren't they cute little guys? :)
Then I planted them into their individual cells during their germination period, which for my species is 7-10 days.
One of my highlights so far was when a couple of my pals sprouted before their due date! They were just so excited to get up and see who the insane lady was that was talking/singing/humming to them! (Disclaimer: that lady is me.)

I have been most impressed with the sugar snap family, they sprouted WAY early.

During the germination period, it is important to keep the little guys wet and warm. This is aided with a film that covers the top to let light in, and keep it moist. This is to stay on until they are tall and have a couple of leaves/appendages.

As we can see, the plants are STILL alive after day 7, so the good news is... I am so far successful!! Whooopie!! My plan for the plants is to keep them outside of my apartment on my balcony, and they will produce super awesome flowers and veggies.

I hope you've enjoyed my process so far. I will keep everybody updated on their progress over the next few months

Time IS Predictable

Hello all! 

I have been doing a lot of thinking lately. About the secret to a successful life. What do you think it is? It appears to me that all successful people have this same thing in common: determination and well-spent time. Isn't it true? Most things in life take an incredible amount of time: relationships, raises, interest on IRA accounts, self-started businesses, healthy lifestyles, art masterpieces... I mean these things don't just happen overnight! Think about how you spend your time? You don't get skinny overnight, and you don't get overweight overnight either. You don't become a billionaire by doing ordinary things. The key is to invest your precious time into something you are passionate about. 

The great thing about time is that all people have the same amount in a day! Although those days are different for everyone, we still have the opportunity to mold it into something. It's been very interesting to see how much time I take doing things. Even though I might spend 30 minutes a day on Facebook, that adds up to 3.5 hrs a week and 182 HOURS a year, which is about 8 days. 8 DAYS PEOPLE, more than a whole week. 8 days that you could've spent working out, reading, having a meaningful conversation, praying, or napping! WHAT?! And think, that's just 30 minutes a day. Do you know people who spend 3+ hrs daily watching TV?

I triple-dog dare you to take a look at the next 3 days of your life, and document how long you spend on activities. Average them out and figure out your life and what you spend time on. 

This wonderful realization of time management has some people in control, being able to discipline themselves long enough to make something wonderful out of it! With others, time management is something that controls them. It's like laziness is a disease, consuming your time that holds so much possibility and potential. 

It's amazing to me to work in the direct sales business. This is the industry where you find all levels of self discipline and time management skills. It truly is! I must say that I've been on both ends of that spectrum. It is SO evident to me that some people have total control over their business, they are the consistent achievers and high earners. This is NO trick, secret or miracle. These women earn their way to where they are. Although some might think it's true, women don't usually call me constantly until my schedule is booked. I have to work it until I get what I want. 

Isn't this true in all aspects of life? Not just business? Take a look at someone you know who has been struggling with weight issues, exercising, addictions, or keeping a healthy relationship! What do you notice? 

It may sound like I'm saying to have every minute of the day planned, and that is certainly not the case. I truly believe in taking "you" time to sharpen your saw. But what can you do to boost productivity in your daily life? Is it taking 2 minutes to drink an additional glass of water a day? Increasing your savings contributions an additional $50 a month? Time is your greatest asset, but it can also be your biggest threat to vitality. 

 

Wow. That was a really LONG post about life. Sorry to get so DEEP for mid-April.  :) 

Always believe, the best is yet to come! 

Taylor! 

The Return of the Blog

Hola! 

Hi Blog, I've missed you. It's been way too long. 
It was one of my resolutions to keep up with you once a week. I have failed on that mission for February! :( Sorry. 

Other than that, 2013 has been quite successful! Not only did I read some great books, become more active, but I also recently earned third place in our company's wellness challenge! Neat!  

Blog, you'll be excited about this, I have become really passionate about up-to-date news events, which really helps with my "worldly understanding" of how things work.

Another great thing that I've been trying to get into is the financial industry. Well I guess, not necessarily the industry, but into how it works, and I'm trying to break down that tall wall the government and professionals have built to make it impossible for common folk to understand.  It has been really interesting so far, but I've just scratched the surface. I have been learning about how to make my money work for me, not work for my money. It's seriously the way of the world. Why do people go to work? Because they truly truly enjoy work? Doubt it. At least a majority of people would rather not wake up early and put on uncomfortable clothes and sit around all day... So what is it? Fear? Are we scared of waking up and being poor? Are we scared what others will say? What is the driving force in our daily "race" to get our paychecks? I think it is quite humorous, we all end up under crushing debt anyways at the end of the day. We want large homes, cars, toys, educations... but at what price? Even though an enticing low APR will draw us in, we are still sinking into a place where we feared to be at in the first place. Fear? Desire? What I'm wondering is why don't we make our money work for us? This is what has sprung my inner drive to find out more. I'll let you know when I find it, Blog.

 FYI, my new favorite word is "Murrph." It can also be "Merrph" or "Murrphy" or any variation of the sort. What does it mean, you ask? Well... I'm not entirely sure. Maybe an outer sigh of disgust, boredom, a describing word... anything, really.

Blog, I hope you have a wonderful day.

Always remember, the best is yet to come. 
Taylor