Lunch Box Wisdom 11 December 2015...

Lunch Box Wisdom 11 December 2015...

"The trouble with not having a goal is that you can spend your life running up and down the field and never score." ~Bill Copeland

Do you set goals for you self?  Are they real goals or are they outrageous. Like, " some day I will fly to the moon!" If you are and Astronaut, that might be and aspiration, but its not a goal. A goal is something attainable. Now I don't mean something super easy like, " I will get out of bed," either. It needs to challenge you. If you were bed ridden for weeks that might be closer to a goal for you, but it still needs a few things. 

Goals also need to Specific. For example if we said, " I will get out of bed on time," we are getting much closer. For me, my goal is to get out of bed by 6am and walk for 15 minuets. I am able to get out of bed, but by 6am is the challenge and to walk for 15 minuets is very specific.  The aspiration is get into better shape and this goal is attainable while still challenging me. Plus its specifically for 15 mins of walking... which I can measure. Now I am headed some place... towards better health. Now I can and should set a new goal once that one is reached. So lets set a new goal... I will get out of bed every weekday by 6 am and walk for 15 mins.  Then I can ratchet that up to 20 and then 25 and so on.  

Can you see how that method will keep me moving along the right path?  Now its your turn.  Set a goal. Pick a path you want to head down.  Then choose your first step... your first goal.  Then take the next step, add a challenge to your next goal ... and so on.  You will be achieving your goals and heading along the path you choose in no time!  You can do it, I believe in you :-)

Have a great day folks! 
~ Lost sends...

Lunch Box Wisdom 10 December 2015...

Lunch Box Wisdom 10 December 2015... a little late ;-)

"Happiness is always an inside job!" 

An inside job... meaning its up to you.  Yes you.  Not your partner, not your mother, not your dog... but I am sure when the is dog is so happy to see you that he or she can hardly control them selves ... it does help.  Opie and Seth even smile at me when I come home.  Sure it looks like they are snarling, but the vigorous tail wagging gives them away.  Pets may be an exception to that statement :-)

The point being that you are responsible for your happiness.  It is a choice you make and no one can make the choice for you. You can face each of the challenges in your life with a joy filled heart or one that is full of anger and malice. Anger will only lead to more anger. But when you choose to be happy, you will find happiness right there in the same place you would have found anger before.  And then your happy thoughts will lead to more happy thoughts.  

This where most folks start to scoff and make faces at me. They say things like, " No one is happy all the time," or "everyone gets angry."  And for the most part they are right, but with a very subtle difference... Act vs. React... or more bluntly being contributor instead of the victim. I would encourage you to take on the role of the contributor and be the key to your own happiness. Decide to be the architect of your own destiny, the hero of your own life story.  You can do it, I believe in you :-)

Have a great day folks! 

~ Lost sends...

Lunch Box Wisdom 9 December 2015...

Lunch Box Wisdom 9 December 2015...

"For some people small, beautiful events are what life is all about." ~ The Doctor

Yes, that is a real honest to goodness Dr Who Quote from my non SciFi wife.  Seriously, I am not even making this up. It goes one step further too.  She was at a white elephant gift exchange last night and she got this great scarf.  Wait for it... its a Tardus Scarf!  She said that she opened it and knew right away I would love it.  Now that is love... Tweew wuv!

I am willing to bet, when you look at your happiest memories they are of simple events. Things like that have great positive impact on your values. I am not talking about the bad things that frightened you... those have an entirely different effect. I am talking about the warm fuzzy moments.  One of mine is of the lights on our Christmas tree when I was very young. They were the old school bigger lights that glowed softly as you watched them. I would fall asleep waiting for Santa, and my mother would carry me to my bed.  Those simply beautiful moments are what the good life is made of for me.

I am sure you can remember some great stuff too. Like the first time you ever rode a bicycle, or your first puppy, or maybe that first kiss.  Maybe it was something someone did for you.  Like the first time some one thanked you for your work, or the first time some one winked at you, or that moment when someone fell completely in love with you. What ever the memory, it was likely something simple and beautiful.

Now here is your challenge... take a moment to offer a small but beautiful moment to others. Leave a thank you note, congratulate some one, offer a warm smile the mean old lady at the store.  You will be pleasantly surprised how that tiny stone tossed in to the waters will make lovely ripples all around you. You can do it, I believe in you!

Have a great day folks! 

~ Lost sends...

Lunch Box Wisdom 7 Dec 2015...

Lunch Box Wisdom 7 Dec 2015...

"Take vacations! Go as many places as you can. You can always make more money.  You can't always make more memories."

Well now this it totally my kind of Lunch Box Wisdom note!  I love vacations, adventure, exploring, or just any reason to load up and ride off into the sunset :-)  But this note actually means more then "Lets go play."  It goes deep to the heart of why we work so hard in the first place... so we can enjoy our non work time.

Have you ever heard the expression, " Work to live, but never live to work" ?  That is one of my core values.  I have spent years climbing the corporate ladder in several companies only to be laid off as soon as the next group of golden executives show up with new and improved re-org plan.  I learned over time that the only way to be happy is to choose your own path to happiness. Not one of those companies really cared that I burned up entire crews of programmers and systems engineers to keep their E-mail lighting fast.  They still fired us all to save a % point for the stock holders.

Anyway, My point is make time for time away.  Take all those FTO/PTO days.  Even if they did pay you a bonus for your hard work, the tax rate on those are like 65%....  A vacation is not taxed. Blanket forts with your kids are not subject property tax.  A long ride on your bike with your sweet heart will save you thousands in therapy bills.  A trip to the Islands will rest your entire attitude and fill you with child like wonder all over again.  Now that... is priceless :-)

Take a good long look at how you plan your time, and then plan your next non work day.  Plan in the fun you need to stoke up your creative fires.  Teach your children that time spent on your own dreams is way more full filing then they could ever imagine.  Become the real innovators of tomorrow by allowing your mind to reflect, ponder and dream. You will even get better at your day job...You can do it, I believe in you!

Have a great day folks! 

~ Lost sends...

Lunch Box Wisdom 1 Dec 2015...

Lunch Box Wisdom 1 Dec 2015...

" Don't look back, you're not going that way!"

Have you heard the phrase, One step forward and two steps back," or is it " Two steps forward and one step back."  Either way, why are we stepping backwards?  One reason may be the propensity we have for looking back... or second guessing in some cases. Even to the point where we wonder if we should be moving forward at all.  That is so counter productive.  We have to stop doing that!

When I was a young boy my father used to say, "measure twice and cut once."   Notice he did not say "Son, cut that thing, stress over if its right and then cut it again if its wrong.  And then if its still not right, quit."  No, he said measure twice and then cut.  What I think that means is to take a good look ahead of your self and make a plan. Not plan and plan and plan... just make a plan and check it.  Not Check, check, recheck, ask your friends to check, and then re-plan if they don't like it. instead Plan, Check, and then DO!  You must take a step forward. All the planning in the world does you absolutely no good if you don't act. 

Once you act, you continue to Plan, Check, Do, but in a forward motion.  Yes you will have set backs and mistakes. But that is all part of the fun, and the only way to learn. Don't stress over past mistakes or over past decisions. If you are looking back you can't see where you're headed, and you will slow down or even turn around and loose focus on the goal. I mention baggage often in my posts and this is one of those opportunities to let go of it. Stop looking back at your baggage and going back to pick it up.  Put it down, let it go and move forward.  

Here is a example...  when you drive, ride a horse, walk, or ride a bike you have to look where you are going. Your body or actions will follow where you look or focus. When you take a curve on a bike you look into the turn...you and your bike follow where you are looking( Captain Crash shows us how ).  If you take your eyes off the road to look behind you, you are likely to crash. The same is true of your life. Eyes up and looking toward your goals or you will surely miss them. You will find your life much more enjoyable focusing forward I promise. You can do it, I believe in you!

Have a great day folks! ~ Lost sends...