An epiphany on the bathroom floor

This is a great place to learn how behavior science can help you become a better parent and person. Enjoy!

An epiphany on the bathroom floor.

 

“How Yoga Can Wreck Your Body” – Response to NY Times article

The NY Times has published an article that is meant to be alarming. While the conversation is worth having and the author is entitled to his opinion, there is a lot of misinformation and omission that I feel I must address.

Day 11 – Work smarter, not harder

I would like to test out the idea that you can be more effective when you work smarter, not harder.

The claim – you can get up and running selling something on the web in virtually no time. The key is to come up with an email list that you use to bring people to your site. If the site is designed effectively, with a good story, free stuff that leads you to inexpensive stuff, to more expensive stuff, to most expensive stuff, you can offer a lot of value to people how need your information, while at the same time, you can sit back a watch the sales roll in.

The trick, of course, is putting the model together, then generating the content that provides information people need, and convincing people they need to buy it now before the price goes up or the content goes away (like Disney cartoon movies)

Day 10 – CRM with Oprius

I selected Oprius  as my web-based online Contact Relationship Management (CRM) software some time ago, and I would like to utilize it more effectively. There are many features I haven’t explored. My next step is to run through the online tutorials and see what I missed. They also have customer support, so I will ask for some help in using the product most effectively.

Day 9 – The question game

Ann has started a masters group with a few friends who have projects they want to implement.

You know how you get a great idea, but since you don’t know the first thing about starting the project, you give up easily and sometimes forget about it?

Well, Ann’s idea was to start a little informal web group with her friends. The assignment is to come up with one question on Tuesdays that you would need to answer to move the project along.

I’m in the club too. Now I need to think of a question!

Sermon – Diverse Like Me

a sermon by Ann Beirne and David Freiman
at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Queens
Sunday, November 13, 2011

Day 8: The sermon title is “Diverse Like Me”

Ann and I have decided to talk about the fourth UU principle: we affirm and promote each individual’s free and responsible search for truth and meaning. We will explore some of the challenges this poses for a congregation, and will highlight some of the traps and pitfalls, in particular, the tendency of judgment and an Us vs. Them mentality.

What to write? What to write!

Day 7: It is not the engagement for a gig, but the re-engagement

This was advice I heard way back when in music school from renowned tenor John McCullum, when he gave a workshop on oratorio singing. He said it is often easy to get hired, but you have to deliver the goods to get asked back again and again.

How true.

Ann and I were invited to return and deliver a sermon to Unitarian Universalist Church of Queens in Flushing, by Rev. Ian White Maher, who has a vacation day on Sunday, Nov. 13.  It was generous of him to offer the possibility of sharing the podium. We are honored. Now what to say!?!

Day 6: Still behind with these posts but so much is happening

There is so much energy going on in my household right now. It is hard to describe.

My daughter is at college and doing quite well thank you, and starting to relax a bit as a sophomore, now that the initial changes have occurred. But she is planning to transfer to another college in January. She is already accepted to the school but I am biting my fingernails to the bone waiting to find out if they have room for her to matriculate next term. It will involve me making plans to transport all her stuff to a new campus. And I don’t own a car so it involves a rental of something big enough. I am thinking of a camper van!

We haven’t seen much of my teenage son either, because he took up marching band and they have practice, games, and competitions both days every weekend. The season is finally over and I am thrilled that he has become passionate about marching band. He even plans to study a new instrument for next year, so he will be playing flute in the concert band and taking baritone horn lessons to prepare for next August and Band Camp.

More news in my next post!

Day 5: So swamped this week!

I would say that in retrospect this was not a good week to start this project of blogging for a year.

Ann has taken on extra days of consulting work to help out where she is working because they are dealing with a staffing shortage. And the extra money is a great help. Unfortunately, it means that instead of working 2-3 days  a week and having time on the other days to, as she says, “gaze at my children”, instead I am with them all day until she gets back and then I run out the door to my evening job. Hiring a baby sitter is still out of reach for now. It put us in the financial hole we are digging ourselves out of.

In any case, this blog exerted some extra pressure right now that made me feel overwhelmed. Ann keeps reminding me that all I need to do is post a sentence cheerleading myself or marking my progress like, “read a chapter in a good business book today!” Thank you, Ann for making this fun!