Time, Goals, and Alter-egos

            A few weeks ago, I wrote about my week at the LEAP leadership conference and all I’d learned. I mentioned a few new skills I was excited to apply in my life, and hinted that I had some goals to reach. Most of those goals are long-term, so I don’t have anything too impressive to report yet. On the other hand, I’ll have you know I’ve been holding myself accountable for my habits and time management and I’ve been successful thus far!

            I really am awful when it comes to managing my time, and spending it wisely. The tasks that can wait I take care of right away, and the urgent ones always seem to somehow get swept under the rug…how does that happen?! I’ve always had a hard time with prioritizing. But, ladies and gents, I’m showing some serious potential and improvement already. And you can too with these simple steps!—Only joking, this isn’t an infomercial, but I do want a brag a little bit, and if you so feel inclined, maybe you’ll be inspired, if you will, as I was. Plus, school just started around here so it’s totally appropriate and completely relevant.

            That week at LEAP, some of the coaches spoke to us about time management and showed us how they manage their time. They all had schedules, to-do lists, and planners, from iPhone apps to good ol’ pens and paper. So, as they suggested, I “copied genius” as I started making lists and using my own planner this week. And I just may have gone a little overboard.

            I made a list of my short term goals, which turned into a to-do list of sorts. On another sheet of paper, I wrote two more lists: “Things That Will Help Me Achieve My Goals” and “Things That Will NOT Help Me Achieve My Goals.” The first had everything I should be doing to be on the right track. The latter had things I’m normally prone to doing, but, because they will in no way help me reach my goals or get my tasks done, I must no longer do.

            While I’ve always found planners to be extremely helpful and essential during the school year, I’ve never used one during the summer. Until, you know, today. I got out my new weekly planner and wrote down my work schedules and anything else I had going on. Most importantly, I transferred my to-do list and short-term goals as appointments I made for myself. Today, I finally did my laundry—three loads of it—because I had it written in at 12 o’clock, in between other tasks and errands I had penciled in. Some of you may laugh at the fact I had to schedule doing my laundry, but let me just ask: who’s got clean socks? And who’s laughing now? That’s right. This girl.

            I also find it helpful—and now quite automatic, habitual, and even subconscious—to write myself little comments of encouragement in my planners. I can remember doing this in third grade, when I got my first planner. I didn’t know what to write in the few lines given for “notes”, so I would mindlessly scribble phrases like “You rock!” and “You got this!” I guess it just stuck because I’ve done it on almost every page of every planner I’ve had since.

These encouragements have, over the years, developed a personality of their own—one might venture to say they’ve created an alter ego of mine? I don’t know why, but these comments have evolved into inside jokes between me and…me. You know when you find something funny, so you share it with someone else and you’re cracking yourself up while the other person stares at you blankly, not amused in the slightest? This sort of thing happens to me all too often, sadly. As a result, I have a mental collection of phrases that, for reasons unbeknownst even to me, I—and I alone—find hilarious. So I find these random catchphrases inscribed within the margins of my planners, and oddly enough, they actually do motivate me to write that paper, or study for that test, or even do my laundry! I would include some examples, but as I explained, nobody would find them amusing but me. So between the lines of my personal planner they shall stay. But trust me, they’re good. They’re real good.

Always, Anna

"We Are Family"

            We all know how much I love Christmas, and the only thing I might, sometimes, maybe love a little bit more than Christmas is family. I love my family more than I can even write, but I will give it a go this week.

            The best thing about families is that they do not have to be perfect—and none are. Every family has their quirks and craziness, because every family has different people! Just like no two people are the same, neither are the families they make up. To me, that is a very beautiful thing.

            As I mentioned a few weeks ago, I've been spending time with my family this month and it has been nothing short of absolutely, perfectly lovely and wonderful. Because they are all so amazing, this may sound like I am bragging, but I’d like to introduce you to the family I've been spending time with.

 
 First stop: California. If you've been lucky enough to meet my older sister, Lindsay, then there’s a very good chance you love her—I've yet to meet a single person who doesn't, and I truly believe it is simply impossible. My brother-in-law is famous for his laugh and sense of humor, and my only niece is famous for her beautiful, big, baby blue eyes. My youngest nephew is only about four months old, but when he smiles at you, the world pauses for the duration.

I've got my grandma, who may sound a lot like your own grandma as she bakes batches upon batches of brownies for her grandchildren whenever we visit, and never forgets a birthday. My grandpa (aka “Will Smith”) is the sweetest, most generous man I know—and if you stand in one place for more than a minute or so, he’ll come up beside you just to scratch your back. I’ve got my uncles who love hunting, building, history, and nature. Each one of my aunts is Super Woman and absolutely beautiful in every way, from the inside out. My cousins are my best friends and role models, always there to remind me who I am, who I’ve always been, and who I’ll always be. This week, I’ve been in Colorado. I got to see my oldest sister, who is my opposite in two ways: She can out-bake anyone from here to France, and is always thoughtful and considerate of everyone around her. My other brother-in-law, though he would never agree to this because he has an incredible amount of humility, is the hardest worker and

most intelligent man I’ve ever met in my life. My oldest nephew is sweeter than honey and can build just about anything out of some scotch tape and paper, while my other nephew can talk his way out of anything with his innocent laughter and impressive vocabulary.

I’m writing tonight from my aunt and uncle’s home. My uncle and I can talk for hours on end, with his wild stories and our shared in-depth insight on life and people in general. My aunt has the best style and fashion sense and shares my love for tea, candles, and angels. My other uncle, who had us over for dinner at this evening, is the most effortlessly cool, hilariously sarcastic person I know. His wife, my other aunt is the perfect balance between girly and outdoorsy, as she has literally drawers full of Bath and Body Works lotions, perfumes, etc., yet tomorrow she is hiking up a 14-mile mountain.

     It is after perfect days and weeks of family time I realize how happy it makes me. I never feel as loved as on evenings like this, spent with family who love you more than you feel you deserve, no matter what. I don’t think that warmth and bond can be found or shared anywhere else. If you have any riffs in your family, I encourage you to let go and mend anything you can. If you don’t know your family members well, take the time to get to know them—if they are anything like mine, they’ll have some pretty interesting stories if nothing else…

            Always, Anna

"What Ships Are Built For"

            Growing up, my family and I moved around a lot. I got a taste of the west coast, the east coast, and the Midwest—something I’m very grateful for now, but at the time just meant long, boring road trips and plane rides. I would hear adults say they loved traveling and I never understood that. I thought of traveling only as the transportation—the flights and airport layovers, the gas station meals and fifteen-hour drives—which I, by then, had grown to loathe.

            As a newly official adult (technically), traveling is one of my most favorite things to do! I don’t exactly get amped for a long drive or flight, but the exploration of new places I cannot get enough of. For me, there is nothing like getting lost in a country, state, or even city I’ve never been in before. It doesn’t necessarily need to be somewhere foreign—just somewhere foreign to me. It’s fascinating to observe the way other people live, whether it’s their food, activities, education systems, businesses, or entire ways of life.

            A change in scenery itself is always refreshing. No matter how many lakes you’ve been to, there is nothing quite like the waves of the open ocean. The sun doesn’t quite rise anywhere else like it does over the Great Plains. And, of course, no autumn leaves fall quite as beautifully as the east coast’s. Paintings and even photographs simply can’t do justice; you’ve just got to see those sights for yourself, in person. Mountains, oceans, badlands, deserts, valleys, jungles—all must be experienced for a true appreciation and knowledge of the earth.

            I encourage everybody to travel as much as they possibly can. You will learn and gain so much appreciation and understanding for people who live wherever you do not. There are so many places to go, people to see, as they say, and while it’s easy to say we simply can’t afford to travel, I believe we simply can’t afford not to travel. Take a walk to the other side of town, if that’s all you can do or where you feel comfortable to start with. It doesn’t matter the distance traveled, but how your view of the world can be changed no matter where it is you go.

“A ship in port is safe, but that’s not what ships are built for.”—Grace Murray Hopper

            Always, Anna

LEAP

Life is good, guys. No—life is more than good, in fact, it’s more than great. It’s fantastic. Wonderful. Amazing. Phenomenal. Life is just one big phenomenal phenomenon. And I love it. I just absolutely positively love love LOVE life!

Recently I’ve been very blessed. I’ve spent the past week and a half in California, and have the rest of the week here as well, spending time with some of my dearest family members, which I have a feeling you’ll be hearing about next week.. Last week, I attended a leadership program called LEAP, which stands for “Leadership. Excellence. Accelerating Potential.” If you haven’t heard of it, I highly and even adamantly recommend it. Between all the organizations I was involved in all throughout junior high and high school, I’ve had a taste and definitely more than my fair share of leadership conferences. This week, though, was different.

Not to toot my own horn or anything, but the thing is, I’d never really been challenged. Nothing about those conferences really SPOKE to me, or made me reevaluate my life with some serious changes in mind. Those conferences never challenged or suggested I change my lifestyle, until now. LEAP did just that. Last week, I learned how to be successful, disciplined, and professional.

Sure, I had goals before—more like ideas in my mind of some things I wanted to do or achieve in both the short and long runs. But now, I have even more goals, greater ones, written down that I review every morning to keep in mind so I both consciously and subconsciously work toward them every single day. I don’t just have loose, dream-like goals anymore; I have tasks, a to-do list that I will complete.

Sure, I knew a little bit about networking. I mean, I was on the social networks. I understood that everyone in the world is connected. I never really realized, however, that with connections, you can get almost any job or meet anyone you want—if only you want it bad enough. Now, I know that I need to do a better job with keeping in touch with people, and how much it can mean on both ends, for many reasons.

And sure, I knew about time manag—oh, wait. No, no I didn’t know a thing about time management. Anybody who knows me, especially my bosses and teachers, knows how truly little I knew about the importance of time, much less how to manage it. Yikes. But the great news is, now I know what I need to do in order to schedule effectively, spend my time wisely, and make sure that I myself, in all aspects, am timely. And on time. And, you know, not fifteen minutes late for just about everything…

Most of all, though, I learned about success. I heard from so many successful people in so many different industries and professions, yet their messages were all the same: Focus, determine your own attitude, be full of gratitude, surround yourself with people you want to be like, make and reach goals, have confidence in yourself, and while you never want to compare yourself to others, make sure you are working harder than them if you are chasing after something you want more than they do. Last but not least, I learned the significance of self-talk as I repeated every morning, first to myself in the mirror and then again with five hundred others: “I am a ten. I walk like a ten. I talk like a ten. I do what I ought to do, when I ought to do it, whether I want to or not, with no debate. Because I am. A TEN!!”

Always, Anna

"We Won't be Seventeen Forever"

I want to start this week off with a dash of mourning for my childhood, which, as of July 26, has officially ended. I’m eighteen now—a legal adult—and that totally freaks me out. It’s like graduation all over again!

            The night before my birthday, I essentially had an anxiety attack. I started crying because I only had a few hours left of my childhood for the Rest. Of. My. Life. I’ll never get to “just be a kid” again, or be considered anything but an adult. There’s no turning back. No rewind or even a pause button. I felt like I was in a movie, when a character is about to die and they see snippets of their life flash before their eyes. All the things I wish I could go back and do differently, every regret I had, every childish mistake I made, would not leave my brain!

            I was finally able to fall asleep and woke up to have a wonderful eighteenth birthday. I got to have fun but still relax, and it was just an all-around lovely day. I can’t complain, there was not a single bad or negative thing about it! I realized over and over again how lucky and blessed I truly am. I just honestly have the most amazing people in my life! True friendship is so hard to find these days, so I’m extremely spoiled when it comes to my friends. I’ve had a lot of friends, and I’ve had true friends, and let me just tell you, quality beats quantity any day. So at this point in my life, I’m happy. I’m constantly trying to keep up with life, and I may not always be perfectly content, but I am very grateful and very happy.

            Basically, I’ve come to realize I shouldn’t be so sad about ending a chapter of my life because this isn’t the end of my book; I’m more excited about getting some ink on the first page of the next chapter! I think that’s how life should be approached. Life is constantly progressing. If we are too busy glancing behind our backs at what we leave behind as we grow older, how are we going to guide ourselves for the future? We can only move forward and it can only go up, as long as I’m in charge of my life! Bring it on, adulthood.

            Always, Anna

Royal Baby

The most exciting event since the Royal Wedding has finally happened—that’s right: the Royal Baby has been born! I’m so happy that Kate and the baby boy are both healthy. I’m also honored to share a birthday month—actually week—and red ruby birthstone with the newborn babe. I have to admit, though, that I’m a little disappointed we don’t get to share a birthday and horoscope—I think a royal Leo would have been much, much more appropriate than a royal Cancer, just saying. Oh, well. I’ll accept month/week/birthstone, I guess.

Now everybody is waiting in suspense to hear the name of this child! Prince William was a week old before his name was discovered and released by the press. Will has four first names, by the way: William Arthur Philip Louis. I decided a while ago—before I knew this, I swear—that if I ever have a son, he will be named Arthur. I’m serious—there are so many reasons, maybe I’ll have a whole column dedicated to that some week…but for now, just trust me; I claimed that name long ago, ok. Now, the only baby I’ll allow to steal my future baby’s name is, of course, the Royal Baby. And with that being his father’s second name, I’d say there’s a good chance that will be the case. Which, like I said, is all right, because that’s just one more thing the Royal Baby and I will have in common—his name and my future son’s name.

            You all probably think I’m pretty crazy to care so much about some baby from another country. But I’ve been obsessed with all things British since I was a kid and my dad spoke in a British accent to make my sister and me laugh. The three of us would talk like that for fun sometimes, especially in long car rides. As I grew older, I became fascinated with not just the accents, but the culture, literature, film, music, geography, and history of the United Kingdom.

Two and a half years ago, the Royal Wedding was broadcast live on television. I believe it began at 3 or 4 A.M. our time. My sister, Karen, and I had planned on staying up to watch it, despite the fact we had school in the morning. I will never forgive myself for sleeping through the wedding, even though I was able to watch it the next day; I’ve written before on how I feel about watching things live—it’s just different. I’m glad the Royal Birth wasn’t broadcast live on television, because I totally would have purposely slept through that. In reality, though, I was just as anxious and captivated, maybe even more so, for this baby as I was for the wedding, and I’ll be impatiently waiting to find out his name.

            Congratulations, William and Kate, Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

            Always, Anna

Life Could be a Dream

Life could be a dream….if you go see the DPRCA’s summer musical, “Life Could Be a Dream”! Sorry for the cheesiness and gushing, but I just cannot get over this play. I’ve seen it three times now, and I’m already trying to figure out when I can see it next, and you should be doing the same! Trust me; you do NOT want to miss out on this wonderful show.

            If you like 50s and 60s music,—and I know you do because, come on, how could you not?!—summer love, teenage heartbreak sob stories, and hilarious comedy, then book your tickets as soon as possible because this is your kind of play. The best part is that there is something for everybody: the lovable nerd, the innocent preacher’s kid, the leader of the pack with big dreams, the mysterious hunky heartthrob, and the beautiful damsel in distress. The show is light and fun, but it also teaches you to not judge a book by its cover or give up on your dreams—even when they seem totally out of reach.

            Because I work at the Latte Lobby and my best friend, Jacee Engels, just so happens to star as Lois Franklin, I’ve had the pleasure and honor of getting to know the cast and crew a bit. With all the talent each of them is practically bursting with, their humbleness and modesty is astounding. These are some of the most genuine people I have ever met—which is saying something for actors.

They are all impressive hard workers, but what gets me the most is the way they are absolutely captivated by New Rockford. They literally adore this town and all it has to offer. The potential each person sees, both the local and out-of-town members of the cast and crew, is remarkable. Their appreciation for our town, similar to my early morning runs and walks, has inspired me to look at it in a new light as well. No matter how much I complain about being stuck in little old New Rockford, I’ve realized that at the end of the day, there is nothing better than that unmistakable dim cluster of lights coming into view over the hill. If only all of us could see our town through their colorful, imaginative eyes, let’s just say, New Rockford could be a dream. (Sorry, I had to.)

Always, Anna