A Few 'Lies' & the Truth About Creativity

I have more than enough work to keep me busy 24 hours day for the next several months, but if there's one thing I learned last semester, it's this:  A little time to reflect, relax, and simply think renews my enthusiasm for my work and sends my productivity skyrocketing.

Jon Acuff

So before I start the two papers I will write this afternoon, I want to share a few words of wisdom that I
heard yesterday during Jon Acuff's visit to Belmont.  Jon is the guy who started a blog called Stuff Christians Like - a hilarious spin-off of the comical Stuff White People Like blog.  But beyond making a name for himself in the blog world (Belmont's write-up of the event stated that Jon's blog is read by "2 million people in over 97 percent of the countries in the world"), Jon has authored a few books and honed his talent for public speaking. He was brought to campus this week by Belmont's Center for Entrepreneurship to speak on Five Lies Entrepreneurs Should Ignore for Success.

I was laughing too hard to write down or remember all five of the "lies", but there were certainly a few points that stuck out for me.

Success

To laugh often and much, to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children, to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends, to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others, to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch...to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded!
     - Emerson

One Last Lesson in 2011

I've always pushed myself academically, physically, psychologically, intellectually, and professionally; not because I've felt pressure from others to do so, but simply because I know that I am capable of doing more and doing better.  It's only right, I feel.  My thinking is that if I've been given the ability to do something, then I should give it my best effort. Giving it anything less would be ungrateful.

Operating under such a theory can get you pretty far, but there comes a point when you realize you're just doing too much - or at least too much to be effective in any one pursuit.  And toward the end of 2011, this is the point I reached. My schedule had me spread too thin to do much of anything very well, and I was no longer able to put as much effort as I wanted into any one task because there was always a list of thirty more behind it, all needing to be completed by sundown.  The self-inflicted pressure has started to wear on me, to say the least, and I've realized during the past few weeks that I need to stop feeling guilty about taking a little time to relax.  In fact, I've found that some time off during the past few days has rejuvenated me and boosted my motivation and productivity during work time.

One evening in mid-December it hit me that I only have about a month to get my grad school applications together, and that's on top of starting my last semester and finishing my thesis, as well as preparing for job interviews (in case I don't get into either graduate program).

Welcome to the New, Flat World

Thomas Friedman, political journalist--turned 21st century philosopher, brings us his thought-provoking thesis on globalization in this video from MIT. 
I've read several chapters of his revolutionary book, The World is Flat, as well as most of another, The Lexus and the Olive Tree.

 

In an Information Systems for Business course I took last semester, I was challenged to think about the following questions while listening to Friedman's lecture. These are themes I'd been periodically mulling over for a while, so I welcomed this opportunity to draw a few conclusions and support them with anecdotes from my own experience.

What does a flattened world mean for you as a student looking for employment in the near future? 
A flattened world puts each of us as individuals in direct competition with the rest of the world for jobs. As Thomas Friedman mentioned, everything can be (and is being) outsourced.

Jackie Evancho

Everyone knows I have a soft spot for child prodigies.  The raw talent of these individuals blows my mind on a regular basis.  This little girl simply takes my breathe away!

Miniature opera sensation Jackie Evancho was discovered on America's Got Talent a few years ago. Here's her latest performance - at the Wall Street Journal's Christmas Party. Here's the catch: She's 11 years old!

Want to see more?  Google "Jackie Evancho" - and prepare to be amazed :)

2011: Where We've Been

After work one Friday, a few weeks ago, I literally collapsed.  I sat down on my living room couch around 6pm - for what seemed like the first time in ages - and within minutes had fallen asleep. At 9am the next day I finally awoke, figured out where I was, and was astonished to realize how tired I had become.

I started to piece two and two together when thinking about the past year in review, as I always tend to do when December 1st comes around.  I've covered so many thousands of miles this year, and I'm so thankful for all for your notes of encouragement and support through all the journeys.  Let's see where we've been!

1. Belgium...I was here with my beloved Belgian host family the entire, wonderful month of January. What an incredible time to rekindle old friendships and reminisce on the life-changing experiences I shared with them in 2006-2007.
2. Spain...Meeting up with old friends from my exchange year in Belgium was one of the highlights of my travels in western Europe this year.  Victoria, from Britain, was studying abroad in Zaragoza, Spain this spring and invited me to visit!

Fathoming Amazon - an infographic

When Michael Hyatt blogged about the Amazon Empire earlier this week, I was flabbergasted.  I certainly love my Kindle, whom I've affectionately named Oscar, and get so excited about buying books and having them magically appear in Oscar's table of contents literally within seconds, but my personal satisfaction with this one product line is about as far as my ponderings on the company went.

Apparently a lot of people are big fans of Amazon just like me.
This infographic, compiled by FrugalDad, (and yes, "infographic" is a word), speaks for itself...

Source: Frugaldad.com

So, are you impressed?  Intimidated?  Do you think the Amazon Empire can last?

As someone who best absorbs and processes ideas, and conceptualizes new ones via graphic representations, I get so excited about quality infographics.  Here's an article on 3 Trends That Will Define the Future of Infographics.  I'm especially looking forward to the applications for real-time data visualization!