The Female Brain written by Louann Brizendine was full of information that I found surprising and inspiring. One would think a book about the female brain a waste of time to read by a woman but in fact the opposite is true. I learned a lot about how my brain is different from the male brain for instance.
The author discusses the female brain from gestation through old age. It’s amazing how much can change over the course of a life time. This book definitely affected how I think about design especially as it pertains to children and adults. It brought up a lot of questions. What appeals to girls at various stages of development? What do women desire in relationships with men and women regardless of sexual orientation? How does sexual orientation manifest in women and when? All interesting questions. What impact does pregnancy, child-birth and parenthood have on a woman’s brain? How does “falling in love” affect the brain and the choices we make? How do we learn?
I believe this is a book that everyone should read regardless of gender. If you are a man it will give you some insight into the opposite sex and if you are a woman it will give you some insight into why you or your children do the things that they do.
If you design for females of any age I think you should read this book. The things you will learn will have an impact on how you think about design and what you give to your audience.
From the woman that wrote “Eat, Pray, Love” – Elizabeth Gilbert a talk in which she discusses taking an alternate view of creativity.
How to find your creative muse:
What purposes define your life?
What enthuses and excites you?
What moves you — physically, spiritually, and emotionally?
What is really important to you?
What things do you cherish or revere?
On what aspects of your life are you unwilling to compromise?
What makes you feel vital and alive?
What inspires you?
What drives you?
What provokes you?
What lifts you out of yourself?
What things help you define and focus on certain goals?
On April 15th taxes are due. If you are a independent contractor or run a small business the 1st quarterly payments are due as well. Where is one to find all that money! Well if you’ve been planning last year paying 2009 taxes shouldn’t be a problem. You should have been saving also for the 1st quarterly payment of the year as well.
Honestly I don’t think too many people do either. I know last year was the first time I really planned for my upcoming taxes. I finally found an accountant after years of doing my taxes myself. They were just getting to complicated and tiresome to do.
I decided to do as much research as possible to make sure 1) I didn’t owe that much in taxes to Uncle Sam and 2) that I really understood where my money was going. Income is easy to track. Who doesn’t like getting money?
But keeping track of receipts and all the other crap that goes along with being financially responsible can be a pain in the ass.
The first thing I did was setup a system to track my expenses and income. To do that I used both Mint.com and Outright.com. I also read Self-Employed Tax Solutions by June Walker to make sure I understood what I needed to track. I linked my Freshbooks invoicing account to Outright.com so I’d know when I got paid and also if I was making a profit or not. Important to know for any business that plans to be around any length of time. I even signed up for a Shoeboxed.com account to track my online purchases. Those were the expenses I tended to forget about. But with my Shoebox account I could keep up with it all. And that frankly was all I cared about. Simplifying my life.
So did all that planning work?
Totally! I went to my new accountant this week. My taxes are done and I’m a lot less stressed out than I was last year.
So I’m slow to greeting the new year and a lot of other things as well. I haven’t abandoned my blog writing but… life interrupted my best laid plans. Between bouts of illness, work and travel 2010 has been off to a slow start for me. 2009 seemed to be such a great year till it went south at the end but I accomplished a lot during that year so it wasn’t ALL bad.
I’m feeling better and looking forward to what the rest of 2010 has to offer regardless of what that may be. I’m working on new classes and planning to have tons of fun so be on the lookout for news and updates.
There are lots of myths out there about what being an introvert means. Introversion simply means that an introvert recharges his/her batteries alone.
Myths about Introverts
Introverts don’t like to talk
Introverts are shy
Introverts are rude
Introverts don’t like people
Introverts always want to be alone
Introverts’ Strengths
Think before speaking or acting
Listen more
Know a lot about a few topics
Are reflective and appear calm
Are more detail oriented
Shyness and introversion are not the same. Introversion may appear to be shyness because introverts are more self contained.
Shyness is a social anxiety, an extreme self-consciousness when one is around people… Shy people may feel uncomfortable with one-on-one situations or in group situations. It is not an energy issue; it is a lack of confidence in social situations. It is a fear of what others think of you. It produces sweating, shaking, red face or neck, racing heart, self-criticism, and a belief that people are laughing at you.
– The Introvert Advantage, Marti Olsen Laney Psy.D
Famous Introverts
Abraham Lincoln, sixteenth president
Sir Alfred Hitchcock, film director
Michael Jordon, basketball player and celebrity
Thomas Edison, inventor
Grace Kelly, actress
Gwyneth Paltrow, actress
Laura Bush, former 1st lady
Bill Gates, software pioneer
Candice Bergen, actress
Clint Eastwood, actor/director
Charles Schulz, Peanuts cartoonist
Steve Martin, comedian/actor/writer
Harrison Ford, actor
Michele Pfeiffer, actress
Katherine Graham, late owner of the Washington Post, author
Embracing being an introvert
Being an introvert means accepting introversion unique traits. According to the Myer Briggs test I’m an INFP. Taking the test just confirmed what I already knew about myself. But it is a great starting point for personal development since it helps highlight your strengths.
Introverts get more of their stimulation internally, whereas extroverts seek outside sources – Debra L. Johnson, PhD.
There is nothing wrong with being an introvert. It’s just a different way of experiencing the world.
I have an iPod touch and I’ve been using it for the last few months to stay organized. So far keeping a calendar has been great. I’m rarely ever late for an appointment and I’m less likely to forget one as well. Here are five other applications that I can’t live without.
Mint– Companion application for the Mint.com financial website. Allows me to stay on top my finances across multiple institutions
Gratitude journal from Happy Tapper. I’ve been keeping a gratitude journal for over a year now. It’s a great tool to keep me focused on what’s going right rather than wrong in my life.
Remember the Milk is a great site and application combo that allows you to track your to-dos. It also is available for the Blackberry
Evernote is a great tool to store everything from links to voice notes. It allows you to create notebooks for different topics. It also is available for the Blackberry
Tick which is a great time tracking tool that works with Tickspot.com. Setting up an account is easy and no credit card is required to try it out. The time tracking works with Freshbooks (the BEST online invoicing system that I’ve found).
If you are looking to get more organized and stay on top of things these 5 applications will help to do that. You’ll feel better by keeping a gratitude journal and you’ll be more organized too.
The final part of creating my business plan was doing the left brain stuff a.k.a doing the finances.
The part I most dreaded was looking at the ins and outs of the money aspect of my business. Without it you have no business but still dreaded looking at dealing with the numbers. Now that I’ve done it I don’t feel so bad. I now have a framework to move forward with.
A business plan is supposed to be fluid not static.
So I now know where to put my attention in my business and what product and services to create and which ones are not worth pursuing.
If you don’t have a written business plan I highly recommend doing one. I thinking having it as reference is a great resource. If it is on paper you can still make changes nothing is written in stone.
The areas I covered in the finances were:
Cost of my services
Cost of my products
Business expenses e.g. Advertising, Printing, Membership dues, etc
I recently finished writing my business plan. I figured it was time. I’ve been procrastinating about it for ages. But you can’t run a business if you don’t know where you stand or where you are going.
I’ve tried several approaches to creating a business plan – templates, kits etc. and none of it worked. Then I discovered the Right-Brain Business plan by Jennifer Lee. It’s a kit that offers the reader an e-book plus visualization about their business. I found this route of planning much easier that the left brain approach I’d tried before. Just using numbers and statistics just doesn’t cut it. Not that this right-brain approach ignores the numbers. It doesn’t. You still have to figure out the cost of doing business but that’s after you’ve done all the creative thinking about who you are, what your business is and what your unique selling point it.
To learn more about the right-brain business plan visit Artizen Coaching.
Be a Mentor or a Mentee – it’s one of the best ways to learn and grow
Tell your story to other women. We all have them. Maybe you overcame an illness or some other setback in your personal life or career.
Be open to change. Change will happen regardless of whether you want it to or not. Either you do it with grace or with pain.
Never stop learning. When you think you know everything it is when you are likely not listening to the truth around you. Learn by doing, take a class in something that scares you. Just try it.
Be powerful in word and deed. Being assertive is about being powerful. Being a bitch is not.
Make peace with technology if you haven’t already. It can help you accomplish your goals
Define what your mission in life is. When you have a mission define making decision about what you will and will not do are easier to make
Delight in your accomplishments and brag about you have achieved. Embrace your uniqueness. Revel in it. There is power in being who you are
Contribution, giving back to your community is important. No matter how big or small. Just give.
Be grateful for all you have. Keep a gratitude journal
Flickr Photos
