May19

Beautiful Boundaries and Crazy Richness

by Don F Perkins on May 19th, 2012 at 1:00 pm
Posted In: Knowledge Worker

Sunset on Wentworth

On my commute yesterday, I offered up a prayer and it dawned on me that there are two things that have a huge impact on my well-being and effectiveness:  Beautiful Boundaries and Crazy Richness. I’m not an unusually religious person, though I believe in God and am so thankful I get to talk with him now and again. Two of the things I am most grateful for are boundaries and rich experiences. It’s not just a God thing either. One of the best managers I have known, Dawn Przychodzien has helped me step up my game dramatically by keeping me on task with beautiful boundaries and rich experiences.

What the hell am I talking about, you ask? Well, if you’re like me your workday has way too much work and not enough day. It becomes extremely important to do the right things at the right time or else get mowed under. It also becomes very depressing if you can’t mix all that hard work and discipline with some crazy rich experiences to make it all worth while. Dawn is great at finding that balance; an admirable and impactful management philosophy.

If you want high productivity, you have to push for it, but you also have to make it all worth while as well. Remember to make clear the all important boundaries, but also keep a steady supply of the inspiring, refreshing richness of experience we all crave.

 

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Feb25

The Permanency of Words & The Tragedy Of Silence

by Don F Perkins on February 25th, 2012 at 12:55 pm
Posted In: Knowledge Worker

Once you tweet something, even if you delete it from your stream, it remains online.  Once you start a blog, it’s online and will show up in Google’s search results forever. This gives me great pause. Do I want to be known forever as the schmoo who was negative and bitchy? Hell no. I’m far from perfect, but I want at least some words I say to leave the impression that I made an effort to be positive and leave things better than I found them.

When my Dad had a stroke and went into the hospital, I sat down and wrote him a long letter telling how much I loved him and appreciated all that he had done for me. I thought that if I didn’t do it now, I might not get the chance. He lived for another 15 years after that and our relationship was so much different than before.

Once you say something, you can’t take it back and if you have something to say to someone, do it now. Don’t wait until it’s too late.

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Feb11

Retry

by Don F Perkins on February 11th, 2012 at 9:06 am
Posted In: Knowledge Worker

fortune cookie: "Fortune not found. Abort, Retry, Ignore?

Health issues, job loss, conflict. There’s no shortage of discouragement out there. We all hope for better days, but they never seem to come. They say a person can live for 3 weeks without food, 3 days without water, 3 minutes without air, but only 3 seconds without hope. I laid awake thinking about this at 4AM. A friend was so discouraged that many of us worried for her. Then it came to me:

 

My mom told me this story about an elephant in a park. No fence, no chain and yet the huge elephant never tried to leave the small circle in the middle of the park. Apparently, when it was small, they shackled it to a post. It struggled against the chain, but eventually learned that it was futile and stopped trying to get away. Eventually, the chain was removed, and yet the elephant continued to stay put, just a shackle on its ankle keeping this huge animal from leaving that spot.

 

There’s no such thing as a victim of circumstance. We get victimized when we allow our circumstances to discourage us and hold us hostage in our minds. Fortune is not something we find. Our fortune is our choices. As long as we live, we have choices and that’s something no one can take away from us. We are the only ones who can surrender our fortune of choosing. We do it by believing we have no choice. We are voluntary captives when we believe our surroundings are to blame for our discouragement.

 

Think about all the choices you have today. They are a blessing. They are your treasure. The circumstances of life are an ever-changing play that unfolds around you. You cannot control them, but you can control how you will respond. Remember that come what may, you are not chained to a post. You have a wealth of choices available to you today. The possibilities are endless. Free your mind and claim your fortune. If you know someone who is discouraged today, please share this with them.

 

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Jan17

Life Can Be So Much Fuller Sunset to Sunset

by Don F Perkins on January 17th, 2012 at 10:48 am
Posted In: Knowledge Worker

There’s something about a sunset that is very uplifting.

It has an irresistible allure; you just can’t help but stop and take notice. Each one that I’ve been fortunate enough to witness has not only been a treat for the senses as I took it all in, but a blessing that I could draw on for strength and perspective when the days become stressful or difficult.

Isn’t it amazing that sunsets are always far away from you; out there on the horizon, and yet they can touch you so deeply within? It illuminates the surrounding landscape with rarely seen colors and provides such a surreal perspective; muting the harsh details of life and painting the beauty of the world in broad dramatic strokes.

Sunsets can inspire us to take a reflective look at the past and have hope for a better tomorrow all at the same time. I hope you get a chance to close your day by catch sight of nature’s best for you soon and often.

Usage Tip: Best enjoyed with a friend and a beverage. :-D

 

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Jan02

Rhythms of Collaboration

by Don F Perkins on January 2nd, 2012 at 3:14 pm
Posted In: Knowledge Worker

Bongo DrumsSo who else has to learn how to tune their Christmas present this year? I was thrilled to receive my very own set of bongo drums this year from Santa.. ok, from my daughter Christie, but it brought back the same thrill I remember back when Santa was still the man in my eyes. Awesome!

It also reminded me that hand drumming, like so many other things is way more fun when you have a bunch of people playing in rhythm together. I remember the drum cafe we enjoyed one winter in Florida. If you’ve never experienced it, I highly recommend it for your next team building exercise. The sound of 150 people playing in harmony, and knowing that I was a part of it was an amazing feeling. We also learned a great deal about Afrikan history and culture. Drums were used to summon the masses from distant parts to one place. Then drums were used to communicate among tribes that did not share the same spoken language.

I don’t get to play them nearly as often as I would like, but they serve as a daily reminder to me that unity is all about leaving the comfort of your village, overcoming differences together and sharing in the rhythms of collaboration.

 

 

 

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