Successful Blog

Change the World: One Pound at a Time

by Leave a Comment

Hey, Karen, How Can We Change the World?

changetheworld8

This guest post was contributed by friend and SOB, Karen Hanrahan. I had the joy of meeting her in October. What an inspiring and delightful person she is! Karen writes of an incredible change in her own life. –ME “Liz” Strauss

One Pound at a Time

by Karen Hanrahan

‘ Tis the season for eating!!! I can hear my indulging commentary “Oh why fight it”, isn’t the holiday season all about the food? “ I’ll be really good after the holidays” (in holiday forked tongue that really means 6 weeks of being bad) “I’ll binge now and worry later” (sort of like I’ll shove it in faster than I did before because in January I am going on a diet)

Welcome to my world. One year ago I was a whopping size 24 or XXX (not the steamy sexy kind of XXX either) It’s one thing to hit 200 lbs, it’s another to go above and beyond 200lbs. At 240 lbs how could any weight loss make a difference – 230 lbs now what? 100 lbs to go?? Forget it.

One brownie became 3 brownies simply because what difference did it make. In the bigger (ha!) picture of things – I was already big.

How did I get to be so darn BIG? Some of it was circumstance (car accident — 2 years of pain), some of it was chosen sedentary-ness (if I didn’t move then it wouldn’t hurt) and most of it became utter and pathetic apathy (it’s just too darn hard.)

For those of us who have been of size, there are details to being fat that are never discussed. Those of thinness take for granted the horrors we of girth endure.

In my minds eye, meaning without ever looking in the mirror, I was skinny. My true self (or the person I could seemingly relate to) would walk down the street see the reflection in the glass window and completely ignore who she saw. What I don’t acknowledge won’t hurt me

I could never sit neatly in my chair. Those of thinness kindly observe that when you sit in a chair, volumes of you don’t roll over the side. I affectionately called it sitting in the round.

After a recent 60 lbs of weight loss, I got on a plane and buckled my seatbelt – without even thinking I sat in the middle seat, something I could never do as a woman of size. I burst into tears when I realized that my thighs were not invading someone’s personal space. Nothing worse than sharing thunder thighs with a stranger. (I then had to explain to 2 strangers why the heck I was crying.)

Ever go in the Woman’s Plus Department? See anything hip you’d care to wear? See any natural fabrics? Can you say S-T-R-E-T-C-H, synthetic land? Can you see that the #1 color choice is black? Can you imagine the feeling of black synthetic stretchy fabric on a balmy humid summer afternoon? Thunder thighs wrapped in plastic. Lovely huh?

I once had to walk through a crowd. A young man in front of me – a thin young man pushed his way through the crowd shouting “WIDE LOAD coming through”
WIDE LOAD. I thought I would simply die.

How bad does it have to get to shift from hefty to healthy? How horrible did it have to be?

For me, I got scared. I also got embarrassed. I looked in the mirror. I faced my skepticism, took on some products that helped the process, but mostly I allowed myself room for being real. What monster had I created and was I willing to look at that creep face to face.

5 things made a difference for me

  • water –- the only beverage of choice
  • snacks –- in this order; protein, vegetables, fruit, carbs
  • movement –- like get up and just walk – forget the gym membership – save that for later when you’ll actually go
  • immediate success –- seeing some weight come off was truly inspirational
  • habits –- notice them –- boy, I didn’t even know the bad habits I had created. Do something about them.

Not rocket science and not something that everyone doesn’t already know.

I had 2 immediate goals. Kick the 200 lb mark, and get out of the plus department.

I celebrate today my size 16 – ness. (not age 16 goof, SIZE 16!) and officially I am so out of the plus department!

In the world of thin-ness and ultimate BMI I have about 30 lbs to go. I lost 60 lbs in 12 months – slowly and steadily. No up and down yo-yo stuff, and the best part is I feel really swell.

Do we hear weight success stories all the time? Sure. Perhaps you see a bit of yourself in mine. More than anything perhaps you find a bit of inspiration to give yourself that kick in the size ah-hem pants and get on the path to health. Best yet if we all took on weight loss, we’d alter a frightening epidemic issue. One lb at a time.

— Karen Hanrahan

_______
Thanks, Karen! You’re an inspiration.

We can change the world — just like that.
–ME “Liz” Strauss

Change the World: One Dollar, One Euro, One Yen at at Time

by Leave a Comment

Hey, Erik, How Can We Change the World?

changetheworld8

This guest post was contributed by friend, J. Erik Potter. Erik’s post grew out of a conversation at Open Comments Night. He brings thoughts of our daily lives. –ME “Liz” Strauss

One Dollar at a Time

by J. Erik Potter

We make a living by what we get, we make a life by what we give.– Sir Winston Churchill

We’ve all heard it before. It’s nothing new really. If everyone would just donate $1 to a cause, we could raise millions for any cause overnight. There have always been two big problems: there wasn’t an easy way to spread the word to these millions of people and there were no means of funneling these millions of $1 donations to a deserving cause effectively. Enter the Internet.

Much like the whole “change the world” phrase appears daunting; the whole “get a million people to donate $1” appears just as daunting. Or is it?

Through blogs and social networking sites like Facebook or LinkedIn, word can be spread like wild fire. I just signed up for LinkedIn and have a meager 16 connections, yet through the power of the site, my message can be spread to over 77,000 other connections, a 4,800:1
ratio. If this ratio remains constant, I only need to connect directly with 208 people in order to spread my message to the magic million. 208 vs. 1,000,000 . . . that doesn’t sound as frightening. Does it?

The second part of the equation is the collection and funneling of the $1 donations. Sites like SixDegrees.org and Network for Good go a long way towards making the transaction easy. Once you’ve established an account, you can donate to one of over 30,000 charities. Their system even keeps track of your donations throughout the year for tax purposes.

The tools are here. So what’s stopping you from changing the world?
— J. Erik Potter

_______
Thanks, Erik, for showing us how.
We can change the world — just like that.
–ME “Liz” Strauss

Change the World: It’s Millionaire Day!

by Leave a Comment


Feel Rich and Appreciated

changetheworld8

When I lived in Austin, I worked for a company that had a strict matrix for how merit performance increases were allowed. To say that in plain English, in an effort to be fair — or was it to control the budget? — the company had a chart showing how monetary increases would be “done fairly.”

I don’t remember the exact merit increase chart, but the matrix chart only allowed for 10% of the staff to receive increases above the rising cost of inflation.

This chart was problem.

Editors had a lot to say about the words chosen to describe performance — outstanding, good, adequate, and poor. Even more, though, was the problem of an entire team that was performing in an outstanding fashion all being limited to a raise of about 4-5%, when inflation was at least half of that.

So I did what I could to provide other incentives. . . . tweaked the atmosphere, found days they might take off . . . to pay them in other ways.

About a mile from our office was a small store with a glass counter. Behind the glass, the shelves displayed expensive Belgian chocolates. If you’ve a taste for chocolate, if you’re a connoisseur — read that as a chocolate snob — as I am, this 6 foot counter could entertain and amaze for well into an hour. One chocolate, in particular, became a favorite with my team.

This delicacy was made both in milk chocolate and dark chocolate versions, each filled with praline. One piece was 1.25 x .5 x .5 in size and was shaped like a US Dollar sign — $ . That was the hit! A single chocolate dollar sign sold at an exchange rate equivalent to that of the Australian dollar at the time.

I would buy those chocolate dollar signs, and we’d have an emergerency team meeting. An official announcement would state that we had once again become millionaires in the chocolate lottery. Then we’d spend 30 minutes or so eating one luxury chocolate a piece.

It was a ritual. It was a game. It was the best time and a way of saying what needed saying.

And our moods and minds changed. We stood taller, smiled more, and were more generous toward each other We also laughed. We were millionaires for the day. One piece of chocolate made that difference.

I can’t give you the chocolate. So I told you the story.

I hope you can imagine it, because I’m declaring, “We’re All Millionaires Today!”

We have a million in the bank and a few million invested. Millions of friends love each of us, and millions of readers and customers love what we do.

A little millionaire thinking really can make a difference. . . . Will you be a millionaire today?

We can change the world — just like that.
–ME “Liz” Strauss

Change the World: Put Yourself in Your Work

by Leave a Comment

It Makes a Difference to Know

changetheworld8

Yesterday I was in a business meeting with some spectacular human beings who own a digital animation company. We had reached that point at which our conversation turned to contracts and a formal relationship about the work that we would do together.

As we spoke of who, how, what, and how much, one young man excused him and left. He’d gone to find a single sheet of paper and copied it several times. Upon his return, he handed a copy to each of us still in the room, including members of his own team. This is an excerpt from the letter be brought.

My 71 year old father has stage IV pancreatic cancer . . . He is in his third week of taking part in a clinical trial using Rexin G.

Viewing your animation helped me understand his cancer treatment. . . . I’ve been praying for cures for the many types of cancer for years. I never imagined that my own father would develop the terrible disease. My Dad is hopeful and so am I . . .

Thank you for your part in helping us to understand this complicated treatment.

The letter made us all stop. I think I heard every voice in the room whisper, “Wow!” Each person handled the page with reverence and care for the person who wrote. I’m sure it slightly changed our perspective on what we already knew was a good and right relationship to something more.

The writer had sent a piece of herself in the spaces between her words. She said, “You made a difference in my life.”

That page was proof. One man had put heart in his work and that gift had changed a stranger’s life.

Just the thought is stunning.

We can change the world — just like that.
–ME “Liz” Strauss

Change the World: Talk and Move

by Leave a Comment

People Only Do Two Things

changetheworld8

A week or so ago, I was talking to a brilliant man, David Bullock. I’ve worked with Dave and know him as a friend. He’s a positive force who makes things happen and shines a light on people while he does — which, of course, makes him an attractive person in so many ways. Dave is a brilliant guy — the sort I like to share with my friends.

In fact, that’s what we were talking about . . . I was inviting David to speak at SOBCon08 in the Spring. During that call, Dave made the most profound observation. He said something like this

I woke up this morning, and I realized that people — even the high and mighty — only do two things . . . talk and move. I looked in the mirror and said, “I can do that!”

Boy, did I like that thought!

Boyhowdy, did I like the smile in his voice when I heard that!

He got me smiling and standing taller too. I still am.

So as I head off to BlogWorld Expo, I’m going to talk and move . . . and I’m going to watch what other talkers and movers say and do.

Go ahead talk and move yourself. You already know how.

We can change the world — just like that.
–ME “Liz” Strauss

Change the World: Decide

by Leave a Comment

The Universe Will Not Be Thwarted

changetheworld8

Once upon a time, I had the coolest job in the world. I worked with the most incredible people. They were smart and their hearts were in it. No one was looking for the negative. We were building a special little company. The little company was soaring. It’s customers were smiling. Then the owners decided to sell it.

The new owners were playing Monopoly. Our little company was one more property on a board game. The new owners couldn’t see what made the little special. They made decisions that hurt the little company. They starved the goose and the golden eggs stopped.

When I realized that the little company would never be again, I recognized the feeling. I told a friend, “I don’t want a new puppy. I want the puppy that died.”

He said, “Mourn if you like, but not forever. I’ve been to the mountain, and I know this: The universe will not be thwarted. Commit to a new path and it will take you where you want to be. ”

Well, that poor universe, for the longest time, it didn’t get any help from me. I went off in some direction, but my heart wasn’t fully with me. think I was still wishing for that poor long-gone situation.

But my friend’s sentence never left me. “The universe will not be thwarted.”

Himalayan explorer W.H. Murray said the same thing.

Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, the providence moves too. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one’s favor all manner of unforeseen incidents, meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamt would have come his way.

I decided to change the world. I quit hedging my bets to protect myself.

Things happened that same week — happy accidents and offers. The universe opened a road to my dream.

They’re still happening.

Living in the past is not the way to a future.

Commitment is.

We can change the world — just like that.
–ME “Liz” Strauss