How I manage my time

Hey Everyone,

I'm sure we all know managing our time is important because we've heard that it or realized it through personal experience.

I really liked how Jim Rohm explained that time management is emotional management. First, whether you're working, spending time with your family, or your friends you have to be "present". What does that mean? We can't be thinking about work while we're spending time with our family and we can't be thinking about all our family while we're at work. You have to be present and give that person or think full attention. I think that is the basics of time management then the technique follows.

This is how I manage my time:
The first thing I bought was a planner. I have a planner that helps me organize everything I need to do for the month, weeks, and per day. The planner Chris found online is pretty awesome (www.plannerpads.com). This planner by far has been the most efficient. It's not pretty but it get's the job done.

First I collaborate with Chris to write down all the important dates throughout the year. Then every month we ask each other if there's any big events we should be aware of to block those day's out first. Then, at the beginning of each week (usually Sunday) I write out everything I must finish by the end of the week such as my goals, things to do, things to buy, tasks, people to see and call etc.

Then I plan my day the night before so that I know exactly what I need to do when I wake up. So, under Monday I write everything I want to do that day such as:

MONDAY (example)
grocery
business
email Ben
call Jack

Then, I fill in those tasks in each time slots like below:
Appointments
7 am: Wake up
7:00 Feed Topher
8 Get ready
9 Topher sleeps
10 Business
11 Call Jack
12 Lunch
1:30 Grocery

This helps me to be much more efficient. I write out a full schedule by blocking out time so I know what time my day should start and end to finish everything I need to do

I love crossing out each tasks and seeing how much I have accomplished each day. Little things are incredibly important so I make sure to even write down doing the laundry, cleaning the house, doing the dishes, etc. If we neglect to do the small tasks in our life it can effect us in all areas of our life because we'll start to create a habit of procrastinating. So, the best solution is just get it done when you need too.

Hope this was helpful in some ways.
Have a great rest of the week!

Disclaimer: This is just how I manage my time so this may not work for everyone.

Love,

Sandy

Until death do us part...

Dear Everyone,

I wanted to share a great story with you guys that defines once again what True Love really looks like..

Her name is Katie Kirkpatrick, 21 yrs old. Next to her is her fiancé, Nick, 23. (Pic1)

This picture was taken prior to their wedding January 11th, 2005.
Katie has terminal cancer and spends hours in chemotherapy.
Here Nick awaits while she finishes one of the sessions...(Pic2)

Even in pain and dealing with her organs shutting down, with the help of morphine,
Katie took care of every single part of the wedding planning.
Her dress had to be adjusted several times due to Katie 's constant weight loss. (Pic3)

An expected guest was her oxygen tank. Katie had to use it during the ceremony and reception.
The other couple in this picture is Nick's parents, very emotional with the wedding and to see their
son marrying the girl he fell in love when he was an adolescent. (Pic4)

Katie , in a wheel chair listening to her husband and friends singing to her. (Pic5)

In the middle of the party, Katie had to rest for a bit and catch her breath.
The pain does not allow her to stand for long period of time. (Pic6)

Katie died 5 days after her wedding. To see a fragile woman dress as bride with a beautiful smile
makes you think... happiness is always there within reach, no matter how long it lasts.....
lets enjoy life and don't live a complicated life. Life is too short.
Work as if it was your first day.
Forgive as soon as possible.
Love without boundaries...
Laugh without control
and never stop smiling.
Please pray for those suffering from cancer.
We all have close to our heart.
Keep this going.

Prayers are always answered.

Life is too short to argue and desperate. .

As I read this story I'm truly inspired by her fiance's love. It's truly beautiful to know that her fiance stuck by her side as he saw her fight for her life. He married her knowing that she may not live more then a few months or few days. If that isn't true love I'm not sure what is. 


True love still exists in this world~

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Love,
Sandy

I'm too old or too young

Hey Everyone,

I've been reminded several times these past few months of a great advice I read from a book called "The Magic of Thinking Big" a few years ago. We tend to make excuses to ourselves when it comes to putting forth action. We all have great ideas and intentions but very few actually puts in the action. Some people have the "age" excusitis which will get you nowhere.

An example of someone with age excusitis is a person who we will call Stacy wants to change her career in a whole different direction but she feels she's too "old" to start now. She says, " I'd have to start from scratch. And I'm too old for that now. I'm 40."

The truth is it's never too late.

The book say's to look at it like this:
When does a man's productive life begin? Let's say 20. Then, when does a man's productive life end? Let's say they stayed in good shape and they love their job, so around 70 years old. So, a man's productive years stretch from 20 to 70. That's 50 years in between or half a century. So if Stacy's 40 she's only spent 20 years of her productive life. She has 30 more years left. In other words, she hasn't even reached the halfway point.

If you were Stacy will you spend another 30 years doing something you don't like to do or start what you love now and spend the remaining 30 years feeling more fulfilled?

It's not how old we are that's important but our attitude towards age that makes it a blessing or a barricade.

It's the same thing for the "I'm too young" age excusitis. A lot of young adults including myself are worried when they have to manage/ supervise people older then them. We have to remember that we never would have been given that position if someone didn't think we had the right skills. Age has nothing to do with your expertise. Have confidence and be respectful. Youth is a liability only when the youth think it is.

I had to break away from this when I was 22 years old. I was supervising people much older then me and it was hard for me especially because of the whole Korean tradition. Some Korean people really take the age gap seriously and expects a certain type of respect automatically from someone who's younger. This book really helped me to build more confidence and not let the age get in the way of striving for my dreams.

I hope this helps you guys as much as it helped me in my life.

Love,
Sandy

I had to relearn how to accept compliments

Hey Everyone,

This past weekend Chris and I drove to Vegas for a conference and we had a really great time just talking about random things. As we were talking the topic of accepting compliments came up. When I first met Chris I didn't know how to accept compliments. When he said some thing nice to me I wouldn't know how to response so I would say something like, "no I'm not" or "whatever".  I thought if I said "thank you" I would sound conceited and not humble. Then I started wondering why I felt that way. Then it reminded me an incident that happened when I was young.

I remember when I was young I use to say "thank you" all the time whenever someone complimented me. Then in 7th grade one of my girlfriends told me that I sounded conceited because it seemed like I was saying "I know". That was a bit traumatizing because that was the last thing I wanted other people to think I was. Since then I stopped saying "thank you" and instead responded by putting myself down thinking I was being humble. The danger of that is that you are what you say you are and if you keep saying "no I'm not" then some how you start to believe you really aren't. Also, when we put ourselves down other people start to look at us that way as well.

So, I asked Chris "how should I accept compliments?". He recommended that I should say "thank you" and sincerely compliment the other person back. I started practicing with Chris and at first it was a little awkward but after a while it became a habit. Now when he compliments me I say something nice back. 

Compliments are a form of gift as well. It's okay to accept it and it's even greater to give it back.

Do you catch yourself doing what I use to do as well?

Creating a good habit

Hey Everyone,

This past weekend my family (it's still feels surreal to say that) and I went to Renovare; Latin word which means "to renew" or "to restore"; from church. It's also known as a retreat but our pastor doesn't like to call it that because retreat means to withdraw from something difficult or dangerous and that's not what we're trying to do. I like the thought of renewal more then retreating as well.

I really enjoy listening to our Pastor John speak because he doesn't only just preach the word but he shares logical ways to apply it into our life. There were a lot of great things that was addressed and one of the questions that people asked during our discussion time was, "How do you create a good habit?" Our Pastor's response to that was, "the same way you create a bad habit. You just do it."

I really connected with that question because I had a hard time breaking a bad habit of mine for a long time. Ever since I was young I held things off until the last minute and that became a habit. The consequences of procrastinating wasn't as harmful when I was young but as I got older it really bit me in the butt. I've made subtle changes throughout the year but it wasn't enough. This year I really really really wanted to make a change. I knew if I really wanted to achieve my dreams and goals I had to change. The key is I REALLY wanted it. So, I wanted to share a few things I did to create a good habit in my life.

I'm reading a book called "Leading an Inspired Life" by Jim Rohn and this book is what really helped me to create a good habit. I would highly recommend this book because it's such an easy read. The chapters are short so it really makes you feel like you're going through the book really fast which is awesome.

So, how did I create a good habit? The magic word is Discipline: the continuing process that brings all the good things.

"How do you get a miracle going? It's all a matter of discipline. And it begins with one simple step: doing what you can do."

We sometimes look at an undisciplined day and conclude that no harm was done but add up all those days which makes a year, then add up those years which makes a lifetime. Failure is not a cataclysmic event. It's not a result of one major incident but it's a result of little things we failed to do. So, we must be disciplined in order to create good habits. We discipline ourselves to do the little things in our daily life to create a good habit overall.

Here are the steps I took:
1) I started by not procrastinating even on the little things in my life such as: doing the laundry, washing the dishes right away, making my bed, putting my clothes away, writing on my blog, working out, etc. I have to learn to accomplish the small things before I try to accomplish big things.

2) Every time I accomplished something (such as washing the dishes right away) I really congratulated myself. I told myself, "Sandy, you did a great job!" This created confidence and motivated me to continue what I'm doing.

3) I didn't try to over achieve in the beginning. In the past I tried to change too much all at once that I felt unmotivated once I failed to do it but this time I made goals each day I knew I can achieve. Once I started to master those goals I would set higher goals to stretch myself.

4) Just keep doing it! Try your best to be consistent but if you fail to do it once don't feel discouraged. Just keep doing it. Success in anything doesn't happen over night so creating a good habit doesn't either but you can do it.

5) Don't share this new dedication with someone who won't support you but with someone who will truly root for you.

Sometimes when I try to talk myself out of doing something because of fear or other reasons, I think of someone who was able to accomplish it and remind myself that God created me just as great so I can do it too. This always seems to give me the courage and strength when I need it.

I've been applying these steps the past few weeks and I already see a difference in myself. It's like a ripple effect. Since I'm gaining more confidence I feel like I can accomplish a lot more.  I would highly recommend for you to get the book if you want to know more in details as well. I hope this helps you guys in some way.


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Have a great week!

Love,
Sandy