One of the data points that always strikes me from my blissness talk with networking is the $948 study.  MIT researchers studied IBM employees and found that for every external contact an IBM employee had in their email address book, that was worth $948 in potential revenue to the company.  So–I gave every gal in the room some homework – to go home, hit their social networking sites, and calculate what the network was worth.

I also must walk the talk – so I did this myself:

LinkedIn: 1,950 contacts
Facebook: 995 contacts
Twitter: 3,451 (just counted @yuspie – not the other accounts)
Pinterest: 200 (just counted overall followers – not for individual boards)

(And yes, there’s overlap – and other sites like slideshare, instagram, etc. that also count, but I didn’t count here.)

Total of above?  6,596
More Math: 6596 x $948.00 = $6,253,008

Wow.  I have a 6 Million Dollar Network!

Awesome.

So – have you calculated your network’s value?  Furthermore, and maybe even more important – have you shared this with your boss?  If your boss is you, have you considered this?

Something definitely to think about….

The projects.

We are all about our projects now.

I was trying to think back to the last few projects I worked on.  Some rocked.  Some totally failed.  Some–who knows?  But I learned something from each of them.  Here’s a sampling:

1.  Children’s Pharmacy Book – SUCCESS – I learned on this project that interdisciplinary teams, if the right people, can accomplish great things.  Of course, I already knew this, but it was reconfirmed on this project.  Furthermore, I learned that Gen Y can work well on teams too.  Last but not least, I learned to have a little faith in the process.  Coming off of a former book project that was a complete and utter failure, I made it very clear with this team that the idea might not work.  But after one of the students said to the group after I gave a disclaimer that would make any law school proud, “Don’t worry, Dr. Albert.  It will be alright,” I had to have faith.  And I’m glad I did.  I deem this a success not because we got it published, but because a 7 year old daughter of a faculty member finally understands what her mommy does professionally.  I also deem this a success when one of our college grandmothers successfully reads the book cover to cover with her 21 month old grandson.  This one worked.

2.  Coordination of Pharmacy Law – SUCCESS – My endpoint here was primarily survival this spring.  I never coordinated a pharmacy law course before.  Not only did I have the pressure to make sure the students understood the federal and state drug laws, but I also wanted to make sure the students knew how to talk policy with lawmakers from this class too.  Frankly, there’s nothing more powerful than going straight to a lawmaking source to make sure they understand what you do as a profession.  Anyway, while my didactic lectures could use more interactivity and polish next time, I think it overall was a success, because of the policy add, and because of the Henrietta Lacks assignment add as well.  I failed when my students didn’t do great on their exams, but I’m hoping it pays off when they go to take their law exams in the end when the stakes are higher.

3.  My last book, Plan C – ?????? – I got the message across in the book that I wanted to: that people can rock the day job AND a part time biz on the side.  (If you’ve never read my blog before – we’re all entrepreneurs now – like it or lump it.)  Did I do everything I could to successfully promote the book?  No.  I had work obligations that were on aggressive timelines that warranted more attention than ever before at the day job this spring semester, and so I put the book into publication last November.  Could I do more with this?  Yes.  Am I ahead of my time on this one?  Maybe.  But if I had to do it all over again, I doubt I would have done it differently.

4.  Law school – ?????? – I guess I could consider law school a project here.  Was it a success?  I don’t know.  And I honestly probably won’t know until about 20 years from now.  Did I study as hard as I could have?  No.  Could I have done better in some classes, particularly the ones I loathed?  Probably.  But I also did a few things that I was pretty proud of – like Law Review (when everyone told me I couldn’t do it because I had a day job.  Sorry, peeps, you were wrong on that one), and the fellowship, China, and starting a law society.  That’s all pretty cool stuff that I didn’t really expect along the way, but I’m glad I did them.  I’m not ready to call it a success just yet.  We’ll have to wait and see.

I guess I can now say – you are your projects now…at least according to HBR.  Is that fair?  I don’t know.  But I have been asking about resumes…and sounds like they’re dead.  It’s all about the project portfolio, peeps.  You were warned…just watching your back!

One of my friends started this morning by posting a blog article about women knocking down other women when they become successful.  She called it crabbiness. I replied to her post that I was a little torn about women helping other women.  On one hand, if another woman asks me for an opinion, I’ll give it.  On the other, if I didn’t ask for feedback, I really don’t want it.

I ask those I respect and admire, while realizing that EVERYONE, including the unsuccessful, has opinions.  But I prefer getting feedback from those who have succeeded, been there, done that, and to whom I respect, not really anyone else.  Furthermore, I can’t stand it when people (men and women included) come out of nowhere and ask me for favors that haven’t been in my life.  While I love to promote good people, I struggle with the lack of social capital respect in the drive by shooting social capital requests.  So, I’m feeling a bit waffly here.  Is that crabby?  I don’t know.

Then, one of my mentors I went to lunch with (who always kicks my butt, BTW) shared with me some “watch out” stories about some other situations in town.  She wasn’t being catty at all, she was merely being a good mentor, but in one case, my gut totally agreed with my mentor’s assessment of this third person she was describing, who clearly IS catty.  I was grateful for the heads up, because it reconfirmed what I already had suspected.

So, to the heart of my post – what do you do with a catty person heading your way?  First, NOT ALL women are catty. Dudes can be catty too–albeit rarer.  Second, I’m talking about this in a business context, not a real housewives of wherever way.  Third, I think there’s better ways to handle the cats when they head towards your sandbox.  Here’s how I’ve done it in the past, and I’d be curious to hear how others handle them too:

1.  Keep your cool – I like this article, because it talks about what to do in this situation, and the fact that cats are like bullies – they want to see you cry, because it gives them power.  They like rustling your emotions up.  Best way to handle that?  Never let them see you emote.  Shut down on them, and they detest that.  If they can’t rile you up, then they lose their power.  Awesome.  Stick that in their meow mix!

2.  Roar back – There was a case not too long ago where someone really got in my grill about giving a talk, and I had keep repeating “No” in a lot of different ways.  I really wanted to ask if they didn’t get the “n” or the “o” part, but sometimes, the average adult needs to hear something at least 9 times before it sticks.  “No” is included in that, and a lot of cats need to hear it 18 times before it sticks.  Keep repeating it.

3.  Disengage – If you see the cat coming – go back deeper into the jungle.  Seriously, there are people in my sphere who and when I see coming, it’s just best to run and get out of the way! Don’t even give the cat a chance for a swipe at you.  You only have 9 lives, don’t waste them on this emotional feline vampire.

There’s 3.  I don’t have a lot of great solutions here – just a few that have worked well for me.  It’s best to channel your energy to those you love, to those who treat you with respect, and to those whom you respect.  Don’t waste the energy on the cats.  You have only a finite amount–spend it on those you love.  And never, ever let the cats see you sweat or cry.  That just gives them more energy.  Save it – and give it to those who really matter!

1. MCA passed away – he was 47.  If you have no idea who he was, he was part of The Beastie Boys.  This was a rap group back when I was growing up.  They were awesome. MCA apparently battled cancer.

2. My cat, Bob passed away – he was 17.  If you have no idea who he was, he was the best furry little cat I ever had in my life, also back when I was growing up.  He was awesome.  Bob (or “B” as I called him) battled hyperthyroidism, then renal failure.

Bob adopted me when he was just a kitten, and when I was just embarking on my life post-college.  First house, first car, first cat.  He stayed with me through several houses, moves, jobs, boyfriends, etc.  He was there.  He was the. Best.

I called one of my friends because she had big great news, then when we chatted about Bob, she remarked that him staying around long enough was really to see me through law school.  I think she’s right, actually.  It was a great gift, and I’m sure he knew he was helping to move me forward, just like the first time when he came into my life and I was launching my first adult life post college.  I truly am grateful.

However, death sucks.  Especially when it takes our peeps and pets too early.  I will miss MCA and his music.  I will miss Bob and his awesomeness.  Rest in peace, both of you.  Hopefully you are somewhere in a big field of catnip, where the Beastie Boys are rapping in the background.

That would be a good version of the next life.

Allow me to explain.

It’s been 4 years, pretty much year-round of the following schedule for me:

1. get up,
2. go to work,
3. go to school (while the humans go home and relax),
4. go to bed,
5. repeat.

I’m struggling with bullet 3 currently.  There’s commuter traffic messes that I’m suddenly dealing with again (Oh, by the way, northbound I69-116th street interchange reconstruction chief planner: perfect timing on this coupled with my law school cessation).  I get home now…and there’s no cases to read.  There’s no writing to do.  There’s no calculations for patent term extensions I have to do.

This. Is. Weird.

That’s why I think after 4 years of this wheel, there should be a slower off ramp, rather than a sudden stop of the wheel.  We’re all getting whiplash.  (Or is it just me?)  I don’t know.  But when you are so used to literally cranking it out nonstop for 4 years, it is hard to just…stop.

They have reintegration programs for prisoners and schizophrenics….why not law students?  (ESPECIALLY students in part time evening programs.)  Did I just compare law school to prison and schizophrenia?  I believe I did.  Sorry about that.  But it is true – readjusting one’s lifestyle is just hard to do overnight.

No worries, I’ll be back on another wheel called “bar review and preparation” in a couple of weeks.  I’m sure some sense of 4 year previous normalcy will return then.

Maybe.

One of my twitter homies asked me if I had a personal and a professional/business handle on Twitter and SM, and more interestingly, why?

In fact I do have multiple handles–I’m on twitter under @yuspie and @pharmllc professionally, and personally as @ErinLAlbert.  (I have one other twitter handle too about a personal passion that really has nothing to do with any of these other items, but it’s a secret.  It’s not too hard to figure out.)  I also tweet for the day job @ButlerCOPHSexed.  I channel the most energy into @yuspie.

I told him I thought first and foremost I was no expert – certainly I’m just hacking my way through cyberspace like everyone else in this great online experiment.  But I also second thought that it is kind of important to separate you from your brand.  Thinking about it longer this morning, here’s my best explanation why.

If your brand is YOU – keep them together.  Be authentic.  That gets tricky, however, if you’re professional and your brand…isn’t, esp. if you have a professional day job, and your side gig brand is just that–a side gig.  If you have a personal brand AND business brands, you may want to keep them separate, because one day someone might want to buy your company brand – but if you are so tied up in that brand, will you be able to segregate and separate?  If not, that’s a problem–especially if you want to be out and sipping Mai-Tais on a beach somewhere after you’ve built your vast empire.

Last but not least – listen to your gut on this one.  I don’t know if anyone really has any great answers here.  Also, the brand pioneers I admire online I might suggest you follow – people like Cory Booker, Dan Pink, Gary Vaynerchuk, etc.  There are some who are brilliant marketers that I won’t mention here, because I hate their brands….but some definitely have it figured out more than others.

Unfortunately, I’m not there, yet.

But I’m working on it!

First question regarding the aforementioned L school.  I know what you’re thinking, the big one: “Albert, would you do it again if you had to redo it all over again?”  First off, that’s probably not a proper question for me right now, since I’m not officially “done” just yet.  I have one more final to get through, then graduation, then the bar.  Ask me that later for a more accurate answer.  The later, the better.

However, if I had to do it all over again at this immediate moment, here’s what I would change.

1. Classes – I definitely would have NOT taken some classes just because they were on the bar.  I talked to a friend who already took the bar, and didn’t take one of the key classes allegedly for the bar that I personally detested, and she said like she rocked that section BECAUSE she was forced to learn it only for the bar.  Props to her.  I definitely would have dumped that GPA killer, without a doubt.  So my advice to you, should you choose this law school adventure?  Take the classes YOU WANT to take.  Don’t take stuff just because it is “on the bar.”  (And some of my law mentors told me this awesome advice, which I did not heed in a few obvious cases.  Shame on me.  Don’t be me.)

2. Professors – like #1, I definitely would have been much more cognizant of which professors I took in courses if I had to do it all over again too.  As I’ve said in previous posts, I was kind of surprised by how interested (or not) I was in a course based upon the professor’s knowledge and interest in the topic.  There were definitely some classes where the profs had a passion, and some where they clearly did not.  Avoid the did not-ers.  Avoid them like the plague.  Take classes you may not be interested in topically if you KNOW the prof rocks at that particular subject.  You’ll be pleasantly surprised that their passion for the class bleeds into your skin.

3.  More summer stuff – I ran out of time, but I’d definitely try my hand at more summer opportunities if given a deux over again.  There were a lot of really cool summer fellowships, health/public health law programs over the summer that I should have paid more attention to applying for during my law school tenure.  Again, don’t be like me.  If you see something cool that might expound upon your law school learning over the summer, go for it.  Do it.  Because it may be the only and last time of your life that you CAN do it.

4.  Less drama – I gave up on great grades sometime after my high school career and definitely at college.  But there’s some students who just love to hold on to that ___laude thing.  I say, great – if that’s what you want.  But personally?  I’d get less caught up in the drama if I had to do it over again.  Frankly, I didn’t and don’t have much time for that.  I’m too busy getting my stuff DONE to be complaining about a B+ v. an A-.  Besides, wasn’t there a study that showed that the 3.2-3.5 GPA students were always the rock stars at the 20th year reunion instead of the gunner 4.0 GPAers anyway???

5.  Law review – this is one thing I did differently from everyone else’s (or nearly everyone else’s) advice.  They told me NOT to do law review.  I won’t have time as an evening student, etc., blah blah blah.  I’m here to tell you that yes, you CAN and SHOULD do law review.  It IS worth the hassle.  I’m glad I ignored those who advised against it and did it anyway (not that I need any help going against the grain).  The only thing I might have done differently around this was push harder to get on the editorial board the second year, but in retrospect, everything happens for a reason, and I’m glad it turned out as it did.  My point here?  Do the extra curricular stuff you want to do – and ignore what  everyone else thinks and says.  You have to answer to one person in the end: yourself.

6.  Professional outlines and other amateur outlines – I probably would have joined BarBri and PDP earlier my 1L year if I had to do it over again, just so I’d have access to awesome outlines for the courses I took.  Seriously – sometimes it is just good to have another point of view on a course outline, and sometimes, you just aren’t checked in enough to get all the salient points.  That is why it is helpful to have outlines to back up your happy studying.  Join PAD or PDP your 1L year or any other fraternity or sorority that has awesome outlines at your school – I recommend.  That way you also have upper class peeps to chat with about who to take and avoid early on.

Lastly: the money issue, which is probably the toughest hill to climb for some, and of which my opinion is this:  My law school is one of the most affordable programs for in state people in the entire country.  But if you’re going to shell out $50K a year to go to a top 5 law school, and you don’t have the money ready to go, I want you to really think long and hard about accepting that admissions offer.  A tort is a tort is a tort.  A contract is still the same, no matter what law school you attend, and the ‘traditional law firm’ positions and jobs aren’t out there like they used to be.

While I was reading the book Academically Adrift last night for another class, I ran into a quote by Anton Scalia about who he picks as judicial clerks for the Supreme Court.  He also talks about the elite law schools in it.  I’ll let you look up the quote in the book, because repeating it here makes my blood pressure go up–and quite honestly, I couldn’t disagree with him more, so I won’t do the disservice of spreading what I think is completely wrong.

However, in law school, I also had one of my law professors tell the entire class that we are just as good as the Yale and Harvard and Stanford trained law students.  Again–a tort is a tort, a contract is a contract, the rules of Civ Pro are the same…you get the picture.  And while I may not have an ivy degree anywhere in my near future?  I guess I’ll cry all the way to graduation in the limo…then the bank.  Because I still have money left in my bank account, which is more than I can say for some of those ivy league peeps.

That’s really all I have for you.  Go forth, and if you still want to try your hand at the law shindig after reading my six part wrap up of the law school tilt-a-whirl, go for it!

(You know where I’m going with this, right?)

So, naturally before I read the lists, I wanted to check and see if there’s a list of the 40 things every woman should know by age 40.  There is an article about the 40 things every mom should have and should know by 40, but this really didn’t cut it for me, since I’m not a mom.  There’s 40 Things Every Woman Must Know About Men, Love, Sex and Relationships – but again, missed the mark.  Don’t really care, because that is one tiny fraction of my entire life.  Strike two.

So, I didn’t bother looking for a strike 3.  This is a hint from the universe that I need to lay down my 40 things by 40 right here, right now.

Let’s do this.

The 40 Things Every Woman Should Know/Be/Have/Do By Age 40:

1.   Have at least $100,000 saved in retirement.  It would be better if you had $250K.  Even better with even more.  And I’m not talking a joint account here.  I’m talking your very own personal IRA, 401K, 403B, etc.  Not. Joint. Just. Yours.

2.  Earned a college degree.  If you don’t have one and hit 40, it is never, I repeat, NEVER too late to go back.  I’m in law school now with friends well into their 50s. One of the admins at work just completed her Associate’s Degree.  I say, bravo.  Because education is really the one thing they can never take back from you.  And, the more educated the woman, the more likelihood she’s going to be independent in a lot of other ways.

3.  Have had at least one great love that took a long time to get over.  I’ve had my share.  It builds character.  Jane was right.

4.  Have at least one ex that you would still like to have a beer with.  Just one.  Any more than that – you might start living in the past, and I don’t want you to do that.  Besides, there was a reason it didn’t work out.  Don’t over analyze.

5.  Have a place of your own.  Does that mean buy a house?  Not necessarily.  That would be next to impossible in NYC or San Fran or Paris.  But that place can be yours–you can rent it.  It can be a co-op.  It can be a walk up.  The point?  It’s your personal space and you’ve dared to live alone.

6.  Decided one way or the other if you really want kids.  I’m 98% sure I’m never going to have a kid.  I think college and law school both make me appreciate not procreating.  But you really should have this figured out by the time you hit 40.

7.  Traveled to at least 5 other countries besides the one you live in currently.  The older I get, the more I value experiences over things.  If you don’t travel, why not?  Do it.  I’m so invigorated when I go on my travels, and when I come home and explain the places to my friends and family.

8.  Written something published somewhere.  I don’t care if you’re a professional writer or not.  I don’t care if you were an English lit major or not.  I just want you to document that you’ve thought and analyzed for yourself about something…anything.  We’re all here for a reason.  Share.

9.  Have or had a pet.  Unless you’re allergic, having a pet is one of the greatest relationships one can have with another being on the planet.  My cat, Bob, has been with me since he was a kitten, now about 17 years ago.  He’s had some major health problems, but he’s still with me.  He’s been with me through the breakups, the moves, the let downs and the good times.  Where else are you possibly going to get this kind of relationship?

10.  Learned from a tragedy.

11.  Sang in public.  Preferably sober.

12.  Ate something that initially freaked you out…and now can’t get enough of it.  For me, that’s sushi.  (Although, there was some freaky stuff I tried in China, and I still don’t dig it.  But I tried it.)

13.  Fought for a cause…or two.  Or more.  You should have fought for a cause bigger than yourself by now.

14.  Paid off all your loans.  OK, I’ll let you keep your mortgage if you still have one, but other than that?  You really should be done with student loans and doing stupid stuff with credit cards by 40.

15.  Have some enemies.  ‘Enemies’ is a strong word, but if you did something from bullet 13, chances are you made a few enemies along the way.  That’s good.  That means you pissed someone off enough for them to be mad at you.  You made them take notice. Booyah.

16.  Be awesome at one thing.  It would be great if you were awesome at more than one thing.  I can’t be awesome at one thing, I have to try a lot of things.  But if you’re doing and rocking the very best you can be and do with at least one thing in your life, you’ve arrived.  Congrats.

17.  Asked at least one boss for at least one raise in your life.  If you haven’t had this battle fought for yourself by yourself, who will?

18.  Haggled.  On something else.  The China Pearl Market was one of the best places to play this game and learn how to negotiate.  Ironically, I went there for a Chinese Law course, but I think the other students and I had more fun learning how to negotiate there than any mediation or negotiation stuff learned in school.  Besides, ZOPA is cooler when it involves a watch or a pearl necklace in the end.

19. Kept one man in your life for all the wrong reasons, and then finally let him go.  This again is a good educator.

20. Failed at something.  Horribly.  Terribly.  And totally learned from that experience.  I fail on almost a daily basis now, but I view it as just another step closer to something actually succeeding. You won’t know until you try.

21.  Fired someone.  This sucks, but it is an important teacher.

22.  Hired someone.  This rocks, and it also is an important teacher.

23.  Studied something just for fun.  No grade.  No college credit.  Just. Fun.

24.  Built something from IKEA on your own, or built something on your own with your own two hands.

25.  Restored something.  I’ve rehabbed many houses in my day, but my favorite all time project was taking the heat gun to the front door of my last house built the in 1920s.  They don’t build houses that way anymore, and that also went for the door.  It had about 7 layers of paint on it, but I burned it all off, sanded it down, stained it and sealed it.  Immediate gratification–and a restored beauty to an awesomely beautiful 2 inch thick solid wood door.  I also unearthed a fountain in the backyard of that house.  Totally. Amazing!

26.  Had a bad hangover.  It too build character, and reminds all of us not to overdo it.

27.  Got fired or laid off.  This one may be controversial, but when I was laid off from the one and only job I was ever “let go” from, it changed me.  I now view work very differently because of it.  I highly recommend the experience (although, don’t turn into a slacker and/or do something illegal just to mark this off the list…)

28.  Have been or be a driving force in someone’s life.  Not just your own.  Be someone that someone else looks up to and admires.

29.  Flown on an airplane.

30.  Have a passport, ready to go at a moment’s notice.

31.  Been on a subway/metro/mass transit.  (I know, tough for some cities…eh hem…Indy…but to experience the metro, the tube, the NYC subway, or even the subway in Beijing makes you appreciate mass transit…AND at some times, your car!)

32.  Realized that you are mortal.  I have creaky knees now.  I also have a thing in my ankle that bugs me if I wear heels all day.  Realizing that even Supergirl is going to one day depart is a strong motivator to start getting some serious dookie done.

33.  Written a book.  I know I said published something earlier – and if your published work was a book, you can knock out 2 on this list.  Awesome.  But, everyone has at least one book in them.  What’s your story?  Write about what you know, and enjoy the ride of writing a book.

34.  Spoken in front of an audience of at least 250 people.  Under that number is a normal gig.  Over 250 is when things get serious.  My last 250 audience was at a work function.  It’s hard to reach the peeps at the back of the room.  Being a rockstar in this arena is hard for me.  But I do speak whenever I can, to as big an audience as I can, because it helps push me beyond my comfort zone.

35.  Considered running for office.  I know what you’re thinking–WTF?!?  I know.  This one sounds a little crazy.  ESPECIALLY with Washington DC being dysfunction junction right now.  But we really, really, really need some more awesome women in politics.  It’s totally a boys’ club right now, and I personally have considered running for office myself.  What is my answer on this?  Stay. Tuned.

36.  Started at least one venture.  I didn’t say company necessarily here.  You could have started a cause from scratch, a business (for profit, NFP, or somewhere in between), an idea, or even a movement.  Just please have started SOMETHING by age 40.

37.  Have at least 6 months of a Oh Sh*t Fund set aside.  (Call it a Rainy Day fund if you like for PG-13.)  Whatever.  Just have 6-12 months of $$ set aside in case you do get laid off, or something crazy happens.

38.  Have a will, durable power of attorney for medical, living will, and a plan for death.  Sounds a little morbid, but do you really want to put all those burdens on your family and friends when they are totally wigged out that you’re on life support?  Here’s my solution: TRIP OVER THE CORD if I’m on life support, please!  (And yeah, I do have all the legal documents above.)

39.  Play.  Make fun time happen.  We get so serious as adults (see 38.).  We must get over this.

40.  If you don’t like where you are when you hit 40, change it.  Thanks, Dr. Obvious.  While it may sound obvious to some, being 40 isn’t a death sentence.  It’s statistically the beginning of the second half of your life (if you live to be the average age of 80).  Think about it.  You still have a LOT more living to do, so if you’re feeling stuck or in a rut or you’re just not in the direction you want to be in, YOU have the power to change it, and probably ONLY YOU.  So, get to gettin’!

There.  I’m off to read the 30s list to make sure I didn’t miss anything, and the 50s list to see what I have to look forward to.  For the rest of you – enjoy my list for 40 Things Every Woman Should Know By 40!  And regardless of my list, make sure you’re following your own list – whatever that may be.

She’s a “senior” – that means she’s about to graduate from the Aveda School.  Other than dirt cheap pricing, use of Aveda products on your head, and the blue room (my personal favorite), what I loved yesterday was that I used Pinterest to show the hairdresser which cut I wanted.  When I flashed up the hair board on Pinterest on my phone, she looked at the photo, then said:

“Tell me what you like about it.”

Wow.  Overall, I hadn’t thought through the details – I just liked the overall photo.  However, I articulated my favorite things about it, and then she re-iterated them to her instructor.

OK – why am I telling you all this?  (Other than I typically have the time to go about once a year to get my hair done, and it is a rare treat.)  I’m telling you about my theme all week–and that is, to figure out what you LIKE in your life, so you can bring it to the front of your BRAIN, and get MORE OF IT into your life.  I’ve been working on a project around this too this week, where I was playing the hairdresser, and asking people what they liked about their work.

So…here it comes, my 64K question to you, my 13 friends in the internet ether: tell me what you LIKE about your life!  And, the more you articulate that – riddle me this: how can you get more of that into your life?  Which, in turn, will free you from more of the junk you DO NOT want to do.  Seriously.  Take my challenge–today and every day moving forward–it will get you to really think about what is truly important to you.  And maybe?  Give you a shot at living an even better life.

(Oh, and in case you’re curious – my cover photo on Pinterest is the haircut I chose.  The cut is done, and the color is also coming soon.)