Category: LIVE

On our Linkedin profiles we are asked to describe ourselves in a few words. In fact, in all our social media platforms, we create a “profile” – somehow trying to capture (in just a few words, mind you!) the essence of who we are.

So, who are you? Who do you want to be?

Today I am inspired by this quote from Coco Chanel, the French fashion designer who, in addition to her successful career, somehow also manages to offer such succinct and poetic truths that she is often quoted. I am sure some of you know more about her than I — but I do know there is truth to this statement, attributed to her:

“How many cares one loses when one decides not to be something, but to be someone.” – Coco Chanel

Our mornings (and afternoons and evenings and sleep-deprived nights) are often filled with a long to-do list, which runs like a long-running binge-watching Netflix series that never seems to run out of new episodes. I must: Prepare for the meeting. Write a strategic plan. Pick up contact solution. Schedule a doctor’s appointment. Unload the dishwasher. Load the dishwasher. (How did the sink get full of dishes again?) Review the budget. Prepare a report. Answer a bazillion emails. Send a bazillion more.

What if we changed the focus? What if we thought less about what we have to do today and more about who we want to be today, as Chanel suggests? What if, instead of focusing on our to-do lists, we focused on taking a deep breath in. And out. What if we focused on making a “meaningful contribution to humanity” as Adriene Mishler of Yoga with Adriene said at the end of “Yoga Morning Fresh”?

“When we take time to fill our cup we can then allow it to overflow so we can help others find a meaningful contribution to humanity. But there’s no pressure to do that in a day. So, just do your best and find what feels good. Deep breath in. Long breath out.”

— Adriene Mishler of Yoga with Adriene

What if we began our days with the intention to experience and create beauty in this world of ours? What if we paid attention to the needs and hopes of those with whom we connect?

What cares would we lose if we decided, today, to be:

• Loving
• Focused
• Authentic
• Vulnerable
• Inspirational
• Hopeful

Would we get just as much done? Would we make a meaningful contribution to humanity? Would we create a world that is safer and more beautiful for all of us?

Every now and then I run across an article titled something like: “What successful CEOs do before breakfast” or “The top five things high-performing leaders do before 5 am.”

I don’t know about you, but what I’m doing before 5 am (or 6 am for that matter) is sleeping. And what I’m doing in the morning (after pushing the snooze on my alarm too many times) is running around frantically trying to remember how to make breakfast and lunches in the fog that is the early morning.

For those of you who are a bit more like me and a bit less like the 5 am over-achievers, here is one habit I have developed to begin my work day with the intention to create beauty, be authentic, and inspire those with whom I connect.

If at all possible, I squeeze in an invigorating morning walk (while listening to a thought-provoking or inspiring podcast — often Happier by Gretchen Rubin or the NPR Ted Radio Hour) which is a wonderful oasis between morning craziness and diving into work.

Then, when I sit down at my desk and wait for my computer to start up, I open the top drawer of my desk where I have arranged some beautiful aromatherapy hand cream (aptly named “focus“), a daily gratitude book with mesmerizing National Geographic photos and inspiring quotes on topics like beauty and wisdom, and a beautiful planner I recently purchased (after years of using online calendars).

While my computer starts up, I set up my streaming music, inhale deeply to breathe in the scent of my hand cream, take a moment to gaze at an inspiring photo and take in the deep thoughts of the day, sip my coffee, and then open up my planner to begin my day. This routine makes me excited to sit down at my desk, appeals to all my senses, and helps begin the day with beauty and hope.

What if you created an oasis of beauty and inspiration in your morning routine?

As I imagine and live out my days, I’m often astounded by the intersections of ideas — how learning assessment and leadership development and teaching and playing and creativity and fear and risk and failure and vulnerability and bravery are all necessary parts of the university experience — for both learners and teachers (who are also and always learners as well).

Today I’m inspired (as I often am) by Gretchen Rubin’s thoughts on the intersections between work and play.

“.. conditions matter tremendously. Work that might be enjoyable in some circumstances becomes hideous drudgery in other circumstances” — Gretchen Rubin.

What if we focused more on the “play” aspects of learning — the exciting process of discovering new ideas, the creativity of imagining worlds where the impossible is possible, and the invigorating power of exploration — and discovering the mysteries that lay just around the bend?

What if, as this NPR Ted Radio Hour suggests, we played more “Rock Band” and had fewer committee meetings? Would we unleash our potential for innovation in some new and fresh way? Would we still be taken seriously in the world of academia? Would it matter?