Keen Sun Valley Slipper

I’ve been looking for an indoor shoe that’s more “barefoot” in style than what I have used before. The Keen Sun Valley Slipper is moccasin style with no heel plus a fairly thin and really flexible sole. It’s warm so when the spring comes I’ll most likely truly go barefoot at home.

After a long day on your feet, slip them into the luxurious comfort of the Keen Men’s Sun Valley Slipper. This indoor slipper features an all-leather bottom as well as a super cozy microfleece lining that will cradle your feet in warmth and softness.

Michelangelo Quotes

Ancora imparo, I’m still learning, which is attributed to Michelangelo is valid for me. Here are some Michelangelo quotes.

Every block of stone has a statue inside it and it is the task of the sculptor to discover it.

I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free.

The best artist has that thought alone Which is contained within the marble shell; The sculptor’s hand can only break the spell To free the figures slumbering in the stone.

It is necessary to keep one’s compass in one’s eyes and not in the hand, for the hands execute, but the eye judges.

If people knew how hard I worked to get my mastery, it wouldn’t seem so wonderful at all.

iPhone and me

Today I got my new iPhone 3Gs. I wanted a smart phone and a surftool, in the shop they said iPhone is the best and now I have one. I don’t like the way Apple runs its products as a closed territory but we’ll see how that works out.

The iPhone came in the smallest box I’ve yet seen for a mobile phone. No wonder, there’s no real documentation included, just a small folder. The charger is small and well designed, very nice.

The included documentation is a joke, the information at the Apple website is good but I want more and I have bought The iPhone Book.

I will blog more about the iPhone, applications I use and like.

Three Words Become Five

Chris Brogan has his 3 Words for 2010, with a second level on some of them. Jonathan Fields lists his 10 driving keywords for 2010 in Oh The Places You Will Go.

I list my three key words in Ready for 2010:
Trust means to trust my inner voice, to build trust and to be trustworthy.
Connect goes outwards (connect to more people in real life and virtually, be visible and valuable) as well as inwards (connect to my inner self).
Grow covers to grow my business and to grow as person. It includes to learn and share. I am a life long learner, sharing knowledge and ideas is fun.

Joanna Young has a different approach and picks A Word to Last the Year. Her single word is rhythm and I really like that choice. Some of what rhythm brings to Joanna’s mind are things I like to do too: Walk, Write, Go outside, Go gently, Go with the flow, Trust in the natural cycle of things, Move between different projects I’m working on.

Juliana Finch at write. play. repeat. posts her choice in If you could choose one word…, it’s nourish. I like that too, nourish goes well with my three words above and with what I want to achieve.

I’ve been thinking about how to deal with my words for 2010, shall I stick with my original three or shall I add rhytm and nourish which gives me a full hand? In the end I decided to go for five, to me they integrate very well with my first three words and help me stay on track.

Adding nourish and rhythm actually helped me decide about leaving Inside the Third Tribe. Staying would have helped me grow my blog faster but I risked loosing my rhythm.

The Power of Slow

I read Mindfulness makes you more productive over at Brazen Careerist. It’s an interesting post which in turn took me to the blog The Power of Slow. There’s this great quote:

Slow down and enjoy life. It’s not only the scenery you miss by going too fast – you also miss the sense of where you are going and why.
Eddie Cantor

I like these sentences that I picked from the About-page at The Power of Slow:

Life is in the details. Don’t let it whiz by.

Christine Hohlbaum who runs The Power of Slow is on Twitter as @powerofslow.

Some of my details in life right now: I listen to “The Essential Leonard Cohen” and enjoy some dark chocolate. Life’s good.

I got so interested in learning more that I ordered Christine’s book The Power of Slow: 101 Ways to Save Time in Our 24/7 World. Saving time is not possible but we can learn to use it wiser.

Happy Chinese New Year 2010

Chinese New year 2010

Chinese New Year 2010

Today it’s the Chinese New Year. We enter the year of the tiger, to be more precise it’s the year of the metal tiger. I got this text from a Chinese friend:

Tiger years are brilliant for new and bold moves yet often bad for stock markets as they are marked by drama, upheaval and change. We should have an energetic, powerful year favoring risk and even impulsiveness. September may see a rally in the market though and overall the effect of a metal tiger is positive for business and a great year for networking.

Tiger years

You are a tiger if you were born in;
8 February 1902 – 28 January 1903: Water Tiger
26 January 1914 – 13 February 1915: Wood Tiger
13 February 1926 – 1 February 1927: Fire Tiger
31 January 1938 – 18 February 1939: Earth Tiger
17 February 1950 – 5 February 1951: Metal Tiger
5 February 1962 – 24 January 1963: Water Tiger
23 January 1974 – 10 February 1975: Wood Tiger
9 February 1986 – 28 January 1987: Fire Tiger
28 January 1998 – 15 February 1999: Earth Tiger
14 February 2010 – 2 February 2011: Metal Tiger

This is said about tiger people:

Hasty tigers like you are likely to be empathic, possess great sensitivity and a profound thinker. Respect is your due and yet you can be a little quick to anger and cannot abide bureaucracy, rules and queues. Sometimes indecisiveness can be a trait of yours when under stress. Suspicion can also be a trap that tigers fall into. Tigers are naturally brave, born to power and gain stature easily. Dragons, dogs and Horses are the friends of the tiger.

Ready for 2010

Last year I did post My Best Year Yet 2009 based on the book Your Best Year Yet which describes a great way of working with your plans and evaluation. This year I create a different kind of post, showing where my inspiration comes from in different areas of my process to get ready for 2010.

Simplicity and letting go

Write to Done has a post about Are You drowning in Interesting-Things-to-Read-on-the-Net? Here’s how to cope.

My entire life is flagged-for-follow-up. I’m one big backlog of informative material waiting to be attended to. I hang onto articles because I’m scared of what will happen if I need them one day, and they’re not there. This fear binds me to my stuff. Like many people, I buffer myself with my just-in-cases, instead of flying naked, instead of seeing what will happen if I head out into the clamber armed with just my inner-resourcefulness.

Sarah writes in a comment: 2010 is all about letting go!!! That’s part of my plans for 2010, let go of everything that does not really matter. Simplicity rules.

Ditch or follow through

On a similar note Men With Pens writes about How to Accomplish Your Dreams, this piece of advice is great:

Ditch any idea, dream or goal if you know you’ll never follow through. Go on. Chuck it. Be realistic and save brain space. Free your mind for what you will work on, right here, right now. Quit making yourself feel guilty about all those plans that’ll never come to life. Decide once and for all to let go of the dream.

Jedi Master Yoda says “Do, or do not. There is no ‘try.’” Things to do ‘later’ or to ‘try’ are of little use to us. I intend to prune my lists and focus on what takes me where I want to go.

The horizon of opportunity

I came across Today is the day and what really stuck with me is this:

Today is the day that I see in fresh ways that the horizon of opportunity is 360 degrees

A milestone for me last year was my presentation at Øredev 2009. It was not in my plans but it’s a major achievement for me. During 2010 I’ll be even more open to what comes my way.

Key words

Chris Brogan has picked his 3 Words for 2010. In Oh The Places You Will Go Jonathan Fields lists his 10 driving keywords for 2010. I will keep my three key words that I picked for 2009 since I feel that they still are important to me. In no specific order they are:
Trust means to trust my inner voice, to build trust and to be trustworthy.
Connect goes outwards (connect to more people in real life and virtually, be visible and valuable) as well as inwards (connect to my inner self).
Grow covers to grow my business and to grow as person. It includes to learn and share. I am a life long learner, sharing knowledge and ideas is fun.
My key words work well as corners in a triangle, they complete each other and none is more important than the other. These key words make me agile, it is easy to check new things and ideas against those words.

Ganesha symbolism

A year ago I got a small statue of Ganesh or Ganesha, the Hindu Elephant-Deity. He is also called Ganapati (leader of people), Buddhividhata (god of knowledge) or Vighnahara (god to remove obstacles). I like the Ganesha symbolism,there are some that suits as reminders of my intentions and goals.
Big head – think big.
Small eyes – concentrate.
Rope – to pull you nearer to your highest goal.
Trunk – high efficiency and adaptability.
One tusk – retain good, throw away bad.

Goals

In My Best Year Yet 2009 I did list my top ten goals. This year I have cut it down to top three. In no specific order they are:

  • Build a profitable and sustainable business.
  • Network with a purpose, in real life and virtually.
  • Write more, create and follow a blogging schedule.

Summary

“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” ~DaVinci

My key words (trust, connect, grow) makes it easier to stay on track and to be agile.
360 is a reminder that the horizon of opportunity is 360 degrees.

I intend to care for my mind – body – spirit because if I am not well then everything else will falter too.