You know the saying, “Some people are just lucky,” right? We’ve all heard it. My friend Dan is definitely one of those people. No matter what he does, it always works out for him. Do you know anyone like that? “I find that the harder I work, the more luck I have. -Thomas Jefferson. The truth is “luck” is just a characteristic in success people and here is how you can create your own luck: I. Position Yourself: Lucky people will constantly put themselves in a position to be “lucky”. They show up to the table, they connect and they tell others what they need. They know nothing will happen if they just sit back and wait for it. II. Prepare: Lucky people usually prepare for the great things that happen to them. Whether it is doing creative investigation work to network with the right people or taking facts and skills learned at an earlier time and applied to a new situation, lucky people always prepare for situations. III. Solutions: Lucky people know that there is more than one way to make things happen, so they are constantly in search for ways for things to go there way. And if [...]
By Ja-Naé Duane
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Also posted in Adventure, Creativity, Uncategorized
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Tagged bad luck, get good luck, good luck charms, Happiness, how to create luck, pot luck, quotes on luck, symbols of luck, what is luck
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Do you shy away from the unknown or do you welcome the unexpected? Ever since I was a little girl I have thrived on curiosity and questioning things. However, many colleagues I know in business stick like glue to the familiar. They rely on the routine things that have served them in well in the past, and avoid anything new and different. This attitude can maintain stability, but if you’re not curious you are doomed to the same experiences without ever growing in business or in life. This article by Donald Latumahina at Lifehack tells of the virtues of curiosity. Curiosity gives you a fresh perspective, allowing you to discover fresh ideas. Being curious makes you more observant and opens up new worlds and possibilities you wouldn’t otherwise consider while also adding the spice of variety to your life. Some of my best ideas for projects, as well as some of my best adventures, have come from stepping outside of my comfort zone and following my curious nature. For these reasons, curiosity should be a quality you cultivate. So here are some things you can do to be more curious in your life: Do Not Ignore the Mundane. We all [...]
By Ja-Naé Duane
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Also posted in Adventure, Arts, Creativity, Innovation, Marketing, Philosophy, Strategy, Uncategorized
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Tagged curiosity quotes, curious quotes, find happiness, finding happiness
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We all dream about living somewhere else, right? Even if we love where we live now, it is the romantic notion of trying something new, something exotic. Am I right? I posed this question on Facebook this morning, “If you could move anywhere, where would you go and why?” Here are some of the answers: “I live where I most want to be. Not sure why anyone would do otherwise.” -Michael Troiano Though I agree with Mr. Michael, I am somewhat nomadic in nature and like to test out places before I decide to hang my hat and call somewhere home. Why? before I commit to a significant move, I want to know that I can be equally as happy in my new location as I am in Boston. For the freelancers out there, here are 3 ways to discover new cities and which location would make you happiest. I. Air BnB: The beauty of being a freelancer is that you can work from anywhere. So, why not sublet your place out and try out a new city for a month. I love using Air BnB because of the built in community component, rating system, as well as the variety [...]
By Ja-Naé Duane
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Also posted in Adventure, Creativity, Spirituality, Strategy, Travel, Uncategorized
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Tagged achieving happiness, Adventure, Happiness, land living, life style, lifestyle, lifestyle online, live anywhere, the freelancer
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I shared a late dinner with my friend Janice recently. Janice is mostly successful pursuing her own projects, but often lets her pessimism impede her success. She’s always thinks something bad will happen that will totally derail one of her projects. Then, when something good does happen, she doesn’t believe she deserves it and waits for the other shoe to drop. Does this sound like you? Too often we allow negativity to get in the way of our success by feeling undeserving of that success. We all must learn to receive and accept the good things that happen to us as the rewards of our hard work. If you do not know how to receive, you may never get what you want. Here’s how you can be more receptive. 1. Notice Your Work. Success more often comes from working smart rather than working hard. But since most people believe that success is they payoff of hard work, they do not feel like they deserve it if it came from smart work. This is not true. Always take time to think about the effort you put in and commend yourself for working smart to achieve your goals. This will help you [...]
This weekend, I met with my friend Mark who explained to me that his overconfidence actually got in the way of his success. I know, this flies in the face of everything we keep hearing about “confident people are successful people.” But the problem for Mark was his cockiness; thinking he knew it all. Believing he always knew what was best often ended up tripping him up in the long run. Confidence is good, and something we should all strive for. But some lament being overconfident and getting in over their head. The secret is to know your limitations and strike a balance between confidence, which inspires others, and cockiness, which alienates others. Here are three ways to cultivate confidence while tempering overconfidence: 1. Display confidence, but always question yourself. Even the most confident among us have doubts. But lingering doubts undermine the confidence of those who work under us, eventually unwinding the trust others have in your leadership and the task at hand. Leaders need to be a source of guidance to inspire others and keep group confidence strong. But at the same time, you should always continue to question and reassess your decisions in private. 2. Know when [...]
January 27, 2011 – 11:08 am
A Kodak moment can capture a memory in time, but more often than not, tourists take unnecessary pictures of attractions that a million other tourists have already photographed. The camera can be a mental barrier between seeing something and experiencing something. Ask yourself, am I here to experience a new culture or am I here to have a new picture to show off on my Facebook page?
December 31, 2010 – 10:52 am
Have milestone goals within projects, relationships and partnerships. Commit yourself to that goal and then once reached, assess whether or not you want to move forward. If there are other parties involved, make sure that they are in agreement with the milestone that is set.
November 24, 2010 – 9:06 am
The things we are most grateful for seem to come to us from the most unexpected places. This guest blog post for ConnectCops and how I met the site owner are no different. After the 140 Conference in Boston, I began conversing with some amazing people I had met earlier in the day. Next thing I know, I began sharing a small bit of my story in which a few detectives helped me realize I had to turn my life around. After a few tears (yes, I cried. Don’t tell anyone. ), Lauri Stevens asked for the following from me. This post is dedicated to Detective Brown and Detective Burke of the West Haven, Connecticut Police Department. You can save a life. You may not be aware that it is happening—it could be a simple conversation, a violent interaction, or just your presence in a situation. Some small part of your day-to-day that you wouldn’t normally blink at could be the life changing moment for someone else. It was for me. I was dragged into the station on two counts of mail fraud. Who knew that sending threatening letters to people through the mail would be a federal offense? I [...]
My surrogate sister, Sara, has been over in China studying and teaching for about a year and a half now. Her experience of acclimating into another culture made me curious to see what creative benefits there are to living aboard. In Psychology Time’s article,”Can living abroad make you more creative,” Art Markman asks just that: The idea here is that when you go to a different culture, there are often subtle differences that you have to learn about. For example, in the US, if you go to someone’s house and they offer you a drink or snack, you respond “Yes” or “No” depending on whether you want a snack. In Russia, though, it is impolite to say “Yes” the first time something is offered, and so you refuse the first request. The host asks again, and after a brief negotiation, you may settle on having a snack. A Russian visiting the US for the first time might refuse the offer of a snack, only to be surprised that she is not asked a second time. Eventually, she must learn that the practices are different. To read the entire article, click here. What are your thoughts? Have you ever lived abroad? [...]
