Pricing Strategy

There is a price to be paid for everything. I was reviewing some notes in my journal today and came across a snippet in reference to success and the desire that must be present in order to achieve a life vision...

"Success comes when the fear of failing to achieve your dream is greater than the fear of the cost that must be paid"

I am not a big proponent of "fear" in general, but I understand this to mean, a) there must be a dream or purposeful goal present for there to even be a purpose and b) it has to hold enough personal meaning to create that feeling of a quest or a mission.

Today I saw the winner of the national spelling bee on the news. I don't know how old he is, but they asked him how he managed to win this time after all the spelling bees he has been in. Apparently over the last 3 years or so he lost on a word with a German origin, so he spent lots of time studying German origin words and he ended up winning on one this year. I think that kid was on a quest to accomplish a goal that had a lot of personal meaning. I can't imagine caring about something THAT much that I would want to spend the kind of time and energy it would take to accomplish that goal.

I keep trying to come up with my BIG dream. What matters so much to me that I can direct my energy and focus to that ONE thing that will make personal sacrifice worth while? Frankly, I am still working on it.

There is another note in my book that says, "design a future for yourself or others will design it for you." I have felt this to be true throughout my life - decisions and directions being handled for me, while I don't care enough or feel enough conviction to redirect myself in a different way.

Don't get me wrong, I have a blessed life and I am not complaining and, for the most part, I don't have a ton of regrets (maybe some); I guess I am saying there is just as high a cost associated with indecision as there is with sacrificing to achieve a dream - they just LOOK different.

At my company they often talk about pricing strategy when selling a home. Generally speaking, if your home is not getting showings and you don't have an offer in the first 2 to 3 weeks (the market is hot in Utah right now), your home is most likely overpriced and will require a price change to create interest and activity.

I think it is the same in life - if the price is too high there must be a reduction in the cost to achieve the ultimate goals and/or the dream or goal MUST be meaningful enough to endure the cost that will be paid to achieve it. For me, the trick is figuring out what that ultimate dream looks like...the sky's the limit.

I Am Grateful,
HB

Diva Quote: "You've got to be very careful if you don't know where you are going, because you might not get there." Yogi Berra

Free Books for Sale

I was just in the middle of a "whoa is me" post when I remembered something GREAT that happened this weekend; actually, one of many great things that happened. I went to the library on Saturday, paid my $28 late fee (Hey, Summit County Library, your welcome to the donation due to my irresponsibility) and checked out a few books on CD and a few books to read. I LOVE going to the library and have learned it is essential to MAKE time to do this every month or so AND to make time to renew my books online every few weeks as well, but I digress; as I was leaving the library I saw a "book sale" sign and ventured in for a look see.

WOW - $.50 for a hard back and $.25 for a paperback books. I walked out of there with $8 worth of books (that is 12 books). It would have been more if I could have carried more - what a DEAL!! I felt like I was getting away with stealing...FROM the library. The only hard thing to do when I got home was to decide whether I should read a free library book (not actually free when I am paying $28) OR a relatively free book that I might mix up with my free library books...oh the wonderful dilemma's we face in life. 

I admit to using two of the relatively free books to boost up the disposable paint trays that Trav purchased (I didn't realized you need a REAL tray to put underneath them to keep them upright so the paint doesn't just slide out of the thing - I also asked Trav to purchase a long handled paint roller - he came home with just the stick because I didn't specify that I needed the actual roller to attach...men...I couldn't very well send him back to the store for a 3rd time could I?) so I could stain the dinner deck on Monday (see another great thing that happened this past weekend), but I needed a quick solution and there it was for $1...Multi-tasking books, who knew? 

I am reading one right now that I was immediately drawn to...it is called "Do It! Let's get off our buts". Here are some examples that I related to immediately:

"I want to be healthier, but..."

"I know how important it is to love myself, but..."

"I want a fulfilling career, but..."

"I want a nurturing relationship, but..."

You get the idea. Anyway, so far my favorite part are all the quotes scattered throughout the book. I have even started skimming ahead to read them - mostly I am excited to share them as my daily, ok, not quite daily, "Diva Quote" to share on my blog posts.

I also loved one part that explains the true meaning of "but" - it is the one word that makes everything that came before it mean absolutely nothing. "You look great in that shirt, BUT that color doesn't suit you". The truer meaning to that sentence is "you should change your shirt". I will not be using that word in the same way from now on, but I will most likely still use it here and there. :) 

I Am Grateful,

HB

Diva Quote: "I always wanted to be somebody, but I should have been more specific." Lily Tomlin

Self Discipline

Every day my boss makes a 3 minute message that he has sent out to the whole company. I have been moving them into the file I created just for him and was saving them up for when I have "more time". Duh. I think I have over 2 hours worth saved up for "later".

At last weeks staff meeting one of my co-workers asked all of us if we took the time to listen to the daily message...I sheepishly tried to pretend I didn't understand the question or look super appalled that Andrew wasn't listening to the daily messages. My co-worker then said just those few minutes each day makes a huge difference in how she approaches work...I decided to give it a go.

The good thing about the daily messages is they often will repeat in short snippets things George has talked about in past meetings, but they only focus on one particular point at a time AND they are ONLY 3 minutes long. Today's message focused around self-discipline. George said, "I KNOW that everything I have AND everything I don't have in my life is directly related to the amount of discipline I employ in my daily decisions."

Maybe it is obvious, but it is SO true. All those tiny and seemingly unimportant decisions we make on a daily basis add up to everything we are and all that we have in our lives. I can think of more "bad" decisions I have made over the years that add up to bigger "bad" decisions. One lately is my horrible habit of swearing. I know I seem so innocent in my writing (wink), but I have developed a bad habit of swearing when I am under strain, which unfortunately has been more often than not lately.  It used to be just for effect or to make someone laugh or at least to make a strong point, but when you swear too often, it just becomes foul and not an effective use of language.

I finally had to admit I have a problem when I almost got in an accident on the road and yelled out a blasphemy, one I have ALWAYS hated when people use it, and then tried to rationalize with myself that I was really just praying - sounds like full scale denial to me.

I think I am moving away from the point of this post, but maybe not. I can sit here and talk about gaining weight, eating right and exercise, making more or less money, but the same principle exists here with the swearing...because now I need to exercises EXTRA self-discipline over a problem I shouldn't really even have if only I had exercised  a modicum of self-awareness before I had a new bad habit to break.

I also write of this personal challenge so I will be more likely to hold myself accountable, wish me luck.

At the end of the day today my next door office mate came in to chat with me and he dragged Andrew in with him. I asked Kurt if he knew that "all he is and all he isn't is directly related to the amount of discipline he employs in his life?" Andrew nodded sagely and said he was glad I was paying attention while at staff meeting - looks like we are both becoming more accountable.

I Am Grateful,
HB

Diva Quote:"Success is simply a matter of luck. Ask any failure." Earl Wilson

Mamacita

Happy Mother's Day to all you lovely mothers out there!! Especially to my own dear Mama!!

What is it about Moms that is so special? Why is it that Moms can make us feel like the best person on the planet? There is just some special finite spark they have that connects us to them in a way that we are not connected to anyone else in the world. I often wonder how I lucked out to have the Mother that I do...she thinks she is lacking, but I know better. It is interesting how she remembers things so differently than I do.

When I called to wish Mom a Happy Mother's Day today, she told me how she remembered saying the best Mother's day gift we could get her, when she was watching about a zillion kids during the week when we were in grade school to earn extra money for the family, was alone time and how now she thinks that was such a mean thing for her to say and want. I don't remember that as a bad thing, I remember thinking how excited she would be when we brought her home our handmade gifts at the end of the day. It is funny how we all remember things in a different way.

I sometimes wonder what kind of Mom I would be if I had been lucky enough to have kids of my own. I think I would be a lot like my own Mom...funny, generous, strict while at the same time an easy pushover, concerned w/poor baby tendencies, comfortable, loving, a little irrational w/an absolute gritted jaw reaction when upset, never violent (except maybe in a rare and funny way) with arms always open for a good, long hug and an easy "I love you" on the tip of my tongue. I think I would have been a great Mom because I had a great example of what a Mom should be.

I have also been thinking about my husband and his experience of Mothers. His birth mother loved him so much she let him go to another family. His adoptive Mom passed away when Trav was very young and his Step-Mom, which is weird to call her that since she has been his Mom since he was about 10, has raised him as her own - Trav has had 3 Mom's in his 40 years and each one has impacted his life in major and different ways. Do these Mother's even realize how big a deal they are? I hope so.

At the end of my call to Mom, she ended by telling me, in a heartfelt and meaningful way, how proud she is of me and how glad she is that I am part of her life..."whoa, wait a minute, these are my lines on this day of all days to tell you" - I don't know how I can ever make her understand how much she means to me. All I can do right now is say, "I love you...Thank you for being my Mom".

I Am Grateful,
HB

Diva Quotes: "“If evolution really works, how come mothers only have two hands?” -- Milton Berle

MY High School Student?

Ring, Ring..."This is Heather" - "Hi Mrs. Barker, this is Camille with Park City High School, we received the records for your student and need you to come in and meet with us to get him fully signed up"....crickets..."Oh, sure, how about Monday morning first thing?" 

Let me tell you how weird it was to receive that call on Friday - took me totally off guard. I guess it is all official - we will have a foreign exchange student staying with us in August. I just looked in our file online and he has written us a great letter introducing himself. We will need to write something back to him tomorrow - I am sure he is curious about us. I am excited about this new experience and also nervous. I hope he likes it here. I hope he makes friends. I hope the experience is what he wants it to be. The one thing that makes me feel comfortable is knowing my family will totally embrace him while he is here. It will be fun to have him speak Chinese with Amy's kids and I can't wait to see how he and Travis get along. It sounds like he REALLY likes basketball. 

His name is Lingfei, but he calls himself "Jay" - this simplifies things a bit. He wants to study architecture here in the US after he graduates and is excited to learn about our culture this next year. I am thinking of all the weekend trips we will need to take him on...Moab, Zions, Lake Powell, Yellowstone/Jackson Hole & the Tetons...then the winter...I wonder what his winters in China are like. Travis is excited to take him skiing - I wonder if he ski's already? I am very excited to learn about his life in China. 

Can you imagine how brave you need to be to go away from all that you know to a place with total strangers all by yourself? I already admire him for taking on this adventure. I think he will be good for us. It sounds like he is quite involved in service projects at home and I am going to begin thinking about something we can get involved with here in Park City that we can do as a unit. I think this was a very good decision for Travis and I - we deserve to step outside our little life and experience some new things and it will be fun to see things from Jay's perspective, rediscover our great state and learn about another culture. 

I Am Grateful,

HB

Diva Quote: "I wandered everywhere, through cities and countries wide. And everywhere I went, the world was on my side" Roman Payne