We’ve been on a whirlwind vacation that happily was combined with a job in Washington D.C.  I don’t know where the time went as we cruised the museums and experienced the fall colors and east coast personalities.  It seems that everyone in Washington D.C. is a lawyer – even our waiter!

Being from the “west coast” really is different than living on the eastern shores.  For one thing Washington D.C. is such an icon of democracy!  I mean California certainly has the views and a free wheeling attitude that is open and wonderful, but being in the presence of the Bill of Rights and the Declaration of Independence can certainly be heady stuff for a born and bred Californian.  If you ever get to D.C., checkout the Capitol!  Most of the museums are “FREE”,  yes…Free!

Innovation and Creativity is Alive and Well

Consider the Air and Space Museum, it’s just amazing to be there,  admiring     the Wright Brother’s perseverance, creativity and stamina as they tried to get      a  winged crate off the ground.  Then, finally, Orville Wright took the flyer for     a 12-second, sustained flight on December 17, 1903. This was the first                   successful, powered, piloted flight in history. Incredible!

Then, we walked over to the Apollo 11 exhibit, Apollo 11 was the spaceflight which landed the first humans, Neil Armstrong and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin, Jr, on the Moon on July 20, 1969. That’s only 63 years after the Wright brothers first took to the air!

Can you imagine?

So when you consider the imagination that went into creating the Declaration of Independence, and all the visionary ideas that it still holds.  The courage that it must have taken to stand up against the King and all his men and the will of the colonies to create a land where freedom is the goal, even though the fight for all to enjoy this “right” is still a battle.  When you consider the innovation and creativity ordinary citizens take into their own minds to create ideas that lead to Apple computers, and smart phones and new ways to do all the things we do everyday.  How can we take anything for granted?

So many of my clients come to me and say, “I’m so stressed out!”  In fact, just walking down the street you can see for yourself the people who look like they simply hate their world.  I have a simple 6 step remedy to take some of the stress out of your life so you can put a smile on your face and a snap in your step.

You might feel like you have too much to do and you  never get it all done.

1) Get a To Do List

Make a list each day of the things you absolutely have to do, things you need to do, and things you’d like to do.  That way you can meet your deadlines and get things done with a confident, focused mind.

You might feel like everyone is asking you for something.

2) Learn to say No.

Be polite, be apologetic, be filled with regret, but be honest.  If you can’t do what you are being asked to do, or if doing it would cause you a lot of grief and stress…just say no!

You might be in a rush to get things done.

3) Do it right the first time.

Often we think we can cut corners and rush something through.  When we do something slap-dash, oftentimes we have to do it again. It may take a little longer to do it right the first time, but it will save you time on the redo.

You might feel like you procrastinate.

4) Use the 10 minute rule.

Pick a task you don’t want to do, and spend ten minutes doing it.  Chances are that at the end of the 10 minutes the task is done or well on it’s way.  If it’s done, it won’t be hanging over your head or keeping you awake at night.  If it’s begun you might feel like spending a little more time to finish or feel thankful that it is on it’s way to being completed.

You might feel tired, bored, or listless.

5)  Sleep and exercise regularly

Burning that midnight oil makes you tired, cranky and inefficient.  It also impairs your immune system, making you vulnerable to sickness.  Exercising regularly keeps you healthy, reduces your stress level, and gives you energy.  Take care of yourself and you’ll stay focused, productive, and efficient.

You might feel overwhelmed.

6) Take a break.

Stop, breathe, have a cup of coffee or tea, go for a walk, read a magazine or a book for a few minutes.  Just break away, even briefly from what you are doing.  The odds are that you’ll feel sharper and be better able to focus on the task at hand after you’ve taken a mini-break from it.

The lesson here is to take care of yourself!  Listen to your mind and body.  Treat yourself like you were your own best friend.  You are worth it!

Riding around on my scooter every day I’m painfully aware of just how bad potholes are for you,  your car/bike/scooter/motor bike and – at least in my case – my back. You hit one of those deep suckers and boy do you feel it. So, when I saw this use of potholes to slow down traffic, my first reaction was “ouch”, but my second was “brilliant.

Check it out. If you saw these you’d slow down too wouldn’t you!

Potholes

Yikes

Trickery

Genius eh.

Think how much money you could save on traffic control by hiring a few clever artists

Sometimes I don’t know whether to be amused, amazed or appalled by how stupid really smart people can be.

The latest example of a really intelligent person who seems to only open their mouth to change feet is Ron Schiller, the senior vice president for fundraising at National Public Radio (NPR). Or as the NPR website now calls him, the “soon-to-be-departing” senior vice president.

Full disclosure here – Shirley and I are avid NPR listeners, addicts really, and members of local NPR stations KQED and KALW

Schiller got into trouble after being secretly recorded telling a couple of lads posing as members of a non-existent group called the Muslim Education Action Center Trust that:

“Tea Party people aren’t just Islamophobic, but really xenophobic. I mean basically they are, they believe in sort of white, middle-America gun-toting, I mean, it’s scary. They’re seriously racist, racist people.”

Now the fact that the people posing as belonging to this group were actually members of a group called Project Veritas (http://www.theprojectveritas.org/node/36) ,who specialize in gotcha tapes that catch liberals saying things they really wish they hadn’t, is neither here no there.

The truth is Schiller made these and other remarks that were, how shall I put this, rather less than flattering to members of the Tea Party, essentially calling them fascist, racist, idiots. Hardly the kind of measured remarks you would expect from someone so closely associated with National Public Radio.

Which could explain why the folks on talk radio and Fox News are so filled with glee at this. It helps take their minds of the equally indiscreet and inept remarks made by Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker a few weeks ago when he thought he was having a phone conversation with a billionaire backer of his, David Koch

The call was actually a radio station prankster who recorded Walker making remarks that Wisconsin Democrats are now alleging were not only dumb but also illegal, and were an attempt to incite disorderly conduct and violated state labor laws.

Now Gov. Walker, as you may know, is not only trying to get public unions in Wisconsin to pay more towards their health and retirement benefits – which they have agreed to do – but he is also trying to strip them of pretty much all their collective bargaining rights.

In the prank phone call Walker says he considered seeding the crowd protesting his moves with “troublemakers” to help discredit those against him.

Walker even later joked that he would use a baseball bat in his office to go against opponents

When I read these transcripts, and there are many many others like them on both sides of the political aisle, and in showbiz (hello Charlie Sheen) and in fashion (sieg heil John Galliano) I thought ‘come on chaps, you are smart, you know you shouldn’t say these things.”

And then I thought. What kind of world would it be if none of us ever said what we really feel. No matter how dumb.

Now, as a media relations person my job is to help coach people not to say stupid things.

But as a spokesperson for a major metropolitan hospital (OK, California Pacific Medical Center) I have made more than my own fair share of gaffes. So I know how easy it is to let the tongue say what the brain is screaming out – in the immortal words of Amy Winehouse – “no no no”.

It’s never fun to think “oh crap, I really shouldn’t have said that.” But where would we be if people spent their entire time holding back, not saying what they think, not saying what they mean, all because they were afraid that someone was recording them or videotaping them.

What a boring, ridiculous world that would be.

It would be a world where every interview, every conversation would be like those with athletes at the end of a game where they simply spout inane stuff – “I just didn’t have my game today”, “it was a game of two halves”, “the lads played well but we just didn’t get it done” – without really saying anything.

Is that a world you want to live in?

So, I say go out there and say what you mean. Say what you think. Say what you believe.

So what if you end up once in a while saying something you wish you hadn’t.