Let’s look at it this way for just a minute; ‘A’ represents a starting point, an idea. ‘A’ is always in the mind, it is the thought that triggers other thoughts and gets us motivated to take action. ‘B’ is the easiest next step. Here is where you take the idea out of your head and begin putting it into action. You write it down, or record your idea to capture the details while they are still fresh so  you can play it back later, or you call your friend to run the idea past him or her. Easy! Now for the rest of the alphabet. This consists of writing an outline of your idea and/or a business plan,or course of action. It requires dedication and thought and details carefully plotted out. Not so bad, right?  Next comes research, hours and hours of research. You need to understand all the aspects and ramifications of your idea for it to be solid and useful. Oh, remember that outline and/or business plan, or course of action you wrote up? Ya, well you gotta redo those now, those were just your rough drafts.

On to building! You have your idea, your plan, your research, so now you get to start building. Yippie! This is where more dedication and determination comes into play. Too many people give up at this point because they thought their idea was just so flipping magnificent that as soon as people heard about it they would jump right on that band wagon. Uh, huh. Good for you for being such an idealist! Don’t ever lose that. It is imperative during your journey through the alphabet that you believe in yourself and your idea. Never let the nay sayers creep into your head. But you still have work to do.

Onward! Ok, so you have formed your idea, thought of everything that could possibly go wrong with it, where the loop holes are, filled the gaps, refined it, refined it again, rewrote your outline, business plan, or course of action again, put the finishing touches on it, polished it up and now you are ready to sell it. By now you should be up to point ‘R’ or ‘S’. You should be frustrated, tired, and your head should hurt slightly, this means you are doing it right! Now narrow down your target audience and go find them. Go to where they go, go to where you think your idea fits in, and become one of your target audience. Think, “If someone were to come to me with this idea how could they present it so I would get it?” Selling is tough, it’s really an art form, so you have to know your audience inside and out. What are they looking for?, how will this benefit them?, how do I get there attention?,  and so on. Even more people are lost at this point because selling is tough and you will often fail. But you stuck it out, you retained a positive attitude and never let go of your dream no matter how many times you heard “No.” or “This is never going to work.” Guess what? You’re almost to the end of the alphabet now! Finally, after pouring yourself into your idea and honing it to perfection someone said yes and it’s catching on! Maybe your idea was an actual object, or a better way to do something, or a personal convenience, it doesn’t matter because people are finally grasping the fruits of all your labor.  This my friend is point ‘Y’.

“Point ‘Y’?” you ask as if you want to rip my arms off. Yep, point ‘Y’. I told you I would tell you the easiest way from point ‘A’ to point ‘B’ and I have. For anything that is worth doing, or that is going to last, you need to cover it from beginning to end, or from ‘A’ to ‘Z’. ‘Z’ is the best part of all. It’s where you get to sit back and bask in your own glory and relish the sweet taste of a job well done, ahhhh…Ok breaks over, back to work! ‘Z’ is where you get to build up the relationship with your audience, or clients by now. Trust me you want clients, not customers. Customers visit or use something once, but clients are those loyal individuals who return time after time after time. Even after you have gone through everything from the beginning of the idea to the actual selling of the idea, you need to go one step further to protect and nurture the new relationship you have with those folks who like your idea and want to use it. This isn’t difficult, at least not nearly as difficult as what you have already done. Simply pick up the phone to ask them how they are doing, or ask if they need anything. Better yet go visit them and see your idea in action. By having after sale contact with your clients you can immediately address any issue they may have and work it out right away. It would be terrible if you didn’t contact them and an issue festered until they finally told you to, “Piss off.”

Never believe that there is a magic carpet waiting to ferry you to easy street, that’s just sad. Your positive attitude, diligent effort and belief in your idea is all the magic you need. Don’t be discouraged if one idea fails, you’ve got more, right?

1. Visit Stumbleupon.com. – This site gives hours of entertainment by taking you to randomized sites with every click!

2. Clean your house. – Crank up the music and just dig in! Seriously this is the best time to do it, don’t wait until you are busy and can’t find the time.

3. Let yourself roam freely on youtube.com. –  Really how often do we just click freely without purpose or being shown a link or someone telling us we have to see this or that?

4. Pluck your eyebrows. – Oh ya, guys this includes you too!  It’s a painstaking job but hey you’ve got the time on your hands. Flip through a magazine, find some that you like and try those out for a while.

5. Grab the dictionary. - Either a book or dictionary.com and test your vernacular skills! Pick a word randomly and see if you really know the meaning of it. Get an idea of what it means in your head before you look and see if you nailed it or if you need a little more practice.

6. Write a letter. – We don’t do this very much anymore with all the high speed forms of communication we have available at our fingertips. Nothing says I care more than the tangible penned on paper thought.

7. Try on all your clothes. – Go into your closet or through your drawers and try everything on. If it doesn’t fit give it to charity, there are people who could really use now what you are hoping to get back into!

8. Grab a cookbook. - Flip though the pages and point to something without looking and make it! Get out of your routine in the kitchen and explore, who knows you may just find a new favorite recipe.

9. Go talk to your neighbor. - How many times have we lived next to someone and not even known their name?

10. Write down all the things you feel guilty for. – Now look at it, forgive yourself and throw it away. Be done with regret once and for all.

11. Go for a walk. – Well you have been saying you need to start exercising, right?

12. Plan a vacation. – Research where you want to go, what time of year, what you want to do when you get there and so on. It’s ok if you don’t have the money now, plan your vacation and figure out exactly how much money you would need to save to get there and do all those things you have planned.

13. Call your family. – Talk to the people you are related to, it’s good for them and for you.

14. Alphabetize your DVD’s. – If you still have DVD’s then put them in order from A to Z, you’ll be surprised how helpful this is when you actually need to find one.

15. Read a book. - Seal yourself off from the electronic world for a little while and get lost in a journey of imagination. It’s oddly refreshing.

16. Try out a new hairstyle. - This is the best time to see what a new do would look like, plus you could find your new look and wow everybody!

17. Explore your city. – Take a walk downtown and see what’s happening, look at old buildings, stroll through the park or window shop. Here is a super list if you are in the Detroit Metro area.

18. Get rid of your junk. – Go through your house and set aside all the stuff you don’t want, need or use and have a yard sale.

19. Watch an old movie. – Sometimes it’s just nice to get a perspective on how far movies have come, or just see what life was like ‘back in the day.’

20. Eat. – Allow yourself to indulge in your favorite foods or treats.

21. Go to the park. – Be a kid again and enjoy a day at the park. Take your dog or even borrow a neighbors dog and spend the entire day reliving your youth.

22. Cook. – Challenge yourself by grabbing random main ingredients out of your fridge or freezer and see what you can come up with!

23. List your goals. – Write down all those things you want to do or accomplish now and see if they have changed over time.

24. Organize your pictures. – Photos in boxes, bags, heaps and stacks? What better time than now to get them under control and look back at all your old memories.

25. Rearrange your furniture. – Sometimes it’s just good to change up the normal a bit.

26. Plan at least 2 parties for the next year. – It’s amazing how much fun parties can be when they are planned out in advance. You might also remember to add a guest to your list that you haven’t thought of in a while.

27. Play hide and seek. - Ring up a friend and go play hide and seek in Ikea.

28. Clean off your desk. – Put your bills in one spot, your calendar in another, hang up your special pictures from your kids/family/friends. It’s your workspace, be efficient.

29. Create a blog. – Blogging can be therapeutic, improve your professional skills/relations and could even earn a little extra income.

30. Volunteer. – Go online and find a group in your area that you want to join, take your time and find the one that’s right for you. Helping others is incredibly fulfilling.

31. Draw. – Grab your pencil, pen, crayons, paints whatever you have handy and draw the first thing that comes into your mind.

32. Tackle your ‘To-Do’ list. – You know you have one, that creepy little list that has all the nasty jobs on it that no one in their right mind wants to do. Suck it up and dig in, you’ll feel great when you are done!

33. Go fishing. – If you don’t have a pole chances are someone you know does. Venture off your normal path and get back to nature.

34. Visit a pet store. –  Animals are always fun. What’s even better is watching all the kids staring in awe at the cute little creatures.

35. Relax at your favorite bookstore. – Go to you favorite bookstore, grab your favorite magazine and relax in one of their comfy chairs for the afternoon.

36. Wash your pet. – Stop putting it off, he/she probably stinks…you just don’t realize it.

37. Forgive. – Take this time to write down all those who have wronged you and what they did. Forgive them and pitch the list. Burn it if you like, just get rid of it and the ill feelings.

38. Write a love letter to your significant other. – If you’ve been married/together 30 days or 30 years let the other person know how important they are to you.

39. Make and have dinner with an older person. – 9 times out of 10 we know of an older person near our home who doesn’t get much company. Why not make their day and share a meal with them?

40. Meditate. – Give yourself a break and center yourself.

41. Take a bath. – Pull out all the stops, candles, bubbles, music, wine, favorite magazine or book and just pamper yourself silly!

42. Entertain a new career. – Take some time and think; if you could do anything at all what would it be? If it’s not what you are doing now plot out the steps you would need to take to get on that path. If you are doing what you love, good for you! Now figure out ways to become better.

43. Play a game with your kids. - Think about it, if you’re bored they may be too. Reconnect with them over a game.

44. Promise yourself. – Jot down all the things you want to start doing for you and begin. Get elaborate, you’re worth it.

45. Bake cookies. – Make 2 batches and give them out to family and friends, they will love you for it!

46. Sing. – it doesn’t matter if you have a great voice or not, turn up the music and sing at the top of your lungs!

47. Watch T.V. – Watch something you normally wouldn’t watch and find something interesting to think about with one of the characters.

48. Go through your food. – Search through your fridge, cupboards, pantry and canned foods and get rid of the expired stuff. Donate the things you know you aren’t going to eat, you’ll be doing yourself and others a great service.

49. Visit a nursing home. – There are too many older folks who are lonely and they would love your company.

50. Clip your toenails. – Let’s face it sometimes you really need to pay attention to your toes!

If  you are bored there are plenty of things you could be doing for yourself and others. These are just a few of  those things. I would love to hear of your boredom breakers!

I visit other blogs, one of which is detroitmoxie.com, and am in awe. @becksdavis has a blog to be envied by all! She is informative, concise and highly enjoyable. Another that I’m pretty fond of is tinybuddha.com.  Lori Deschene puts what being human really is in clear perspective for many people, including me. Then there is the quick witted Charlie Wollborg aka Charlie Curve. This guy seems to somehow magically know when and what is going on before anyone else! I swear he is either a telepath or has a magic 8 ball….Actually he is a highly professional go getter and I bet he rarely sleeps. As far as sassy and insightful are concerned, well that would belong to Stacy Lukasavitz whose blog is thatdamnredhead.net. She speaks the truth and if it stings you, then you probably need to check yourself.  Kitoula Ekaterini Deliyanis, (if you can pronounce this name on the first try, you are way ahead of me!), is one of those few and far between people who seems to have the answer. Yes that’s right, just ask any question and BAM! there’s your answer. Her expertise spans across way too many industries to list! Her other name is Katherine and if she doesn’t have the answer herself she damn sure knows who does! One of her many sites is kitoula.com which I love, love, love and am positive you will too if you like to eat. These are but a few examples of the many delicious blogs out there but they are some of the best.

Thinking aloud–The one element all of these people have in common is that they have found their place in the blogging world by combining their expertise and favorite thing/place/hobby or what have you to become successful bloggers.  At one point they were all new to the blogging world and had to chart out their course too, this gives me great comfort as I try to chart my own. Am I sucking up here? Hardly(maybe?), these blogs are wonderful and I hope to learn much from them and even, perhaps one day, be in the same league as them. My point is, that when someone does something, and does it well, they deserve kudos, they have earned it. I want to be there!

Moving forward, first on my list is to narrow it down; find a niche, profession, interest, hobby, idea, event, organization, area, thing, people, charity, place, group, club……oh my…..This, my friends is where I need improvement.

“The only time you run out of chances is when you stop taking them.” -Unknown

As odd as it may sound, it can be comforting to accept that it’s just plain too late for you–that you can’t change careers, fall in love, or do whatever you once wanted to do in life.

When you resign yourself to believing there are no more chances, you don’t have to take responsibility for creating the world as you’d like to experience it. Instead you can blame external causes, anything from people to limited resources to time in general. Giving your power away like this can be a tremendous relief because then you don’t have to use it.

Use it.

Start today in some small way. Take a chance or even a step toward a chance. It may mean stepping outside your comfort zone, which can be scary at first; but in the long run, this type of courage will go a long way in creating a satisfying life.

Research shows feeling out of a control is leading cause of unhappiness and stress. Though there are things you cannot control, you are far more powerful than you realize. There is a lot you can accomplish when you’re willing to take a chance.

tinybuddha.com

Now, with that being said, for all of you who have seen Inception, or those who don’t mind spoilers for some odd reason, please continue reading.

So you followed the many twisted layers of dreams and the even more twisted plot and understand the how’s and why’s of the film, awesome! However, at the end of the movie were you left wondering if Cobb was really awake or if this was yet another level of his dream state? I was. Jeff and I thought about it, talked about it, analyzed it, pondered it over and over and applied every ‘if’ scenario we could think of (Sometimes we just do these things). In the end here’s what we think happened;

In order to prevent Cobb from endangering, or even killing, himself and anyone else in the future with his personal torment over the loss of his wife, we think Ariadne, (the architect), performed an inception on Cobb. In the last scene you saw Cobb spinning his totem on the table and we watched eagerly to see if it would tip or not. When Cobb went to spin the totem he was not wearing his wedding ring, as he only wore it when he was in the dreams, thus making him believe he was awake. Also, his children were wearing the exact same clothes, had not aged, and were doing the exact same thing while playing outside as when he had last seen them in reality.

Why do we think she would leave him in this state of limbo? Easy, Ariadne told Cobb he would have to face Mal and let her go. She planted the seed to his freedom in his mind at that moment. And when she shot Mal that sort of pushed Cobb into the letting go phase. She also understood how desperately Cobb wanted to return to his children and the gut wrenching guilt he was living with that was destroying him. Ariadne knew he wouldn’t stop exploring dreams and considering his mental and emotional state, this was not a safe venture for anyone involved. So in the name of mercy, she being the architect and having planted the seed, created a world where Cobb could finally be free.

We don’t know if this is really the ending, but we do think it’s pretty bizarre and in keeping with the movie. There are several opinions out there as what may have happened and we would love to hear more! So what are your thoughts?  Well, aside from thinking Jeff and I really need to get a hobby…

mashable

socialmediaexplorer

lifehacker

boxofcrayons

creativity_unbound

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socialmediaexaminer

thepositivityblog

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I hope you enjoy these as much as I do!

The idea behind i3Detroit is, as they put it, “i3 Detroit is a collaborative environment for people to explore the balance between technology, art and culture.” How cool is that!?  When my husband and I went to visit them we were like kids in a candy shop. There were so many creative ideas on display and so many ingenious projects to marvel at that we couldn’t focus on the tour we were being given. There were gadgets, gizmos, woodworking, metalworking, clanking, drilling…i3Detroit was bustling with activity and bursting with creativity. On our tour we were able to get up close to the projects members were currently working on, one of which was their awesome latest and greatest invention, Red Green himself!! Just in time for the upcoming Maker Faire I might add. I’m especially fond of robots, (although I’m not sure if Red Green technically is one), so that was the highlight of the day for me!

There is so much more I could say about this place but this is a blog after all and I’m supposed to make it short and sweet. So, if tinkering, crafting, technology, metal or wood working is your thing you probably should check out i3Detroit for yourself because I’m pretty sure there is something there for you. Don’t worry, they are very nice and they encourage visitors!

Blogs, Youtube, Twitter…This guy is everywhere and people just can’t seem to get enough! Ok, Ok, yes I’m sure it helps that he is young, manly, half naked and has an incredible body too. As if the commercials and social network saturation were not enough, the marketing department of ‘Old Spice’  had their manly man responding directly to his viewers via Twitter. How’s that for grabbing the publics attention? I’m telling you this is one of the most, absolutely phenomenal advertising campaigns to ever be unleashed. He’s even bigger than the 80’s little old “Where’s the beef?” lady and …well that’s all I can think of right off the top of my head at this very moment, but you get the idea, right?

Certainly other companies, trying to garner some of  the same marketing success that ‘Old Spice’ has been enjoying, are going to use this model as their standard. Who wouldn’t? Even his personal message addressed to “Everyone” leaves us all hungry for more! This series of commercials will undoubtedly be studied, analyzed, talked about, mimicked and become the standard for marketing teams everywhere for a very long time.

So the app…He is creating an app that can be used on smart phones, you  know like iPhones and  Androids,  that basically streamlines your fun. Seriously, this is one hot idea! I love it, people we have pitched the idea to love it and even the nay-sayers love it! It’s a pretty simple concept really; fun for you, by you, and all about you. I wish I could tell you more but he isn’t finished with it yet and I don’t want to spoil the surprise!

In the meantime, I need to find a way to make it cooler in here so he can work! I am such a task master sometimes…….