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The Happy Friday Series: Finding Happy With Scoliosis

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“Let Your Backbone Slide.”  Do you remember that song?  I know….I’m showing my age.  But I’m not here to talk about old high school songs or rap music.  What I am here to talk about is taking the good with the bad and being happy, and letting things roll off your back, or letting ‘your backbone slide’, both figuratively and…well for me, literally.

Let me explain.  You see, I have Scoliosis.  For those unfamiliar, it’s a back deformity where the afflicted person has one, or in my case, two curves in their spine.  They can be in varying degrees, and for some, it doesn’t affect them.  Others require physical therapy, bracing or surgery for the severe cases.

xray1Here’s where my story comes in.  Doctors have seen me, orthopaedic and spinal surgeons have brought an audience in to see me, and…well, physiotherapists and massage therapists have been in awe when they see me for the first time.  As I said earlier; I have two curves in my spine, one at an angle of 48 degrees, the other 55 degrees.  Breathe!  Surgeons won’t touch me unless it’s a matter of life or death, so I’ve been in physiotherapy since I learned I had it about sixteen years ago, and I’ll be in physiotherapy for the rest of my life….and I’m very happy to be there too.

None of this is bad.  At least, I don’t think so.  Why you ask?  Because like many things in life that some of us fail to see, I consider having Scoliosis a blessing in disguise.

Quoted from my book ‘I’ll Never Wear a Backless Dress’, I said, “I made a deal with God.  I look after my body; he looks after my back.”  So far nobody’s broken that deal.

I’m in better physical shape than a lot of people I know, and I owe that to having Scoliosis.  How?  Because if I didn’t have it, I probably wouldn’t pay so much attention to my daily exercise regime, I wouldn’t keep my weekly physiotherapy appointments and I certainly wouldn’t watch my weight like I do.

How come?  Because I’m happy to have the physical freedom that I do, and I know that if I don’t keep up with all these things, it could be easily taken from me.  I have learned to love getting up at 4:45am to exercise, to revel in the wonderful things that I can do each day and to enjoy life and live it to the fullest.  I take nothing for granted and I couldn’t be happier with my life.

I believe that every day we’re given is a gift, and every healthy day we’re given is a very special gift that we should enjoy.

I’m resisting the urge to break into the lyrics to ‘Let Your Backbone Slide’…just fyi.

But seriously, don’t think of the things you can’t do….think of what you can do.  Despite having severe bilateral Scoliosis, I’ve got a college diploma, two kids, a husband, a happy and healthy home, four published books…and a loving cat.  What more could I ask for?

If you have a personal story that you’d like to share, please feel free….

Author Bio:

Sandy Appleyard is from Niagara Falls, Canada. As a prolific author, she loves reading, physical fitness, animals and of course, writing. Find all of her books via the links above or visit her website to subscribe and never miss a new publication.

 

 

 

 

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Prediction: Web Browsers Will Control The World

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English: Browser usage share on Wikimedia Foun...

English: Browser usage share on Wikimedia Foundation projects on June 2011. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

How’s your browser? No, I didn’t say bowser.

I’m talking about Mozilla (not gorilla) Firefox, Google Chrome, Microsoft Internet Explorer, Safari, and other steroidal and hormonal necessities of online life as we know it.

From the sounds of it, we can jump into a chrome fox mobile and explore while on a hot safari.

I don’t know about you, but I’m a wee bit tired of the issues with browsers of late:

  • Google and Java don’t like each other.
  • Heck, Firefox and Java don’t get along, either.
  • Java and Shockwave interfere with Facebook.
  • Chrome doesn’t work with my webinar hosting platform.
  • Firefox is the best blog publishing browser, but there are glitches with Chrome.
  • Browser plug-ins? Fuhgeddaboudit. Don’t try them; stay basic.
  • Chrome is for anything else.
  • Safari is just for Apple.
  • Internet Explorer? Uhmm, who uses that?
  • Mac and Windows are arch enemies; that’s why I have to run both side by side with one browser for one OS and another browser for the other…or some such.

Get my drift?

My prediction: Web browsers will control the world; heck, they already do. (Not you hackers.)

I will cry harder because my work product productivity is seriously suffering already. Every day. I wish I was born an IT guru; the problem is my mom loved to read, so she probably read me books on creativity while I was nesting in her belly.

Back to our African safari…let’s throw in the food. The only thing I know for sure is to eat your cookies and clear your dough, I mean cache.

Clear your cache every two to three days and your browser should work fine.  At least, that’s what all IT support tells me.

 

 

 

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Is The Passion Descriptor Overdone?

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French Fries

French Fries (Photo credit: fritish)

People are throwing around the word passion like it’s salt on French fries. It’s becoming a very popular word to describe spirited energy and excitement about something — whether it’s business, facing the day, or doing PR, for example.

I consider myself a passionate person in a number of ways — I have an incredible passion for blogging; I write with a voice that is WSYWIG — people are surprised to Skype for the first time and see that I am how I write.

I am passionate about public relations. It angers me when my peers get short shrift in our profession because others don’t understand how or what we do.

Having a passion for various aspects of life are also part of the total package. Does that mean people with passion are born with it, or can it be taught? Does passion come with maturity and a few years under the belt? Is it all about experiences others don’t have?

Marketers try to tap the passion about their products when writing copy or with storytelling. I get that…people need to tap inner emotion to bring out the pocketbook and build loyalty and evangelism.

What I hope doesn’t happen, though, is that the word passion becomes boring. People with instinctual passion for their approach to life bring a zeal others strive for.

If passion becomes mundane, then we who have that inner light naturally will need to use another word to describe our zest for life.

What’s your definition of passion? Do you think it can be taught? Is it something innate or does it ripen with time and seasoned expertise? Do you think passion is being thrown around like salt on French fries?

This is one of those blog posts where I’m just thinking and don’t have the answer; maybe you do.

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10 Marketing Tips To Make 6 Minutes Of Fame Longer

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baconSouth By Southwest or SXSW is happening right now. I will attend some day; it’s on my list. What happens there? Do companies become famous overnight and do videos of feats go viral? It’s been known to happen.

Have you ever thought about what happens after six minutes of fame?

I was in the audience for the Jenny Show in Chicago once; they asked me a question about being single in the city and I was on TV. It wasn’t for six minutes; more like six seconds…and what happened next? Nothing. It was a big let down after my stint on camera wearing a stupid grin because when you frown on TV you look like a convict.

Remember those streakers who ran nudey through the Sunday football game or the collegiate games? Bet they got more than six minutes of fame; probably a mug shot and criminal record for showing items that should always remain covered.

How To Make 6 Minutes of Fame Live Longer

It seems to me, as an over-the-top consumer of news, that companies are trying really, really hard to earn six minutes of fame. Social media has done that. Everyone is hungry for word-of-mouth marketing to up the ante and boost their brand into the stratosphere.

The Super Bowl comes to mind, especially when there’s equipment (aka clothing) failure. Advertisers who spend millions of dollars are expecting infamy.  The Old Spice commercial still engages the sexual energy; yep, definitely more than six minutes of fame. The video I featured here by the guitarist for the Chicago Music Exchange who played 100 riffs on the history of Rock ‘n Roll certainly went viral, but I can’t tell you the guy’s name.

Fame is fleeting, Folks.

What Marketers Can Do For Fame and Fortune Every Day

Instead of worrying about how you’re going to capitalize on a fad, trend or current event, consider the following to be famous every single day, not only for six minutes:

  1. Keep your messages updated; adjust them as your company grows with the times.
  2. Change up the team every now and again; hire a fresh perspective to give new eyeballs on current marketing or public relations. I know just the person.
  3. Try a new social media channel and master it. Just like a master gardener who makes the flowers grow with five green thumbs, you can earn a green thumb and sow the seeds for your company.
  4. Listen. When you hear someone say social listening is a new trend; it’s really not. All that means is someone is tuning in to their community and the social media channels to see what’s trending in their vertical market.
  5. Read. Read the bloggers and media outlets that can teach you; if you find yourself yawning over an article, then move on. There are more than 1 million blogs to peruse; 10 of them should be ripe as learning grounds.
  6. Engage. You have to; there is no excuse for not engaging with your community, prospects, customers, employees, and peers. Please remember, you never know if a reporter is visiting your channels to see if your stream is healthy. When you engage as a company or brand, your community engages and evangelizes with and for you.
  7. Rather than seek six minutes of fame and fortune (which rarely exists), create strategically strong integrated marketing campaigns for the long term. With the right smart marketing team in place, you can brainstorm ideas for 12 months that keep your brand consistently focused and marketed.
  8. Tune in to news events and create a smart campaign that ties in with it. Have you seen the craze called bacon?  Every day, someone is talking about bacon and not necessarily eating it. For some zany reason, the Baconators have taken over the social sphere with anything and everything relating to pork strips.
  9. Live, breathe and eat bacon. The Oscar Mayer agency, 360i, did some heavy social listening and determined that bacon was hot stuff; however, no brand had capitalized on the bacon trend. It devised an awesome social-media-infused PR campaign called the Great American Bacon Barter “in which a penniless comedian traveled cross country trading Oscar Mayer’s new Butcher Thick Cut bacon for essential such as food, a night on someone’s couch, or NFL tickets.”  Oscar Mayer’s CEO said the campaign was successful because of the “culture of curiosity that’s fueled by using data to drive creativity and commerce.”
  10. Dig in deep to your company culture. Can you define your company culture? I’ve always been fascinated by this…what is the definition of culture in business and how does it play out in marketing? Ask yourself.

 

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The Happy Friday Series: Science of Happiness and Do-Overs

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happiness1The concept of happiness has always been something that has fascinated me. So when the opportunity came up to contribute to The Happy Friday Series, I got really happy (true story)!  And as always, I wanted to take an unconventional approach.  So today I’m going to pull up my suspenders, tie on my favorite bowtie and talk to you about the science of happiness.

Positive Psychology

In a recent TED talk, Shawn Achor presents an interesting thought.

“It’s not necessarily the reality that shapes us, but the lens through which your brain views the world that shapes your reality. If we can change the lens, not only can we change your happiness but we can change every single educational and business outcome at the same time.”

My Interpretation

What I gather from this thought is that happiness is defined by our own interpretations and beliefs.  If we can change how we interpret situations and adopt new beliefs, we can essentially become happier.

Achor continues his talk on the science of happiness with a few exercises. When completed every day for 21 days, the following tasks will actually train your brain to scan the world for the positive and ultimately help you become happier.

  • 3 Gratitudes – documenting 3 new gratitudes daily
  • Journaling – reflecting on your positive experiences
  • Exercise – training your body that behavior matters
  • Meditation – allowing yourself to experience your thoughts
  • Random Acts of Kindness – complete one random act of kindness daily

This fascinates me for many reasons. First, I’m in the middle of my own 21 day experiment and have noticed far more things going my way. People I regularly interact with have commented on my increased positive mood and I seem to be attracting much happier people!

Being a bit of a nerd, I researched these 5 tasks and found something we at Clarity for the Boss like to call the “do-over.”

The Do-Over

Remember when you were a kid and you made a mistake, your parents would often ask you “What could you have done differently?” or “What did you learn from this situation?” That’s exactly what a do-over is.

When you allow your brain to revisit a situation (through meditation), and you document (journaling) new and positive learning outcomes from the situation, your brain can’t differentiate between the past misinterpreted situation that you experienced and the do-over situation that you created.

The do-over allows your brain to create new interpretations of the situation and adopt new beliefs. Then when you find yourself in a similar situation where you may have previously misinterpreted a circumstance, your brain can recognize this as a new opportunity, interpret the situation as positive (or scan for the positive) and help you become happier.

And this ladies and gentlemen is why I think happiness is awesome!  This means we can actually train our brain to identify positive experiences or reframe situations to be positive, and overall become happier!

So What?

As I said, I’m in the middle of a 21-day experiment and have noticed my happiness to be much greater. And I practice the concept of do-overs all the time.

Do-overs started with personal reflection and journaling for a few minutes before bed. Although I have continued with journaling, I am in a position now where I constantly reframe situations whenever I feel myself getting angry, or not scanning for the positive.

I urge you to incorporate these very simple tasks into your daily life. Seriously! That’s what The Happy Friday Series is all about!

And what do you have to lose?

 

About The Author

Geoff Reiner writes at Geoff Reiner.com loves helping entrepreneurs and business owners see their business through a different lens. By asking difficult questions and providing a new perspective, he promotes personal growth and allows others to realize and unlock their full potential.

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