Thank you Readers!

It is now the second month of 2020 and I wanted just to take a brief moment to thank you.

Some of my readers I have met in person. Some of my readers are feisty independent folks who cherish self led learning as much as i do. Some of you have found my blog because something I wrote somewhere online upset you....so you went online in a tizzy to hunt down my blog to set me straight ") That's ok, I know I am not a "yes" person. I don't really care if I upset people. It happens.
 I take pride in taking an unpopular path if I feel strongly about something.

Some of you have found my blog because you are struggling to carve out a gluten free lifestyle and the search engines seem to like my gluten free posts...

Some of you have stumbled upon my blog by accident or because a friend or family member sent you a link to one of my posts.

I just want to say this. I value your readership. Thank you for taking the time to visit my blog. It's not a fancy blog....it doesn't yet garner millions of views. But it has a place in my heart. And yes, in an indirect and informal "internet-ish"kind of way...you too have a quiet place in my heart.

It's good to be a seeker. As that Bible verse says and Tony Robbins likes to quote,
 "Seek and ye shall find"......  Sometimes we just need to gather ourselves around others who think differently than we do, so we can glean something fresh and new outside of ourselves.

I hope that something I have written has sparked in you some new found courage....some ferocity to pursue your goals and believe in your own potential.

I hope too that you have felt encouraged to dabble in exploring the bible and sense who Jesus is from it's pages.

Have an awesome day....being you in this good earth.

Peace out,
Carla.



Tweet

Does your Neighbor Qualify?

We all have neighbors. They may live down the street, across the hall, across the fence, down the path or up the hill.

Near or far, we all have neighbors.

What I wanted to talk to you about today is this. If you have a life goal.... are you protecting what you are trying to do from the prying eyes and ears of unqualified neighbors? Do you feel the need to share with all your neighbors all current updates on your steps to accomplish your goals? Why?
Why do you feel obligated to tell folks anything that does not concern them?

Just because someone happens to live near you, does not mean that they are entitled to access a live stream of your life. You are in charge of your life. Your goals are set by you. You decide who has or gains access to your life.

 I hope that you test people before you give them the privilege of access. People need to qualify for your friendship. Being discerning about who you permit into your confidence is going to help you build a healthy fence around your life. Those kind of fences are necessary.....they keep the good in....and the bad out.

Please be careful and guard your heart, your ears, your mind....and yes, your mouth from those who do not qualify for access to your life.

I am not suggesting in any way, that you should be rude or unkind to your neighbors. No .
In fact, the bible advises us to live peacefully with our neighbors because they live near us.

But living peacefully with your neighbors does not mean you need to give them a key to your home or to your life. Protect your privacy. Protect your goals.

There may be seasons of life during which you need to withdraw from certain social circles, so that you can accomplish your self-set life goals. Don't lose your focus for any reason. If folks think you are a snob because of your extreme focus.....who cares? Focus is not something that you can afford to let go of.

You will only retain your focus if you protect your life from those who do not qualify to share it.

Peace out,
Carla


Tweet

Harnessing your Atmospheric Memory

When I was probably 12 years old or somewhere around that age, I recall spending a youthful moment skipping rope in my driveway with a friend. i remember what I was wearing. I remember the feeling of the weather and the sound that the skipping rope made when it hit the driveway.

It's amazing the memory power that we humans have.
Sometimes we need to harness that innate memory power and put it to work to support our life goals.

For example, let's say you have a goal to accomplish in the field of science and it would really help you to be able to recall from memory the entire periodic table of the elements , complete with the atomic number, mass etc.  Well, you could find an audio recording of the periodic table somewhere online or perhaps create your own manual recording on your smart phone of the facts and figures that you are trying to commit to memory.

Then what you do, is put that audio recording onto a loop and listen to it, as background sound throughout your day whenever possible. With today's wireless headphones, it is virtually limitless as to when and where you can listen to audio recordings. By simple "mindless" repetition of the data you want to import into your brain, you are taking full advantage of  your atomospheric memory. You will learn without any effort on your part, other than the effort of the decision it takes to press "play" on your audio device. Yes, it may also take some time to find the right recording of the data that you are trying to impart to your brain, but that is part of the cool challenge. Hack your brain.....take that part  of you which doesn't want to learn anything new, and set it on "auto pilot mode' through simple auditory repetition. Try it and  see how well it works for you.

With this method, you will commit to memory large sums of knowledge. This is one way to overcome your "monkey brain" as Tim Ferriss calls it.
May God bless your life goals, and empower you to maximize your potential to learn in this season of your life, \Peace out,
Carla


PS. By the way, Youtube also has a function through which you can easily set a video onto a loop, so that you can listen over and over to the same video through your day. Apparently this tool doesn't work on a smart phone, but it does work on a laptop or PC. Simply go to the video that you want to set on a loop, and skip through any ads that appear...and then simply right click on your mouse and a menu that contains a few choices will appear on your screen. "Loop" will be in the drop down list. Simply click on it and voila, your video is now on a loop.


Tweet

The Invention Inspired by my late Mom

My late mother used to have  a certain style of magnetic soap holders hanging in the family bathroom. I am pretty sure that she bought them in Europe. Basically, Mom's version consisted of a metal prongy thing to insert into your fave bar of bath soap, which you could then hang from a magnet that was attached via a plastic holder onto the shower wall.

So, I thought, why don't I try to make one myself? So, with only a magnet and some Gorilla brand construction adhesive and a bottle cap squished into a bar of bath soap.....Voila! I created a DIY copy of what my mom used to be able to buy somewhere across the pond.

This is a very inexpensive home project you can make yourself. The only thing, is that you want to be sure that the bottle cap does not wind up in the hands or mouths of children, as it is a choking and/or scratching hazard.


All you need is the following list of simple items and soon you will be able to hang your soap up and away from the sink, so that it can dry properly between uses, instead of melting in a messy glop on your counter top or sink rim.
Items:

• magnet from the hardware store (note: the magnet doesn't need to be really strong, as it will only be holding up a bar of soap, so stick with smaller size rectangular magnets that are no more than 1-2 inches long and no more than 1 inch wide)
• metal bottle cap from your fave glass bottle.....squish the bottle cap firmly into the topside of your fave bar of soap
• some kind of adhesive that you can use to glue your magnet to the underside of a cabinet.

Note the reason why the bottle cap has green painters tape on it....is because I don't yet fully grasp copyright law when it comes to displaying branded company logos.  Note that when you actually start to hang up your soap onto the magnet, there shouldn't be anything obstructing the contact between the metal bottle cap and your magnet. Therefore, the painter's tape is coming off as soon as this blog post is complete. I hope you get a kick out of  making this DIY gadget as much as I did.\Peace out,\
Carla.

Tweet

Cut New Trails or Follow Old Paths?

I've always loved the pioneer spirit....to be the first person to do something....or the first to be something new.

However, I have begun to notice that cutting new trails is a high octane energy spending adventure.

If you want to take it easy......don't become a trail blazer. It isn't safe. It isn't predictable.

Trail blazers makes more mistakes....why? Because it's never been done before. Sometimes pioneers get it really wrong....like "mind-blowingly" wrong. But eventually....if the pioneer survives the falls and keeps getting up again and pushing through......he or she can create a miracle. This miracle is a spectacular feat of the human will and spirit and mind. Even when folks do not have the same biblical beliefs that I hold dear, I am always in awe of fresh minded bootstrappers who make a new way of being and livelihood.

Trail blazers have a huge appetite for adventure. This is true.

Yes, tis true....I do like to talk smack about the "status quo"....there is something safe and welcoming about just doing what everyone else is doing. It takes less energy to just be a horse on a path with a rope tied around your neck. Just follow the path.....walk when you're told to walk and stop and go home when you're told to go home. Not much decision making when you are a tied up horse on a very worn path.

When you are cutting a new trail ....you find that you have a gazillion decisions to make every day. Every decision can either bless your new trail, or put another obstacle in your way.

How do you feel about the career path you are on? Do you feel content to follow the pack, pay the bills and go home? Or are you craving something more challenging, unpredictable and potentially a million times more rewarding? Are you willing to fall on your face when you fail....and get up and try again tomorrow?

Does your love for adventure justify your willingness to suffer the unpredictable nature of cutting a new trail?

All things considered....everyone is different. Each of us must choose their path....with prayer and wisdom. There is no right answer or wrong answer. I would simply say that whichever path you choose you must stick to it, with decisiveness...... and wholeheartedly.

Peace out.

Carla




Tweet

What Value are your Ears?

Your ears are a gateway through which you are given feedback about your world. You get feedback almost non-stop from a billion different sources every day.

But what I wanted to mention to you today is about the kind of sounds that you have control over.

So many of us human beings spend an incredibly huge amount of time in front of tv's or other media streaming devices. Are you consciously choosing what u are watching? Why are you letting some media corporation decide what is going to enter your ear gate? Don't you know how very valuable your ear gate is?

If you want to be mediocre, then just keep floating along with what everyone else is listening to and watching. You don't want to accomplish anything significant now do you?

But, hey.... maybe you do want to accomplish something fresh and new. Maybe you have a competitive spirit and you want to win. Nothing wrong with good competition. Without competition, most of us would lapse into the status quo.

Ok, so you decide you don't want to become an average Jane or Joe Blow.
Then, it's going to become significantly crucial for you to gather sources of motivation and knowledge specific to your goals to feed into your ear gate.

Yes, you can control what you listen to. Your car commute time or your train ride or your bus ride or  sauntering walks can become a hallowed hall of profound self led education.

What I am talking about is about TAKING CONTROL of what you are listening to throughout your day. I am talking about hunting down some "high octane" audio books to listen to through your day.

You  can download them to your smart phone or listen to them on an old fashioned CD player. I am talking about getting downright aggressive about finding good  powerful stuff that is geared towards your goals. Non-fiction audio books. Real paper books. Valuable media that is going to help you move forward intelligently towards your written and spoken goals. Some of it you may find for free online or at your local college or public library. Some of it, you may have to pay some good money for. But every single time I have spent good money on a high quality audio book or paper book, it has always MORE than paid me back with good advice and information.  High quality media is worth every single penny!

By the way....you are reading out your goals for this year aren't you? If you don't have a goal....you aren't likely to move toward anything of substance.

Successful people make a point out of seeking out high value resources with which to feed their decisions. Quality resources produce higher quality decisions.

Well, that's all for now. You are powerful. You are so intelligent. Stay focused on your goals and feed them with the right resources. It isn't really possible to turn your ears off....so you might as well take advantage of your own powerful ear gate and steer the good stuff toward it.....every day....all day....all year.

Peace out,
Carla






Tweet

Dear Mr. Napoleon Hill

Dear Mr. Napoleon Hill,

Hello Sir,

Yes, yes,, i do know that you are not in this earthly realm any longer. But I have learned about the power of gratitude and i thought it would be proper to write you a short note. Perhaps the angels can show you a copy of it?

Well, as I said, i need to keep this short. But  i wanted just to say thank you for sharing what you learned from the best of the best who were living in your lifetime. Thank you for patiently pondering their words and organizing that knowledge into books that we could consume. You took the time to write these ideas in  a style which is accessible even to those of us, and yes us women included, who
are not necessarily graduates with Master's degrees.

I know that your work is still being talked about and studied by thousands of motivational speakers and self help coaches around the globe. They are still inspired by your words and your work.

I wonder, dear Mr. Hill, while you were alive, if you ever had a vision of how many human lives you would impact with the simple  words your wrote? I dare say ....i don't think there are many truly successful billionaires alive today who have not read your words. Many of them have discussed your your concepts with their colleagues and their own children and grandchildren.

Your legendary book "Think and Grow Rich" is still being sent as a cherished gift to many human beings. So many parts of that book, still ring true in today's quickly changing economy. Cultural norms flex and change, but good solid ideas have staying power through multiple generations.

Well, that's all for now. Thank you from this chubby mom of four, who has conquered so many mountains.....while being inspired by your words.

Peace,
Carla.



Tweet

The Right Friends

I quote Warren Buffett when he says ""It's Enormously Important that you Have the Right Friends"....


Yes, I am middle aged now. One would think that by this age, i would have figured this whole thing out.....but alas I find myself frequently at the same crossroads.

What do you do when someone you have known for so many years turns out not to respect who you have chosen to be? You have to walk away....slowly. Somehow figure out how to back away slowly from that person, so that you can continue towards your goals. Because at the end of the day....my goals matter more to me and my family, than my friendship with that particular human being. It isn't that I am going to cut the friendship completely off, but that I will drastically reduce the amount of access this person has to my life.

We choose which friendships to feed and which ones to starve. The good ones you feed,....the bad friendships you starve by ignoring.. You try your best to do this the Canadian way....by not getting confrontational about the dying of the friendship. You just permit the friendship to slowly lose steam.

One would also think that it gets easier to let go of people as you get older....but it doesn't. I find that I love sticking to the same people, in  much the same way that I still pretty frequently choose the same brand of dishwashing liquid that i've used for decades. I am a creature of habit....and fiercely loyal.

But when you work this long and hard to gain the territory to actually begin to see some good fruit from the goal setting you've done over the past few years, you become more adamant than ever to protect that personal progress.

I won't allow anyone to undermine my speed and progress toward the fulfillment of any of my goals.

Goals are everything you think they can be. Life transforming, ...motivating, challenging, compelling, taunting, and the best ride i've been on ......ever.


Would you let go of a "problem friendship" to stay on track to accomplish your goals?

Do share.....
Peace out,
Carla.





Tweet

Sometimes the Opposite is True

Years ago, when I started blogging, i would visit the sites of other bloggers...with the colorful links and bling...and i would feel so underwhelmed by what I was doing with "only" the written word.
Yes, I know, I do use links, and ads and yes, I do use Youtube videos as well to add to the playful mix....but most of my posts are usually just full of the written word.

Then I stumbled upon the living legend,  Mr. Seth Godin. I felt so encouraged in my heart by what he was saying. He was on the side of those who simply try to be authentic. He loved the written word and took great efforts to form his words in ways that were precise and tasteful and artistic all at once.

Seth spoke about how you don't need to be writing to the whole world....and that in fact, all you really need to earn a decent income from your passion, is simply to acquire 1000 true fans. Those 1000 true fans would become your "tribe"....and that tribe would potentially empower you to quit your dead end day job and allow you to do full time what you have done thus far only as a side hustle.

So, I just want to say thanks to Seth Godin for showing me that just being myself was still a worthwhile endeavor....even if my blog was a "plain Jane" compared to so much glitz and glamour all around me. Seth encouraged me to just keep writing...The beauty of it all, is that it turns out that the search engines prefer my "original content" rather than all those links and ads that fill so many blogs.

The writing has continued.

Thanks Seth,

Carla.



Tweet

Time to Think? Heck ya....

If you don't have time to think.....what are you doing with your life?

I was listening again to James Allen's audio book "As a Man Thinketh" and I was so excited once again for those confirmations of what I have believed for years. I have blogged about this extensively as well. The point that Mr. Allen confirms again, is that it is so very very VERY                                     ( YES ALL CAPS!!!) important for human beings to have "thinking spaces".

What is a "thinking space" ? It is simply the space and time reserved on a regular basis solely for the purpose of "thinking time".

If we are not spending enough time to think....what are we doing? We are running around pell mell with our heads cut off like chickens after the chopping block. We are not living in any kind of sane or orderly fashion. When we refuse to spend time thinking we live more like animals than dignified humans.

I have only two minutes left to finish this post. But I want to encourage you today, to not only spend time today on eating and drinking and fixing your hair.....but to also spend just a few quiet moments alone in thought.
\
It is blessed.

Peace out,
Carla.



Tweet

Designed to Make You Not Think?

We are all familiar with the dazzling lights that Vegas style casinos use to intoxicate and mezmorize
gamblers..... so that they lose count of what money they have or what they have bet and just want to keep playing....no matter what the personal cost is for their 'play" time.


But I wanted to mention a quick idea today. What things distract you in your "normal life" that prevent you from learning anything valuable?  Are the books too expensive? Are the best books that suit your interest too hard to find? Are your roommates noisy and your cat chews on your library books and now you owe them 10$ in book damage fees? Are your eyes too tired from staring at computers at work all day to read  or listen to anything of substance after a long day at work?
Does your your "significant" other demand all the energy you have left once your workplace has taken it's daily cut?

But I want to ask you. Where are you headed? Are you letting life lead you? Or are you leading your own life with your own goals?

People who read, people who carefully choose books or audio books or seminars based upon their life goals are moving forward....on their own terms. It's called self-led learning. No need to let anything or anyone or any circumstance get in the way between you and your ability to move toward your goal.

Just a thought....

Peace out,
C.




Tweet

The Lips of the righteous Feed Many..

Such an elegant and inspiring verse from scriptures:

"The lips of the righteous feed many:".... Psalm 10:21a kjv


Do you have someone in your life that puts a fire in your soul? Someone who inspires you to
move toward your dreams and propels you forward at lightening speed towards the accomplishment of your goals? If  you do....you are a truly blessed human being.


Words are not just words.....whether they are typed or spoken. Words can build you or words can break you. Some beautiful person who chooses to build you up with his or her words is worth more than silver or gold.

Tis a short post today..... peace out.

Bullish on life,
Carla.






Tweet

Fame Does not Always Equal Great Wealth

I have noticed over the past year, with the rising fame of some "reality tv" folks, that even though many of these shows garner avid fans and followers and happily glean millions of views for the benefit of the networks that own the shows.....the stars who fuel the shows' success do not always earn very much for their fame.

If you are curious, do a few google searches of those who star in shows such as
"Life Below Zero"....you will be surprised by what you see.
The website may tout the $500,000 net worth of a star of this show, as if that is a large amount.
But that is a mere pittance compared the millions of dollars these shows earn from the hard work of these stars who expose their personal lives to the intrusion of cameras and camera crews for years.

I also think back to one of my wacky fave shows from several years ago, which was
TLC network's "Extreme Cheapskates". I recall one of the most compelling guest stars of that series, who was an American named Victoria Hunt. Her cheapskate antics garnered millions of views. However, I don't feel like she has been able to truly cash in from the fame of her popular episode which catapulted her to nationwide recognition. Perhaps she was uncomfortable with the attention?
But she sure was great with saving money. Perhaps she could have hired someone to help her more effectively monetize her new found fame.

Do you know of someone famous who wound up with less than a million in net worth? Did it surprise you, because you were a big fan and mistakenly thought that "star" was fabulously wealthy???

With the proliferation of the internet over the past decade, airing so many "home grown" net stars, there are untold millions of humans across the globe who have  millions of fans and viewers, but little cash to show for their hard work.

If you happen to get famous, be a smart cookie ....... hire a good agent, marketing manager, and at least sign a grrrrreat book deal ok???

In peaceful productivity,
Carla.



Tweet

Hill's Notion of Setting for Ideas

For those who have read, perhaps more than once, the legendary paperback
"Think and Grow Rich" by  Napoleon Hill, perhaps you recall him explaining the process of
"setting for ideas".

It is a profound respect for the process and value of simply being still, and solitary and thinking productively..

I have been enjoying my read of Edward O. Thorpe's book "A Man for All Markets"....which is available btw in both print and audio format.

One of Mr. Thorpe's remarkable discoveries when he began to conquer some gambling games successfully, was illustrated in this one statement of his:

"What intrigued me.....it was the possibility that merely by sitting in a room and thinking.....I could figure out how to win".    (found in Chapter 5: first page, of his book "A Man for All Markets".)

I want to ask you today. What incredible ideas could you create if you gave your mind the credit and space and time to work that it requires?

Perhaps you live and/or work in noisy places. Noise can clutter your thinking power, unless of  course it is predictable white noise which your mind may find comforting and conducive to concentration.

But if you find you are chronically distracted and unable to focus, you may need to carve out for yourself an authentic "thinking spot". It may be a picnic table isolated by the creek  or lakeside so that yu can look out on some moving water. Or perhaps you may find yourself able to think simply by downloading some white noise onto your smart phone so that you can listen to it, as you walk solemnly around the block.

Everyone is different. But we are all the same in that we are much more productive when we have access to the space and time and place that is conducive to thinking in solitude.


Be blessed, my smart friends and colleagues. You have unlimited potential.

Peace,
Carla





Tweet

On the Hunt to Audio-Ize

Over the years perhaps you have noticed that  I have a particular fondness for soaking in nonfiction books via audio recordings.

It has become a passion to hunt down the most cost effective format in which to locate an audio  version of my current book of obsession.

So today I went to go  see some computer nerds. I brought in my fave crisp new book,ready for them to magically transform into an audio format for me....only to be shocked by their retort. Perhaps the dude had just spent an all-nighter coding, because his reply was rather chalky.
He stated that it would cost  thousands of dollars for him to manually feed my book   into a scanner which would then be turned into a text file which would then be fed into a software that could transform text into a computerized voice file. He said the computerized voice would suck....why would anyone want to listen to that......and would most  likely contain errors from either the paper to text file conversion, or from the text to computerized voice conversion process.

He seemed  to be quite adamant that my request was not ideal....nor reasonable. What a waste of a treacherous drive up our slippery newly snow covered streets.

Sigh..... But alas,  i am not one to give up too easily! I considered briefly the idea of contacting our  local CNIB to see if perhaps they had more user friendly methods for their visually impaired clients when transforming some written works into audio formats.

Instead I called our local book  store. The clerk did a search for me, to see if there was any kind of audio version for sale globally for my current book obsession. Woot woot! They found one. And guess what .....it was very easy to purchase on my phone via Kobo.

I had thought that Kobo was only an e-reader type of gadget.....like an ipad  for e-books.

But lo and behold, because the clerk in the book store was willing to do a search that did not in any way benefit  her employer, I have been able to listen to my fave new nonfiction book on my phone.

Perhaps some day  computers will have advanced so far into artificial intelligence, that it will  be a simple and cost effective feat simply to convert a paperback or hardcover into a seamless audio book.....but for now at least I have another method with which to chow down on my next new must-hear non-fiction book.
Be courageous friends in your lifelong learning. It leads somewhere good.....and is worth the effort.

Peace,
Carla




Tweet