Tag: New York

Touching Peace by Thich Nhat Hanh

See on Scoop.it – Wholeheartedness

Todd Lohenry‘s insight:

Free download! Developing upon teachings on the art of mindful living begun in Being Peace, Thich Nhat Hanh shows the connection between inner peace and peace on earth. Recorded live in New York in 1991, he teaches us how mindful breathing and awareness is refreshing and healing, and how it can be used as the basis for examining the roots of war and social problems. His vision for rebuilding society through strengthening families and communities coalesces the ultimate reach of each act in our daily lives.

See on www.betterlisten.com

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How to Become a Happier Person

undefinedKristin Baron Cuthriell has a blockbuster of a post over at her blog on the topic of happiness:

Where are you looking for happiness?

Studies show that our personal happiness is…

  • 50% Predisposition/The way we were born.
  • 10% Circumstances: You got it. Only around 10% of our happiness has to do with our situation and circumstances.
  • 40% Our intentional activities.  This is what we can change.

Lyubomirsky, S. (2008) The How of Happiness. New York: Penguin.

Get the rest here: How to Become a Happier Person – Let Life in Practices

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Profitability

Nicholas Bate via BackOfAnEnvelope: Profitability.

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New York Schoolkids Mercilessly Taunt Elderly Bus Monitor

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=l93wAqnPQwk

Normally, I post positive thoughts on my blog — not sure, exactly, why I feel compelled to share this:

On her Facebook page, Greece, New York native Karen Huff Klein says she enjoys working for the school district, and “will continue to work…unless I come into lots of money.” But a video apparently recorded by a student aboard a school bus she is responsible for monitoring clearly shows the torment she is being forced to endure at the hands of foul-mouthed schoolkids.

Towleroad stomached the ten-minute-long video and jotted down some of the nastier insults:

“Dumb-ass, fat-ass.” “Maybe she is an elephant.” “She’s gonna pick out which kid she’s gonna rape next.” “Karen wants herpes.” “F**king hearing aid.” “I’ll egg your house.” “What’s your address so I can p*ss all over your door.” “I’ll f**king take a cr*p in your mouth.” “You touched her arm flap. It’s all stinky and smelly.” “She probably eats deodorant because she can’t afford real food.” “What size bra are you? Triple sag?”

A concerted effort is reportedly underway to ensure these children get the discipline they deserve, but so far no word on this from the hometown paper, the Democrat and Chronicle.” via New York Schoolkids Mercilessly Taunt Elderly Bus Monitor [UPDATE].

It renews my commitment to keep my kids off the school bus and drive them regardless of the inconvenience for one…

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…on Blessing

Melody Beattie posts…

“I was out with a married couple for dinner, when the husband sneezed.

“God bless you,” I said.

He sneezed again. “Bless you,” I said.

Then he sneezed again and again.

“He sneezes all the time,” his wife said. “I think he does it on purpose. He just wants people to bless him.” “Who doesn’t want that?” I said.

My first experience with the value of blessing people happened in the early years of my sobriety. I wanted a job that someone else was given. I felt envious and resentful. Twelve Step programs and religions teach us a basic formula to cure ill will: pray for those you resent. Pray for God to shower blessings and happiness on those people. Pray for these blessings each time the resentment—or any hint of ill will enters your mind.

So I did. I prayed twenty or more times a day because that is how often I resented this person. I didn’t feel like praying for blessings. I decided to pray because the envy and bitter feelings were consuming me.

Over a period of months, I watched the situation transform. This person became my friend and mentor.

I eventually got a new position that I really wanted. I learned two things. Other people don’t have anything that belongs to me. And praying for blessings on people is a double whammy. They get blessed, and so do we.

Blessings are not just a tool to cure ill will and resent­ment—although that would be plenty. Blessings, like gentle rain or sunshine, are in this world for all. Don’t wait for people to sneeze to bless them. Be an active participant in spreading goodwill.

Value: Blessing our enemies, our loved ones, and ourselves is the value for this week.” via May 1.

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Don’t Dwell on It, Revision It!

Rarely is dwelling on the past seen in a positive light. Nor should it be. Thinking too much about times gone by typically keeps your mind–and life–stuck in neutral (and maybe even shifts it into reverse). If you habitually ruminate over your earlier life, you may regularly be revisited by feelings of anger, guilt, resentment, sorrow, or shame. And such emotions are hardly productive. In many ways, they’re downright toxic. Fretfully obsessing about the people and events precipitating such negative feelings can lead to endless recycling. Becoming increasingly stagnant, or fixated, your thinking really can’t progress toward any adaptive resolution.

Moreover, returning to the past to rehearse old dissatisfactions and grievances–even to replay images of earlier triumphs–and idly preoccupying yourself with irreconcilable thoughts about them, can result in self-reproach, lamentation, remorse, and even bitterness. Using your mental energy for such a doubtful purpose can catapult you into the inextricable pit of woulda, coulda, shoulda. With the result that you can end up consumed with regret–what French existentialist, Albert Camus, has referred to as the most futile of emotions.

Yet, to be fair, dwelling on the past does have certain short-term advantages. For instance, you might become preoccupied with earlier events of success by way of rationalizing present-day frustrations and failures. If you haven’t been able to live up to the hopes of others–or to your own expectations–you might find temporary comfort in reliving past accomplishments. But while focusing on past positives may afford you some relief from current disappointments, by itself it does nothing to direct (or re-direct) your efforts to further your objectives in the here-and-now. And if you’re to realize your full potential in life, you need to squarely focus on what you can do right now to fulfill your promise–not on what you achieved in bygone times.

Source: The Past: Don’t Dwell on It, Revision It! Part 1 | Psychology Today

Go to the source if you’d like to read the rest of Leon Seltzer’s article…

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Crap You’re Leaving Behind In 2011 (And What To Take Into 2012)

English: Fireworks over Copenhagen the night b...
Image via Wikipedia

Good stuff from Terri Cole…

New Year’s allows us to clean the slate. To help gain clarity on what needs to go and what needs to come with you to make 2012 AMAZING, I want to share with you a New Year exercise I used to give my clients.

Create THREE separate lists:

1. CRAP YOU ARE LEAVING IN 2011
Write down experiences, feelings, people, circumstances… anything that you do not want to drag with you into 2012. Share this list with a trusted friend who will witness without judgment. Then, burn the list so the energy attached to it can be released back into The Uni-verse and out of your experience.

2. GEMS YOU ARE KEEPING FROM 2011
Write down what you learned from your experiences, good and bad, but especially from the ones on list #1. Once you honor what you learned, you won’t need to repeat the crappy situation. Even the worst situation has a gem. You just have to be willing to look through the crap to find it. Hold onto this list.

3. WHAT YOU ARE CREATING IN 2012
Write what you want to create for yourself: how you want your life to look and feel. This list should be written in the present tense and include all areas of your life: love, health, family, wealth, friends, career, fitness, spirituality, etc. Marinate, meditate and think on what you have written. Put this list where you can see it on a daily basis. When you look at this list, feel the feelings of having these things. By conjuring the feelings, you become a magnet that will draw the experiences to you.

It is a proven fact that writing down your intentions gives them a much better chance of actually coming into being. Create some time and space to creatively write your lists. Invite some friends to your manifesting party and make it fun!

We are the architects and engineers of our life experience, so commit to creating your best life in 2012!

I’m interested in what your resolutions are, what experiences you need to release, and what gems have you gleaned from various situations. I’m also here to offer any advice and be your biggest supporter in making 2012 spectacular!

Source: Crap You’re Leaving Behind In 2011 (And What To Take Into 2012)

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What You Send Out Is What You Get Back

“Send out judgment and low energy and that is what you’ll attract back. Remember, when you judge another, you do not define them, you define yourself as someone who needs to judge. The same applies to judgments directed at you.”
– Wayne Dyer
via thedailylove.com
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Dr. D

I recently had the honor of meeting the new president of Marian University, Dr. Steven DiSalvo. The words on the Marian Website cannot do justice to the man I met…

“Dr. Steven DiSalvo currently serves the Marian University community as President. Bringing to Marian a wealth of experience in higher education and philanthropic fundraising leadership, Dr. DiSalvo has a strong foundation in student affairs, student retention, academic programming and institutional development.  DiSalvo earned three degrees, including his Ph.D., from Fordham University in New York, and currently serves as the Board Chair for Fordham’s Center for American Catholic Studies.  Administrative experience at other Catholic universities and not-for-profit organizations, including the Joe Torre Safe at Home Foundation, have suited DiSalvo well to lead the university in living our Mission and Core Values.” via marianuniversity.edu

It’s a shame the world can’t get to know him in the way I did! Our mutual friend Paul Osterholm (who originally had the vision to connect us in the first place) brokered a meeting in Dr. DiSalvo’s office. We spent the first hour talking about life and experiences only to learn that we were twins separated at birth — in fact, we even lived a few blocks away from one another in Flushing, NY in 1983! That, however, was not what inspired me — it was that Dr. DiSalvo is a man with his feet planted firmly on the ground of a sound experience in business with organizations like IBM and the Joe Torre ‘Safe at Home’ foundation and at the same time, he is reaching for the academic stars at a new and improved Marian University with the lessons he learned at Fordham University. Marian is now blessed with a dynamic, gifted leader who, imho [in my humble opinion], could really take Marian to the next level if he makes the right moves now to rebuild the Marian University brand while building on its strengths…

As expected, Dr. DiSalvo faces many challenges in his new role. Here are a few that seem obvious to me…

  • Marian has a relatively weak brand compared to other colleges and universities in the region
  • It has a reputation as a ‘suitcase college’ — the campus is empty on weekends
  • The community — parents and students alike — are disenfranchised
  • The website is a brochure and the university may not be using the website and social networks optimally

I’m sure there are others, but as a Marian parent these are the ones that jump out at me. Fortunately, there seem to be an abundance of “good, fast, and cheap” answers in the form of ‘thought leadership’ marketing and social media that could help Dr. DiSalvo put out these fires and focus on other areas.

I’m going to share with the good doctor one of my all time favorite New Yorker cartoons and I trust he’ll appreciate the source considering his New York roots…

Since I first saw this cartoon over 17 years ago, I have taken it to mean that the internet has the potential to be the great equalizer and pound for pound, it may be the best place for Dr. DiSalvo to create a solid image of the ‘new’ Marian for the lowest overall cost…

Strategy

If it were my job to meet his challenges out on the internet, here are some of the things I’d consider strategically:

Leverage association resources and learn all I could from what other comparable universities are doing.

Closer to home, I’d ask myself the question “What would St. Norbert do?” SNC has recently won a couple awards for effective use of social media. What are they doing right? Evaluate and emulate…

Marian has several different ‘customers’. Pre-students, students and post-students. They need to deliver messages to the media these customers use that helps Marian sell to prospective students, helps current students stick with Marian, and helps alumni stay with the school, emotionally and financially. ‘Sell, stick and stay‘ should resonate in everything Marian does online and in social media…

Marian could do a much better job connecting parents and students to the school. Our trips to Fond du Lac were usually disappointing; events competing with basketball games, bookstore closed, etc. What a difference it would have made if the school broadcast our son’s basketball games live via Ustream or Qik. Free, but priceless in terms of connecting parents to the school. What would happen if the school actually showcased their student athletes as well?

Furthermore? Many non-profits are effectively using the internet to fundraise online. What is stopping Marian?

Tactics

If it were my job to fix some of these problems, I’d remember the words of the great philosopher Andre Agassi who said ‘Image is Everything’…

  • I’d redo the website as a content management system [blog] and instruct Dr. D and other great thinkers at the university in the fine art of ‘thought leadership’ marketing.
  • I’d sit him in front of a camera and get him to effectively communicate the same passion that got me fired up to write this post.
  • I’d take that great content and I’d connect it to Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and other social networks.
  • I’d put my star professors and their great content online and expand the borders of Marian beyond Wisconsin to the rest of the world.
  • I’d build real and virtual community around the Marian mission, vision and values using best of the “good, fast, and cheap” tools the internet offers.

Will Dr. DiSalvo succeed? Time will tell, but I’m betting he will and I think I’d like to help. My only regret, however, is that my son, basketball standout Colin Lohenry, only has one semester left…

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Rough comparison of sizes of Saturn and Earth....
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Go to the source to learn more: preyproject.com

Travel much? Concerned about losing your computer to a thief? You might be interested in how one man used Prey to track down the man who stole his computer, all played out in social media via Storify…

<script src="

A man’s laptop is stolen, but he’s able to track it remotely and with the help of social media, recover it. (NSFW language. More story links at bottom.)

http://storify.com/btballenger/man-tracks-stolen-laptop-thousands-of-miles-away.js”>%5B<a href="

A man’s laptop is stolen, but he’s able to track it remotely and with the help of social media, recover it. (NSFW language. More story links at bottom.)

http://storify.com/btballenger/man-tracks-stolen-laptop-thousands-of-miles-away&#8221; target=”blank”>View the story “Man tracks stolen laptop hundreds of miles away, calls thief” on Storify]

h/t Mitch Joel…

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The Australian Yellow Pages logo used by Telst...
Image via Wikipedia
It’s always easier to just buy an ad.  There are people that will take your money and use it to produce a commercial, tv spot or print ad.  People will see your ad and a few of them may even come into your store if your ad has a good call to action or a coupon.  There is a problem with that strategy.  There’s an easier way that takes more work.  How can something be easier and take more work?

It’s more work to…

…gather contact information for all of your current clients or members.

…communicate with them about things other than your organization, store or “sale of the century”.

…talk to individuals instead of buying an ad for the masses.

But it’s easier to…

…get information of your current clients than to get information from strangers.

…talk about what’s important to their lives if you’re listening  on their terms (Facebook or Twitter come to mind).

…talk to individuals and get a response than to buy an ad and get the attention of the masses.

As with all things worth while it’s easier in the long run if you do more work in the beginning.

Stop throwing money at the masses and start talking to individuals.

via andytraub.com

Nice post by Andy Traub. For me, it’s like Guy Kawasaki says ““If you have more Money than brains, you should focus on Outbound Marketing. If you have more Brains than money, you should focus on Inbound Marketing.” [Just in case you’re not sure, ads are outbound, social media is inbound.] One of the things I love about social media marketing is that it takes more time than money! All of us are working hard in the current economy but imho, the smart ones are channeling that effort into inbound marketing in the form of social media. Questions? Feedback?

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A client approached me today and asked whether or not I thought it would be a good thing for her to advertise in the Yellow Pages. I said I dunno — let’s look at the numbers…

Over the past 13 months, her Yellow Pages campaign had generated 5,500 impressions and a little over 60 clicks. In one year. Perhaps the thing that amazes me most about that is that our county tends to lag behind a little technology-wise and you would think the Yellow Pages would still be popular here. Perhaps even our humble county is falling prey to this national trend….

The White Pages, where many of us have found residential phone numbers over the years, are slowly being phased out in a number of states. NPR reported on this in early October, and now New York is part of the movement, too.

There will still be Yellow Pages, for the time being — it’s just the residential listings that phone companies are seeking permission to stop printing, except for customers who specifically request them. Everything from environmental concerns to the ubiquity of online directories to the decline of land lines has added heft to the cause, and in a growing list of states, you already won’t get the White Pages automatically.

But the piece in The Wall Street Journal notes that where AT&T has stopped printing the White Pages automatically, 2 percent of customers still request them. It’s not a lot, but it’s something.

It’s not hard to imagine a day when the Yellow Pages, too, will no longer be able to justify their existence, and the entire concept of a hard-copy phone directory will be something almost nobody remembers and almost nobody can imagine using.

via npr.org

Now let’s take a look at Facebook ads. Here’s the report summary for a little campaign I did a few weeks ago…

In brief, for a cost of $20.92, my ‘facebook ad using’ client got 25 times more impressions, almost the same amount of clicks, in a much more targeted audience than my ‘yellow page using’ client got in the previous 13 months for less than %1 of the cost. Oh — I forgot to mention the first client spent $3,900 to get her 60+ clicks…

I don’t know — you tell me. Should client #1 continue to use Yellow Pages or test the waters on Facebook Ads? I think even I can figure that one out…

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I love my ‘job’…

…and one of the reasons why is that I love people and I get to meet so many interesting ones along the way. Earlier this week, I had the chance to interview rising Ag star Eric Kamler at Husker Harvest Days in Grand Island, NE. Here’s our chat…

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