Overloaded Donkey Cart OR My Life as a Donkey

The last couple of months have been “interesting.” There is an old Chinese curse that says “May you live in interesting times.” 2010 has definitely been that for me! In the last couple of months my post-concussion syndrome headaches have reasserted themselves. They haven’t been as bad as they were initially, but they’ve still been very hard to deal with. I’m on a different headache preventative Rx, but they still come and go. They just make dealing with everyday life difficult. So I decided to make a few changes in my life in order to try to relieve stress and, hopefully, prevent headaches.

1. I decided to take a break from school. I’m not quitting. I’m not even stopping working on my dissertation. I’m just taking a few months off from classes. I’m thinking that I will start back up again after the New Year. I’ve just been so tired with everything and everyone but school has made the sacrifices for me. Work has been wonderful. My family and friends have been supportive. Mark has been phenomenal! I just need to take some time to relax a bit.
2. I’ve decided to stop watching so much TV. I have already cut out the commercials by recording everything I watch on DVR first, but so much of TV is just pure drivel lately. Even the “educational” channels like Discovery, TLC, National Geographic, and Biography have turned to mush with sensational, shallow, and hollow TV shows. It’s really quite sad… Not even the SciFi (now Syfy) Channel has embraced the lowest form of SciFi for movies and gone away from its original mission and started showing “professional” wrestling and Ghost Hunters.
3. To replace all of my TV watching I’ve decided to read more. I suddenly find myself in various stages of several types of books, depending on my mood. I just finished The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood (more on that later…). I’m also reading Grimm’s Fairy Tales, Ethics: The Heart of Leadership, Socialnomics (as an Audible.com book), and Al Gore’s The Assault on Reason (another Audible.com book). All are interesting and the topics vary pretty widely.
4. I’ve also decided to take on a mini-project called Photo365. The idea is to take one photo each day for a year and post it on the web to share. Yes, this is another social media thing. I’m going to start on September 1st and go through August 31st, 2011. Once I start uploading photos, I’ll post them on http://365project.org/ and share them here, on Twitter, and on Facebook. It will be interesting to see what comes out of it.
5. I also plan to blog more often. I’m considering starting some series on life, photography, interesting questions to ponder, the aforementioned reviews of what I’m reading, and probably some op-ed pieces too.
6. I’ve taken a break from Toastmasters. I was in two clubs and was also being encouraged to participate in leadership roles. While I enjoy the Toastmasters program and have learned a LOT about public speaking, I find that a) I want to dive in and fully participate right before b) I collapse in an exhausted heap from even thinking about diving in and participating fully. I will return to it, but I just found myself having to say “No” and feeling lousy because I really wanted to say “Yes” to everything I was asked to help with.
7. Finally, I’m going to get into an exercise regimen. I joined Curves and really enjoy the program, but all of the headaches I’ve been having, coupled with all of the pressure I’ve been under lately, have made getting there to DO the exercise quite difficult. Starting Monday, I’m getting back on that horse and will go AT LEAST 3 days each week.

Have you ever had to do anything like what I’ve done here? How did you handle it? Any advise? Please comment. I’d love to hear from you.

• Worked for the Department of Motor Vehicles
• Got married for the 2^nd time
• Graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree
• Got caught up in the excitement of the Dot Com Boom when I got a job with a web design company
• Witnessed the terrorist attack on September 11, 2001 and it’s aftermath with the rest of the world
• Got caught by the Dot Com Bust when I got laid off by the web design company and experienced 18 months of unemployment
• Got a job with my current employer
• Bought a House
• Earned my Masters Degree in Health Administration
• Became the proud parent of two beautiful dogs
• Had Gastric Bypass surgery & lost 100 lbs in a year
• Bought my 1^st brand new car
• Got a promotion in my current company
• Started working on my Doctoral Degree in Management and Organizational Leadership
• Joined two Toastmasters clubs and earned my Competent Communicator and Competent Leader Awards

Whew! That’s quite a decade! So, with all of that behind me, what does the future hold? Naturally I can’t predict the future as precisely as the past, but I do have plans. They include finishing my doctoral degree, becoming a college or university instructor, perhaps starting my own business, and maybe doing some traveling with my husband.

I must say that I am excited by the prospects of my future! Most immediately I’m looking forward to researching and writing my dissertation on corporate use of social media. I really enjoy participating in social media and feel that if large corporations (like the one I work for) were to utilize some of the more versatile social media tools, they would be surprised by the resources and ideas they could tap into once their employees start using them.

At the beginning of February 2010 I begin the first real, solid steps down that path. Everything in my doctoral program so far has been in preparation for this next class which is a one-on-one with my Doctoral Mentor, Dr. Nancy Holley. In that class Dr. Holley and I will be solidifying the plans for my dissertation project and setting the plans for how we will proceed until our 2^nd class together in September.

The plans I’ve laid out so far only cover the next couple of years. I don’t know what will happen after that, but I am looking forward to finding out. I’ve always been someone who enjoys the adventures of life. I don’t see that changing any time in the near future…

Projects 2-9 in the Competent Communication Manual build on each other starting with how to build a speech and moving on to using gestures and props or conducting research. While Toastmasters does not require that members go through the manual’s projects in order, I do recommend it as they each build on the previous exercises.

Each of Projects 2-10 has a 5-7 minute time limit. Adhering to time limits is important because nobody is ever given an unlimited amount of time to give a speech. Too short and you may not be giving enough information. Too long and you are either giving too much information or boring your audience to death. Sticking to a standard time-frame allows a new speaker to learn how long that time frame feels so they can adjust their speech on the fly if necessary.

Finally, as with any new skill, it’s important to practice, practice, practice. Beyond practicing your speech before a mirror, it’s important to practice giving speeches before an audience. The more you give presentations, the better a presenter you will become.

Next in this series – How to deal with feedback…

Image Credit: This image was retrieved on December 20, 2009 from Freedom to Think using Google Images.

The Communication Education Program works so well because it starts with the basics and builds on each speech after that. The first speech is called the “Ice Breaker” and the idea is to introduce the new member to the club. What does a speaker know more about than themselves after all?

I’ve heard experienced Toastmasters say that if a new member gets up in front of the group and tells them a bit about themselves, then the Ice Breaker is a complete success! I agree. The first barrier to overcome is the fear of the unknown. The unknowns in an Ice Breaker situation are how the members will react to the new member, and how the new member will make it through the 4-6 minutes. Once they see that green card signal that they have made the minimum 4 minutes they can stop talking and sit down and be considered a success. This does not apply to all speeches given in Toastmasters however…

Every Toastmaster gets an applause for giving a speech!

Each successive speech adds to the member’s experience level, arsenal of speaking techniques, and most importantly, adds to the member’s confidence level and expertise as a speaker. I’ve given 10 speeches at Toastmasters meetings and have seen a vast improvement in my presentation skills. Do I consider myself an expert yet? NO! I still have a long way to go, but Toastmasters provides a good course of action that can help me get to where I want to go.

Here’s an overview of both Toastmasters Education Programs >>>

Tomorrow – Building on the Ice Breaker…

Image Credits:

1. Cartoon found on The Top 10 Ways to Feel Confident About Public Speaking using Google Images.

2. Photo found on Salt Lake Toastmasters using Google Images.