Just another Monday morning 🙂 Views from my 8 hour drive from Deer Lodge, MO to Calgary, AB ….

Approaching the 🇨🇦 border … but I was ready:

• Vaccination card ✅
• Negative Covid test within 72 hours ✅
• Additional Covid test at the border ✅

So thankfully, they 🇨🇦 let me back into the country! LOL

After having a drink on 17th Ave with a super neat business lady … I got to enjoy a relaxing evening with an old friend that I grew up with in High Level.

Thanks June and Jordan for a great dinner, delicious whiskey, and a thought provoking conversation!

Last night I kicked off the 2nd Cohort in a program I launched earlier this year. It helps  Canadian women leaders build a relevant network in Silicon Valley and grow their business.

Now what is super cool about this is the fact that 40 companies applied and nine ended up joining me for 3.5 days in Silicon Valley.  Most didn’t even know me … Had no idea what the program was about!  But thankfully, through the network I’ve built, heard something that resonated and decided to take a leap of faith – and a significant amount of time out of their personal and startup life to join me.

Day two was a fabulous reminder of the seeds we plant and where things can grow to.

Having grown up on a farm, my father would go out in the spring and plant various kinds of seeds on many plots of land — all with the “hope” that the rain would come to water it, and the sun would bring it to life, and that enough time would pass before the snow would fall so he could harvest and not only enjoy the fruits of his labor, but quite literally be able to afford the next year for his family (which included me!).

A year ago I planted the seed of my initiative I call the Canadian Women’s Network. I designed it to support women in tech in Canada gain access to Silicon Valley to grow their business and drive economic value back to Canada.

I didn’t know if it would be successful. Heck, even though day 2 of program #2 kicked off great, I can’t be 100% sure of its future success.

But what I did witness is something coming to life and impacting people who otherwise might not have access to this kind of opportunity at this early stage in their company’s growth.

I hope to only grow this program and drive deeper impact into a world I care about very deeply.  What ultimately results from it all will, of course, be determined over time.

But it speaks volumes to listening to one’s inner intuition and sometimes simply starting.

You might not know where it is going to lead … Heck, I promise you that you won’t.  But if you can embrace the journey (as hard as the unknown is) … then I do believe you’ll go to bed with a smile on your face and a warmth in your heart that is unlike any job you had or gift you’ve been given.

Fall 2018 Cohort, Canadian Women’s Network You ladies rock! #FutureWorldLeaders

I LOVE this time of year …. when I get to dream about the year ahead.

It happens without fail. I start to dream. I do more writing. I strategize all of the areas of my life that I want to change, improve, re-write. And it’s SO exciting!

And then …

Well, I won’t say I fall flat on my face come January … but … the goals are always very lofty and my time management skills could use some, um … transformation as we say in the tech world.

This morning as I was doing my daily (ish) writing (a win on my 2018 accomplishment list even if it’s daily-ish), and I was in need of inspiration. I’ve been loosely doing “Morning Pages“ which is the creation of Julia Cameron in the book The Artist’s Way.  But daily writing without a purpose can sometimes turn into pages of complaining about all that is wrong, or bothersome to me.  So I made a conscious decision when I returned to this practice to turn my morning pages into affirmations and things I need to do in order to accomplish my goals.

But still … I needed some new inspiration.

And I found it.  The concept was to write about all of your accomplishments for the year. The “headlines” if you will.  All the things you are proud of.  Signs of growth.  Mindset shifts.  Any ‘Aha’ moments or moments clarity.  Great people you connected with and started a new friendship, or maybe a person or company you are doing a partnership with. A new client – or renewals of old.  From the small ‘wins’ to the larger accomplishments.

And that was perfect for me. It hit the spot for my morning pages.

But then I had an idea …. I thought since one of my goals this year (and will be into next year) is more writing, why don’t I use my Being Superwoman blog to create daily writing topics that I can use for inspiration each day.  It will force me to search for creativity and I can share with my albeit, few, but mighty followers.

Hence, the title “Creating 2019” for this blog.

Yesterday I sat across the aisle from old colleague on a flight back to SFO. When we worked together he used to push me way outside of my comfort zone, and he always had some good lessons or tips to pass along (whether he knew he was doing it or not).  As we were talking, waiting to de-plane, he made a comment, and I can’t quite recall the exact words, but something like “If it’s not your strength, turn it into your feature”.  I wondered why the universe brought him into my world on that morning and now as I create this plan for my writing in 2019, I realize it was for that lesson.

So I’m turning something that isn’t my strength, not only writing but consistency in writing, into my feature.

Today is December 1st. And that means it’s the first day of a new month. And it’s the first day of the last 31 days of the year. So it’s the first opportunity to begin a new habit that I can carry into 2019.

So if you’re up for it – my invitation to you is to take a few moments and write out all of your accomplishments for the year. Or you can do a smaller time period. Or a larger one.  They can be personal or professional and they can be private for your eyes only, or you can share a few with friends and colleagues (or complete strangers though your various list of social channels).

What did you accomplish in your job or your company?

What are some health and wellness goals that you’re proud of?

What personal shifts happened that have put you in a different place today versus the beginning of the year.

And I’ll be back tomorrow with December 2nd’s daily writing topic of inspiration!

Credit to today’s “list of accomplishments” also goes out to Heather M – who has long suggested this to me as a good practice to incorporate from time to time. Thank you Heather for the suggestion and being a great guide in my life over the years.