Lights, camera, action
First, I filmed a video about how to take your business online with the talented crew from Pinstripe Media, who make Kochie's Business Builders. Then, Dell filmed a video, which is going to depict "A day in the life of Valerie Khoo". Yes, some people might wonder how a day in my life could be riveting viewing as it would be peppered with lots of images of me making goo-goo noises to my furry babies (Rex, Rocky and Rambo), rushing to meetings, recording podcasts, surfing the net and tapping furiously on my keyboard. Not to mention cleaning up dog pee when Rambo forgets where he's supposed to go.Fortunately, the clever crew from Dell decided to spare viewers from any dog-pee-cleaning-up footage and hopefully you'll be left with a snapshot of what I do day-to-day. One of the reasons is to show how I use my Dell
Latitude Z.
As regular readers will know, this has been my laptop of choice since I got it a few months ago. Yes, I retired my Macbook and haven't regretted it (the only thing I miss is Garageband). I want to be completely transparent and say that I still do work in a cross-platform environment (our office has Macs and PCs) but I have agreed to be one of 9 global ambassadors for the Latitude Z.I've previously posted some of my experiences with the Lat Z here and here.
Will that stop me from using other laptops or brands? Of course not. Will that mean I'll only say nice things about it? No, if something sucks, I'll say so. Am I loving the Lat Z? Yes.
Filming the video was fun although, I'll admit, I was bummed that my hairdresser was stuck in Europe due to the flight delays from the volcanic ash. So you rarely heard me utter a la Norma Desmond: "Mr De Mille, I'm ready for my close up". Instead, I was hoping the camera was far enough away not to notice the stray tresses or the little zit that decided to make an appearance on the very day of filming. (TIP: Benefit Boi-ing Concealer – gotta have it.)It's those little things that can let insecurities creep in. Instead of focusing on the job at hand, you curse yourself for not booking Joh Bailey to style your hair months in advance and pray that your zit isn't going to go Vesuvius on you. When that happens, it's time to take a deep breath, refocus, and get some perspective!
Get inspired by the best
Last week, I had the pleasure of going to Wicked at the Capitol Theatre in Sydney. Regular readers will know that I'm a bit of a sucker for musicals. So it wasn't surprising that I left the theatre "Defying Gravity" trying to hit high notes in the car all the way home. It's an amazing privilege to witness such talent. And I highly recommend that you schedule time in your life to observe, watch or just hang out with people who are the best at what they do.We all have it in us to be amazing. But sometimes we need someone else to inspire us to tap into our own potential. Or we need someone else – someone who has made it – to show us the way they got there in order for us to create our own unique path. Look for leaders. Look for people to model. Look for those who have achieved success in the areas you want to do well.
Some people argue that you should look within yourself for strength and guidance. Well, that might sound lovely and Zen-like but I think it's just silly. Of course we have to draw upon our own resources to make things happen, but the reality is that most of us are bumbling through this life without real assurance on what we are actually doing. So looking for leadership is the smart thing to do. It doesn't show that you have a weakness. It shows that you are clever enough to understand that:
- it is more efficient to learn from someone who has gone before than to try and figure it out all by yourself
- striving for and learning from the best is MUCH better than learning from a newbie or amateur
- opening yourself to new ideas and insights can only make you a better person.
Make a date with inspiration
Is there something that feeds your soul? Is there someone or something that you know will inspire you or motivate you? If you can identify what this is, then you owe it to yourself to make regular dates with inspiration. For me, even though I never want to star in a musical, watching the amazing performers in something like Wicked makes me want to excel in what I do too. Schedule in events where you can watch people be their best, whether that's in the arts, sport, business or whatever. It's simply inspiring to watch, or hang out, with people who are the best at what they do. You may not learn anything technically from them because they might not be in your industry, but make a point to learn from their outlook on life and absorb their unique energy.
Learn from the best
This has been a fundamental principle in my life in recent years. I went through most of the first 30 years of my life just learning from whomever. I took financial advice from people who ... yeah ... well, they might have invested in a master trust ... once. Or I took business advice from people who ... well, they weren't making any money in business. Go figure.That's because, when I was younger, I thought that everyone must know more than I did. But the reality is I was merely taking advice from those who bothered to be most vocal. They weren't necessarily the best.
These days, I identify clear leaders in their field and I'll seek their advice whenever I need to. And I'm also more than happy to pay for their time – I don't expect them to share their pearls of wisdom for free. The difference has been transformational. When you seek out the best and make a dedicated effort to learn from them, your business or career will skyrocket.
Valerie recommends: Online Feature Writing
Would you like to see your articles published in magazines and newspapers? From 26 April, I will lead you on a 5-week journey in the online course, Feature Writing for Magazines and Newspapers. - It doesn’t matter if you haven’t written anything in your life!
- It doesn’t matter if you don’t know how to approach editors
(we’ll give you a step by step formula)
- It doesn’t matter if you don’t have the right tools of a feature writer
(they are simple – we’ll show you)
- It doesn’t matter where you live
(the same principles apply throughout the publishing industry)
If you're interested, the course starts next week and you can find out more here.
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