Author: MarleneMB

Maintaining a State of Happiness for Success

Posted on by MarleneMB

The great thing about this stage of my life is that I realize that death is certain. Instead of being in a panicked state, I chose to make the best of whatever time I have in this space that I occupy in this realm. One of my friends says that I am never home anymore. Well, I thought that instead of sitting of my couch, dreaming about doing something purposeful; I am going to live that Diamond Life that I dream about.

I now participate in organizations such as Toastmasters International that helps me to learn to be a better speaker and leader. It also gives me the opportunity to help in the development of others and to fulfill my purpose as a mentor, coach and encourager. But there are days when things get a little rough and I have to find something to encourage myself. These are the days when I get on YouTube and search for upbeat videos; or, sometimes someone posts something on Facebook that inspires me.

Here is one of the videos that worked for me this week. It is a YouTube video by Shawn Anchor taking about happiness. It was definitely instrumental in getting me into my winning zone. I hope you enjoy it.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXy__kBVq1M]

In the meantime, keep Living a Diamond Life! Live a Life of Purpose.

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Visit my websites: www.marlenembryan.com and www.higherroadconsulting.com

Winning

Posted on by MarleneMB

As an entrepreneur, you often have to go the extra mile to get new business. This means when the clock hits 5 p.m. you are not going home and turning on the television. It sometimes means you have to get in the car and head to another networking event. Today was a very long day for me, but I signed up for yet another business event that started after five. The good news was that it wasn’t far from home.

After rushing from Broward County, trying not to do 90 mph on 95 South to get to Miami on time. I hate being late! I got a nice call from a potential client that she wants to meet with me as soon as possible. She needs some of the products we offer. That picked my mood up immensely. Suddenly I was not so tired. After freshening up in the “powder room,” I got my badge and entered my name on the tablet they had at registration for a raffle later.

This event was the Miami Small Business Symposium hosted by Verizon and the Hispanic Heritage Foundation. Verizon had lots of wireless gadgets on display and assistances that were snapping our pictures with some of these nifty items. Did I mention that they had free food? The meeting consists of: a panel discussion, a round table session on various products, and networking with other attendees. When it was time for the raffle, I was crossing my fingers hoping that I would win the new Samsung Tablet. Instead I won the round-trip ticket to anywhere Southwest flies! I jumped out of my chair and ran to get that hot-little ticket in my hands.  Talk about being in the right place at the right time.

The symposium was very informative and gave me great information that I can share with my clients and prospects. I also met two new prospects that need assistance with technology for their small businesses. This night taught me that you have to go, even when you don’t feel like going. You have to constantly network to find new opportunities. Finally, you may be very surprised by winning a round-trip ticket to anywhere in the country. This makes it all worthwhile. Winning!!!

Live a Diamond Life! Live a Life of Purpose!

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Visit our technology website site: www.higherroadconsulting.com

 

 

Math, Science, Power Tools and Shoes

Posted on by MarleneMB

I remember that I first fell in love with math when my Aunt Peggy taught me long division versus short division at the age of eight. I was so excited to be able to figure out the problems that I would try to see how fast I could solve a problem. In ninth grade, Mr. De La Vecchia introduced me to Algebra. My happiness sensory went into overload. Figuring out a+b=c or learning polynomials was so exciting for me!

Then there are sciences. I couldn’t wait to get to Mr. Wolfe’s class to see the next Physics demo or in my chemistry class to turn on the Bunsen burner to perform another experiment. I think I liked these two subjects, because mathematics was involved. It shouldn’t be a surprise that in my career I ended up using mathematics in all of the jobs I held in telecommunications. As a sales engineer, I had to determine how many IP addresses a client may need for the companies data network. I had to become certified in the design of networks via the Cisco certification process.

The part I love most about studying for my exams involved understanding binary codes and subnet masking. Learning about ASCII, ANSI, Hex, etc. codes was thrilling to me. I would engross myself into converting binary codes to IP addresses and back for hours! Knowing that as the IP 192.168.0.0 and is the beginning of a “C” class private IP address, sent my mind into happy land overdrive. Most of my girlfriends taught I was “nuts” of course. They couldn’t imagine I would give up my weekend to read a technical book.

I also love music because of math. There are eight notes that when rearranged make great melodies, but I see them in mathematical combination instead of arrangements or scores.  When I learned to dance the waltz or other types of dances, I was usually counting 1-2-3, 1-2-3 or 1-2-3-4. Again math came to my rescue.

Fear not, guys and dolls. I’m not totally geeky. I get the same happy feeling when I enter Home Depot or Lowes, and I walk in the power tool aisle only to see a Dewalt Cordless 18V Hammerdrill with double battery pack on sale for $100. I love power tools. Or when I walk into Macys and see a pair of shoes on sale, marked down from $120 to $20! Shucks it doesn’t even have to be Macy’s, any pair of shoes on sales anywhere gives me the same happy feelings I have for math.

Next time you are out and about, think about the great things mathematics and science has brought us. You may have a new appreciation for these two awesome subjects. I didn’t like learning English subject much or writing an essay, but I have grown to love words and how beautiful they are when used to express my love of people, places, things, mathematics and science.

Live a Diamond Life! Live a Life of Purpose!

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Death of a Social Media

Posted on by MarleneMB

One of the people I follow in the Social Media world is Lewis Howes. He always has great info on LinkedIn. Yesterday, he posted a question on his page see below:

“Which social network will you STOP using or will go out of style first?
1. Twitter
2. Facebook
3. LinkedIn
4. YouTube
5. Google+
6. Pinterest

Most of the replies came back with Google+ as the front-runner as the first to die out in the online social networking arena. Some made the case that Facebook is dying because younger kids are moving to Instagram or Twitter.  The conversation is an interesting one. Personally, I use Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter to promote my businesses, in that order. I am working to develop our business presence on YouTube because I see this as a very important vehicle to get the message across about our products and services.

I must admit that I occasionally stop by Google+ and Pinterest to post something. Part of my issue is that most of my contacts have not migrated to Google+ from Facebook. Managing my circles on Google+ takes time and I don’t have much of that these days. I do like using the Hangout feature. It still needs a few quirks worked out, but one of the pastors at my church uses it for bible study. This works great of me, because I don’t have to drive far to take part in the group. Pinterest is still just growing, but I like the ease of use.

I think I use Facebook most, not only because of the number of contacts, but I am used to it. I know how must things work on Facebook, even if they make unannounced changes occasionally. I have a love hate thing going with Twitter. In order to grow my contacts I have to tweet often, respond to retweets, mentions, etc. Sometimes I forget to thank someone and feel bad about it. Too much emotional ties sometimes. Overall, I am not sure which one will go out first; Google has very big pockets while Facebook is still trying to monetize the database of users. I love LinkedIn for professional connections and sharing jobs or business leads with my contacts.

What’s your opinion?

Live a Diamond Life! Live a LIf e of Purpose!

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YouTube Raised My Son

Posted on by MarleneMB

Okay, I may be stretching the truth a bit. But my son did learn to tie a bowtie for his singing performances via a YouTube demonstration video. He also learned to fold his clothes for packing his suitcase from another YouTube video. As a single parent, I had to travel for my job and also worked long hours. This meant that my son had to be self-sufficient in certain areas, like learning to tie a bowtie.

From he was quite young, a baby, I had him on my lap in front of a computer or had him on my back when I went to the library. He is now proficient in the use of technology and loves to read books. In fact, I do say he is a much better writer than I am. He did critique my papers for my masters program and he was harder on me than my professors! Being raised by a single mom on the go has forced him to become more independent and a bit more mature than some of his peers.

I felt guilty at first about not spending as much time with him, because of my work schedule. Yet, I always ensured that the time I had with him was filled with quality events, assisting him with various projects, and encouraging him in his pursuit of his goals. Now that he is a senior in college getting great grades and seeming to be well adjusted socially, I am happy that he had other avenues like YouTube to help guide him. My mother, family and friends also played major parts in his upbringing, but there were times he had to use technology to help him out.

Technology when used for good and not evil can be a great thing.  We know that there are some really awful videos on YouTube that can cause harm instead of good. It is what we humans chose to do with technology that makes the difference. Now, if I can only anticipate what effect Barney, the purple dinosaur, had on him! Only time will tell!

Live a Diamond Life! A Life of Purpose!

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