by ceciuriona

My first love…probably Technology (it was the 80’s)

I think I fell in love with technology fairly early in life, it probably was when I was about eight years old and my grand father gave me a calibrator as a gift, an spark plug calibrator, I remember seen this beautifully simple tool, that was no longer needed for modern cars but there it was, smaller than a thumb and so clever that I said I want to be able to have such clever ideas.

It was my father though, the one that truly gave me the opportunity to feed my curiosity, He was on his second masters degree, I must have been two or three months after the calibrator, and because of that masters degree he bought the first computer that ever was set in my house, nothing really fancy, an Acer 210 with a 8088 microprocessor. There was only one other guy in my school class that had a computer at home, forgive me, it was the 80’s not even my school had a computer lab.

Yes, there was a computer at home and someone copied me a game, any normal kid would have done that, after all I never had an Atari or a Nintendo, so as I was trying to install it on the PC my father walked in and caught me!!, that was the end of it, no games where permitted in the PC ever, except for chess, so I tried to play or do something with Word Perfect and Lotus-123, nothing entertaining enough, until my father brought home from his office this tutorial about computers. I was hooked. That was love at first sight!!

by ceciuriona

Why have I decided to turn this into a business blog

I started blogging in 2006 with not much clarity of what I wanted to accomplish with this. Since then I have turned up and down several blogs, and I have published a variety of content for others. 
Several months ago I heard the term body of work on an interview made to Pamela Slim and I loved the concept, What could be the driving concept of my life’s work? I have changed careers several times so finding that was not an easy task, but in the end I realised that not matter what industry I was in my love for technology always made me implement things to improve their business, so here it is, a blog about my own and other people I admire experiences on implementing technology to different business, from simple tweaks to massive implementations. I hope you enjoy reading it, and trying some ideas as much as I have.
Thanks for being there!! 

by ceciuriona

How does your passion look like?

A lot has been said about finding passion at work and bussines. But how to recognize it? This is a question I have asked my self several times. And yes, it may sound silly, how does this girl doesn’t know something so obvious?. But I’m afraid that for me, as it may be for you; It’s easy to loose sight.

As in a love affair, your passion has some unique characteristics:

  • You want the object of your passion always near
  • When you don’t pay attention to it, you feel like cheating.
  • You want to know everything about it.
  • You have this feeling on your gut.
  • You are scared to pursue it, afraid that in the end it won’t pay off.
  • When you get over your fear and do pursue, happiness comes just from doing it, even before results.
  • You want to be better.
  • It fuels the other areas of your life.

So now its time to find our passions, let me know what you think in the comments.

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by ceciuriona

A year end closure ritual

It’s that time of the year, almost 10 days before the end. And for many years now I do my planning for the next year on this time, usually in long walks. What I didn’t do until recently was a closure for the year that ends, a Year End Review, something I learned a couple of years ago from Tara Rodden Robinson on her former podcast GTD Virtual Study Group (this is the episode if you would like to hear it)

Think about the Year End Review as a long diary entry to encapsule the year and pack it, by keeping the best. Weather you want to do it writen, spoken or even just on your mind, it’s like cleaning up your brain and making space for what is about to come.

Some little suggestions, before starting.

  • Get at least a little chunk of time to do it exclusively, no interruptions. Weather its ten minutes or a whole hour,focus. It could be one topic at a time if the slot of time available is too short.
  • Writing can provide a diferent outlook on things, I found that the excercise of writing things down changes my perspective on things, maybe it will happen to you too. It can be digital or analogue (pen and paper).
  • A walk or a run might be a good idea. If you find trouble concentrating sitting down, as I often do, movement can help.

So now you are wondering “So many things happened last year, where do I start?” If you would like to try it, here are some ideas:

  • Things (relationships, circumstances) to appreciate, every year brings joyful circumstances and relationships. Getting into each one of them can seem overwhelming, but somo times just listing them helps us relive the joy.
  • Things (relationships, circumstances) that hurted in some way, pain is a part of life, embracing it helps us to get over it, again maybe just a list could be of enormous help. If you find writing this daunting, a former therapist of mine once taught me a trick; do it using pencil and paper, since pencils are made on carbon, and carbon over time becomes diamonds, it can certainly throw light to things. Yes, I know, it sounds silly, I thought that too the first time I heard it, but just try it, it made an enormous difference for me and maybe it can do it for you too.
  • Things that pushed forward, what ever made you better, a better profesional, a better family or community member, a better human being.
  • Things that holded back, let’s face it, sometimes we get stuck on things. On a higher level of thought, like the Year End Review, its easier to see.
  • Ideas that remained. As time passes it leaves us a perfume, what of the things you came across remained on the top of your mind. Maybe something you have read or a friend told you, or you have learned somehow. Whatever “made click” can provide and outlook of where is our concious mind at this very moment.
  • Things to let go, all that bagage that has came too heavy to still carry around; again pencil and paper can help.
  • Things I wish to continue pursuing the next year, for me this is the golden closure, I always end happy and energetic after I do this one, it gives me the perfect setting for next years goals.

Hope this helps. If you would like this ideas in a mind map format you can download it here on Freemind format to import to MindMeister or your mind mapping app of preference.