Matt Corker

If you are looking to get into writing, acting, singing, or producing – you should probably watch this video. Joseph Gordon-Levitt is bringing a collaborative production company to the masses and calling it hitRECord. If this is how new movies, television programs, songs, and art will be made in the future … I can’t frickin wait! (Thanks SuperForest for the great find.)

Pick of the post: Leona Lewis & Jennifer Hudson – Love is Your Colour

My friend Lindsey got me hooked on a website called tinybuddha. While the content on their site is great (“simple wisdom for complex lives”), the additional musings they add for their e-mail subscribers is what always makes me sit back and think. For example, a few weeks ago my inbox smiled when they sent me this:

Let’s call a spade a spade: there are some things you cannot do, even if you think you can.

Despite delusions of grandeur, none of us can grow wings and fly, teleport across the planet, or walk on water. That being said, there’s something to this idea, also stated eloquently by Henry Ford as “Whether you think you can or you can’t, you’re right.”

Your beliefs can either limit you or allow you to flourish.

If you don’t think you can run a marathon, you won’t even start training. If you don’t think you can start a business, you won’t even consider doing initial research. Instead, you’ll stuff your dreams under a pile of can’t happen, and spend your hours in self-imposed mediocrity.

The belief itself can’t create your future, but it gives you the freedom to try – and as long as you’re trying, there’s no reason to believe you won’t keep learning, growing, and impressing yourself.

*oh snap!

Pick of the Post: Carl Henry – Dim the Lights

Sometimes we feel lonely, unloved, and ugly.

We get overwhelmed in busy schedules. We feel out of control. We put off making decisions because we’re scared.

And then – along comes a friend. You know the one I’m referring to. The one that makes you feel like you belong somewhere, that gives you warm hugs, and tells you you look dapper. They create time for you to use and push you a little further to your edge (because they know you can fly). They remind you of how great you can be. They listen. They surprise.

Yet, we struggle in saying thank you. Mainly because those two words don’t hold enough magnitude to fully express how grateful we are to have them in our life. Or, in this case, we just don’t know who to thank…

Dear Friend(s) Who Left A Note In My Freezer,
Creating a grocery shopping list has never been complimented by a more delightful surprise. Your note has now hangs on my fridge – and is the perfect thing to wake up to as I reach for my cereal’s milk.
“Thank you”

Pick of the Post: Adam Lambert – If I Had You (official music video)

Getting internet in the new pad two days before a long weekend is like having a birthday two weeks before Christmas. You get so excited about one new gift, and then ten more just come flying at you. Needless to say, offline living has created tons of posts in my head that I can’t wait to share with you now that I am back on a (more) regular schedule.

This weekend was packed with good times. Again, I missed out on all the Vancouver Pride festivities [read my post from last year re: Pride], but instead filled the weekend with the simple joys of life. These being moments in life that bring back waves of happy memories and fill your present with a smile. For me, these included:

Eating a delicious meal at 2 am.
Tiptoeing around sleeping people.
Hiking up a mountain with my sis.
Eating berries off the vine.
Playing UNO.
Falling asleep in the sun.
Dancing to new tunes.
Learning the answers to tough questions.
Sleeping in a tent in too many layers.
Waking up by laughing.
Dreaming of the future.
Telling the world what you want.
Singing in the car as we drive home.

Great evenings out followed by early morning hikes with my rockstar sis and camping festivities with the lovely LaPorte are to die for. I’ve been rejuvenated and totally inspired.

So now the real questions are: what creates simple joy in your life and what are you doing to ensure you get more of that?

Pick of the Post: Kevin Rudolf (ft Flo Rida) – You Make the Rain Fall

…. ack, there is so much goodness to share!

As mentioned before, I have recently jumped on board the People Resources team at lululemon athletica as a Leadership Trainer. To refrain from exploding with all the incoherent excitement I have after my first week, I’ll limit myself to a few key learnings about the way they have already made a fantastic first impression on this new hire.

1. Play big – or so says our new luon tee. Every other week, a group of new hires go through orientation/training (on-boarding) together and we all get a shirt we write our names on in big letters. It becomes our giant nametag for the day and helps make us easy to identify as we are being introduced to people around the office. Below our name it reads: “Playing big means letting everyone know your name and what you do. It is not enough to hope others know your name and what you do. It is time to scream it from the rooftops.” Even better … on the back it reads “if i don’t say your name i don’t know it.” Needless to say, I learned names REAL fast that day.
2. Set BIG expectations. I am moving into a role held by Ben Jackson, a total rockstar who has been with lululemon for over 3 years. He is the definition of personable, can enthrall you with his presentations, and he remembers the names (and fun facts) about both office and store employees. It is no surprise one of his strengths is Woo – as you feel immediately comfortable and at ease with him. If I’ve learned one thing this week, it’s that he has provided HUGE shoes for me to fill. To that I say, bring it freakin ON!
3. “Do one thing a day that scares you.” lululemon is big on goal-setting. I like annual goals, but they like 10 year goals. ‘If you know your 10 year goal, you can create a 5 year goal that will help you get there, and a 1 year goal to kick start you on that journey.’ These goals are then posted for the entire company to see and are incorporated into your conversations with your manager. Regardless of what those goals may be! Trying to pin down what my life looks like in 2020, however,  is like trying to search for stars in the day time. I know they are there … but it’s just a little more difficult. I gotta dig deep for this one. …eek.
4. Create a common language. They are guests, not customers. They are store educators, not sales people – we educate on our product so guests can make the best decision for them … no selling required. There are no challenges, just opportunities. We don’t recruit great talent, we attract it. lulu definitely has a language indicative of its culture and I am encouraged by how many people, across business functions, use it. It’s not an after-thought or “what we’re supposed to say.” It’s the way it is. As one of my best bosses used to say “It’s just what we do here.” I think back to other strong cultured organizations I’ve worked with and this common language was the most imperative aspect to their success. Lookin good on this front!
5. Get into the gear. It’s one thing to be told about the design and features of different products and fabrics, but another to actually try things on and compare fits across styles and sizes. Even better is to test out the product! It only makes sense to test out my first purchases of some of our “anti-stink, moisture wicking” garments in one of my spin classes because saying I sweat in my class is a bold understatement. But, after one of the most comfortable classes yesterday, things are looking good already. {insert reference to creating great brand-ividuals here}

… editing down this past week (and the wide-eyed joy that went along with it) in to 5 bullets just seems unfair. Unfair to both you the reader and unfair to the effort lulu puts into their on-boarding program. Frig, I still have weeks left of this stuff!

THIS is what life is supposed to feel like.

Nama-freakin-ste!

Pick of the post: The Rescues – Break Me Out (music video – and official theme song of my weekend in Ontario!)

We are not capable of intentionally accomplishing something every second of every day. Try as we may, our bodies and minds need some down time – time to relax and recharge. Be it taking an afternoon nap, reading blogs, watching ridiculously stupid romantic comedies, or just catching up on our friends’ activity online. Mindless activity doesn’t necessarily “accomplish” anything, but that’s the point!

This, however, is where procrastination has given relaxation a bad name. One should be able to recharge without it signifying laziness or being less productive. While they manifest themselves in similar ways (no better way to procrastinate than with a little nap!), the intentions behind them are very different. “I need to catch a few zzz’s” v.s. “I want to do something besides finishing this project.”

You need to recharge. So stop feeling guilty about it when you do. After all, the time you enjoy wasting is never wasted time. Here’s to a weekend of recharging!

Pick of the Post: Drake – Find Your Love (official music video)

Running is not enjoyable for me. I like going fast (hence the love of rowing and cycling/spinning) and my two feet hitting the pavement are not what I would call “fast.”

But running is definitely enjoyable when you get to do it in your underwear! The BC Cancer Foundation’s Underwear Affair was, like last year, a total riot. New costumes, a new addition to the Great Assets team, and more of that summer fun in the sun! And, between the three of us, our team raised almost $1,200 for taboo cancers below the belt in a week. Un-freakin-believeable!

Huge thanks goes out to our friends and family that supported us through monetary donations and by raising awareness of the cause both on and offline. It was so good to run with you behind us. You also have great assets.

Best part of this year’s race? A personal best for my 10 km time AND pictures like this (and more)….

The Great Assets

9 km in - one last hill climb over the bridge

Super runners!

... ugh

Avatars

No Cancer Here

Pick of the Post: Pink – Glitter in the Air (stellar live performance)

I love change.

Just saying that excites me. “Change it!” It just screams fresh starts, intentional innovation, and big dreams. When things aren’t changing they become stagnant – and I become bored.

That being said, over the past few weeks, my love for change has been put to the test.

Not only did I move from a two-bedroom apartment in Kits with a stellar roommate to a one-bedroom pad in South Granville by myself, but I also, concurrently, left my job at UBC and took on a new opportunity as a Leadership Trainer at luluemon athletica. Handing in my resignation before having a new job secured was probably the most liberating and scary decision I’ve made in a long time. But when you burn the boat, you get to focus on moving forward with everything you’ve got, right?

Dealing with these changes was an interesting process. I had to make myself physically uncomfortable to face the fact that the changes were real. I took things off my office walls, emptied kitchen cupboards onto counters, and made my well-organized life a little bit more chaotic. Surrounding myself in boxes and blank walls made me want to rediscover that happy home and functional workplace I had just demolished. It was as if each box I tripped over was saying “it’s happening – deal with it.”

We rarely change when things are comfortable. Sometimes, we just need to push them to the point of irritation – where we can’t stand to do anything else but change them for the better.

And – man – are things better!

Pick of the post: Vampire Weekend – Giving Up The Gun (official music video) [thanks for the reco Harmer and Lydia]

Justin Timberlake, social media, and the movie industry collide in a film about the early stages of Facebook!?! Are you kidding me! This is just grand! I have no words that can explain how excited I am for this…

Pick of the post: K’naan – Take a Minute (official music video)

Sara Bareilles always has a way of releasing a great new track, just when I’m ready for a new song to take the top spot on my iTunes “25 most played.” I’ve been literally rockin out to this song on repeat for the past 2 weeks and so pumped to share it. I hope you enjoy this video – cause I think it is just grand:

Pick of the post: Sara Bareilles – King of Anything (obviously)