Getting to Wow! in Little Victories

photo by yuzu

Today I read a great post about how little victories make up success by Chris Brogan who says,

“Start With Little Flags and Bigger Flags

One way to start achieving your own victories is to know what you’re aiming to accomplish. For instance, if you hate your job, plant a positive flag in the ground that says, “I’m going to change roles/careers.” That’ll be your bigger flag. If you want to get really specific, you should consider adding things like dates to your flags. (Otherwise, they’re more like dreams.)

It reminds me with bang-on-my-forehead clarity to remember that all this stuff we do to achieve success in changing the world or Getting to Wow!  is a process.  A journey, an adventure for the more imaginative and a path where we have lots of company.

Here are some things about building success that I think are worth remembering.

Have a clear goal and build smaller and achievable steps towards it A big goal deserves a big flag.  “I am going to build a successful online business.”  Now you can set up smaller goals towards it on a timeline so that you can plan a schedule.  The more detailed you get, the more serious you get.

Celebrate each success! This is the best part.  Appreciate every moment.  You deserve it.

Compete against yourself, not everyone else It may seem as if there are a lot of people going after the same thing you are.  Don’t be so sure.  An artist will say, “I want to be successful and sell my work.”  What is the goal?  To get into a gallery, to get a dealer, to build a base of new collectors?  These are very different objectives and will demand different strategies.  Make sure you and only you are your toughest competition.

Consider failure the point in the journey where you ask for directions So you got a little off track, big deal.  Roll down the window and ask someone how to get back on the road.  Chances are, you will be talking to a local.  Why not ask if there is a good restaurant in the area?  Be open to unexpected knowledge.

Share success Once you have figured something out, share the experience with someone else.  Be the one who can extend a helping hand to someone else.  The chance to help others is a true measure of your own success.  It is good karma.

Get more Wow!

If you want style notes and more for people who change the world, please check out:

Getting to Wow! to feel good, do good and look good

Nonprofit Knitwear for all things knit and nonprofit

Style Notes from me, your artspy

Hoong Yee

You, Yes You, You are an Artist

sunrise over Rockaway Beach

Back when I was too young to know the difference between an Episcopalian and a Buddhist, I remembered being amazed when my Sunday School teacher told us that God created the world in six days – with sunsets, the sounds of the ocean, twilight and stars -

Wow! God is an artist!

But when I was told we were created in God’s image, I was happy beyond words.  That meant we were all born to be artists.

All of us.  Yes, that means you!

This wonderful world we live in is a creative act and a divine gift from God to us.  Therefore, our every act is an artistic one, our every action is a gift to the universe.

I would like to acknowledge Debra Hovel, my sister shoe diva, who so kindly created this photo postcard

In my shoe class, an amazing gift in and of itself, I could hear my mom’s voice telling me to be mindful, so I became fully present in every creative moment, decision, and movement in the act of handcrafting a pair of  shoes.  Spritzing, skiving, gluing, angsting…. yes, these are all artistic acts of yours truly, an Episcopalian/Buddhist married to a nice Jewish boy.  And my gift?  The ability to make a pair of beautiful shoes for someone in need.

We are born to live artfully, to give creatively, to change the world, one vivid moment at a time.

Every thing you do is the act of your inner artist.  What is your gift?

Get more divine!

If you want style notes and more for people who change the world, please check out:

Getting to Wow! to feel good, do good and look good

Nonprofit Knitwear for all things knit and nonprofit

Style Notes from me, your shoe spy

Hoong Yee

Sabry’s: A Seafood Style Note for You

a hookah bar on Steinway Street

I forgot completely that Mombar is closed on Mondays!

Now where were we going to go for dinner?  My friend Gary, recently retired from the Arts Education Program of the New York State Council on the Arts, my friend Kathleen who runs the Literature Program there, and I were looking forward to our adventure in Astoria where we could share some relaxing time, conversation, and great African Moroccan food in this tiled gem of a restaurant.

I love spending wandering the Cairo Corridor between 23rd and 25th street on Steinway Street in Astoria practicing what little Arabic I know in the bakeries, restaurants and the hookah bars where people drift out onto the sidewalk immersed in smoke and conversation.  It was my suggestion to meet in this eclectic corner of Queens where I was confident I would find another place just as memorable and momentous.

After searching online for “a great local seafood restaurant in Astoria”  I found a review of Sabry’s on Urbanspoon that sounded fabulous.

When people come out to see me in Queens, I make sure they enjoy the total experience, the total adventure.  Sabry’s was all that and more.  Mohammed and Ahmed, our friendly waiters,  plucked a plateful of  fresh fish – red snapper, burch and branzino – out of the ice and brought it to our table describing how they season and grill it.  They brought us generous sized portions of grilled octopus,  baba ganoush with olives and warm, puffy, freshly baked pita.  Over the next few hours we enjoyed a shrimp tagine, barbequed branzino, grilled calamari, mint tea and a dish of bite sized Middle Eastern sweets studded with crushed pistachios.  Kathleen took the rest of that tasty tagine home to Washington Heights vowing to return with friends.

This is the kind of place I like to bring people to fall in love with this unique Queens experience.  As I said in my recent style note video, there is an art to lunch and for those of you who are ready to step up your game, try your hand at the art of dinner at Sabry’s.

Get more Wow!

If you want style notes and more for people who change the world, please check out:

Getting to Wow! to feel good, do good and look good

Nonprofit Knitwear for all things knit and nonprofit

Style Notes from me, your artspy

Hoong Yee

Facebook or Face Time?

photo by hamed saber

I am a big believer in meetings.

You have to make the effort to be in the room with someone to talk about whatever it is that needs to be talked about.  Meetings are all about building relationships.

I also believe that when you find yourself talking about things other than the true business that brought you there in the first place, your meeting has subtly shifted to another level where you are enjoying your relationship.

It is usually at this point or shortly thereafter, that face time can become Facebook.  Or Twitter or any other on line network.  It rarely works the other way around.

In any geographic  and market area, there is no good reason why you cannot invest the shoe leather in building up face time with people.  Whether it is a meeting, a concert or an event by an emerging artist, it is very much appreciated.  For many, it is an important validation of their work.  For me, it is how I build community.

For funders, there is no substitute for face time.  Funders are partners in your work and should be treated respectfully as such.  Outside of online fundraising ie Facebook Causes or some kind of online competition or drive where you are utilizing a widespread trigger appeal,  I prefer to invest time with people to build a relationship slowly.  My community is smaller but more deeply invested.

Of all online properties, the ones that I believe to be the most valuable are blogs.  I gain a deeper sense of a person  by reading his/her blog.  I also like developing a relationship as a subscriber or by leaving thoughtful comments which can lead to interesting on line discussions and are always appreciated.  Before any type of gathering, I try to get a handle on everyone’s on line presence by reading their blogs.  Afterwards, I can follow up on unfinished conversations or discussion points.

Facebook is a fantastic can with a string, no question.  It is dominant in almost every western European country and almost 80% of its 500 mm users live outside of the United States.  I have a profound respect for its ability to connect people in networks both globally and locally.

I use Facebook as another line of communication to tie into a smaller but select community, cafe or circle of people holding the can.

Here’s what I do:

First, I will ask you for a meeting.

I want you to know I value your time and what you are doing.  We can share a lot about ourselves and how we can potentially do more together in a meeting.

Second, I will thank you for the meeting and invite you for lunch.

I appreciate the interest and time you spend with me.  Now let me take you out for lunch in a great restaurant in Queens.

Third and always, I will be helpful to you.

We all need to figure stuff out.  Is there something you need to find, someone you need to meet? Let me know how I can help.  Facebook me.

Get more Wow! out of your meeting

If you want style notes and more for people who change the world, please check out:

Getting to Wow! to feel good, do good and look good

Nonprofit Knitwear for all things knit and nonprofit

Style Notes from me, your artspy

Hoong Yee

She Wolves in Shaved Soles

Llorraine and Debra

So here we are, in a lovely garden surrounded by four stately buildings between 56th street and 57th street.  Under the practised eyes of Llorraine and her assistant, Debra, Ingrid and I  spent the morning gluing shanks  to our soles, cutting out our shoe uppers, skiving our toeboxes and getting swoozy from all of that glue so we are having lunch al fresco.

“Did you know that champagne is absolutely marvelous served with fresh snow?”  This was another pearl of wisdom from Llorraine, our She Wolf of Shoes.

Today is Day 3 of our Mastering the Art of Shoemaking Class and we are finally catching glimpses of wonder as we work our way to heaven on heels.  Wow! happens a lot.  Our shoes gain life, personality and the power to amaze with each step of our shoemaking journey.  And they have names.  Ingrid’s strappy shoes are Pucci Rock.  Debra’s empire heeled Louis XIV-meets-flapper are Molly and Llorraine thinks my Jackson Pollack peek-a-boos should be named 300, after the animated film about the Spartan warriors.

I can’t wait to show them to you.

Walk among angels and dance with demons

How can I possibly return to the world of indifferently designed shoes?

And you, how could I leave all of you in such an unbeautiful place?

Here’s what you must do:  Visit Llorraine and wander through her gallery of Inner Dreams Awakened. You will be inspired.  You will be uplifted.  You will be happy.

More images to come!

“Sigh! OK, I’ll just move out so you can have more closet space for your shoemaking stuff, that’s what’s going to happen, isn’t it?”

Seth knows me so well.

the leather store

Get more Wow!

If you want style notes and more for people who change the world, please check out:

Getting to Wow! to feel good, do good and look good

Nonprofit Knitwear for all things knit and nonprofit

Style Notes from me, your artspy

Hoong Yee