How To Raise Income and Drop Weight

photo by kevindooley

Warning! Must Get Used To People Staring At Your Butt

One of the most refreshingly candid fundraising campaigns I have seen is also a very personal endeavor for Patricia Wilson, Executive Director of Greater Bay Area Make-A-Wish Foundation,.  In the decade she has been at the helm of her organization, it has grown significantly.  So has her butt.  Clearly, not a great situation.

Here is an excerpt from the email she sent to her board and friends:

“I apologize for not sharing this news with you in a more personal manner. But I wanted to let you know about some changes I am making in my life. The short story:  you are going to see less of me.

“Why? Because while I’ve helped to grow our organization significantly over the last 10 years; my butt has grown significantly as well.  That situation just has to change!

“Beginning today, I am launching my own “Biggest Loser” campaign with two goals: to become a healthier and smaller me over the next 12 weeks, and to seek your support in a $$ Pledge Per Pound so that Make-A-Wish will be healthier, too!

“In return for your $$ Pledge Per Pound, I will report to you weekly of my progress. And if I end up gaining weight, I will personally pay both YOU and Make-A-Wish. Wouldn’t you love a healthier executive director and a healthier balance sheet at Make-A-Wish? This kind of amusement and entertainment at my expense over the next 12 weeks has to be worth something!”

There are now more than 100 people contributing to my campaign, and I’m raising $610 for every pound I lose. And more pledges coming every day. I even created a Facebook page for the campaign. I didn’t bother to restrict access to it . . . once you start firing off unflattering photos of yourself, you may as well not bother with privacy settings!

Some unanticipated benefits: I feel GREAT. I’m forced not to spend so much time at my desk.  Walking my dog really helps the stress level during these trying times. Six other Make-A-Wish staff and volunteers have started their own Biggest Loser campaigns, too.

I think this is a fabulous idea, however, you need to feel OK about posting pictures of yourself publicly to do this sort of thing.  Some people prefer other incentivized scenarios for weight loss and fundraising that may not involve such merciless exposure.

Competition, Public Humiliation and Consequences

Men lose weight differently.

My friend Tom needs the above in order to drop pounds.  He and a friend – you need to do this with someone for the competition – went on a website and did this last summer.  I am not sure what kind of public humiliation took place but I am sure it was a guy thing.  The consequences of not meeting the goal were to make a donation to a cause you really hate.  He promised to send a check to the Campaign to Re-elect George Bush.

I am sure if he was able to secure pledges for every pound lost, this would have funded his entire capital campaign.

Less is more

I am thinking about how cool it would be for my entire staff to do this.  Losing weight as a competitive team sport is an interesting way to work towards a goal and intrigue people to pledge.  Here’s another place to find people to lose weight with.

More funding for less of us.

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

– Subscribe and get a little Wow! every day

– Forward the link to someone you think would be interested

– Link to a post on Twitter (follow me @hylkrakauer)

– Put a link to the blog in your Facebook status update

Thanks so much! I really appreciate your help.

Word of mouth is the best way to share, don’t you agree?

Top Ten Memory Tricks for Executive Directors

photo by fosscoti

Why is this important

I once observed Hillary Clinton present a speech at an elementary school in Queens.  The principal made opening remarks, followed by a short speech by a student and a summary of a project by a teaching artist.  When Hillary got up to speak, she had no notes in her hand.  She kept her eyes forward, making you feel she was speaking directly to you and as she spoke, she quoted the principal, the student and the teaching artist, weaving in what they had just spoken about into her speech.   What she did was make her speech everyone’s speech.

Very impressive.

How did she do that?

She paid attention.  A lot of it.  And I am willing to bet she used some simple techniques that helped her to remember the details she felt were important.  I have put together a list of my top ten memory tricks that I use to do what Hillary did, to remember all the things I need to, to keep track of my wallet, keys and phone, to  memorize 32 Beethoven sonatas.

Here’s my top ten memory tricks:

1. Repeat a person’s name

There couldn’t be a simpler way to remember a face and a name than to repeat the person’s name immediately after being introduced.  And if it is an unusual name, or kind of long and unexpected like mine, this is the best time to say, 

“How nice to meet you (difficult to pronounce name).  Am I saying it correctly?  (Repeat the name).”

2. Rephrase what you have just heard

This is a the same little trick only you are repeating a fact or something someone has said.

“I can’t believe that (fact you just heard)!  Do you think that (fact you just heard) is true?”

3. Remember chunks of information

It is easier to group stuff to remember.  Try memorizing a random string of 10 numbers and you may have some difficulty.  Try thinking of  10 numbers as if they were a phone number, in familiar groups that are easier to remember:

17185551212 is easier to remember if you break it up like this:  1 718 555 1212

4. Re introduce yourself

OK, this is really a way to recapture a person’s name you have probably met a few times before but just cannot remember their name.  It is also a really nice way to help someone remember your name.

“Oh, so nice to see you, I’m Hoong Yee Lee Krakauer.  Tell me your name again?”

5. Recognize patterns

Is there someone in your life who always arrives late to everything?  The old wisdom here is to remember that and to tell that person the meeting is actually an hour earlier.  The idea is to see these repetitive patterns and to remember what to do.

6. Reject useless data

Edit down to the essence of what you need to remember.  Develop a ruthless sense of what you really need to know and do not allow your mind to be clogged up with anything else.  Hey, that’s what Google is for.

7. Replay an event

To remember a sequence of events, imagine that you can press a rewind button and recreate what just happened.  If you can instant replay the scenario, you have a better chance of remembering it.

8. Recreate using templates

It is so much easier to remember things in structures like templates.  I like using templates to create budgets, spreadsheets, outlines etc., to help me recall large pictures of information.

9. Release unnecessary information

A psychologist named Zeigarnik noticed how waiters in a Viennese restaurant let their memories evaporate once the order has been filled.  Sherlock Holmes did the same thing.  He immediately purged his mind of anything he felt was of no use or interest to him to make room in his memory for what was important.

10. Relax

Your memory is a mental muscle in your body.  Like the rest of you, it needs to rest in order for it to continue functioning well.  Close your eyes and close down.

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

– Subscribe and get a little Wow! every day

– Forward the link to someone you think would be interested

– Link to a post on Twitter (follow me @hylkrakauer)

– Put a link to the blog in your Facebook status update

Thanks so much! I really appreciate your help.

Word of mouth is the best way to share, don’t you agree?

Why You Should Make Your Own Shoes

photo by @njee

Shoes are powerful.

Shoes are what carry you through your day.  They alter your posture, your walk, your stance, your silhouette.  You must pay attention to what you put on your feet if you care about the impression you leave.

Stature is more than a stiletto

Of course, stature is more than what a pair of shoes, or stilettos, can give you.  A self confident woman can take the world on barefoot if need be.  It is that unmistakable self esteem, confidence and awareness that truly elevates.  A great pair of stilettos simply nails it.

Corporette always features great shoes for work at great prices.

Running a 10K, running the world

Don’t let your shoes, or anything sabotage what you do.  I start most mornings on the beach at 5:00 am running with my friend Andrea and then I begin my day.  Believe me, it is not easy getting out of bed at 4:30 am and heading out in the dark cold morning to do this.  This is why I wear those funny looking Vibram five finger shoes.  They make me feel like I am running barefoot on the sand.  They make my running experience great.

Running the world takes an equally focused mindset.  It requires the same in thoughtful footwear.  You must feel good, look invincible and be comfortable in your own skin.  That is a lot for a pair of shoes to deliver.  If you get a handful of these in your lifetime, you are lucky.

Touch the earth with care

The soles of your shoes are the only thing between you and this earth.  They carry you forward as well as the secret of stature.  I am so consumed by the nuanced changes in my posture and movement that I actually decide what I am going to wear each day beginning with my shoes.  How I carry myself is infinitely more important than what I am wearing.

To do what I do requires a lot of thinking on my feet.  To be nimble and successful, this nonprofit ninja needs shoes and is looking around for another shoe making class.  This time, I have my eyes on designing a pair of killer boots.

Watch out!

What do you put on your feet to make you feel Wow?

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

– Subscribe and get a little Wow! every day

– Forward the link to someone you think would be interested

– Link to a post on Twitter (follow me @hylkrakauer)

– Put a link to the blog in your Facebook status update

Thanks so much! I really appreciate your help.

Word of mouth is the best way to share, don’t you agree?

Do You Have What It Takes To Be A Verbal Ninja?

image by bwcImages

I wrote a post about how to Wow! someone with an elevator pitch not too long ago.  You can read it here.

You may not think this is important but like most things based on universal truths, this is do or die.

What is this universal truth?

People have the attention span of a flea.

That’s right.  You are riding in an elevator with a flea.  How are you going to make this flea remember you, want to know more about your, do business with you?  How are you going to change the world if you can’t do this?

If you work in the nonprofit world like me, or if you are in business, education or any other situation where you have the chance to change the world, you need an elevator pitch.

Some folks roll their eyes at the pompousity of the phrase “I change the world”.   James Chartrand from Men with Pens wrote a post where has a few things to say about life changers:

“I change lives!”

And I would think to myself, “Well, now. That’s kind of dumb.”

Sorry, but it is. You’re a human being. You change lives all the time, every day. You change people’s lives when you smile at a passerby or hold the door open for someone or scold your child or answer an email or buy onions in the grocery store.

Changing lives is that easy. We live in a ripple-effect world.

Here’s what really makes me roll my eyes, though: If you’re in business, changing lives isn’t an elevator pitch. It’s redundant.”

I have to agree.  Changing lives is a business with a lofty bottom line and life changers as well as money changers need to be clear about what it is they do.

You will need people to understand what you do whether your elevator goes to the penthouse or to heaven.

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

– Subscribe and get a little Wow! every day

– Forward the link to someone you think would be interested

– Link to a post on Twitter (follow me @hylkrakauer)

– Put a link to the blog in your Facebook status update

Thanks so much! I really appreciate your help.

Word of mouth is the best way to share, don’t you agree?

Style Note: Simply Focused and Fabulous

photo by ronit.b

Why is it so hard to do one thing?

Does this happen to you?  You are doing something and within minutes your mind starts wandering.  To make yourself feel less guilty you start checking your email, voice messages, thinking about bills to pay, people to call and before you know it you have completely forgotten what you were doing in the first place.  So you’ve done all of these other things which you didn’t really plan on doing and you still count them as Things That Have Been Done.  But later on, you feel a vague dissatisfaction about your day and you say, “I’m always so busy but I never feel like I’ve accomplished anything.”

I hate when that happens.

New York Times article about distraction

Using an iPhone app called trackyourhappiness,psychologists at Harvard contacted people around the world at random intervals to ask how they were feeling, what they were doing and what they were thinking.

The least surprising finding, based on a quarter-million responses from more than 2,200 people, was that the happiest people in the world were the ones in the midst of enjoying sex. Or at least they were enjoying it until the iPhone interrupted.

What psychologists call “flow” — immersing your mind fully in activity — has long been advocated by nonpsychologists. “Life is not long,” Samuel Johnson said, “and too much of it must not pass in idle deliberation how it shall be spent.” Henry Ford was more blunt: “Idleness warps the mind.” The iPhone results jibe nicely with one of the favorite sayings of William F. Buckley Jr.: “Industry is the enemy of melancholy.”

Over the several months of the iPhone study, though, the more frequent mind-wanderers remained less happy than the rest, and the moral — at least for the short-term — seems to be: you stray, you pay. So if you’ve been able to stay focused to the end of this column, perhaps you’re happier than when you daydreamed at the beginning. If not, you can go back to daydreaming starting…now.

Or you could try focusing on something else that is now, at long last, scientifically guaranteed to improve your mood. Just make sure you turn the phone off.

Leo Babauta is the founder of ZenHabits and Write to Done, and the author of The Power of Less.  He just came out with a terrific new book, Focus: A Simplicity Manifesto in the Age of Distraction.  My favorite topic and a book I highly recommend.

You can only be excellent at one thing at a time.  This is just the way it is so why fight it?

Focus.

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

– Subscribe and get a little Wow! every day

– Forward the link to someone you think would be interested

– Link to a post on Twitter (follow me @hylkrakauer)

– Put a link to the blog in your Facebook status update

Thanks so much! I really appreciate your help.

Word of mouth is the best way to share, don’t you agree?