Reflections from My Learning Journey

(Written on the plane from Dubai to Atlanta on Sunday, May 31st, 2015)

We now have one hour left in our almost 16-hour flight back home. The time was quite manageable because I had a plan: watch Downton Abbey until dinner, take a Benadryl at dinner, sleep for 7 hours, wake up, watch a movie, write in journal/read until breakfast, nap until landing. I’m getting the hang of these long flights now. The movie I watched was The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel and I reminisced on the scenes and culture I had just experienced a few days before in Jaipur, Rajasthan -- India’s Pink City. Still in disbelief that I had actually seen those places with my own eyes.

During what I’m calling my Learning Journey to India, I was intentional about living each moment; experiencing each detail—from the frustrating Indian way of doing business, intense heat, dusty haze, chaotic traffic, roaming livestock, deplorable waste management system, pushy hawkers and sales people; to the endearing hotel and tour staff, rich colorful variety of saris, palatial opulence, incredible ancient craftsmanship, beautiful children, and delicious food. Every moment—be in it. I constantly convinced myself not to dismiss my irritation with the dynamics of my global consulting project to think about upcoming fun times touring with me sister; not to rush through to the grounds of the ancient palace to be back in the air conditioned car; not to miss the details of the craft mart wishing ahead to the elephant ride; not to miss the sights in the streets fumbling to see if my phone had wi-fi (which it usually didn’t). Just be in the moment, I reminded myself, because you won’t be here much longer. This time tomorrow you will be somewhere else, experiencing something else new.

And, I’m still in awe of those new experiences—all of them. India is like no place I’ve ever seen. As many have said before, it is a total assault on your senses. And I appreciate what my senses have sensed. That my hands touched and fed an elephant named Laylah, and felt the semi-precious stones in the walls of ancient palaces. That my arms hugged excited young Indian girls wanting to take pictures with my straw hat, and gave goodbye hugs to our sweet, endearing tour staff Nidhi, Ashish, Deepak, and Satya. That my feet walked the marble flooring of the Taj Mahal, and walked in forts where Indian kings once ruled. That my ears heard the intrusive, incessant honking of autos and bikes on chaotic city streets, and the voices of the most beautiful children, I dare say, in the world. That my taste buds reveled in every serving of masala, biryani, dosa, pani-pani, upma, uttapam, parantha, kulfi, and of course, fresh mango. That my soul felt the frustration at the unbalanced distribution of wealth, and felt the joy and laughter shared between my sister Jessica and me during a trip of a lifetime.

When preparing to leave, I was neither anxious to come back (though I was pining for central air conditioning by then), nor wishing to stay longer. I was content with whatever stage of the journey I was in; and ready for whatever step comes next. Now that I’m back, if I didn’t have the pictures and the memories to chronicle it, I would think that I had dreamt it all. As my birthday season approaches, it is no secret that my annual month-long celebration of life has begun; this year it began a few weeks early. What a gift to myself—to live these moments; all of them fully—the challenges and the joys. My gift to you—I’ll join you in doing the same.

Namaste,

Kimberlee

Here is a link to the online photo album.  

Run the slideshow with captions to follow along the journey.

What is Your Single Knowledge Statement?

The late great Richard Feynman is a Nobel Peace Prize winning physicist. In his famous Lectures on Physics, he presented this interesting thought “If, in some cataclysm, all of scientific knowledge were to be destroyed, and only one sentence passed on to the next generations of creatures, what statement would contain the most information in the fewest words?”

Seed magazine posed a similar question to a number of leading thinkers asking for a single statement of knowledge gained from their work aimed at changing everyone’s thinking about the world. The respondents gave poignant answers about physics, cultural evolution, and sustaining the biosphere (read article here).

This has greatly intrigued me. We’ve all gained a wealth of lessons working in our varying fields as businesspersons, writers, teachers, economists, pastors, administrators, medical providers, psychologists, computer engineers, and such. Lessons which are valuable to the next generations. So, I pose this question to you:

If you had to boil those lessons into ONE single statement to pass on to others, summarizing the most vital lesson you’ve drawn from your work, what would be your one Single Knowledge Statement?

Think about it and share it here. I’m working on mine…

Nice Try!

We made through another month. I hope you were able to start your "Things I Want to Try" list. And, I hope you were able to try at least one new thing; even if the one thing didn't turn out to be what you originally intended. That was the case with me, and I celebrate what I accomplished.

Also, congrats to Pat D. who tried a new healthier eating regimen and attitude. She has successfully lost a few inches and, hopefully, a few stressors.

NICE TRY EVERYONE!! 

What Have You Tried So Far?

We are approaching the middle of the month and I confess that I haven't made much progress on the things I said I wanted to try from my last post. However, I have added something else to my list of "Things I Want to Try" -- Try being a better blogger and increase my blogging frequency.

The benefits of blogging continue to be proven time and time again for businesses of all sizes. I even took an online class to refresh my knowledge of and gain new best practices on blogging for the occasional blogger or even the novice. Here are a few:

- Produce content that has value.

The bottom line is that a blog is a value-creation tool for your readers or customers. Give them content that is useful.

- Keep your blog layout uncluttered and functional.

Don't over-complicate the layout. Two-column blogs are the most common with a header and sidebar. In addition to branding information, leverage the header with navigation buttons like "Contact Us" or "How to Subscribe".

- Always address commenters by first name.

When responding to a comment, keep the personal touch by using the person's first name.

- Don't start blogging if you can't blog regularly.

The worst thing you can do is start blogging and fail to maintain it.

(I'm telling on myself now. If you look back at the dates of my blog posts, you can see that I am guilty of that; but I'm changing that THIS MONTH.)

So, while I've not yet done what I initially said I was going to try; I am succeeding at trying something new. What have you tried this month?

________________

Want to take the online course "How to Blog Effectively for Business" with professors Ann Handley and Mark Collier? Check out the video below.

How to Blog Effectively for Business (GF101)

Commit to Try

I really don’t think life is about the I-could-have-beens. Life is only about the I-tried-to-do. I don’t mind the failure but I can’t imagine that I’d forgive myself if I didn’t try.
Nikki Giovanni





(I sent this message to the Executive Committee of my college alumnae association and wanted to share it here, as well.)

As we begin the second month of this new year I hope you have already logged many things into your journal of “Things to be Thankful For”. This month, I encourage you to take some time to create another journal—a “Things I Want to Try” journal. We all have them—things we’ve always wanted to do, or try to do, but haven’t quite gotten to them yet. Let’s commit to starting at least one of those things in February—start learning a new language, volunteer to work on a political campaign, write a page of a book, take one dance lesson, sign up for one cooking class... I know we are all SUPER busy, so just commit to try.


What is your one thing you will try in February?


Here are 2 of mine:
- actively participate in the fundraising efforts for my upcoming 20-year class Reunion
- practice with Spanish language audio 20-mins 1x/week

Four Singing Penguins...

Today is the fourth day of Christmas. According to the popular English Christmas carol "Twelve Days of Christmas", the gift recipient would be receiving four colly birds. [Yes, colly birds, not calling birds, as is commonly sung]. Colly birds are European blackbirds (or crows), which were a delicacy in Medieval times. Not so today. Can you imagine someone offering you a gift of crows? So, I am giving myself permission to re-write the verse--instead of colly birds... singing penguins (smile).

As we approach a new year I am also giving myself permission to re-write other things that need to be changed, or at least updated--like the way I prioritize, reviewing our client base, updating my skill set, refreshing my perspective on down-time.

Give yourself permission to re-write some things in the new year too. Consider these as a start:
- review your business practices to ensure they are serving your company efficiently
- revisit your existing commitments and if they are the best use of your time and resources
- refresh your ways of communication (ex. practice active listening, or allow yourself a "cooling off" period before responding verbally or via email to situation, or work toward conveying your ideas more clearly)
- re-visit your time budget to allow time to volunteer or serve as a mentor

Go ahead, re-write your own lyrics, sing a new song. All together now... four singing penguins, three French hens, two turtle doves, and a partridge in a pear tree.

We Appreciate You!

The team at KAI Strategic Marketing Group is truly thankful for our relationship with you. What an incredible journey we’ve had together—full of positive change and growth experiences. We expect even more growth this upcoming year as we make more
positive changes.

Beginning in 2012 KAI will no longer be providing strategic marketing services to small and mid-sized companies. We will begin shifting our target to corporate marketing management and implementation. We will, however, continue to provide valuable informational marketing resources through our online presence; so please stay connected to us.

It has truly been an honor to serve you and work with you, and we wish you all the best as you continue to thrive. The future is going to be awesome for all of us!