My favourite things - this week.

It's been a strange week.  It's been the kind of week where nothing immediately springs to mind - just the kind of week when it's a good idea to focus on the good moments.  It would be much easier at this moment to write about the bits that weren't so great.  Let's see how I go...

1. I finished knitting the bits of the first cardigan I've ever made for myself.  I have a back and two fronts.  I've put it aside for now while I rally my strength to do the next bit (joining the shoulder seams and picking up stitches for the neck and sleeves).  Even though it's not really a cardigan yet, I'm very pleased with my work so far - nice even stitches, the bits that need to be the same size as each other are the same size as each other!

2. A colleague and I emceed a team dinner for an IT crowd during the week.  The room set up was terrible and not what we'd been expecting.  We were in a marquee next to St Kilda Road, so it was noisy.  We had some audio challenges.  In spite of all these challenges we had the 50 guests laughing and mingling and having fun.  This was our brief, so we did well.  We learned some lessons about things to do differently next time, but overall we left a happy crowd behind us.

3.  At the same function one of the guests recognised me from the Glen Eira Strings concert I emceed in May.  She told me what a great job I'd done, covering the long gaps as musicians, instruments and furniture were moved on and off the stage.  It was great to be remembered and acknowledged in this way.

4. On a cold and drizzly morning, my resolve to walk to the office instead of catching a tram wavered.  I looked over at the crowded platform and it didn't look inviting.  There was no sign of the number 1 tram, so I decided to keep to my commitment (as part of the Global Corporate Challenge) and walk.  My favourite moment was when I arrived at the office about 15 minutes later at the same time as the tram.  I was very pleased that I'd used the 15 minutes to have some exercise rather than standing at a cold and crowded tram stop for ten minutes.

5. I've been having some moments of insecurity lately.  I'm co-authoring a chapter in an academic book.  Academics approach things in a very particular way.  We've agreed to produce a thought dump as a first step as we're living in different countries.  To me, a thought dump is a list of points, or a map of points showing the relationships between the points.  One of the team has produced eight pages of what feels like a polished essay to me.  I started to question what I'm doing and whether I'm qualified to even be involved.  I mentioned my worry about this to one of my colleagues in the field after a day of co-teaching.  She looked at me like I was from Mars and said that my approach was respected and that I'm fantastic!  Wow.  I was jolted back to earth and remembered that my points of difference is what makes me and my contribution valuable.  I'm the expert practitioner in the field about which we are writing.  It was a great moment to note.

How was your week?  What were your favourite moments?

Spirit Award - it's pink!

Last week I won an award.  It was the worst kept secret, but I was delighted every time someone let slip what was about to happen.  I was awarded the Spirit of the Global Corporate Challenge Award and will be receiving a special, limited edition Pulse in recognition.

The award was based on the votes of my team mates and my general participation in the Challenge.  I'm a sociable creature and I like to connect with the people with whom I'm sharing an experience.  I don't mind letting them know that I've been known to march on the spot at the end of the day while I brush my teeth or do the washing up in order to meet my step target for the day.  I've included suggestions for dancing in the loungeroom and shared that going to hear live music is a great way to beat your personal best (if it's the kind of music you can dance to).

I've mentioned before how clever the design of the GCC is.  It really does create new habits and a mindset around daily activity.  I've also found myself feeling accountable to my team.  I spent one weekend in bed ill and as a result, not only did my personal daily step average plummet, but my inactivity had an enormous impact on the performance of the team.  I felt bad, even though there was nothing I could do about it.  My team understood and also noted that they were pretty sure that everyone would be sick at some point.

We southern hemisphere participants do have the added challenge that we're participating during winter!

We're in the middle of another mini-challenge.  Whereas I blitzed the last one and set a new personal best for the number of steps I took in one day, I think I'm going to be hard pressed to succeed this time.  Our challenge is to make 100,000 steps in 7 days.  That's 14286 steps per day.  While my personal best is higher than this - 15,505 steps - given what's happening over the next 7 days achieving this isn't possible.  Rather than being defeated before I start, I've made a commitment to eat my daily target of 10,000 steps over the next 7 days.  I might even surprise myself!

Once I have received my hot pink Pulse, I've decided to continue to share the spirit by gifting my standard issue Pulse to a friend of mine who is newly inspired.  I'm so happy to know that I can give it to someone whom I know will use it - much better than sitting in a drawer gathering dust.

So in the spirit of the Spirit, what's your daily activity habit?  What's your mindset like when it comes to being active?  How do you keep yourself accountable?

My favourite things - this week

It's the day after yesterday and woke up again to more sexism.  This time West Australian radio announcer Howard Sattler thought he'd use the privilege of access to Prime Minister Julia Gillard to repeatedly ask whether her partner Tim Mathison is gay.  That he thought it was okay to ask is bad.  That he harangued and repeatedly asked as he said "I'm not saying this, but people are" is terrible.  That he is "flabbergasted" at his sacking really says something about the man.

Why is this included in a post of my favourite things?  Because the radio station acted swiftly and sacked him.  No namby-pamby suspension and then quiet reinstatement later when everyone has forgotten - gone.  Congratulations 6PR.

Baz Lurhman's film, "The Great Gatsby" took up most of the holiday for the Queen's Birthday on Monday.  I loved the film.  I loved Leonardo Di Caprio's performance and Joel Edgerton and Carey Mulligan.  And the music and the swoon- worthy fashions.  My favourite moment though was the footage of a young Queen Elizabeth II with the message "Happy Birthday Liz" played before the film at Yarraville's Sun Theatre.  "Oh yeah," I thought, "that's right...that's why it's a public holiday today."

Loved this piece on the 10 books people will judge you for reading.  I've read 4 of them and have no intention of reading the remaining 6.  E readers are a god send.  That's all I'm saying.  (I will make no mention of being ensconced in "World War Z - an oral history of the zombie war" at the moment.

It's well and truly winter in Melbourne and I for one am enjoying the chill.  It gives me plenty of opportunity to show off my selection of handknitted scarves and fabulous hosiery and boots.  The rain is a bit annoying, but it hasn't stopped me achieving my daily target of 10,000 steps in the Global Corporate Challenge.

Monday nights and The Voice are still a great moment in a week's television viewing.  The final is on this week and I reckon Harrison will win.  I was sad to see Miss Murphy go - it ruined my perfect record of predicting who would go through.  I will look forward to Danny Ross' album.

Lastly, I need to finish now so I can make some more sourdough toast with a smear of Maggie Beer's pate to accompany a glass of peppery shiraz. Mmmm.

Stepping up - beating my personal best.

A little while ago I mentioned my participation in the Global Corporate Challenge, a world wide event designed to develop and ingrain an active lifestyle.  This weekend we have our first mini challenge where our task is to beat our previous personal best.

It's clever to do this over a weekend as I've noticed that I'm not nearly as active on the weekends as I am during the week.  I've already been motivated to change this as my lack of activity last Sunday had a huge impact not only on my own daily average steps, but it also dragged my team down.  I felt terrible!

My current daily step average is 10,529 steps and my team average has rocketed up this week and now sits at 10,256!  We only broke the 10,000 average as a team a few days ago.

Yesterday my personal best was about 14 100 steps to beat.  As  I traipsed around the city doing various things yesterday, I actually established a new personal best a day early.  I now have to make more than 15,260 steps today or tomorrow.  I am actually wondering whether I did this with a subconscious awareness that this would mean I'd have a higher target to beat.

I know that it is unlikely to happen today as I'm off to see King Kong this afternoon and have some paperwork to do before that and then a dinner engagement.  That leaves tomorrow, unless King Kong himself chases me from the theatre...or picks me up and shakes me, as one of my team mates pointed out.

I continue to be impressed at the design and philosophy of the Global Corporate Challenge.  The smartphone app is easy to use and allows me to see at a glance how I'm going and enter my steps each morning before I get out of bed and reset my Pulse.  Weekly videos from the coach are personalised, clever and engaging.  They also clearly display the philosophy - it's about starting a habit so that behaviour is embedded and instinctive; striving to beat your best is part of what great winners do and so on.

The problem of the crowded tram stop has also been solved.  I now walk the six stops between Flinders Street and the office when I'm working there.  I had sometimes taken the walk in the afternoons but doing it both ways every time has made a big difference.  Not only am I more active, but I'm also in a happier frame of mind.  I've also noticed that choir nights add to my steps, especially when we sing African songs that are accompanied by walking and stomping.

What's your challenge this weekend?

Where I have been OR What d'you mean it's Thursday?

Contemplation is not always conducive to production.  This is what I have learned in the week since my last post.  I knew that I had been absent, but received a jolt today when a regular reader and friend complained of suffering from withdrawal - "it's been a week since you blogged!" he wrote.  , perh
I'm no less inspired, no less driven to write and still a keen observer of the world.  I am also working most days in a week and they are long and interesting days.  I've joined a new vocal group. I'm taking a jazz vocal class.  I've been going out more in the evenings. I'm in the Global Corporate Challenge.  I've discovered the joy of NOT turning on my computer when I arrive home in the evening, even if it's before 7pm.  My days are starting very early and this necessarily means I can't indulge my natural inclination to be a night owl.

When I started blogging almost two years ago, one of the motivators was the fact that my business was new and I could go for days at a time without working.  While I was short of money, I realised that time was a gift that I hadn't had for a long while.  I decided to use it in a meaningful and constructive way, rather than frittering it away.  It was also part of my personal mental health strategy to stay engaged and purposeful in the world.  My commitment to daily blogging was born.

It didn't take long for my daily writing commitment to turn into a habit, perhaps even a compulsion, and for me to feel my writing fitness improve as I flexed my writing muscles each day.  It's been relatively easy to sustain.  Until recently.  The increase in my (paid) workload has really had an impact.  The balance has changed.  I still love to write and I want to keep divacultura going.  I love hearing from readers and sharing perspectives either here or on facebook.  Over the last week I reached a conclusion, rather than committing to write daily and not fulfilling the promise, I am renewing my vows.

My new commitment is to post (at least) five times a week.

As with all plans I'll be monitoring and am keen to receive feedback. Giving myself a break in this way may even increase my capacity again.  Funny how that can work.

On the subject of the Global Corporate Challenge, I can tell you that after 14 days my daily step average is sitting at 10,100 steps per day and has slipped just below the team average for the first time today.  Reaching my daily 10,000 step target on days when I'm at the desk can be challenging.  To meet this, I'm now walking between Flinders Street and the office instead of taking a tram for six stops.

As I walked to the station this afternoon, here are some of the things I noticed.  I might have missed them if I caught the tram.

Afternoon sunlight on the city.
© divacultura 2013

This amazing sculpture was on the SES/fire building.
I can't believe I haven't seen it before!
It looks like fire.
©divacultura 2013

Walking up Southbank Boulevard was more like wading as I tackled this pile of fallen leaves.
© divacultura 2013

What do you need to review? What did you notice today?

Getting moving.

I'm participating in the Global Corporate Challenge which starts tomorrow.  I've heard of it before, but never really understood what it's all about.  When I was invited to join a team I did some research and joined without hesitation.

Here's what the front page of the website says:

The Global Corporate Challenge® (GCC) is a leading, global workplace health and wellness program.

To date, our behavioural change program has delivered scientifically-proven results to over 3,400 of the world’s leading organisations.

Results include improved physical and mental health, enhanced productivity, reduced absenteeism and a stronger culture of resilience.

The GCC offers an effective balance of motivation, inspiration, support and education which has engaged and empowered over 950,000 people from 105 countries to change their lives.

That's a pretty big statement! Even before I've begun, the challenge has influenced my behaviour.  

I finished work for my client at about 5:45pm and it was already dark in Perth.  I was out near the airport so had to catch a cab back to the hotel.  After a long day and coping with being in a different time zone, my impulse was to crash back in my hotel room.  With my eye on the GCC I made a different choice.  

It was a warm evening so I dropped my bags off and went for a walk.  As I left the hotel, I took the stairs to the ground floor instead of taking the lift.  The streets were still busy with people making their way home so I felt safe to wander around by myself.  I walked the length of the mall and poked around a couple of arcades that I never wandered down before.  Nothing flash, nothing too much, but I felt better for it.   I was out for about half an hour and had more energy than before I went for a walk.  It helped me shake off the day.

Tomorrow I'll have to do more if I'm to reach the minimum 10,000 steps per day.  I am facilitating tomorrow and will spend a fair amount of the day on my feet, so it will be interesting to find out what difference working on my feet makes to my mobility on a day. The day after will be a bigger challenge because I'll spend most of the day sitting on an aeroplane.  I'm already planning to spend my waiting time at the airport walking around rather than sitting and waiting.

The design of the GCC is clever.  I'm part of a team and we've been told we're starting in Rio de Janeiro.  There's a fun but serious pledge that we've taken and there are apparently mini challenges along the way.  We carry a pulse - a sophisticated pedometer - and are required to enter the steps we take into our profile. My pulse is sitting beside my toothbrush as suggested so I don't forget to wear it. (Note to self, do I do that every day or every week?)  There's a competitive edge and also the sense of commitment to the team.  

I'm pleased to be participating and interested to see the impact it has on my daily movement habits.

Who else is participating? First time?  Share you experience.