With the perk of some nearly expired airline points (that thanks to American (NOT!) I could never seem to use on any sort of decent flight on a day or time that's reasonable) I had the brilliant idea to convert them into hotel points and take a road trip southeast to Palm Springs. I had never been in my 3.5 years here in LA and was ready to snap my own picturesque photos of pools overlooking mountainsides (see photo) like everyone else does when they come here :) And while I was here I decided to make it a mix of a personal and professional retreat -- after all, every company needs a retreat, and since I survived year one, I was going to take my own.
So the personal part included bringing along a galfriend who's always so much fun and easy to chat it up with so we enjoyed ourselves Sunday talking and thinking about nothing to do with work. And come Monday when she had to get back to LA, while my primary goal was still relaxing rejuvenation, I also wanted to ignite my inner passion for the work I do and for my 1 year old business by generating some new thinking. So I started reading a new book which I instantly fell in love with -- The Happiness Advantage, by Sean Achor (google him or watch a TED talk, he's great!). And that's all I needed to remind me how much I love my life and how the work I'm doing truly is my calling. Believe me, being here in Palm Springs certainly hasn't caused me to forget how much I love life but it's always nice to be reminded. I remember whenever I would go away on a vacation or even just time away doing whatever, my gauge for how happy I was was how excited I was to return to my "regular life." And while I've loved every single second on this relaxing getaway I've found myself on more than one occasion truly excited to get back to LA. To my home, to my love -- mr KoKo the dog, and to my business. I'm inspired by this book, I have journal pages full of ideas for my company and after today's massage (the best cherry on top to a great trip, thanks to a client who sent it to me as a thank you for building her brand) I'll feel that much more rejuvenated in every sense of the word.
And so in the spirit of (just some of) what Sean talks about in this book, today I'm writing my list of 3 specific things I'm grateful for, as they contribute to my happiness -- this trip being one of them. And my own ability to turn tragedy into triumph -- to truly transform my life so much so that I'm in love with it. And lastly, as this trip reminded me, the love of good food -- I got a taste of my "old life" where eating out and enjoying yummy food at restaurants was a daily event. And while it's not in the budget to do on a regular basis, it made the experiences I did enjoy here that much tastier.
All in a all a great trip. Relaxing, stimulating, and a great reminder that life is what you make of it and we really do control our own happiness. So with that, I've decided a regular trip to Palm Springs for my own company retreat is going to be an annual (at least) event.
Before signing off, I want to ask my readers -- how happy are you? Scale of 1 - 10 today give yourself a number. And if you want, you can stop there. But no matter the number, if you're thinking at all -- could I be happier?, read on:
I want you try something. Write 3 specific things down that you are grateful for -- no matter how big or small -- could be the ice cream cone you ate, a hug from your kid or a lick from your dog or that you got a positive result on some bloodwork. Now try this each day for 1 month. Pick a time in your day that you will do it do you don't miss a day.
And after 30 days, email me and I'll give you the next question to see how this experiment works. Now, get your paper out and start writing :)
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