Lifelong Project

Moving Day

One thing I've learned is that different isn't necessarily better. Different can be just different: different pants, different songs, different types of coffee. Some things you like more than others and some things just don't matter much at all. When it comes to coffee, for example, different makes a big difference in my life. When it comes to salad dressing, I don't really care.

But sometimes, the good times, different is definitely better.

My blog has been around for a long time on Typepad. I likeTypepad and their homey-aw-shucks-mentality. But there were also plenty of things that just didn't do it for me. I toyed with Wordpress for a bit and then decided, just yesterday, to go ahead and make the move. Wordpress is cool, efficient, and has some SEO goodness built right in to their product. I don't think there's really anything in Wordpress to do that I couldn't do in Typepad, it's just that Wordpress makes more sense to me.

So I packed it all up and migrated over. Sort of. It seems the aw-shucks-mentality at Typepad goes out the window when you try to move your stuff away from them. Like a scorned lover they just don't make it easy. If you surf around on the new blog site you'll see some missing photos, wacky links, and probably some other goofy stuff from the move. I've tried to clean it, but I'm afraid some of it may have slipped by.

You'll probably also notice the clean, breezy feel of the new blog. Well, I hope you do. I wanted simple. Clean. Precise. Life is complicated enough, blogs don't need to be.

Zen and Zoom: Observation

“Observation more than books, experience rather than persons, are the prime educators.”

-Amos Bronson Alcott

Zen and Zoom: Beauty

Zen and Zoom: Progress

I snapped this photo on a walk I like the lines across the walk and the random leaves. A few weeks later I spotted this photo and wondered when did I take a picture of a column? It's not a column - it's a shadow of a gate. And isn't that like our life sometimes? We interpret something without realizing what it truly may be: an opportunity, an adventure, a gate to somewhere new.

Lifelong Project - April 21, 2010

From PMI:

Topic: The Life Long Project, Presented by Mr. Joseph Phillips

What if you treated the next year of your life like a project? That's a question I asked myself years ago and nothing has been the same for me since. No, your life is not a project, but you can use the principles of project management to make your life richer, energetic, and full of joy. In project management there must be a purpose to launch a project. Is your life so different?

All projects begin with a vision: a mental image of how the current status can be changed into some distant future status. Do you have a vision for your life? What characteristics of your life need improvement, removal, or addition? What are you looking for?

The Lifelong Project is a presentation I've delivered to audiences throughout the United States and in Europe. I've served as a keynote speaker, coached individuals, and led single-day workshops to help others to set and achieve goals using the proven principles of project management. So again I'll ask: What would happen if you treated the next year of your life like a project?

Joseph Phillips, PMP, Project+, is the Director of Education for Project Seminars. He has managed and consulted on projects for various industries, including banking, technical, pharmaceutical, manufacturing, and architectural, among others. Mr. Phillips has served as a management consultant for organizations creating project offices, maturity models, and best-practice standardization. Mr. Phillips has taught courses at Columbia College, University of Chicago, Indiana University, Ball State University and others. He is a Certified Technical Trainer and has taught over 10,000 professionals and contributed as an author or editor to more than 30 books on technology, careers, project management and program management. Mr. Phillips is the author of:

• The Lifelong Project
• IT Project Management: On Track from Start to Finish
• PMP Study Guide
• CAPM Study Guide
• CAPM/PMP All-in-One Exam Guide
• CBAP All-in-One Exam Guide
• Software Project Management for Dummies
• Program Management Professional All-in-One Exam Guide

Phillips is a member of the Project Management Institute and is active in local project management chapters. He has spoken on project management, project management certifications, and project methodologies at numerous trade shows, PMI chapter meetings, and employee conferences.

DINNER MEETING DETAILS
Date: April 21, 2010
Time: 6:30 – 8:00PM, Registration @ 5:30PM
Place: METI, 6300 Edgelake Drive, Sarasota, FL 34240

Directions: From either the south or north, take exit 207 (Bee Ridge Road), and turn east on Bee Ridge Road. Make a left at the next traffic light, Mauna Loa Blvd, then left on Edgelake Drive. Proceed past the HealthSouth Rehabilitation Center, to the METI building. Proceed to the back of the building, where you will find the entrance for the meeting. Please call 1-973-722-8480 if you have any difficulty locating the building the night of the event.

METI has extended an invitation to those who wish to stay after the meeting for a product demo and tour of the manufacturing facilities. We are sure you will find this most interesting!!!
Event Fees:

• $25 - PMITB members
• $30 - Non-PMITB members
• $15 - Presentation ONLY (no dinner)

Sponsored by:
PMI Tampa Bay is please to have METI as the sponsor of our dinner meeting. METI is the world’s foremost provider of medical simulation and learning programs for health care education and is dedicated to improving patient safety and ultimately saving more lives. Over 6,000 organizations worldwide utilize METI’s learning products including leading medical schools such as the Mayo Clinic, Harvard, Cornell, Stanford and others. METI recently moved into a new state-of art facility in Sarasota, where our meeting will be held. METI’s new building is located at 6300 Edgelake Drive, Sarasota, FL 34240.