Creating Lena » Weekly Review

My Week in Review 2010-3

Lena — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 17:06:35 +0000

With week 3 of the new year in the books, I have to say that it was the best one so far. I was able to reconnect with two people I hadn’t been in touch with since before Christmas, and both ended up bringing a little work my way. So while I didn’t get a whole lot done on my own to-do list, I was able to help out a friend.

It’s so nice to be able to have the flexibility in my schedule to be able to just drop everything when someone needs my help. I’ve come to the conclusion that I’m really not happy unless I’m helping someone else meet their goals. Usually when that happens, I get re-inspired to meet my own as well, so it’s a win-win all the way around. :)

I did get out on Friday to take some pictures in the country. Not too many though because while I noticed lots of scenery and subjects I would’ve loved to capture, there was still a lot of ice built up on the sides of the road and I was a little nervous about pulling off. My son was with me because he had the day off work, and we were able to map out a couple of possible routes for nice scenic bike rides once the weather gets better.

I also haven’t posted any of Friday’s pictures yet so last week’s photo posts are:

Morning Solitude
Up Close and Prickly
Through The Red Branches
Frosty Morning Revisited
A Wintry Afternoon
Reflections in the Pond

And life at The Acorn Stash blog has been really quiet too, with just one post last week:

When Creativity is Like Parenting.

I also started reading a really good book on the topic of networking. It’s called Networking Like a Pro: Turning Contacts into Connections and I’m really learning a lot from it. That prompted me to spend a little more time this week on both Twitter and Facebook than I have in ages. I’m not very good at the whole social thing, so I’m really enjoying learning ways that even an introvert like me can improve my networking skills. (Here’s a link to the author’s Facebook page if you want more info. In the interests of keeping this blog non-commercial, I’m not linking to the book itself.)

After last week’s post, Storyteller commented that she often spends more time nagging herself about what she didn’t get done than congratulating herself for what she did accomplish. I found myself agreeing that I do the same thing, and so this week I’m not going to moan about what is still left on my list to do. Instead I’m going to stop here, and feel good about all the things I did do and make a promise to myself to be happy this week, and get even more done.

What about you… do you celebrate your accomplishments or beat yourself up because you should be doing more? Leave a comment and share your thoughts.

Have a great week!

My Week in Review 2010-2

Lena — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 05:17:45 +0000

This week I have to say I wasn’t as productive as I’d intended to be. I kind of overdid it on my exercising this week it took two days for me to recover from that. I can see that I really do have a long ways to go if I’m going to make that triathlon in July. :)

On the posting front, I did make a post here every day except Friday because that was my first day feeling energetic enough to get some writing done, and so spent the day putting together the most recent issue of The Acorn Stash Newsletter. I still have to create the cover for it, and post the table of contents over on the blog, but the issue itself is ready for download.

This week’s photo posts included:

Scenes From the Path
Raindrops on Maples
Around the Lift Lock
My Afternoon Stroll
Sunday Sunset
and Sittin’ on the Dock

I also posted three new wallpapers with quotes on happiness. My favourite of the bunch is this one:

Happiness is like jam. You can’t spread even a little without getting some on yourself. ~ Anonymous

I’m thinking this week that I might add a few new ones without any quotes that are based on my own photos. What do you think?

And that’s unfortunately about all I got done. From the list I posted last Sunday I still have to set up a blog for the fitness stuff, and get started on the weekly Squidoo lenses. Those two tasks will head the list for the coming week, along with the usual photo posts and articles. I’m planning on heading out of town for at least one day this week to do some “country” photos. I’ve seen a few amazing shots of fence lines and snowy fields in my blog travels this week that have inspired to me to go out and capture something other than water and park paths.

Here’s to another amazing week. What do you plan to get done this week?

My Week in Review 2010-1

Lena — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 01:43:14 +0000

Now that the first week of the year is officially over, it’s time to reflect a bit on how it went and what that portends for the rest of the year. I wrote out a lot of goals and plans before the year started, and as usual, I’m off to a slower start that I wanted. But I’m not at a complete standstill, so there’s still hope for me! :)

I’ve fallen in love with doing photography stuff… almost to the point where I have to remind myself that I’m a writer first and foremost. So this week my focus was more on writing than it was on pictures. I missed two days of posting, and where once I would have stressed over it and tried to double up another day, I just let it go knowing that there are lots of days left to do more than one post if it’s warranted. Today is shaping up to be one of those days. :)

Here’s a quick rundown of what’s new online this week:

On HelenaRitchie.com

Photo posts:

Rails and Trails
It’s Monday
Going With the Flow – where I also talk a bit about how one of my major goals this year is to live more in the flow instead of trying to structure each and every moment.
Urban Sunrise

This Week in Review: November 15 to 21, 2009

Lena — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 21:53:24 +0000

So, the idea behind the Monday outlook post was to set myself up for a more productive week. Now that the week is over, I can report my results to you…

I failed.
Miserably.
Brutal would be an understatement.

Out of the eight challenges I set for myself, I met two and a half:

1. There is new content on the Thoughts of Christmas blog. (challenge #3)
2. I went wandering down one of the river paths and took some new photos. (challenge #8)
3. There is new content on The Acorn Stash blog, and on this blog. (challenge #6 – considered only half done because there are still more blogs that need new content.)

It’s an improvement over last week since I only completed two challenges last week. But it’s still brutal.

Am I embarrassed? You betcha. But more than that, I’m seriously ticked off at myself. Mostly because I have no excuse other than that I was totally, utterly, and completely unmotivated to write. And so I didn’t.

It’s not even like I can say I had a ton of other stuff to do because I didn’t. In fact, I didn’t even step foot outside the house all week until I went out Friday morning to take pictures and get groceries.

If I’m really honest with myself, I think I have to say that I’ve lost my passion for internet marketing, at least the way I’ve been doing it for the past several years. The whole keyword and market research thing has left me thinking that there has to be something more. I think for awhile I’d much rather write on the topics that interest me and make me happy, and hope that they interest you and make you happy too. I realize that I won’t be able to please everyone, and quite frankly, I’m okay with that.

And now on a more positive note…

I had no problems being motivated to train this week. With some great results, I might add! After just one week of weight training and cleaner eating, I managed a 4 percent reduction in body fat. So the week wasn’t a complete loss. :)

And I do plan to do better on both the challenge and content creation fronts this week. I’ll post my plans for the week as soon as I have them figured out, so stay tuned.

And have a wonderful week!

Here’s a summary of this week’s content:

Some Thoughts of Christmas Traditions
Christmas Shopping Survival Tips

New Wallpapers For You

Monday Morning Outlook
Order and Chaos Side by Side

A Week of Beginnings and Endings

Lena — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 16:17:56 +0000

It’s been a week of beginnings and endings here this week. I suppose that’s not surprising since the two do go hand-in-hand in the bigger scheme of things.

I always get a little maudlin and a lot reflective as I see the kids heading back to school. It brings back a lot of memories for me of home and the excitement I used to feel at starting a new year and knowing deep down that it was going to be my year. It never really was … I was a social misfit back then, and I still am. The only difference between then and now is that now I know I’m not the only one. :)

On Monday I celebrated the unofficial end of summer by going for a long walk along the canal and the lakeshore. It really reminded me of home (I grew up spending my summers on Lake Erie), especially when I got a sniff of the poplar trees. In that moment, I think if someone had offered me the chance to go home again, I would’ve jumped all over it.

Tuesday it was back to work with two days to go in the 30 day PLR Giveaway. I’m so proud of myself for keeping up and making it through writing a fresh blog post every day for 30 days. I learned a lot too, and will be talking more about that in an upcoming issue of The Ritchie Report. For now you can read the posts from last week here:

Wednesday was “Good Energy Day” and I had a real “Aha” moment as I was playing on twitter and scrambling for something to write that morning. That’s where the beginnings come in but I’m not ready to say a whole lot more on it yet. For now I’ll just say that I’m a little more clear on the direction I should be going, and that I don’t think it was a coincidence that my moment of clarity came on Good Energy Day.

By Thursday I was exhausted and ready for a break. I don’t know about you, but whenever I finish a really big project I need to take a day or two to recuperate. So I did a lot of thinking and very little writing for the rest of the week.

And that’s my week in a nutshell. I’m behind in my writing again (what else is new?) so I’ve got a truckload (I’m thinkin’ about a brand new F250’s worth) of articles, updates and research to get caught up on this week. I also made a public committment to get 10 new videos made and posted on YouTube by the end of the month, so I need to get crackin’ on that too. :)

How was your week? What are you looking forward to? Leave me a comment and let me know!

Other items you might be interested in:

1. My friend Ronnie Nijmeh over at PLR.me is giving away some really cool audio and video gifts in anticipation of his upcoming launch. You can pick up these gifts and get on his early bird list at the same time here:

2. I joined a new social network last night. I know… just what we need right? I spent some time looking around the site last night and it looks pretty cool. It’s called HelloHello.net and they give you points for doing various tasks like visiting your profile, sharing photos, writing blog posts, etc. It just opened, so if you want to make sure you get your user name, now’s the time to check it out: HelloHello.net