Close Company

On Vox: Conflict Management

So it came up today talking to a friend about a situation in my personal life, that I don't seem to see all the angles in conflict management. There always seems to be more options that I never see. I hate to say that I have poor conflict management skills but maybe I do? The ability to see a situation, analyze what's happening and then come up with a solution that will hopefully benefit all parties involved.

I tend to not be able to step back as 'far' from the scenario as my friend can. Seems like I have to learning to do.

Originally posted on mikemimik.vox.com

T & T National Championships 2009

This past weekend I was part of an amazing event - I was at the 2009 T&T National Championships. I was part of an Apprentice Program run by Gymnastics Ontario that matched me up with a mentor that I would be able to shadow for the entirety of the event.

I arrived at the competition very late Thursday evening/Friday morning and got myself settled into the campus residence we were staying at. We were up early the next day for Team Ontario's training in the gym at the venue. Each Province is always given a training time for their athletes to come and practice on the equipment that is available at the competition.

Event prelims where Friday/Saturday and event finals where Saturday/Sunday and Senior event finals where on Monday. All the athletes performed was from all of the provinces and it was such a great experience to see them all together and competing.

As part of the Apprentice Program I was challenged with the task to interview two coaches from other Provinces and ask them questions and get as much information as I could. I had the opportunity to speak with a coach from Quebec as well as one from British Columbia. They had very different views and insights into questions that I had and how to coach power tumblers.

I met some new people who I now consider friends and networked with others. The experience was, as I believe to be unforgettable and irreplaceable.

T & T Eastern Canadian Championships - Gearing Up Con't

I managed to pack everything I needed minus a black belt. Got my hair cut so I look presentable as a Team Coach and everything! The ball started off with a gentle nudge Thursday evening as I met with my athletes and their parents at one of their houses. We ate some pizza and enjoy the company and some brief news from the television. We arrived at the airport with plenty of time to spare before boarding so again we enjoyed our company. Both of my athletes are first time fliers as I would put myself somewhere between novice and intermediate. We did the who security thing and I got a kick out of the honesty of one of my athletes. Security Officer: Do you have any liquids with you in your carry on? My Athlete: I have some snacks and my DS. (Referring to the ever so popular Nintendo DS) I chuckled a little as it was a pretty abrupt and unexpected response. We waited for the flight to arrive and we boarded. For first time fliers they did pretty amazing! I explained how everything works; they load the luggage, we taxi to the runway, pilot talks to the tower, then we take off. Sturdy take off and sturdy landing they handled it like champs. We disembarked from the plane and wondered over to the Tim Hortons in the airport. My athletes enjoyed the snack while I got the number for the hotel and called inquiring about shuttle pickup. It was about a 25 minute wait for the shuttle and about another 20 to the hotel. We met up with the parents of my athletes and got ourselves checked in and settled in our rooms for a well deserved rest. So here I am now typing up this blog on my Blackberry, only to post it later, and I realized that the keyclicks are quite loud. Hope my roommate wasn't disturbed. More to come, stay tuned!

T & T Eastern Canadian Championships - Gearing Up

Today I will be embarking on a very significant trip for myself. The ball starts rolling for this evening when I fly into and stay over night in Toronto in anticipation for the next flight. The next flight will take me to Nova Scotia, which in itself is pretty exciting as I've never been to that province or anywhere out east at all for that matter.

Tumble & Trampoline Eastern Canadian Championships will be held in Nova Scotia this year. The qualifying athletes from each eastern province will be sending their team of athletes in their respective sport and category. I personally have two athletes that will be participating as part of Team Ontario whom I've very proud of. In addition to that I will be part of the Delegation that Ontario is sending as a Team Coach for one of the Tumbling categories. I am very honored to have been selected as a Team Coach for this event. It seems to denote my coming to pass as a 'somebody' in this sport in Ontario. In my short time as a coach in this discipline I've managed to learn a lot and become a part of the community.

I spent most of the day today doing laundry and packing what I will need for this weekend long event. We arrive in Nova Scotia Friday afternoon and get ourselves settled in. Competition is all day Saturday and Sunday. It will be a jammed packed weekend of meetings, training, competing and I am up for the challenge and experience of it all. This is my first year solo coaching the competitive power tumbling team at my gymnastics gym. A lot of what was done this year for me was repetition from years past except for Eastern Championships. I have not been to any competition higher then that of the Provincial level. Don't get me wrong, these are still Provincial level athletes competing but no longer for just their gym club, they are competing for their province! I am very very excited to be a part of it.

Wish us luck!

Hump Post Wednesday's - How do you Hump?

How do you get through your Wednesday Woe's? Whether it be to drink yourself silly or curl up with a good unexpected movie, I bet you have some way or another to keep yourself motivated and push on through to the weekend.

An American English idiom for Wednesday is "hump day" a reference to making it through to the middle of the work week as getting "over the hump." (via Wikipedia)

I myself don't find it very dismal on Wednesdays at all, I would actually say that Wednesday is arguably my most productive day of the week. From being up early and getting the day started with some encouragement, through to prioritizing and accomplishing task, then back on to analyzing and conquering some obstacles with a few lessons learned, Wednesday is packed full of activity for me.

That just might be the 'golden ticket' to get you to that place of amazement (yes I just used Willy Wonka as a metaphor). By having my day full of events and things to do, my mind very rarely wonders to things out of my control or unproductive Facebook lurking. I start my day with a smile as I work with children for the morning. The positive energy helps carry me through the afternoon, in which I am usually planning ahead to the next week and accomplishing what it is I need to get done for the remainder of the week.

Keeping ones self active with productive activities is not an easy feat. I find that breaking your day up into smaller more manageable and interesting tasks helps. To be honest, if I'm not interested in something I either don't want to do it or have a hard time focusing on it. Breaking up your day so that the uninteresting stuff is done sporadically throughout the day in between the interesting tasks, helps me keep a focus on work that needs to get done.

Next Post:
What happens if you don't have a 'hump day'? Perhaps you work a 6 day week or even a 4 day week. A new perspective of how you define your middle of the week.

See you on top of our next hump.

Hump Post Wednesday's

I've decided to start a blog series dedicated to Wednesday the Hump day of the week. Being the middle of the week people seem to have mixed feelings about Wednesday's. Half way to the weekend, half way from the weekend, six of one - half dozen of the other. I'd like to include my outlook on the days that have past and the days that stand in the way between now and the weekend.

Now I realize that this post isn't actually on a Wednesday as the idea came to fruition over the course of today, but Wednesday is the Topic of the day so next Wednesday you shall have and can expect my insights and a little rambling on the one and only Hump Day.

Hopefully my posts will give you something to do if you are one of those people that can never seem to motivate yourself on this so called cross road of the week. If you are like me and Wednesday is just another stepping stone on the way to the weekend and doesn't seem to hinder your progress through the week then if you can spare the time it should be a good read anyways!

Here's looking forward to our first Hump Wednesday! Cheers!

Cleaning Trash or Treasure?

Found this article that my father photocopied for me while I was cleaning up tonight. Thought I'd share it as I don't really do any of this and figured after typing it.. it might actually stick. Wishful thinking maybe.

 The Globe and Mail
Monday, March 26, 2007

 Management: The five practices of effective leaders

Effective executives use five practices, Joseph Maciariello of Claremont Graduate University notes in Executive Excellence:

• Manage time: Effective executives prune time wasters in order to achieve high priorities.
• Set priorities: That allows them to concentrate on opportunities that can produce superior performance.
• Make people decisions: They match the strengths of people with the assignments of a position.
• Abandon unproductive areas: They ask whether if they were not doing a particular activity, product of process, would they choose to get into it? If not, they consider whether it should be abandoned.
• Make effective decisions: They follow the right steps in the right order for good decision-making.

"Effective leasers create a spirit of performance by doing the right thing and getting the right things done," he concludes.

Not sure if always doing the right thing will make me effective at management. Doing the right thing, makes you 'that person'. I'm always 'that person' and I really don't consider myself a good manager. A bit of a pushover maybe, but agreeably not a good manager.

On Vox: Happy New Year?

So I'm sitting here at at 4am Jan 1, 2009! Woot! right!

New-Years-Champagne

Well not so much. Didn't do anything for new years eve, just sorta sat around. Not that it was such a bad thing, I just didn't have anyone to gallivant around with. Some good did come of this evening. My sitting time I spent talking to a friend on blackberry messenger. On top of that it being so late, I am able to focus on every random thought that jumps into my mind and compile it accordingly. Bunch of stuff for work that I need to get banged out this week and set in stone for Monday.

I am however happy content (I guess) that it's the new year. Everything is fresh, can start taking my day to day a bit more serious. Start really trying this thing called 'life'. I've got some pretty big goals for this year and if I really want to follow through on them I have to start taking myself a little more serious. Expanding my cash flow is going to be pretty high on that list. I'll try for say - the end of January to exhausted most possibilities in a job search. Once I've got that in place the summer and September should roll around pretty fast I'd expect. Hopefully start a school program in September and be done in 2 years. Sadly that means another 2 years spent here where I don't want to be; however, such things are needed.

Top of my priority list just like everybody else in accordance with New Years tradition, I plan to work out more, eat slightly more healthy and a bit more often then 1.5 times a day. Healthy body and mind are the trends for this year.

Originally posted on mikemimik.vox.com

Merry Christmas

My shiney xmas tree
Originally uploaded by mikemimik

Christmas is usually a time to celebrate family and friends. A time to think about those that mean the most to you. This year I am doing just that. No gifts and being materialistic, clinging to something that will probably get put to the way side only weeks later. I am going to be spending time with those that mean the most. My give is myself and my time. Talk, laugh, and be merry is the name of the games I play at Christmas. I would take watching movies and keeping warm by the fire with my loved ones over the 11 second rush of opening silly gifts. Yes it is fun, for those 11 seconds, but Christmas should be so much more then that. Especially now with the economy the way it is, people should just be satisfied with the things in life that aren't connected to money.

I guess what I'm trying to say, is have a safe, happy, joyful, triumphant, beautiful and most of all Merry Christmas.

Much love to everyone.

On Vox: Now what?

So I've finished watching all the seasons of House up to season four. I'm slowly sinking my teeth into season five which is currently airing on TV but cant help but see the finish line. That's not usually a bad thing, but I don't really want this to end. I love the show so much I don't want to be waiting around for a whole week to see it again. It's like the vacation you like so much you don't want it to end but you know you have to go back on Monday. I'll just have to find something else to keep me going, anyone have any suggestions?

I need goals to survive. The next step up the staircase that is my path. Without the next step there is no where to go. Effectively halted in my tracks. The door to the attic just out of reach, unable to grasp the gold handle to the door that conceals all that I've ever wanted. The rays of light pear from under my gatekeeper. Never turning my eye from the barrier to my dreams, conquering each goal with every step I take. Each step giving me the power to be my own savior.

Originally posted on mikemimik.vox.com