Category: social media

Benefits of Being on Facebook

Published 04/30/2016

Hello everyone!

It’s been an exciting past couple weeks since launching my book on simple slow living, through the Danish concept of Hygge – The Cozy Life. Thank you everyone who has downloaded or bought the book and for your beautiful kind words. We made it to #1 in 3 Kindle Categories, and I even got the Amazon Best Seller orange ribbon! It’s my dream to make a difference and inspire others, and I have more books on the way! If you haven’t checked out this book yet, (shameless plug), I really think you should. It’s life changing 🙂

I kept stalling on updating this blog because I had too many ideas floating in my head – I had a bit of paralysis, but I said screw it, I am going to just start with one and keep going. Today, because my blog post about the benefits of NOT being on Facebook was my most visited blog post, I wanted to update you all on the Facebook situation.

I was off Facebook for about two years, but I’ve recently logged back on. It started with my job, I was doing some Social Media work, and I needed to promote our business on Facebook, and I didn’t want to start a new personal account (I hate multiples and unconsolidated things), so I chose to log back in to use my account. It wasn’t for personal reasons, and I was very reluctant but I signed on anyway. I started realizing the benefits of Facebook from a business perspective.

Then I signed up for a Self Publishing course to help me get my book out, and with that you get access to an online Facebook Mastermind Community. This community has been INVALUABLE. As a new author, with no knowledge on self publishing, I was able to gain access to hundreds of brains all in one supportive place.

*Side note, if you’ve ever had a dream to write your own book, I HIGHLY recommend signing up for Self Publishing School. Everything is there for you, step by step. Let me know if you end up signing, I’d love to hear/help out.

Then I discovered there were several other entrepreneurship groups, that I decided to join. Another one of my dreams is to be my own boss and make money for myself. So another one of my favourite groups was the Screw The Nine to Five community. Wow, what a great bunch of people to speak to who just ‘get’ you. You help them, they help you, and your dreams come true!

I’m not in the habit of posting personal things on Facebook anymore, except for the occasional shared post because I like the message. I’ve been reading that people are posting less and less personal information on Facebook than they used to. Of course Facebook probably doesn’t like that, because they like to gather and use our personal information. But I think that’s a good thing for us. I don’t really use, or even want to use, Facebook very often, except for work related things.

So in a nutshell – the new Benefits of Being on Facebook (as an entrepreneur)

Sharing news regarding book or business announcements to a wider audience
Joining business and interest related communities, to learn from others and share a space with people who ‘get’ you
Sharing articles/videos about particular causes you believe in to spread the word
More exposure to potential people who would be interested in your business
Increase web traffic to websites or this blog for example!
Amazing communication tool to stay in touch with old friends of far away loved ones
Learning new things!

What about you? Are you on Facebook? What are your pros? Cons? I’d love to hear!

Pia

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More Minimalism YouTube Channels

Published 08/29/2015

It’s 2:41 in the afternoon, and the air is moist. There is a raging windstorm going on outside, which has decided to blow over one side of my balcony railing onto the street below, and tear our patio gazebo apart into a tangled mess of canvas canopy and broken metal. Even with all of this going on, I am very comfy and cozy snuggled up on the sofa with my love, my laptop, and a hot cup of english breakfast tea.

Today has been a great day so far. We spent the morning wandering around the Museum of Vancouver to see the Happiness exhibition and a really neat exhibition on the history of living in Vancouver from the 1900’s to 1970s. Of course my favourite was the hippie display. A good day to slow down indeed.

Anyway, I just wanted to update my list of Minimalism YouTube Channels because it seems to be getting some popular attention, as I’ve found a few (more than a few) more since last time.

Melissa Alexandria – Probably my favourite channel right now. Melissa covers so many different areas in our lives with regards to minimalism and what that means. It’s very inspiring to watch someone go through their journey and follow along.

Samantha Lindsey – Samantha shares her inspiring story on how minimalism helped her deal with anxiety.

Brittany Taylor – Brittany takes a more nomadic approach to minimalism, but it is so cool to watch someone with such a free and spiritual lifestyle. She’s really into acro yoga too.

Carrie LeighAnna – I like Carrie’s simple and sweet approach to minimalism. She also has a really great capsule wardrobe.

High Carb Hannah – Hannah’s channel is more vegan based than minimalist, but she does live a minimalist lifestyle, and I love watching her and her fiancé, at Unconventional Living, build their intentional lives.

My Minimalist Baby – For those of you who have little ones!

Noelia Lewis – A beauty inspired minimalism channel.

The More We Explore – Watch this couple on their journey to living out of an RV.

This week…

I took a bit of a break on my workouts because I was on the 3 day juice cleanse. So I’ve made a commitment to start up with Blogilates again on September 1st to start the new calendar month!

I’m practicing my intuitive eating. Trying not to stuff myself. It’s helping. We bought a scale, and my body actually fluctuates between 4 pounds over an entire day. That weirded me out a little.

Every night I’ve been reading a bit of my Astrology book, but I’ve not been as focused on my goals.

Giving back is great, I’m excited to the Annual Walk for the Kitties event for VOKRA.

I’ve been more honest with the relationships in my life as well as career. I find that when you put the truth out there, a weight is lifted, and things are more likely to turn for the better 🙂

That’s all folks. Some things I could improve on, is focus on eating even better, and smaller meals more often throughout the day. I think my spending could be a bit better too. I don’t really buy a lot of stuff, but I know I could be more aware. I’ll aim for that this week. Less spending and eating better.

Anyone else trying to live more intentionally?

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Why We Need To Slow The F*** Down

Published 08/08/2015

Pardon the language in my title. But seriously. I’ve just finished a book (I read a lot of books sometimes) written by my partner’s aunt, called Have You Ever Had A Hunch?

It’s a book about the importance of creative thinking and being in tune to your inner creative intuition. It looks at all of the ways that we repress ourselves and how society blocks our creativity. But there were a couple points in this book that really stood out that I must share.

Living in a Hurry -Up Culture

We have become overstimulated and overwhelmed by all of the choices available to us and there are way too many options that stand in the way of deep examination.

“Political “experts” sell their pre-packaged thinking, financial analysts, theirs. Into whose interpretation of political events or economic eventualities should we buy? What commodity will reflect well on us? Which new fashions will enhance us? What cereal displayed in the rows and rows of cereals in the ultra-super-megastore should we choose? Which of the latest technological applications is best? How long will it take for it to become outdated? How do you keep up with the ever-changing future? How much more time will we spend trying to make choices? Will there fever be enough time to explore our individual creative desires?” ~ Have You Ever Had A Hunch?

It’s incredible! Because we are being bombarded with information, we rarely have a moment to sit and contemplate everything thrown at us, and we don’t take any time to listen to what our own souls are crying for us to do.

People who are removed from their own instincts about things become more and more confused by the multiple perspectives they are constantly being offered and become incapable of defining their own world view. And thus, we suffer from a loss of authenticity. This is something I can really relate to sadly.

Our poor kids today are growing up in a busy culture as well, and not having time to themselves to create and be imaginative.

“In the United States today, it is the age of the microwave child, many of whom have never kneaded dough, never watched a meal being cooked from scratch. The ingredients are not of importance; it’s the finished product that counts…a goal is achieved without the creative process, without the stimulation and sacrifice of work. Instead, there exists a need for instant gratification.” ~ Have You Ever Had A Hunch?

Our Lack of Solitude

“There might be a place inside your head where ideas dwell, but nowhere to bring these to fruition is a cruncher.” ~ Have You Ever Had A Hunch?

Creative people need a space for solitude in order to reach those depths within. But many people are afraid to be alone with themselves. But being alone allows us to really think, it’s required if we want to get to know ourselves, and not get distracted by the constant information out there.

But anyway, enough about that. I just wanted to share those nuggets of information should you be inclined to check out the book!

This week…

I didn’t end up biking to work at least 3 days a week (oops). I blamed it on not making enough time to ride to work. However, I have ran 5km twice this week to make up for it and I’m noticing a huge difference. I’ve done well with intuitive eating, BUT have not always made 100% healthy choices. There was chocolate birthday cake, and a wine and cheese girls night in there somewhere. This week I must do better.

I’ve been setting a few minutes everyday practicing feeling blissful and not suffering. I tend to whine and complain, so I’m trying to get over that.

I didn’t make any unnecessary purchases. Yay to that!

Last weekend I donated a cat tree to Katie’s Place. And almost took a cat home.

I tried to squeeze in important family/loved ones time but I could have done better here. I was having an emotional and hormonal week contemplating my life and career, so I think my attention was more towards myself. I saw my family on the weekend and had brunch, and did a road trip with my partner to Harrison Hot Springs though.

I asked my boss to work part time. The company is still my baby, but we aren’t as busy currently so it was a good time to see if I could focus on all my projects on the go. I’m torn between growing the role full-time, vs time on my projects. There’s a great opportunity there that I need to sort out.

And that is all folks! Nothing very exciting. I’d love to hear how your week went! Is anyone else trying to live intentionally?

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A Fresh Start to Living with Intention!

Published 08/01/2015

Hey everyone! Long time no chat. I’ve been a bit MIA these days because, well, basically life just sort of took over, but I am back and I want to give this thing the love and attention it needs. I’ve also been fighting a fear between just being myself vs trying to be objective and informational, if that makes sense. But a good friend helped me realize that, what is the worst that could happen if people I knew in real life knew me as personally as I shared myself on this blog? So I’m going to be more real, as I definitely enjoy reading those blogs more than pure informational ones (i.e. 10 Ways to Get Over a Cold!) Be warned, this is a long post, but it’s an intro to a new start, so if you have the patience to read it, then cool!

A lot of things have changed and I must admit that I got distracted from the Minimalism thing because I had moved into a new house with my SO and had a promotion a few months back so I was very busy and overwhelmed. The result was a house full of things (combining my things with his things) and being too mentally exhausted to focus on anything else with all the work stuff going on.

After having gone through some intense personal development workshops and seeing the person I want to be wasn’t exactly who I was currently, I am committing to live a more intentional life starting today, August 1st, 2015! I plan on checking in weekly to see how I am doing, and I am happy for you to point out of I miss any updates (eek!). One thing I need to work on is committing to tasks that are somewhat ‘repetitive’. I seem to have a difficult time with this. But my coach said something brilliant.

Building Character means doing the things that uphold your values and who you want to be, despite you not feeling like it or wanting to do it.

Amen to that. But first.

I kicked off my “Fresh Start” by reading this book, “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up” by Marie Kondo. It’s absolutely incredible! Talk about a unique, quirky perspective on minimalism. Basically, Marie talks about the Japanese KonMari method of decluttering, where you hold every item in your hand, and only keep it if it “sparks joy”. She anthropomorphises objects, teaching you to show them love and appreciation, and thank them for their purpose. For example, if there are gifts or cards you don’t want to keep but feel guilty about getting rid of, know that the purpose of a gift/card is to convey someone’s emotions about you. Once that purpose has been served, you have no other obligation to keep the item.

I finished this book in a few hours and was well on my way to decluttering what I had accumulated since my last purge. I got rid of 4 giant garbage bags of clothes/linens, a bunch of books, dishes, and random knickknacks that had no meaning. I also went through useless documents that I thought I had to keep for record keeping sake. Granted, I don’t have a ton of things because I did do a huge purge last year, and I am not the biggest shopper. But I did well! I am so lucky to have a partner who was super supportive of it all.

“Go ahead! I like my office but the rest of the house is yours!”

Yay!

Anyway, pick up this book. It’s very cute, but extremely practical and claims to make you a tidy person for once and for all.

Let’s take a moment to talk about Minimalism for a second. I’ve been watching a lot of YouTube videos lately on minimalism,

Here are a couple I absolutely love:

but most of the Minimalists I am running into, whether on YouTube or on the Blogosphere, focus on extreme minimalism. Like, literally living with only, probably, one item of everything you need. Their decor is very neutral, simple, and clean. Which is really cool, and I wish I could do it, but I can’t ignore who I really am.

You know what brings me joy? Anything antique/vintage/retro and bohemian looking. Think eccentric grandma! Ornate designs carved into wood, colourful eccentric patterns against a neutral background, and textures. I do like to keep the bedroom fairly neutral and relaxing though as a space to clear my mind. Also, my wardrobe is pretty minimalist and neutral. My home just has to be eye candy. Here are some photos below.

So while my tastes don’t match what the norm seems to be out there in the Minimalism world, I adore every piece I own and they all spark joy. This is what it means to me. It means many things to different people. For instance, the world traveler minimalist who lives from their backpack, or a van converted into a home. I think it’s important not to confuse minimalism as one way of being because the purpose is ultimately the same – to get rid of the things we don’t need, to make room for the things we want.

And now, I must move onto to my Intentional Living! I’m not going to lie, I’m a bit nervous to start this. But the blog, Blonde on a Budget (another one you need to check out) really inspired me. Not only is she living more intentionally, but she has been on a Year Long Shopping Ban and onto her second! Amazing work Cait!

Below is a list of things that I intend to focus on so that I can live more intentionally, simply, and meaningfully. I’ve already been doing these things, but the goal is to STICK to them and remember the higher purpose.

Health and Fitness:

Daily Pilates: Currently I’m doing Blogilates daily. (Guys it’s so much fun!)
Bike to work at least 3x/week.
Intuitive eating which is creating a good relationship with food, mind and body. Learning not to eat for emotional reasons, just eating when you’re hungry and stopping when you’re full.
Vegan/Vegetarian diet. I love animals way too much to eat them. Also not eating processed foods, too much sugar/alcohol/caffeine/crap. Currently I’m open to eating seafood, but most of my diet is primarily vegetarian. Let’s see if I can get to vegan. Any advice?
Cook more! Less eating out. Save money. I’ve been doing pretty well here.

Spiritual/Emotional:

Everytime I have the impulse to eat something bad because of emotional reasons (boredom/sadness etc), sit in the feeling, recognize it’s a misguided opportunity to connect with ourselves. Being ok with just feeling the emotions.
Be more present.
Astrology!: I must admit, whether it’s true or not, I find it so fascinating because the things I read seem to be extremely accurate. Been reading a bit of this book everyday. The Only Astrology Book You’ll Ever Need.
Be more aware and ethical in my lifestyle choices, whether it’s cleaning products, food, clothing etc.
Practice my daily Bliss feeling and no suffering so I can learn to push through uncomfortable feelings when I don’t want to do something.
The minimalist lifestyle, living simply, enjoying the little things and open up space for what is important.

Finance:

Currently live on half of my paycheque, and save the other half. Only buy things I need such as food and toiletries. Spending a minimal amount on ‘going out’ and other miscellaneous things.

Giving Back:

This Blog: Writing consistently, and personally, to hopefully inspire others. And I will be honest when I fail on any of these things in my weekly updates.
Animals: Donating money or supplies to Katie’s Place, a local animal shelter in my hometown, Maple Ridge.

Relationships: I think I can sum all of these into really honouring the time I spend with those that I care about. Being truly present with them, instead of being distracted by the next thing I need to do.

Friends: Make an effort to see how people are doing, being more supportive of people’s dreams and aspirations.
Family: Being present with my family, recognizing they won’t be around forever, spending more time with them.
Partner: Also being more present, giving my full attention, appreciating how much I love this man and how amazing he is.

Career/Personal:

Grow my Virtual Assistant business here at Less of the Excess, the ultimate goal for me is to become location independent and self sufficient. Through living a minimalist lifestyle and not buying into consumerism, we need much less money to survive on!
Less time surfing the internet, more time on goals…this one is difficult. Less distractions!

Phew! That was a long one…

I’d love to hear some of things you guys are all doing in order to live more intentionally.

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Social Media or No Media? Which Would You Choose?

Published 06/17/2015

“Whoever controls the media, controls the mind.” ~ Jim Morrison

Let’s talk about social media, or the media in general and what it does to our emotional and mental wellbeing.

I have a friend whose family is from Africa and her grandfather lived until he was 127 years old. They say it was because the family moved him out of the city, and into the countryside, cut him off from all media, so that he could live blissfully and stress free with his family and the beautiful nature.

I have another friend from Vietnam. They did the same thing. When their elders got old, they chose to protect their family members from the media and moved them to a beautiful location to live media free so they could live longer and healthier lives.

It is well known that the Media (social media, news media, etc.) can cause us stress. Especially the television news. The stories that are told to us are generally negative and frightening. I personally try to limit my exposure to negative news topics because I am a very sensitive person, and I can get very depressed about the state of the world. And while isolating oneself from the media can make us potentially live healthier stress free lives, what are the costs?

Social Media is a topic on it’s own which can cause stress because of:

Trying to keep up with the Joneses with what is popular or what others have
Keeping up with ourselves and the need to portray our ideal image
Being addicted to technology
Losing our privacy
Prying people
Identity fraud
Relationship/Friendship drama

If you had to choose to either be media and stress free (ignorance is bliss), or informed but stressed out and miserable? Which would you prefer? Can you have both? Do you care?

I think the happy medium is to be able to choose what content we are exposed to. Essentialism, coined by Greg McKeown, would say we should choose to expose ourselves to information that brings us value, and disregard the rest. A dear friend of mine says it’s always important to be learning (which requires learning about what is going on in the world), but we should have a choice on what kind of information we get and go to trusted, unbiased (ideally) sources. We should also explore all angles of a story or issue, and not blindly accept what is being told. For example, read the comments sections and discover other intelligent interpretations.

What do you think? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

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Deliberately Creating Memories

Published 09/18/2014

Leave the memories as they are, you just can’t duplicate something like that. ~ an old friend

Something’s been on my mind. On the one hand I love the internet and technology because it allows us to communicate across distances and accomplish our dreams in a way we would not have done before. But on the other hand, as the meme says, I miss my pre-internet brain.

I miss those days when we would wait forever for our favourite musician to release their new album, and line up at the store just to purchase it. Then we’d go home and listen to it on repeat for hours, probably with some good friends.

I also miss feeling like I could actually be OFF THE GRID when I traveled, or like I was escaping somewhere where nobody could find me. Now I don’t feel like I’ve gone very far because everyone is just a click away, or I could easily be tracked down because my flight and bank details are probably online somewhere, if anyone had to really go searching for me.

On the flip side, music is at our fingertips. Anything we want to listen to, we can get, how cool is that? Anything we want to learn, is right there. Now when we travel, we can update our friends and family in real-time and show them what we are experiencing. We can look up our childhood friend and reconnect with them.

But here’s a question –

When is the last time you looked back and thought, wow, that was such a great time when I watched that YouTube video on cats, I’ll remember that forever…

That was so much fun scrolling through Facebook for hours on end. I’ll remember it until the day I die.

Yeah…not quite the same as real life is it?

The difference is we created a lot more MEMORIES. And we valued things that took more effort to do as opposed to the instant gratification of today.

My fear is that I, and anyone else who is guilty of too many hours being distracted by Facebook/YouTube/Reddit/video games/name your vice here, (and I know there are many of us) will one day look back and realize all this time has passed us by and we don’t have any wonderful memories to look back on. At least not to the degree of what it used to be. I mean, aren’t memories part of what makes life so amazing?

I worry about our children who will grow up with their faces glued to an iPad or computer screen, and sure they will probably learn a lot, but I wonder if their childhoods will be as magical and full of memories as the pre-internet world.

I don’t know…just some thoughts. What do you think?

Other than that, my point is I think it’s important to be mindful of deliberately creating memories. Take that time to disconnect ourselves from the digital world, and live in the real world. Have a little picnic in the park with an old friend, or meet a new friend while hiking up a mountain. Because it would be so sad to look back and realize we could have had a richer experience.

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Distraction Detox – September 2014

Published 09/04/2014

I’ve been meaning to write this post for a while, but maybe I just needed that extra kick in the butt.

Well I got two kicks in the butt, and I want you to join me!

The first kick was from a section I came across about having a “Low Information Diet” from the book The 4-Hour Workweek by Timothy Ferriss. Here’s an excerpt from the book that explains it a bit, but I’d recommend checking it out for more in-depth information:

The Low Information Diet – Cultivating Selective Ignorance

From this point forward, I’m going to propose that you develop an uncanny ability to be selectively ignorant. Ignorance may be bliss, but it is also practical. It is imperative that you learn to ignore or redirect all information and interruptions that are irrelevant, unimportant, or unactionable. Most are all three.

The first step is to develop and maintain a low-information diet. Just as modern man consumes both too many calories and calories of no nutritional value, information workers eat data both in excess and from the wrong sources.

Lifestyle design is based on massive action – output. Increase output necessitates decreased input. Most information is time-consuming, negative, irrelevant to your goals, and outside of your influence. I challenge you to look at whatever you read or watched today and tell me that it wasn’t at least two of the four. – Timothy Ferriss

My second kick in the butt was from a YouTube post from Unconventional Living which I’ve posted below. He challenges us to do #30daysunplugged from the internet in order to increase productivity, and not use it as a distraction because we’re bored.

My Distraction Detox!
And why you should join me!

While the internet in general is not my focus, I am committing to a 30 day Distraction Detox of my mindless YouTube and Netflix watching. I want to be deliberate and mindful of the time I’m spending on the internet, so I can get FOCUSED on my personal dreams and goals. It is so easy to get sucked into the land of aimless video watching, and it’s not getting me where I need to be. Yes, there is a lot of valuable info out there that we can get by watching videos that are more educational, but if that is the case, it’s also about taking a break from the research and absorbing, and doing a little more… doing. I’ve already disconnected from Facebook and have noticed a huge benefit of the extra time I got back.

Let me know if you want to join me. What is distracting you from achieving your current dreams and goals? What are the things you know you should focus on but keep getting sidetracked by?

I’ll follow up at the end of the month and talk about my experience. This is something I want to revisit from time to time, or maybe every month, there will be a new distraction to detoxify from!

Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!

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Are Millennials Better at Living According To Their Values? (And How To Make Your Workplace AWESOME)

Published 08/10/2014

I had a little spark of inspiration that I quickly wanted to write about.

I work in Human Resources, in an industry that hires a lot of Millennials, so I want to talk a little bit about Millennials and the workplace.

Millennials, aka Generation Y, are born anywhere from the early 1980’s to the early 2000’s. I guess that would make me one of them!

Older generations often complain about this generation.

They are so selfish, it’s always me, me, me! They’re so entitled, and expect to be paid a high paying salary right out of school. They think they can just get away with doing whatever they want. They have no respect.

This is definitely a generalization, as there is a lot of variation out there depending on how you are brought up, your nature, who you surround yourself with, what you’re interested in etc. But Millennials are typically misunderstood.

My argument is, maybe they have something that older generations are not used to seeing. Something that is actually inspiring and worth mentioning.

Millennials are probably better at living a life according to their values and not letting the status quo hinder themselves.

While Millennials tend to be more “me” focused that other generations, they may just be more vocal about what they want than past generations. That means being more expressive about being more conscious and deliberate about living meaningfully. Challenging the status quo and what has been the traditional mindset for so many years. Valuing authenticity and being true to themselves and being happy. (Again, I realize a huge generalization, as many people from all generations are very vocal about living a meaningful life, it just seems to be more ‘accepted’ to live this way in today’s world.) Today’s world encourages us to be our awesome unique selves, and not to hide that. There is a paradigm shift in this type of living. We can see it in the increase in lifestyle blogs and self-help books. I mean, look what I’m blogging about!

Millennials want to live lives that are in line with their dreams and values. They don’t want to compromise their dreams, freedom or happiness for security.

While potentially frustrating for older generations, below are some of the things that Millennials look for in a workplace which may aid in a shift in perspective (and make your company pretty awesome too):

Vision: Millennials look for meaning in their work, so having a company vision, and making that part of the company culture will motivate them to feel like they are working towards a purpose of the greater good.
Giving Back: Any opportunity to give back to the environment or community is a plus. Things like recycling programs, being green, toy drives, food banks, picking up garbage, feeding the homeless, and other charities that are of interest.
Career Development: Millennials want to see progression in their careers, so we typically see them moving around from job to job every 1-3 years. Opportunities to grow within their careers in the same workplace through title changes (even junior, intermediate, senior titles) are appealing.
Values: Making sure that the strengths and values of a Millennial match their job role is important, otherwise they may get bored, feel unmotivated or frustrated. Find something they are good at, and help to grow and support that skill, especially as the manager.
Flexibility: Flexibility is really important, in all aspects. A work/life balance is a huge value as personal time to be with loved ones and learning new things is becoming a higher value than slaving away at the 9-5. Also, personal and work life lines are becoming blurred, so a flexible work environment that allows for people to move around, work where they want (like having a laptop where they can take it to a lounge area). Time flexibility is also appealing and we see many progressive tech companies moving to an open schedule, as long as employees are there during core hours, and are trusted to work on their own schedule and get things done.
Training: Providing training and development opportunities for staff and leadership help motivate Millennials. It shows that the company cares about their growth and is a huge appreciation for having them work at the company. It will keep them there longer.
Fun: Incorporating fun and play into the work environment is a huge bonus. Things like Foosball Tables, Pool Tables, Darts, Video Games, Events, Team Building, and Parties.
People & Culture Person: Not to toot my own horn as this is my job, but having a designated People and Culture person who can focus on keeping everyone happy, whether it’s for the fun company stuff, or having someone they can talk to when there are issues, or want to develop their career. I see it more and more these days. This role is popping up in a lot of high-tech industries.
Food: Who doesn’t like food! Having it easily available in the office, with healthy varieties, is a great way to keep people happy.
Management Style: Do not Micromanage! Whatever you do, do not do it. It will only piss the Millennials off. It would probably piss anyone off. It’s so important to have a progressive view of management if the culture is to succeed and be appealing to Millennials. Go for the coaching conversations technique, versus the high-school dictator style. Treat Millennials like adults, not children. Trust they will get things done when tasks are due. Address behavioural issues early and often if necessary, but do it properly. That means motivating from within (coaching style). As soon as we tell them what to do like they are teenagers, they will automatically stop caring about the manager or the company. And that breeds a negative company culture.
Openness: There should be open communication at all levels, whether it’s the CEO or the cleaning person. Everyone should be treated equally and be easily approachable.
Health & Wellness: A focus on health and well-being is a plus when Millennials look for a workplace. Whether it’s health related lunch and learns, having sports or work-out groups/teams, showers, and a bike room.

Basically what it comes down to is that Millennials want to work at a place they are proud of working at. A place they can tell their friends and family about, and share how cool it is, and how much they are growing and giving back and contributing to the greater good. I even heard of BANKS trying to go this route. It makes for much happier people, who live a more purposeful life.

Please share your thoughts in the comments below! I’d love to hear them. If you liked what you read, please subscribe!

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Meeting the Minimalists & a Signed Book Giveaway!

Published 08/07/2014

Last Friday I had the pleasure of meeting Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus aka The Minimalists as they were visiting Vancouver, BC, on their Everything That Remains book tour. They were so lovely, warm, and open, and gave a very inspiring speech to a huge Vancouver audience. So many people showed up they had to do their show twice! They also give great hugs 🙂

I just finished reading their new book, Everything That Remains, which they describe as not a “how-to” book, but a “why-to” book. If you get the chance, check this book out. You’ll experience sadness, joy, laughter, and inspiration, but most of all, a new perspective on what is really important in life. After finishing it, I honestly came out with a new appreciation of living a deliberate life, and more confidence to really own my destiny. Anything worth anything takes effort, while passivity leaves us hollow.

What if everything you ever wanted isn’t what you actually want? Twenty-something, suit-clad, and upwardly mobile, Joshua Fields Millburn thought he had everything anyone could ever want. Until he didn’t anymore.

Blindsided by the loss of his mother and his marriage in the same month, Millburn started questioning every aspect of the life he had built for himself. Then, he accidentally discovered a lifestyle known as minimalism…and everything started to change.

That was four years ago. Since, Millburn, now 32, has embraced simplicity. In the pursuit of looking for something more substantial than compulsory consumption and the broken American Dream, he jettisoned most of his material possessions, paid off loads of crippling debt, and walked away from his six-figure career.

So, when everything was gone, what was left? Not a how-to book but a why-to book, Everything That Remains is the touching, surprising story of what happened when one young man decided to let go of everything and begin living more deliberately. Heartrending, uplifting, and deeply personal, this engrossing memoir is peppered with insightful (and often hilarious) interruptions by Ryan Nicodemus, Millburn’s best friend of twenty years.

http://youtu.be/gnKvtfEGDjQ

And now for the awesome news! I’ve got a copy of Everything That Remains that is SIGNED by Joshua and Ryan, and I am giving it away to one of you lovely people! All you have to do is the following:

Leave a comment below about a book, blog or person that has inspired you on your minimalism or personal journey and why
Follow me on Twitter here
Follow The Minimalists on Twitter here

That’s all! In a few weeks I will choose a winner at random and you will be mailed a copy of this incredible book!

You can purchase the book here!

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Why I Am Not On Facebook And The Benefits Of It

Published 04/29/2014

“Distracted from distraction by distraction.” – T.S. Eliot

I get asked all the time why I’m not on Facebook, so I thought I would share my thoughts with you. The main reason was that I was a compulsive user of Facebook. It was the ultimate distraction. I couldn’t even wait in line without checking the Facebook App on my mobile phone. I’d be going about my day and Status Updates would constantly pop into my head. It was a bad habit.

Facebook has also changed a lot since I first joined in 2007. It used to be a valuable tool for keeping in touch with people, but it turned into constant advertisements and people began only posting internet memes. I wasn’t getting any value from it. I also became uneasy about the level of privacy. On the personal side, I became uncomfortable with sharing information with people I hardly knew, and the idea of “Facebook Stalking” made me uneasy as I’m a private person. I felt like I didn’t have complete control of the information that was posted online about myself. Also, the fact that Facebook now owns the right to do anything they want with your data is frightening. Facebook caused more anxiety than real life did.

Lastly, Facebook felt very superficial to me. We always like to make our online persona our ideal versions of ourselves, so I felt when I was looking at my ‘friend’s’ pages, it wasn’t a real representation. I thought it was pointless as I would rather have real connections with the people in my life. I’m lucky that I avoid drama, but I could definitely see how it could be toxic for those of us who are drawn towards it. I fear what bullying is like for kids still in school.

I am fully aware of the benefits of social media – it’s extremely useful for keeping in touch with people, marketing, networking, job search and spreading information. But I prefer to rely on websites that are less personal and be a bit choosier on what info goes out.

So with that in mind, I gathered the contacts of the people I wanted to keep in touch with and decided to delete my account. I’m proud to say I’ve been Facebook Free for just over a year! This blog is about minimalism and getting rid of distractions in order to live a more meaningful life, and getting rid of Facebook was a great introduction into it.

It’s funny because at first I kept reaching for my phone only to realize there was no more Facebook App. And I (still to this day) unknowingly type “www.faceb…” into my internet browser only to realize halfway through I can’t log on. But aside from that, there were so many benefits that came out of getting rid of my Facebook account.

The 5 benefits of not being on Facebook:

More Time: One of the main benefits of not having Facebook is how much time I suddenly had. I was so much more productive! I could write more music, work on more projects and have more time to spend it with people I cared about. I could also spend more time enjoying the outdoors or cooking a delicious meal.

Deeper Connections with People: The second most important benefit I had was that the level of depth to my friendships and relationships increased. Without the ability to check in on how people were doing online, I was able to have real meaningful conversations, you know, like we did in the old days 😉

More Privacy: I had more personal privacy and control over the info that was posted online about myself, and I had privacy from the Facebook information thieves.

Living in the Moment: Being less fixated on the online world helped me to become more present and aware of my surroundings. I was able to truly enjoy the here and now.

Higher Self Esteem: There have been studies that Facebook makes us unhealthy, sad and jealous because we compare ourselves to others. Well I can say with confidence that it hardly comes up for me anymore as I can’t peer into anyone’s lives.

And finally, a wonderful song a friend sent me that is somewhat related. I’m quite enjoying Passenger. There are many songs about getting rid of distractions and the superficial world and more into meaningful, happy living.

“Scare Away The Dark”

Well, sing, sing at the top of your voice,

Love without fear in your heart.
Feel, feel like you still have a choice
If we all light up we can scare away the dark

We wish our weekdays away
Spend our weekends in bed
Drink ourselves stupid
And work ourselves dead
And all just because that’s what mom and dad said we should do

We should run through the forest
We should swim in the streams
We should laugh, we should cry,
We should love, we should dream
We should stare at the stars and not just the screens
You should hear what I’m saying and know what it means

To sing, sing at the top of your voice,
Love without fear in your heart.
Feel, feel like you still have a choice
If we all light up we can scare away the dark

Well, we wish we were happier, thinner and fitter,
We wish we weren’t losers and liars and quitters
We want something more not just nasty and bitter
We want something real not just hash tags and Twitter

It’s the meaning of life and it’s streamed live on YouTube
But I bet Gangnam Style will still get more views
We’re scared of drowning, flying and shooters
But we’re all slowly dying in front of computers

So sing, sing at the top of your voice,
Oh, love without fear in your heart.
Can you feel, feel like you still have a choice
If we all light up we can scare away the dark

I’d love to hear your thoughts on Facebook. Feel free to share them in the comments below or send me an email at lessoftheexcess at gmail dot com.

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