Empower-ed.

Today, I'd like to empower you.

Always wanted to write a book?  Put pen to paper.  Right now.
Dreaming of moving to Paris?  Start a job search (and maybe learn a few French phrases).  Today.
Have an idea for a new business?  Author a plan.  Now.

Unless we reach for our goals, they'll always remain just that - goals.

Where is this urgency coming from?  I just finished A Thousand Hills to Heaven, a novel recommended by my book club, that tells the tale of a young couple who move to Rwanda to further humanitarian efforts fighting poverty in the rural areas of the country.  "Heaven" in the title is actually an allusion to the first-class restaurant they start in Kigali, where they created jobs for young Rwandans, while also teaching skills not yet available elsewhere in the country. While they certainly experienced setbacks, heartaches and doubts, they continued to reach for their goals.  And, best of all, made the world a slightly better place because they kept at it.

It is hard not to be inspired by their story.  In fact, the boyfriend has now heard many versions of my plan to "save the world" as a result.  But, I think that is important: to want to save the world.   Even more significant is the reminder that sometimes it is possible.  If only we start today.

F-ed Up.

I work with top executives of a Fortune 500 company on a daily basis.  I plan their events, create menus for their diplomatic dinners, and deal with their general ridiculous requests.

I always thought that the closer one got to the top, the more things would start to make sense.  The goals of an organization would become clear, the intentions would be for the global good of the enterprise, and the meetings would be about real policies and change.

How wrong I was.

I now realize that the intentions are almost always selfish, the meetings are mostly politics and very little policy, and the goals remain to keep the corner office no matter the cost.  In fact, I think the executary title actually makes them stupider.  Because they have hired folks to do nearly every menial task for them, they have reverted back to childlike helplessness.

Trust me, we all work for four year olds.

We all need to work for people we can believe in.  And unfortunately, my faith in the higher ups of this company has run out.  It's time for a new adventure in a place that fosters creativity, productivity, and inspired work.

It's time for a new plan of action...

Who's hiring?