Upde Designs

I hope you had a safe and sane New Year’s Eve.  Jeanne and I went to the Hobbit for the 6:40 p.m. showing.  The movie is almost 3 hours long.  Hard to sit that long.  When we came out of the theater my eyes were so sore and dry with halos everywhere.  The scenery and special effects were breathtaking and I think you forget to blink often enough.  The movie could have been an hour shorter in my view and it did not have the same magic as the Lord of The Rings.  I believe it is the prequel to Lord Of The Rings.

Anyway enough about that.  I’m not a movie critic, just thought I would pass along my observations.  We got home around 9:55 p.m. and I lasted until 11:30 p.m. but never saw the New Year come in.   I was looking over the first half of my 365 project and decided that I would show the best image of the project (in my opinion) and the worst image.

Now I don’t think this image is the best just because Angie is my wonderful daughter.  Although that is a pretty compelling reason.  I like this image because I love to shoot people and in my humble opinion I did a credible job with this image.

Interestingly enough following up on our discussion from yesterday of what the down side of a 365 project is.  Sometimes you just take the shot to get it done.  Such was the case with this image taken last night.  It was 10:30, p.m. I was tired, my eyes were sore, and I didn’t have an image.  So I took a couple of shots of this prism that I received some years ago for some honor at Rotary.  Needless to say I didn’t take the time to set the shot up, nor the camera, nor the lighting.  I just lined it up in the view finder and pushed the shutter button.  It shows!

I got the shot but it’s really lame.  I feel bad about it but I can’t go back and undo it anymore than I can go back and undo the thousands of other things I’ve done that I wish I had done better or not at all.  It is what it is.  While I’m waxing philosophical I read an article yesterday sent to me by my friend Dwight Duckstein.  The article talked about the unintended consequences of setting goals.

~ …”A goal defines an outcome you want to achieve; an area of focus establishes activities you want to spend your time doing. A goal is a result; an area of focus is a path. A goal points to a future you intend to reach; an area of focus settles you into the present.

A sales goal, for example, might name a revenue target or a specific number of new clients won.  An operations goal might articulate a cost savings.An area of focus in sales, on the other hand, might involve having lots of conversations with appropriate prospects. An operations area of focus might identify areas you want to explore for cost savings.  Obviously these aren’t mutually exclusive. You could have a goal and an area of focus. In fact, one could argue that you need both together — the goal specifies where you’re going and the area of focus describes how you plan to get there.

But there is a benefit to concentrating on an area of focus without a goal.  An area of focus taps into your intrinsic motivation, offers no stimulus or incentive to cheat or take unnecessary risks, leaves every positive possibility and opportunity open, and encourages collaboration while reducing corrosive competition. All while moving forward on the things you and your organization value most.

In other words, an area of focus offers all the advantages of a goal without the negative side effects.”…

You get the idea.  I’ve sure run the gambit this day and yet haven’t really said anything.  I do wish the best for you in this new year.  May we all have prosperity, security, good health, and happiness (what ever that is.)  Thanks for stopping by.  Enjoy your day and be careful.