life lessons

Life Changing Things to Make you Successful

October 14, 2018 By Joni Kinney 2 Comments

It’s effortless to point fingers at other people or things for our lack of success. Frequently I hear things said about why we are not as successful as we think we should be. However, there are very few people who are making purposeful life changes to be successful. Do not be one of those people. Making small changes can change your life. Here are some things you can do today to set yourself up for life-changing success.

5 Easy things to change your life

Stop Complaining

Everyone seems to complain about other people and yet I rarely hear people complain about their actions. Merely stop complaining about others will be life-changing. Now if you are reading this and you are saying, but I complain about myself all the time. Ask yourself are you complaining about your actions or your self-worth?

So to get the best out of our new life-changing behavior, you need to stop complaining about other people. You don’t control them. What do you control? YOU, you control yourself. Your reactions, your thoughts, your feelings about others.

Let go of Negative Energy

Negativity is everywhere. You need to learn the power of Positivity: How it can change your life! So you need to let go of all the Negativity we see and feel from ourselves and other people.

If someone in your life is not providing a positive influence in your life, let them go. You do NOT want or need that to be around you everyday.

I know this can be hard… but no one ever said doing the right things were going to be easy.

Look for Gratitude

Do not say there is nothing to be happy/grateful for in your life. Even in the very worst of times, there is happiness. Find it.

Write down at least ten things you are grateful for that happened today. Not stuff like I’m so grateful for my kids. Yep, we know that. But what did they do today that made you happy today.

Maybe you are happy the sun came up today. Did your spouse tell you they love you? Maybe you got 5 minutes in the bathroom without interruption. Whatever it is, no matter how small or seemingly insignificant write it down. Aim to get at least ten items of gratitude wrote down every single day.

If you do nothing else to change your life, do this. Find the positive appreciation in every single day. Life is short people, don’t use your time concentrating on anything but the good.

Fail Forward

Have you ever made a mistake? Ok good, so have I. We all do, we are human after all. Making mistakes is good, it gives us an opportunity to learn something new.

Do not allow yourself to wallow in the self pity of the mistake you made. Instead, fail forward by learning something from it and moving on.

Determine your vision

Determine what you want to do with your life. Are you living as the best person you can be? If you are not, what would it look like if you were? What would you be doing? Think about your career, family.

Once you have a picture of your best self, write down what that picture looks like. You have just determined your goals. Next, you need an action plan on how to make those goals a reality.

Small changes can be life changing. Be the best person possible by finding your vision, positivity and creating a life that is all about:

Dad’s View : Ultimate Guide of things to teach your Daughter

April 1, 2018 By Jason Kinney Leave a Comment

Awhile back my wife wrote a blog about “The Ultimate Guide of Things to Teach Your Daughter“. I thought it would be good to do write an article of the things to teach your daughter from a dad’s perspective. Keep in mind, like everyone’s son and daughter, my daughter is very unique. Even though she is into dying her hair and talks to me about ‘boys’. She is the same kid that almost every month has weekends of her kicking people in Taekwondo or attending a wrestling event. To this day if you ask her, her dream profession would be a wrestler such as Nia Jax in WWE.

Top 5 Ultimate Guide of things to teach your Daughter

Be Comfortable in Your Own Skin – This is easier said than done. It took me almost 40 years to be comfortable in my own skin. Many of our conversations on this surround doing what you are comfortable with, not what “the group” may want. Try to live a healthy lifestyle but at times if you want that donut, get that donut. Just be happy with who you are on the inside and the outside. Life is too short to worry about what you may not be.
Experiences Over Materials – Travel while you are young. Get those memories of travel when you can as you never know what tomorrow brings. Memories such as going to the wrestling event and seeing your favorite wrestler or going and sitting in the white sand on Siesta Key in Florida with friends can’t be replaced. Those sports figures and cards can be. Going for a road trip in the Polaris Slingshot and feeling the wind on your skin is better than sitting in front of the television. We have been fortunate as we travel a fair amount, we do our best to make sure she realizes our travels are not like most families. Work hard to enjoy each little trip and journey along the way.
Even When You Do Your Best, Sometimes You Still Need a Little Luck, but Never Give Up. I have seen most of my daughters taekwondo tournament matches. I have seen her dominate, I have seen her squeeze out a win. She has lost, She has been rocked and I thought for sure she would give up. She never backed down. Over the years, you hear people say “I am the best”. When she started her Taekwondo journey, I started from the beginning telling her “There are millions of others doing this, you most likely will never be the best”. A lot of people disagree with telling their kids that there will be someone better than them. I fully believe the honesty will help her prepare more than a false sense of security.
Boys have Cooties – I am still working on this one, it was a lot easier when she was younger. Just having issues continuing to convince convincing her of this.
Family Time – Each weekend, Cheyenne and I have a breakfast date. Her and I go out every Saturday and Sunday and go get breakfast and sit in the car and eat and then go to Target. We have done this since she was around five years old just allowing for open conversation and her to see that her and her opinions matter. I am hoping that she remembers to do the same when she is a parent many years down the road.

2 Bonus things to Teach your Daughter

Save and Budget – Cheyenne does not get an allowance, she gets a chore chart. Since she was seven, she had separate cans to put her money in; one for travel, one for spend, one for electronics. Some of those jars give a bonus if she saved a certain amount or she’d only have to save 1/2 of the real cost of the item such as a new iPad. My mom taught me a long time ago to make sure they are invested in the items they want. Most likely they will care for it a lot more if they have something to lose in the deal. I really am hoping this will when she is older and has to her own monthly budget
Her Dad is Human – This is probably the one that people may have the biggest exception to. I have an agreement with Cheyenne that “Ask any question, I will never lie to you, but I do right to refrain from answering”. This has led to many interesting conversations. She is smart enough to figure out that if I refrained from answering, that means she probably got the answer. This has led to her realizing that we all make mistakes. We are all human and nobody is perfect.

If you have questions or have suggestions for other articles please contact me.

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Life Lessons from working in IT

January 25, 2018 By Joni Kinney Leave a Comment

Life Lessons Learned from working in Information Technology

I’ve been working in IT for the past several years, and I’ve learned a lot about myself, my coworkers and how teams operate. Now you can take advantage of some of my life lessons and apply them to your life.

Below are some of my favorite tips and life lessons learned from working in IT.

Stop making simple things complicated

My biggest life lesson is easy; stop making things so complicated. Many things in life and IT are more difficult because people try to over complicate them.

Sometimes the fastest, most natural, and most common sense answer are the simplest. Try not to make things complicated. Look for the most straightforward solution first. This may seem to be common sense, but trust me it isn’t.

Bonus: Read about Life Changing Things to Make You Successful.

If you can’t explain it in simple terms, you don’t understand it

After having books and books worth of complex system integration’s, data flow, networking diagrams explained to me I’ve come to realize that if you can’t explain something in simple terms, then you don’t understand it.

You may be able to tell me the textbook answer or give me some predefined explanation but if you can’t put it in simple terms. Then you don’t understand it as well as you think.

It’s ok to get pissed off and have meltdowns

Another life lesson… It’s ok to get pissed off and have a meltdown. Well… sometimes. It’s perfectly understandable that you are going to get mad at your coworkers.

After all, you don’t go through life without getting mad at your parents, kids, family members, friends once in a while. While people think that co-workers won’t ever get mad at each other is beyond me.

It’s ok, have your pissed off moment, have your meltdown… do it in private. How you react to a stressful situation will determine how you are treated in the future. Those who remain calm and collected have the advantage.

Ask for what you want

My best employees and coworkers are those who know what they want and ask for it. No one is a mind reader.

If you are new your leaders, don’t know you well enough to see what you can handle. Don’t wait for them to figure it out. Go and ask for what you want.

Whether that’s a chance to work on a project or to work with another team…. ask!

Keep a record of your positive contributions

Likely you will need these anyway. Every company I’ve ever worked for has done performance evaluations; this is primarily an opportunity to brag about your yearly contributions to the good.

Keep track of your positive contributions, they all add up.

Understand your sphere of influence – Life Lessons Learned

Too often I see people spend way too much energy on things they can’t control.

Understand what is in your sphere of influence and use it for the greater good. Never use it for the negative, that may get you immediate gratification, but you will never come out ahead, in the long run, this way. Understand who/what you control and use it.

Help someone behind you on the line

Whether just starting out or if you’ve been there for some time, there is always someone who is behind you. There is someone who doesn’t know what you know.

There is someone who hasn’t been there as long as you have and hasn’t had the opportunity to figure out the life lessons you have learned. Take that person under your wing, show them the ropes and you will forever have someone in your corner.

People remember, make sure they remember you as helping them.

Networking matters – those water cooler moments matter

I know so many people who don’t seem to understand this. Networking matters, those small moments of chit chat… they matter.

People want to make a personal connection. They can’t help it, so use it to your advantage. Who you choose to network with matters, it becomes your sphere of influence.

Ask someone about their kids, give advice when asked, or help them with something in the hallway.

Those moments are so often overlooked, but some of my best friendships and job advice have happened in those moments.

Curiosity is a good thing…

Curiosity makes us want to do better and learn more. Find what you are curious about, and learn it.

Find someone to teach you or figure out how to apply that curiosity to your daily job. It will make you more passionate, more committed and a better co-worker.

I’ve learned a lot of things over my career… but these things combined with 5 Super Easy ways to overcome your fear of technology are my best life lessons learned from working in IT.