What a week!? Our cruise was extended due to Hurricane Ian so we are in the process of returning to Indiana as I type this. That said, I will miss my self-imposed deadline of Monday at 8 a.m. for this as there are a few finishing touches I have to do once reconnected to the Internet so I’ll slide in your inbox a little later in the week than normal.
My thoughts and prayers are with all of my friends in Florida who are still trying to return to normal and to all of those who experienced damage and loss as a result of this horrific storm.
Photo of the Week
With enormous thanks to my dad and sister, I was reunited with this guy on Sunday night. We have been apart since before I went to Nashville on business. I NEVER want to be apart from him this long again. Thank you, thank you, thank you to his Grandpa and Aunt Susie for taking such incredible care of him whil I was gone.
Keep Calm and Cruise On
As I mentioned in the intro, my best friend, Gayle, and I were on a cruise to the Bahamas this past week. We were supposed to return on Friday.
As we started the sail out from Port Canaveral last Monday, Captain Andy came on the overhead speakers and indicated that it was likely we would not be able to return on Friday because of the track of Hurricane Ian. Most people did not really react in the moment. A bit later in the cruise, just as we took our seats in the theatre for one of the Broadway calibre shows, Captain Andy again came on the overhead and shared that not only would we not make it in on Friday that we would not return until Sunday morning - two extra days. The vast majority of the theatre erupted in cheers of glee. A few people though were clearly upset by this announcement.
This is actually the second time this has happened to Gayle and I. In our previous experience, it only resulted in one extra night on board. So, three free nights on Disney Cruise Line. Yes, thank you!
One of the things that has impressed me in both of these situations is how Disney has put its values on display. Disney’s number one corporate value is safety. Each and every time Captain Andy made an announcement about the change in itinerary, he reminded us that the decisions being made were being made for our safety and the safety of the ship and the crew. He clearly stated that safety is always Disney’s top priority.
When you’re clear on your values, decision making is easier. When faced with a choice, you can simply ask - is this in alignment with my value of x or not? I was already planning a series of pieces on identifying your values. This real life example provided a nice way for me to talk about it a bit with you - and as for your help.
I’d love to know if you’ve ever had a situation where your values helped you to make a decision. I’d love to know how you identified your values. If you don’t mind sharing a story with me, just hit reply. I’m intersted in both personal values as well as company values so either stories or examples are welcomed and encouraged.
Where’s Kara?
A quick summary of where I’m going to be hanging out online and IRL over the next few weeks. Join me, and if I’m visiting near you, hit reply and let’s meet up!
In Real Life (IRL)
In mid-October, I’m in Denver, Colorado
In mid-November, I’m in northern Minnesota for a couple of days.
Around the Virtual World
Join My Course and Community - You will soon find me hanging out in the course and community for my course “Facts of Life Book”. Do you need to organize your most important stuff for life’s most urgent moments? If so, then the Facts of Life Book course is just for you. With loads of templates, tools, and guides I’ll help you get your most important information organized. Newsletter readers - get in now for the low cost of only $25 for life!
LAST CHANCE!!! Quarterly Retreat - I’ve written about my last two quarterly reviews on my business blog (here and here). I wanted to start making this a little more formal process - and you can join me. Register at lu.ma/Q4Retreat to reserve a spot for the session on Tuesday, October 4, 2022 from 11 - 4 eastern. Come in for a few minutes or join me for the whole session in this virtual coworking environment. Everyone who registers will get a free copy of my new Quarterly Planning Guide. Have questions - just hit reply and ask!
AP Productivity - I’m once again joining my friend R.J. Nestor as a mentor in his exceptional course AP Productivity. This is an eight week cohort based course designed to help you build systems and tools to be more productive - in the things that matter to you! R.J.’s course was such a game changer for me and for how I live my life and do my work. The next cohort starts October 6. Come and join us.
Tools, Tips, & Tricks
October is Cyber Security Awareness Month
Nerds like me enjoy reminding people that October is Cyber Security Awareness Month. The US Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency has published a web site full of resources that you and your family can use to stay safe. The most important of these are:
Think Before You Click: Recognize and Report Phishing: If a link looks a little off, think before you click. It could be an attempt to get sensitive information or install malware.
Update Your Software: Don't delay -- If you see a software update notification, act promptly. Better yet, turn on automatic updates.
Use Strong Passwords: Use passwords that are long, unique, and randomly generated. Use password managers to generate and remember different, complex passwords for each of your accounts. A passwords manager will encrypt passwords securing them for you!
Enable Multi-Factor Authentication: You need more than a password to protect your online accounts, and enabling MFA makes you significantly less likely to get hacked.
Would you be interested in attending a virtual workshop on information security? If so, just hit reply and let me know. I might put something together before the end of the month.
What I Published This Week
Nothing! While my publishing systems are working great in a single week, I’m not yet built up to get a week ahead when I need to. That’s the next habit to build into. Don’t worry - I’ll be back to a full publishing schedule this week.
Facts of Life Book Series
As I build towards the official launch of the Facts of Life Book Course and Community on January 1, I’m continuing to publish articles about some of the many different things you might include in a Facts of Life Book. While I’m continuing to publish them on on Medium and Hive you can now see all of them on the Facts of Life Book website.
This Week’s Featured Book Note
Each week, I’m featuring one book note from a book I’m currently reading. Click the image to view this week’s note as a PDF file.
While on vacation, I finished the delightful The Seeker and The Monk by Sophronia Scott. Scott’s writing style is casual and thoughtful - a difficult blend to perfect. While the premise of the book is Scott having modern day conversations with monk Thomas Merton, even if you aren’t particularly religious, the themes of the book are broad enough and her conversations of them are broad enough I can easily recommend this book to anyone. I truly enjoyed this book and highly recommend it.
Diversion
This week’s diversion is one of the many fun moments from our cruise. We’ll be writing up our full cruise report and posting it in the next couple of weeks along with loads of images and videos. However, if you’d like to come along with me for 45 seconds or so of my Mixology workshop - immediately after which I sent Gayle the text “I’m so drunk”, then just hop over to YouTube using this link. The image is a bit of a teaser of what you’ll get a “taste” of in the video.
https://youtube.com/shorts/6oqmE8-AYtk?feature=share
Ways You Can Support Me
Join the Facts of Life Book Course and Community
I officially launch the course - The Facts of Life Book - on January 1, 2023. Join now for just $25 and get the lowest price ever and some fun bonuses along the way as we get ready to get all of our most important information organized in 2023.
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Readwise is an incredible service that takes all of the highlights you take on Kindle, on various web sites, and in so many other places and stores and organizes them for you. It generates a daily (or more often/less often as you prefer) set of highlights for you to review so that you can better remember what you read. Readwise also syncs with all kinds of apps including Evernote, Notion, Obsidian, Roam Research, Log Seq and more. If you’d like an extended 60 day trial, use my link https://readwise.io/kara