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The Passionate Voice

Food for Thought [volume 7]

April 16, 2017 • Food for Thought

Happy Easter weekend, friends!

Most of my food for thought articles this week are more ‘sobering’ in nature, which is something as a member of the millennial generation I think we need often. I am all for the positivity of ‘find your passion’ as long as your willing to work hard at that passion.  Sometimes we need that dose of reality to put things into perspective. Enjoy these reads!

  • Watch this 3 minute easy-to-digest video based on author Stephen Covey’s work (read: 7 Habits of Highly Effective People). It quickly puts things into perspective about how you need to do the things that matter most to YOU first followed by the URGENT matters second.
  • Loved these 20 pieces of advice from ‘old people.’ One of the lines I think would be most suitable for our millennial generation to consider is, “People always say, ’’Make sure you get a job doing what you love!’’ But that isn’t the best advice. The right job is the job you love some days, can tolerate most days, and still pays the bills. Almost nobody has a job they love every day.” So true! Its a reminder for our generation that we can try and follow our passions or try and find our dream job but the reality is, the perfect job doesn’t exist (there will always be good days and bad ones!)
  • Along those same lines, this honest article by Mark Manson entitled ‘Screw Your Passion’ has a dose of reality as another reminder when we need to ensure our feet are planted firmly on the ground. This line resonated: “But more importantly, what I want to say to these people is this: that’s the whole point — “not knowing” is the whole XXXXX point. Life is all about not knowing, and then doing something anyway. All of life is like this. All of it. And it’s not going to get any easier just because you found out you love your job cleaning septic tanks or you scored a dream gig writing indie movies.”
  • After finishing The Sleep Revolution by Arianna Huffington, this article about ‘busyness’ and what it is doing to us as individuals and as a society is something I am totally paying attention too more personally now. What are things I do to myself that aren’t necessary to survival, both personally and professionally. What are things I can do to help myself relax a bit more and enjoy myself are things I am asking myself more often now, especially as the baby’s due date draws closer and closer (less than 2 months to go!)
  • So happy that my personal/professional #Blog452 goal (committing to blog here once a week for all 52 weeks of the year) has inspired fellow #GirlBosses like Mackenzie at The Shantybabes Farmhouse, Kimberley at her personal blog, Jen at Savvy Farmgirl and Natalie at Acres by Natalie. Keep up the awesome work ladies!!! 🙂
  • I’ve always been a huge believer that our activities and hobbies outside of work help us be better in our jobs and the fields we work in, a sentiment shared by Stewart Brown, the founder of Canadian company, Genuine Health.

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2016 {the year of many firsts}… and the best is yet to come in 2017!

January 14, 2017 • Agriculture, Career, Lifestyle, Public Speaking, Social Media, Travel

While we’re 14 days into 2017, I couldn’t look back on 2016 more fondly as a year that I considered ‘the best year yet.’

Until this year….. more to come on that so read on!

I made a commitment last year to make 2016 ‘different’ in everything I did – personal, professional, my business, my hobbies AND my attitude. One of those differences that inevitably fell into my lap was embracing firsts, something I may not have been so open too in the past.

Embracing ‘firsts’ teaches you so much about yourself – what your capcity is for courage, strength, spontaneity, adventure, experiencing news things that you’re not use too or comfortable with and just how open you (and your attitude) are to welcoming firsts, in the first place!

I really tried to continue living by the motto I shared back in my 2015 Year in Review, “Life Begins at the End of Your Comfort Zone.” Some firsts last year weren’t easy, but man did they feel good after they were done, knowing I had set my mind to doing them!

To reflect on what some of those ‘firsts’ were for me and others close to me, I thought I would highlight some of the memorable ‘firsts’ from last year (there were surely more but not enough time to capture everything!):

  • Travelling with my family on our first out-of-province trip to receive our second Holstein Canada Master Breeder award in Banff, Alberta
  • Horeseback riding in the Alberta mountains
  • Hiked a mountain (Tunnel Mountain in Banff)
  • Explored many new towns, cities and destinations in our very own Ontario including the Muskokas, Bayfield, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Lake of the Woods/Kenora and Bobcaygeon (home to the infamous Tragically Hip song!)
  • Worked with new clients both in and outside of agriculture – learning about new industries is fascinating (and what agriculture can learn from these industries is invaluable!)
  • My family started building their first robotic dairy barn, which will be completed this winter
  • Andrew and I took our boat through the Trent Severn Waterway liftlocks in my hometown of Hastings
  • I visited my first-ever cranberry and shrimp farms
  • Met so many new, amazing #girlbosses including Canada’s own Conquer Kit writer & speaker, Natalie MacNeil
  • Flew in a helicopter, experiencing the beautiful fall scenery of the Muskokas
  • Saw my mom featured on the cover of a national dairy magazine, The Progressive Dairyman (way to go, mom!)
  • Experienced many amazing new firsts at work as a Press Secretary, I feel so fortunate to do what I do in the industry I love
  • Saw the Northern Lights for the first time while visiting Manitoba last summer
  • ….. and the best “first” of 2016… Andrew and I found out we’re expecting a baby in 2017!

What I thought was the best year yet in 2016 is certainly going to be topped this year with the incredible gift that Andrew and I have been blessed with.

To be given the the gift of parenthood is going to be by far the greatest thing we’ve ever done come May, 2017 and we couldn’t be more ready (despite doing this ‘thing’ called parenthood for the first time!).

Let the countdown begin for the BEST ‘FIRST’ EVER coming up in 2017! 🙂

2015 Year in Review

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