5.18 Edition of What I Did Last Week (and what I'm looking forward to)
This week, I got intentional about how I plan to hit my sales goals and in order to do that, I’m committing to reading 38 pages of a book each day.
Right now, I’m reading Brian Moran’s “12 Week Year.” In it, he argues that we get lazy and complacent when we have the entire year to hit a goal. But, boy, do we put the pedal to the metal come December, because the clock is winding down.
What if we planned goals the same way in 12 week increments, is his challenge.
“Focused Skill conditioning” as an Olympic athlete would say. Each week, he/she repeatedly performs a single skill to achieve muscle memory. For example, a tennis player practices only serving or a gymnast only focuses exclusively on beam routines.
I’ll report back on how I’m doing. It’s an entire operating system. Not just an idea layered on top of the way I used to do things.
What I Did Last Week
Friday. I was due to go to the American Art Fair and the Independent Art Far. I made it to none of them. It was pouring down rain in New York and I was exhausted thinking about rejiggering my footwear and outerwear to weather it. Rather than push, I listened to my body and stayed home to rest. I binge watched “Four Seasons” the Tina Fey re-do of the 1981 Alan Alda film. LOVED. And I binged “The Royals” which is Bollywood meets Bridgerton.
Saturday. I’ve committed to a daily yoga practice to recover from surgery and get my body back in shape. Saturday, I went with
to a new yoga studio called “Humming Puppy.” Its dimly lit. Black floor to ceiling curtains frame the entire room. There’s candles. There’s sound bath. It’s a very very beautiful space to practice. Afterwards, we shared oat blueberry scones in Union Square Market.When I got home, I laid down a layer of rubber sealant on my deck. Matt and my weekend project was to lay down fresh deck tiles. Honestly, they are like legos, and snap together end to end. But two layers of the sealant were needed first. Ps. I’ve never done this before, so I got black sealant EVERYWHERE. I mean, between my toes. Subsequently in the bathtub. But you know what I observed about myself? I let go of the perfection. I wasn’t afraid to get messy. And the deck got done.
It looks beautiful. I have three 3 foot trees arriving to round out the project.
Sunday. My friend Kelly and I walked the Dumbo Flea Market, sifting through vintage jewelry. The sun was glorious both days of the weekend and we soaked it up, sitting on a rock by the water.
Tuesday. Julia and I went to Printemps (yes, again), the American outpost of the French department store. We talked about the merits of prayer. Do we believe in it? See I rediscovered prayer in the chapels of Lisbon, as a fallen away Hindu. So I asked her if she believed. We also talked about Caravaggio. She made a meticulous excel sheet to organize to see every piece by the artist in Rome. We exchanged notes since I’m going to see the exhibit in June.
We were lolling by the perfumes, trying on different ones. I got a little obsessed with “6 Hours to Rio” by Frapin before a nice gentleman reminded us that the store was closed. In other words, “Get the f&*( out.”
Thursday. Dinner with
at the Portuguese restaurant Leitao in the West Village. I gifted a cork writing journal I found in Lisbon, with the big philosophers, thinkers and writers of the day etched on the cover. The cod fritters were just as good as I remember them in Portugal. Paired with 1 biodynamic organic wine, which is my order of the day these days.Friday. Marked my first day back weight lifting. Thrilled by this development post surgery.
What I’m looking forward to
Saturday. I’m volunteering early morning. My college, Bucknell is hosting its annual CARES event, where we serve and pack food for over 1,000 people. I had to tell myself a new story about my relationship to my college. The memory of my time there was always fraught with so much sadness, paying for a $20K/year college on my own at 18, unprepared. But, I have a lighter and brighter story now as many of my colleagues at the school have gone on to become valued clients and friends in the last while.
In the evening, my client Chef Nitin is doing some fantastic storytelling at his Supper Club concept. I’m excited to see him self actualize this. I’m also excited for several clients to attend and join me.
See him chat here:
I am 15 days from leaving for Corfu, Greece. I’ll be living and working from this little courtyard that is all mine in an apartment in the Old Town until July. I’ll be hosting my clients for their annual Deep Writing and Reflection Retreat. We will be visiting an old Byzantine castle for inspiration. We will visit an olive oil farm.
I got this caftan from Etsy for the farewell dinner.
I’m skipping over to Rome after the retreat to catch the Caravaggio exhibit. Its only $41 bucks nonstop on Ryanair.
Ryanair’s baggage allowance is basically a bag of marbles, so I got this mini carry on from Cal Pak. I don’t want to visit Rome and look terrible. My hairdryer fits in there.
Paris -September
The Deep Writing and Reflection Retreat Vienna- December
This is Hillary’s take on the Paris Deep Writing and Reflection Retreat last year
