Garland Heart Management Group

Thought for the Day...

rozgarland — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 17:34:00 -0600

The Mayonnaise Jar & the Two Beers…

When things in your life seem almost too much to handle, when 24 hours in a day are not enough, remember the tale about the mayonnaise jar and the two beers.

A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, he wordlessly picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls. He then asked the students if the jar was full.

They agreed it was.

The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly.

The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full.

They agreed it was.

The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar was full…

The students responded with a unanimous “yes.”

The professor then produced two beers from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar effectively filling the empty space between the sand.

The students laughed…

“Now,” said the professor as the laughter subsided, “I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life.

The golf balls are the important things—-your family, your children, your health, your friends and your favorite passions—-and if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full.

“The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house and your car…the sand is everything else - the small stuff,” he explained.

“If you put the sand into the jar first,” he continued, “there’s no room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff you will never have room for the things that are important to you.

“Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Spend time with your children. Spend time with your parents. Visit with grandparents. Take your spouse out to dinner. Play another 18 holes of golf.

“There will always be time to clean the house, fix the disposal or deal with things from your job. Take care of the golf balls first - the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand.”

One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the beer represented.

The professor smiled and said, “I’m glad you asked.

The beer just shows you that no matter how full your life may seem, there’s always room for a couple of beers with a friend.”

LIFE ISN’T ABOUT WAITING FOR THE STORM TO PASS……IT’S LEARNING HOW TO DANCE IN THE RAIN

Goal-Setting Tips

rozgarland — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 16:54:16 -0600

Sometimes the hardest thing to do is to get started… I am guilty of spending time and money collecting all the supplies I need for a project, only to “poop out” when the time comes to start it. Maybe it’s the over-whelming task I have set for myself and don’t have the energy or focus to actually START it. Same applies to the business arena.

A Facebook friend posted a link to this article, and it really makes a lot of sense regarding setting your goals either too high, or too low. Thought I would share it with you here.

Read article…

Meetzi - Shutting down (for now)

bradgarland — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 14:30:32 -0600

We at Meetzi LLC, a property of GarlandHeart Management Group, have decided to cease operation of this little web app for the foreseeable future. That doesn’t mean we won’t ever take it back off the shelf, dust it off, and go again but for now we need to focus on other things. Our other companies, Garland Group & RiskKey, have taken up the majority of our focus and so we have decided instead of letting Meetzi continue to run, we’d close it down and make a clean break.

We appreciate everyones support and enthusiasm about Meetzi. So sadness here, we’ll see everyone soon!

Our Art reflects who we are...

rozgarland — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 11:59:51 -0600

“We forget, sometimes, that adults in an office are not that different than children in a classroom. We’re all people who take justifiable pride in work that reflects who we are. We all want to be seen and acknowledged not just for our output but for who we are.”

Read this post from the Harvard Business Review that explains what one small business went through to engage their employees to use their creativity in the workplace…

ARTISTIC GENIUS AND PERCEPTION: In Washington DC , at a Metro...

rozgarland — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 18:37:51 -0600

ARTISTIC GENIUS AND PERCEPTION:

In Washington DC , at a Metro Station, on a cold January morning in 2007, a man with a violin played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, approximately 2000 people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.

After about four minutes, a middle-aged man noticed that there was a musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds, and then he hurried on to meet his schedule.

About four minutes later, the violinist received his first dollar. A woman threw money in the hat and, without stopping, continued to walk.

At six minutes, a young man leaned against the wall to listen to him, then looked at his watch and started to walk again.

At ten minutes, a three-year old boy stopped, but his mother tugged him along hurriedly. The kid stopped to look at the violinist again, but the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk, turning his head the whole time. This action was repeated by several other children, but every parent - without exception - forced their children to move on quickly.

At forty-five minutes: The musician played continuously. Only six people stopped and listened for a short while. About twenty gave money but continued to walk at their normal pace. The man collected a total of $32.

After one hour:
He finished playing and silence took over. No one noticed and no one applauded. There was no recognition at all.

No one knew this, but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the greatest musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written, with a violin worth $3.5 million dollars. Two days before, Joshua Bell sold-out a theater in Boston where the seats averaged $100 each to sit and listen to him play the same music.

This is a true story. Joshua Bell, playing incognito in the D.C. Metro Station, was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste and people’s priorities.

This experiment raised several questions:

In a common-place environment, at an inappropriate hour, do we perceive beauty?

If so, do we stop to appreciate it?

Do we recognize talent in an unexpected context?

One possible conclusion reached from this experiment could be this:
If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world, playing some of the finest music ever written, with one of the most beautiful instruments ever made…
How many other things are we missing as we rush through life?”

Video

rozgarland — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 09:24:29 -0600

Here’s two photos I found this morning which I want to...

rozgarland — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 08:59:00 -0500

Ain't THAT the truth!

And this kind of sums it up....

Here’s two photos I found this morning which I want to share. The first made me laugh, because it’s Sooooo true. And the second made me think, because it’s true as well.

Enjoy!

In this season of Thankfulness & Gratitude...

rozgarland — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 10:45:51 -0500

There’s lots of reasons to be thankful in our every day lives. Research has shown that if you stop and think (and perhaps, write down) the things in your life that you are thankful for on a regular basis, you will learn to appreciate your life to a much greater extent and generally be happier.

Here’s a few quotes on thankfulness:

“At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person. Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us.”

~Albert Schweitzer (1875 – 1965)
German theologian, musician, philosopher, and physician.

“Go to foreign countries and you will get to know the good things one possesses at home.”

~Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832)
German writer, poet, novelist, playwright, natural philosopher, and diplomat.

“For each new morning with its light,
For rest and shelter of the night,
For health and food, for love and friends,
For everything Thy goodness sends.”

~Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803 - 1882)
Famous American author, essayist, poet, and philosopher.

“Silent gratitude isn’t much use to anyone.”

~Gladys Bronwyn Stern (1890 – 1973)
A writer who wrote many novels, short stories, plays, memoirs, biographies and literary criticism.

“God gave you a gift of 86,400 seconds today. Have you used one to say “thank you?”

“Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.”

~William A. Ward (1921 – 1994)

Author of Fountains of Faith and one of America’s most quoted writers of inspirational maxims.

“Feeling grateful or appreciative of someone or something in your life actually attracts more of the things that you appreciate and value into your life.”

~Christiane Northrup
Dr. Northrup is the author of The Secret Wisdom of Menopause and a leading proponent of medicine and healing.

“Appreciation can make a day, even change a life. Your willingness to put it into words is all that is necessary.”

~Margaret Cousins (1905 - 1996)
Writer and editor of books and magazines.

“Develop an attitude of gratitude, and give thanks for everything that happens to you, knowing that every step forward is a step toward achieving something bigger and better than your current situation.”

~Brian Tracy (1944 - )
A self-help author and the Chairman of Brian Tracy International.

“The hardest arithmetic to master is that which enables us to count our blessings.”

~Eric Hoffer (1902 – 1983)
American social writer and philosopher.

“If you concentrate on finding whatever is good in every situation, you will discover that your life will suddenly be filled with gratitude, a feeling that nurtures the soul.”

~Rabbi Harold Kushner
Prominent American rabbi aligned with the progressive wing of Conservative Judaism.

“He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has.”

~Epictetus (ca. 55–ca. 135)
Was a Greek Stoic philosopher.

“There is a calmness to a life lived in Gratitude, a quiet joy.”

~Ralph H. Blum
American New Age author of several books dealing with runes, including The Book of Runes, The Healing Runes, and The Rune Cards.

“Every time we remember to say “thank you”, we experience nothing less than heaven on earth.”

“You simply will not be the same person two months from now after consciously giving thanks each day for the abundance that exists in your life. And you will have set in motion an ancient spiritual law: the more you have and are grateful for, the more will be given you.”

~Sarah Ban Breathnach
Author of Simple Abundance

“As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.”

~John Fitzgerald Kennedy (1917 – 1963)
Was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

bradgarland: RIP Steve Jobs. You always challenged us to think...

rozgarland — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 09:37:59 -0500

bradgarland:

RIP Steve Jobs. You always challenged us to think differently. Bravo on a life well lived. God Bless.

Are you a LEADER or a FOLLOWER?

rozgarland — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 11:13:00 -0500

In a series of experiments on crowd behaviour, a research team from the Faculty of Biological Sciences at the University of Leeds also found that successful leaders display more decisive behaviour, spending less time following others and acting more quickly than others in the group.

Do you find yourself leading groups, or are you naturally more comfortable following others? New research shows that if you want to be a leader you’re better off at the edges of a crowd, and not in the middle of the action.

Lead researcher Jolyon Faria, who conducted the study as part of his PhD, said: “It was interesting to find that the most effective leaders remained on the edges of the group and attempted to lead from the front. You’d think leaders in the centre of the group should interact more often with others and therefore be more effective but here this wasn’t the case.”

Understanding how individuals behave in groups is important in predicting how the whole group behaves en masse, and has implications for the management of our physical environment.

Faria said: “For instance, a better understanding of human crowd behaviour can help us design buildings more effectively for evacuation scenarios. It can also inform strategies for moving large numbers of people, useful for events where large crowds need to be moved as quickly and efficiently as possible by a relatively small number of event staff.”

The research team, funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), asked groups of eight students to walk around continuously in a specified area and remain as a group without speaking or gesturing to one another.

One person was asked to move towards a target, whilst remaining a member of the group, without letting the others know that he or she was leading them to a target. In a second set of experiments, the students were told to follow “the leader,” but not told who the leader was.

In the second set of experiments, it was found that those leaders who remained on the edge of the group were able to move their group towards a target much more quickly than the leaders that chose to remain in the centre.

“We wanted to find out how people decided who to follow” said Faria. “We found that people were able to identify their leader by what position the leader takes, which goes some way to explain how animals in groups — such as birds and fish — can be led by only a small minority, even when leaders don’t signal their identity.

“Our findings have illustrated a general principle behind group behaviour. These can also be applied to animal groups, something which could help in the management of the natural environment, as well as in the management of the urban environment.”

This research is published in the April issue of Animal Behaviour.

A case for Fine Arts programs in our schools...

rozgarland — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 17:38:46 -0500

What does society expect of its schools? In the 19th Century, society expected the schools to train students to follow the industrial model, so that they could successfully work in a trade. A predominant thought was that all children learned in the same way. In the 21st century, due to technology and rapid means of travel and communication, the world has gotten much smaller. Students will be expected to be aware of other cultures, think creatively, be observant and be problem solvers. All students deserve rich educational experiences that will enable them to become active citizens in a democratic society.

With the advent of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2000, extreme pressure has been put on schools to concentrate the majority of their efforts and resources on reading, math and science skills. Yet, NCLB also states that every child should be well-versed in the arts. Some research has shown that when students study the arts, it leads to higher achievement in other academic areas, especially when the arts are meaningfully integrated throughout different content areas. Studies in Chicago indicated that test scores of students who studied the arts went up two times faster than those in comparable schools. Another study indicated that those who studied fine arts in Minneapolis schools made substantive test gains, this was especially true for youths who were considered to be disadvantaged. Students in the Humanitas Program in Los Angeles high schools wrote higher quality essays that tied into history and made more interdisciplinary references than their counterparts at other high schools. The College Board reported that in 2004, those who had taken fine arts courses did better on the SATs than those who did not. Those who had studied music scored 40 points higher on the math portion and those who had studied acting outscored their peers by 66 points on the verbal.

A well-rounded education in the fine arts helps students develop:

• imagination

• observation skills

• critical thinking skills

• deeper and more complex thinking skills

• spatial reasoning and temporal skills

• critical analysis

• abstract thought

• pattern recognition

• symbolic thinking and recognition

• qualitative judgment

• different multiple intelligences

• different learning styles

• enthusiasm for diverse courses

• connections to several content areas

• language, especially students who are ELL (English Language Learners)

• awareness and appreciation of their own and other’s cultures

• being a member of a team

• presentation and performance skills

• reasoning skills

• positive self-esteem

• pride in work

• self-expression

• self-knowledge

• perseverance

It’s difficult to imagine that reaping all of these emotional, physical, and intellectual benefits is ignored and seems to be easily put aside due to budget restraints in many schools. Dropping Fine Arts programs is contributing to the “dumbing down of America” and limiting our students to fewer cultural events and experiences.

What’s it like in your school system? How many Fine Arts programs are still viable and truly valued? The Garland Heart Management Group places the arts in high esteem, and consider them an important part of life and who we are, and for children…who they will be.

Opinions?

Technology doesn't always trump common sense...

rozgarland — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 09:47:59 -0500

I read this article this morning, and wondered if it could happen to me? People so adamantly relying on technology, that they forego common sense and put their lives in danger. In fact, they basically put their lives in the hands of technology without knowing whether it was right or wrong.

We’ve all done that…we have flown in large aircraft, sometimes in weather where they can only fly on instruments, we wait at traffic lights and assume they are not leading us into a crash, we depend on the computers in our vehicles to operate correctly and keep us safe, and on and on…it’s an everyday thing. I have been as guilty (and probably more so) as the next person in this reliance on technology.

But, at the end of the day, we have to use our common sense to make decisions because just like humans are flawed, computers can also be flawed and crash at inopportune times. Technology CAN and DOES makes mistakes.

Trivial case in point… I have been “checking in” at locations with Gowalla and/or Four Square for a while now. But I have to remember that when I try to do that from our church 4 miles away, it gets confused. Something about the cell signal gets mixed up and it always shows me posted at the wrong end of the valley….not anywhere NEAR the church. If I posted from there, it would be marking the wrong location for where I was posting from. Started me thinking, if I were lost in the nearby National forest, would I be able to navigate myself out of there using this technology? Probably not.

Anyway, since one of the Garland Heart initiatives is TECHNOLOGY, I just thought I would mention that technology should never trump common sense. It’s the combination of the two that usually keep us going. Based on the information you are given or not given, you have to decide for yourself whether to put your life in the hands of a GPS signal, or a possibly flawed technology.

It’s really up to you. Here’s the article… what do YOU think about it?

Saying "No" May Be The Best Thing

rozgarland — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 10:30:00 -0500

Learning to say “NO”, especially to clients can be difficult. But sometimes it’s the best thing for you, and the best thing for your business. This is an interesting article about why you need to consider actually turning down business because of the turmoil it may create in your work-flow and operations. The power of the negative to be a positive thing can be amazing! Check out this article.

The Top 30 Coolest Young Entrepreneurs

rozgarland — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 09:43:41 -0500

The following article is from Inc. Magazine, and lists the coolest young entrepreneurs out there today. It makes you realize that you don’t have to have unlimited money to start a business and become successful. A good idea and a plan in place counts more than anything. Think you have what it takes to do the same? Check out these businesses…..

http://www.inc.com/ss/meet-30-under-30-coolest-entrepreneurs

Entrepreneurship -- Do you get it?

rozgarland — Thu, 19 May 2011 10:37:06 -0500

Becoming an true entrepreneur requires changing your “mindset” about jobs. And the definition of an entrepreneur is different depending on your thought process, and your approach. So what IS an entrepreneur? I did a little research out there, and found that there are as many opinions and definitions as there are jobs in this world. So here’s a good article that addresses this in a basic way….Do you agree?

Click HERE to read further…

Roz Garland

Mothers and Technology

rozgarland — Wed, 04 May 2011 17:11:00 -0500

One of the Garland Heart initiatives is, of course, TECHNOLOGY. And because I have been a mother for 31 years now, and firmly entrenched in keeping up with the latest and greatest technology, I feel qualified in speaking to this issue. This issue being, MOTHER’S DAY is this weekend!

Moms of this generation aren’t quite as “out of it” as the moms of MY generation were. All kinds of technology exists today that makes life much easier, and keeps you in the loop better. In fact, I don’t think I know anyone these days who doesn’t at least check email, takes digital photos, or sends text messages on a smart phone. So, it seems to me that a nice Mother’s Day card attached to some new technology would be a great present!!!

Here’s a few links about how technology improves mothering skills, and also some suggestions as to what to get the GEEK MOM. Here’s hoping you have a nice Mother’s Day!!!

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/29589507/ns/today-parenting/

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ac/20110504/tc_ac/8355179_five_great_tech_gifts_for_mothers_day2011

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ac/20110504/tc_ac/8350897_tech_gift_ideas_for_mothers_day_1

HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY!!!

Thoughts on Education (The "E" in HEART)

rozgarland — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 14:02:00 -0500

There are quite a few teachers among our family and friends, and even those that don’t have teaching certificates are educators in the finest sense of the word — they share information with others. While thinking about education, where the passion lies in it, and why people do it, I realized that MANY people have spoken about this topic in far better terms than I can express. In fact, it is usually a question on college applications to the School of Education, and I am sure that many aspiring university students have “waxed eloquently” far better than I could.

One of our Garland Heart initiatives is “E” for Education….so, here are a number of quotes I came across today about teaching… Enjoy!

Happy Easter from Garland Heart Management Group! It’s...

bradgarland — Sun, 24 Apr 2011 10:00:06 -0500

Happy Easter from Garland Heart Management Group! It’s the ‘R’ in Heart that commits to spreading this message to those that follow us (and Him).

I love this video. Not only is this a great little app but I...

bradgarland — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 16:01:13 -0500

I love this video. Not only is this a great little app but I really love the idea of Ms. Ella being the creator of the app. That’s something I want to pass on to my daughters for Garland Heart. Bravo Overcommitted!

Clip: The Story Behind State Plate (by OvercommittedApps)

Numbers sound beautiful! What Pi sounds like.

bradgarland — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 10:45:19 -0500

Numbers sound beautiful!

What Pi sounds like.