Author: Chanel Rose

Wow! It has been while since I have wrote on here. I am hoping that will change. My hope for my life is to do more. I want to write more and express more and create more and … BE MORE. I have a great idea for a YouTube series that I hope to get started with. How to live your best life. Wish me luck!

I can’t do a push up. See my confession here.

My YouTube binges vary from week to week causing an endless cycle. Lately, I have been watching many vegan, minimalist, and organizing videos. As you know, I am constantly trying to change my life style so that I am a healthier person. It is not that hard, eat less (more vegetables, less processed foods), move more, continue to breath.

Did you know that when you lose body fat something around 80% of it is converted to carbon dioxide? The rest is converted to water — sweat, tears, and urine.

Some time ago, my vegetable consumption decreased causing me to gain all the weight that I lost… and then some. Today, my grocery shopping consisted of plant materials — fruits and vegetables. I also bought goat cheese and feta (isn’t feta a goat cheese too?) and a pair of workout pants.

My brunch consisted of a banana blackberry almond milkshake, with a spring mix salad with cherry tomatoes, goat cheese (not the feta) topped with zesty Italian dressing. Dinner will be fried cabbage and brats.

In order to in courage me to do the things I need to do — eat vegetables and exercise — I have started a sticker calendar. Every time I do something that I am supposed to do, I get a sticker. Reward system! Plus, it is a visual to help keep me motivated. Results aren’t instant, but stickers show that I am making progress!

Do what you need to do to stay motivated. You can do this!

Wow. The year is almost over. I have done so much this year and nothing at all. I have started to learn Spanish, drawing, and painting. My weight loss plan has well … been set a side. I need to do a better job of have self accountability. My self accountability note book has helped some, but not enough. OH! I have a weekly planner now. It is super cute. I got it for $1. I think that with my accountability notebook will help. I have been writing more in my personal diary. Not daily, but semi-frequently. Sometimes I draw in it. I like drawing.

Things I need to do almost daily – or at least much more frequently:

• Learn more Spanish words
• Drawing
• Writing
• Exercising

Check out my Facebook Page – Chanel R Lyon – to read more of my random thoughts of the day.

Time is an illusion. All the research says as much. Yet, we only have so much of it. We are born. We live. We die. Some of us will be remembered for centuries to come. Some of us are forgotten all too quickly. If time is an illusion but we have a finite amount of it, how do we make the most of it? It’s all in how you treat it.

“I don’t have time to exercise.” “I don’t have time to read.” “I don’t have time to meet with you.” I don’t have time. Your first step should be to remove this phrase from your vocabulary. Yes, you do have time. You choose to use it for some other purpose. Instead, own your choices. “I don’t exercise.” “I don’t read.” “I don’t want to / I will not meet with you.” No. This first step forces you to own your no’s, and this is perfectly acceptable. It’s your life. Live it the way you want to live it.

How do you want to live your life? Does it remotely resemble how you are currently living it? Get out a pen and paper, or a dry erase board and marker, or open a note app on your phone. Now, go through your day in your mind. What time do you wake up? What do you do first thing in the morning? What’s next? What’s after that? Don’t forget to include a time frame. Continue to think about your day up until you go to bed. Is that how you want to live your life?

Live your life the way you want to live it. Do you want to exercise? Then do it. Do you want to read more? Then do it. Do you want to become a great painter? Then do it. Now that you have faced your reality, you can now mold it to your desires. Keeping in mind there are items in your life you have little to no control over when they happen or if they happen, create your ideal day. If you have to be at work in the morning on set days, and you also prefer to workout in the mornings, that means you wake up earlier in the morning to get it done. After creating your ideal day, live it. Your ideal day will change from time to time, but now you can better embrace your new desires.

I am a morning person, no matter when it is I actually get up. Today, I got out of bed at 7 am (It’s a Sunday). Granted, my little Rosalina needed to be taken out for her morning restroom business and needed breakfast. During my Jr and Sr years in college, I woke up most days around 5:30 am and planned my day in 15 minute blocks. Now as an official adult, I am working on reincorporating that back in my life.

My alarm is set for 6 am everyday of the week. Some days, like today, I hit snooze … a lot. In the spirit of transparency, I sat that alarm to occur as such just over a week ago. Starting tomorrow, my alarm will be going off at 5:30 am M-F. Why? Because sometimes I am scheduled to work starting at 7:30 am and I want more time to myself in the morning to do the things I want to do. My husband is a different story. He prefers the nights so he doesn’t go to bed until 12:00 or 1:00 in the morning.

I am still in the process of shaping my mornings. Things I enjoy doing include reading articles about current events – political, economics, tech, pretty much anything other than entertainment – enjoying my coffee at a slow pace, watching the sunrise, exercising, and watching my morning talk shows. Today I watched an inspirational video on Forbes that gave me the desire to write this. It’s 8:30 and I feel like I have conquered the day already.

You do have time. Now live your life.

–Chanel

My thoughts this fine Saturday morning. Beware, this post will have little to no flow to it and is a collection of random thoughts I want to share. ENJOY!

Thought One: I am learning Spanish now using Duolingo (free plug). I haven’t been using it everyday like I should, but regardless I am learning many words. My Spanish speaking friends are impressed with progress. I have 1507 XP in Spanish on the app. Eventually, I would like to take a formal class, become fluent, have employers pay me more for being bilingual.

Thought Two: I have taken up oil painting. Beware, I will be sharing photos of my art work. My studies right now are feathers or inspired by feathers. Why feathers? I don’t know. Maybe I thought they were easy? Whelp, they are certainly less difficult than say people, but …

Thought Three: I am having difficulty with my diet and exercise routine. My carbohydrate intake is much to high. My activity time is much too low. Yesterday, I managed to convince myself to do a few arm curls using the 5 lb weight and a few crunches. Though I was maintaining my weight loss for a few months, in the last month I have gain about 3 lbs back. It is not like I lost a ton of weight so this 3 lbs upsets me, but not enough to kick my butt into gear. **Humph** Let’s see if I can increase my efforts soon.

Thought Four: My entire life has been a struggle with self-accountability. Frequently, I have great ideas. Wonderful, large, grandiose ideas. Frequently, those ideas are never or hardly acted upon. To change this, I have started a self-accountability notebook.

My self-accountability notebook is simply a to-do list. Each page is a week’s to-do list. Walk an average of 1.25 miles a day. Complete chapter 16 of tax training. Pay the bills. Paint. Study Spanish. If I complete the task, it gets marked off with a purple market — my favorite color. When the week ends, any uncompleted items are marked off with a red marker and added to the next week.

Last week I was supposed to be finish with my basic tax training of my spring time job. I am a little more than half way complete this morning. I am hoping to complete it today, but I have several chapters still to go.

Thought Five: For the week starting October 15th, one of my goals is to be up everyday by 7 am. E.V.E.R.Y. D.A.Y. This week I have been doing pretty good about getting a head start on that. It helps that I need to take my dog out about 6 am and can get coffee after. Also, helps when I need to be at work by 7:30 am a couple days of the week. However, there were a few days that I could have slept in and did not. I am so proud of myself.

Thought Six: My coffee is gone. Should I get more coffee? I will have to think about it.

Thought Seven: Perhaps I should make diary like entries more often. I make them occasionally when I have thoughts I want to share, haven’t shared in quite a while, and don’t want to put forth the effort to make a more formal post about said thoughts. Everyday is much too frequent. Perhaps weekly? Hmmm… More things to think about.

HAVE A GREAT SATURDAY!

Good day good people!

Oh, wow. It has been a while since I last wrote. Some big things in my life I would like to share: we got a dog (she is so cute!), and I have decided to learn Spanish and how to oil paint.

Yes, I do want to learn EVERYTHING. — E.V.E.R.Y.T.H.I.N.G.

I will always be trying to learn something new. Somethings, I stick with longer than others. In my short life, I have attempted to learn various languages and various arts. This is not my first attempt at either Spanish or painting, so I am not necessarily starting from scratch.

You can expect to see photos of my dog and my paintings.

Have a great day and never stop learning!

Below are my answers to some typical and common interview questions. Some may be blank, but those will be answered at some point in time. Now that we have the boring questions answered, let’s talk.

1. Can you tell me a little about yourself?

I am an observer. While I am new to an environment, I prefer to observe the locals to learn how they greet one another and to establish expectations, etc. I am also an academic. Learning new skills and theories is a passion of mine. I am also working on becoming a philosopher. Much of my past time is spent in inner thought. Thinking about how things are. Thinking about how things could be. Deciding what I want to incorporate into my being.

Because I am an observer, this may make me come off as intimidated. Depending on how much information I am being bombarded with, this may be so if just a little. I assure you though, I am making diplomatic, professional, and social calculations. What and how things should be said and to whom.

2. Why should we hire you?

You should hire me because of who I am. I am an observer, academic, and philosopher. You need someone who takes in the world around them, learns from it, applies the good and improves the not so good. I applied for the job because I believe I am qualified and it will enrich my life. I have made it this far into the hiring process because someone felt that I might be qualified. So is the same with all the other candidates.

You should hire me because you can stand to be around me for large quantities of time. After all, if hired, we will have to spend a large chunk of our days together several times a week for years to come.

You should also hire me because you value my thought process which has been derived by who I am. I take in new information. Compare it to the old. Mold it and knead it in my mind.

3. What are your greatest professional strengths?

My greatest professionals strengths include the desire to be challenged, thoughtful communication, and my determination. I will not thrive in a position that can be mastered in a only a day or two, nor in one where that is the expectation. I need to have reasonable challenge in my career. Give me tasks where thought must be applied, where it is not just plug-and-play.

If thought is needed, I can provide it. Reports on thoughts, ideas, and findings–such talents I provide. Mingling and small talk intimidate me, but reports and presentations is where I thrive. That thoughtfulness is best used to create reports or presentations to interpret data and add philosophical or moral insight.  

I am determined. Determined to be successful. To be successful at the day to day tasks. Successful in learning and refining new skills. Successful at life. That determination is used to bring success to those around me as well. For my success is not necessarily someone else’s failure, and in some cases, someone else’s failure is my own. This determination creates the need and desire to play my role well.

4. What do you consider to be your weaknesses?

Oh, where to begin. As human being I am greatly flawed. One of my weaknesses is that I have not fully accepted that. It makes me angry when I don’t live up to my own and others expectations. For instance, in grade school I went to a mathematics event that the local university was putting on. We were at a black board and the first person to write the correct answer won a point. I recall that there was a question I was too slow on due to a brain fart. That resulted in a double stomp. I no longer express my frustration in such ways, but the frustrations and disappointment are still there.

I know I am not perfect. It is something I am still dealing with, but also sometimes I wonder if my success thus far is also a fluke. Concerning academics, I am confident in my abilities. My instructors made certain there was at least one aspect of the courses that could be applied outside of class. Still, I am still learning my capabilities in the workplace, learning how to communicate those capabilities and so on.

5. What is your greatest professional achievement?

As a business student at St. Gregory’s University, I had to write a management analysis as part of my capstone. Leading up to that, I wrote an analysis focusing on other aspects of business for other course. Studying one company over a two or three year time period leading up to the capstone. The company I was studying was purchased just before the start of my capstone, and became ineligible for study because it was no longer traded on the open market.

This gave me but a few months to do two years of research. I was one of three out of 17 students who passed the written portion on the first round. This showed me that not only could I handle deadlines, but I could also handle intense pressure and unforeseen unfair obstacles.

6. Tell me about a challenge or conflict you’ve faced at work, and how you dealt with it.

While with a previous employer, I felt like I was not given the support I needed to do my job effectively. In many cases there was contradicting information regarding what clients should be billed. There was not a good form of communications regarding the addition of new clients or the changing of billing parameters. This lead to errors in billing for which I was responsible. This lead to excessive anxiety. Ultimately, I quit.

That was the best decision for me and my health at the time. Upon reflection, I have learned a lot about how that went oh so wrong. Lack of communication. I never developed the relationship I needed with my manager, as a result I didn’t bring forth my concerns, difficulties, etc with her. Though I felt she was unreachable for such conversations, it is on me for not bring it up with her. This is a great regret for me. She would have been an amazing mentor.

7. Where do you see yourself in five years?

In five years, I want to have my masters in economics. Game theory is something I want to study, along with several other fields of study under economics. My employment situation over the next three years will greatly influence other aspects of my study. Ultimately though, this degree is solely for me, myself, and I. This is to better me and me alone, though I will gladly apply my new found knowledge toward bettering your business as well.

8. What’s your dream job?

My dream job is one where my point of view is greatly desired and seeked. Over the next lifetime, I will be developing my analytical skills and philosophies and such. I want to help create a better world for us all. That can only be accomplished in feasible and sustainable ways. My dream job is one where I can work toward this.

9. What are you looking for in a new position?

I am looking for a new position that will allow me to not only use my financial education, but also grow it. My background may not 100% meet all of your qualifications, but I am willing to learn if you give me the chance. I am looking for a position that will allow me to grow as an individual and a professional.

10. What type of work environment do you prefer?

My ideal work environment is one where I have personal space but can easily interact with team mates. Quiet but not silent. Relaxed. Organized and structured. It would also be nice if I could work off site a few times a month whether it be for personal or professional reasons.

Though a week long vacation two or three times a years sounds great, I would prefer to be able to work off site occasionally. Sometimes you just need a change of scenery for a short while. Work for a few hours in the morning checking in for updates. Go horseback riding on the beach. Work for a few hours early afternoon. Do some local entertainment thing. Work a few hours in the evening. Do some stargazing. Or, just travel out of state to visit family on a Wednesday evening. Work the normal 9 to 5 at the breakfast table and enjoy visiting with family in the evening. Get back home Sunday night and back in the office Monday morning.

11. What’s your management style?

12. What’s a time you exercised leadership?
13. What’s a time you disagreed with a decision what was made work?
14. How would your boss and co-workers describe you?
15. Why was there a gap in your employment?
16. Can you explain why you changed career paths?
17. How do you deal with pressure or stressful situations?
18. What would your first 30, 60, or 90 days look like in this role?
19. What are your salary requirements?

20. What do you like to do outside of work?