Death Valley + MBA Studies: The Struggle is Real

At the encouragement of not one but two new acquaintances met while “vacationing” (ha ha, we’ll get to why that’s funny in a moment) in Death Valley, California, I am taking a break from my mba studies and writing this post.

Pretty Views in Death Valley & My MBA Studies Finish Line – Where is the Balance?

They thought it fascinating that I, a chaperone on my 8th graders class trip to Death Valley, am in fact a dedicated enough student that I will post up on the porch of the Furnace Creek General Store with my laptop (and Samsung Galaxy Note plugged into it for maximum device charging on the one DC plug that’s available for my usage) and study late hours into the night to meet the requirements of my classes.

I’m sitting cross legged with my laptop perched on the side of my foot on a stone cold floor next to the wall reading and typing and thinking and trying to hold on.

You don’t even want to hear about the 10 hour drive down to Death Valley and my moment of desperation charging my laptop in the ladies room of the Flyers gas station off CA-99 S. We stopped there so I could upload a PDF version of my text book to my phone so I could get some reading done on the trip down.

I’m at Negotiating with Myself

Honestly, I don’t know if its fascinating or outright crazy, but with 2 months to go there are two things I promised myself:

To not question my sanity until after I graduate
To drink as much coffee as much as my little heart desires, day or night.

The truth is, my professor’s likely don’t care all that much if I’m sitting on the moon. They warned us during orientation to “kiss our lives good-bye” for the next 2 years of mba studies. And my colleagues (all 32 of the others in my cohort) likely are going through their own flavor of the struggle to hold on — “through thick and thin” and finish out UH’s dlE-MBA program strong (OK maybe not strong) themselves.

Sometimes to Find Balance, We Must Juggle

So the point here isn’t to argue that I deserve any special treatment, favors, pity or sympathy. Merely, to record this experience of being at the base of a large challenge and seeking to overcome it through the power of perseverance. Must not stop, must not give up, must be OK with the seemingly endless juggling of my life.

Juggling others expectations, opinions, desires and frustrations with me. I have never felt more limited, never felt I had to let so many down to simply not let myself down. Maybe “juggling” is the wrong word. Maybe “mba studies fire dancing” would be a more accurate term.

On a positive note, it’s a 10-year “super bloom” of wildflowers in Death Valley, and the scenery is fantastic. Read about the super bloom here. And my son is pretty happy I’m here to go rock climbing the canyons with him.

Thanks for reading and if this didn’t scare you out of attending graduate business school, maybe you’re ready for the experience. Or maybe you’re just crazy.

‘Til next time ~ A hui ho

Help! I’m Caught in a Bad Yoga Class & I Can’t Get Out!

Apparently, Bad Yoga Class Can Happen

How About You…Ever Been Caught in Bad Yoga Class?

You know the feeling if you’ve ever attended any event where you have an irresistible urge to bolt out the door. You’re not in danger, per se. It is just you simply do not gel with the people, place or atmosphere.

All you want to do is leave but for one reason or another, you don’t, hoping it will get better… or maybe you would feel too guilty if you just got up and walked out. While tempting, doing so would not be demonstrating social diplomacy, which is important when you live in community.

bad yoga class
So you force yourself to stay, trying not to look bored, annoyed or miserable. Once it is over, you get the heck out fast as you can, promising yourself you will do everything in your power to not have to sit through another class, seminar, or conference that just is not up your alley.

That was me two days ago. It all began with me getting back on track with my yoga routine. I discovered a new yoga studio in town, and just one day earlier, had enjoyed a fantastic Hot Vinyasa I yoga class. It was so awesome, I returned to the studio to try out another (different) yoga class the very next day.

“Happy 🙂 Anticipation” Leads to…

I love yoga. If I had a religion, yoga would be it. It is as my antidote to a the stresses that can build up in life. For every new town I visit, “yoga studios near me” is the first thing I look up on my Google Maps app after the place I’m sleeping that night.

I am not afraid to try out a new class or style of yoga. Geographically, classes attended include Florida, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Texas, California, Alaska & Hawaii. Styles I’ve practiced include Hatha, Ashtanga, Bikram, Restorative, Yin, Acro-yoga, Iyengar and what I like to call “hodge podge”, where the teacher mixes it up and does their own thing.

Blessed to have been taught at a young age by my god-mother, my appreciation for the experience, Art & Science of Yoga is profound. For years I have been blessed to never be in a yoga class I didn’t like.

All day at work I looked forward to yoga class. I just knew it was going to be great… I even sang a little happy song to myself as I left work and drove to the studio, never anticipating I was going to experience a bad yoga class instead.

Sad Disappointment ;'(

I know, that subhead looks melodramatic. I apologize. However, those were my feelings as I quickly gathered my yoga mat, water bottle and towel and walked out, head down, at the end of what could (should?) have been an awesome class. Needless to say, ‘should’ had become the operative word. PHOOEY!

“REALLY…What was that? And how do I prevent myself from taking another unsatisfactory yoga class again?” I asked myself as I swiftly met the exit. During class as I half-attempted to “go through the motions”, I made best use of class time by taking mental notes about all the factors I felt were determining my level of satisfaction.

By this point you might be thinking one of two things:

a.) Yes, so what are the factors, please do tell! And provide in list format if can.
b.) Geez lady, what kind of OCD / high maintenance/ diva / picky / perfectionist / fill in blank person are you anyway? (Note:We won’t go there right now)

Well, if you’re an “A” type, keep reading, list is just below. If you’re “b” type… well, you’re probably already gone anyway.

So, without further ado, I present to you my list of factors to consider (hint:ask!) before taking a new/unknown yoga class… if you are not in an adventurous mood.

How to Avoid Getting Stuck in a Bad Yoga Class Ever Again

List of Yoga Class Factors that Significantly Influence Ambiance

Music or no music. If there is music, what is the genre?
Essential oil diffuser / scents or no scent
Coed or Gender Specific
Hot yoga or Room temperature
What branch of yoga practiced in class
Talking / instruction or follow silently
Qualifications / credentials of yoga instructor
How many years teaching
Loud noises, e.g. sighs, groans and moans, encouraged?
Handling of sick, coughing or otherwise noisy participants
Mindful of body alignment in positions (e.g. asanas)
“Hodge podge” sequence or true to a specific school of yoga?
Room air – aired out occasionally, or locked in (what if someone rips one)?
Class demographic…

And if you’re paying attention, the last item might raise your eyebrows. I don’t have time to go into it now, so perhaps I will expand upon that further in a future post.

Did I miss anything? If I did, please share in a comment below so we can all benefit!

Mahalo nui,

Cheers,
Yours Truly

Worst part about grad school

The worst part about grad school is the stress my personal relationships undergo as I attempt to give my best to my #MBA program.

People who have not gone to grad school, or attempted to go to graduate school simply have no idea what you mean when you express living on the edge of sanity…wait, let me correct that, people that have not attempted grad school while working full time at a J.O.B., raising children, keeping the house somewhat tidy, and feeding/caring for oneself, day after day after day, weekends included — they just cannot imagine. And what they cannot imagine, is hard for them to relate to… and when they can’t relate, unfortunately, the compassion/understanding meter declines precipitously.

They just do not have any frame of reference to compare it to… they think their lives are hard with just a full-time job and family. It is a GRIND. For one to two years of your life (22 months if you are in the #Shidler College of Business distance learning EMBA at #UHManoa). Your peeps may do their best to be understanding and supportive (or not), but they simply do not understand the emotional, physical and mental challenges you are facing just to stay in the program and keep up with your classes, so they tend to not give you the amount of compassion or understanding you may feel you deserve.

I am a fairly positive person, but the sheer amount of willpower it has taken to repeatedly say “No” to spending time with friends, going on outings, traveling, or simply kicking back and catching up on the latest episode of my new favorite show #Vikings — for me to score well in my classes, it can wear on even the most resilient person.

I just realized there is one huge upside to this… I have HAD to get much better at saying “No.” Not only to invitations, but also to people who want to bring drama into my life, situations that are high-maintenance or have any element of drama… wait, I just realized, that is a FANTASTIC upside.

Lesson Learned: Clear out #toxicpeople and situations from my life, quickly and decisively. It’s all about me right now, and that’s OK!

I hope you enjoyed this post about my experience #survivinggradschool, if you can relate, please like and share 🙂

Looking at Gaining Advantage from Proprietary Data

What is “free” vs. “expensive” data collected by corporations? In this Wall Street Journal article we remove our illusions of personal privacy. What privacy? No such thing any more… advocate for MIT Media Lab’s Alex “Sandy” Pentland’s New Deal on Data (but that’s a different article).

In this article, the authors, Thomas H. Davenport and Thomas Redman, discuss the difference between “free data” and “expensive data”, also known as Proprietary Data (PD).

PD is owned and controlled by the organization and used for their own purposes. Although collection & management of PD is expensive, as in the development of useful and working algorithms, it can give companies that know how to use it a competitive advantage from ad targeting to more efficient supply chain management.

So much room for innovation, disruptors and new leaders as many corporations lag with only 1% actively harnessing. The ones that do lean heavily on “infrastructure” data which has quickly become available to all and thus loses its competitive advantage. Proprietary data, on the other hand, once put into unique processes and procedures, avails itself to be used in creative ways which benefit the company. Can also be protected for longer (e.g. patents).

Example organizations include Google Inc (structure of internet), Uber (where people want to pay for rides to), and the American Banker’s Association CUSIP (means of identifying securities in order to process trades efficiently).

http://blogs.wsj.com/cio/2015/03/11/getting-advantage-from-proprietary-data/