One of the most interesting habits of my teenager is to ask me, “How was your day?” She does this with all sincerity, she eagerly awaits my response, and truly listens.
Hardly any of my day, I think, is that interesting, but I launch myself full tilt in the goings on of a busy media office. Sometimes, I don’t know until I start sharing whether it was a good day or not.
Always, that someone wants to listen, makes the end of my day extraordinary.
Occasionally, when I leave the house, there’s a little note for me. (See above). The only thing to do at that point is to smile and know that whatever road I drive on, the journey home will be joyous.
At the office, we talk a lot about lessons learned as we endeavor to build a new company from the ground up. There is no mold we can throw the bronze of our efforts into and reap the benefit of a perfect replica of the reality we are trying to shape.
My desk on the first day: mom cup, Engedi Cafe coffee card, blue feather pen, glasses and picture created especially for me by my daughter
The team varies in age and varies in area of expertise. Mostly, up until now, the individuals had functioned independently. The nuances of learning to dovetail our efforts, is a challenge. Nothing is quick. Nothing is quite as planned. Nothing is quite as easy as first imagined.
Each day is fraught with disappointments for at least one member.
The ability to set self aside, the ability to work at communicating, to offer insight into what is second nature to one and completely foreign to another will define our success.
A year is a long time when you’re a kid waiting for Christmas, but when you're an adult, 365 days can evaporate into the mist of a massive to-do list.
Not one day, however, has disappeared in the past 365 without a blog post from local realtor Dale Chumbley on his website, The Clark County Real Estate Guide.
In February 17, 2010, Chumbley strolled down Vancouver’s Renaissance Trail and introduced us to his project: 365 Things to do in Vancouver WA.
Dale Chumbley discloses what comes next.
His post defined his intentions, “Today begins a new little project I’m
going to attempt. I’ll be posting one new thing to do each day for the
next year in Vancouver, WA.” He said a lot of people were waiting for
him to fail, which turned into a personal mission to succeed.
He embarked on the project with the same passion and great enthusiasm we see in all Chumbley adventures. His hope that the project would be, “A great community resource from the perspective of a lifelong resident who loves his hometown,” proved true. The byproduct, that it also serve as a, “great resource for those looking to relocate to Vancouver,” is evidenced by the real estate transactions that came his way due to his new found celebrity and the opportunity to travel and speak about his venture across the United States.
Yesterday, he finished the project: Today Is… Day 365 of 365 Things To Do In Vancouver, WA. Many are trying to figure out how to emulate his success, and just as many are trying to figure out what Dale Chumbley is going to do for an encore.
Last week in my interview with Dale Chumbley, I asked him that question.
Watch the video above to hear the answer, in Dale’s own words.
Carol Doane is the Partnership Manager at USD Media. If you are a blogger in Southwest Washington she is interested in connecting with you and discovering what you are passionate about. Contact: carol at usdmedia dot com.
