Christina Waschko VS Sheryl Sandberg

These days it is pretty hard for me to stay focused on the task at hand - to keep you updated on our new life here in B.C! There is so much going on in media land which diverts my attention. It started off with 70 year old granddads  (Rolling Stones)  who are out to fill stadiums,- now there is a lady who gets serious press coverage for her book "Lean In".

Who is she? Sheryl Sandberg, chief operating officer at Facebook.

Her message: For "women to lean in to the opportunities and challenges of becoming a boss"  (Times, March 18, 2013, page 36). In other words,: Ueber ambitious ladies, don't get side tracked by family commitments or other nonsense, focus on reaching the top of a corporation!

Her connections: She is most likely the best connected woman in the whole world and probably the most powerful woman in America (Times, March 18).

Her education: Two (!) Harvard degrees

Married: To a very wealthy man.

Her target audience: The selected few, women who are on a serious power trip already or who are planning of doing so.

Her industry: Something we didn't have 20 years ago!

On dreams: I have no idea if she ever had any!

Why it sucks: She is preaching to the converted. A woman who really wants, does!

Who am I?

Christina Waschko: CEO of household operastions in the Waschko family.



My message: To ignite the spark in every woman's heart! "Stop making excuses and pursue your dream- let it be personal or business related!"

My connections: 138 Facebook friends, 124 LinkedIn connections plus my parents; They can't be found on any IT hook-up , but I hope they still count- or not?

My education: University of Life and a degree in Common Sense.  The only way I will ever see an Ivy League School, or Harvard for this matter, is while sitting on top of the double-decker tour bus.

Married: To a very - nice - man.

My industry: Something we had forever, a good ol'fashioned, personal contact business: Running a coffee lounge!

On dreams: I have plenty!  So far, many of them came true!

On why the book bothers me: It is written for a few - but will be read by the masses.

Whereas my book is written for the masses and have been read by few - so far!

My thoughts on female High Flyers: I will bet, most women don't really care about the whole corporate, power game. Given a choice, most of us would rather live the happy, fun life with a loving husband, kids  and working a job of our choice (which makes us enough money) than running a billion Dollar company. Please correct me if you feel I am stuck in Yesterdayworld.

The few who prefer careers over happy family life don't need a whole book devoted to their course. They will suppress the urges of their biological clock to do what it takes to get them to the top of anything (oops, don't read anything into that one).

If they can't suppress their desire to become a mother, they will manage to squeeze in a baby or two in between negotiating and signing contracts. All that in turn relates to a few more neglected, spoilt, emotionally unstable children who see more of their nanny than their mother. Each to their own!

Appeal: The world needs to read about "VERRY BERRY EXTRA-ORDINARY", written by an ordinary woman who made one of her dreams come true.

And less about jobs in higher places, written by an extra-ordinary woman who doesn't need to dream!

Life as a -still - unknown author can be challenging at times, especially in the beginning phase. I know I can't beat her, therefore I will join her! With this, I will lean in and get connected to people who I really should connect with: Sheryl, I will call you later...

X-MAS JIGGLES of a Different KIND

There are three things I have to accomplish on a daily basis: To make sure my family is well fed, to exercise and to strategically plan my moves on how to convince the book reading population to purchase my book when it is published (January 2013!, See: "There is a Sucker born every Second").

I enjoy the wonderful feeling of freedom to do whatever I want to do, whenever it suits me. I discovered, To have no schedule is the best schedule to be on!

When I am in need of loud music and human contact I will join a class at our local Leisure Center. For the price of a fancy Starbucks coffee I get a 60 minute workout and can swim at the adjacent pool. I believe this is called 'prioritizing'.

Today was the day I decided to spice up the daily exercise routine (trail runs, power walks and yoga). Leisure Center, here I come!



Usually I end up participating in the class with the ill-mannered instructor, wearing her ill-fitting sports bra! Here is a word of warning: Jiggling "twosomes 'in front of your eyes can be distractive to your workout! It takes all my will power to focus on my foot work and not on the wiggling, jiggling body parts in front of me! And this is said by a woman, imagine what the instructor does to her male participants!  But truth to be told: I haven't seen any men falling of their step yet...

It was my lucky morning:  I had a new lady in front of me; far less distracting than the other one (only a few tattoos, nothing too fancy) and a new  piece of equipment to concentrate on: The BOSU ball.



Her routine was easy enough; to keep the balance was a different matter altogether. Stepping on and off the ball reminded me of a bouncy castle, only on a smaller scale.

I loved it!  A few other ladies were new to this equipment as well. Together we embraced the challenge and opportunity to experience and learn something new. It was wobbly at times, so what? We weren't perfect, but we had fun and we had a good laugh at our own expense.



From the aerobics room I ventured into the pool area. Before I got into the water I watched a few wheelchair bound teenagers. Their caretakers carefully helped them to get into the specially designed pool.  Another teen was put into a lift to help him get into and enjoy the water. Every member of the group displayed either a mental or a physical disability..

Our Municipality here in B.C. prides itself for the wonderful equipment they offer for our handicapped (better:"challenged") citizens, All public areas, facilities or buildings are designed to grant easy access for all. The buzz word is INTEGRATION!

I started to swim, my body capable, healthy and strong -  and it hit me like a hammer on the head how ridiculous my thought process really is! I am getting worked up about the jiggling instructor and loosing track of my footing, whereas right next to me are teenagers sitting in a wheelchair because they can't walk!

Sometimes I really need a slap in the face to realiize how fortunate we are to posess and control a healthy body and mind! Being born free of disability and illness should be the norm, but unfortunately it isn't.

Being "normal and healthy"isn't extra-ordinary! Do you know what makes 'healthy and normal 'extra-ordinary?  APPRECIATION!

To appreciate our wonderful, capable body regardless of its shape, size or age. And our ability to fully learn and experience something new - even if it's the small task of stepping up and down a BOSU ball.

GUTS & GLORY

Play hard, Write even harder! It is done! I just pushed the “enter” button. Which means, Mission accomplished!

My seven months long writing journey has come to an end! At one point I thought it will never end - But it did!

Writing this book has been the most intense, time consuming, detailed thing I have accomplished up to this point in my life! Giving birth to three children? To me that was easy-peasy in comparison. From now on there is no turning back! Very soon readers around the world will be able to read about “A VERY BERRY EXTRA-ORDINARY TALE of ENTREPRENEURIALSHIP” (still tentative title) and I will have to face the music i.e. reviews!

I crammed my writing in during very early mornings, and ridiculously long nights!  Nothing else mattered, but to fill the pages in front of me!  It was actually quite rejuvenating to get the story out of my system while it was still fresh. It was not only “mission accomplished”, I also became quite proficient in the use of this little device in front of me (PC). Dominic  laughed when he read this. He thinks I have slightly exaggerated here...

In approx. three months baby no.5 will be born. Book Baby is in its final trimester. Unlike six and a half years ago when I set up my first commercial business venture, I didn’t have to leave the house to get things done. I did what I never thought possible: I sat on my butt for hours on end! And, I loved every minute of this creative progress! I poured my heart into this project. I bared my soul on every page!  Not in a cheesy kind of way, more in the fun, entertaining kind of way. It’s off my chest and now I can move on to the equally important part: Collecting testimonials and doing the pre-publication promotion! Now it is up to me to show the world and myself what I am made of. I know I can set up and successfully run a coffee lounge against all odds. But can I sell my book? This remains to be seen. All I know, I’m prepared to do whatever it takes to reach the No.1 spot on Amazon! It took a while to get the pages out there, but now, it is a product I am proud of. It is a fun, inspiring, uplifting read with lots of ideas of how to stand out from the crowd.



It was another step into extraordinary territory. Just like the pole dancer I happened to watch at the local strip club (Mothers on a wild night out means we are the first to arrive at the night club and the first to leave when the real partiers come flocking in. In our case we were way too early for the boogie floor and therefore killed some time at the afore mentioned establishment)! –It was a first for me and I couldn’t help but wondering: ’’How long did it take the dancer to make the pole an extension of herself? How many hours of practise did it take to look at ease with every step, every twirl and every suggestive move she made in front of her audience? I am sure it took the lady in question lots of practise, more practise and long hours of rehearsals. She was baring it all, boobs and the rest!  But unlike her, you won’t see my frontal, but you will get a glimpse inside my heart instead.

Oops, did I just compare myself to a pole dancer? If you know me, then you know this is a ridiculous comparison.

No, I actually compared our actions: If you want to deliver a good product, either a book or a smooth pole dancing routine, you need time to produce and to rehearse!

Good things need to be created, nurtured and looked after.

Like the definition on my tummy. My 6-packs won’t re-appear by magic. They need to be shaped. A pole remains a simple pole if nobody makes an effort to practise a routine with it... And a page remains blank if we don’t add our unique expression.

Whatever your next project will be, make it shine, let it become extra-ordinary!