Moving to my new website! www.suzettemariel.com

Thanks for visiting CEO Of Myself. I am moving this blog to my new website. Did you know word press does not allow migrated subscribers to receive emailed post notifications?

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Thank you for reading my posts and subscribing to my blog. It’s you who fuels my writing. Looking forward to sharing more media content with you!

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Are your children safe in the media?

Read the following, and be ready to be shocked:

One of the biggest offenses is attacking children in the media.

Elizabeth Lauten, Communications director for U.S. Rep. Stephen Fincher, publicly scolded President Obama’s daughters, Sasha and Malia for doing what most teenagers would do if they thought something was kind of nonsensical. As a teenager myself once, I remember many times thinking half the stuff my parents did was ridiculous and I’m sure it was clearly demonstrated on my face too. But luckily for me, I wasn’t made headline news for such a display.

One of the biggest offenses in media is attacking children publicly, and privately for that matter too. Anyone in communications should innately know that thinking before you write, is crucial. And anyone who breathes, knows attacking children in anyway is wrong, smacks of being a bully and clearly is demoralizing.

We need to change how we conduct ourselves in the media and how we treat other people. To get a fuller picture of what happened and the details read the articles here:

http://madworldnews.com/obama-daughters-turkey-pardon/

http://www.theroot.com/articles/culture/2014/11/elizabeth_lauten_faces_backlash_after_scolding_sasha_and_malia_on_facebook.html

Lesson 101 for being in the media, is clearly think about the impact of your words before you speak and write, because it leaves a permanent mark. Once your thoughts are out in the public, apologies often times aren’t enough. Posting on a personal social media page doesn’t make your thoughts private, it socializes your thoughts and stirs up emotional frenzy if you write about a taboo topic. There will always be someone who screen captures your thoughts and offers them to the public.

The first rule I believe, is children in the media are always off limits. They didn’t ask for the spotlight and shouldn’t be made public figures or in this case targets because of their parents occupation.

I thought long and hard about whether I should write my thoughts about this situation, and if I were adding to the problem. But the reality is, if we don’t talk about issues that affect us we are all at fault for not standing up and making a change.

Ask better questions of yourself. Better still just be the person you want to encounter in life. Show up as a human being who inspires others.

What would you do if it were your child?

Please share with me your thoughts about children in the media and whether we should enforce media privacy for children.

Should you blacklist Black Friday?

Gratitude isn’t just a word it’s a lifestyle.

Its Thanksgiving in the United States. And every year we are besieged with ads for clothes, shoes, TVs, sports equipment, kitchen gadgets and stuff for our car. How sad is it that we have become so consumed with the Black Friday sale? We forget Thanksgiving Thursday is for being thankful for what we already have. For spending time with our family and friends.

Spend today being thankful for the daily freedoms. Gratitude for clean air, water, laughter, smiles from a stranger, meeting someone special who will change your life, lasting friendships and sharing stories that inspire and uplift people. Reject mass consumerism. Reject living a small unexplored life. Choose everyday to be grateful and do something wonderful for someone that can never be repaid. Live bigger in life.

Today is the day you can live different. Chose to be happy and grateful. Of all the choices you can make, chose something that will make an impact in life instead of impacting your wallet.

If no one tells you today, I’m grateful for you, for showing up and reading my thoughts. Share your gratitude list. I would love to learn how you show up in life.

Live life the way you imagine fully engaged.

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Are your thoughts killing you?

Don’t let your thoughts get robbed by negativity!

Throughout the day, we have millions of thoughts that take us wildly in many directions. Some of those wild directions are good, and some may be killing your dreams of a great future.

What kinds of thoughts run through your mind on a daily basis? Are your thoughts happy? Sad? Confused? We have all heard of being disciplined, but have you heard of having a disciplined thought life? It’s not something we are generally taught or exposed to in any school system or work environment.

Discipline should run throughout your life, not just your physical habits. Making a plan for your business or your life will lead you in a successful direction as long as you have the discipline to be consistent.

And how do you do that?

Start with where you are. “Take one small thing and decide that you will change it for the better.” Since we’re on the topic of thoughts, start there.

When your thoughts lean toward the negative, immediately reframe and think of the opposite. Don’t let your thoughts rob you of what should be a great life.

What do you do to change your mindset? I would love to know. Share your comments below.

 

“Take one small thing and decide that you will change it for the better.” Tweet me!

 

Take action today! Tomorrow isn’t promised.

Live the imagined life fully engaged.

 

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Do you let your clients treat you like second hand clothes?

Don’t let your friends or clients treat you like second hand clothes!

 

You are valuable and unique and deserved to be treated that way.

But, sometimes we let people cross our boundaries and let them treat us any kind of way because we have a low moment in life and they catch us at a vulnerable time.

But that is no excuse for them to treat you like second hand clothes.

Several years ago, a person I thought was a friend told me that I work in the world of lies, because I work in Television and Film. And they caught me off guard and constantly pushed the LIAR button and continued saying that my work was worthless and made the world a bad place to be. Needless to say, I dumped that person like trash and never looked back.

And that is why it’s important to REFLECT. Sometimes, we allow venomous people in our lives and let them stay there.

Take a moment now, and see who is showing up in your life. Sit back and reflect about how people treat you.

How do the people in your inner circle show up? How do they treat you?

What about the people at work? How do they interact with you?

How do your clients treat you? Do you have a client that uses you for the low paying contract jobs and sends the great high paying exotic location jobs to someone else?

Now of course there are all kinds of reasons why people treat us the way they do. Maybe it’s a bad day for them or things aren’t going as planned and they are stressed and take it out on you. Those moments are temporary and kind of easy to let slide.

And then, there are the hell spawned people. You know the ones I’m talking about. The ones that spit hellfire words like a bad breath dragon. Those are the ones that need to be emptied from your life.

Pay attention to what you are allowing in your life. Really consider who the people are in your life and keep the great ones and dump the ones that need to grow a better attitude. It’s important to have boundaries and a strong vision for yourself. If you don’t have boundaries create some. It’s that simple. We only have one life, so make yours great and surround yourself with amazing people.

 

 

Live the imagined life fully engaged.

 

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Monday Motivation- Are you wishing?

Stop wishing! Go out there and take action!

Stop wishing.

Start doing.

Have you ever noticed in a conversation a friend says they wish they could do something? And then you catch yourself saying you wish you could do one of your long overdue goals too? It’s a no win conversation that keeps going on and on. Forever.

Get off that crazy conversation roller coaster and “Push the Go Button” inside your self. Jim Rohn an amazing inspirational speaker reminds us that if you are waiting for someone to show up and turn you on, what happens if they don’t show up? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Take some action and get started.

Even if you only take one tiny step in the direction of your goal you are one step closer to getting there. So get out there in the real world and find the book or person that can help you do what you have been wanting to do. Today will go by quickly and you can’t get it back. Start now. Start doing.

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Top 10 important reasons for small businesses and freelancers to start a blog

Blog! Start today!

 

If you haven’t started a blog, don’t fret, start! Here are my top 10 crucial reasons a small business owner or freelancer should start a blog.

1. Help people – Writing a blog is one way to help people solve a problem, overcome a challenge or introduce new ideas.
2. Connect with your clients – Building a relationship with your clients is one way to improve the “trust” factor. It isn’t easy to get to know someone in a short period of time. But writing a blog is one way to share who you and how you do business, with more people in the same place.
3. Attract new business – Writing informative articles on your products or services is a productive way of garnering new business. It lets the industry know that you have something that can help them with their tasks or problem.
4. Make a difference – Make a difference with your blog by highlighting charitable works that you or your business supports. Do something that matters to the people in your industry and write about it.
5. Share knowledge – Sharing your information, ideas and thoughts is the best way to help shorten the learning curve of new people entering your industry. It also shows your clients your range of knowledge about your industry.
6. Promote an idea – If you have a good idea that you think will change the way something works or how to make a process more efficient, write about it. Promoting your ideas and how you solve problems is a clear way to change systems that are broken.
7. Maintains Focus- Writing a blog is a surefire way to keep you focused on delivering new and timely information to your industry. Which means you must focus on learning what is new in your industry, thus keeping you relevant to the marketplace and attracting new business.
8. Communication- Blogging creates an interaction between your company, your community, colleagues, clients, students and anyone with a serious or casual interest in your industry. Comments that are left from your blog’s visitors help you learn what your audience wants in regards to products, services, customer relations and more.
9. Improves your thinking- Blogging helps you get clarity of your ideas and thoughts about what you do and why you do it. The more you blog the more you think about your industry and how you function within the community.
10. Announces your accomplishments- Having a blog is a great way to announce accomplishments about the great things that you or your employees are doing in the industry.

 

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Photocredit: Idea go by Freeditalphotos.net

Monday Motivation

 

Today you are one day closer to you goal…

IF you are working towards it.

Do you have a plan for where you are going?

Do you have a plan for what you want to do?

Take 5 minutes today and think about what your plans are. If you aren’t deciding what you want in life other people will decide for you. This lack of planning will cause  you not  to be in control of your life. Go out and change the way you approach life. It’s your life. You get to decide.

Be different. Take charge and start today. I know you have what it takes. We are all given a talent. See what you can do with that talent and GO share it with the world.

 

 

 

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Photocredit:  Stuart Miles – Freedigitalphotos,net

 

Are you and OCD multi-tasker?

 

I used to be and OCD multi-tasker, before I learned the simple art of following through with one task and getting it done. I found working on one task would save me valuable time, desk real estate and piece of mind.

I admit it. I used to think being a multi-tasker was the greatest skill ever. How amazing it is that I can do so many things at once. I can talk on the phone, create reports, have a sidebar conversation with whoever was in my office, check my Iphone for the latest text from a client and drink coffee. Whoo-hoo, GO ME.

Then…some of the proverbial project balls starting falling on the ground as I started multitasking.  And it was hard to pick them up with out enough coffee in my system.

So I wised up. And did a little research and decided that I need to de-stress and delegate instead of diving into the fray of too much to do and so little time and doing it all myself. And as a result, I’m a better film producer, a more creative publicist and and a more artistic stylist.

To get on with what I learned:

 

1. Multi-tasking leads to stress and burnout.
2. Multi-tasking is inefficient.
3. Multi-tasking will increase the amount of time to finish multiple projects.
4. I lost my workflow jumping between different types of activities.
5. My decision making slowed down.
6. It was easier to get distracted by unnecessary things.

 

But my biggest reason for quitting my OCD multi-tasking was because my quality, and creative skills increased when I focused on one item at a time. Now that doesn’t mean that I only work on one project until it is 100% done. What it means is that I schedule tasks in blocks of time and work on specific areas of the project. And as a result I have several books in the works, films in the making, photoshoots planned and everything done one at a time. And what an amazing time it is to spend “being in the moment.” But that is for another post.

Share with me what you plan to do? Are you giving up OCD multitasking?

 

 

Check out some of the great articles I read:

Why Humans Are Bad At Multitasking

http://www.livescience.com/37420-multitasking-brain-psychology.html

Multitasking Makes You Less Efficient: Study

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/13/multitasking-is-bad-for-you_n_925958.html

Don’t Multitask Your Brain Will Thank You

http://business.time.com/2013/04/17/dont-multitask-your-brain-will-thank-you/

 

NOTE: For the record my desk never looked this messy, and truth be told, this isn’t even my desk, but I hope it proves the point of how great desk real estate is when you need it. Cheers for a clean desk.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You, only better in 5 years

Yes, I have been missing in action from this blog and with good reason. It’s that time for realignment and development of myself and career. This post is all about moving forward and getting in alignment with where you want to be. 

I have often heard “It isn’t where you start, it’s where you finish.” But really how do you end up where you think you want to go? Especially in an industry as tough as TV and Film? 

Take my situation for example. I started in the world of film and television and am still in television as I write this. I started not at the usual place which is film school for most but as an Actress, TV Host, Writer, turned Hair-Makeup-Special Effects Artist, turned Producer/ Publicist. (And this isn’t the end point.)

I didn’t just get here by accident. I had a plan. And it’s part of this plan that I want to share with you and help you get farther, be more creative, and to challenge yourself to go above and beyond what you ever imagined.

I have worked all over the world, and with some amazing actors and broadcasters at the top of their field. I couldn’t be more happy…but, and yes there is always a BUT. I want more. To do more, be more and achieve more without overburdening myself and stressing myself out. And what is the answer to achieving that you ask?

I’ll tell you the answer…by asking some really good questions. And not just any questions, questions that get you to think about how you want to live and experience life both personally and professionally.

Take a look at these following questions. These are what I used to help me. Keep in mind that everyone’s questions will be different, because obviously we want different things.

TAKE MASSIVE ACTION! START HERE: 

What do you feel your life is like right now?

What do you want your life to be like?

 

Where do you want to be personally in 5 years? Own a home? Finish college?

10 years? Have a family?

15 years? Move to a different city?

20 years? Taking more vacations?

 

And then of course ask yourself the same questions of yourself professionally:

Where do you want to be professionally in 5 years?

10 years? At the top of your industry?

15 years? In a new position in the TV/Film world?

20 years? Retired?

 

Think of this as the start of your road map to where you want to be. Consider this a form of exercise in personal and professional development. Starting now will help you create the life you want doing the work that you love. You don’t have to be perfect and know all the answers. What is important at this stage is to just start. Start right where you are and explore where you want to be if you don’t already know.

 

For those of you who already know where you want to be check to make sure that you are still in alignment with what your goals are. And if your goals have changed redevelop your plan and take action. There are some amazing works to be achieved in the world of television and film. Where will you be? You will still be you, only better.

Share your thoughts on the matter and let’s make this happen.

 

To your success! Cheers!

 

 

photo credit: roadmap