How Can I Help You?
Claire here. You're on my blog, ClaireDiazOrtiz.com, where I write things. Good things, bad things, things in the middle between bad and good. Today, I'm writing to ask you a kinda weird thing. Here goes. What do you need? Yup. Is there a way that I can help you? I'm not being weird. I'm genuinely curious. Many things might come to mind when I ask that question. Here are few ideas: You want to learn to start a blog and … [Continue Reading...]
Why I’m Not Going to South by Southwest
For the tenth time in the past week, I had a conversation tonight about why I’m not going to South by Southwest this year. South by Southwest, of course, being one of the biggest conferences around, and the biggest if you work or live in the technology world. Although I’m not entirely without regret on missing the event (Austin is such a great city, after all), I am decided. In no particular order, here are the five main reasons I’m not … [Continue Reading...]
How to Start a Blog (The Complete Step-by-Step Guide)
Last week, I asked you how I could be of help. Of the hundreds of responses I received, many of you said you were itching to learn how to start a successful blog. Starting a blog is one of the very best things that ever happened to me, and I love to share with folks why blogging is a great way to connect with others, build your platform, and change the world. Seven years ago, I hit publish on my first post. I was holed up in a hostel in … [Continue Reading...]
What the Most Successful People Do at Work
Laura Vanderkam has done it again. Vanderkam, author of books like 168 Hours: You Have More Time than You Think, has become a feature in my email inbox ever since I read ones of her books for the first time and started emailing her incessantly. (I tend to do that. I'm sure she's thrilled. Ha.) What I love about Vanderkam's writing is that it's smart, practical, and immediately applicable. It makes me think, and pushes me to change my life … [Continue Reading...]
Latest Posts
50 Ways to Say No
I'm learning to say no. Heck, anyone who's word of the year is REST better start getting better at it, right? In attempts to practice my NO muscle, I pulled together a list of 50 ways to go about saying the dirty word. The important part about NO? It should be: truthful, firm, and not overly … [Continue...]
This Week in the World (Links)
This week, I watched Lincoln. A good movie, if long. I drank Kombucha, which I love, but realized how important it is that it is cold. Ice cold. I read some more books, and particularly liked Four Kitchens: My Life Behind the Burner in New York, Hanoi, Tel Aviv and Paris. The picture? From months … [Continue...]
What I Will Say to My Daughter About Endings
"It's not over. It's beginning." At least this is what I will tell her when she sighs about something ending. The kindergarten school-year, say, coming to a close. "But it's all so over..." She will moan. Small hand in mine. Walking away from the building I will walk her to each day. I … [Continue...]
What Happens When You Don’t Rest
I'm back, with another post on rest. (It is my word of the year, after all.) I have been talking a lot lately about the effects of not resting, and what it means to not give your body the important rest that it needs in order to accomplish all those big, bold things you want to do in this world. … [Continue...]
How to Waste Time Well
image by Jose Diaz Ortiz I'm not always good at wasting time. When I don't try, I can be found some Saturdays lying on a couch somewhere watching a delightfully nonsensical reality television program as the hours tick by into night. Although this works on occasion to provide true relaxation … [Continue...]
Is Your Goal Right for You?
I set goals each year, and although I don't type them all out for readers (to both not bore you to tears, and to keep some privacy), I do share some of those goals (like the number of books I aim to read each year: 150). Slowly but surely, I'm hitting a few of my health goals for 2013. One of my … [Continue...]
What Night Owls and Morning People Can Teach Each Other
Last week, I wrote a post over at my LinkedIn blog that went viral. Entitled, Why You Should Try to Be A Morning Person, it told you -- well -- why you should try to be a morning person. (The title was vague, I know!) In a few days, over 150,000 folks read it, and I got tons of comments from … [Continue...]
Five Keys to (My) Perfect Workspace
Last month I was part of a great series over in the LinkedIn influencer blogs (yes, I have a blog over there) about the perfect workspace. Called, Where 50 Influencers Work, the piece focuses on images of workspaces (like mine, above) and then asks folks to share about their image. Why it makes a … [Continue...]
My Word in Action: To Rest or Work?
image by kawamura My word of the year is REST, and I'm trying hard to remember this at times. It doesn't come naturally, and I find myself fighting my word more often than I find myself settling into it. Rest, for me, is proving hard. Take last week, for instance. I had flown into a random … [Continue...]
