Magic Bullet & Taking my own route

I have yet to blog about one of my new favorite products. It is a product that I have seen many times on TV and thought, "hey, I'd love that." But since I don't buy things on TV, I never considered really buying it. When Risa went off to good ole Korea (Sparkling!) she left us a few things that couldn't make the trip. One was her "Magic Bullet." Yes, this is the product that is a miniblender that you can blend things right in the cup and put a lid on it, etc. I started using it on day one and probably use it every day at least once. I absolutely love it. I think it is a big key to my getting back into regular weight as I now use it for snacks or meals and can have a great smoothie with fruits, etc. instead of whatever else I used to eat. My new favorite blend? I copied Jamba on this one. I mix banana, strawberries, milk, peanut butter and some granola or whole oats. It is a great breakfast! I'm not sure I would pay for one yet - I think they are pretty pricey, but maybe I would if Risa took it back. Next best thing to mix? Chocolate milk. Plain old Nesquick and milk blended is WAY better than mixing it with a spoon in a cup. I know it is hard to imagine, but it is. Then throw in some ice (not too much!) and you have one of the greatest drinks on the planet.

At work this week I attended one of the many boring trainings on how to be a better manager/be more motivated/adapt to change/etc. During the training we did an exercise that I had done before in another training where you try to find your way through a maze in the carpet. If you step on a wrong square, it buzzes. As a team you have to get through the maze one at a time and you can't talk. So we went through this process and after a while our team got stuck. It was obvious, to me, that there was a "fake" path to the right and it led nowhere. So in my mind we needed to find another path. When it got to my turn the team pointed and grunted to try and get me to follow the same path. But I disregarded their suggestions and chose a random path to the right. In the end I got a few spaces before I 'buzzed' and after that the entire team followed that path and within a minute we had achieved our goal (and beaten the other team we were competing against). Afterwards we discussed the exercise and one person mentioned how I had disregarded the advice of the team and gone on my own - and by doing so we had won. She used it as an example that we need people to disagree and not always go with the group. I thought about that a lot during the rest of the afternoon. Indeed, I am the type of person that is very independent and am willing to take my chances on things when I feel it is right, even if others disagree. And I think that has led me to success in my life. It often can bring you problems (like people think you are a rebel or disregard authority or whatever), but other times it can bring success. I felt good to be seen as that type of person - and though in my career right now it probably has been slightly negative, if I do stay with Pru that will eventually change. And if I leave, then I know it will bring me success wherever I go.