Keep Calm and Carry On

Just like that, keep calm and carry on. I chose this a the title of today's post as initially this was a british motivational poster produced by British government in 1939 just before the IInd World War started. Back then, it was little known, because it wasn't distributed among british citizens on a large scale. However, nowadays there are lots of variations of this iconic poster. One of my favourite is the one on the picture (no surprise it's related to tea :))


So, now that I started with the poster, that would probably be my first thing on the list of 3 things I am really thankful for :

1. Harvard Business Review posters...man these are absolutely unique. When I was working in one of the biggest banks in Poland, we, as auditors didn't have a room for ourselves, so we had to work from Director's office who was on vacation at that moment. And, believe it or not, he had 2 of those extraordinary posters in his office. One of them showed a scene from the Matrix movie, where Neo refuses to say the destiny is a good concept for humanity. And on the second Don Corleone talked about the values and their importance in our lives..and I was both surprised and amazed...surprised beacuse I couldn't believe that a Director of a multi-million dollar company would hang posters on his walls (even if they're in fancy frames)...and amazed because these posters had such a deep message in them , while at the same time might have looked childish and ridiculous :D Anyway, I really liked those , and after some time managed to find them : 

(originally the text was in polish, but for the purpose of this blog I've translated it to english)

2. Steven Covey's Week Planner. Now that we're living in times when there's an app for each and everything you could think about, starting from meditation timer to shopping mall guidances, traditional ways of planning and managing your time are becoming less popular. And by traditional I mean those that are handwritten, or at least printed.
S. Covey's Weekly planner is a spreadsheet that was created according to the rules described in Steven's Book "7 Habits of highly effective People" which I've probably mentioned earlier.
It has a section for Roles, another one for Goals connected with these roles, and of course 7 days to plan your week efficiently and effectively.
The planner is a very useful tool, and was created by one of the most successful authors in the world, that's why I don't need to promote it somehow or try to persuade someone that it's better that some other tools for organising your time.


Of course you can create your own planner, but just in case you're willing to try this one out, it can be downloaded for free from :
http://www.diyplanner.com/node/6060
*(both files are ok, but the second looks better when printed, that's why I'd suggest file nr.2)
Once again my huge respect for Dr Covey's work in general, and for all the tools that he predicted to be useful even in times of rapid growth of high-tech and innovative products and markets.

3. Websites and apps that help you to find the best route to get from point A to p. B in a particular city. Of course such app as google maps is well known all around the world, but web pages that help users of public transport in big cities are relatively new , at least in Poland. And these are so helpful and so easy to use, that almost everyone takes them for granted as if they were created long time ago. But the truth is that previously the only way to find the best route in such city as Warsaw, was to simply ask someone , or go to the nearest bus/tram station and check when and where next bus/tram goes..sounds like stoneage, but, believe it or not, this how it was like only two years ago. And now you don't even have to know where you are at the moment - www.jakdojade.pl , or it's app for smart phone will do it for you. Moreover, it'll estimate the approximate time it will take you to get where you want to get (including the time you will spend waiting for the next bus/tram etc).
Big credit to those who came up with an idea of providing such service absolutely for free for all to whom it may be related.

That's it for today, the list has 3 key things I'm thankful for. I really believe that without these things my life would be much more chaotic and stressful ...luckily, it's not ;)

A good quote to start Monday  :

"Fear, uncertainty and discomfort are your compasses toward growth "
― Celestine Chua

Of course there might be some fear and discomfort along the way, that's a normal process I guess, but as the wise title of today's post says " Keep Calm and Carry On" :)

..And of course don't forget to have some fun :)
Take Care

Bryvus