We are so excited at SSD Global Solutions to launch our new blog, Living Leaner in a Complicated World. Moving forward, we hope that you will add your own ideas to ours and we love to hear stories about how you applied certain tools and techniques to make your life Leaner.  We have a lot to tell!

I spent a large portion of my life being what I call “crazy insane busy”. And that part would have been okay, if I had found moments of true bliss – – or even a fraction, of a moment, of true bliss.  But all I can remember, from a certain period of my life, is working 12-hour days and getting nothing really accomplished or even vaguely interesting to me.  I felt trapped in that rodent wheel.  I’ve always been paid well and often that held me hostage.  And, some of my colleagues had it worse.  I’ve heard it referred to as the golden handcuffs.

But, I was constantly told that I should feel lucky that I had a job in a professional field that utilized my education.  In the early days, comments implied, that I was lucky to be a woman in a professional field and to benefit from all the advantages  — I needed to bloom where I was planted.

The only part of that message I embraced and that resonated with me, was the rather biblical message “bloom where you are planted”.  These days, I think it’s perfectly okay to “bloom where you’re planted” but it is also okay to spit out seeds all around you, and let things grow.  This makes your life whole and wonderful and meaningful.

And, I also think when you bloom where you’re planted you should encourage all those bumblebees to pollinate and take your message to other places.  I love that Stephen Covey’s major work: The Seven Habit of Highly Effective People was followed up by his book, The Eighth Habit.  Because the Eighth Habit is all about finding your own voice and sharing it with the masses.

As the first topic, it seemed appropriate to address what Leaner means to us at SSD Global Solutions.  It simply means taking everything that is overcomplicated and making it easier to do. I’m sure you’ve all been in situations where you read and reread articles and information and never truly understood what the author was trying to say.  Well, that’s a perfect example of our goal.  We want to say things that are meaningful and easy to adopt.  We invite you to check out our website and/or look at my LinkedIn page: Terra Vanzant Stern.  This will give you an idea of what we are doing and the direction we are heading. In the meantime, we’d like to welcome you to a Lean journey.