The BOWA Blog

Alexa Oliva

PUNCTUALLY CHALLENGED

by Alexa Oliva

Have you ever thought how much it costs you when you’re late? It costs about $90 billion dollars a year when CEO’s are late. It affects other people and their productivity.

Do you like it when a you have to wait in a doctors office for hours, shoot most of us can not even stand waiting for our food at a drivethru. The reality is you can never get back those moments wasted.

Being late every once in a while is ok, but being late consistently is rude. Did you know that in 19 states a student can be paddled for being late which include:

Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Wyoming.

You need to learn to respect your time.

Cause life will not wait for you.

But more so stop affecting other people lives, mental state and time.

Be on time!

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21
JUN
0
Eric Munter

FOCUS IN HOCKEY & LIFE

by Eric Munter

It’s been said that playing the position of goalie in the game of hockey is 10% physical, 90% mental. While I’m not sold on the idea of ascribing static percentages to such things, I do agree that success at the position is largely built around mental soundness.
The ability to focus is such an integral part to the goaltender’s position. You must drown out all other thoughts, noises and miscellaneous distractions and pay sole attention to the 1 by 3 inch, 6 ounce rubber disc. Take your attention away from the puck for just a split second, and it can end up in the back of the net.
In life outside of the rink, the puck represents the task at hand. No matter what task you seek to accomplish, you must pay attention. Give the task your undivided focus in order to complete it to the best of your ability. When you let your attention slip, or allow multiple other tasks which need to be completed slip into your mind, you’ll let “a goal in” – A.K.A. you’ll lose focus and not complete the task to the fullest of your ability.
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21
JUN
0
Val Leichtman

KEEPING SCORE

by Val Leichtman

Taking a deep breath, I push open the frosted glass door to the office with my hip. I walk in diagonally, weighed down by my briefcase on my shoulder and my arms full of binders and reports. If I hurry, no one will notice. I put my burden down on my desk and take a moment to catch my breath, pushing the stray strands of hair that had fallen in my eyes back behind my ear and—

BUZZZZZ!

I jump at the jarring alarm and look up to see the numbers next to my name decrease by “5” on the Beauty column. The judges had seen the small red zit at my hairline and decreased my Beauty Score.

—

$27.90 in Office Supplies. Papers rustle as I flip the receipt over to the second pile on my desk after I enter the amount in the accounting software. $76.27 in Gas. Rustle. $378.14 at the fancy steakhouse.  I wonder how many people ate that night? I would love a thick juicy porterhouse with peppercorn sauce and a side of—

BUZZZZZ!

I look up as the numbered tiles in the “Focus” column click down by “3.”

—

“We appreciate your patience. Your call will be answered in the order in which it was received.”

Staccato notes that sound like BB gun pellets being dropped into an empty tin can in a beat only the musician could identify begin to play.

I tap my pen on my keyboard to the beat. Okay, maybe 45 minutes of listening to their hold “music” gave me the magical ability to identify the “beat” too.

“Thank you for calling tech support, my name is—”

I excitedly pick up my phone and take it off speaker in one swift motion. “Yes, hi. I’m calling about my printer. It doesn’t seem to—” I cut myself off. The other end of the line is disturbingly quiet. “Hello? Hello?” I look at my phone. No active call. “Argh!” slips out under my breath.

I hear my Frustration Score dropping even before the buzzer goes off.

—

I don’t know about you, but the above scenario is fairly true for me. I’m often walking around with an entire panel of judges in my head, keeping score of my every move, thought, and action. And somehow, they always seem to be decreasing my score—I don’t know if it’s even possible to earn points. The game is most definitely rigged.

The funny thing is that I’m the one who rigged it and I’m the only one playing. Very few people around me notice all of, what I consider to be, my numerous “mistakes” or “problems.” No one will notice that small zit you think is huge, the millisecond mental break you took while on deadline, or that moment you got a little frustrated—unless you call attention to it. 

The days when I get a little frustrated and am then able to let it go and joke around with my team afterwards,  all my coworkers remember the next day are the laughs. However, the days where I allow my frustration to eat at me mentally and make me cranky with my team, my coworkers remember the bad mood the next day and keep their distance for awhile.  

Neither you nor I are so important that everyone around us notices every single “misstep” we make. The only one noticing and keeping track is ourselves. Everyone has “hiccups”—bouts of frustration, bad moods, headaches—it’s how long we choose to allow those circumstances to affect us that matters.

 I’m ready to put down my score card and just play the game. Want to join?

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20
JUN
0
LJ Polin

AGE vs. LIFE

by LJ Polin

I was watching the 2013 NBA finals, the Spurs versus the Heat, and the announcers began to start a conversation about the ages of the players that have made the largest plays in the Finals series. They were talking about if professional basketball was a young man’s sport or an old man’s sport. They said most people agreed it was a young man’s sport. Stat wise, they shared that two of the top players that made game changing plays, Tim Duncan of the Spurs and Ray Allen of the Heat, are both 37 years old. Impressive right?

The fact is that basketball is not a young man’s sport, however it is not an old man’s sport either. It is a determined players sport. Who is determined to train when others play? Who is determined to learn when others sleep? Who is determined to push when others stop?

That same truth applies to life. So many people restrict themselves to their age. “I can’t do that yet, I’m too young” or “I wish I could have done that, however I’m too old.” Why?

If you can die at any age why on earth would you choose not to live at any moment?

Life is a sport like any other. You don’t win the championship by getting tickets to the game. Sounds funny right?

People do it. Many people do it.

They sit and watch things happen in their life and restrict themselves from improvement, age not being the only reason. I don’t care if its front row, don’t buy tickets to your own game. Play your game. And only when you perfect your game will you get that championship ring. As my mentor Bert Oliva says, “Live life, don’t let life live you.”

No matter what your age.

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20
JUN
1
Alexa Oliva

GET OUT OF BED

by Alexa Oliva

Every day is another chance to wake up and start over, there is a strong possibility that you have heard of this before. But what does that really mean? To me, it means that even if I feel horrible one day, I go to bed, hopefully sleep and when I wake up I get to choose how the rest of my day is going to be.

If I want to be beautiful I can be, if I want to spend the day in a pair of jeans I can, if I want to feel like I’m in love I can. I get to be me however I see that every time I get out of bed.

If you really think about this it is an exciting moment in your life.

And you get to have it every day for the rest of your life.

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20
JUN
0
Bert Oliva

PUSH YOURSELF!

by Bert Oliva

Why should you push yourself? Have you ever asked yourself this question?

Here’s why I push myself every day of my life: I believe that when we are born it’s a miracle. So why waste this miracle and just live day-to-day, unremarkable lives? We are all special and God has given us everything we need to make a positive difference in this world, but most of us choose to complain and give up on life way too soon.

I am known for pushing people beyond their limits, so they think. I push because most people quit too early and have no idea what their true limitations are, if any. In the end, they always thank me for pushing. However, in the process or what I call the “journey,” most don’t like it.

I understand their discomfort. I lead by example and am always pushing myself beyond my own limits too. It’s not an easy process, but I really believe that at tough moments, we can choose to give in or give out, but we should never give up on our dream! Never!

There is a quote I read once that went something like this: Most people live till they are in their 70’s but die in their 20’s… I live every single day of my life.

As long as you are alive, you must never give up. If you keep pushing yourself, you will see more that one miracle in your life. And, in the end, we will make a positive difference in the world together.

Live Life,
Bert Oliva

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20
JUN
0
Eric Munter

THE MAN BEHIND THE MASK

by Eric Munter

I like to think I live my life by the same principles I approach a hockey game. This may sound silly, but there truly are a lot of similarities that can be found between the two. And while I strive to do this and know comparisons can be made, I have yet to fully realize them by putting these thoughts into writing. So, this will be my jumping off point for my blogging sessions – figuring out exactly how my life is influenced by the game I love with an undying passion.

Before I can start exploring these aspects, I need to explain what part in the game of hockey I play. I am the goalie, which comes with an enormous amount of responsibility. You are your team’s last line of defense. When all else fails, you are the one who must come through in order to help your team achieve its ultimate goal – winning the game.

While I relish the huge responsibility the position mandates, I find a bit of irony in the duality the role can take on. Yes, you are the guy front and center everyone looks to for the big save, but you hide behind a mask and armor, concealing the person underneath.

Of course, the helmet and padding is for protection. But it is what the costume symbolizes to me which makes it special. In a geeky way, I liken it to being a superhero – like when Clark Kent transforms into Superman. When I put on the equipment, that is when I am at my most confident – when I feel I can make the biggest impact and help those around me most. On the rink in my gear is the only place I know to my core that when I am at my best, nothing can go wrong and ultimately our team will end up victorious.

On the rink behind that mask is the only place in my life where my self-confidence is unwavering. This self-confidence is what I want to achieve in my everyday life as “Clark Kent.”

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20
JUN
0
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