True Danger Signs in Clinton Email Flap

There will be no criminal charges against Hillary Clinton in the flap over the use of her private server for State Department business. There will be no finding that Clinton broke any federal laws in using her private server. There is no evidence whatsoever that Clinton jeopardized national security by the use of her private server. The never-ending, House-controlled GOP investigating committees have not found and will not find any new improprieties in the email flap. But that won’t stop yet another committee from trying mightily to manufacture them. The point will be made again and again that former Secretary of State Colin Powell also used his private email server during his stint at State. The point will also be made that the protocols about the use of a private email server to conduct official government business were tightened after Clinton’s state Department tenure.

Any other time, this would render the issue of Clinton’s emails a non-issue. However, this isn’t any other time. What Clinton did or didn’t do with her emails and what she knew or didn’t know about their use, was never the issue. The issue is Clinton in the White House. The GOP attack line is that Clinton is shady, untrustworthy and, less charitably, a serial liar. This has been ramped up just enough by the State Department inspector general, finger pointing at Clinton for being sloppy and careless in the use of her emails and not telling the truth about it. This is fed by a media that salivates at the mere hint of any Clinton scandal.

None of this is really new stuff, and there’s no foreseeable possibility that this could derail Clinton’s campaign. This doesn’t mean that there aren’t danger signs in the email controversy. The first is the danger that it could reinforce the very widespread notion that Clinton is prone to shade the truth about embarrassing or compromising issues. When the email flap broke in March 2015, polls did show two things. One is that a lot of people were paying attention to it and that they didn’t like it, or, in far too many cases, her. It was at this point that the Clinton negatives began to march upward. The negatives were not just among Republicans. That was predictable. However, many Democrats and independents also began to mumble doubts about her too.

This was the point that the label of “dishonest” and “untrustworthy” became a regular feature of the GOP’s talking points about Clinton. It also was embedded in much of the chatter from the media and public about Clinton. At every turn, Clinton had to hear shouts from some in the media about her emails and what this said about her integrity. It got so bad that Bernie Sanders tossed out a great throw-away line in a debate about being sick of talking about “those damn emails.” The issue, though, wasn’t going to go away. The fresh report from the inspector general that raised a cloud over Clinton’s truthfulness about the emails made sure that it stayed front and center.

The second danger is that the issue could continue to rear its head as a distraction during the general election showdown with Trump. The few times that Trump doesn’t try to hammer her with it, others will, and Clinton will have to take precious time out to again answer questions about what she did and why she did it with her emails.

This poses the greatest danger of all. That is that the campaign will be the kind of campaign that Trump revels in. This is a campaign of muckraking, dirt and mud-slinging, personal insult, insinuations and character assassination. Trump has tried to do that with his attacks on Bill Clinton as a serial sexual abuser, and worse, a rapist. The aim was to get Hillary into a public media shouting match with him over the tawdry allegation. Hillary hasn’t take the bait. But there will be more to come.

The aim, as always, is twofold. One is to plant the seed even deeper in the general public that the Clintons are the personification of sleaze. The other is to blur, ignore and flat out dodge any real talk about tax reform job growth and the economy, health care, wealth and income inequality, civil rights, environmental concerns and criminal justice reforms. These are the issues that any election should be about, and what the media and the public should care about. But when you have a candidate who can throw a big ballpark curve on sex and emails, then the temptation to obsessively chatter on about this could prove too irresistible to pass on.

Clinton will do everything she can to try to take the high road and let the inspector general’s reports speak for themselves; that is to say that there was no law breaking involved and move on. The danger is that others will do everything possible to make sure she can’t.

Earl Ofari Hutchinson is an author and political analyst. His latest book is How “President” Trump will Govern (Amazon Kindle) He is an associate editor of New America Media. He is a weekly co-host of the Al Sharpton Show on Radio One. He is the host of the weekly Hutchinson Report on KPFK 90.7 FM Los Angeles and the Pacifica Network.

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Zoo Gorilla Shot Dead After Child Enters Enclosure: How These Tragedies Can Be Prevented

2016-05-29-1464540761-3953922-gorillaL.A.Zoo.jpgstyle=”float: left; margin:10px”My blogs are normally about dogs. As an animal lover, however, I am so angered and saddened by a recent incident at the Cincinnati Zoo that I can’t help but speak out. Piecing together various accounts, here’s what happened: A 4-year-old boy crawled through a barrier and fell into a gorilla enclosure. Zookeepers quickly moved the 2 female gorillas into another area, but the 17-year old male gorilla was still inside. An eyewitness reported that the gorilla “rushed toward the boy and led him by the arm through the water in the enclosure,” and that he, “seemed protective and only alarmed by all the screaming.” The boy was in the enclosure for 10 minutes with no injuries. The zoo president says, “while Harambe didn’t attack the child, the animal’s size and strength posed a great danger.” The zoo’s Dangerous Animal Response team felt a tranquilizer would have taken too long to take effect and so, with the boy between the gorilla’s legs, they shot Harambe dead. The boy was taken to a hospital where he was determined to have sustained non-life-threatening but serious injuries.

How did this happen in the first place? To reach the gorillas, the boy had to go under the safety rail, crawl through wires, and climb over the moat wall. According to one eyewitness, the boy’s mother was “tending to several other children” when he slipped away. Unfortunately, this is far from the first time this type of thing has happened. In 2014, a 3-year-old boy at the Little Rock Zoo “fell into” the big cat exhibit after his grandfather put him up on the railing to see the cats. A zookeeper reported seeing a yellow jaguar with its jaws around the neck of the boy. In this case, the staff used a fire extinguisher to drive the cat back, lower a ladder, and rescue the boy. The boy was treated for non-life-threatening injuries. Need more? Last year at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo, a 2-year old boy fell into a cheetah exhibit. The boy’s mother was “holding him and another child” over the railing when he fell in. Fortunately, they were able to get the boy out and the cheetah seemed more curious than anything.

There have been many similar incidents at zoos over the years. I’m not a parent (unless you count my fur-kids), and I’m sure it’s difficult to keep an eye on your child 24/7. But in each of these cases, had a parent been supervising, not to mention not doing anything incredibly stupid like standing the child up on a railing or other precarious spot, these incidents would never have occurred. I spend time photographing zoo animals, and almost every time I visit I see exactly this kind of insanity.

Regardless of how you feel about whether zoos should exist, they do, and a large part of their income comes from families with children. Instead of blaming parents or zookeepers, what about coming up with a solution? Here’s mine, and it has two parts: First, any family with a child that is seen up on a railing or other precarious area must be escorted out of the zoo immediately. Highly visible signage around the zoo should warn them this will happen. Second, there are harness/leash combinations that are specifically designed for children. Children of a certain age and below should be required to wear one while on zoo grounds. This would prevent this sort of tragedy from ever happening again. It would also prevent children from running into other visitors (something I have experienced quite often) and from getting lost.

The death of Harambe, a western lowland gorilla — a critically endangered species — could have easily been prevented. So could many other similar incidents. Let’s learn from this heartbreaking tragedy and change things so it can’t happen again.

Nicole Wilde is a canine behavior specialist and author. You can visit her website, follow her on Facebook and view her photography/art here.

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'Random' Shooting Rampage In Houston Leaves Two Dead, Six Wounded

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May 29 (Reuters) – Police in Houston killed a gunman on Sunday in a chaotic shootout that left one other person dead, six wounded – including two officers – and set off a fire at a nearby gas station when bullets struck a gas pump, authorities said.

Witnesses reported that a gunman approached a man who had just pulled up to an auto detail shop and opened fire with a pistol, police spokesman John Cannon said.

“It appears that it was a random, unprovoked attack,” Cannon said. The victim, a male in his 50s, died, he said.

The gunman fired on the first officer to respond to the scene, riddling his car with bullets, including many that struck the windshield, Cannon said. At least five shots also struck a police helicopter, he said,

The officer escaped injury and called for help. A shootout ensued with arriving officers before a SWAT team member shot the suspect dead at about 11:10 a.m., about an hour after police arrived at the scene, Cannon said. Two constables were wounded, not seriously, one struck in the hand and other in his bulletproof chest vest, he said.

A second person, still considered a possible suspect, was also shot, possibly by the primary shooter, Cannon said. He was interviewed at the hospital to give police his version of what happened, Cannon said.

Three other people, believed to be innocent victims, were also wounded but not seriously, officials said.

Bullets from the shootout struck a gas pump at a station next to the detail shop, triggering a fire that left the station building charred, Cannon said.

Police do not know the motives behind the shootings and are seeking the public’s help.

“We are trying to piece all of this together,” acting Houston Police Chief Martha Montalvo said. “It’s still a very ongoing investigation.”

The gunman had both a pistol and a rifle, police said.

“Obviously they had a high-powered rifle,” Montalvo said. “We believe one of them had an AR-15.”

The shooting occurred in west Houston, adjacent to a residential area, just east of the Sam Houston Tollway, a major highway dissecting the Texas city. (Reporting By Frank McGurty in New York and Kevin Murphy in Kansas City; Editing by Nick Zieminski and Phil Berlowitz)

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What Not to Do When Your Grown Children Visit

Let’s face it. I am an Indian mom. That means, among other things, I am genetically programmed to begin and end every phone call and every conversation with my children and family with a couple of mandatory questions.

Did you eat? (It doesn’t matter what time of day it is.)

What did you eat? (If the answer to the above is yes.)

When and what will you eat? (If the answer is no.)

Sometimes the call may be just about whether they ate or plan to eat.

My kids have accepted that this would always be so. It used to be so bad that I would ask them what they wanted for lunch, as they were finishing breakfast.

These days, when they come home for a weekend, I typically start asking what they want to eat when they’re home a couple of days prior to their visit. Between my two, and my son’s girlfriend, who, incidentally, is vegan and loves Indian food, I look forward to cooking for three children, and a husband who thinks I only make special things when the kids are home.

But on a recent weekend with the three of them visiting with two dogs, things got a little bit crazier than normal.

First, I had my Saturday morning French class (part of my plan on how to handle being an empty nester, blogged here), for which I was doing the homework the night before. Out went the precious “I’ll make all the make ahead stuff before they come home” time.

My husband was getting ready to go to India, and also running around to help pick up my son’s car and get the paperwork and insurance done, all on Saturday morning.

What happened was this: the kids, as much as they helped, couldn’t do it as fast as I wanted them to. We didn’t see Raj all of Saturday that made me pretty mad, as he was leaving for India early Sunday.

And, being an empty nester for the last 5 years, I had gotten used to making real simple meals for me and Raj, and to get back into heavy cooking for the weekend was not as easy as it used to be, how much ever I planned and tried to be efficient.

In the end, there was frustration all around. By lunchtime on Saturday, I was ready to call it a day. And I had three more meals to go.

And that got me thinking: maybe it shouldn’t be all about food. I loved feeding them food I knew they missed and they really enjoyed it, but I was determined to squeeze so much in a 48-hour period, and focused on just feeding them, that I had missed out on the most important thing: being there, being in the moment and simply enjoying their company.

We were a tired and grumpy bunch midway through the weekend. But hey, they were well fed!

After the three kids, two dogs and one husband left, a sudden quiet fell and there was an aching vacuum. Show over, the theater was empty and I had absolutely nothing to do, nobody to feed and nobody to talk to.

As I tried to think back to the last two and a half days, all I had was brief, fuzzy flashes of conversations:

– My daughter telling me about her school, that I only half-listened,

– My son telling about all the exciting things he was getting to do in his first job, and how cool Philly was,

-The questions I had meant to ask and never did. The questions I did ask, but was too distracted to pay attention to the answers, leaving them still questions.

Allison who was a bit ill, and quiet, that I barely noticed that she wasn’t even eating much
And I realized that I had missed seeing the forest for the trees. As much as they enjoy my cooking, they also kept telling me that they would rather spend time with me, maybe play some games or watch a movie without me falling asleep in the first ten minutes. But I didn’t listen, because dammit, they were going to be fed, the dishes had to be done and the kitchen was going to be spotless.

So, here’s my promise, kiddos (or threat, depending) — next time, we will play Sequence, and watch a movie or two and have some real conversations. And maybe some take out and pizza.

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5 Reasons I'm More Self-Confident in My 30s

For the younger women, here’s exactly why (and how) I’m more confident as I grow older.

I’ve read so many interviews in magazines from 30-something-year-old celebrities offering that closing in on forty and beyond is glorious, if only because they are finally happy inside of their skin.

For me, the girl who was picked on for being chubby when I was younger, and who became eating disordered, and who emotionally, mentally and physically has worked hard to care for and love this body that I inhabit, it seemed like a unicorn myth that once I hit a magical age, everything would become easier, naturally.

I was running errands the other day. I was in little yoga shorts and a tank top. I was with my two small children. As we piled in the car, and I buckled them into their car seats, I realized that I didn’t care what my butt and thighs looked like in these tiny shorts. Like — I genuinely didn’t care.

I climbed into the driver’s seat and just sat there for a second, and really took in this moment when it hit me that I had bought these little yoga shorts, and I wear these little yoga shorts and I am so happy in my body that it feels normal doing it.

A few years ago I gave away nearly a dozen bags of clothes. Considering I’m not a big shopper, this meant I had hardly any clothing left. I felt free. Tucked inside one of these Hefty bags were at least two pairs of tiny yoga shorts my husband got me; shorts I never wore because I felt too insecure, even inside of my own house on my yoga mat.

Yet here I am, the woman who loves to wear makeup, but who doesn’t feel naked anymore if I’m not wearing any when we decide to go to the grocery store. The woman who wears short shorts in public and isn’t concerned with cellulite.

It hit me, as I sat in my hot driver’s seat on a sunny afternoon of errands with my children that, at 36, I’m experiencing this mythical, organic shift into feeling comfortable in my body. While a joyful personal revelation, it still saddens me that this comfort isn’t as readily available for women of all ages, especially women who are even a tiny bit younger than I.

I decided that the following are key pieces of why, as we age, women become happier with themselves.

1. The importance of everything else.

Having two children, feeling confident in myself as a writer, having a wonderful marriage and also having ups and downs — in short, experiencing these sensations of life, of loss, of work, of family — the importance of these other aspects of life become highlighted as we live through them. Conversely, the importance we place on thigh gaps, and bathing suit bodies, and under-eye circles, and other sad societal standards set through living in a patriarchal culture, and through magazines — they all drop away, at least a little, at least little by little as we go through life.

Taking the time to stop, regardless of our age and our life’s experiences, and consciously witness the value of who we are and what we offer to the world, and to feel the joys and sorrows, and the brevity of life in general, this helps remind us that while caring about our bodies isn’t necessarily shallow, there are significantly more important things in life than if yoga shorts give us muffin top.

2. My kids don’t care.

My kids have no idea if I have a few places of cellulite that show outside my yoga shorts.

They have never noticed that I still have a faint Linea Nigra from giving birth over a year and a half ago.

They don’t care at all if my stomach has rolls when I sit at our dining table writing.

They see me. They see Mom.

They see the woman who runs through the sprinkler with them. They see the person who spontaneously stopped working out when the sun suddenly appeared, and we left in my tiny yoga shorts to go for ice cream.

3. Self-care evolves.

Taking care of my body, as it ages, becomes much more than drinking Diet Coke, and calories, and workouts I don’t like.

My body now requires regular sleep. I can’t get away anymore with staying up past midnight, since I have two kids who will still be up by 6 a.m. I don’t even drink soda anymore. I haven’t counted calories in a decade.

Because now I focus on eating foods that make me feel fueled, and energized for my day. I exercise nearly every day, but I like it. I stopped moving for the sake of burning off last night’s wine, and I started doing things I enjoy. Yoga, lifting weights, taking my kids on walks–these are all things I look forward to doing.

I think a big part of this is that life becomes hard enough. Life is beautiful, don’t get me wrong, but adulting isn’t always easy, so the unnecessary battles have fallen away. The funny thing I’ve noticed, too, is that when I stop fighting myself, I make space to be my own friend.

4. My opinion matters.

Women, especially, aren’t always taught that our opinions matter. We are too easily told that we are too loud, or too this or too that. It wasn’t until I accepted that, yes, I might be loud, but there is no “too” — there’s just me — that I stopped judging myself when I don’t need to.

I value self-growth, and I value considering that others’ opinions of us might offer glimmers of wisdom that could be beneficial if we can drop being defensive, but there comes a point when our opinion of ourselves has to be the only truth.

5. I know myself.

I know myself, after living with myself for so long. Life experience offers self-awareness, and this awareness is the key, ultimately, to this comfort I longed for, for so many years.

All of the self-exploration I’ve done was beneficial, but so was learning to see worth in where I am right now; in who I am right now. It’s okay to have goals and expectations, but as I grow older, I see how so many of the things I wanted when I was younger are already here in my life.

Life goes quickly. And as I buckled my kids into my car, and turned on the radio and asked them if they wanted to go get ice cream, I looked down at my yoga shorts and saw a little spider vein on my thigh.

I understood it’s not that I’m 36 and think my body is perfect, it’s that I know how imperfect I am, and I love myself for it.

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Who Really Cares About Hillary's Email?

Contrary to click-bait headlines this week, the State Department inspector general’s report proves that Hillary Clinton is by a long shot the most qualified and trustworthy candidate running for president. But don’t take my word for it, take five minutes and read the report yourself. The section about Clinton “breaking the rules” is less than six pages long.

The actual rules, however, would take weeks to read. They are mostly contained in the “Foreign Affairs Manual,” and just skimming them is dizzying. They make the report’s conclusion that “longstanding, systemic weaknesses related to electronic records and communications have existed within the Office of the Secretary that go well beyond the tenure of any one Secretary of State” come as no surprise

No surprise either that with its budget declining and national security mission growing for decades, “records management” hasn’t been a high priority for the State Department.

What may be surprising is that had Clinton used a government server and email address, we would know nothing more about anything today; in fact, we’d probably know less since Clinton’s records retention system was far more sophisticated, well-maintained, secure and organized than the government’s. What definitely came as a shocker in the report was the government’s so-called “system” for retaining email: 1. Print every one and stick it in a box in random order. 2. Put said box on a shelf somewhere. 3. Start a new box. Seriously. Read the report. There are thousands of boxes of emails in no order, with no way of knowing whether they are comprehensive.

Well, I guess we know they’re not comprehensive. The report clarifies that Colin Powell, for instance, hasn’t printed any of his emails from his private server.

“Printing and filing remained the only method by which emails could properly be preserved within the office of the secretary in full compliance with existing FAM Guidance,” says the report, and “80 percent of agencies had an elevated risk for the improper management of electronic records reflecting serious challenges handling vast amounts of email, integrating records management functionality into electronic systems, and adapting to the changing technological and regulatory environments.”

How’s that for a confidence booster?

The specific “rule” Clinton allegedly broke states that the “general policy” of the State Department is for employees to use government email service on a government-issued device, but it then goes on to provide the conditions under which exceptions are made. The report acknowledges that Clinton had been openly using her private email server since she was a senator, through her 2008 presidential campaign and then as secretary of state. In fact, during her tenure at the State Department, 55,000 emails were sent by Clinton using her clintonemail.com email address, all of which have been printed and made available, more than any other previous secretaries.

The report also clearly states: “Laws and regulations did not prohibit employees from using their personal email accounts for the conduct of official Department business.” And nowhere in the report is there suggestion that Clinton’s use of a private email address and server was “illegal.”

Instead, the thrust of the criticism of Clinton is that the Bureau of Diplomatic Security and the Bureau of Information Resource Management were not asked permission by Clinton to use her private server. Had she asked, the new person in charge says, permission would have been denied.

How the new person in charge of security knows what the old person in charge of security when Clinton was secretary would have done is not explained, but bureaucrats under a microscope are like cockroaches when the lights come on. They scatter.

“These officials all stated that they were not asked to approve or otherwise review the use of Secretary Clinton’s server and that they had no knowledge of approval or review by other department staff. These officials also stated that they were unaware of the scope or extent of Secretary Clinton’s use of a personal email account, though many of them sent emails to the secretary on this account.”

So let’s get this straight: The bureaucrats “in charge” of security knew Clinton was using a private email server since 2001 — and they sent her email regularly to it between 2009 and 2013 — but they wouldn’t have given her permission to do that?

They sent her emails to her personal address, but they didn’t know she had a personal address?

This was no covert operation, for heaven’s sake. It’s not like Clinton was secretly selling arms to Iran and funding the Contras. The Clintons paid out-of-pocket for a few techies to work in their basement keeping this server humming and free from cyber breaches. Staffers from the Bureau of Diplomatic Security inspected the email system, looked at the logs and communicated with these people on a regular basis. The bureau even refused to help fix it when Hurricane Sandy disrupted power “because it was a private server,” according to the report.

Clinton reasonably believed her private server was allowed because the bureaucrats in charge of security allowed it. This present-day conviction for violating rule 12 FAM 544.2 after the fact means nothing of any consequence. Nobody was hurt. No security was breached. Who cares?

Oh, but other rules were broken –12 FAM 592.4 and 12 FAM 682.2-6 to be exact. These fault Clinton for failing to report a suspected a cyber-security “incident.”

Sounds Benghazi-like, right? Sounds pretty darn serious, right?

Wrong. The “incident” was Clinton sending an email to her under secretary that said, “Is this really from you? I was worried about opening it!”

The use of an unnecessary exclamation point might be fair game for critique, but really, in the grand scheme of things, do you care that she didn’t report this “incident?”

It’s not like she had nothing better to do as secretary of state. In 55,000 pages of email one alleged incident went unreported, so that makes her untrustworthy? Compared to whom? Trump? Bernie? How about reporting your tax returns, fellas?

The inspector general’s report found the State Department under Secretaries Albright, Powell, Rice and Kerry fell short of rules around the management, storage and protection of email transmission — as do virtually every other government agency and corporation.

In Maine we have rules, too, about document retention, and guess what? Nobody follows them, including Gov. Paul LePage. Until a document-shredding scandal was exposed, the Secretary of State’s office wasn’t even aware that 60 percent of state agencies didn’t have a records custodian, the board responsible for rulemaking was defunct and retention schedules were 30 years old.

Does this justify bad behavior? Of course not, but there’s a reason why so many people don’t care about Hillary Clinton’s 55,000 emails. The fact is, had she followed the letter of the law, our lives would be no better or worse. We would have had boxes of printed emails and instead we have boxes of printed emails. There’s not one iota of evidence of any motive to do harm, break the law or personally gain.

So to the people who were hoping the inspector general’s report would be the second-to-last nail in the coffin before a much-anticipated criminal indictment: sorry. Clinton remains the most qualified, experienced and trustworthy candidate by a long shot. She neither blames others for the technical rule violations, nor tried to cover up or conceal emails she sent or received.

The American people are sick and tired of hearing about her damn emails. There’s no smoking gun in the report. If that makes you unhappy, blame the liberal media.

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Why You Should Stop Using To-Do Lists (and What to Do Instead)

Would you describe yourself as over-worked and under-productive?

Many entrepreneurs and B2B owners would lump themselves under that category with the excuse: “It’s just the nature of what we do,” but it doesn’t have to be that way.

“Work smarter, not harder,” is the sage advice NY Times best-selling author Kevin Kruse recently shared with us.

He surveyed 239 entrepreneurs, 13 olympic athletes, 29 straight-A students, and 7 billionaires (like Mark Cuban and Sir Richard Branson), to discover time management secrets that lead to ultra-productivity. Here are three of those secrets from his book 15 Secrets Successful People Know About Time Management:

1. Don’t Use To-Do Lists

41% of tasks on to-do lists never get done.

When we leave a task unfinished, our subconscious is negatively impacted (aka the Zeigarnik Effect). It leads to worry-filled, restless nights as our brains try to process all that didn’t get accomplished during the day.

Kevin’s suggestion is to stop living from unfinished and stressful to-do lists and start organizing your world from your calendar.

Stop living from a stressful to-do list and start organizing your world from your calendar. (Click to tweet)

Rather than a slew of tasks on paper, which have no context as to complexity or time-requirements, set aside time blocks on your calendar to complete those tasks.

You’ll kill two birds with one stone-you’re less likely to procrastinate a big task if the time is already secured (i.e. no meetings or phone calls scheduled during that time) and you’ll reduce your mental stress as you don’t have to think about what hasn’t gotten done.

Tools, such as Calendly and even good old Outlook, exist to help you manage your personal and professional time; effectively allowing you to align your tasks and schedule to your values and priorities.

2. Limit Meetings

Can you imagine Bill Gates bopping in and out of meetings all week? Of course not! His time, just like yours, is extremely valuable and 99% of the time is better spent doing his actual job.

In fact, nearly every one of the ultra-productive leaders Kevin surveyed said they have strict rules in place to how often they would schedule and attend meetings.

Some set aside one day a week where they won’t schedule any meetings to not interrupt the flow of productivity, while others swing to the other extreme and allow just one a day a week for planned meetings.

Atlassian even suggests that as much as $37 billion in salary costs is wasted in the U.S. alone due to employees attending unnecessary meetings. It’s not only a productivity killer, it’s a profitability drainer, too.

3. Make Your Mornings Count

Consistent morning routines which include drinking water, eating breakfast, and some form of exercise, are another common habit of ultra-productive people.

2016-05-26-1464223605-3022164-WhyYouShouldStopUsingToDoLists3.jpg

Meeting your body’s basic physical needs, combined with some form of mental preparation such as reading or meditating, is a proven way to set yourself up for an energized and productive day.

“If you want to do more, you need to become more” says Kevin on why you can’t forego your morning routines.

Block out an hour on your calendar every morning for your “pre-work prep.” It doesn’t have to be CrossFit or a gourmet breakfast, but whatever it is, it needs to be consistent.

It can be as simple as drinking a protein shake and 20 minutes on a treadmill while watching the news-these few tasks awaken your mind and body, and set the tone for the rest of your day.

Conclusion

Kevin dropped this nugget of wisdom, saying, “If you’re not attacking the day, you’re letting the day attack you!”

“If you’re not attacking the day, you’re letting the day attack you!” -Kevin Kruse (Click to tweet)

Take control of your time and productivity through a series of intentional actions.

Swap your to-do list for a calendar. Be ruthless about which meetings are critical and which should be scrapped. Start your day by invigorating your mind and body, so you can achieve productivity like you’ve never known.

You can find the interview that this post was based on, and many more, by subscribing to the B2B Growth Show on iTunes.

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James Carbary
is the founder of Sweet Fish Media, a done-for-you business development service that guarantees new relationships between B2B companies and their ideal clients. James also co-hosts the B2B Growth Show: a podcast dedicated to helping B2B executives achieve explosive growth.

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My Daughter, My Hero

Here’s a recurring scene in our kitchen: my vibrant 6-year-old daughter on her step stool, elbows on the kitchen counter waiting for Mommy to gather recipe ingredients. She taps out a drum rhythm with her measuring cup, eager to dump flour into the large bowl in front of her. I get lost for a moment, looking at this little beauty in front of me. I don’t take one single moment for granted, considering the journey we’ve been through together.

When I found out I was pregnant with Anya, I was excited and nervous at the same time. It made me grow up overnight knowing I would be responsible for raising a child. I began to relax into it and enjoy the pregnancy, writing down possible baby names. I sang lullabies to the new life in my belly. I followed the weekly “How big is your baby?” stages of development in food terms. “Now the baby is as big as a blueberry, a cherry, a kumquat…”

Because I was over 35, it was recommended that I have a CVS test to rule out any birth defects or genetic issues with the baby. I almost didn’t go since I was so sure that everything was fine.

I still remember the day I received the results. “The baby tested positive for Down Syndrome.” Jumbled sounds echoed through my head. I was in complete shock and couldn’t find words to respond. I felt dizzy as I clutched the phone. I asked softly, “Is it a boy or girl?”

When the woman told me that I was having a girl, I collapsed to the floor and burst into tears. I was growing this precious life inside of me and was in love with her already. I was also suddenly afraid of all the unknowns. Anya’s father and I had separated early into the pregnancy, so doing this as a single mother only added to my fears.

Immediately I began scouring the internet to find out everything I possibly could about Down Syndrome. What would her life be like? How could I best prepare as her mother? The information was conflicting and not very reassuring. So I called the National Down Syndrome Society to see if I could attend a social or support group. They connected me to an amazing group of parents who completely changed my outlook.

One summer day I went to the group’s annual pool party in Bucks County, PA, and got a chance to meet all of their beautiful children. For some reason, up to that time I had never had the opportunity to even meet anyone with Down Syndrome. The kids were running around, swimming and splashing, and I felt so reassured to see their joyful playfulness.

That winter Anya was born with four holes in her heart. She required a month in the NICU and, at just 12 weeks, she had open heart surgery. Over the next few years, Anya would require six more surgeries including several sets of ear tubes. She faced all of it with so much determination and courage, and I gave the very best of myself as her mom. As a baby she had the immune-boosting benefits of breastfeeding for 15 months exclusively through pumping and bottle transfers. And as she grew I always brought healthy, homemade food to the hospital, along with bags of toys and familiar blankets. The nurses even let me climb into her hospital bed next to her every chance I could.

Thankfully today she thrives. In addition to regular appointments with her pediatrician and specialists, I also take her to a holistic pediatrician for adjunctive therapies. I don’t know what the future holds, but taking a comprehensive approach to Anya’s well-being, one that includes natural approaches, empowers me. I give her daily massages, a super healthy diet and special supplements for kids with DS after I learned that the 21st chromosome requires unique vitamins to stay healthy.

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All mothers worry about their children, but when you have a child with special needs, that worry can get magnified. It’s easy to start wondering if she’ll get married, or drive, or who will take care of her when she gets older. These are concerns that I have to consciously keep in check each day, focusing on prayer, positive visualizations of her future and keeping a sense of humor and lightness with her. Rather than focusing on unpredictable circumstances, I shift my energy to the positive, and savor each moment in the now.

I’m raising this beautiful child to have the healthiest, brightest start possible. I’m so happy that she follows my example of living a healthy lifestyle and I make it my mission every day to be a better person as her mom and role model. Getting to where we are has had its challenges along the way, but I am immensely grateful for each step of the journey with Anya. In her six short years, she has taught me more about strength, courage, love, life and happiness than any other person. She is my hero and angel, and I’m excited for each day with her by my side.

Tap tap! Her measuring cup beats a little louder on the countertop, bringing me back into the present moment. We share a giggly hug and get back to baking, part of our daily magic together.

— This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

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