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Kim Parnell

@kimbigk

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🤓Techie
📖Stoic
🌱Plant Mom
🐶Aurelius (Rellie)

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“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” - Will Durant (🤯paraphrasing Aristotle, see below👇🏼)
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I know excellence is not a final state of completion or pinnacle one achieves, but a consistent state of practice, made up of daily actions. Yesterday I looked at this from a different angle. I thought: “If a stranger analyzed all the actions I took last week, what habits would they conclude I was trying to build?” Not the actions I planned to take or the good habits I intended to build or the bad habits I want to break, but the ACTUAL daily actions I took.
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They would see the actions I take towards what I believe are the “positive” habits I’m working to build. Intentional things like: waking up early, working out, meditating, etc. But what about actions that are already so habitual I don’t pay attention to them? In what area are those actions leading me toward building “excellence” in? Excellence in procrastinating? Excellence in staying up too late? Excellence in…?
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It’s time I become more mindful of ALL the actions I take and pay attention to which have already become habits. I will also look at my days not with one final analysis of a “good” or “bad” day, but rather I will look at all the small (and on their own seemingly inconsequential) actions I took towards building the habits of excellence I desire. Because over time, it really is the small actions done consistently that make all the difference👍🏼
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Note: For years I’ve attributed this quote to #Aristotle. I know quotes are all too often misattributed and frankly I have given up on trying to determine exactly who first said a quote before I post to my stories. That being said, I do find this interesting:
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Apparently the quote we all attribute to Aristotle was actually written in 1926 by Will Durant (shoutout to @caelanhuntress for his #Medium article explaining all of this). It was Will’s attempt at paraphrasing the following ACTUAL Aristotle quote:
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“As it is not one swallow or a fine day that makes a spring, so it is not one day or a short time that makes a man blessed and happy.”— Aristotle
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I learned something new today 🤓
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PS - I miss the gym 😩

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What is this negative degree weather in May!? 😩🤦🏻‍♀️ (old pic btw)
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Here’s hoping the days I won’t have to wear big scarves come sooner rather than later ☀️🤞🏼 Oh, and also just the days I can go outside in general lol.
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What temp is it where you are? Make me jealous👇🏼, I mean, happy for you😆

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“It’s the one thing we’ve got that plants don’t; The free will to resist our own pull towards the light.” ~ @soorenatv

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Peace, love and a whole lotta hard work ☮️🤍💪🏼

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Bundle up kiddos - Shit’s about to get real😏 ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
A major part of #Stoicphilosophy is preparing the mind for undesirable scenarios. There are many different practices to do this. One of the most practised is “Momento Mori” which means “remember you will die”. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
This may sound pessimistic to some, but it’s the truth. You, me, everyone we’ve ever known or loved - will die eventually. Currently, we don’t have the ability to accurately know when this will happen (if we’d even want to know at all). The younger we are, the more we tend to think tomorrow is guaranteed. As we grow older, experience more tragedy, and lose some of those we love, we come to realize logically that nothing is guaranteed, but it usually doesn’t sink in. Unfortunately, the visceral feeling of truly realizing our own mortality usually only comes when we are smacked in the face with it, via illness or accident. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
You don’t have to dive head first into thinking of your own death to use #Stoic thinking in your life. Most things that completely take us off course could be dealt with more easily, or avoided completely, if we spent some time thinking through how we’d handle these so called “worst case scenarios”. I’m not saying to think of these potentially problematic scenarios all the time (cause #lawofattraction) but if you choose to be willfully ignorant you are much more likely to get thrown for a ride should that unfortunate day come. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Just like we prepare for the cold weather, we can prepare for the hiccups of life. Visualize the worst. Feel all the emotions and really think about how you’d deal with it. Then put that away and go back to taking positive actions towards achieving your goals. You got this👊🏼

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This year I got to attend @elevatetechfest thanks to @hpcanada. The good people at HP know I love❤️ live events. Yes, you can learn a lot sitting at home with your laptop (I know because I do this much too often), but there is something special about being in a room with a bunch of other people all wanting to better themselves. It’s an energy difficult to find elsewhere. This is why no matter how digitized our world gets, live events will always have a market. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Even though Elevate has quickly risen to the top as one of the biggest conferences in Toronto, I haven’t been involved with it or even attended since it’s launch. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Waaaay back in 2010, I launched a conference series called “Elevate” (see pictures). I know “Elevate” is not that unique of a name for a conference, but it brought up bittersweet memories for me nonetheless. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
I launched Elevate as a way to teach young people important skills that were (and unfortunately still are almost 10 yrs later!) so lacking in our conventional education system. Things like finance & budgeting, investing, entrepreneurship, networking, communication, relationship development, healthy living and more. I had some serious ups and downs with that venture. Changed some lives, learned a lot and lost a lot of money in the process. It was my first time organizing a multi-day conference event and I dove in head first, only to realize that the conference business is no joke! ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
There is a much longer version of this story, but the short version is that my Elevate conference was a HUGE learning experience for me. I did end up pulling off 2 events, and I am so glad that I did. That experience taught me so much and I have used all of that hard earned knowledge in the dozens of events I’ve organized and been a part of since that experience.

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Last week I got to speak to an amazing group of international entrepreneurs taking part in @abcbusinessacademy & @leagueofinnovators Toronto summer program. I was part of this event last year and was honoured they asked me back again. The #abcbusinessacademy team is a group of hustlers that created a business where not only do they get to fulfil their mission of opening young people’s eyes to the world of entrepreneurship, but they get to travel the world while doing it! 🙌🏼 ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
The students that take part in their programs are incredibly ambitious and eager to learn. They come from all over the world to get a taste of what entrepreneurship looks like in different regions - in this case ->Toronto🇨🇦 Hope we gave you a good impression of our hard working city👍🏼 and huge congratulations🎊 to all the graduates!

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Was a pleasure recording this episode of The Canvas Series podcast for @mytechne.io We talk about all kinds of things, from sleep to morning routines, self torture (lol) and what it really means to be “busy”. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
I’d be honoured if you gave it a listen. If you do make sure you let me know your thoughts! You can find links to listen here: @mytechne.io & in my bio 😁

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While looking through my #Twitter notifications the other day I saw this mention from @cagdasonen. I started to type a reply, but then just awkwardly hit “like” instead, because I couldn’t quite put into words what I was feeling. It was a mix of elation, gratitude and a feeling of encouragement, as I was reassured my obsessive habit of recording everything I do is warranted lol. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
The wonderful thing about the social media/content driven world we live in is you can make the independent things you do exponentially more valuable simply by recording them. If you are doing a lot of talks, speaking on panels or doing pitches of any kind, start recording yourself as a habit. It requires only slightly more planning and almost zero extra effort. My typical set up is a portable octopus tripod, a smart phone with a good camera, an inexpensive lav mic (made for use with smart phones), and a second phone/ipod for audio recording. This all fits in a small bag, takes less than 5mins to set up, and requires no additional people to manage it. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Some ways your recordings can be useful👇🏼: ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
1. Learn which points/topics/concepts resonate well, and which don’t.
2. Critique your own performance and work to improve your skills, such as posture, stage presence, reducing fidgeting/pacing, speaking more slowly, looking at the audience (instead of at your slides or the floor), removing filler words like “um” from your vocabulary, and more.
3. Identify common questions points of confusion (if there was an audience Q&A portion).
4. Use as a training tool for your team - New hires and those that are going to begin giving talks.
5. Use as social media content/marketing materials. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
💡This footage in particular was captured by the crew at the @fuckupnightsto event, so a big thanks to @marshadruker and her team for making these recordings available!

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Excited to be part of this amazing “#Blockchain & #Gaming” panel with @CryptoPets @_0fficialmitchell @yuser_app @worldwideassetexchange at the #iVentures Conference Nov 6&7 at The Design Exchange ‪@DesignExchange‬ in #Toronto Details below👇🏼 and ticket link in bio👆🏼. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
🎙PANEL🎙
What is blockchain? How can it be used in the gaming and interactive media sector? Is it just the latest fad? Panelists will talk about how and why they have decided to build businesses based on blockchain technology. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
💡ABOUT iVENTURES💡
iVentures is the “marketplace for ideas” across all forms of Interactive Digital Media (IDM), helping to connect leaders in the interactive digital media (IDM) industries with each other, and facilitate introductions to business leaders in overlapping sectors. iVentures highlights everything that’s new and noteworthy in interactive digital content. The goal of the iVentures conference is to provide a forum for inspiration, collaboration and partnerships that will create the next great IDM project.

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Spent some time in #Chicago last week for Chicago Blockchain Project’s #VoiceofBlockchain conference. Was great to see the midwest blockchain crew: Danny of @pinkcoin_, Marguerite of @neondistrictrpg, Tor Blair of #enigma, Marquis of @urbanarray along with some familiar faces from @consensysofficial and #Stellar. Finally got to talk to @justinarnold3 of @blocklightio IRL 😂 Also met awesome new people👉🏼 @dsguns1 @piamancini of @opencollectives @tonevays @gaines734 founder of @socialgaines @joel.birch of @bitcoinbravado Maggie Hsu of @airswap, Uri Karman of #Bloxroute, phenomenal artist and event organizer extraordinaire @josie.io (she designed the banner I’m standing in front of👌🏼) - just to name a few. Oh and @posh_in_the_city
on an...interesting (🤦🏻‍♀️😂) shared @Lyft ride. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Massive congratulations to @disruption_joe (you pulled it off 🙌🏼🙌🏼🙌🏼) and the entire @chicagohodl team for a successful inaugural edition of what will be a “must attend” #Blockchain event for years to come.

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