5 Smart Ideas For Your Friday

If there were an Olympic event for random life-hack blog post writing, I'd win the gold for this one. But you know, the internet is a big place and it's nice to have a guide from time to time. Here are five little gems I found just for you. 

1. Fly From NYC to Edinburgh in June for £65 ($84 USD).

Travel & Leisure has been talking for months about Norwegian Airline's brand spanking new 767's, running transatlantic flights for £65. I've been hustling tickets from the US to France for the first Intermissionary Retreats and guess what? It's true.

Sure you have to fly out of an airport you've never heard of and get yourself from Scotland to somewhere else, but that's what EasyJet is for. It's even cheaper to get from Britain to the US on Norwegian. I even saw flights from Gran Canaria! I wouldn't tarry though.

2. If You're Not Failing, You're Not Growing

Fear of failure usually tops the list when people explain why they can't chase down their world-changing ideas. But imagine how our butts would look in tight dresses if Sara Blakely had succumbed to that. The billionaire founder of Spanx is big on failure as part of the creative process.  In fact, her dad encouraged it. 

Blakely talks about chasing down "wisps of ideas" and visualizing her success even as the men in her all-male networking group dismissed and patronized her. She still meets with those men, only now, they fly to the meeting together on her private jet. Point is, I don't want to fail, but I'd rather do that than read the same book over and over. Blakely gives me courage. Spanx gives me lift! 

3. Bethel is coming to Dallas

Last year, my friend Beth and I hit up one of the Bethel Worship nights as the No. Cal worship team made their way across the country, and it Looks like they're coming back to Dallas June 14th. Spending the evening with a bunch of people worshipping God feels like stepping onto an empty beach, after months of smog and traffic. The Bethel Music Collective brings it.

4. Break out of meeting planning jail.

Everybody knows the worst part of meeting planning is figuring out when everybody's available - aka: Death by Outlook. So have you seen When Is Good? 

You create an event that fits your schedule and send invites to everyone else.  The app whittles everybody's preferences down to the best available times, so you don't have to. It's web-based, free and you don't even have to sign in. 

5. What I love about AirBnB.

In February, Sam and I made a last minute weekend trip to the Florida Keys. Not wanting to pay a fortune for a hotel, I got on AirBnB to see what other adventures might present. We ended up staying on a 24' sailboat in a little hippie resort hangout, with paddle boards and snorkel gear free for anybody's use. We paid $75/night, met cool people and had a blast. 

What's fun about going somewhere new is the people you meet while you're there. So AirBnB commodified that with AirBnB Experiences. Going to Barcelona? Want to meet its top contemporary artists? It will cost you $23. Going to San Francisco? How about a night run with headlamps in the Marin Headlands? $20. What better way is there to make your trip more fun?

As Helen Keller said: Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all.

Have a great weekend.