Newsletter For April 2006:
It's A Wonderful Life
Contents:
- This Months Thought
- Life Is Great!
- Quotes of the Month
- Strictly Business: The 1% Solution
- Humor: You Know You’re In California When…
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This Months Thought
Take time for you. Take time to relax, to journal or to pray. This month review your values and make a date with someone you love. Then, this spring, take a personal retreat to review your goals, to read a book, to get clear about the life you truly want, and do the work of creating a Great Life! Why settle for less?
Life Is Great!
About 2400 years ago, the Greek philosopher, Plato, was frustrated that life isn't better than it is. He observed that most of us want life to be richer and more fun, but life rarely cooperates with our dreams, and that is incredibly frustrating! Why would life tease us like that?
Plato's theory was that our lives are mere reflections of an ideal world, a "heaven" that we can glimpse, but never achieve on earth. Plato was a very smart guy, but it appears that Plato missed this one.
Wonderful, satisfying lives can exist when we set our hearts and minds to it. With respect to Mr. Plato, he was simply confused about how to get there.
The "good life" is not achieved by collecting toys or having the biggest house or the most money. We cannot create a wonderful life by chasing it; we attract it by the way we live our days.
We also can not get it by working "in" our business (working harder and harder, trying to get ahead) verses working "on" our business to make it run smoother, more efficiently and more profitably. It stands to reason that the same distinction can be made about our lives.
Many of us are working harder and harder, chasing our dreams. We work for things and for prestige, we work to pay the bills and we create lives that, in some ways, make no sense!
I believe it is possible to create and live a life that comes very, very close to our personal ideal. Whatever our desire, we live in a time when anything is possible, if we pursue it effectively. Here are a few preliminary suggestions for working "on" your life to create what you desire:
- A Wonderful Life is an "inside job", so start with your inner world. Find a daily practice that brings you peace, and follow it with all your heart. Give thanks. Take time to breath, to smile and be joyful. Practice gratitude.
- Practice preventive maintenance. Take care of your body, and your loved ones. No matter what else life brings, your health and wellness, and the love and friendship of those around you is essential. Eat well. Get plenty of rest. Exercise, and hug and laugh with those you hold dear.
- Aim high and choose well. In a world of infinite possibilities it can be difficult to choose the things you want most in life, but choosing is essential. Choose your focus. Define your mission. Clarify your values and priorities and make sure your actions reflect your choices.
- Work smart. Work on yourself. Learn. Grow. Day by day, become slightly more effective, slightly more skilled, slightly more efficient, slightly wiser, and much happier!
This last one is often the most neglected in our culture of instant gratification. There are people who work 12 hours a day, but "can't afford" to step back, get perspective and work smarter. There are families frantically chasing experiences, but unable or unwilling to think clearly about working "on" the loving relationships they desire. How sad!
Take time for you. Take time to relax, to journal or to pray. This month review your values and make a date with someone you love. Then, this spring, take a personal retreat to review your goals, to read a book, to get clear about the life you truly want and do the work of creating a Great Life! Why settle for less?
Quotes of the Month
"The minute you settle for less than you deserve, you get even less than you settled for." -- Maureen Dowd
"Opportunity dances with those who are already on the dance floor." -- H. Jackson Brown Jr.
"Those who do not create the future they want must endure the future they get." -- Draper L. Kaufman, Jr.
"There's no scarcity of opportunity to make a living at what you love. There is only a scarcity of resolve to make it happen." – Wayne Dyer
Strictly Business: The 1% Solution
We live in a world of constant change and constant competition. Everyday, someone is working to reduce costs, increase performance, and take your customers away from you. This is the truth, and it doesn't just apply to big business or the "other guy". It applies to your business, every single day.
Most of us know and believe this, and yet most businesses, especially small businesses and professional practices, take no practical action to enhance their productivity. That is a recipe for disaster!
Day by day, every one of us have the responsibility to enhance productivity, increase value, and serve our customers better, faster, cheaper and with greater attention than anyone else on earth.
Here are a couple of systems for doing this whether you’re a business owner or you work for some one else:
1. Re-invest at least three percent of gross revenue in research and development. Every month, set aside three percent to improve performance, buy new equipment or up-grade your skills. Some industries must invest more, but at a minimum, set aside three percent. You can't afford not to.
2. Use the "1% Solution". Every day, strive to be just slightly better at your work. Answer the phone a bit faster and more cheerfully. Be a touch more thorough in your sales presentations. Up-grade your email or follow-up just slightly faster than you did yesterday.
Every business can improve by at least one percent! That's hardly difficult or even challenging. The key is to think in terms of constant and never-ending improvement. Strive to be a bit better. It doesn't have to be dramatic and it doesn't have to cost a lot, but the drive for excellence requires your constant attention and intention. If you don't do it, someone, somewhere, certainly is.
Humor: You Know You're in California When...
A person recently moved his business to California and came up with the following in sites.
You know you're in California when:
You make over $250,000 and still can't afford a house.
It's sprinkling outside, so you leave for work an hour early to avoid all the weather-related accidents.
Your child's third grade teacher has purple hair, a nose ring, and is named Breeze.
You can't remember...is pot legal?
You have a very strong opinion about where your coffee beans are grown and can taste the difference between Sumatran and Ethiopian. (Is that California, or Seattle???)
Your car insurance costs as much as your house payment.
The guy in line at Starbucks who looks like George Clooney, really IS George Clooney!
A family of four owns at least six vehicles.
Two overcast days in a row drive you mad.
Even if the store is across the street, you drive there.
You know which restaurant serves the freshest arugula.
And...
You still can't remember, is pot legal????
Rodger Blaker works with executives, small business owners and professionals who want to grow in their business and create an extraordinary life! For info on resources for your success, visit: http://www.rodgerblaker.com or call me at 214-485-2238.
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