Contents:
This Months Thought
Strictly Business: Back-up Everything
Humor: A New Year’s Look at Yesterday’s Words
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In 2010, live better than before. Choose your focus and be clear about your priorities. For most people, these might include spirituality or personal growth, time with loved ones, health, and perhaps business or career. If you have other choices, that's fine, but clarity is key. You really can't do it all, and I'm sorry to say, you really won't live forever. So use this new year wisely. Choose well and make it a good one.
Life's Short. Live Well.
It's amazing that 2009 ended yesterday and this is the first day of 2010! I know it's a cliché, and a rather sad one, but every year seems to pass more quickly and the only good thing I can say is that it makes the motivation to "do it now!" even stronger. Hopefully as I get older I'm also getting smarter, more efficient and more selective about where I put my time and energy.
When I think back to my 20's, I see many projects and commitments that I would never invest in today. Sure, that was a time of education (very good idea!) and had a great career in the corporate world, traveled quite a bit, have a beautiful daughter and two wonderful grand sons; some pretty good stuff. But along the way I did some pretty dumb things too.
I was sure I'd live forever and that time was my friend. Money was to be spent, and risk was rarely considered. Accidents and injury only happened to other people, and I took some foolish chances. I could even afford to waste time. (Silly me!)
By my 30's and 40's, I think I gained a bit of perspective, but in some ways I was still "playing." I traveled widely and invested well, but I also foolishly wasted so much time, money and energy on things that seemed like "fun" or were "impressive" or "daring" but which gained me very little. I hate to think I was still acting like a teenager trying to impress my friends, but I suspect some of that was involved.
Today, I have very few actual regrets, but I'm amazed at some of the things that seemed so important at the time. I remember being impressed when I bought a sports car, convertible, when I was 25. I was sure it would make me happy forever! But after a while, it needed maintenance and got scratched like any other car, and it wasn't so comfortable, and I traded it for a more comfortable, particle car. I still enjoy the memories, but the most valuable thing that car gave me was the lesson to choose my priorities more wisely in the future.
The point of this trip down memory lane is to encourage us all to be wise in 2010. With the economy tight, we have opportunities to use our time and energy better than before. We have the chance to review our goals, our priorities and our choices, and make adjustments if necessary.
My sense is that we can only focus on a very small number of things at a time. Yes, we've all learned to "multi-task" and be "busy about many things" but I suspect that at the end of the day, we can only really focus on a very few things. And here's the terrible thing--that short list represents the heart and soul of our lives.
While it's nice and fun and exciting to be to be busy and impress our friends, my fear is that "our hearts aren't in it." Our hearts want focus, fulfillment and joy. I think that comes from choosing well and committing to the few things that are truly important to us.
In 2010, live better than before. Choose your focus and be clear about your priorities. For most people, these might include spirituality or personal growth, time with loved ones, health, and perhaps business or career. If you have other choices, that's fine, but clarity is key. You really can't do it all, and I'm sorry to say, you really won't live forever. So use this new year wisely. Choose well and make it a good one.
Life's short. Live well.
And here are two resources I personally use to keep myself focused, on track and productive. Highly recommend!
1.Create your own Master Mind Team! A Master Mind Team will keep you on track, focused, and encouraged.
2.Join an expert MasterMind! Every year I invite people to sign up for an expert MasterMind group. I facilitate groups of 6 to 8 people where you will connect with other “like minded” individuals and use the brain power that exponentially expands your power to succeed. If you’re interested in finding out more about my expert MasterMind, email me and we’ll schedule a consultation rodger@rodgerblaker.com.
Quotes of the Month
"You don't get to choose how you're going to die, or when. You can only decide how you're going to live. Now." -- Joan Baez
"Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you'll land among the stars." -- Les Brown
"I couldn't wait for success, so I went ahead without it." -- Jonathan Winters
"Consult not your fears but your hopes and your dreams. Think not about your frustrations, but about your unfulfilled potential. Concern yourself not with what you tried and failed, but with what it is still possible for you to do." -- Pope John XXIII
Strictly Business: Back-up Everything!
For many years, I've kept two files with all my personal passwords, account numbers, credit cards and emergency numbers in it. One is a paper file locked away, and the other is an encrypted file on my computer and backed up at a remote site.
Last month that little piece of paper saved my butt! I have an old account with some money tucked away for emergencies and I decided to make a change in it. I knew the password, but guess what? No go! I tried it a couple times, then got the message that because of "unauthorized attempts to access" the account, it was being locked!
Fortunately, I had my backup file and after a mildly frustrating time on the phone, I was able to resolve the problem.
Do you have adequate back-ups for the critical systems in your life?
Obviously, we're talking about computer systems. Back-up your files, back-up your passwords, back-up all that critical data you work with every day and tend to take for granted. And I suggest you use a backup service that is offsite.
But, how about the non-digital things in life?
Do you change the batteries in your smoke detectors on January 1st? Do it this week! Do you have another smoke detector in the hallway, just in case? How about in the kid's room, or the garage? They're cheap, and they can save your life.
How about back-up copies of your passport, your insurance policies, birth certificates and your marriage license? How about copies of medical records or prescriptions? Take photocopies of everything, and keep them in a safe place.
From a business perspective, this is essential. Keep copies of tax records, invoices, and customer lists. And get in the habit of doing it at home, too. Photocopies are cheap, and from personal experience I can testify they can save your butt! "Just do it!"
Humor: A New Year's Look at Yesterday's Words
A friend recently sent me this set of words and images from long ago. For "youngsters" these won't make any sense, except in terms of your grandparents or old movies, but for those of us with a few gray hairs and long memories, this is a delightful walk down memory lane. Enjoy, and HAPPY NEW YEAR!
I came across the phrase "FENDER SKIRTS" in a book yesterday. It's a term I haven't heard in a long time and thinking about "fender skirts" started me thinking about other words that quietly disappear from our language with hardly a notice. Words like "curb feelers." And "steering knobs." (AKA suicide knobs.)
Since I'd been thinking of cars, my mind naturally went that direction first. (Kids will probably have to find some elderly person to explain these terms to you.)
Do you remember "Continental kits?" They were rear bumper extenders and spare tire covers that were supposed to make any car as cool as a Lincoln Continental.
When did we quit calling them "emergency brakes?" At some point "parking brake" became the proper term. But I miss the drama that went with "emergency brake."
I'm sad, too, that almost all the old folks are gone who would call the accelerator the "foot feed."
Didn't you ever wait at the street for your daddy to come home, so you could ride the "running board" up to the house?
Here's a phrase I heard all the time in my youth but never anymore - "store-bought." Of course, just about everything is store-bought these days. But once it was bragging material to have a store-bought dress or a store-bought bag of candy.
"Coast to coast" is a phrase that once held all sorts of excitement and now means almost nothing. Now we take the term "world wide" for granted. This floors me.
On a smaller scale, "wall-to-wall" was once a magical term in our homes. In the '50s, everyone covered their hardwood floors with, wow, wall-to-wall carpeting! Today, everyone replaces their wall-to-wall carpeting with hardwood floors. Go figure.
When's the last time you heard the quaint phrase "in a family way?" It's hard to imagine that the word "pregnant" was once considered a little too graphic for polite company. So we had all that talk about stork visits and "being in a family way" or simply "expecting."
Apparently "brassiere" is a word no longer in usage. I said it the other day and my daughter cracked up. I guess it's just "bra" now. "Unmentionables" wouldn't be understood at all.
Here's a word I miss - "percolator." That was just a fun word to say. And what was it replaced with? "Coffee maker." How dull. Mr. Coffee, I blame you for this.
I miss those made-up marketing words that were meant to sound so modern and now sound so retro. Words like "DynaFlow" and "Electrolux." Introducing the 1963 Admiral TV, now with "SpectraVision!"
Food for thought - Was there a telethon that wiped out lumbago? Nobody complains of that anymore. Maybe that's what castor oil cured, because I never hear mothers threatening kids with castor oil anymore.
Some words aren't gone, but are definitely on the endangered list. The one that grieves me most "supper." Now everybody says "dinner." Save a great word. Invite someone to supper. Discuss fender skirts.
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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