1. This Months Thought
2. Some of My Favorite Things
3. Quotes of the Month
4. Strictly Business: The Levels of Branding
5. Humor: Down Home Wisdom

Make a list of a dozen wonderful, delightful things that bring you joy. Share your list with a friend, and make a pact that every day you will take time to enjoy at least one of them. Let's see if it catches on - maybe we can spread a virus that causes an epidemic of joy, a tidal-wave of happy, smiling people! Every day, be happy, and pass it on

I recall a verse from Julie Andrew's recording from "The Sound of Music" and as near as I recall the words, she sings "when the dog bites, when the bee stings, when I'm feeling sad, I simply remember my favorite things and then I don't feel so bad." In the song, she celebrates falling snow, apple strudel, and presents wrapped up with string, and adds, "these are a few of my favorite things."

Our world is filled with far too much negativity, and I think it comes in at least two forms that we can control.

The first is the negative influence of the news media. I understand news is a competitive business and I understand that people are interested in controversial and shocking events, but it's an awful business.

Normally, our lives are NOT filled with car wrecks and corruption, or violence, or evil in our neighborhoods. Yes, of course, we want to be informed, but bad news fills our lives, and that's a shame. Increasingly, we live in a world that is "all news, all the time" and we are swamped with reminders of risk, danger, violence and corruption and it distorts our perceptions of reality. Sometimes, "just say no" and turn off the news - you'll feel better!

The second kind of negativity is our pervasive sense of dissatisfaction.

We are so rich! We have so much! We have access to beauty, history, romance and joy! We are the most educated, most blessed people on earth. We have beautiful homes and wonderful cars. We have cell phones! And yet, we make ourselves unhappy because we don't have "more."

Increasingly, I am convinced the road to true wealth has little to do with more money. Increasingly, I am suspicious that peace of mind has relatively little to do with where we live, how much money we have or what we do for a living.

Now, I'm not against ambition or the desire to make things better. I just want to stand for "an attitude of gratitude."

Inner peace, joy, and "the good life", it seems to me, are more about gratitude than about having more stuff. There is a wonderful quote from Gandhi that "there is more to life than increasing its speed." I think he was right, and I think there is more to the "good life" than having more and more things.

Julie Andrews sang about her "favorite things" as an antidote to bee stings, but when I heard the song, I thought about my favorite things as a positive, pro-active source of joy. In the midst of so much negative news, and the pressure to do more and make more and have more, how about a radical departure? How about interrupting that routine with a daily dose of "favorite things"?

What would happen if every single day we took time for something wonderful? What if we laughed out loud, or tickled our kids, or ate a cookie, or played with a puppy for a few minutes every single day? What if we made love more often or told more jokes, or instead of downloading music we actually sang our own songs? Would that change the world? Would it change our lives?

Make a list of a dozen wonderful, delightful things that bring you joy. Share your list with a friend, and make a pact that every day you will take time to enjoy at least one of them. Let's see if it catches on - maybe we can spread a virus that causes an epidemic of joy, a tidal-wave of happy, smiling people! Every day, be happy, and pass it on.

Here is a quick suggestions on how to get started:

If you like the idea, forward this article to at least 5 people. Encourage at least 5 people to join you in doing something fun, joyful and wonderful, every single day. Just use the "Forward" button in your email to send this to a few friends.

"Dreams are renewable. No matter what our age or condition, there are still untapped possibilities within us and new beauty waiting to be born."
-- Dale E. Turner

"If you want to get somewhere you have to know where you want to go and how to get there. Then never, never, never give up."
-- Norman Vincent Peale

"How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment to improve the world."
-- Anne Frank

"One can never consent to creep when one feels the impulse to soar."
-- Helen Keller

Strictly Business: The Levels of Branding

This week I read an article that reminded me of at least four distinct levels of customer loyalty:

1. Brand Recognition. This is when your potential customers have heard of you and are familiar with your company name or perhaps know a little bit about you. This is the kind of recognition you can often buy with advertising.

2. Brand Preference. This goes beyond recognition to include a positive preference for your brand. This is what you get when, potential customers ask for you buy name, or look for you in the phone book or search for you online.

3. Brand Insistence. This is when loyalty has risen to the level that your customers will only buy from you. They know your quality, your customer care, your passion and your commitment to excellence make you the clear leader in your field. At this level, price is of little concern because customers KNOW they will get value and they insist on buying from you.

4. Brand Rejection. This is the unfortunate opposite of Brand Insistence when customers know your brand and associate you with shoddy service or poor quality and refuse to do business with you. Once word-of-mouth gets out that you do poor work, your chances of turning that around are very slim.

There are many brands of ice cream, but how many people insist on one particular brand? Think "Ben and Jerry's", or perhaps Blue Bell.

There are many nice cars in the world, but I know friends who absolutely swear by Lexus, or Mercedes, or (increasingly) Cadillac, which is nice since Cadillac was the "Cadillac" of cars when I was a kid but I didn't hear much enthusiasm for them for many years. It's nice to see them back again.

What is your level of branding? Is your product or service the one people insist on, the one they wait in line for? If not, why not? And more importantly, what will you do about it?