Newsletter for November 2005:
Why Not Choose Optimism
Contents:
- This Months Thought
- Why Not Choose Optimism?
- Quotes of the Month
- Strictly Business: The Little Things That Matter
- Humor: Useful Definitions
This Months Thought
You are free to read the best literature and watch the best movies ever made. You can visit museums, go anyplace on earth, and even watch football on a big-screen TV! What an incredible age! So, don't blow it! Have some fun, make a call, hug a child, enjoy a sunrise, go for a walk, take your love out for desert. Given the chance, always choose optimism, joy and hope!
Why Not Choose Optimism?
Every morning after I have my personal devotional time, I take about 15 minutes to collect my thoughts and plan my day. I enter my daily priorities into my Palm and where appropriate I summarize my major goals and life-values. I keep my Palm with me at all times and review it throughout the day to stay on track and to smile as I get things done.
There's nothing special about that. Lots of success coaches recommend planning your day. (It is a KEY to getting the important things done!)
What caught my attention this week was the need to intentionally CHOOSE to be optimistic and hopeful. During this season of “Thanksgiving” the local newspaper will continue to write articles on stuff like a budget crisis, gas price concerns, crime in the street or what one political party is accusing the other of doing “wrong”. There will be another story about terrorism and something about problems in the schools. Local radio news stations will warn about dangerous toys and travel delays and all sorts of bad news. And they will probably report this kind of news even on Thanksgiving Day!
The irony hit me in the face. No one - not the news, not my business associates, no one - was going to remind me to be cheerful, optimistic and productive.
All around us, the world conspires to be negative. It's too hot or too cold. Costs are too high, incomes are too low. Beware of illness, be careful of danger. Watch out! In journalism, there is a saying that "if it bleeds, it leads." Bad news sells, and that is a shame. Thanks to television, bad news shows up in our living rooms within minutes, giving us a daily dose of pain, danger and suffering.
Yes, we live in a complex world and there are real and legitimate problems out there. Of course that's true!
It also happens to be true, however, that we live in the richest, healthiest and most exciting time in history. Most of the illnesses, dangers and threats that harmed our grandparents are totally eliminated. We are free to travel, to learn, and to try. For the most part, we can be as productive, as happy and as joyful as we choose to be.
I grew up in ranch and farm country and I remember when it was common to see a man without fingers or missing an arm. Some had lost limbs in war, but many had been injured on farm equipment or in factories. Fortunately, those things don't happen so often any more. And yet, we expose ourselves to crisis and warnings and worry as if flood or famine were just around the corner.
Don't do that to yourself!
Most of us will live long and prosperous lives. We will build businesses and visit exciting places. Most of us will see our children do things, meet people, solve problems, travel and enjoy a world we can barely imagine. We are free to read the best literature and watch the best movies ever made. We can visit museums, go anyplace on earth, and even watch football on a big-screen TV! What an incredible age!
So, don't blow it. Choose optimism, joy and hope. Have some fun, make a call, hug a child, enjoy a sunrise, go for a walk, take a friend out for dessert.
This holiday season, celebrate your life and remember the opportunities that lie ahead. Get a calendar and plan to make 2006 your BEST year ever!
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 Little Things That Matter
In the old days, the difference between an apprentice and a craftsman was obvious. All you had to do was watch the way they handled their tools and you could see the skill and care a craftsman brought to his or her work.
Today, that is still surprisingly true.
At the professional level, it can be very difficult to tell a competent accountant or attorney from a lazy one (until it's too late), but we all notice certain things immediately. Here are my suggestions for basic skills that every professional needs in order to be successful:
- Great phone skills. Answer your own phone whenever possible. Sure, it flies in the face of delegating that responsibility, but there is something very classy about giving your clients direct access. If you can't (or don't wish to) answer yourself, at the very least, have a live human do it for you. Never make it difficult for people (especially established clients) to communicate with you.
- Treat every email with respect. Personally, I hate email that is unsigned (it's like not signing a letter) or that is terse, rude or abrupt. Take a second to say hello, remind the reader of the context or earlier discussion, make your point, then sign your email. It only takes a moment and it's very classy.
- A personal follow-up system. I use a PDA to take notes, while some folks I know take notes on 3X5 cards.. A friend uses small, pocket-sized notebooks and keeps them, going back over several years, in case she needs an old name or phone number. Find a system and track the details!
- A way to list and review your most important monthly, weekly and daily projects. Use a wall poster, calendar or notes on your computer, but remind yourself to focus on "first things first". It makes all the difference!
Over the long run, success is in the details. It truly is "the little things" that count. People remember when we return phone calls, they notice polite and thoughtful emails - and they notice when we neglect these "details". Style and class are extremely attractive! Practice the little things. They matter.
Humor: He Said What???
I know someone is going to write - it never fails – to claim I'm unfairly picking on athletes, and that might be true, but you have to admit that no matter who said some of these things, they would still make you laugh.
- Chicago Cubs outfielder Andre Dawson on being a role model: "I wan' all dem kids to do what I do, to look up to me. I wan' all the kids to copulate me."
- New Orleans Saint RB George Rogers when asked about the upcoming season: "I want to rush for 1,000 or 1,500 yards, whichever comes first."
- And, upon hearing Joe Jacobi of the 'Skins say: "I'd run over my own mother to win the Super Bowl", Matt Millen of the Raiders said: "To win, I'd run over Joe's Mom, too."
- Torrin Polk, University of Houston receiver, on his coach, John Jenkins: "He treats us like men. He lets us wear earrings."
- Football commentator and former player Joe Theismann, 1996: "Nobody in football should be called a genius. A genius is a guy like Norman Einstein."
- Senior basketball player at the University of Pittsburgh: "I'm going to graduate on time, no matter how long it takes." (now that is beautiful)
- Bill Peterson, a Florida State football coach: "You guys line up alphabetically by height." And, "You guys pair up in groups of three, and then line up in a circle."
- Boxing promoter Dan Duva on Mike Tyson going to prison: "Why would anyone expect him to come out smarter? He went to prison for three years, not Princeton."
- Stu Grimson, Chicago Blackhawks left wing, explaining why he keeps a color photo of himself above his locker: "That's so when I forget how to spell my name, I can still find my clothes."
- Lou Duva, veteran boxing trainer, on the Spartan training regime of heavyweight Andrew Golota: "He's a guy who gets up at six o'clock in the morning regardless of what time it is."
- Chuck Nevitt, North Carolina State basketball player, explaining to Coach Jim Valvano why he appeared nervous at practice: "My sister's expecting a baby, and I don't know if I'm going to be an uncle or an aunt." (I wonder if his IQ ever hit room temperature in January?)
- Frank Layden, Utah Jazz president, on a former player: "I told him, 'Son, what is it with you? Is it ignorance or apathy?' He said, 'Coach, I don't know and I don't care.'"
- Shelby Metcalf, basketball coach at Texas A&M, recounting what he told a player who received four F's and one D: "Son, looks to me like you're spending too much time on one subject."
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.
GIVE A GIFT TO A FRIEND! Please forward this copy to your friends and colleagues! That's how I grow!