Email will never be the same

I know, I know it is Christmas Eve and I should be resting and not thinking of things but I just found an awesome email tool. I put it on my dads computer after learning about this tool through ActiveWords, which is also another cool tool. But the cool email tool is called xobni. I loaded it on my dads computer and it sorted all of his emails by person. It also went through the emails on its own and if the person had a phone number on their email it automatically put it into the contact info. I thought that was pretty sweet but it bumbed me out a little because I couldn't use it with Gmail, which is what I use for my 4 email addresses. So I did some searching and found Xoopit to add onto my Gmail account. It is pretty sweet but I like how Xobni interfaces with outlook better as of now. But as we all now changes come pretty fast. Well I am going to figure out how activewords works better next week. Until then.

Black Friday Purpose

Everyone is abuzz about all the Black Friday deals. As a retailer it has always been a good thing to get all these people in for all of these deals. But my question is what is the purpose? Are you trying to win long term relationships where customers are loyal and like you because of your product and service? Or do you want to make people happy for a short time based on price?

We have looked at doing huge after Thanksgiving Sales but it does not fit with what our business model is. We want to get people in who appreciate getting the best possible price and service. We are sitting out this Black Friday and letting all of the other stores fight it out for the customers who are only price loyal. We want to build a customer base that is loyal to our product and service no matter what.

So if you are a retailer always question why are you doing that sale or what you are doing? Is it for a short term bump in sales? Or are you trying to build relationships with customers that are lasting? I know which one I would choose.

Better or worse never the same

When I was younger every year at Basketball camp they always said you will either get better or worse you will never stay the same. As I got older I started applying that to my life, although it took awhile. So every day I try to keep reading, learning, and thinking. What are you doing to keep getting better or worse? If you choose not to read and not to learn in other ways are you becoming worse? I do not think you are necessarily becoming worse but the others around you are getting better. With how fast technology and the world changes now more than ever if you relax and get lazy for one second the whole world passes you by.
Today while delivering flowers, a job I always did not like doing for awhile, I realized what a difference each interaction can make. You can either make someones day better or worse, it will not stay the same. As I delivered flowers around I realized that by me smiling and being interested in everyone that everyone smiled and talked a little more. Even the lady that was waiting for her perm to dry I talked to. Why do we not try to do this with everyone we meet. The world would be a much better place.

The Dangers of Tomorrow Thinking

I'll start tomorrow. I'll do it when I turn 26. I'll start next week. All of these phrases I have said in my life with changes I want to make. But usually when you are doing it that way it doesn't work.
In a lot of businesses and even churches today people are waiting for something to happen before they take action. Once the new year starts we will do this and this. I say there is no time like the present, what are you waiting for.
When you keep saying that when a certain thing happens or a certain day happens you are always giving yourself an out. Why not make that commitment today. Keep it. Find someone to hold you accountable for it. Because if you are really serious about change you will do it now. You won't wait for the perfect circumstances. Because more than likely the perfect circumstances won't come and you will be stuck with what you already are. May not be a bad thing, may even be a good thing, but it will never be a great thing. Great things take time and commitment. So make a decision to be great today and force yourself to be a little uncomfortable.

The Blame Game

Why is it when something goes wrong we go right into blaming? When you start having a negative attitude you blame the people around you? When something doesn't go quite right you blame it on someone else? Why don't we just take responsibility?
I know when I think of blamers I can usually think of a few people I know but I would never think of myself. But lately I have been reading Marshall Goldsmith's book "What Got you here won't get you there."
He has 20 rules that we should look into to get to the next level. Some of them you really don't think about until someone points them out to you. Last night I wrote down some things I have read in the book to work on. One was not to win too much by using the words no, but, or however. Today while playing cards my mind had to do a total double take. We were playing 6 person pitch and my team got the bid. We had it in the bag and should have taken all the tricks and one the game. Well the first teammate layed the card worth the most points and my other teammate assumed(make an a** out of you and me) was going to lay her high card so I threw a low card. Well turns out she didn't and right away in my mind I am blaming her instead of seeing that it was just as much my fault if not more my fault because I played after her. Isn't it crazy how your first instinct is to blame. I had to step back from the situation and reminisce to what I read. It really changed my outlook and I took some of the blame, where I should have just took it all. C'mon at least I took some of it which is a pretty big step for me.
I feel like when I am tired and being too negative and talking about others and not honoring the absent is when I fall into the blame game.
So for the next 2 weeks I am going to work at taking the blame and apologizing. Boy, I better get started, and you better too.

No Pain No Gain

Today I was reading a blog on How sometimes we have to go counter to our instincts. Early this week I read on how we as people think that we can do things with out failing and being uncomfortable. How do we ever expect to come up with something truly original or truly thought provoking enough to create a breakthrough if we don't experience some discomfort?
In the past couple of weeks I have been through ups and downs and looked at my life and how seemingly effortless and easy it was before I started to think and question things. I thought about how I spent my time, why I believed what I believe, why I did what I did.
I went from being a sports fanatic who couldn't get enough to looking at what does it really matter? Does it make me a better person? Does anyone care I know every Chicago Bull, Oakland Raider, and Los Angeles Dodger from the past 10 years.
I went from looking at people who didn't have cable thinking they were crazy. And now I am one of those crazy people. I decided to read instead. I decided to step out and be different, not just to be different, but to try to make a difference. I decided I didn't want a going through the motions life in comfort and decided to add some discomfort.
I know I am looked as working too much or thinking too much or trying too many different things. But I would rather be that than the flipside.
What do you want to do with your life? Are you afraid of failure? I know at one time I was, but now I say bring it on because it can only be a great learning opportunity. The next pain I have to work on now is excercising, wish me luck.

Absolutely Positively

Why do we tend to be more negative than anything? Why is there more negative people than positive people?
We don't control our mind like we should is my opinion. We don't control what we put in and don't realize the consequences of some of the things we do put in our mind. We watch the news when we get up and when we go to bed. Which mostly talks about the negative, so as we sleep the negative keeps going and going and that is what we dwell on. Then to start the day we watch the same thing of all the bad that is happening in the world. And we wonder why we are more negative? We waste our time watching TV more and TV is more trashy than ever. Instead of reading and looking at positive things we do what is easy.
We don't realize how great we have it. Don't like your job? well at least you have one. Frustrated with kids? at least you have kids. Frustrated you are sore and can't walk straight? well at least you can walk.
We don't recognize what we have until it is gone. Do you have it when you are sick and can barely do anything you tell yourself "self I am going to do all these things when I am healthy." Then what happens when you are well again? You sit on the coach and waste your life away.
Who do you surround yourself with? Are there glasses half full or half empty? Who you hang around with is what you are going to be like 10 years from now. Is that where you want to be 10 years from now?

Learn, Relearn, and learn again.

Everything happens for a reason you can either choose to ignore it or ask what that reason is and try to learn from it.

I read this recently in the book "The Energy Bus." It caused me to sit back and think a little bit and how I do not do this enough. When something happens I just plow forward and keep going to the next thing then plow forward again and on and on I go. To get past this and actually learn from this you need to take the time to learn. It is essential that you learn from your mistakes and successes. I don't know what works best for you, but for me it has been journaling about what happened throughout the day and realizing why I was frustrated or why I was excited. I try to make note of what energized me, who frustrated me and why, and anything else I needed to do.
It is much easier to do this when you have the time and everything runs a lot smoother. Before spring I did a great job doing this but as the year went on it got worse and worse. Not because I didn't have time but because I didn't make time. The early victories were the thing of the past and I became too focused on what was in front of me than what was around me. Are you aware of everyone and everything around you more than you are what is in front of you? What is more important: your to do list or your people? Look back on a daily basis but also look back weekly, monthly, and yearly to figure out patterns and learn from them.

Finish strong or not at all

Are you a finisher or are you a starter? It doesn’t matter. Whatever you do you still need to finish. I always said I wasn’t good at finishing because I didn’t enjoy it. In the last days I have looked to find satisfaction in finishing.

The other day I landscaped a place and found great joy in going around and making sure everything looked good. I took my time and did the small things at the end that most likely where I was working those people wouldn’t realize. But I knew I would. What kind of work you do reflects what kind of person you are on the inside. Lately I have slowed life down and tried to enjoy the ride more and I have enjoyed the little things more.

Finishing isn’t just a job but finishing commitments. When you tell someone you are going to do something do it. Don’t make excuses, do it, or don’t make promises that you can’t keep. When you don’t follow through on commitments to others or you are late to things with others you are saying to them that your time is more important than theirs.

Starters are fun to be around but finishers are the people that get things done and don’t just talk about getting things done.

Hero or Villan?

I was listening to a sermon by Donald Miller yesterday and he talked about our story. He asked how do you want your story to read?

We all want to be the Hero. None of us want to be the villan. How do the choices you make on a daily basis reflect how you want to be perceived? I know in my life I think of myself as the hero, which really is not who the real heroes are. When you look at stories about people the heroes are those who sacrifice and don’t think of them as heroes. The heroes do whatever it takes and are always looking to help others.

Most of my life I would say I look like the villan. Not on purpose, I am by no means a jerk. But when I look at the decisions I make and my attitudes towards some people I look way more like a villan than any hero.

What is would be the story people would tell about you if you were gone today? What story would they tell about you? One of my friends likes to read obituaries and we talked one time about what we would want our obituaries to read. He said he didn’t want it to read that we loved football or Michigan. To myself I thought what would I want mine to read? I have thought long and hard about this question and have tried to prioritize my life accordingly.

So what is your story now? What do you want it to be? Start taking time to figure out how you want it to read and go do it.

Passion What is it?

Passion I believe can be the biggest gift in life, but it can also be the biggest curse. I don’t know what it is like in life to live without passion. Without that constant wanting to do more, without the childlike excitement in things. A lot of times I go overboard and get too excited, but that is what makes it fun. I discussed this part of my personality with someone the other day and they said that is what makes me so good to be around. There is times of burnout but the times of excitement far outweigh those times. I sometimes can’t sleep because I think about how to do things differently and new ideas while I try to sleep and in my spare time. I am passionate about most anything I learn about and dive right in. So is having this type of passion good? Is it immature? Does it always lead to burnout?

Wouldn’t life be a lot simpler without passion? Instead of all the ups and downs and the stress it would be different. Life would be more like a lazy river than a wave pool. You would just float along not getting to high or too low and just taking things in stride. You wouldn’t stick your neck out and try different things you would just do the same old thing. Then if something was blatantly obvious to try you would do that. You would get along with everyone because you wouldn’t argue or take a side most of the time. Wow, how simple life would be.

I don’t know about you but I just the adrenaline rush of passion. Sure I could go through life just strolling along. I would rather spend it going full throttle and getting everything I can out of it and maximizing myself. The risk of a crash or burnout is worth it to feel the adrenaline rush of really getting excited about something and doing it. When is the last time you were so passionate about something you got emotional? When did you care

An hour a day keeps your life from floating away

What do you invest your time in? What is the best investment you can make? I read this quote the other day from Warren Buffet:

"The most important investment you can make is in yourself. Very few people get anything like their potential horsepower translated into the actual horsepower of their output in life. Potential exceeds realization for many people…… Just imagine you’re 16 and I was going to give you a car of your choice today, any car you wanted to pick. But there was one catch. It was the only car you were able to have for the rest of your life. You had to make it last. So how would you treat it?

Well, of course you’d read the owners’ manual about five times before you turn the key in the ignition. You would keep it garaged; any little rust would get taken care of immediately; you’d change the oil twice as often as you were supposed to - because you would know it had to last a lifetime….

Then I tell the students you get one body and one mind. And it’s going to have to last you a lifetime so you’d better treat it the same way. You’d better start doing it right now because it doesn’t do any good if you start working on it when you are 50 or 60 and the little speck of rust has turned into something big… The best asset is your own self. You can become to an enormous degree the person you want to be."

Why don’t we spend more time preparing for what we want to do? Why don’t we surround ourselves with people who encourage and challenge us? Take the time to invest in your passion each day and that is the best investment you will make.

“If a person will spend one hour a day on the same subject for five years, that person will be an expert on that subject” - Earl Nightingale

Charles Tremendous Jones believes that:

“The only difference between who you are today and the person you will be in five years will come from the books you read and the people you associate with”

Your returns won’t be immediate but long term rewards are what you are trying to do when you invest anyway right?

Holding life with unclenched fists

What right now in your life could you not do without? Is it your house, car, favorite outfit, job, friend.
When you are feeling down or depressed where do you find comfort? Is it in food, complaining to other people, drinking, or anything else that soothes.
I heard from somewhere that you need to hold everything you have loosely. Do we hold everything we have loosely? Lately I have realized how tightly I have held things that I though I could not do without.
I wanted the newest car, now I don't really care. I wanted the trendiest shoes or clothes, now I don't even know what trendy is anymore.
I wanted my house a certain way and had all these grand plans to change. Why when I know it is way more than I need now and will ever need in the next 5 to 10 years.
My job was everything to me and my identity. A job is a job it does not say anything about who you are.
The one thing I am realizing that I had on the backburner that I could deal without before but since I have given him full access to my life I can't get enough is Jesus. His word is something I yearn for everyday. His voice is something I am starting to take the time for and search for throughout the day. He makes the troubles in life seem to be minor. The worries that I have are petty because he has a perfect plan.

Why did it take me so long to come to this? It has been many trials, many months of questioning and many failed attempts to funnel my passion into other things. The passion for those earthly things fade compared to learning from God.

Micromachines or Transformers, what would you rather have?

Are you a micromanager? Even if you don’t take all the credit could you still be one? Could your business run smoothly without you, or is it so dependent on you it would fall to shambles?

I have asked myself these questions in the last day as problems were getting flung at me left and right and was wondering what the heck has happened, what have I created. What is a manager supposed to do, and is a manager different than a leader?

I am trying to figure out if you can be a great manager and leader at the same time and that is one of the struggles I am dealing with right now.

What do you need to do as a leader to empower your employees and not micromanage?

1. Ask the right questions. Don’t ask yes or no questions ask for thought out answers.

2. Don’t always give them the answer. I know you might no what the correct answer should be but let them make the decision and make it their own.

3. Encourage. Be their cheerleader let them know what they are doing right.

4. Put them in positions to use their strengths. Each person has specific strengths. Find them and then make sure that they are using them.

These are the focuses a manager should have. You should not be the person who solves all the problems. You should be the person people come to when they have problems and you help them think of possible solutions.

Remember the days of playing with toys as a kid. What was more exciting to play with micromachines or transformers? Don’t treat your employees like micromachines. You need to bring out a lot more capabilities that that. You need to treat your employees as transformers who can solve problems and think of new solutions when prodded with the urgency and the right set of questions.

It is not about you as a manager. The best leaders are selfless and don’t care who gets the credit.

Waltonize your mind

Yesterday I went to many Garden Centers around the twin cities area looking at things to do and things not to do. In the past I have come back from these places and said we do this way better, we do that way better, they are overpriced. I would look at all of their warts and not focus on some of the things that they did good. A while back I read a story about the WalMart founder Sam Walton.
Walton went into a fellow discounter with another person. They went around looked at the whole store which was in disarray. When they got through the person with Walton said "can you believe how dirty and awful the whole store was." Walton couldn't stop talking about the pantyhose rack and how neatly it was setup. He got the information of the pantyhose rack, which was not real visible, and called the company and got that set up in Walmarts.
I go back to this story everytime I look at another place. Before I would go to a store and when I left I would beat my chest and say we are way better. Now I go in with a different set of eyes saying what one or two things can I use from this store to make mine better.
I have found myself doing that with people more and more to. Instead of looking at everybodies flaws I try to look at what they are gifted at or a quality they possess and compare it to how I am. When talking with people around me I try to make sure that their best gifts are magnified and they are working where they are most gifted.
Marcus Buckingham changed my thinking in his book "Now Break all the Rules." Saying it is hard enough to bring peoples strengths out so focus on doing that. There weaknesses will always be a weakness.
So when looking hard at things around you look hard for things that are positive. It may be hard in some places, but if you really want to maximize who you are and your company you owe it to yourself.

Keeping up or forgetting about the Jones'

I was reading through Seth Godin's blog on More vs. Enough
it reminded me about what had been going on in my life.
We always want more and usually more comes at the cost of something that is great for us now.
When is enough enough?, when is wanting more good and when is it greedy?
Aren't we as Christians taught to want more in using our gifts to the best of our abilities and making sure the "more" of what we want is in Christ.
At a church service I attended the man who gave the message talked with great passion about how we are never satisfied with what we have. Whether we are rich and want a nicer car, house, you name it. Or whether we are poor and want to become like the rich. We are so consumed with what is next and the next best "toy" we can get that we don't appreciate the now. When is it going to be enough?
Right now in my life I don't feel like I need anything more. Do I want to finish of my basement, maybe, do I want a new patio out back, not right now. Do I want a new TV, no because I know that it might become an "idol" for me. Out of all the things listed which of them really matter? Am I going to receive happiness from any of them? Am I going to keep wanting more?
Most of the times when I am not happy with something it is because I see someone else that has it and if they have it why can't I.

What brings you "joy" in life?

I have had this conversation with many people and it varies. I challenge where your joy is that is where your heart or in some cases your "idol."

In the past week I have found joy in talking with people about what life is really about. It has challenged me and brought a lot of joy to my life. Last week my joy was in really studying the scriptures for hours and applying it to my life.

My challenge is everyday to ask myself what brought me the most "joy" and why?

Wait to Worry

Why do we spend so much time worrying about what is going to happen? In a previous blog I talked about how we spend most of our life reacting to things that have happened. Throughout the last couple of days I have realized that we spend probably over half of our time worrying about what might happen or could happen. We worry and jump to conclusions about what did happen with our own reasoning without knowing the whole story.

Wait to Worry.

Don’t react to things respond to them.

We spend half of our life drawing conclusions and reacting instead of waiting to know the facts and truly understanding the situation so we can respond. In the past week I have talked to many people who have jumped to conclusions about people. These are some of the situations: Someone worrying about what is going to happen, why somebody isn’t calling them back, why that decision was made. In all the situations I said to them and myself “don’t react wait to know the whole scope of the situation.”

In our house church this week we talked about the commandment though shalt not murder. Well murder is not just murder, it is talking about other people behind their back, tearing them down, and not putting people in their best light. When we jump to conclusions we do that and usually tell quite a few other people.

I have had many good talks with people in the last week because I have made the time. By making the time I have been able to reverse some of the conclusions in my own mind and sort out what the truth is.

Adjustments with your Pearly Whites

I read somewhere 10% of life is what happens to us and 90% of life is how we react to it. In the last couple years I have come to realize it is more like 5%/95% split. We make more out of what happens to us by not controlling our thoughts. A couple of years ago I was miserable in what I was doing and I kept convincing myself of that everyday and that there was nothing I could do about it. So every morning I would struggle to get out of bed and dread another day of something I convinced myself “stunk.”

When situations happen you need to try remove yourself from the situation and look at it from above. Take your feelings out of it and understand the whole realm of the situation not from your perspective but from a 3^rd person perspective.

What gets me sometimes, and I have been just as guilty as anyone, is not feeling like doing something so I just don’t. You can never feel your way into feeling like doing something but you can do your way into feeling like doing something. I have found that over and over. Just buckle down and get things done.

The other day I had a case of the feeling sorry for myselfs again and dreading things. I decided that I was in control and that I needed to change my thoughts. I went back to all the things I read about being positive and tried to boil it down to a few things. Finally it came to me just stop complaining SMILE. The weird thing is the moment I did that it changed my outlook, even though it was forced. When you talk on the phone they tell you to smile it changes your tone of voice. This week why don’t you try smile throughout the week, people are drawn to people who smile and have joy.

Attitudes around you are contagious. Is yours worth catching?

See what happens when you smile for a day straight. It takes less muscles to smile than frown so what do you have to lose.

Passions & Goals

What are your passions and goals? That was a question posed to some friends the other night. The responses varied between everywhere between being in the word more to caring more to enjoying life. I am on a mission to find what my goal and passion in life.

About 4 months ago I was sitting around at a meeting with a bunch of people and we were asked what our passions were and what we would love to do. I thought hard and at the time I said I want to help people be the best they can. What does that mean.

To me what I am passionate about and what excites me is new ideas and new ways of doing things. The biggest question I keep asking in everything is why. Why do we do it that way? Why can’t we do this? Why not expect more?

Very few people in this world question why we do things. Many people are just fine punching the time clock, going home and not worrying about work. I love to go home and think about work and new ways of doing work. How can we set ourselves apart. I love change. I was talking with a coworker today about how I view change and how he does. I said I don’t want to be good I want to hit a home run and do something no one else has ever done. If equated to poker, I am ready to go all in hand after hand and double my bet.

My passion is finding new ways of doing things. There is always a better way and I want to find it. Once I find better ways I want to share with people those ways so they can be more successful.

Honesty and Trust

Honesty

What is honesty and what does it have to do with you as a person. Stephen Covey in the book “Speed of Trust” said that he gets up to his alarm every morning without hitting snooze because that is trust. Trust happens when you do what you say you are going to do. So are people who dream and have all these big plans untrustworthy?

Trust and honesty to me have to do with your intentions. Trust is something that I have talked with people about. I have different views with some on trust. Some people say you just need to trust the other person and not ask questions. I believe trust is asking questions and trusting the other person has their best intentions in mind. In “Five Dysfunctions of a team” by Patrick Lencioni he is a firm believer in this.

I have had to change my views on trust in the last year. I used to hate it when people would tell me that I offended them or did something wrong. I then realized I should be happy that they are telling me these things instead of telling someone else.

Trust has a lot to do with honesty also. Are you honest in everything you do. I have asked myself that question. I used to do little things to cheat and win in card games then I asked myself “why do you do that?” The answer was to win. Is winning that important and if winning is that important in cards will that translate over into cards. When you golf do you keep accurate score even when no one else will know? I have been striving to be honest in everything so you never have to worry about something you said before and cover lie after lie.

Honesty and trust will lead to integrity which is doing what is right even when no one is looking.

Joining Triiibes

The other day I was looking at a few marketing blogs like I love to do and I came across an offer from Seth Godin to prebuy his book and join a group called triiibes. I hadn't looked at his blog in a couple of weeks and I saw the post about 6 hours after he posted it. I jumped on the opportunity bought the book and joined the tribe. It has been interesting meeting different people that are excited and passionate about what is going on. I am hoping that through this I get to meet more passionate people. I have already talked to John Jantsch after reading his duct tape marketing book and am excited about the other people I can share ideas with.

"Discontent is the first step in the progress of a man or a nation." ~ Oscar Wilde

This is one of the things I have been working through in the past year of not being content(in a good way). I am looking for other people and ideas that are different. I want to surround myself with people who will not allow me to be stagnant and stale but to never be content and use the gifts I have been given.