Be Great Today!

We had a beautiful snowfall a couple of weeks ago, and my daughters had great fun building forts and sledding down the hill in the back yard for a couple of days.  On the second day of play, I asked my youngest daughter, Megan, why she hadn’t used certain sections of the yard.  She informed me that Anne Marie, the oldest, had instructed the group to save those areas.

I let Anne Marie know that if they wanted to have fun with the unused snow, they better use it today because the temperatures were going to climb into the 40’s the following day, at which point the snow would be gone.

That got me thinking… what am I or any of us not using that we should be?

? Time, we only get each day once?

? Access to family, friends, neighbors, or co-workers? 

? Are we allocating our financial resources properly balancing today and tomorrow?

? Saying “I Love You” to that special someone?

? Forgiving those who hurt you?

How do we know when we should use one of the above, knowing that we risk losing it as the alternative?  I believe you know when :

1.     You know who you are as a person and what you are capable of.

2.    Your priorities are lined up with your values and in sync with your capabilities.

3.     Your taking responsibility for your daily choices and actions.

4.     Your utilizing your God given abilities, or natural strengths to the best of your ability.

If you’re focused on paying attention and developing the above traits, you’ll know when to use it or lose it!  Just as it’s important to seize opportunities when they present themselves, it’s equally important to let other opportunities pass you by.  The opportunities to lose would consist of those being harmful to your health, wealth, or well being.

So next time your playing in the snow, try to remember that sooner or later the snow is going to melt, so you might as well have fun now!

Have a great day!

Everyone would agree that the ability to communicate is one of the best ways to have a successful, harmonious, peaceful, fulfilled life. 

Did you ever think about… why is the divorce rate so high in our country?  Why is there no confidence in our economy?  Why don’t people trust their employers or each other?

The answer is that people can’t seem to figure out how to communicate.  The simple answer is to put yourself in the shoes of whomever you are attempting to communicate with and ask yourself, “What would I want to know in order to be able to (understand, feel, believe, etc…) what I’m trying to communicate?”  For example…  in my selling career, I have been able to be a top producer at my company because I’m constantly putting myself in my customers shoes and thinking from their point of view.

What I mean is that when I identify a customer that is interested in making a purchase, I take the time to ask the questions necessary to best understand what the customer’s situation is, what they need, why they need it, and when.  Once I have this information, only then can a solution be presented that strikes the chords in my customer’s decision making process to say “yes” to my solutions.  This approach also works perfectly in relationships with loved ones.

Now the “to a point” part… if you have spent days, months, years, and repeated attempts to communicate a message to another person whom you care about and the other party isn’t responding, then they just might not get it, or don’t want to get it.  What I mean is that with some people, they either don’t have the ability or desire to understand what you are trying to share.  So in those cases, it’s best to either move on or limit your contact with that person or party.    

Do the best that you possibly can to understand others, to put yourself in another person’s shoes, then and only then, share your thoughts, ideas, and plans!  If you do this, then when your head hits the pillow each night, you can rest easy knowing that you did all you could to communicate.

 Have a great day!