Call me sentimental and trite. Skip over this one if you choose, however I think this year is as good a time as any to pause and give thanks for the blessings I have, the freedoms I enjoy and the ability I have to make a difference in the lives of others.
I am blessed with a wonderful family both at home and at work. I am thankful that I can truly say I work with people that I can call family. It is a wonderful way to come to work every morning, to work hard every day and to look back on every evening. I wish some of my friends who are unhappy in their jobs could experience what I get to experience every day. I am blessed with good health. In the last year I have lost a significant amount of weight and maintained a healthy lifestyle to keep the weight off. Three years ago this week I spent 12 days in the hospital waiting to have surgery. I am glad that this year I don't have to drink only juice and water on Thanksgiving but rather get to enjoy my wife's wonderful meal.
I am thankful to live in a country where I have the freedom to speak, vote, pray and live any way I choose without fear of persecution or retribution. I have friends all over the world and while there are many wonderful places to visit I cannot imagine living anywhere else. Even though we are divided on many issues in this country I believe that through adversity we have and will continue to become stronger. I am grateful for those who have given their lives for the freedoms I enjoy and do not take for granted not minimize the sacrifices of those who have given more than I ever could to enjoy more than I will ever deserve.
I am grateful for the small impact I can make every day in a few lives that I come across. I do not see myself as anything bigger than I am but I do enjoy the opportunity to lead and teach others and hope I can add value to each situation and personal encounter I am involved in by giving a little of myself. The more I give of myself the more enjoyment I continue to gain out of life. I don't say this with pride or self-promotion but rather as one who took too long to learn this lesson and wishes I would have gotten to this point in my life much sooner.
So on this week of Thanksgiving, like most of you I am sure, I am extremely grateful for all of the things I take for granted throughout the year. I am resolved to not just pause to give thanks this week but to strive to have an attitude of gratitude that guides me throughout the year. If we would all embrace that mindset I suspect that we would have no choice but to turn every week in to Thanksgiving week. Because if for no other reason one week would not be enough time to give thanks for the abundance we have to enjoy.
Friday, November 23, 2012
Friday, November 16, 2012
What's the Plan?
Raise your hand if you feel like summer just ended and like me you're wondering how in the world we are celebrating Thanksgiving next week? I see you all out there. I don't know where the fall goes but the older I get the shorter they get. In seemingly a few days we will all be celebrating the New Year of 2013. Ok, again, just me or wasn't Y2K just a couple of years ago? Ah, but I digress.
This time of year brings out many thoughts and emotions - mostly good - surrounding a time to celebrate family and friends, reflect on the year's accomplishments and ponder what changes are needed in the New Year. For a business owner like myself, it's time to take a significant amount of time to evaluate budgets, expenses, cash flows and sales plans and try to project out my company's goals and objectives.
Some of you may be rolling your eyes at this point thinking this sounds like a business text book. Maybe so, but if I were you I would stop doing that and stop rolling the dice with your future while you're at it. In case you haven't noticed we live in some rather trying times. Many things that we all used to count on like clock work are either gone or have dramatically changed and I suspect that most of your businesses have changed dramatically in the last 5 years, if not the last 5 months.
My point? If you don't have a plan, then you don't have a prayer. I'm serious. It used to be that with hard work and determination you could accomplish almost anything. My message today is you better have a serious road map that you're trying to navigate with or you are going to be lost and hard to find. Especially for your customers. I am not here to suggest any particular method or system but I am suggesting that you do something to make sure that every day you have a set of goals and objectives that you're trying to achieve in order to increase your unique value proposition in your marketplace. I don't care if you're a self-employed entrepreneur or the president of a Fortune 500 company it is more true today than it's ever been - if you fail to plan, you plan to fail.
Don't you admire people who are able to do a seemingly incredible amount of work, always seem to be moving up no matter what the economy is doing and who are always able to take on more and stop to lend a hand or a kind word? I suggest to you that these people have an incredible set of goals they are working for and towards every day. They don't have any more time than you and I do, they just make better use of their time and know what they need to do every hour of every day - and what they need to not do to distract them from reaching their goals.
So as you prepare to celebrate Thanksgiving next week with family and friends let me suggest you take some time alone to jot down some ideas and let them baste with the turkey. Hopefully by the time the left overs have all been eaten up and the Holiday season is in full swing, you will be too!
This time of year brings out many thoughts and emotions - mostly good - surrounding a time to celebrate family and friends, reflect on the year's accomplishments and ponder what changes are needed in the New Year. For a business owner like myself, it's time to take a significant amount of time to evaluate budgets, expenses, cash flows and sales plans and try to project out my company's goals and objectives.
Some of you may be rolling your eyes at this point thinking this sounds like a business text book. Maybe so, but if I were you I would stop doing that and stop rolling the dice with your future while you're at it. In case you haven't noticed we live in some rather trying times. Many things that we all used to count on like clock work are either gone or have dramatically changed and I suspect that most of your businesses have changed dramatically in the last 5 years, if not the last 5 months.
My point? If you don't have a plan, then you don't have a prayer. I'm serious. It used to be that with hard work and determination you could accomplish almost anything. My message today is you better have a serious road map that you're trying to navigate with or you are going to be lost and hard to find. Especially for your customers. I am not here to suggest any particular method or system but I am suggesting that you do something to make sure that every day you have a set of goals and objectives that you're trying to achieve in order to increase your unique value proposition in your marketplace. I don't care if you're a self-employed entrepreneur or the president of a Fortune 500 company it is more true today than it's ever been - if you fail to plan, you plan to fail.
Don't you admire people who are able to do a seemingly incredible amount of work, always seem to be moving up no matter what the economy is doing and who are always able to take on more and stop to lend a hand or a kind word? I suggest to you that these people have an incredible set of goals they are working for and towards every day. They don't have any more time than you and I do, they just make better use of their time and know what they need to do every hour of every day - and what they need to not do to distract them from reaching their goals.
So as you prepare to celebrate Thanksgiving next week with family and friends let me suggest you take some time alone to jot down some ideas and let them baste with the turkey. Hopefully by the time the left overs have all been eaten up and the Holiday season is in full swing, you will be too!
Friday, November 9, 2012
Better Together
Last weekend I had a chance to do one of those things I talk about a lot. I set aside my schedule for the greater good. Here in Dallas, where the Susan G. Komen for the Cure organization is headquartered there is a three day walk held every year to raise awareness and money to fight the horrible disease that has affected us all - breast cancer. Through contacts with a local woman who I'll affectionately call CC our company was motivated to get involved in the "3 Day" as it's called here by setting up a cheering station for the hundreds of people participating. More about that shortly.
Saturday was one of those November days you can only get in Dallas. Cloudless, sunny and about 85 degrees. Perfect weather for an afternoon outside to facilitate the impromptu tailgate party we threw to coincide with our cheering station. Not so perfect weather if you are walking 20 miles for the second day in a row with another 20 staring at you for Sunday. My family, associates and new friends we met by partnering up with another group of CC's friends and supporters had a great time. Some of the walkers looked a little worn out, frankly as we were stationed around mile 16.
I got to see some old friends I knew that were participating and I got to encourage hundreds of people who were an encouragement to me. It was hard to ignore the t-shirts, pins and other paraphernalia that indicated who or whom the people were doing the walk for. Some who had previously lost the fight and some who continue to battle on. That was the sobering part and the part that caused me to introspectively consider what a great event I was witnessing and getting to participate in, even if only in a very small way.
It got me thinking how much good we can all do if we set aside our differences and focus on the big picture and the things that matter most. I happened to have on a shirt representing my college alma mater - which drew some cheers and a few jeers from the passers by. There was every race imaginable participating and in attendance with our group. Different political, religious and socio-economic groups, no doubt. All in one place. All in the name of making a difference for us all.
This week we elected and re-elected those who will govern us for the next several years. From a political and ideological standpoint our country is more divided than at any time in her history. And yet we all share many of the same desires, hopes and dreams. None of us will ever forget 9/11. Out of the horror and tragedy of that event was the most beautiful things I have ever witnessed in my life. Sadly, it only lasted a few short weeks. And those days have long since ended.
For a few brief weeks we all set aside our differences. We realized that in the end we are all one people, one land and one nation under God. I long for those days when we all will work together as one for the greater good of our friends and neighbors, despite our differences. Last weekend I got a small glimpse of it and realized again that we are Better Together.
Saturday was one of those November days you can only get in Dallas. Cloudless, sunny and about 85 degrees. Perfect weather for an afternoon outside to facilitate the impromptu tailgate party we threw to coincide with our cheering station. Not so perfect weather if you are walking 20 miles for the second day in a row with another 20 staring at you for Sunday. My family, associates and new friends we met by partnering up with another group of CC's friends and supporters had a great time. Some of the walkers looked a little worn out, frankly as we were stationed around mile 16.
I got to see some old friends I knew that were participating and I got to encourage hundreds of people who were an encouragement to me. It was hard to ignore the t-shirts, pins and other paraphernalia that indicated who or whom the people were doing the walk for. Some who had previously lost the fight and some who continue to battle on. That was the sobering part and the part that caused me to introspectively consider what a great event I was witnessing and getting to participate in, even if only in a very small way.
It got me thinking how much good we can all do if we set aside our differences and focus on the big picture and the things that matter most. I happened to have on a shirt representing my college alma mater - which drew some cheers and a few jeers from the passers by. There was every race imaginable participating and in attendance with our group. Different political, religious and socio-economic groups, no doubt. All in one place. All in the name of making a difference for us all.
This week we elected and re-elected those who will govern us for the next several years. From a political and ideological standpoint our country is more divided than at any time in her history. And yet we all share many of the same desires, hopes and dreams. None of us will ever forget 9/11. Out of the horror and tragedy of that event was the most beautiful things I have ever witnessed in my life. Sadly, it only lasted a few short weeks. And those days have long since ended.
For a few brief weeks we all set aside our differences. We realized that in the end we are all one people, one land and one nation under God. I long for those days when we all will work together as one for the greater good of our friends and neighbors, despite our differences. Last weekend I got a small glimpse of it and realized again that we are Better Together.
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