Are you a golfer?

Are you a golfer? I'm certainly not, however, when I played golf, I thought I was doing pretty well just to get the ball somewhere on the putting green.
The truth be told, my main goal was to reach the green without majorly embarrassing myself, so I was satisfied even when my ball made it somewhere near the fringes.
One day a local golf pro told me that the key difference between an average golfer and one who is excellent is this: The truly great players shoot for the hole, not somewhere near the hole or somewhere on the green. They aim directly for the hole.
He told me, “You should make the hole your goal.” My intelligent, thoughtful response was, “Yeah, right! That’ll be the day.”
I didn’t think I’d ever be able to hit the hole, so I didn’t even try. The reason so many of us get stuck, unable to move deeper into whatever we attempt is because we don’t think it’s truly possible, at least for us. And so we don’t even try.
For 2012 one of my wishes is for everyone who has a huge dream to make the honest attempt to reach the dream. While thinking about this I realized that my golf game mistake was the exact same mistake many others make with their dreams. Now I don't ever dream of being a great or even good golfer - I just don't care for the game that much. However, I do want to be a better pilot and I do have several other things that I want to improve at doing - and for those items I need to "shoot for the hole" rather than just aiming for the fringe and being satisfied.
My New Years Wish for you is to "SHOOT FOR THE HOLE!" and to have a very Happy 2012.
Steve

Relaxing over the Holidays

I wrote earlier this month about making and working a plan for 2012. I've already completed the outline of my personal plan - but with me it is not just a written piece of paper but rather a living document that gets reviewed regularly and updated as needed.
As I sit here at home this last week of 2011 enjoying a week of vacation and visiting with my daughter, son-in-law, and grand daughter I realized that I wasn't really living my plan. Worse than that, I haven't been for the past several years! You see I always have God first in my plan, then family, then personal items and secure it all with work plans.
It dawned on me, rather shocked me, that for the past few years I haven't used all my vacation time that my company, USG Corp, is so generous to provide. This year is no exception. I am losing almost 2 weeks of vacation, again this year, and that just isn't fair to anyone.
I violate my family plan by shorting them of time together, and I violate my work plan because as we all really KNOW but sometimes forget to admit, that I don't do my best work when I'm tired and not really refreshed and recharged - which by the way - IS the PURPOSE of the company providing vacation time.
So I've just taken advantage of a fantastic opportunity to book a 5 day cruise with another couple during the month of January because the price was just way too cheap to pass it up! $219 per person for 5 days of cruise, including all taxes and fees! When you figure the cost of food and entertainment as well as the sleeping accommodation's, you can't even stay at a Motel 6 for that cheap - even if they do "Leave The Light On."
So this year, maybe for the first time ever, it is my plan and intention to spread my vacation time out and find real bargains so that not only do I recharge and refresh, (my work goals), I also meet my social, personal, and family goals, and have fun all at the same time.
What about you? Have you started on your plan for 2012 yet? Reviewed it? Thought about it?
No time like NOW to start so that 2012 will be the Best Year Ever for you.

Back to my family and easy chair now............
Steve

Success for 2012 hints.

Want big success in 2012?

It's as simple as football. 1. Know the rules. 2. Know the Playbook. 3. Execute.
You do know the rules don't you? Do you follow them?
What about your playbook? You have one don't you?
Execution is where most folks fail. They just keep getting ready to get ready but never seem to actually get into the game with action.

As a pilot we talk about "Flying in the Soup." Which means flying your airplane in poor weather conditions. Sometimes life provides us with poor conditions also - so here's what you need to do to overcome this.
1. Know the rules. 2. Know the playbook. 3. Forget your feelings. 4. Trust and believe your instruments.
Now the first two are the same as football. Number 3 means you can't rely on just how things feel when you fly - you must have accurate facts. Where do you get the "Facts?" From number 4 - trusting and believing your instruments. Same easy steps as football without a sight or vision reference. Much as the economic conditions we experienced during 2011.

Success in 2012 is really just about taking common sense steps that you already know and applying them plus doing the execution, even on those day's you may not feel like it.
As the shoe company said: "JUST DO IT!"

Merry Christmas to All.
Steve

Fast Start 2012

Hopefully everyone found last Monday's post on The Compound Effect - interesting and useful. Carrying forward in that same light, I would like to suggest that you consider taking time right now to carefully craft your "plan" for 2012.

My "plan" which I update regularly, but at least annually, includes the following items:
My personal vision statement
My Life Purpose statement
My Roles and Goals statement
My Accountability Checklist
One final item that I found helpful for me is a list of my strengths and weaknesses so that I can remain aware of both and plan to utilize my strengths while supporting my known weaknesses with others help.

Probably the single thing that I do that is critical for me is to plan and execute a daily Quiet Time. This is the time when I set myself apart to review and pray about everything going on in my life. I try to accomplish this in the mornings, but since my schedule requires flexibility I find myself doing my quiet time at various times - sometimes mornings, sometimes evenings, and sometimes even during my lunch time at the office. The critical thing for me is to DO IT!

If you have interest in any of the above planning items or tools, please contact me directly via email and I will share my statements and plans with you. It sounds overwhelming when you read this, but believe me, once you start it becomes so very easy and after you have carefully crafted your plan updating it regularly is actually quite fast.

I look forward to hearing from you.
Steve

Advise for 2012 start

This blog is absolutely not a book review, however, many of you know, as I do, that reading good books is critical to your future success. I've finished a fantastic book called:
The Compound Effect by Darren Hardy.

In the book he points out the following critical information to make 2012 the best year EVER in your life.

Five Key Points to Harness The Compound Effect

1. Choices: Identify what you want to change in your life.
2. Habits: Present specific strategies for eliminating bad habits.
3. Momentum: Develop profitable and effective routines.
4. Influence: Sustain positive life influences.
5. Acceleration: Actions that exponentially increase the impact of efforts.

If you follow this easy plan, in small daily steps, you will, absolutely, exceed your wildest goals and plans quicker and easier than you ever thought possible.

It is my suggestion that you consider purchasing this book for anyone you care about and also a copy for yourself. It will be, I promise, a fantastic return on your investment in 2012.

These are my thoughts, I'd love to hear yours.
Steve

A Standard World??

Lately I've spent a lot of my time involved in working on Standards. I'm involved in ASTM, ANSI and ISO and all 3 of those organizations develop and provide standards to help improve our world. I heard a number which shocked me recently - there are over 6,000 standards in use in over 80 countries in the world today. Yet the work is just barely begun as we still seem to see stories in the news on a regular basis about some product coming into the US defective and being sold to unknowing consumers because there was/is no standard in place currently covering that particular product. The gypsum industry learned that lesson the hard way a few years ago.
Believe it or not, almost everything you see or touch today is somehow covered by a standard in some way, either materials used or the testing protocol to bring the product to the marketplace. Yes, even your local ATM machine has many standards. Since I'm involved in the building materials industry I'm somewhat forced to become involved in building codes - and in the latest codes for residential buildings alone there are over 1500 ASTM specifications, practices, and test methods that the industry must comply with.
There are standards for everything - even standards about how to write and produce standards. There are standards for amusement park rides, standards for the vehicles that get you to the park, standards for the products in the hotels you stay in while visiting the parks, etc, etc. The funny thing is when you come across something that has no standard, then nerds like me immediately want to create a standard so that product too is covered!
Now I have to be honest here, nobody I've ever heard of grew up dreaming of becoming a standards developer. Not that there is anything unsavory or unsatisfying about being in the standards workplace - is is just necessary, low-profile work that some folks seem to end up involved in and usually either like it or leave quickly.
So in closing this Raving I want you to think about this: As you are decorating your house or even your tree this year know that the lights are covered by a standard, the ornaments are covered by standards, even the garland is covered by a standard. Doesn't that just take the joy out of your holiday season!!!

These are my thoughts, let me hear yours.
Steve

Doubt and Fear

Right now I have this quote on my email for work:
Doubt and Fear are the greatest enemies of Knowledge.
He who conquers Doubt and Fear conquers Failure.

Now I don't know how you feel about these two words, but I personally believe they have caused more failures than anything else. Every time someone has Doubt and Fear it tends to lead them to do nothing, which generally is the absolute worst thing they could do. Most of the time, in my experience, doing nothing leads to worse failures than if you had done even the wrong thing.

Next time you realize you have doubt and fear attacking you, stop, take a deep breath, relax, and then go back to work acquiring the needed knowledge to do something - to make something happen - to move in a forward direction. You will conquer failure this way.

I once took a sales course where the leader suggested that it is much easier to push a pendulum in the wrong direction than the right way. But do it anyway, because once you get it moving it is much easier to push it back in the correct direction. It's the movement that counts most of the time. I've found that to be exactly true in my business career.

So my Raving for today is this: Doubt and Fear - NEVER EVER allow them an extra second of life when you realize they are with you. They will only push you away from true knowledge and towards failure.

These are my thoughts, what are yours?

Steve

Do Not Call Registration.

Cell phone numbers go public this month. This means that those nuisance calls you've received on your home phones can now be placed to your cell phone! And your cell service provider is supporting this effort (so they can increase your billings) by providing your number and info to the marketing firms doing this spamming.

Readers are reminded that all cell telephone numbers are being released to telemarketing companies. As a result, you may start to receive uninvited sales calls, for which you will be charged.

To prevent this, call the following number from your cell phone: 888-382-1222. This is the National DO NOT CALL list. It will only take a minute of your time and this will block your number for five years.

You must call from the cell phone number you want to have blocked. You cannot call from a different phone number.

You may also block calls to your land-line phones and get more information at https://www.donotcall.gov/default.aspx.

Steve

Protect what you create.

I was talking with a friend over the holiday weekend and learned that he is in the middle of a big home remodeling project which includes new tile flooring. He is doing part of the project himself and having contractors in to handle other parts. Naturally during our conversations about this project he asked my opinion on several issues, one of which is how in the world does he protect his finished tilework while others are walking around doing other work?

I was happy to educate him about using USG's Fiberock Floor Protection Paper to stop the dirt and other bad things from ruining his hard work and efforts. Most DIY'ers don't know about the TCNA Handbook but in that document it discusses protecting new tile work and that is exactly the role that this paper plays. What is necessary is a product that is fairly cheap, easy to work with, and yet still provides protection.

As I told my friend, I just don't know why EVERYONE who does any flooring work of any type, DIY or Professional, doesn't use this product every single day to protect what they create.

These are my thoughts on this, what are yours?

Steve

Thanksgiving Week

First I want to let everyone know that I will post a wrap-up of the ISO meeting results soon, but awaiting a written summary of all the actions so that I won't miss anything important that I had little interest or involvment with.

It's Thanksgiving week here and many folks are starting the preparations for the big feast. I question why we anticipate eating such a huge feast knowing that we also want to control or maintain our weight. Knowing that we will have to start again to lose those pounds that we gain in that one day always baffels me. I also know that many folks (mostly women I imagine) are planning for that huge shopping day - Black Friday - which follows the feast.

Now I for one, have NEVER been a fan of shopping, let along jumping into those insane crowds on that morning. I question why retail stores want to create such massive jams and overloads on their staff and facilities when they could just spread those out over a much longer time period and everyone would be happier and work easier. Is it the "mob" effect that they want to create?

Last Saturday we went to several stores in London, Harrods, (of course) and PriMart. Both stores were, at best, uncomfortable shopping experiences. My thoughts 50 foot inside of PriMart was how do I get out alive!! Literally the Que for check out was 200+ people long and everyone was pushing and shoving to get to the merchandise. No way would I have spent even a shilling in that store due to the atmosphere they have created. Harrods was slightly better, but still way too crowded and broken up for me to have what I call a good shopping experience.

I know we are in bad economic times, and I can appreciate wanting to improve business, but what about the proper environment being created for the desire to spend money? In the flooring business most of us spend huge amounts of time and effort, not to mention money, creating a scene of beauty so our consumers will desire it for their homes also.

Maybe the retail stores could take a few moments to study other types of selling and find a new and different path to profits.

These are my thoughts, what are yours?

Steve

ISO Meetings Part Two

After another full day of work we have accomplished the following:

Introduced and gotten approval for ISO to follow the latest ANSI Standards changes regarding the Coefficient of Friction issues.

Another vote via Internet on the new generation of test methods and criteria for adhesives which seems to have pitted Mapei against Laticrete as to what new testing methods and criteria is or is not needed in the setting materials business. Much discussion on both sides.

More discussion on the thin ceramic tiles or panels still not resolving the many differences in definitions, characteristics or test methods required for successful installation. Italy and China have been the countries with the most differences although Japan and other countries are now becoming involved.

The working group discussions on installation methods, as expected, still has no clear direction due to the many varied different conditions and methods used in the various countries and regions of the world. Several smaller national members would like a new labor standard to be developed but they have no resources or interest in working to develop those standards. The larger countries, like the US, have standards and are willing to share those but the standards cover much different installation methods so they are not useful unless labor in those other countries would completely change how they currently install.

Two other working groups also met, on ceramic tile test methods and product specifications and neither had much progress or major conflicts to resolve.

The Backer Board working group presented our proposal for the new CBU backer board standard and it was agree to be accepted as a working group draft which means that it will now be electronically distributed to the 50 member countries of the TC for comments and preliminary voting during the next few months.

One final report will follow

Steve

ISO TC 189 Meetings in London

I wanted to quickly report on the ISO meetings in London which started Monday and runs for the next four days (until Thursday). We have 50 countries represented with 66 people in attendance.

ISO runs a very elaborate agenda with many formal items so I will not attempt to cover all the many points of the first day in this report - 32 agenda items - but the highlight are:

Report and discussion of how ISO and the European Standards group are working together to accomplish simplifying the standards and codes across Europe and the rest of the world.

Report and discussion of Working Group 4 - Thin Tiles. Both Italy and China are highly involved in the making of this new category of tile products with many different characteristics that must be discussed and resolved for successful installations.

Report and discussion of Working Group 6 - Installation Methods. During discussions it seems to be the consensus that it will be difficult to resolve the many differences of methods of installation within the many different labor groups and methods of the member countries. It was also discussed that, for the most part, labor does not cross over borders in the same way that products do so this group may not be necessary. Each country seems to be satisfied that within their countries the labor groups are working well for the situations they face with international products being installed differently. We may still work to find an effective method of communicating different labor methods that work for the many countries so that other countries can possibly utilize those same installation methods.

More to follow tomorrow.

Questions??? Please email questions to me at Srausch@usg.com
Steve

Total Solutions Plus, Day Four

We are experiencing very poor Internet connection services with the hotel today, so this may be a very short posting.

This is the big learning sessions day at Total Solutions. We started with a fantastic Futurist speaker, Dr Jay Lehr who gave us many great ideas about what we can expect to see in the future of our industry and how he suggests we all change and adapt to move into more success. Big idea of the day was Tile as art, not just as a floor or wall covering.

We then had a choice of 4 breakout sessions which were all extremely interesting and provided different viewpoints of situations that we all face every day in the tile business. It made for a very difficult choice as to which sessions to attend.

A fantastic awards luncheon followed the morning sessions and we were treated to several industry folks receiving achievement awards. Ed Metcalf, President of Laticrete was the receiptant of the CTDA award while James Woelfel was the NTCA receiptant.

After lunch we had a quick report on the CTDA and NTCA organizational activities for the year and it really made you tired just hearing everything that has been happening at each of these organizations.

Four more breakout sessions followed for the balance of the afternoon.

We ended the day with a 4 hour table top show where approximately 40 vendors had booths to show the almost 450 attendees different products and services that make our industry so great to be involved with.

Tomorrow (Friday) is the final day and again it will be morning and afternoon breakout sessions followed by the keynote address: Marcus Luttrell, author and hero to celebrate veterans day in a patriotic style. We close the week and show with a huge closing reception and Western Themed Dinner with lots of music and dancing. As I will be returning to Atlanta I won't provide any more updates on activities after this post.

I do want to express my deepest wishes that if you have been reading this blog from your home that you make a vow right now to attend next year in person and see for yourself how this quick week can inspire you and provide many valuable ideas for your personal and business growth throughout the entire year.

Steve

Total Solutions Plus, Day Three

I'm sorry this is late as I've heard from many folks that they are looking forward to hearing what's happening here at TSP.

We started the day with a new Green Squared Certification Summit. On Monday at the ANSI meeting this program was passed as a new standard, and now we have 3 respected labs appointed as authorized certification bodies. What's next? Tcna companies can start the process of being certified which will add to additional business within our industry for the sustainable movement.

We also had a meeting of the NTCA Five Star Contractor group. This group is made up of the absolute best and finest companies that are dedicated to quality installation of our products. Every contracting company in our industry should be aspiring to become a member of this group.

We had Board meetings of CTDA and NTCA. Both groups handled the general business side of the associations and provided reports OS the many activities that their membership is involved with.

We ended the day with an All Industry Reception where the over 450 registered folks were able to meet and socialize.

Thursday provides us with many breakout learning sessions and I look forward to providing, as best as I can, an overview of all of the sessions.

Steve

Total Solutions Plus, Day Two

Another exciting and full day of meetings.

TCNA had their board meeting today - many reports on the issues that we've been working on all year, including discussions about the 2012 edition of the TCNA Handbook. Tile Council has laid out some very aggressive plans for many new member programs for next year that will certainly benefit our industry.

CTDA had a full agenda today of committee meetings including: Convention Planning, Membership and Benefits committee, CCTS Testing, Education, Marketing & PR, Green Building, and Certification committee. All of those back to back meetings covering all the many activities this group does for their members.

NTCA spent the entire day in the Technical Committee, of which I am a member, and we covered 18 different issues as well as 3 new business items. One of the highlights of the day was a hands on demo of the proper way to hang CBU backer board units on steel studs and an overview of the new "EQ" gauge steel studs and what to look for when you find them on your job site. A great number of items come out of this committee and go on to become industry standards for products and installation methods.

The day just ended with the CTEF Board meeting with 10 business items discussed including an update on the Certified Tile Installer Program progress for this year as well as strategic planning for 2012. We are looking at some very exciting new program plans to continue to improve the installation side of our industry.

Many interesting meetings happening this week at TSP and starting Thursday we will have the start of the Breakout Sessions where the real learning takes place.
Stay tuned for tomorrow's update.

Steve

Total Solutions Plus, Day One.

This week I will be reporting from beautiful Phoenix, AZ on the Total Solutions Plus Meetings and Trade Show. This is the group meetings for all 4 of the major ceramic tile industry associations, TCNA, CTDA, NTCA, and CTEF.

Monday was devoted to the ANSI Committee meeting, the ISO Tag meeting, and the MMSA Meeting.
The ANSI meeting discussed 5 ballot issues for new standards and the status for each issue - several have already passed but several are going to need review and re-balloting due to pending negative votes. This is the way that a consensus ballot works, we must deal with the negative votes so that the standard is acceptable to all groups that participate.
We then had 4 new submissions received and discussed, 3 of which were submitted by the MMSA committee.
We finished the ANSI meeting with reports from 3 Ad-Hoc Committees that have been and will continue to study various issues that possibly may become ballot issues.

We then moved into the ISO TAG group meeting and had reports on the 7 current working groups.
Working group 1 - addresses tile testing methods
Working group 2 - addresses tile specifications
Working group 3 - addresses installation materials
Working group 4 - addresses thin tile issues
Working group 5 - addresses proposed backer board standards
Working group 6 - addresses installation methods and issues
Working group 7 - addresses sustainability issues

These 7 working groups all gave reports on the status of their committees and discussed next weeks expected issues at the full ISO TC-189 meeting in London, UK.

Next were discussions on two potential new working groups addressing:
A. Anti-microbial test methods proposals
B. Next generation of test methods and criteria for adhesives.

Finally we discussed the status of all of the ISO TC-189 projects underway.

The final meeting of the day was for the MMSA - (The Material & Methods Standards Association). This is one of the main groups to develop potential new standards for our industry, focusing mainly on installation materials and methods.

Our first order of business was to re-elect our current slate of officers for another 3 year term as all have been working very hard and accomplishing much for the organization and industry. Thanks to all 5 of the officers for their efforts.

We then had 10 committee reports on various projects underway that again may develop into future standards or test projects that will improve our industry.

Next we discussed pending old business including updating and producing product bulletins and the MMSA website. WWW.mmsa.wa

Under New Business we discussed a presentation being made to the TSP audience on Thursday as well as forming a new working committee to address Gypsum Self leveling products.

Tomorrow will be another full day with reports on more technical committee meetings as well as other committee meetings for TCNA, NTCA and CTDA. Closing out tomorrow is the Board of Directors meeting for CTEF.

See you tomorrow with yet another report and update from TSP.

Steve

Are you listening?

Our friends (?) at Bank of America have blown open a huge hole in their customer relations by forgetting to listen to the customer about debit card charges. They have suffered the consequences of their mistakes in both the public opinion as well as direct loss of business.

The lesson we can all learn here is to be certain to frequently ask our customers for their opinions and then actually listen to them. It seems to be that "LISTENING" part that so many of us struggle with. Many folks, it seems especially strong leader types, struggle with listening to other thoughts or ideas, especially when those opinions are opposite of theirs. Most of us want to fight for our opinions, right or wrong, but we are ready to discount any other viewpoint that isn't aligned with ours. I personally just started following another blog: You are not so smart. WWW.youarenotsosmart.com This great blog regularly points out many of my shortcomings and faults, but as painful as it is to hear, it is correct info. I am attempting to focus on this, especially when it comes to business issues.

So why is this listening skill so critical? Your customers have a great option in doing business with you - they can easily "VOTE WITH THEIR FEET" and leave for other providers who DO listen to them. Ask Bank of America!

I want to close with a quote that a friend of mine uses frequently, and is worth everyone remembering.

NEVER LET YOUR EGO GET IN THE WAY OF YOUR WALLET!

These are my thoughts, what are yours? Please share your opinions - I promise to value them!
Steve

Trick or Treat??

Digging around the grave yard I've uncovered some very interesting numbers.

41 MILLION: that, according to the 2010 Census, is the number of children ages 5-14 who will go Trick or Treating this year.

116.7 MILLION: again according to the 2010 census that is the number of occupied housing units in America today - potential targets for those Trick or Treaters.

1.1 BILLION: number of pounds of pumpkins grown during 2009 and the majority of that crop is used somehow during this season.

Now I know you are wondering how I could EVER possibly tie this into a Raving, well that is easy - You see all those folks with all those children ALL need whatever it is that you are making or selling - that's right - they're potential targets (OK substitute customers) for your efforts. Now the real question is this: Will you provide them a treat or a trick when they visit you?

Many companies promise their customers a huge treat if they come do business with them and indeed only deliver a "Trick" instead. Don't be one of them! Deliver at least what you promise - at the minimum - successful companies (and people) deliver MORE than they promise every time!!

Think about this Raving while you spend the next few days getting prepared for your little visitors to come ring your doorbell.

Steve

I'LL NEVER BE A PROFESSIONAL BODY BUILDER.

This is a huge realization in my life, but sometimes reality just has to be faced head-on. Does this mean that I now must stop trying to watch my weight or health? Not at all! It just means that despite any desires I might have it just will never be possible, no matter how much motivation or mental preparedness I develop, I just don't have what it takes to become a professional level body builder.

Does this sound out of character for the Steve Rausch you have come to know? Not at all, I still believe in creating dreams, showing spirit, and working hard towards a goal. I just need to be realistic about the fulfillment of some of the goals I set.

I still embrace the concept of living life doing what you love with all the passion and spirit you can give. Just be sure to have a healthy dose of reality so that you aren't chasing an empty or impossible goal. My personal body and my decisions about time spent on just one single segment of my life, will never allow me to reach that professional level - I can still spend time on training and exercise, and IMPROVE my body, but realistically I can never, given my circumstances and age, reach that top professional level.

I was deeply saddened by the death of Dan Wheldon this week, but I also rejoice knowing that he died absolutely happy doing what his passions and spirit led him to do for earning his living. None of us know when our time is up on this earth, but how many of us know that we are daily doing exactly what it is that makes us the passionate driven person that we want to be doing exactly what we love in our daily lives. I also lost a good friend several months ago who was a pilot. He made a landing and taxied into a fuel pump and died in the cockpit. I had many prior conversations with him and one of his concerns what dieing while flying his beloved airplane and (A) hurting someone on the ground, (B) ruining his aircraft which he had spent many hours restoring to like new condition. He died, I'm confident, absolutely happy at that moment.

I have been blessed in both my business and personal life to be able to make that claim also - how about you? If you aren't, then start right now, today, to change yourself and take personal responsibility to begin doing what it is that you love daily.

These are my thoughts, what are yours?

Steve

MAYBE NEXT YEAR????

Many folks I come in contact with have already written off 2011 and are wishfully looking forward to next year. They seem to preface everything they say or do with "Maybe next year" and then outline some distant plan for doing what they want to accomplish.

I have to ask: "What is wrong with this year?" I guess I just don't understand why you can't still create accomplishments in 2011. Is this the best of times? NO. However, there is still time to make things happen and that will only happen if (A) YOU believe, (B) YOU start into action, (C) you actually DO something.

Anyone who knows me knows that I absolutely believe in written plans and goals, and that when you take the time to put your thoughts/ideas into writing it seems to make those things happen. I also like to do planning in advance of the need (whatever need that might be) so I agree that mid-October isn't too soon to start thinking about and planning for 2012. However, there is still plenty of time left in this year to continue to strive and accomplish your last years goals.

IF you have already reached your 2011 goals then I suggest that you set your sights way too low last year. Old Indian saying: "Its easier to hit the Flying Eagle when you are aiming at the Sun." If you've missed your 2011 plans and goals then don't give up, start pushing harder and working longer and smarter.

Nobody ever has an absolute promise of another "tomorrow" let alone a "Next Year." So why not give today all you have in the way of energy and efforts and work towards meeting the goals and dreams you have already outlined instead of spending time making excuses and thinking about the "MAYBE NEXT YEAR" trap.

These are my thoughts on this subject, what are yours?

Steve

Why run for elected office?

I've spent considerable time lately thinking about (pondering) and watching the politician's trying to decide about running for elected office. It used to be fairly simple, but obviously today it has become so complex you have to wonder why anyone would subject themselves to that grief.

It is no longer enough to want to serve and help your country - I fear that has long ago passed and today it is ONLY about the power and money. No matter which party or side you choose to be associated with, the only way someone can become noticed or known is by using the media of some type and that never escapes the watchful eye of those who currently hold the power and money - and they absolutely are not going to let someone into the inside circle with promises of providing more power and more money to them.

When a respectable and good intentioned person does finally break into the limelight, then everyone, it seems, from both sides, go into attack mode and attempts to disgrace that person so that THEY can look better. It seems like nobody, even within the same party, wishes anyone else any success and does their absolute best to destroy the candidate before he or she ever gets started.

We have a long list of potential folks for office, from the Presidential race all the way to local levels, and it doesn't seem to matter who or how good someones past is (was?) that person is probed and questioned until at least once, one day, under immense pressure, they make one tiny mistake and then the entire world it seems jumps on them and starts picking at that tiny issue.

I wonder how our founding fathers would view our current political process? I wonder if ANY of them could be elected with today's process? My main wonder is why does anyone, knowing all of the above, ever decide to attempt to run for elected office?

These are my thoughts, please share yours......
Steve

Shotgun approach??

Last time I discussed getting lost in the details. Now I want to discuss using a "SHOTGUN APPROACH" i.e. do a little bit of everything and see what works. However, I need a caution statement (somewhat like a legal disclaimer) before I start - and that is this:

Self-Control is the ability to say no, in the face of temptation, and to take sustained action, despite the difficulty of a given challenge. At its heart, self-control requires (DEMANDS) the ability to delay gratification. More commonly, its called discipline, or will power. Without self-control, we can't ever accomplish almost anything of enduring value. Yet most of us choose to not pay very much attention to this skill.

My wife frequently asks me "Did you accomplish what you wanted to get done today?" I must just as frequently reply, "Not really," and that is just before she starts to laugh, or at least smile.

You see, some people are just naturally pre-disposed to being very highly productive. They start their day with a clear and reasonable intention of what they plan to do, then they work diligently throughout the day, sticking to their plan, focused on accomplishing their most important priorities, until the day ends and they've accomplished their most important priorities and almost exactly what they had expected. EACH and EVERY day moves them one day closer to what it was they planned and intended to accomplish for the week, and month, and year!

Unfortunately, I am not one of "THOSE" people. Left to my own devices, I rarely start my day with the satisfaction of a plan that is well developed to be easily executed into consistent actions as the plan calls for. My natural inclination is to start my morning, sometimes late due to my intense dislike for rushing (because I CAUSE myself to rush so often), with a long and very overly ambitious list of what I remember that I hope to accomplish and then have to push myself by sheer will power to attempt to accomplish what I can of the list. Many times (OK, most of the time) I remember something that I forgot to put on that list, that absolutely needs to be accomplished right now, and my entire plan is thrown to the winds while I play catch-up.

Oh yea, I'm also prone to be so very busy, answering emails, multitasking, taking phone calls, running small errands, that without intervention, I get very little of REAL IMPORTANCE done during my day. Oh yea, and I'm still late, and now exhausted. Now, unsatisfied by how little of the important items I've accomplished, I further hurt myself by doing something that will make me feel better in that moment, like browsing the Internet or eating something I shouldn't be eating.

So here is my point in all of this, the odds are against us in getting our most important priorities accomplished unless we purposely utilize our Self-Control and discipline or willpower. Our instincts most often drive us towards instant gratification and it seems the world conspires against us to drive us off task also.
For me personally, the allure of accomplishing lots of little details will often override my focus on the BIG THINGS that I value most and want to accomplish most. Each morning I must change my natural tendency by exerting my self-control. I must focus and psych myself up to have that productive day, commit to myself to have a written plan, not get distracted or do "FUN" things until the important work is done.

I need to climb out of this pit the exact same way I climbed in: with new rituals and new habits.
1. I absolutely need to spend 5 minutes at the end of each day reviewing what I intended to accomplish and then making a written list of the most important tasks that I have to accomplish the next day.
2. I have to look at what worked during the day and do more of that the next day, as well as look at what didn't work and stop doing that.
3. It seems to always work out that I discover daily that I need to stop being scattered and ineffective and intentionally focus on more productive activities in an organized and methodical way that leaves very little "WIGGLE" room for me to go astray.

Now I try to spend 5 minutes first thing in the morning working thru my calendar, adding those critical most important tasks that I review from the night before list, and then work my schedule. I try to answer emails in chunks at predetermined times during the day instead of whenever the computer dings (Actually I turned the dings off so I'm not distracted), and I try to never allow anything important do stay on my to do list more than 3 days without either accomplishing it or scheduling it onto my calendar. Unfortunately, some items just get deleted, and that also helps me to determine the value of what I choose.

My biggest challenge now is twofold: Staying productive, and staying consistent. I just can't stop or overlook either one of these two critical rituals. I absolutely MUST maintain these two daily, forever more, or I will fall back into the poor habits that kept me from being a productive person and just "Shotgunning" my day.

I've always been a big believer in using results as the differentiators between success and failure. You either achieve your goals or you don't. PERIOD. However I gave myself backsliding room on the timing issue of WHEN I was able to achieve my goals. No longer. I now know that you don't create value unless timely results are achieved.

These are my thoughts, what are yours?
Steve

Lost in the Details??????

I've had a full and interesting week. I've been up in Chicago at our Libertyville Corporate Innovation Center looking forward at all types of innovations on our horizon and that always is a "Mountain Top" experience for me.

One HUGE take-away is a great discussion I had with one person about my blog on the 4 "P's" of Preparation, Perseverance, Patience, and Persistence. This person was wondering if I was leading folks to be lost in the details rather than seeing the entire or whole picture.

The discussion centered around what makes a good (or great) strategy. We both agreed that it requires, at minimum, at least 3 vital elements:
A Diagnosis of the current situation and thoughts around what you want the situation to become.
Decide on a Guiding Policy, that is the outline of your plan to become that new situation.
Decide on the Course of Action, as well as a time frame for that action.

Where we started to disagree is deciding the level of details that would be best to make this action strategy work at maximum effectiveness. My friend suggested that my suggestion provided way too many details that could cause someone to become lost in the details and lose the value of a great strategy. My contention is that without at least a minimum of details the strategy could be so mis-interpreted that it would lose value, i.e. that you NEED a level of detail that provides a solid framework for the strategy to be easily understood as to the intention of the mission.

We both realize that a effective strategy is critical to any operation that you want to go in a certain direction, no matter how simple or detailed it may be. It is that level of details that seemed to be our sticking point.

So my friends, here is my CALL TO ACTION for YOU TODAY: Hit comments and reply with YOUR thoughts and/or experiences on what level of details you feel are necessary for a great strategy to work best. I won't judge or be offended, just want to share with others more useful information.

Steve

Friday Thoughts

I'm in somewhat of a funk today. I received a picture this morning from a pilot friend of mine who has the exact same airplane as I do, and he had crashed yesterday. Everyone is alright, but the plane is totaled. Looking at the picture gives me many thoughts, some not so pleasant, about training and taking personal responsibility.

It is widely accepted and proven by research that it takes 7 repetitions of information for consumers to really understand what you are saying or selling. The same holds true, I believe, about training of any type. Pilots spend a lot of time training for potential problem situation (like crashing) so that they can do as my friend did, walk away from the crash unhurt. Being in business today isn't really much different, we need to constantly train in our profession to keep sharp and stay current with the ever changing world we all live in. When was the last time you took a day away from your business to train for a potential problem situation? What about taking training for personal growth?

Accepting personal responsibility is another area that flashed thru my mind today when I was looking at the picture. This pilot took personal responsibility firmly in his own hands when his life was on the line during that emergency. He recalled the training that he purposely took to be prepared, and applied it quickly to the situation he was facing. He showed personal responsibility by knowing and taking action to stay current as a pilot so that when times of stress did show up he was prepared and knew exactly what he had to do. When was the last time you took time to learn or review what is important to your business? What are you doing in your life to accept your personal responsibility for your situation that you may be facing?

I'm sad also as there is the loss of a great aircraft. Not sure what caused this accident, but no matter what caused it, the plane is a total loss. Isn't our current economy somewhat like that? Some businesses and many people are suffering right now with situations that may not be their fault and that is just a fact, but just like my friend who is rejoicing that nobody was injured or hurt, we can be happy that every single day is another new opportunity for a fresh start. No matter what we may have failed at today, we get another opportunity to do something different tomorrow. When was the last time you took time to consider what you would like a "DO OVER" about tomorrow?

The thought I want to leave you with today is this: No matter what happens to you or in your life today, you have the ability to choose HOW you respond to that situation. You can take personal responsibility and be trained and ready for potential problems or you can just have something completely unexpected pop upon you and still use your gifts and talents to respond and limit the damage. It is all your choice. Make wise choices today my friends.

These are my thoughts today, what are yours?
Steve

Saturday Football Fan's

I'm always amazed when I watch Saturday football and see all the fans showing such passion for the team they support. Can you imagine what would happen if those same fans would show that same level of passion at work during the week? Is work or other areas of life as important as college football (or any other sports)?

Imagine the sales your field sales force could make if they approached each sales call with the passion they expect from their team on each play. Imagine the product knowledge your folks would have if they studied your literature and specification sheets with the same intensity they study the game stats. Imagine how much more professionally your team could do their jobs if they studied their profession with the same level of intensity as they study the opponent for next weeks big game.

I suppose my question today is this: Where would this revolution have to begin? Could it start with YOU? Could it start on Monday?

These are my thoughts, what are yours?

Are you unemployed today?

So many people I run into these days are either unemployed or underemployed. They're good folks, just looking for that break to get back into the world of the gainfully employed. I have several suggestions for you today.

Remember the 4 "P's" you need for success:
PREPARATION
PERSEVERANCE
PATIENCE
PERSISTENCE

I truly believe the most important is the first "P" of Preparation. I've done my fair share of interviewing (on both sides of the table) and I want to suggest several BETTER THAN AVERAGE questions. Most interviewers ask about the same questions - "What are your strengths and weaknesses?" Most interviews are short on probing questions and focus too much on the exact same information that has already been given on the resume.

Below are some questions (my TOP 10 bakers dozen) that I've used before when I've interviewed folks, and I've always had this type of info ready when I've been the one being interviewed. This is valuable information that will help both sides decide if the position and you are right for each other.

*When I call your references, what will they say about you? Why do they feel that way?
*What accomplishments are you particularly proud of and why?
*What motivates you? How do you motivate others? Why does that work for you?
*Why are you in the job market right now?
*Where do you see yourself in five years? Why?
*How do you resolve disputes? Why does that work?
*Describe your management style. Why do you believe it works for you?
*What is the biggest mistake you've ever made? How did you recover from it?
*Most everyone claims to have good communication skills, tell me about yours? Why are yours different and why do they work well for you?
*If you had a "Magic Wand" describe your ideal job and work environment.
*What is the biggest decision you ever had to make? Why did you make it as you did? How did it turn out? What, if anything, would you do differently today?
*Describe your dream organization chart and how you fit into it.
*What question do you want me to ask you that I haven't ask about yet? Why?

I believe if you think about and know the answers to the above questions you will do much better than the average on landing the right position for you. Good Luck!

These are my thoughts, what are yours?
Steve

The Gift

John Wayne (a Great American) once said "Life is Tough, Life is Tougher when you're Stupid." Everyone must be getting dumber today as life is certainly getting tougher today. It seems no matter where we go or turn we hear bad news and disappointments. It comes from all directions, almost in a non-stop rage.

As the rain falls on our Labor Day Weekend retreat at the lake house, I picked up a book that I've had for several years, wanting to read it but never quite finding the time. As the old saying goes, "When the time is right for the student, the teacher appears!" This must be the right time for me to learn the lessons from this book. The book is: The Gift, by Ron Reynolds. It is fascinating and so relevant to today's times. This book is about YOUR Talent, YOUR obsession, Your calling, yes, YOUR GIFT!

Everyone has a GIFT, it's just that most of us don't bother to discover our gift nor use our gift. Oh we somehow knew we had a gift when we were younger, but the hard knocks of life have somehow dampened our view of our gift and allowed us to forget that we ever even had a gift, but we all did and still do. I want to share part of my gift with you right now.

"IF YOU WOULD PLANT FOR DAYS, PLANT FLOWERS. IF YOU WOULD PLANT FOR YEARS, PLANT TREES. BUT IF YOU WANT TO PLANT FOR ETERNITY, PLANT IDEAS!" By sharing and teaching your ideas to others, you truly do affect eternity, for rest assured that there will be NO LIMITS to where your influence stops. By touching another life and helping to change the direction of that life through your ideas and teachings, you have the capacity to alter events.

Many of my friends question why I started this blog, and I never had a good answer for them other than I just wanted to share my thoughts and ideas with others. Now, today as I read this book, THE GIFT, I too am receiving enlightenment as to where this gift of mine has come from and where it is leading me towards. Simply helping others by improving myself.

Please, I plead with you, take time to reflect and re-discover your gift and start using it today to help others. I promise you that the outside world will never understand, and you may not change the bad news that comes daily, but you will absolutely change your little part of the world and bad news won't be nearly so bad for you when you do.

These are my thoughts today, please post your comments with your thoughts on this.
Steve

Do you know where you're going?

Today I'm at a business meeting to discuss where we've been business wise so far this year, where we've stayed on plan, where we've missed our plan, but most importantly where we're going for the rest of the year and to start thinking about next years plan.

While doing all of this I happen to read an article about traffic issues in a major city and a report that the problems are caused by folks not knowing where they are going. Isn't that always one of the major causes of all of our difficulties in life?

Many people seem to float thru life, from problem to problem without ever pausing to consider where they are going and what they are doing to know how to get there. A GPS in your car is a wonderful tool, but only helps you if you turn it on and use it.

Same thing with your business plan or your personal life plan. First you must actually HAVE a plan, then you MUST USE IT! If you don't already have written goals for your business and personal life, the absolute most important thing you can do today is to stop whatever you are doing, pull off the road, and turn on your GPS to develop and write down your goals. Nothing else is more important!

You don't need too many, and they don't have to be fancy, but they must be clearly written and you must live with them and refer to them daily. I don't know one single successful person who doesn't have and use written goals. Not one!

Force yourself to know where you are going today..

These are my thoughts, what are yours?
Steve

But it's NOT MY FAULT!

In today's times it seems that everyone from the President on down to the local businessman wants to fall back on that old line: "It's not my fault" "It was _______'s fault and I'm just stuck with the mess they created."


Whatever happened to the old standard of personal responsibility?
Whatever happened to taking the responsibility for who you are, where you are, and what you are doing (or not doing) that is causing the current situation you find yourself involved with?

I know several folks who are long term unemployed and they all have the same excuse as to why they are where they are currently - It's not their fault! One guy needs to speak Spanish to get the role that he is looking for, yet he's not willing to take the time and effort to learn the language, so he continues to get turned down for the jobs he apply's for.

There's an old quote about doing the same things over and over exactly the same way and expecting different results! Why not try something new and different today just for the fun of seeing what may actually happen?

Another fellow I know has a job but isn't earning the money he wants, but just sits at his desk and cry's about how people aren't coming in his door and buying. When I ask him about the old lost skill of "Prospecting" for new business he just stares at me and said: "What's the use? People just aren't buying today!" That's another way of saying: "It's not my fault!"

Funny thing is this - some folks ARE taking personal responsibility for their situations, even if it really isn't their faults, and making progress towards success on a daily basis. Somehow I just believe they will be the first ones to emerge from this recession on top of their fields and doing the most business.

My suggestion today is that you take time right now to think about your situation and make a list of just 3 items that you can do to improve it. Don't try to work on 5-10 items, just focus on 1 to 3 items and when you have changed those items repeat the process.

This is my thoughts about this subject, what are yours?

Focus and Stay in Business.

The past week has been a very difficult one for many people, and I wanted to discuss the need to focus on your business first and foremost. 3 Restaurants that we have frequented for the past 20+ years have closed their doors and gone out of business.

These folks all had fantastic products, they just lost their focus and forgot Business Rule #1, Stay in Business! Any small business owner will agree that it is the single most difficult thing they have to do - forget about doing the business and focus on staying in business. Allow me to explain as I have personal experience with this discussion.

Approximately 10 years ago I owned several small businesses in the tile and flooring industry, all in the retail segment. I became so engrossed in DOING the business everyday that I lost focus and sight of STAYING in Business. The "business" of doing business is absolutely the most difficult thing each business owner must do. Most of us that start our own small business do so in the field that we know and love. We forget that certain financial and business principals are necessary to stay on top of, no matter what business we are doing.

The restaurant that I hurt for the most this week is one that served fantastic quality food, in great portions, at reasonable prices. The business was crowded almost every single day they were open. Two weeks ago on a Friday evening 4 of us waited almost 30 minutes for a table. When we left several hours later there was still a line at the front door, waiting for a table! Now HOW could this business go out of business? If money was the issue they could simply raise every price of every meal by say $1.00 and resolve that issue. If help or personnel issues were the problem that could also easily be solved.

The big point here is that most likely the owner wasn't aware of the problem or problems until they were so HUGE that he couldn't overcome them. He was too busy doing the business on a daily basis to RUN and Manage the business. That skill, management, requires focus on solid business and financial principals that have nothing at all to do with the actual product or service the business provides.

Current economic conditions in this country will not allow any mistakes to continue for very long without driving you out of business extremely quickly. Back a few years ago everyone could make mistakes and hardly notice them due to the free flow of money and business that allowed businesses to become bloated and sloppy. No longer is that allowed. I was talking with another small business owner today and he confided to me that his almost fatal mistake was waiting too long before making required cut backs to survive. When he did make the needed changes his losses reversed but much damage was already done and due to the new banking environment today he isn't able to get a line of credit to help smooth over the rough times as he has always done in the past. Now he must work solely on his cash flow, personal savings, and suppliers credit lines.

No matter where you are in the business world picture today, retail level, wholesale level, manufacturer level, or even trade association, you need to focus daily on the solid business principals required to make any effort successful. Nobody is exempt, Wal-Mart, Home Depot, Macy's and any other business of any size must absolutely focus daily on staying in business. Today it is mandatory that everyone, at all levels, set intelligent budgets and live within those budgets. Get focused on your business and stay focused daily so you too can stay in business.

These are my thoughts, what are yours?
Steve

Know and Use your Strengths

So many folks today tend to waste time and energy suffering and worrying about stuff they wish they could do, rather than understanding and knowing their own strengths. This "I Wish I could......." mentality is a killer to your optimism and energy. I saw a post on a blog recently titled "Are you a Duck or Eagle?" - and the whole theme was knowing and understanding what you are and then using your strengths to become the best YOU can be, rather than attempting to become something or someone that you aren't. Both the Duck and the Eagle are fantastic at what each of them do, and extremely poor if they ever attempt to do the other's role. Same with us humans.

When we were young we saw the world as our banquet table, waiting to conquer our dreams and desires. We generally ruled out nothing, and that was and is great for a young person, however most of us have long ago passed that point in life. This became extremely clear to me this past weekend at my 42nd high school class reunion. I saw folks who have "made it" and others still trying to "find themselves." It is highly unlikely you will ever make star status as a singer if you spend your time swimming every day, however, you make become the next Olympic swimming star if you continue going to your strengths and likes.

Many experts advise us to discover your greatest weaknesses and work to shore them up. I suggest the opposite, focus and favor your aptitudes, passions and talents then spend your time developing your skills there. You can become really great at something you love, while the best you will ever become if you focus on your weakness is possibly just mediocre at best. It is highly unlikely anyone will ever pay you for something you just due because you learned to be average at it, while many will pay for something you are fantastic doing and become one of the best at it. I never have been very good at being a handyman doing home repairs, but by following my strengths and likings I am blessed to earn enough money to pay others, who are good and happy doing that, while I enjoy (and earn money) doing what I do so well.

How do you discover your callings? Your strength's? I suggest you spend some quality time thinking about and listing the following:
1. What things are easy for me?
2. What do others tell me I do exceptionally well?
3. What things do I do that make me lose total track of time?
4. What do I find fun and fulfilling?

When you list activities that appear on all 4 lists then you will be focusing in on your strengths and know what to work on. I believe it is far wiser to explore and develop your aptitudes, passions, and talents and then you will quickly find tremendous enjoyment and satisfaction and become excellent in your field. That is when others will highly reward you for what you do.

This is my thoughts and opinions on this, what are yours?
Steve

Change Part 2. Discussion.

“If you are irritated by every rub, how will your mirror be polished?”
Rumi –Persian Philospher

Interesting quote to follow up my last Raving. I've had more comments on the last raving than any other I've posted, so obviously there is much interest in this area.

Today I want to remind everyone to focus on the solutions rather than the problems. It is an important part of dealing with tough situations. Our Atlanta school system has been blasted over approximately 130 teachers and administrators cheating and changing students scores. Now we all know that was wrong, and the students suffer thru no fault of their own, but the entire Atlanta School system is not bad - well over 800 good folks still work there and yet the media chooses to only spotlight the 130 rotten ones. Thank goodness another group has come forward to point out that the vast majority of the teachers and administrators in Atlanta are good folks.

So this sounds simple right? Focus only on the solutions and not the problems? It isn't that easy believe me. First of all you actually SEE the problem, and rarely do you easily see the solution. So as you SEE the problem, it tends to grow and increase. We start to focus on the problem and expend our energy on the problem and yet it still seems to grow. The solutions become few and I am most likely worn out and frustrated by the problem. Problems are in the world, have always been here and will continue to be here. So we much CHANGE.

The single most important way we can change is to choose to change from a "PROBLEM FOCUS into a SOLUTION FOCUS." Focusing on the solution, or possible solutions, tends to allow us to see our way out of the circumstances and allows us to find contentment and peace during the time of the problems.

Focus on the solutions, stay POSITIVE and actively seek those things that work towards the solution and stop focusing and wasting energy on the problem.

I hope this helps continue the process. Please let me know YOUR thoughts.

Steve

Uncertain Times and Change

If you don't like drama then living in these times are really causing you an extremely unstable world! Washington politicians seem to thrive on creating drama, almost like a heckler in an audience, seemingly bent on destroying the act on stage. But, it is everywhere we look today.
Today's press release of TalkFloor by Dave Foster being bought out by BNP Media is yet another example.

My question to you today: Is that good change or bad change?

I suggest it completely depends upon your point of view, and your attitude. I can make strong argument's for both sides. Knowing Dave I realize this gives him a huge resource boost that will allow him to more fully provide more and better programing. Also for BNP it gives them yet another, different vehicle to reach more audience with all of their products/programs. To me this move seems to create stability via change.
Now I also see the less positive side, one that all of us in the Ceramic Tile and Flooring business see so often, another small guy gobbled up by a larger conglomerate group. Dave loses control (degree to be determined) and BNP gets bigger and loses more touch with their daily business. So the change has helped push another company towards the Wal-Mart status of control of the market. As I suggested earlier, good or bad depends upon your point of view and attitude. In my case, I say congratulations to both sides for an apparent win-win situation!

So back to my origional thoughts. Change and Drama. Uncertain times, unstable situations, etc. Why do we react to these situations with feelings of fear, doubt and anxiety? It's due to your AMYGDALA, a small, almond shaped structure in your brain that craves certainty and when it hears otherwise is shoots out chemicals to your body that starts the feelings of fear, doubt, and anxiety.

Now we can all use this small piece of knowledge to help stabilize ourselves in todays times. We control very little today, but we control the absolute MOST IMPORTANT FACTOR: HOW WE CHOOSE TO REACT!
We can use the knowledge about the amygdala to eliminate the feelings and the drama by knowing that again tomorrow, in spite of the uncertainty, the sun will once again come up and the day will start. How we face that new day is what we can control by creating our own stable environment and reduce the drama.

Here are a few steps I see to help us:
1. Learn to Know Yourself - be clear here - drama thrives on a lack of clarity. Master yourself first, and think about the emotions you are feeling before you react to situations.
2. Have written Values and Principles - understand what is important to you and then focus on those ideas. Written is critical so you can review them often. If you don't currently have a written "Life Purpose Statement" that outlines your values and principals you want to live by, I suggest you make that a top priority this month. No, you don't have to wait until Jan 1st to make a New Years resolution - do it now!
3. Listen and Think - critical step here also. Learn how to ask great questions. Instead of having all the answers, try truly listening to others and considering their viewpoints and perspectives, which most likely will be somewhat different from yours. It is tough to always have all the answers - remember James Bond and Columbo both solved all their cases, but in very different ways using very different methods. Both achieved success. I've always found it much too difficult for me to become a James Bond, but man I can handle that Columbo act very naturally!
4. Respect. If you communicate disrespect for others you will be contributing to the drama and uncertainty rather than helping with the solution. Every person and situation has something to teach you - some are lessons on what to do, some are lessons on what NOT to do - but both critically and equally important.

These tumultuous times offer huge opportunities if you choose to focus not on the outside circumstances but rather your own choices of how YOU choose to react. I plan to work on this skill today, how about you?

Steve

Doing Business Today = WOW!

Websters defines Prosperity as this: To succeed in an enterprise or activity; to become strong and flourishing; to thrive in your environment. The root word from the Greek language means: Success in reaching a goal or to have a profitable journey. In the old Hebrew language the word has this meaning: To rush forward; To break-out; To go over the top; To be great; to become profitable; to CAUSE great effects.

Now I don't know about you but I really like that Hebrew definition of Prosperity!

The problem arises with thinking about defining prosperity in the business world we have today. It seems as all the rules have totally changed - or have they? Remember back in "The Good Old Days" when you needed folks to learn about us or our products from just plain "word of mouth?" We used to say that we needed "X" number of people to try us, know about us, then LIKE us. We then asked each of them to EACH tell 6 - 10 of their friends, who then tried us, liked what we did, then they told 6 - 10 of their friends and slowly we experienced prosperity. Much as a rock thrown into a pond, the larger your ring grows the stronger you felt prosperity.

Are the times today really any different? I will agree that the audience is much larger and easily reached by many more competitors, but I believe the same simple formula for prosperity still is valid. I see a period of time - call it a "seed time" and then a period that we can call a "Harvest time." Farmers used to always say that the harvest will SURELY come if we plant the right seeds and nurture them properly. It seems to be widely accepted that if you plant CORN seeds you will get a harvest crop of CORN and not beans. I believe the Bible refers to this as Reap what you Sow! Another TRUTH!

So where am I headed with this and why? I see many people and companies trying to move directly to "Harvest" without planting the proper "Seeds" and expecting something different than what they planted. If you want your customers to care about and for you and your business you must first care about them. Examine what THEY want and desire, then design a better method or product to fill the need and I suggest you will STILL TODAY Harvest PROSPERITY!

These are my thoughts, what are yours? Let me know, I promise to reply.
Steve

Build a Better Anything in 4 easy steps.

First allow me to apologize for being offline several weeks, we've had vacation and moved our USG Atlanta offices so I just didn't force myself to post. My bad! Sorry!

On to today's topic: I took a class not too long ago and this post came from much of what I learned in that class. I was thinking and considering what all we discussed during that class with a specific goal in mind and found that the same basic 4 steps will work for almost any situation that you want to accomplish anything.

Here are the 4 steps with a brief explanation for each step.

1. ANALYZE - First look at the situation, decide if you are working with FACTS or EMOTIONS. Then challenge ABSOLUTES, are they really absolute? Confront STUPIDITY, others or my own! Ask: "What am I missing?" "What energizes me?" "What de-energizes me?"

2. SIMPLIFY - Most of us need far less than we think/believe. Examine complicated or complex situations and see how you can change them. What eats up your time? Can you simplify that? What can you back away from without hurting your mission? Learn to say "NO" to many requests.

3. DIVERSIFY - Now write down 3 to 5 SPECIFIC and MEASURABLE, REALISTIC goals or results that you want. Do you have the steps or tools available to accomplish this task? IF not, who or where will you go to get what you need?

4. ACTION - Reduce your strategic plan now into writing. Make it specific. Have someone else read your plan to make sure it is easy to understand and implement. Establish a "PROCESS" that is able to take care of itself without you investing so much time "DOING" the plan, your job is to monitor and track the plan. Establish a system of checks and balances so that when the wheels start to come off the track it is quickly and easily discovered and corrected. This will also include a regular review and evaluation so that if you discover a problem you can easily start back at step one and get it handled.

Now this may or may not sound simple to you, but to me it is, and it quickly clarifies my thinking on almost any situation. These 4 easy steps lead me to discover answers fairly quickly, but most importantly they help me accomplish one major item.

TAKING RESPONSIBILITY FOR THINGS AND HOLDING MYSELF ACCOUNTABLE. If I can finish the second half of 2011 doing this well I will feel that this year is a success.

These are my thoughts on problem solving, what works for you?
Steve

How are YOU doing?

It is that time of year that is almost the mid-point, summer is pushing everyone really hard, vacation time is upon us, and the last thing most of us are thinking about right now is our New Years Resolutions.
Did you make some this year? Most of us look at 5 key areas of our lives and make some type of promise to ourselves to do better in the coming year, so now is a great time to stop and evaluate where we stand at the half way point. According to some research many folks are doing well in at least one area, and about 5% are thriving in all 5 areas of our daily life.

Here are the 5 general categories:
CAREER: what you do every day to earn a living.
COMMUNITY: your level of engagement where you live.
SOCIAL: your personal relationships with the people you see regularly.
FINANCIAL: your money and how you spend it.
PHYSICAL: your health and how you take care of your life daily.

All five of these areas can be changed by doing very small changes that can have a huge impact in your total life. The key is to intentionally choose to make and continue with those small changes. I saw a TV report last night about a man who weighed 375 pounds and was literally eating himself to death. He had lost his job due to not being able to do the work, wasn't involved in his surroundings, had very few friends, was going backwards rapidly in the money area, and obviously had absolutely no health or physical activities. He finally hit the bottom one day and started with small changes, which led to bigger changes, and now he has lost over 150 pounds and is showing others how to change their lives as he did. He has accomplished all of this in only 2 short years - after he had spent almost 30 years getting himself into that condition.
It can be done!

Why not right now, today, take a few minutes and evaluate those 5 elements listed above and see where YOU are doing? Decide if you are happy with the findings, and if so, continue your good life, if not, make a small change in habit in those areas you find you have needs and see what happens in the next few weeks and months.
I suggest a goal of making 2011 one of the best years you've ever had! Let me know where you stand and how you are doing.
Steve

Getting Noticed

Have you thought about what you are doing in both your personal life as well as business life to get noticed?
Since yesterday was Father's Day I was afforded the luxury of getting to do exactly what I wanted (as long as my children stayed happy)and fortunately for me my children are all grown (one with a 2 year old girl who really made me appreciate this special day even more) so they were perfectly content to let me read the paper and surf the net as I wished.
What I discovered was that so many folks today are doing weird or crazy things just to get noticed. Now it used to be that only car dealers did that on TV, but today it seems as if everyone is doing it. I wonder when the buying public became so stupid as to fall for these outrageous tactics? I also wonder if it really increases business for long term customers or just gets the few curious bottom feeders who drain the life out of your business with demanding everything but not being willing to pay for anything, thus allowing you the opportunity to put yourself out of business by doing business with them and meeting their demands.
I have many friends in the retail and wholesale sides of business in the ceramic tile and stone world - good friends - who also happen to be good business people. Rarely do we see them doing crazy or outrageous things to get noticed.
Oh they are noticed, but it is for the RIGHT reasons, such as dong more than expected, doing everything correctly the first time around, giving value for the price paid, etc, etc.
I wonder often how quickly our business world would improve if everyone just decided to provide QUALITY products and services at fair prices and go back to just allowing the marketplace to decide which company to use, rather than paying attention to the publicity stunts that some do just to get noticed?
These are my thoughts on this subject, I'd be honored to hear your thoughts.
Steve

When Opportunity Appears

Someone once defined "Opportunity" as the willingness to give up something in hopes of getting something even better. I thing that word "HOPES" is what keeps so many of us from pursuing the opportunities that we sometimes see in front of us.

Rarely is opportunity available without having to give up something in return, money, time, whatever, but you must be willing to take that step of walking away from your comfort zone to take advantage of the chance for the opportunity.

What opportunity are you facing in your life? Do you see the opportunities that are available to you? Are you alert to the opportunities that appear in your business or life regularly? Are you actually LOOKING for the opportunities?

During my life I have tried to make a habit of actually LOOKING for opportunities and then being willing to trade what I have for what the opportunity offers.
How about you? Are you actively looking for opportunities today?

These are my thoughts today, what are yours?

Steve

June 6th 1944 - "D" Day

On D Day our President, FDR, went on live national radio (very little TV back then) and lead this country in prayer for the safety of our troops who were involved in that invasion.
Not trying to be either political or religious, but just a few short years later we can't even imagine something like that happening, or can we?
As I see it, what helped make this country of ours so great is that we build this nation on a foundation of ethical and moral standards that we seem to have lost today. Maybe the best way we can honor those troops who fell dying for freedom back on D Day is to take a moment and think about why we can't move back to those values and standards that made our country great.
The Devil is the only one who try's to tell us (A) you can't go back, (B) you will never be forgiven for your errors, and (C) nobody cares. He is wrong on all 3 counts.
I'm proud to be an American every single day, not always proud of what some people do in our country, but I served in the Army to add my help to their rights to say and do stupid things that I disagree with.
Please THINK today and reflect on the lessons of that June 6th 1944 and what it COULD and SHOULD mean to America today. I believe that the past 67 years worth of sliding away from our standards, values, and morals can be reversed if the American people decide that is what we want to do. I for one am ready!

May God continue to Bless our Country!

These are my thoughts today, what are yours?
Steve

Dealing with your double-edged sword

Life is all about choices isn't it? Sometimes we must deal with our own creation of a double-edged sword. We make certain choices and then the consequences (intended or unintended) come back to attack us. I've had that type of a week already.

I try to be a super competent person, but to do that my own double-edged sword keeps poking me in my own backside. I want activity, movement forward, but to obtain that I need to stop and focus. I want to be available, but to obtain that I need to have that clear sense of direction, control my schedule, and say no to some activities. I want accountability - FROM OTHERS - but to obtain that I need to provide accountability to others and accept responsibility for my actions or lack there of.

In the aviation world we have a great saying: You can have a choice of FAST, ACCURATE, or CHEAP - pick which two of the 3 you want! Rarely if ever will you be able to get all 3 at the same time. The business world is much like that also, but unlike flying you generally won't actually die from your mistakes. Oh you may kill your business, but life goes on anyway, it just isn't nearly as pleasant.

I try to focus on ROI - no not the "return on investment" exactly, more like "RELATIONSHIPS, OUTCOMES, and IMPROVEMENTS". I realize that I really can't control what has happened in the past, I don't have a magic wand to wave and make bad history situations go away. But what I can do is promise to do is to be available and help prevent or stop bad situations from happening again in the future. Oh, but that double-edged sword again then makes ME responsible for working doubly hard to insure success.

I strive to create some kind of a positive outcome in everything I do every day, but the weight of that sword sometimes gets heavy and many times pokes me. Yet my goal is to strive for that positive outcome anyway. More often than not, it will happen, maybe not exactly as I envisioned it, but it will be better than it was before.

How can I help you this week? How can I make a difference for you?
Please let me know
Steve

Stubborn or Passionate?

Since Biblical times people have been both stubborn and passionate. Sometimes it is very difficult to tell the difference. Stubbornness sometimes makes us deaf to the truth of a situation, and passion is never enough if you don't have the truth or facts to back your passion.

Many times our motives are good but our judgement is lacking. When this happens we seem to fall back on either our stubborn streak or our passion for a particular project or thing. Both can be positive traits but only when based in truth.

Last week as I sat in the IgCC Green Building Code hearings I saw very clearly both stubborn and passion exhibited and in many cases the emotions were without any factual basis at all - just raw emotions. One person got so emotional and worked up he passed out - now that just isn't good for anyone.

This week as I go thru yet another week of meetings I'm watching myself for signs of my stubborn German nature and my passion for certain things so that I control myself and fall back on truth and facts before calling in those other two emotions. Not saying neither or both aren't good when appropriate, just saying we need a complete package before proceeding.

These are my thoughts, what are yours?
Steve

International Green Construction Code

How do you button your shirt/blouse that you put on each morning? Most of us are creatures of habit and we do it only one way. Many start at the top and work downward, others go the opposite from the bottom. Years ago someone told me the only difference between a rut and a grave is the length and depth, so somehow I used that to decide to button each day a different way so that I stopped and thought about how my day was going to be different today from all other days.

What the heck does that have to do with the IgCC? Well after sitting in Dallas, TX listening for several days now I can tell you it has a lot to do with it - the entire point of this new building code is that it will FORCE everyone to look at every single phase of a construction or remodeling project totally differently then ever before. Furthermore, it will be (as it now seems clear) a "LIVING" document, meaning it will change constantly, and so must those who need to comply with it. No ruts for the building industry, you will need to stay on top of the changes and look at each and every aspect of every project much differently.

Right now we are listening to debate about the differences between design life and service life as opposed to true life of certain products that go into the building of a structure (residential or commercial.) They are requiring each and every project to utilize a design professional and develop a full "Manual" of each and every product that goes into the construction process. Imagine the cost increase of this proposal!

I can foresee subcontractors (think flooring/tile installers) being forced to document all types of things that they have no access to - and the manufacturers who make the products having to test and document so many new and different aspects of each and every product they sell. Backer board, seam tape, screws, everything!! Now this is just a completely crazy idea that is being promoted by testing labs and code officials who want job security - forgetting the cost issues that will increase the cost of construction dramatically.

If you still want to stick your head in the sand, and believe this won't effect you, I suggest you think deeper about this new code. Go look it up yourself: WWW.ICCSAFE.org I believe you will be amazed at the "Change" we are about to see!

These are my thoughts on this issue, what are yours?

Steve

Rainy day's and Monday's

The words to that song mislead more people than you could ever imagine. Just as last week Friday 13th drove some folks crazy.

Whatever the mind can conceive it can also believe - that works both way's - if you start to believe in some crazy superstition then when anything happens that is even remotely like what you are anticipating then you begin to believe your crazy thoughts.

This is why you absolutely MUST guard the words that slip so easily from your tongue. When you verbalize a crazy thought you set the stage to receive that signal from the world around you. Great news is that the exact opposite is also true - when you only verbalize great ideas, thoughts, actions, then you will notice that is also what you begin to receive.

Please allow me to replace those lyrics of "Rainy day's and Monday's always get me down" with something I believe is much better and a much more popular concept:
"I'm thinking of Good Vibrations" by the Beach Boy's.

Make today a GREAT and very special day for yourself! Use the positive power of your tongue and give yourself a wonderful pep talk continually today as you move thru this wonderful opportunity filled day to make this one of the most special and best day's you ever had.

These are my thoughts today, what are yours?
Steve

Progress???

142 years ago today, in 1869, the Transcontinental Railroad was finally completed so that people in this country could move from east to west easily. Now I don't know about you, but in what seems to me to be a very short period of time we have moved so far away from that system that it is scary to me. We can now fly across our great nation, in any direction, in a matter of hours now, not days or weeks as before.

That is, of course, unless you live in a major city like Atlanta, Chicago, New York, Los Angles, etc - then it still takes huge amounts of time just to move across the city during certain peek times of the day. Why is that?

Another tidbit of useless information that is rattling around in my head today is why does the new Apple iPad II do much more, at much greater speeds, than the "old" iPad and yet it costs exactly the same? At the same time, many other electronic gadgets have risen in price and we seem immune to complaining about that?

Why is it that when the crude oil prices go up every single gas station across America instantly raises their pump pricing on gas, yet when there is a drop in the price of crude oil those same stations take weeks to slightly lower the price - think up 12 cents per gallon and down 1 or 2 cents per gallon.

As I grow older it seems to me that "progress" absolutely changes meaning. We tend to reminisce about those "Good Old Days" when things were cheaper and slower, etc. Remember how the first computers (mine was a Radio Shack TRS-80) seemed to boot up so quickly? Now my iPad opens up literally millions of times more info in just a second or two, now is that progress? Do I really NEED that info that quickly?

Finally, I ask you why it is that birthdays come around so quickly now as opposed to say when we were 4 or 5 and just couldn't wait to be old enough to start real school. How about when you were 15 waiting to turn 16 so you could get your drivers license? That 12 month period seemed to take 5 years as I remember it.

There used to be a TV commercial that had a tag line of: "You've come a long way Baby" but at my advanced age I just can't remember what the product was that they were pushing or why they said that line. I do remember I questioned that thought back then and even more so today. Yes progress has changed my world and I'm not sure it has been for the better.

These are my thoughts what are yours?

Steve

How do YOU see it?

I read/follow about 20 other blogs per day and I find it somewhat humorous at how differently other folks look at some situations from how I see them. Take the recent news from the middle east - apparently the women from the TV show "The View" - which I never watch and almost never agree with their points of view - are taking great delight in the killing of OBL. I submit to you that if Pres Bush had been in charge their attitudes would have been totally different (remember the waterboarding issue?). Others in the media also have shown our countries respective backside, in my opinion, by showing people dancing and shouting about this latest development.

Now before you start flooding me with comments, please understand that I am happy that OBL is gone, but having been in the military I have trouble getting that happy about killing another human being. As Grandpa used to say: "Some folks just need killing." but you don't have to be happy about it. It needed to be accomplished and our fine US Sailors did just that, but I'm sure they weren't really happy, smiling, and dancing around over the event - the just did their jobs. They did their jobs really well, but it was just another day at the office for them.

Other things are now being examined by the blog world and by tomorrow they will have fresh fodder for more bizarre posts I'm sure. One that I saw today showed how off center the media can project a message - I've seen both the questions and answers that were given on an Atlanta Journal article and read the article - neither of them resembled the other one. The AJC was so determined to present THEIR opinion of what they wanted the public to read that they forgot to present the actual facts that they were supposedly working from. The article was completely false based on the answers that were given to their pre-submitted questions.

I wonder how the world would operate if we didn't have such "spins" or "slants" presented on both sides, of the issues? Would people be comfortable actually having to think for themselves and make reasonable decisions about issues if someone else wasn't guiding their thoughts?

These are my thoughts, what are yours?
Steve

My Checklist for a Successful Day.

I am completely convinced that our lives are the sum total of the choices we make every single day - large or small decisions - and because of that I want to share with you a checklist that I've used for quite some time now to insure that I will create a day of success.

Did I have a written plan for today? Will I follow my plan?
Have I told someone or shown someone that I loved them?
Did I read a book or listen to a tape that stimulated my thinking?
What will I do to increase my skills in my profession today?
What will I do today to increase my good health?
What will I not do today that hurts my health?
Have I reviewed my written Life Goals today? If so, am I closer than when I work up?
What will I do to build my discipline today? Anything tough or challenging?
What will I do today just for the pure joy of doing it?
Have I taken time to reflect on the lessons of the day today?
Have I written my plan for another successful day tomorrow?

I find that when I can answer "yes" to most (hopefully all) of these questions, then I have had a great day of uncommon successes. Remember that I am responsible for my results in life and I need to focus daily on accomplishing my goals and priorities.

These are my thoughts, what are yours?
Steve

SHUT UP! DO I TALK TOO MUCH?

The younger generation today seem to enjoy expressing their disbelief by saying "Shut Up!" which as I understand it isn't really an order or suggestion but rather just an expression. That being said, it got me thinking about how many times I would be so much better off if I just followed that advise.

1. DIAGNOSING THE ISSUE.I seem to be the guy who always has to express my opinions about everything and everyone - and that is a HUGE problem. I do seem to have an opinion about everything and most everyone - to me that is the heart of my personal belief system and triggers my personal critical thinking. It is only when I start to share those thoughts and opinions (over share?) that I tend to create problems. Even worse is when I over share I also seem to choose not to listen to others opinions or thoughts.

2.SOLVING THE ISSUE.Now this seems simple but it really is quite difficult for an addict like me. I talk alot about shutting up, but that is really part of the problem because it is so hard to shut up. I enjoy sharing my ideas, opinions, and stories. However, when I reverse that thought I realize that others around me also want that same opportunity to express their feelings and to be listened to. Goes back to that old story about two ears and only one mouth - for a reason.
One question I have found that tends to help me with this situation is to ask myself frequently : What have I learned FROM this person in the past 5 minutes? If my answer is nothing then I need to shut up and ask a probing question - NOW.
Shutting up seems to be a self-moderating behavior and it is difficult.

3. THREE REASONS TO SHUT UP.

First - to build better relationships. When someone important says something to me do I immediately start thinking about how I agree or disagree? And then start spewing? Do I even become self aware of this poor habit? One cure is to count slowly to 10 before even starting to answer - this also allows the other person an opportunity to maybe finish the thought with a more complete explanation of their idea.

Second - When negotiating. Sometimes not talking at all can be a very powerful negotiating tactic. Silence is uncomfortable. When someone puts something on the table in a negotiation they expect you to respond - and maybe push back. If you remain silent instead after they put that something out there you are implying that you are not satisfied with the offer. The silence can get uncomfortable - but far less so for you since you are in control of it. Eventually the other party will likely fill that silence, and when they do, they will usually either rationalize their last point or at least give you more insight into their objectives or weak points. The best outcome is when they actually begin negotiating against themselves and put something better in front of you just to fill the silence. Try this sometime, you don't have to do it in a high risk situation but see how the other person reacts to silence. You may be surprised - I sure have been.

Third - You get smarter. Back to that old saying of two ears and one mouth - if you want others around you to think you are brilliant (more than you already are) just try silence. You also can't learn while you are talking - PERIOD - I've never met anyone who can transmit and receive at the same time, no matter how skilled they are at multi-tasking! When you stay in RECEIVE MODE you can learn many new things. One other thing I've discovered - when others get to share THEIR thoughts, ideas, and opinions they feel more important. And most of the time they tend to believe that YOU are exponentially more brilliant.

And on that note, I'm going to shut up now and follow my own advise - and invite YOU to talk by sharing your comments below.

Steve