Friday, January 28, 2011

Listening??

Almost everyone you meet has an opinion or viewpoint on almost everything. They usually arrive at these conclusions by listening to others and maybe even reading or studying the subject matter and that is where it normally stops. Once most of us reach what we feel is a logical conclusion on a subject we tend to close our mind and move on from there. Many times however the opinion or viewpoint of others may be totally different than yours. Is it worth your time to listen fully and maybe consider other options? Many times the person giving the view or opinion may have spent much more time or study developing that opinion or view than you have developing your opinion or view. Are you willing to learn from the folks who have researched and studied more than you? There is even the possibility that things have "changed with the times" and your "facts" have become outdated data - are you willing to consider that possibility?

This week at the Surfaces Show in Las Vegas I experienced this more than once. Several times folks entered our booth and voiced an opinion or viewpoint that may have, at one point in time, been accurate in their world, but has been factually changed since they last considered the situation. I had to smile (only on the inside so as not to hurt their feelings) as they defended their wrong belief just because they were unwilling to listen to and/or consider that there may actually be new or updated info that is worth listening to and considering that may materially change the facts that they currently accept. I KNOW I've been guilty of this in the past and wonder if you have also?

Someone very close to me has the annoying habit of interrupting others talking because they feel they KNOW what is about to be said and this damages all ability to communicate openly for this person and hurts the recipient's feeling. It is a way of saying: "I already know what you are thinking or about to say and it isn't important for me to listen any further." In reality very few of us (if any) actually have that ability to accurately mind read. The end result is almost always a shut down of communications as well as a rapid halt to the learning process that may be available if they would just listen.

If you think that YOU may be guilty of this, as I KNOW I sometimes am, I present this challenge to you. For the next week, please just try to refrain from prejudging your conversations with others, stop, reflect and truly listen completely and until the end, before considering what to say in reply. You may be completely surprised as to what you may learn. At the very least, you will ultimately confirm what you think you already knew and can easily smile in agreement with the speaker and continue building the relationship as opposed to closing the door to further communications.

Asking questions is considered to be one of the absolute most strong methods of learning, but it becomes useless if you don't bother to listen to the answer and give it consideration before turning your mind and ears off.

This is my thoughts on this subject - what are yours? I promise I will listen and not interrupt until you finish........

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Unusual Times and the power of the Sun.

Last week was certainly an unusual one for folks living in Georgia. Many parts of Atlanta had record snowfall, which hung around for much longer than usual because of the prolonged sub-freezing temperatures. Then, after Sunday nights fresh snow, on Monday freezing rain/sleet arrived and added an icy glaze to our sparkling white world. The only thing that disappeared quicker than bread and milk was salt and sand. By Wednesday much of the fun/joy had gone from this experience and many started having "cabin fever" but due to the ice and snow clogging the roads, sidewalks and even lawns across Georgia folks just couldn't get out and move around anywhere. Shoveling was nearly impossible and the wind chills plus single digit temperatures did not help matters any at all. One interstate highway was closed for over 20 miles with solid traffic blocking every lane and exit ramp for over 24 straight hours.

Thursday a new day dawned and things started improving slowly. Sunshine showed up and temperatures warmed up so people were able to get out and start recovering. This started me to thinking about the one thing that had changed - Sunshine - it brightened the light and warmed our bodies as it warmed up the outside world. Suddenly, the world was back to alright again and things were looking up. Friday was a nearly normal day with schools still out, our postal service still ignoring their slogan by staying off the streets again, the trash service still not collecting, but many went to work in their businesses and life began to return to the city.

I began to think about the lesson to be learned from the "sunshine" experience. If something as simple as sunshine could change these frozen circumstances wouldn't it stand to reason that something simple and as available as sunshine could change our business circumstances? I believe we will see that begin to happen next week when we start our spring round of trade show meetings, beginning with the Surfaces Show in Las Vegas.

Surfaces is the first opportunity for most of us in 2011 to come out from hiding in the business world and look around to see what is new or changing in our industry. Oh, I realize that many will choose to ignore this opportunity and stay home and inside, but they will always be the ones that things "happen to" rather than the ones who "make things happen." My suggestion is that business people make the decision to open their minds and wallets, take the trip to Las Vegas, investigate what has changed and what is changing in our business world.

I'm really tired of hearing folks say: "I just can't afford it" when the reality is you can't afford NOT to be there. I remember the pain I felt just a few short years ago when I was laid off by one company and had nothing lined up for my future. Being unemployed I certainly "couldn't afford" to travel to a trade show but I did and somehow I ended up getting my current position with USG from that single step of faith. This morning I saw a wonderful thought that I want to close this blog with, and it is below.

Decide what you want, decide what you are willing to exchange for it. Establish your priorities and go to work.

– H. L. Hunt

This triggered one other "favorite" of mine: Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, TODAY IS A GIFT, that is why it is called "the present."

Choose wisely how YOU will use your gifts. You may want to evaluate, consider, and ponder these thoughts as you decide on how the sunshine will change your world.

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Correct Focus on Situations

When I was a child we didn’t have toys like we do today, no Nintendo or Wii, we just had real simple toys and great imaginations. One of the best gifts I can remember was a large hand held magnifying glass. I discovered that if I lined the glass up just right with the sunshine I was able to burn a hole in a piece of paper. The main feature of the magnifying glass was the ability to enlarge whatever I wanted to look at and see so much more details that I couldn’t see clearly without using it. Magnification didn’t make the object any bigger than it actually was, but it greatly enlarged my view, and that allowed me to see details that were hidden from my normal view.

Generally a magnifying glass is a good tool, but like so many tools, it can also become part of a problem. Sometimes our lives become like looking thru a magnifying glass and our problems or circumstances seem so big and overpowering that they block our view and become all are able see. Our problems seem to reduce the size and power of everything else around us and if we don’t take a step back from that magnifying glass view everything will be out of proportion and then we all seem to get lost occasionally.

Perspective is another great tool that is available to every one of us to help keep the magnification view of our current situation in its proper place. Some folks may call it exaggeration, but I generally see it more as a different perspective problem with the limited view of the current “lens” that we are using at that moment. It is at these times that we all need to stop, take a breath or maybe even a break, and relax before we attempt to refocus on the situation at hand. After our break somehow the “lens” of our magnifier glass view goes away and we can see our current situation or problem much more clearly.

A real world example of this could be the over reaction to a problem that pops up during the day and is urgent enough to require immediate action (or so it seems anyway) so we study and view it as best we can and rush to make a decision, which in my case, is usually wrong. I have had to teach myself to stop and think about that situation in terms of what it may mean in 3 weeks or maybe 3 months or years from now. When I do that I tend to lose the distorting lens view and see the situation more clearly.

I still like the magnifying glass approach when I have a splinter in my finger, but I choose to not attack that situation with a butcher knife to cut off the finger just because the magnification lens shows the splinter as a log. Some things in our daily lives need that slower pace of years gone by so that we can make better choices for the future.

Steve

Thursday, January 6, 2011

Make 2011 Your Best Year Ever!

  • Are you feeling a little down or maybe even disappointed in where you are in your life right now?
  • Did you think you would be doing better and be further along the path to success in your life right now?
We've all heard the definition of insanity - continue doing the same things over and over and expecting different results. Maybe NOW is the time to do things differently.

Making a difference requires a different type of thinking. Making a difference means (maybe "requires") doing things differently. Maybe it's time for a turning point in your life.

I HAVE FANTASTIC NEWS FOR YOU! No matter what your past has been, it is just that, your past. Yesterday is HISTORY, tomorrow is a mystery, TODAY is a gift, that is why it is called "The Present." You get to choose how you use your gifts.

The experiences you create are the moments that will define you. Everyone will miss you when you're gone, because we will always remember the mark that you made on us and our lives. You can choose your own, new, way starting today. You chose your way in the past, and if that was intentional or not, you now have the evidence of how that past choice turned out. If it was a good choice, you will see some good things, but remember you can always improve the good to reach great. If you made some poor or bad choices, that too will show, but again, that is history and you are starting today with a brand new blank canvas and you can paint a completely different picture of yourself then you've ever painted before.

January 2011 is filled with just as much magic as December 2010 was. However, this is a different type of magic. This is the magic that you create for yourself, versus the magic that was artificially created by the media (the world) for you in December. 2011 will be a lesson in flexibility. Transformations are amazing things, but sometimes can be frustrating thing - after all when things around you change it can be difficult for you to adjust to them. Up is suddenly down, black is suddenly white and many things that you thought you had figured out before are suddenly not making much sense these days.

Once again - GREAT NEWS - you can create that change for yourself, you can transform yourself, you can adjust yourself and your world as YOU want it. You've got the ambition and the passion to radically redesign your future and maybe every one's future. In those famous words of Nike - "Just Do It!" Make YOUR smile light up every room. Make every sunrise and sunset surprise you with it's magnificence. Listen to that small still voice inside of you the next time it has an idea and carry that idea forward to everything you do that day. Listen, NO REALLY LISTEN, to the questions being asked, then stop and think before you reply.

Take the time right now, today, to think, plan, evaluate, and set priorities for your day, week, month, year and yes even your life. Failure to plan is the same as planning to fail. I can assure you of this:
  • You won't be disappointed or down on your life if you go where you choose to create.
  • You will be doing better and be further along on your path to success.

My wish for you today is that you see things in a new light, and that gratitude be your friend as you want on the road towards your destiny. Make it a great day my friend.

Steve

Saturday, January 1, 2011

1-1-11. Happy New Year.

The year of 2010 is gone, finished, past, we cannot undo it, or reclaim it. We cannot change the great distance it has brought us. When today dawned it brought us another day, another year, another chance to change what we want to change about ourselves and our lives.
Today is a time that many stop and reflect, evaluate, and plan for the coming year. That is a good practice, but it is only the first step on this journey. By the first signs of spring (whenever that may be depending on where you live) most of us will have long forgotten today's learning's and plans and be firmly on that same path we just decided to leave. Why? We're not lazy (well maybe some of us are sometimes), we're not stupid, most of us aren't sadistic and wanting to recreate more pain for ourselves, then why don't we carry out the plans we just spent time today to formulate? My personal answer is my lack of focus. I start with the best of intentions and then something else takes my eye and I lose just a little focus on what I have planned. I go for that instant gratification instead of sticking to my plan - after all - I've got all year to complete my plan don't I?
Well, in 2011 my plan is to WORK MY PLAN - STICK TO MY PLAN - ACCOMPLISH MY PLAN, and I will track my plan with milestone markers tied to specific dates. I will reclaim my life and start my own personal revolution.
A good friend of mine, and an unpaid mentor for me, in early December gave me a wonderful book called "The Hamster Revolution - Get Control of Meetings." The book was a very short read (think less than 2 hours) and it has a WOW factor of 10+ for me. So much so that I did 2 solid actions shortly after reading that book - 1. I bought 2 more copies and sent them to some other friends that I know would benefit from the book, and 2. I bought the 2nd book called "The Hamster Revolution - Stop Info-Glut - and - reclaim your life." Again another quick read book (another 2 hours or less) but I must confess that I WILL be re-reading both books, page by page again much more slowly as I reorganize my life. I very highly recommend you go to your computer today and check out this website: WWW.Getcontrol.net and see for yourself what you've been missing in our life.
One of my most popular resolutions every year is to read more (or listen to more) books during the year. Problem always arises that I can't find the time to accomplish this goal and even though I do read some books each year, I never seem to hit my goal of reading at least one book every other week. Well, with the time I see that I can gain using what I learned in both of those above books I KNOW I will be able to read at least 50 books in 2011 and still have time left over for those other things I want to do in addition to just reading books.
I will keep you posted on my progress and would love to (A) Hear your goals for 2011, (B) hear your plan on how to accomplish them, and (C) Celebrate with you when we both reach our goals for 2011.
It is totally up to us to make 2011 the best year ever in our lives. I'm working on my plan, how about you?
Steve