I'm Sorry, I was WRONG!

We rarely hear those words in the business world!  Why do you think that is?  It seems that pride and ego just will not allow us to confess any mistakes to others, even when they are obvious.  I suppose it starts at the top - when the President of the country blames others for everything gone wrong, why shouldn't the president of a company or the Governor of a state also not admit any mistakes or blame someone else for the situation?
What benefit could you possibly receive from telling someone (or everyone) that you were wrong about something and that you are sorry?  Well, for one thing your own peace of mind that no matter how wrong you were you are at least honest!  Another benefit is making the other person feel better about themselves. Contrary to most claims, becoming a humble person is extremely difficult, and does cost you a price that is almost "PRICELESS." Another benefit will be that you will become much more popular when you are willing to admit your mistakes and others correctness in situations.

Now I'm not suggesting you go thru the rest of your life being a doormat for everyone, quite the opposite. What I'm suggesting here is that you focus your efforts on thinking about what action you are about to take (words or actions) before you actually do that mistake.   Take time to study and ponder (I love that word) before reacting and having to say "I'm Sorry" so often. It also helps when you take the time to study as much as possible within the field of business that you are engaged with, but a caution here, when you do that just remember that you are still prone to making mistakes unless you preface your comments with a qualifier type statement like :"In my opinion" or "I believe" and "I have found." These statements help others understand that you aren't attempting to present yourself as the ultimate authority, but rather sharing your thoughts and opinions  based on your experiences or studies.

 I may be the absolute worlds worst at actually doing this, but I continue to work on it daily and however slowly I do see myself making progress. I am attempting to hang out with folks that I absolutely KNOW are much smarter than I am, and therefore am completely comfortable in listening more than talking - and that helps me reduce my mistakes also!

These are my thoughts, what are yours?
Steve

Girl Scouts versus stupid drunks!

This week I was in Savannah, Ga for a trade show and convention down on the Riverfront area and got to witness two completely different ends of the human spectrum.

The Girl Scouts were celebrating their 100th anniversary by being almost everywhere doing their good deeds and kindness.  If you think of the Girl Scouts as only sellers of cookies then you are missing the huge amount of greatness that these young women, and their leaders, accomplish in our world.

At the opposite end of the range of humans activities I saw many folks, arriving early for the annual drunken fest called St. Patrick's Day Celebration and already being successful at getting completely out of control. These humans, I hesitate to even call them people, were drunk and completely out of control by 10 am in the mornings and after passing out, sometimes in the public parks, and resting slightly, recovered slightly and joined back into the drinking to repeat the process.  I'm sure the good people who live in and around Savannah just can't wait until this weekend when well over 1 million additional folks are expected to arrive and participate.

This may actually be the reason and the cause for the caution:
    
        BEWARE: THE IDES OF MARCH! 

Busy! Busy! Busy!

If you're like me you find yourself extremely busy these days, much more to accomplish each day than you have time for.  I was pondering why that seems to be when I decided to actually track the amount of time I spent for different activities. What a surprise!  I found I have been so busy because I become so distracted about worrying about things that I have absolutely no control over or that may never happen. Does this happen to you also?
I tend to go way beyond what would be normal levels of "preparation" into harmful levels of worrying about many things that I either can't control anyway, or that I imagine MAY or MIGHT happen and then they never do and I've wasted valuable time. Confusion is one of my more frustrating states of mind. Not seeing clearly, not being able to perceive fully, and not being able to understand leave me feeling silly or stupid.


SO WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?  In my world it means I end up very busy when that just isn't necessary!  I'm not suggesting here that I need to completely ignore valuable thoughts/pondering/preparations but when I find myself taking this to the extreme I tend to actually slow myself down and become far more BUSY than necessary. 
 
I watched a TV show recently called "Doomsday Preppers" - now these folks all spend much valuable time, efforts and money being prepared for survival when the emergency they feel will happen happens.  I find myself agreeing with much of the shows premise but again some folks tend to take it way too far (unless you feel owning 4 old school buses loaded with supplies and staged at various hiding points along a preplanned escape route normal). One family featured was spending all their free time stockpiling supplies in a remote location to the point they had enough supplies to last 10 years, for 24 people (4 in the family)  but had absolutely NO LIFE right now!

I believe BALANCE is the word that best describes what I am looking for in my life - not lazy, not busy, but balanced.  I plan to focus on balanced and let the world spin as it will. 

These are my thoughts, what are yours?
Steve