When people express an interest in my services, tell me about a challenge they face, or ask me to call them, I follow up. I totally understand if they change their minds later or decide the concern we discussed is a lower priority than others and put our conversation on hold. I also understand that an email sent is not an email received and that things can get buried pretty quickly in the daily rush. I am patient, probably too patient. Nonetheless, I do not understand when someone repeatedly ignores my email or doesn’t call back. How hard is it to say you’ve changed your mind? Why do you want to leave me trying to guess whether you are disorganized, busy, uninterested, or unable to express yourself constructively?
I met more people on the hotel stairway during last week’s stay in Philly than ever before. Was it because the elevator was slow or the crowd was young and fit? Either way, here we were clanking up and down, surrounded by metal, concrete, harsh light, and dismal paint. Today I tried to go up the stairs I’d come down in the parking ramp in Fort Worth. No luck; the door was locked at the bottom. Half the time, I can’t even find the stairways. When I do, they are ugly, if not disgusting. Isn’t it time to encourage their use? Once you’ve stowed your roller bag, a flight or three or five is a great way to loosen up after sitting in a plane or car. Gets the blood flowing. Helps people survive the ridiculously huge portions most restaurants serve these days. Want to appeal to the young and fit? Want to help people get more exercise? Open up those stairways! Paint the walls, carpet the stairs, maybe even hang a picture or two on the landings! If you agree, spread the word. Maybe we can change the way hotels think about stairways!
It is time to tell the tale. I’m ready and I think the world deserves to hear it. The snow was falling fast and furiously when my parents’ email arrived from 1400 miles away. “Exit” was the subject line. It is not uncommon for parents to rail against old age homes and unnecessary medical care, but doing something about it is quite uncommon. Were they? Did “exit” mean what I thought it did? My mother never thought they would get anywhere near old age but would meet their demise on one of their many wild adventures to every remote corner of the world. Once old age tamed their excursions, my father decided a bottle of scotch and a snowbank would do the trick. I used to chuckle. More recently I asked, “What if it is summer?”
My Clear Thoughts™ newsletter has been honored as a 2012 All Star because of its exceptionally high open rates! It is great to receive the award, though I am not terribly surprised because my readers tell me all the time that they find my newsletter to be of great value. As a matter of fact, one reader sent me this just last week: “I like your short, sweet and effectively clear topics. They instantly ring a familiar bell with steps to correct (if it hurts, stop doing it and change the underlying impediment). Yours is one of the few such e-pieces that I read as soon as I get it, even if I am frantically busy. My highest compliment to you. Keep it up! I am so glad a colleague mentioned your work to me; I’d not heard of you and now cannot work without….” – Susan If you don’t receive Clear Thoughts™, click here to sign up now. The articles are clear and concise with unusual and pragmatic advice. Clear Thoughts™ comes once a month and you can always unsubscribe it you don’t find it of value. Plus I will not share your email with anybody, nor bombard you with junk email, so you don’t have to worry about that! Try it out and see what you think.
“There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self.” Ernest Hemingway
If any of the following are of interest to you, you must see Ken Burns’ The Dust Bowl on PBS: big government respect for the land bullying water conservation the New Deal and WPA agribusiness American history short term thinking immigration social safety nets Keystone pipeline across the Ogallala aquifer fracking
When South Sudan’s President arrived 30 minutes late for a meeting with President Obama, the disrespect was outrageously obvious and insulting. When you arrive late for a meeting, you too are being disrespectful. It may not be as obvious or as insulting, but it is still disrespectful. You may not be keeping the President waiting, but why is it OK to keep others waiting? Why are your activities and concerns more important than those of others in the room? Plan ahead and be on time! It is the courteous thing to do. Furthermore, it is good business. Why do you want everyone to know you are disorganized, unreliable, and disrespectful?
I’m a pretty serious person by nature. I can be funny, I like to laugh, and I know laughter is good for me physically, mentally, and emotionally. Nonetheless, I can get so caught up in my work that the opportunity for laughter seems to get squeezed right out. So, one of my goals for 2012 is to laugh more. The result of establishing this goal has been pretty amazing! I am more aware of my laughing and pause to enjoy the circumstances more completely. I have been paying attention to my most reliable sources of laughter and seek to incorporate them into my life more regularly. I noticed that I laugh more on weekends and so I have intentionally added a few minutes of laughter to my mornings with inputs such as the book “The New Yorker’s Rejection Collection.” I find myself smiling while driving to and from client meetings. Friends and acquaintances are sending me jokes and links to funny videos. I am happier. And, most amazing of all, I am remembering jokes for the retelling for the first time in my life! This is one of the simplest and most rewarding goals I’ve ever established for myself. If you could use more laughter in your life, set a goal, tell people around you, and start looking for those opportunities to smile and chuckle.