If you are like me, almost the first (or second) thing that goes through your mind when you wake up in the morning has to do with all the chores and challenges of the day. This is what you have trained your brain to do, which leads to stress from the time you are up and moving.I heard about and …
Fun
“What did you do for FUN today?”, I asked the person who had just shared their woes with me. “FUN? What FUN? I don’t have enough time to do the things I need to do. Forget FUN.”☹ Sounds familiar? I have coined a FUN life principle: DysFUNctional people are those who have skipped the FUN during the daily FUNctions of life. What did you do for FUN today? Or yesterday? Or, …
Fingerprints
Have you had your fingerprints taken? Besides law enforcement, several critical jobs and out-of-the-ordinary travels require fingerprinting. What’s special about fingerprints? I learned that: *Fingerprints are used to identify a person who was at a particular location. *Fingerprints are used to identify victims of disasters. *Fingerprints were used as signatures on clay seals during ancient times. *Fingerprints can be used …
That Attitude
Once upon a time, a wise person shared this story with me: A man walked into town. In the city square (usually in the center of town) he asked an old man what kind of town that was. When the old man asked why he wanted to know, the traveler told him that he was moving out of his former town …
Premortem
What is premortem? (You might have heard of postmortem.) Premortem is the deliberate process of envisioning something you want to do towards a goal you want to achieve; it candidly considers the possible challenges along the way. For example, let’s call them Jack and Jill. Jack says that he is in love with Jill and thinks that they’ll make a …
Have a Nice Day
Which are you? Do you begin your day with a prayer like, “Good morning, God😊” or “Good God, it’s morning☹ In his 1989 bestseller The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen Covey wrote that effective people “Begin with the end of mind.” In essence, this principle states that everything one does is done twice – first in the mind, and then, …
Roundabout
Close to where I live, new roundabouts are popping up. Have you been impacted by one yet?I was first introduced to roundabouts several years ago when I visited my brother Jayson in Manchester, England. There, at most intersections, roundabouts were present, and people seemed very comfortable maneuvering around them. When I inquired, Jayson informed me that roundabouts had been shown …
The Surprise Equation
Have you experienced the effectiveness of this surprise equation in dealing with people? Lower volume + slower speech = better communication.The natural tendency for people, when they get agitated or angry when talking, is to …
That Smell
My friend Debbie shared this reeky story: Before daybreak one morning this week, she took her dog for a walk. Suddenly, the dog broke loose and dashed off into the dark woods. Debbie called, and called, and waited. Finally, her dog returned, but, when he got closer, she could smell…….the unmistakable smell of a skunk spray on the dog. Ugh…….poor …
I’m Fine Thank You
How often have others responded to your question, “How are you?” with the answer, “I’m fine, thank you.”? Is this how you generally answer when you are asked the question?Recently, my wife and I were in a doctor’s office reception area. As the nursing assistant came to take folk in for their appointment, her first question was, “How are you?” …