Positive and Negative Effects

I am on vacation this week with my wife Laura watching our grandkids. Here is an article from November, 2009. I hope you enjoy it. Stay inspired my friends!


“There must be a positive and negative in everything in the universe in order to complete a circuit or circle, without which there would be no activity, no motion.” -John McDonald

So maybe I should let that sink in a little bit or let people wonder just what a quote like that is doing on a blog like this.

This blog is a positive, motivational, self improvement website that people can get a little bit of inspiration from. It is a way of helping you find some goodness to help you get through whatever it is you might be going through.

Yet I fully understand the reality of life, that you can not always live in the happy Neverland. There will be periods of the "not-so-happy". Even I have been called (in a nice way) a cynical b@$tard. Although I much prefer the term "centered contrarian".

My view is much more positive then not, but I find that I have to keep my life centered. So when I start approaching the starry, "pie-in-the-sky"; my instinct is to ensure I step back and view the other side.

The reason why?

I can not speak to those going through bad times with out understanding what they are facing. The 'positive' means nothing to them if it isn't relevant. So my cynicism for things can peek through from time to time. But again, that cynicism can come off sounding like I don't believe in having a great attitude.

Having a great attitude and leaning to the positive is what dreams are made of. Without it, we would never move forward. We would never try anything new or even want to for that matter. My contrarian ways are in some ways left over attributes but in no way do they diminish my belief in living life in a positive fashion.

You have to choose the way you want to live your life. That is the great thing about it. We get to choose it, we get to also change it. We can pull ourselves out of misery and choose happiness. No one else, no artificial thing, no magic potion can make that change...only you.

And if you say the sky is blue and I happen to say its not; then its just the cynic in me dreaming of a great sunrise.

Day Before

"The best babysitters, of course, are the baby's grandparents. You feel completely comfortable entrusting your baby to them for long periods, which is why most grandparents flee to Florida." -Dave Barry

Today marks the last post for about a week. I will be taking a vacation week along with my wife Laura. We will have nine days of what some would call rest, relaxation and removal from the daily grind of work. There have been a few people asking where we are going on our vacation.

- Is it to the beach in Florida? (no)
- Is it to the south Pacific? (no)
- Is it on a cruise ship? (no)
- It has to be a mountain hideaway? (no)

No, Grandma and Grandpa are spending nine wonderful days at home watching our four grand-children. A fun-filled week with ages ranging from 18 months to ten years of age. Two grandsons, two granddaughters and more energy than I have probably seen in a year or two.

There is a possibility that I might take time to write of the "goings on" around our home. It is possible I might escape for an hour very early in the morning to write an article. What I do know is that the week is going to be awesome and we have Grandma to thank for that. Grandma's are the best.

They give the best hugs, the best smooches, the best grilled cheese, the best games, the best...well, you get the picture. Grandma's put the wheels in motion and create the memories that last forever in the minds of grandchildren. Now for us Grandpa types.

Grandpa provides sticks of Juicy Fruit gum. We help make sure the Big Wheel wheels keep turning. We ensure the car seat gets locked in correct. And we make sure the punctuation is properly applied so that we don't get eaten while we are taking a nap!

I'll post some of my favorite posts over the next week and maybe an update or two of our fun. So until then, stay inspired my friends!

Good Intentions

"The smallest deed is better than the greatest intention." -John Burroughs

I knew there was something special about today, May 31. The thought was itching the back of my brain so I had to check the internet. My suspicion confirmed, today in 1854 the Kansas-Nebraska Act was passed by the U.S. Congress. How would I know about such a thing? Only because I grew up in Nebraska and we were taught this little bit of history in high school.

I guess it stuck with me because I was a small town farm boy seeing how huge Nebraska (albeit a territory prior to statehood) was at one time. It also stuck with me how the good intentions of people can get exploited. It caused the violence which erupted in Kansas, was the seed that created the Republican Party and firmly placed the United States on a path to the Civil War.

The best intentions of a few can have such a grand effect upon the lives of millions. Violence and war were not the intended outcomes, but that is what happened. Historians will forever debate those actions, the war and the results of all that occurred so long ago. We, the ones that live in the aftermath of history, must learn from those good intentions.

Intended for Today or Tomorrow

Maybe it is human nature, the way we are wired inside. So many times we hear that we must "learn from history and not repeat the mistakes." We say these things while also declaring that we must provide a better, a greater world for future generations. But many times our actions are for the short-term, for the present and for self.

Are our good intentions for a better future for everyone real? Do we really want to change things for the better? Or are we shouting loudly these good intentions simply to line our own pockets of today? I see quite a bit of latter happening. You read about it in the news daily. It comes from people of all political and religious affiliations.

Small Deeds

We can do great things if we turn those good intentions into good acts. If we truly want to change the future not only for ourselves but for others, we need to think outward, not inward. We need to truly make big and mostly small changes in the way we do things. If we truly want a better future, it is time we start turning our words into deeds. Actions will do more than words on a paper or in a blog, my own blog included.

Do good things in life, create small deeds, perform small random acts of kindness and create a greater world. We can stand up and make terrific speeches regarding good intentions. The people will cheer and clap in rallying support. But if we each act upon one, two, or many of these intentions, that is where success will truly emerge. That is where intention dissolves into real greatness.

A small town farm boy sees a map from 1854 that stays with him throughout life. It gives him the desire to help people in small ways later in life. A young woman attends a parenting class early in life. It gives her the desire to teach other parents how to be great parents. All of us can be inspired by the smallest of things, by the smallest of intentions, which turn into great deeds.

Stay inspired my friends.

Your Birthday Smile

"A gentle word, a kind look, a good-natured smile can work wonders and accomplish miracles." -William Hazlitt

Today is the birthday of my wonderfully beautiful wife, Laura. So give me just a moment before I proceed.

Happy Birthday to you!
Happy Birthday to you!
Happy Birthday dear Laura!
Happy Birthday to you!

With that heartfelt song for my wife, let me tell you something about her. She has a smile that can literally change lives. I can attest to it because she changed my life from the moment I first saw her smile. And guess what? You can do the same for countless others by simply smiling.

So on this day, my wife Laura's birthday, smile and change the world. Or maybe just one other person's day.

Love you Laura. Happy Birthday!

Steps to Expect

Photo by Daniel Bogan

"If you want to expect something great in your life, you have to first expect it of yourself." -Me

Wanting greatness in your life or achieving your best life is something that all of us want. I hear people tell me of all the things they want to do in life, but do all of these people expect it of themselves to achieve it? The answer is many times no.

The list below will help you in your quest for achievement but you have to first expect great things for yourself. If you begin by telling yourself that you can not, than you will not.

So step one is; expect that you can and will achieve great things. Believe in the possibility and the realization of what you can do.

Than follow these steps, none of which are expected to be easy;

2. Choose what interests you in life. Don't think too hard about it or you will never decide. With that choice, learn all you can about it. Read about other people who have had success in the same thing and develop their patterns.

3. Every day you rise from bed, do at least one thing related to your goal. Put your dreams into action. Start living your goals by learning and moving forward towards the "thing" you want to achieve.

4. More action means getting any specialized training that will make you better. Knowledge is power and will help you decide that you have chosen the right "thing." Once you decide, do not let anyone divert you from it.

5. Look at where you are now and where you want to be. Now let the difference be the motivation. Some would call this discontent motivation, meaning when you are satisfied with your condition, you lose the motivation to grow.

6. Shoot high, shoot for the moon, shoot for the stars, even if it is possible that you may not achieve it. By aiming high, you're assured of ending much higher than you are presently.

7. We're back to believing in yourself, expecting greatness of yourself, knowing that you will achieve greatness. We ourselves are the biggest obstacle to success in life. Break those chains, believe in yourself and achieve greatness.

8. As you progress, as you achieve, never be satisfied with limitations that might surround you. There will be negative people. There will be circumstance. There will be setbacks. Overcome each one of them and never let them hold you back.

You will reach a higher level, a greater life, your best life by believing in yourself and than doing something about it. Achieve great things in your life and stay inspired my friends!

Happy Big Rock Birthday

Happy Big Rock Birthday Jon!!

Not Final

"The end is not the end. It does not define a final point. The end is a beginning to something new." -Joseph Primm (me)

Here we are, the final day at EMC World 2012. The last presentations, meetings and events are taking place. It has been a great conference and quite a bit of knowledge has been exchanged. Old friendships were renewed and new friendships have been kindled. As everyone says their good-byes and the last handshakes made, we must realize that all of this does not mean it is final. It is something new. It is the beginning of something more.

Take what you have learned, the new connections you have made and make it a continuation of the journey you are on.

Stay inspired my friends!

Chance Encounter

“We sometimes encounter people, even perfect strangers, who begin to interest us at first sight, somehow suddenly, all at once, before a word has been spoken.” -Fydor Dostoevsky

Each day I am here @EMCWorld in Las Vegas, continually I am amazed at the chance encounters with people that I know. If I were to say something like this in my hometown of Cedar Bluffs, Nebraska, it may not seem so unusual. Cedar Bluffs has a population of roughly 500 people. So it is pretty likely that I could run into someone I know in that city.

Here in Las Vegas, Nevada, at EMC World 2012, the odds grow astronomically. As I wrote earlier in the week, there are nearly 15,000 people in attendance. That alone should stagger the mind on how likely it would be to run into people you know. Add to that the tens of thousand other people unassociated with this conference, in the hotels, the casinos and on the city streets. Next to impossible you might think encountering someone you know.

But it happens. It happens when you least expect it and it happens the more you connect with people over time. Last night, our team had dinner together in the Bellagio. The dinner was at the Bellagio Buffet and was a fantastic meal. After such a great meal, it seemed a good idea to take the twenty minute walk back to the Venetian. If you have ever been to Las Vegas, and on The Strip you know when I say the sidewalks were crowded.

Every imaginable type of person in every imaginable type of condition walking, in what seemed, towards us. As we walked though, whom should I encounter but a friend from many years back. His name is Kenny and we work at the same company, EMC Corporation. So yes, the odds were likely increased that he would be in Las Vegas at the same time. But we had not seen each other in a number of years as our jobs are quite different and in completely different cities.

Yet there he was, a great hug, handshake and quick conversation. In a total of two minutes, we caught up as quickly as we could. We will try to get together for a coffee while here at the conference. The reality is that we will probably not get that chance and not see each other again for another number of years. But it shows the power of connection. It shows the kind of impact we can have on each other.

It has happened each day here at the conference, walking the halls, dining, walking back to my hotel room....chance encounters with people that I know. Reconnections taking place in the most random ways. And it doesn't happen with people I know. I am having encounters with people that I have never met before. Business contacts and other EMC employees, each and everyone of them the chance to create new and lasting relationships.

In a conference about Big Data, The Cloud and IT Transformation; it is also about the people. Those connections we make will transform our lives. Those connections will create great and lasting impressions that will create chance encounters in the future. Make every one of them worthwhile.

Stay inspired my friends.

Transforming Your Connections

The American television broadcaster Hugh Downs once said, "to say my fate is not tied to your fate is like saying, 'your end of the boat is sinking." When it comes to relationships and further connections to other people, each of us have an impact on what happens to others and to each of us.

As I walk around talking to people, sitting in customer meetings and interacting with the nearly 15,000 folks here @EMCWorld, it becomes very apparent that we are all in this together. I will say that we do have a certain amount of control individually over our own lives. But every event, every connection, all have the potential of changing us in sometimes slight and other times huge ways.

All of this occurs due to the connections and impact of others in our life. It is through these connections to so many people in this world and events that transform us. These connections can strengthen the knots in the fish net of your life. Without the right attitude towards them, they can also tear at those very same knots.

This fish net has knots that are close to you and would be your family and friend connections. As you move out through the web of knots, there are people you work with, those you interact with at the grocery store, so on and so forth. There are many people that are in attendance here @EMCWorld that we are connected to in large and small ways. And each of these people connect in ways that are as yet unknown to you.

All of us develop these connections through out life. Those connections transform us. Those connections allow us to impact others. Make those connections strong ones and good ones. A poorly tended net becomes weak and ineffective. But a strong and well tended net results in a great life.

Enjoy how your life impacts others. Enjoy what it does in your life. As you cast your net out, you will find how amazing it can be. Cast your net far and wide my friends....and stay inspired.

EMCWorld - Its The People

"Technology is nothing. What's important is that you have a faith in people, that they're basically good and smart, and if you give them tools, they'll do wonderful things with them." -Steve Jobs

I will be changing it up a little bit this week as I write from Las Vegas, Nevada. This is the week of EMC World in which 13,000 technology professionals come together to experience, learn and share in the world of data, cloud technology and so much more. If you combine them with the nearly 2000 EMC people working the show, you can start to see it is a pretty large gathering.

If you want to read regular updates, check out the event via Twitter by following @EMCWorld and other sites that offer updates and live feeds from the event.

With so much technology on display, I thought it important to reflect upon the human side of it. Technology in the form of computers, data storage systems, software, smart devices, etc., all have and continue to transform our lives. No longer do we require large file cabinets to store thousand if not millions of hardcopy pages. No longer do we require large paper road atlas maps to get around. No longer do we require a longer phone cord to talk on the phone further away from the kitchen wall. I could go on and on and on with the advances that technology provides us.

In fact I would venture to say that technology and the advances are really kind of boring. We know that data is growing by a factor of 100x every ten years. We know that CPU speeds are getting faster every year. We know that disk drive technology is transforming itself as seen by the adoption of flash drive technology. So it is becoming less exciting to see the new technology and more exciting to see what people are doing with that technology.

Artistic Data

I wrote about this in a recent article titled Artistic Data @EMCWorld in which the excitement now comes from the blending of this technology with human innovation. You can tell from the quote I chose for today that I really believe the transformation is beginning to happen.

If you read the article above, you will further understand what I mean. But the transformation that am talking about is similar to how cars transformed everything we did. The car opened up first as a means to move from one place to another but the horse and cart still moved goods from one place to another. The car changed into trucks and became faster, more reliable. The car expanded our reach, no longer confining us to a radius of 15 or 20 miles in one day by horse. People could now travel to Yosemite, or California, relatives no longer lived down the street or in the next county. The world became a little smaller, more accessible.

Technology has done the same thing. We no longer need a phone on the kitchen wall. We can be driving down the road talking to someone. We can take a picture of the great ball of twine in Kansas and send it to friends back in Atlanta. Also, think about how many people now work from home. No longer do we need to sit in an office, in a cubicle in order to work and accomplish our job tasks.

So much technology, it is almost boring at times. What isn't boring though are the cool uses for those technologies that PEOPLE are coming up with. And I meant that to be in capital letters. How are PEOPLE going to start blending it all into something beautiful, functional and of course, useful.

So when we start talking about all of that data, of which EMC will be in the middle of it all, we must not forget that it is the PEOPLE that will do wonderful things with it. PEOPLE will be the reason for all of the advances, of all the great things that will be done.

Enjoy the week folks and let's do something cool and wonderful for all of us.

And above all, stay inspired my friends.

Stand Strong

Stand strong through your hard times and know you can change your circumstances. Stay believing in your visions and dreams when others try to destroy that belief. Embrace all that you are.

Next week I'll be posting from @EMCWorld in Las Vegas. Storage just keeps growing and growing as the data explosion continues. I'm going to be writing about the people and the great stories that 13,000 people generate. So Viva Las Vegas and stay inspired my friends. Have a great weekend.

Friends For Life

“If you have good friends, no matter how much life is sucking, they can make you laugh.” ― P.C. Cast

Through our lives we need family and friends to be a part of our lives. For the comfort and support they bring. The advice and encouragement is something we can not get by ourselves. The community of relationships is what makes our lives better. This is a spoke on your 'wheel of life', to have the social and family strength to move through life.

The painting above is called "Luncheon of the Boating Party" by Renoir. I love the painting for its simple view of people gathering. There are formal and non-formal interactions going on. A sense of care and ease seems to exist among those gathered. Very much like a picnic you have attended or a gathering of friends for a game of cards, friendship makes the world a better place.

Take the time to meet with others and envelope yourself in the warmth of friendship. Your days will be better, your spirits will be lifted, your life will be renewed.

Stay inspired my friends.

Will That Be Credit?

“You want 21 percent risk free? Pay off your credit cards.” -Andrew Tobias

To all of the millions of people that use and live by credit cards, it is abundantly clear that we are prey to our own human nature. Credit card companies understand this and exploit the tendancies of human weakness to "want" things even when we do not really "need" things.

Once you are approved for a credit card, which is quite easy to accomplish, the credit card companies are pretty convinced that you will use that card. The credit card companies are even more sure that you will not pay off your credit card each month. This is where they hook you and it is where they make their money...interest charges.

It is those interest charges that begin to create the circle of debt that can make it nearly impossible to ever pay off a credit card. It is this constant debt we carry, you, me and everyone else which is the basis upon which credit companies create their revenue.

Now comes the rub, late fees. Most late fees average $34; instant profit to the credit card company and an addition to your balance that will collect interest charges if you don't include that amount in your next payment.

How do you to overcome the pitfalls of credit card usage? An article by Kristyn Kusek Lewis in Readers Digest offers these following tips.

* Remember that the due date on your card statement is just that. A postmark date is not the same thing. Because many card issuers impose ultra-specific cutoff times (American Express, for example, won't process some payments received after 12 noon in a customer's time zone until the following day), try to make your payment, by mail or online well in advance.

* One way to avoid going over your limit (and facing extra fees as a result): Go to the card company's website. Most will alert you via e-mail when you creep close to your cap.

* If you've historically been a good customer, it can't hurt to ask the customer service department to waive over-limit or other fees.

* Similarly, if your interest rate goes up, it's worth asking to have it lowered. A Study by the Massachusetts Public Interest Research Group found that when cardholders requested a reduction, almost six in ten got their rate reduced by at least a third with just one five-minute call.

What I caution everyone is to simply use credit cards with care. Do not overuse them and keep them to a minimum balance. Cash is always better but use of credit can be useful. One good way to limit the need for credit card purchases is to pay yourself at each paycheck (10%) and build up your savings. This will cut down on your need to use a credit card.

Lastly, read as much as you can about using credit and creating a savings account. Knowledge is power in many instances and the more you know, the better prepared you will be to handle your finances.

Don't Be Afraid, Just Knock on the Door

“If the sight of the blue skies fills you with joy, if a blade of grass springing up in the fields has power to move you, if the simple things in nature have a message you understand, Rejoice, for your soul is alive.” -Eleanora Duse

There is a great song that many of you are probably familiar with. It is called Mr. Blue Sky, written by Jeff Lynne and performed by the group Electric Light Orchestra (ELO). In a BBC Radio interview, Jeff Lynne talked about how he came up with this song. He had been staying in a Swiss chalet trying to write his band's next album after release of the album A New World Record. As he says, "It was dark and misty for 2 weeks, and I didn't come up with a thing. Suddenly the sun shone and it was, 'Wow, look at those beautiful Alps.' I wrote Mr. Blue Sky and 13 other songs in the next 2 weeks."

The ability of a blue sky to lift our spirits is like the smile upon someone's face when they greet you. It is the ability of kindness to make your day better. It can all start with a simple gesture or a sky of blue. And while I have this song in my head, another song by the same group comes to mind.

It is a song that talks about picking ourselves up and getting on with it. The blue sky may appear, but than we need to do something about it. We have to create movement in order to create a better life for ourselves. Here are the lyrics of the song titled The Diary of Horace Wimp that give you an idea of what I am saying.

The Diary Of Horace Wimp by Jeff Lynne

Monday
Late again, today,
He'd be in trouble though he'd say he was sorry,
He'd have to hurry out to the bus.

Tuesday
Horace was so sad,
He'd never had a girl that he could care for
And if he was late once more, he'd be out.

CHORUS

Don't be afraid, just knock on the door,
Well he just stood there mumblin' and fumblin'.
Then a voice from above said -
"Horace Wimp, this is your life,
Go out and find yourself a wife.
Make a stand and be a man,
And you will have a great life plan."

Wednesday
Horace met a girl,
She was small and she was very pretty,
He thought he was in love, he was afraid.

Thursday:
Asks her for a date,
The cafe down the street tomorrow evening,
His head was reeling, when she said "Yes O.K."

CHORUS

Friday
Horace, this is it,
He asks the girl if maybe they could marry,
When she says "gladly." Horace cries.

Sunday
Everybody's at the church,
When Horace rushes in and says
"Now here comes my wife, for the rest of my life." and she did.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Even when the dark and rainy clouds appear in your life, a blue sky sits just behind them. Get up and stay inspired my friends. Go out there and grab a great life.

Check out the video with the same song, "don't be afraid, just click on the play."

Artistic Data @EMCWorld

"Do you realize if it weren't for Edison we'd be watching TV by candlelight?" -Al Boliska

It is getting close once again to attend my company's annual technology conference called EMC World. Thousands of people will come together May 21st through the 24th at the Venetian Hotel and Convention Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. Yes, that very same place the Blue Man Group calls home.

In a weird way, the guys in the Blue Man Group look similar to the guy in our EMC World promo picture above. But they also look a little less freaky than the half wired man, half clouded bald guy. It probably isn't a good thing for me to be taking swipes at the advertising picture for EMC World 2012. But that picture makes me think about technology and where we are on the technology curve. While most everyone just flows with technology, I ride on top of it and believe we are on the upswing of even cooler stuff to come and it is this thing called "The Cloud."

I look back at what Bill Gates and Microsoft did for technology with their Windows Operating System. It gave the world greater access to technology in a more consistent and usable fashion. Yes, there were many...and I mean many...different companies and software options. With Microsoft, we were able to collectively do things together more easily and with greater productivity.

Some may argue that the dominance of Microsoft was bad, namely Steve Jobs and the folks at Apple. I contend that without Microsoft we would still be struggling to communicate between companies, between nations, and between people. There would have been fifty different word processing programs, eighty spreadsheet programs, a myriad of email programs and a lot of frustration. We had thousands of colors on an artist's pallette but no brush to make it all work together in one great painting.

A connected world by general adoption of a single operating system set up the path to where Apple would than lead us. With Steve Jobs at the helm of Apple, he worked all those many years to create a tightly controlled user experience that astounded millions of people. He created products that were elegant, in fact beautiful. Microsoft created the brush for us but we were still mechanical in nature, painting by numbers so to say. Apple products created an ability to bring human emotion and creativity into a blended mix with technology. They turned us into artists.

I was never a big Apple user early on because of my technology geekiness. I had a need to see what was inside and how it worked. That kind of geekiness has it's place in the technology craziness. Part of me could be pictured as the half wired guy in our EMC World picture. That is certainly part of who I am, always wanting to see the bits and bytes. Yet I do have a creative side, as all of us do. We could be engineers creatively designing a new product, a technical person creatively finding ways to diagnose and fix a product, or a business person coming up with new ways to sell or work with a new product. It really is not a whole lot different than painters, songwriters, singers or actors. We are all artists in one way or another.

What Microsoft and Apple did, including quite a few other companies, too many to mention, was to set the stage for an even greater collaboration of people, data and being connected. The technology advances we are going to see over the next couple of years will make video conferencing with friends in Curitiba, Brazil seem old school. Together we are going to see clarity in what the "cloud" can do for us.

I am excited because my company, EMC, is right smack-dab in the middle of it all. We play a very important role in this upswing on the technology curve. Along with all these other great companies, technology is becoming more about the connected nature of people as opposed to the technology itself. Billions of bytes of data out there in the world.

In a 2011 EMC-sponsored study, 1800 billion gigabytes (1.8 Zettabytes) were determined to be out there. If you look at just one zettabyte, it is the equivalent of the total storage capacity of 75 billion 16GB iPads, or all the information in all the academic libraries in the US (times half a million), or possibly the output of every inhabitant of the planet tweeting, non-stop, for a century. Lots and lots of data.

But never fear, it isn't some weird half android humanoid that we are going to become. It simply means that we will have the ability to be even more creative, more connected and more human in all of our connections to other people. We are going to see greater things happening in our lifetime. So stay tuned in, turned on and ride the wave of all that is happening.

See you @EMCWorld and I will blog each day I am there about the personal connections that are happening with people.

Stay inspired my friends.

Your Life, Not Theirs

“To wish you were someone else is to waste the person you are.”

There is a story about a small boy who was auditioning with his classmates for a school play. His mother knew that he had set his heart on being in the play - just like all the other children hoped too - and she feared how he would react if he was not chosen. On the day the parts were awarded, the little boy's mother went to the school in order pick up her son. The little lad rushed up to her, eyes shining with pride and excitement. "Guess what Mom," he shouted, "I've been chosen to clap and cheer."

Like many things, there can only be one Laurence Olivier to star in the stage production, only one Michael Jordan to sink the final winning basket, or the first John Glenn to circle the earth in space. All of us work and dream of being the "one" that garners all of the attention and success. We set our goals and ambition to be the best, the brightest, the most beautiful in the hearts and minds of everyone. We will try to define our success based solely on the highest pedestal others might place us upon.

There is possibility in becoming the greatest and most successful. There might be accolades from the mass public, cheering as you walk down the red carpet or ascend to the highest pedestal. But even the person cheering on the sidelines has greatness and success inside, inside where you are comfortable and happy first. That kind of success is determined by you and not by those around you.

And success can be as simple as being thanked for holding the door open for someone in need. Or by always being that person willing to help someone else, extending a hand to others. It could be greatness as large as the small boy being selected to clap and cheer, no matter what others may think. Success and greatness are wonderful things to strive for and accomplish in life. Just know it is you and the perfection that God made you to be which defines your great life.

Stay inspired my friends.

There You Are

"We are what our thoughts have made us; so take care about what you think. Words are secondary. Thoughts live; they travel far." -Swami Vivekananda

I travel quite a bit in my job that that takes me to places far flung around this world. I have been to every one of the seven continents with the exception of Antarctica. I am trying to figure out what possible reason there might be for me to earn a business trip to that last one. It just has not worked out yet that Emperor Penguins have identified a use case for disk storage.

In each of these places, I know that my actions and words are closely watched and listened to. Each of my visits require me to speak in front of customers and the local co-workers for the company I work for. As anyone that speaks in front of others, you know that your words have impact upon those listening. What I say is expected to be truthful, accurate and easily understood. If that doesn't happen, the words can lead to misunderstandings and wrong outcomes.

Even my actions can have bearing upon those around me. The way I act during breaks in between meeting sessions. The way I act at a client dinner meeting or event. What I do and how I act have a huge impact on people's perception of me, my integrity and my influence or lack of influence. Acting like a dolt will certainly temper their opinion of me.

The same is true for anything I do, whether it be in front of people or behind closed doors. What I do, where ever I do it, that is who I am. It is similar to the old phrase that says, "Where ever you go, there you are." Both phrases basically mean that one cannot run from one's problems or actions indefinitely. I am who I am where ever I am.

So regardless of where I am, a meeting in front of customers, at home with the kids or standing in the checkout line at the store; people see your actions and who you are by what you say. It means that you or I can have influence on people no matter where we are. The way we think translates into words which translate into actions. So than it extends to where ever you are in your thoughts, so go your words and actions. Make those thoughts the right ones.

Start Tomorrow By Starting Today

"I am tomorrow, or some future day, what I establish today. I am today what I established yesterday or some previous day." -James Joyce

Each of us are a product of what we did yesterday. The things we did, what we ate, what we read, and how we treated people created the person that woke up today. It changed big things and little things about us and now in today's light, we must live with those changes in us.

The same thing will happen with how we approach today. The news we read and the books we finish change us just a little bit. What happened to us at work or on the drive home modifies our personality slightly. How we reacted to all that passed through our world during the day has an impact on us.

We can make a resolution to change something about our life. But then we tell ourselves it can wait, tomorrow I will change. But tomorrow comes and you think you are the same person, but something has changed. You have created a person that is resistant to change by having put it off. Even though we continually say we are going to do something with our life, you might think that nothing ever does when we put off today until tomorrow.

But something did happen. You lost one more day, one more opportunity, one more chance to do something with your life. The you today is the same you as yesterday, but with less to show for it, less of what it is you want in life. You have started to create a person that will never make a change and achieve everything meant for you.

Forget about yesterday and take hold of creating your tomorrow, today. Grab hold of the opportunity so that tomorrow when you wake up, a different person will be stepping into those shoes and heading out the door. In order for that to happen, you must take steps today. It all begins with making that first step. One change today, changes the you of tomorrow.

Stay inspired my friends.

Circle of Influence

"Think twice before you speak, because your words and influence will plant the seed of either success or failure in the mind of another.." -Napoleon Hill

Each of us, as we walk through life, have a sphere of influence around us. It is an area or impact circle that you have on those that enter or pass through it. Taken in its simplest form, your family, friends, co-workers, people at the store you shop at, where you buy your gas, church and everything you do; your moving circle of influence impacts a lot of different people.

During those moments when you interact with people, the way you speak, the words you speak, the way you conduct yourself and the way you respond are all chances to impact the life of another person. If you think about it, everywhere you go creates a sphere of influence. To adapt it from Confucious, "Wherever you go, there goes your influence."

What all of it means is that your influence and ability to impact people moves with you. In example, whenever and wherever I travel on business, my circle of influence travels with me. There some people that would say traveling takes them out of their comfort zone because it takes them out of their environment. But I say that your environment is all that is around you. Your environment moves with you and you carry that environment to those people you come across.

We might be moving into their fields, but your field moves with you, therefore they enter into my field as well. You may wonder what I mean by my field. I'll write about that another time. For now just know that as you move about in your daily life, that where ever you go, you can have impact on others. Try not to lose any opportunity to engage and create change within your circle of influence and also in the outer reaches of circle of concern.

Stay inspired my friends.

Flowing Opportunity

"It is better to be prepared for an opportunity and not have one than to have an opportunity and not be prepared." - Whitney M. Young

Opportunity abounds most every where you look in life. It is very likely that you pass it daily and not even recognize it is there. It flows through businesses, personal lives and out on the street where you may least expect it. It stands right behind you when looking the other way. It will sometimes leave a door open that has always been shut. Opportunity creates a light in what was once a dark hallway. And there are opportunities that you find on your own and those that are pointed out to you directly by others.

But grabbing hold of opportunity can be difficult if you are not prepared for it. The reason I say this has to do with being able to recognize the opportunity itself. An old saying is that you can not recognize that which you do not know. Most certainly you can be given an opportunity without knowing anything about it. You will struggle to understand that opportunity handed to you and if not done quickly, the opportunity will slip from your hands.

Even worse is that we walk by so many opportunities without realizing it. And the reason is because we simply can not se it. We do not have the knowledge to see it. We do not have the vision inside to know that it exists.

So the first thing you need to do is to increase your knowledge; knowledge of anything and everything. Read books, newspapers and magazines on multiple subjects. Every bit of information that soaks into your mind becomes a library of knowledge that will feed your vision. You will than be much better prepared for opportunity that presents itself to you. You will have the ability to identify opportunity flowing eveywhere that otherwise you may not have seen. You will touch that flowing opportunity and make it your won.

Secondly, you have to be prepared for change. It will be the type of change that is required to take hold of those things that come your way. There are many that see opportunity, can recognize and touch it, but have built walls of resistance to change. Change that is sometimes required to fully experience the opportunity found. this inability to make change in our life will prevent you from seeing what lies beyond the opportunity. It keeps us from being able to grab hold of new possibility in life. If you break down that wall of resistance, you will see a difference.

It is said that opportunity is like water. When it comes to containing water, it will always find a way, a path through which it can flow. If you dam it up, the water will rise and flow over the top. If a leak in the dam occurs, the water will find it and open it further. Opportunity is also like this. It will flow to the path of least resistance and if you have a wall built up around you, opportunity will flow around you. It will flow to those that are open to seeing it, grabbing hold of it and letting it change their lives. Grab hold of opportunity for your life, change your life and achieve your best life.

Stay inspired my friends.

Tools You Use

Isn't it strange
That princes and kings,
And clowns that caper
In sawdust rings,
And common people
Like you and me
Are builders for eternity?

Each is given a bag of tools,
A shapeless mass,
A book of rules;
And each must make--
Ere life if flown--
A stumbling block
Or a steppingstone.

-R.L.Sharpe

Impossible or Not

Everything that was impossible.

"Man will never reach the moon regardless of all future scientific advances." -Dr. Lee DeForest, "Father of Radio & Grandfather of Television"

"There is no likelihood man can ever tap the power of the atom." -Robert Millikan, Nobel Prize in Physics, 1923

"I think there is a world market for maybe five computers." -Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM, 1943

"640K of memory ought to be enough for anybody." -Bill Gates, 1981

"This 'telephone' has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication. The device is inherently of no value to us." -Western Union internal memo, 1876

"The concept is interesting and well-formed, but in order to earn better than a 'C,' the idea must be feasible." -Yale University management professor in response to Fred Smith's paper proposing reliable overnight delivery service. (Smith went on to found Federal Express Corp.)

"We don't like their sound, and guitar music is on the way out." -Decca Recording Co. rejecting the Beatles, 1962

"Drill for oil? You mean drill into the ground to try and find oil? You're crazy." -Drillers who Edwin L. Drake tried to enlist to his project to drill for oil in 1859

"Airplanes are interesting toys but of no military value." -Marechal Ferdinand Foch, Professor of Strategy, Ecole Superieure de Guerre, France

"Everything that can be invented has been invented." -Charles H. Duell, Commissioner, US Office of Patents, 1899.

"I don't know what use any one could find for a machine that would make copies of documents. It certainly couldn't be a feasible business by itself." -Head of IBM, refusing to back the idea, forcing the inventor to found Xerox.

"Louis Pasteur's theory of germs is ridiculous fiction." -Pierre Pachet, Professor of Physiology at Toulouse, 1872

"There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home." -Ken Olson, president, chairman and founder of Digital Equipment Corp, 1977

Did someone tell you that your dream or goal was impossible?

Don't believe them. Even the smartest people in the world have failed to see that the impossible is possible. Stay inspired my friends.

Your Vision - Your Goals

"If you want to make your dreams come true, the first thing you have to do is wake up." -J.M. Power

Being goal-oriented means never leaving home without knowing where you are going. It means being visionary about what you want to do with your life. You look for possibilities and figure out how to turn them into actualities.

Being goal-oriented means having a plan and a result in mind. It means being prepared for the journey and enjoying the trip along the way. Ultimately, it means having a view as to what lay at the end of the trail.

I will admit that I have never been the best at being goal-oriented. That isn't all that true because I do establish goals. My success has come from having a vision in mind and then simply moving upon it. I make changes and adjustments along the way as I journey towards that vision. Over the years, this process has taught me that it works to establish a vision even though the path is full of twists and turns.

If you want to bring your vision to fruition, establish goals for that vision. Two things to help you do this are;

- Write down your vision
- Write down three goals that will set a course towards your vision

By writing down your vision and goals, it will make your vision much more real, much more attainable. Setting goals will move you towards your vision and give you check points along the way. Once you have completed the steps above, now do the following;

- Make several copies of the vision and goals you just wrote down.
- Put one in your billfold or purse.
- Place one on your desk at work, at school and at home.
- Tape one to your bathroom or bedroom mirror.
- Put one in places where you will see it during the normal things you do through out your day.

Repeat your vision and goals to yourself when you can. Keep reminding yourself of how and where you will be. Tell your story to others when the opportunity presents itself. Allow your family and friends to be your touchstone; allow them to hold you accountable. More importantly, stay focused on your goals.

Your vision will grow and shine brighter within you and become much clearer as you get closer to realizing it.

What Kind of Success

"Money never made a man happy yet, nor will it. There is nothing in its nature to produce happiness. The more a man has, the more he wants. Instead of filling a vacuum, it makes one." -Benjamin Franklin

There is a section of London I stay in when visiting on business. The area is quite near to Kensington Palace, a bit west of Buckingham Palace. This area is a very well-to-do area if gauged by the expensive flats and cars parked out front. There are a number of Porsche, BMW, Mercedes and the sight of a Bentley or two that make me realize my older Chrysler Concorde would be out of place among them.

As you walk through this area you can certainly feel the presence of money. The imagination begins to run wild with thoughts of wondering how these people living in these nices homes make that money. I can imagine that many of the people living in this area are involved in finance, insurance, the arts or possibly politics. My mother would have said, "yes, but you don't know what their credit card bills are like." There is probably a bit of truth to that. My guess is that they can afford the credit card bills.

Yet wealth comes in many fashions. My wife had reminded me of the story in which two people who liked to gossip. This couple had seen a new expensive car that another couple in their church were driving. Of course they came to a conclusion that this couple could not have obtained it through legal means. The rumors they passed on became more cruel and outrageous. The couple with the new car became deeply hurt when they heard the stories. They had simply inherited a great sum of money from a relative that had passed on. In this particular story, the saddened couple left the church.

So tell me, would you begrudge someone that had obtained a certain level of financial success?

Why do people gossip and think hurtful thoughts in this manner about the success of others?

I can only believe most of it has to do with jealousy. Jealous of what others have. When we don't have what others do, we allow envy to enter our hearts and minds. It can become a very devastating way to view others. It is my contention that we should choose to be happy for those that have achieved. A greater share of these people have worked hard and truly earned their success.

Most certainly there are those that have obtained success in a not so reputable fashion. But choose to believe in the majority that have honestly earned it. We should be proud of them because doing so is a step in getting out of your old attitudes and into new ones. Dream and believe that you will have that level of success as well.

Petty jealousy is what keeps you down. Be a bigger person and throw away those thoughts. Revel in others success as it can be yours one day. And remember, success is not only financial. Success is a feeling you achieve inside. You will know it when you feel it deep inside.

For me, I'm already a successful man with the family and friends that I have. I have a job that I enjoy immensely and allows me to travel. I get to meet others from all around the world. I get to experience their kindness and pass it on to others. Success is a feeling inside and no one can take that from you.

Stay inspired my friends.

One Of The Twelve

"Be not afraid of greatness: some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them." -William Shakespeare

There is a known business fact in which any contact you have with a customer, it takes twelve (12) positive experiences by the customer to overcome just one (1) negative experience. If you think about it, that is an amazing figure. The odds are 12:1 against you that a customer will continue to come back. That is a difficult position for you to be in if you happen to be the next person in line dealing with that customer.

What happens if you are one of those next twelve experiences the customer has with your company?

First thing to remember is that in the eyes of the customer, you are the company. You equal your company. You have to take responsibility and represent the company in the appropriate manner. You can not hide behind any excuse such as, "I only work here". Sorry, when you were hired, a trust was placed in your hands to represent your employer.

Now it may be that you have a small level of authority. But it does not diminish the fact that you are your company at this point in time; the time in which that customer is standing in front of you. If you can not accomodate the customer, then certainly go out of your way to assist that customer in getting to the right person. Taking just a small amount of concern and effort for the customer will go a long way in the customer relationship.

Do not be the road block to success, be one of the twelve positive experiences.

Every time you pick up that phone and each time you encounter a customer, consider this the first of twelve needed positive experiences. You can use this same work ethic outside of work, at home, at church or at the store. Those people you encounter could be considered as just having had a bad experience.

Here is your chance to be one or more of the twelve positive experiences this person needs. Understand that lifting others will ultimately cause your life to be lifted up. You can be the one to make the experience a positive one. Your wife had a bad day at work or one of your kids is frustrated with school; you have the opportunity to start changing their world.

Don't Be The One - Be One Of The Twelve

Stay inspired my friends.

Your Cornerstone

"Setting a firm foundation better prepares us for success." -Dean Sweetman

Here we are, half way through the month of April. In fact it is tax day here in the United States, the last day to complete and turn in our tax forms. With all that is going on, January 1st is quickly fading from our minds and slipping into the quiet past.

Even with the taxes and everything else going on, it is a day not much different from the day before. It is a day that is not much different from any other day as time passes by us. But it is a day that can have significance for every one of us if we stop and think about it.

If January 1st is the 'starting point' for what we want to accomplish this year, than have you? If you have not, than the importance of today is to get started; begin today. If you have not started to lay the foundation for what the year has to offer; begin today.

The opportunities that may come our way, the experiences we will encounter and success that is ours to achieve are built upon a firm base. When those April showers come our way and the flowers of May spring forth, will you be ready for it.

If January 1st was our day to start preparing, then March 20, the Spring equinox is our time to begin planting the seed of change. If you don't prepare yourself, when the time comes to plant it will be too late. You will miss opportunity to plant the seeds that will change your life.

You don't want to miss opportunities of rain and growth that will sustain you through the long hot days of summer. Without a strongly rooted vision, growth can not be sustained and the fall harvest of achievement becomes another lost opportunity. With another long cold winter to think of what may have been.

Don't wait to start setting in motion your foundation for a great year. If you haven't, then start today, start with change and start with belief that this year will be different.

Stay inspired my friends.

Influences

"We perceive and are affected by changes too subtle to be described." -Henry David Thoreau

I hear many times during the work week people talking about the issues they have with their job or life that is going on around them. Listening to them, you would wonder how it is they struggle to even get up in the morning. To face the world must be such a huge problem for them. As I listen to them, it strikes me they have a few things in common.

One is that they have a perpetual wallowing in self doubt and complaint regarding their surroundings. I have wondered why they remain within that constant cycle of complaint. Maybe it would be better to step back, look at life and examine their surroundings. In doing so, maybe they will begin to understand the influences that surround their lives.

Now is the time for you to figure out what is happening in your world that forever holds you back. Now is the time to change things in your life. Maybe a different radio station. Maybe a different route to work. Maybe just a determination to change your own attitude.

The influences that surround your life are very powerful in a subtle way. Do you congregate with friends that are always negative about things? Try meeting more positive people. This does not mean to bring your troubles and pains to them. It means to listen and catch the spirit of their life.

I have repeated to many people an old phrase which says, "tell me your sad story and I will tell you a hundred sadder stories." What happens to you, to me or to others is life. Life itself is an influence on us and how we choose to respond is up to us.

An example of changing up the influences in life is one of music. I have a wide range of musical taste and for a long time listened to rock stations on the way to and from work. With the aggressive music I found myself becoming much more aggressive in my driving habits. I would race to be ahead of the other 20 or 30 thousand cars on the freeway. Driving this way would push me to the point of complete irritation.

I found my work day was starting out in a very bad way and coming home I was wound so tight, the transition to home life was difficult at best. Something had to change, I needed to find a way to relax during the drive. So I found it by switching the radio station to classical music. My drive became filled with the soothing sounds of the great composers. My drive to or from work is now filled with relaxation and not irritation. It certainly helps me stay unwound and better able to focus.

The point being is that I examined one part of my life and made a change. I made the choice to change my life and attitude which in turn effected others around me. By doing so, by examining your surroundings and than making a change in your life, the results can be amazing.

Enjoy the results of change by changing from the wrong influences to the right kind of influences. And most of all, say inspired my friends.

To Goatee Or Not To Goatee

"The hardest battle you're ever going to fight is the battle to be just you." - Leo Buscaglia

I have seen many men that can easily carry a moustache, beard, or goatee upon their face. The neatly trimmed or scraggly beard that adorn each one is individual in nature. I marvel at how comfortable they are with the look.

For me, it had been many years since I last carried any hair upon my face. In my twenties it was a moustache red as can be. There was no use in trying to grow a beard because any attempt looked like a map of the Caribbean Islands. so I settled for the narrow place between my upper lip and nostrils.

I felt decent with a moustache but eventually shed it for a smooth and clean shaven look. Call it the changing times of fashion or simply feeling it was not the real me. So for twenty plus more years, I have diligently shaved my face each morning.

And than a few weeks ago the urge to grow a goatee came upon me. I'm not sure why, but it felt like something I should try. So I set about the task to grow and maintain a decent goatee along with the patch of area above my lip. The full redness had disappeared as my years have grown, the gray colors dominating the look.

Eventually it filled in and I started to get used to the feel of it. There were those that said it looked good. Others that simply humored me I think. And there were those that plainly said it just wasn't me. I tried to wear the goatee with comfort but inside I felt the same; it just wasn't me.

Was I trying to be or look like somebody else? Was I trying to hide behind a new look or trying to create a new image? I can honestly say I'm not sure which, but I do know that it just wasn't me.

What I did find is that the real me had to shave off the goatee. The real me was not going to stand behind a face of hair that looked like one person, but sounded like another. I was going to be the real me once again, so I shaved off the gray and red upon my face. When I looked in the mirror, all I could say was hello to me again.

Do you try to hide behind something you are not? Is there a real you waiting to come out and be the person you are meant to be? You need to shave off those feelings and costumes that we hide behind. We need to live our lives as the real us...the real you.

The time will come when the facade we carry needs to come down. Be bold and be the person you are inside. And stay inspired.

Smile for Life

“Smile at each other, smile at your wife, smile at your husband, smile at your children, smile at each other -- it doesn't matter who it is -- and that will help you to grow up in greater love for each other.” -Mother Teresa

This week, my wife is in Ecuador on a mission trip. She and a group of folks from the C3 School of Ministry here in Lawrenceville, Georgia are impacting the lives of people in need. It is a trip of importance in the lives of those being helped and in the lives of those on the trip. Doing great things for others is a two-way experience.

Yes, most mission trips bring help to those in need including clothing, medical, education and other forms of assistance. My wife is part of that effort but she also brings her smile. A wonderfully conforting and encouraging smile that lets you know everything is going to be just fine.

I have spoken of seeing her smile for the first time in my book Love Is. It is the same smile that I remember seeing on the face of my grandfather as he waved goodbye for the last time. They are smiles that wrap a genuine peace around your heart and soul.

All of us can bring a smile into the lives of others close to us and to those that we meet each day. We can smile in Cuenca, Ecuador and we can smile in Lawrenceville, Georgia; in either place it has an impact. So smile and change someone's day, week or life.

Stay inspired my friends.

Tending Your Field

“The fields are black and ploughed, and they lie like a great fan before us, with their furrows gathered in some hand beyond the sky, spreading forth from that hand, opening wide apart as they come toward us, like black pleats that sparkle with thin, green spangles.” ― Ayn Rand

The world around you, regardless of where you are, is your field of influence. It is a field that includes the hearts and minds of other people who enter in and pass through it. Your sphere of influence is generally any one that you encounter through out your life. It is a field that you have an impact upon by your actions and words.

As a farmer plants seeds and tends to the field, you have responsibility for the seeds you plant in the hearts and minds of others. You can tend to them over time and watch people grow and move to greatness. Or you can ignore them and watch them wither. These interactions go on everyday both to you and by you.

You may be 'planting' seeds within the fields of your influence, but others are doing the same as you enter theirs. When two mindful farmers enter each others environment, a wonderful thing happens to both people. The metaphor for tending a field of influence can be difficult to follow in its concept, but the more you think about it, clarity will come to your understanding of what I am writing.

The basic premise for me when it comes to 'farming' your field of influence is this; do not leave people where you find them. Help them, nurture them and bring them to a higher place. Leave them with hope and understanding that life has much to offer them.

The 'harvest' of a well tended field will yield much to you. Your life will be enriched for the experience and be more bountiful in its rewards. In all that you do, leave that which you enter better then when you found it. Leave the heart and mind of others in a better place.

Stay inspired my friends.

Creating a Wave

"The life I touch for good or ill will touch another life, and that in turn another, until who knows where the trembling stops or in what far place my touch will be felt." -Frederick Buechner

If you take even the smallest amount of time out from your day to help another person, well it is always a great thing. There will be different points in our lives when opportunity comes come along to do just that, help another person.

There is a great commercial that depicts these "opportunities" and shows them occuring in the most mundane ways. I would hesitate and state that commercials are not necessarily the best forum to learn about life. Yet at times, advertisements can teach us basic principles about living even though the intent is to sell us something. It is really no different than me writing about ways to live life I would suppose.

But beyond that, this particular commercial is from an insurance company entitled "Responsibility". The advertisement is from an insurance company called Liberty Mutual. They have a few versions of this but it primarily depicts one person making a choice to do one thing for another person. Others notice and it starts a ripple effect of others helping others.

In previous articles I have written of this same thing, this "ripple effect" of choices and actions you take in life. It is like a pebble dropped in the water. Small vibrations of water begin to flow out from this one seemingly insignificant pebble. As the ripple continues to move out further, the vibrations grow into waves that eventually create a great wave breaking at waters edge.

You can have this same impact in life, with small actions such as helping others. Your actions will be noticed and be carried by others further and further. It is unlikely that you will see the large wave on the outer edges. Sometimes you do and it is a wonderful feeling. But even if you do not, grab the vision that it does occur.

Like surfers riding atop these giant waves crashing with final impact upon the beach, your own simple movement results in waves of final impact on a greater world. Others will ride this wave of movement to a destination of greatness. The great thing about it is your actions create the same thing in others.

Other people will create pebbles in the water with circles of change moving out from their own center. You will get the ability to ride those waves to greatness when they come along.

Some might say that it creates a rough pool of water. Yet my belief is that calm water means the boat remains still, motionless with little chance of getting anywhere. But a breeze comes along and the boat begins to move, your movement begins and waves begin to form.

Change begins and your life will never be the same for you are moving towards something great. Create waves in your life by helping others and than catch the waves of change which come back your way.

Stay inspired my friends.

Build a Home

"Seek home for rest, for home is best." -Thomas Tusser

Coming home, it is a wonderful feeling when one has been on the road. Whether it has been a short trip down the road to another city, or a long journey to another country, returning home is always a comforting event.

As much as we try to expand our horizons with new experiences and places, we tend to be home bodies at heart. Home is the one place where you will always find those closest to you. A wife or husband, father or mother, child or friend; those that know you most dearly.

When I travel, the vast majority of people I meet are for the most part quite friendly. They are ready to help you with whatever you need and genuinely ready to assist in most any way.

But the hotels are different from my own house. The food is different from my wife's cooking. The sounds and atmosphere simply do not have the same familiar feel. When I come home though, I can slow down from the hectic pace and be among close family and friends. All of the familiar come rushing back once again to ease my soul and calm my life.

In your daily life, many of the stresses you encounter can be absolved simply by coming home. Do not make your home a stressful one. Make your home a comforting one, a home that nourishes and rejuvenates the soul.

There is a great quote by the famed poet Maya Angelou. She says, "The ache for home lives in all of us, the safe place where we can go as we are and not be questioned." It means to me that we should build a home that we will always ache for when we are not there.

Stay inspired my friends and enjoy the quiet comfort of home.

Work Environment

 

Have you ever walked into a workplace (private or governmental) and told yourself that you are glad you don't work there? The environment is dingy and just not very pleasing for a number of different reasons.

In the area that I live, we once had such a place; it was called the Department of Motor Vehicles Licensing office. To label the office miserable does not begin to describe the office conditions, not to mention the large numbers of county citizens using this location. The customer service being provided by the employees working there were certainly a reflection of their work environment. Many of the office people would try but one could see how truly difficult it was.

Then one day I had a need to visit the new DMV location. It was a trip I had performed a few times before with my boys. This visit would be another one to help my son get his drivers learner permit. I was bracing from the pain and misery of standing in long, uncoordinated lines and just a rotten day.

To my surprise, the new location was a huge transformation, not only in atmosphere but in the spirit of the employees. Things ran much smoother, much quicker and with much less tension. Efficiency is most times joked upon when it comes to governmental services. But do not forget government employees are people are just like you and me. Think about how well might perform if you had a poor work environment.

A pleasant and well designed work location will be reflected in your employees. This means more efficiency through out the workplace.

• Efficiency gains translate into a more stable work force.
• Efficiency gains translate into a more satisfied customer.
• Efficiency gains translate into dollars.

Think about where you work and what that work environment is like. Are you regulated about having a plant on your desk or have such poor lighting that you couldn't keep a plant alive?

If the environment is tiring and displeasing, a change needs to occur. As an employer you need to recognize it. As an employee you need to make sure your employer knows it. It boils down to an environment where the customer, employee and business owner all benefit.

A report from the Whole Building Design Guide (WBDG) Productive Committee discusses the costs of a great work environment and what the potential payback is. You can read the article at http://www.wbdg.org/design/productive.php.

There are five principles of productive building designs that I'm quoting from this article;

• Promote Health and Well-Being

Indoor environments strongly affect human health. A productive workplace should be designed to support and enhance the health and well-being of its occupants.

• Provide Comfortable Environments

A workplace designed and operated to provide the highest achievable levels of visual, acoustic, and thermal comforts for its occupants is the underpinning of worker productivity.

• Design for the Changing Nature of Work

Providing spaces with flexibility and technology to promote new ways of working is a cornerstone of change and innovation.

• Integrate Technological Tools

Effectively integrating technological tools and distribution networks required in today's office environments to enable workers to perform their duties starts first and foremost with properly designed pathways and spaces.

• Assure Reliable Systems and Spaces

Reliability is one of the greatest concerns for building occupants—it directly affects their safety, health, and comfort. Workers must be able to rely on building systems, equipment, and tools that function consistently and are properly maintained.

So take some steps - make some changes - shake up the atmosphere and see what happens. Because sitting still and doing nothing will leave you behind everyone else that are moving on and getting ahead. Change the work environment from one of working in the sludge pits to one that creates a great environment.  Unless of course you actually do work in a sludge pit, which means a different article for discussion.

Stay inspired my friends.