Life

The past several decades stand witness to my bookcases filling with a wide variety of books. One shelf appears to support my belief in the power of positive thinking. I do believe that any challenge you face can be overcome.

Yes, I am one of those people.

There are many books that have inspired, motivated, educated and opened my mind to new ideas and lessons. Some of these books are new age; some old world and some are fiction rich with great story telling and imagination.

I recently read Wishcraft by Barbara Sher, recommended by a successful woman and I wanted to know what she knew.

I was skeptical at first. If it weren’t for the name of the book and the hot pink cover I might have taken this book more seriously earlier. This book is about the art of wishing – or goal discovery and the craft of making it happen through strategic thinking, planning and execution.

While reading I experienced moments when I was unsure this was worth my time.

Then I read, “Depression is an energy crisis, and negativity is energy – pure, ornery, high-octane energy.” She struck a chord.

As a believer in the power of positive thinking, I continue to train my mind to think positive thoughts. Sometimes being positive just takes work and determination. Barbara Sher kicked popularized positive thinking in the can and went so far as to encourage temper tantrums – full-out toddler style temper tantrums. One caveat is that she offers advice as to where and how to have these tantrums so that you don’t get locked up or damage relationships, but it all made sense.

Okay, so now I am sucked in. I like this lady and my secret desire to throw a tantrum now seems to be surfacing and it feels good. She makes sense. Good old fashioned common sense. She moves you from uncovering your real goals – the ones buried long ago, and maps out brainstorming and barn raising problem solving techniques toward achieving those goals.

This is not to say that positive thinking doesn’t have value. What Sher offers is that if you practice positive thinking without goals, plans, deadlines, structure, community and strong problem solving techniques, all you end up with are happy thoughts.

This is an interesting read for anyone at anytime. There are wonderful nuggets of understanding, great tips on developing problem solving processes and goal achievement plans. If you are stuck for any reason in your business or personal development, then this is a good book to pick up and read.

And if you are listless, unmotivated or depressed, then by all means, get this book to find out how to have a really great toddler style feel good temper tantrum to get energized and get those creative juices flowing.

Care to share one of your tantrums? Would love to hear about a fit you threw and how it changed things for you!

I was recently asked to speak to a group of executives and business owners as an inspirational keynote. This invitation came completely out of left field. I speak publically on marketing and social media, but inspiration? I said YES without any hesitation even though in the meanwhile my heart stopped beating and my head felt like it was going to explode.

I do have a personal story. It is not something I share or bring into my business world except with those I come exceedingly close with. This may come from a fear of being judged or classified in some way or from the possibility that it would chip away at the professional persona of successful bliss.

I keep my personal life and my professional life separate. The line does blur now and again but I avoid telling my story. So now I am going to be standing front and center in a room, in front of executives from large and small companies telling a very personal story. Am I an inspiration? Am I an inspirational keynote? This is so far out of my comfort zone and yet part of what I am supposed to convey in this speech is that stepping out of your comfort zone is exactly what you need to do. To this end, I’ll need to offer up my story as an inspirational example.

So what is the point to this blog entry? It is about getting out of your comfort zone. Now I don’t know what is going to happen as a result of this speech, but I do know that for the past 15 plus years I have had to continually step outside of any comfort zone to take the next steps. Personal growth, growing the company and my own professional growth have all required stepping into fearful moments. Some big steps and some small steps have required that I step off that solid platform in the safety zone and step out into an uncertain field to play an uncertain role.

It isn’t often that I sit back and say wow, what was I afraid of? But the truth is that we all often step out with our fears rather than step out of our fears. There is a difference. If you lead with fear you are weak, if you step out of the fear and trust, you lead with power and thereby empower others. Don’t let fear stop you and don’t take it with you. Let fear be the indicator that you are about to experience change, and possibly growth. I think this is what is meant when you hear someone profess ‘embrace your fears’.

This is when I think of my dad. He was a pilot for 30 years in the military. A fighter pilot in WWII and a C130 Troop Transport pilot for two tours in Vietnam - that is over 4 years. He flew into battles where people were shooting at him with the intention of killing him. I always wondered how he did that day in and day out for so many years. I heard him say once in an interview “when I stepped out onto the tarmac I had to leave everything I cared about behind and just focus on flying”.

Innovators and game changers all have this inherently scary scenario in common. They must step onto the tarmac and focus on the mission. So if you are sitting tight, fearful of any choice or decision you are contemplating – just tell yourself that fear is good – it will keep your senses sharp and get on with what you know you have to do. Good luck and may your spirit soar.

What Does The Jewish New Year Have To Do With Business?

First, please be aware and respectful of the Jewish members of your customer and prospect base who will be out observing Rosh Hashanah (9/29/08-10/01/08) and Yom Kippur (10/08/08-10/09/08). Remember to wish them a Happy and Healthy New Year.

But for the rest of the non-Jewish population, what does it mean? It is helpful to understand the holiday. Rosh Hashanah is when G-d opens his book to review our acts over the past year. Jews have between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur to right any wrongs committed over the year and to pay off any debts (as though that would be possible in today's economy). Further, a good Jew now says I am sorry to those in their life to open a dialogue to find out where he (or she) might have offended or slighted someone without realizing it. This opens the dialogue to learn what one has missed and opens up the opportunity to make amends. On Yom Kippur, G-d reviews these acts, closes the book and our fates are sealed for the year ahead.

What a fabulous idea! What if we as business owners and managers did this the beginning of each fiscal year, or each quarter, or each month? Wouldn't our customers and prospects be just overwhelmed with joy that we cared enough about them (and their business) to reach out?

Some may already be doing this in the form of customer satisfaction surveys or even communication strategies for "when things go wrong" but what else are we missing? Did a customer service representative offend a client and we never heard about it? Did a sales person over sell and over promise and the customer is now disappointed? Did we not return a call fast enough or did we forget to say thank you when a client made a referral? Did we forget to send our best customer a birthday card?

To all of our friends and customers know that we are sorry for any slight, mishap or error we may have made and we hope that you will let us know how we can set things right.

To all of our Jewish friends and customers L'shanah tovah!