Motivational – Page 42

Are You Winning?

February 13, 2019February 13, 2019 by Dave Glardon, posted in Uncategorized

Good morning! I hope your day is starting off well.

It’s hump day, and that means the week is just about half over. It’s also the midway point for all those things we’d hoped to accomplish this week. How are you doing on your assignments? More importantly (don’t tell the boss), how are you doing on your personal goals? You know, those things you’re doing just for you?

As we near the mid-point of February, those New Year’s resolutions are beginning to nag. And, like most “adoring” husbands, we find a way of shutting down that nagging voice to the point we no longer even hear it. Yes, by this point we should have lost ten pounds, or been to the gym 30 times, or whatever it is we promised ourselves what we’d do. We don’t need to be reminded every day!

Part of the problem is we try to set goals for the entire year. And if the weather is bad, or there are leftover goodies from the holidays, or whatever, we look at our progress so far (or lack of it) and say, “I’ve still got plenty of time. It’s only February!” All the more reason to do those Monday morning resolutions we’ve talked about.

But the even bigger problem is we set lofty goals that will require an immediate and complete change in habits, personality, and lifestyle. And when we don’t find ourselves progressing as we think we should, it’s easy to get discouraged. And then that nagging voice kicks in … “You knew you’d never be able to do that.” And the easiest way to shut that voice down is to simply give up.

Goals should be challenging. If your goal is to get up every morning and tie your shoes, that’s not much of a stretch, and not much to celebrate. But if your goal is to go to the gym for three hours every day of the week, and you haven’t been near a gym in the past year, you’re probably setting yourself up for failure.

Most of life is about setting and achieving goals. Sometimes we don’t even think about it. And sometimes, those goals are set for us with deadlines we think we can never meet. It may be an assignment at work, something for one of the kids, or an emergency repair that’ll take everything in the bank and then some.

When those goals require us to operate at peak efficiency and dig down deep into our creativity, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. But when they require everything we’ve got, week after week, there comes a point where you’re just physically drained and something has to go. Sadly enough, when we look over the list of possible cuts, our personal goals are usually at the top of the list.

And it’s possible that we set our sights too high there as well. If you’re working a job that requires 8-9 hours a day, raising a family, maintaining a home, and working a part-time job or building a business on the side, it’s a safe bet your goal of getting to the gym every day is doomed to fail.

As we set goals, we need to be realistic. Sure, stretch yourself a little. That’s what makes the goal worthwhile. But make it something where you have at least a reasonable chance of success. Several smaller goals will get you to the finish line faster and easier than one huge leap. And as you complete those smaller goals, you not only see progress – you see yourself winning, week after week.

It’s all part of the habit of success. If you’ve been with me a while, we’ve talked about that before. It’s like a small child staring at the cookies on top of the refrigerator, completely out of reach. So, they stand on a small stool. That gets them closer, so they try something else. And with each piece of the rickety ladder they construct, they get closer and more excited until finally they reach their goal.

If your personal goals are a bit too much, it’s okay to trim them down a little. Or just stretch out your self-imposed deadline and set some smaller intermediate goals along the way. With each success, you’ll get closer and more energized. And, if there are corrections to be made along the way, you can spot them earlier and get back on track.

Goals should be challenging, but realistic. Don’t set yourself up for failure. Make those Monday morning resolutions and celebrate your success at the end of every week. You’ll move closer to your ultimate goal, building confidence every step of the way. And it’s that confidence that will see you through to the end.

That’s all for now. Have an awesome day!

You’ve Got This!

February 11, 2019February 11, 2019 by Dave Glardon, posted in Uncategorized

Good morning! I hope you all had a fantastic weekend.

I spent most of my weekend working. But, in fairness, I was working on my own personal goals, so that’s not really like work. Okay, some of it is, but it just doesn’t seem as labor-intensive when it’s something you want to do. Like building a new house. It’s hard work no matter who’s moving in, but it just seems a lot less grueling when that somebody is you.

But it helps knowing you have what it takes to get the job done. I’ve attempted some jobs in the past where, not long after I started, I realized I was in way over my head. There’s something to be said for checking things out ahead of time and making sure you either have, or can acquire, the skills needed. Otherwise, you’ll be paying somebody else a lot of extra money to clean up your mess.

And, I think it’s that fear of getting in over our heads that keeps us from taking on more than we do. Even taking a new job doing the same thing we’ve been doing for years is scary, because no matter how similar the actual job may be, every company has its own quirks. And that keeps a lot of people in jobs they really don’t like, because sometimes it’s easier than making a change.

But, let’s assume you’re happy with your job (I hope you are). That doesn’t mean you can’t, or shouldn’t, look for other opportunities, and it doesn’t mean you can’t dream of a lifestyle beyond what you can attain in your current job. But finding those opportunities and doing something about them two different challenges. All too often, we never try. “It’ll never work.”

Have you ever seen a job posting for something you really wanted to do, but weren’t quite sure you were qualified? Maybe you read the “required skills” and went down the list going, “Nope … nope … maybe … nope.” They all seem to be worded in a way that makes you wonder if you’re even capable of doing the job you already do. It’s like they don’t even want you to try.

And while we’re talking to other people to find out what a certain “required” qualification entails, somebody else with fewer skills comes along and applies for the position and, next thing you know, they’ve got the job. And you’re left kicking yourself for not taking the shot, because you’re absolutely more qualified than that other guy.

It’s natural to assume the people who have been able to achieve the things we want are somehow better qualified or more deserving than we are. Maybe they’ve worked harder or went to a better school. Maybe they know the right people. And maybe they just faked their way through it until success came knocking. Sometimes you have to talk the talk before you can walk the walk. And sometimes, you just have to be willing to try something a little different.

Our pastor told us the story of a man who, while looking for his golf ball in the edge of a lake, noticed there were dozens of other balls in the same area. So, he talked to the owner of the course and struck a deal – he’d dive every lake on the course, and the course would pay him ten cents for every ball he retrieved. It turned into a full-time business that he later sold for over $5 million.

Sometimes, the obvious answer isn’t so obvious. Sometimes it means doing something you believe in when everybody else says it’ll never work. I’m sure the Wright brothers heard that as they built their first airplane. I’m sure Bill Gates heard that as he built Microsoft, or Mark Zuckerberg as he envisioned Facebook. And that guy diving for golf balls? Yeah, I’m sure he got laughed at a time or two.

And not a one of those people had any more brains or abilities than you. What they had was a desire, a dream of something better, and the belief that they could be the one to make it happen. It’s been said that Alexander Graham Bell didn’t invent the telephone. He took somebody else’s failed attempt, adjusted a screw one-quarter turn, and it began to replicate the human voice.

Just because nobody’s ever done something doesn’t mean it can’t be done. And just because others have already accomplished what you desire, it doesn’t mean there’s no room for one more. And, most of all, none of that means somebody else is more likely to succeed. Believe in yourself and work with a sense of purpose. Because there is nobody more deserving than you.

That’s all for now. Have an awesome day!

Get Off the Beaten Path!

February 8, 2019 by Dave Glardon, posted in Uncategorized

Good morning, and happy Friday! I hope you’re having a fantastic day!

As we head into the weekend, some of us are planning a couple of days of rest and recreation. For others, it’s two days to catch up on everything that got neglected around the house because of the “real” job. And, depending on your job, this could be the busiest two days of the week.

Over the years, I’ve worked a lot of side jobs. When I was in the Navy, I spent my evenings and weekends on the receiving end of a 40-lane bowling alley. Have you ever wondered who that is in the shadows back there, taking care of pin jams and ball returns? That would be me.

!f just a few minutes. I ran back and forth all night and then collapsed in exhaustion.

I’ve had other side jobs – pizza delivery, standup comedy, running my own businesses. You see, I learned early in life that, once you negotiate your starting pay on most jobs, that’s about as good as it gets. You may get a promotion here and there. But for the most part, the best you can hope for is a cost-of-living increase that’ll let you keep living exactly the way you did last year.

If you want anything extra along the way, you have to do a little extra to get it. So, we put in a little overtime, take a side job, sell some old belongings, or turn off the cable TV and eat Cheerios for a month. Whatever it takes. Because the fact remains, whatever you made on your job last year is about what you can expect to make this year.

I’ve met lots of people who had some pretty demanding jobs on the side. I once worked with a project manager who spent almost every evening in a theme park, cooking hundreds of pizzas until closing time. And every morning, he was back on the job. I’d be lying if I said you could never tell. He mumbled every word and walked like the living dead.

It goes without saying that we can only keep up a pace like that for a certain amount of time before it catches up with us. Yet, with just about any one of those people, if you were to suggest something a lot less stressful, maybe even enjoyable, that they can do from the comfort of their own home, they shake their head and move on. And the answer is always the same. “That’ll never work.”

We’ve been conditioned from the time we were children to believe hard work is the only way to succeed. If you’re not reaching your goals, you’re not working hard enough. Get a better education, find a better job. Put in some overtime and climb the corporate ladder. And the reward for all that is, you get to work even more.

At some point in history, somebody figured out you could move a large rock a lot easier if you roll it instead of trying to pick it up. It’s called working smarter. No matter what your goal, there are lots of ways to get there. But banging your head against a wall for 46 years will give you a headache. The key is finding an easier way to get the job done.

That means keeping your mind open to opportunities others can’t (or won’t) see. The well-trodden path is crowded and, if you keep following the same crowd, you’ll get to the same destination, behind every one of them. If you want to arrive at a different (hopefully better) destination, you have to get on a different path.

And that can be scary. It means taking a leap of faith into the unknown, going against conventional knowledge, and trying something you never saw yourself doing. And it may take a few tries to make any real progress. But if you keep at it, sooner or later you’ll find the path ahead is a lot shorter and more open than what you left behind.

Try to find a little time to relax this weekend. And, in that time, open your mind to possibilities you never really considered. Dream of not where you are, but where you’d like to be. Then begin thinking about how you can get there. It’s possible you already know. The answer may be right there waiting for you to take the next step. There’s only one way to find out. That’s all for now. Have an awesome day!

What’s The Rush?

February 7, 2019February 7, 2019 by Dave Glardon, posted in Uncategorized

I don’t know of too many people who wake up in the morning yearning to take their spot in the rush-hour commute. There are a few occasions where some people are determined to show the very worst side of their personality, and that one ranks at the top of the list. Can I get an amen?

And, other than an accident that ties up traffic even worse, few things can ruin the morning commute more than rain. Anything more than a sprinkle is enough to do the job, but a downpour is a special kind of messed up. Wipers blazing, puddles in the worst possible places, and people driving like the green flag just dropped at Daytona. That describes my commute yesterday.

I’ve often wondered what goes through a person’s mind to make them drive just as fast as they can, weaving in and out of cars that are at least trying to maintain a safe distance, on days when every instinct and everything they were taught in driver’s education tells them it’s about as dangerous as a coiled-up rattlesnake. “It’s raining! I need to hurry up and get there!!!”

I usually say a silent prayer that they’ll get where they’re going in one piece, and without taking anybody else out along the way. Because that’s usually how it happens. The accident they cause is behind them, and they race on oblivious to the mess they just caused.

It makes you wonder, are these people even half as energetic when they get to work? Do they approach their whole day with an equal sense of purpose and urgency, determined to outdo everyone around them? Or are they the ones sitting in the bathroom stall for a half-hour reading the newspaper, right before they clock out to take a break? We may never know.

In his 1974 song, Mac Davis reminded us all that it’s important to “stop and smell the roses along the way.” And, given the hectic pace in which most of us are forced to live, I can’t think of a more befitting sentiment. Sure, we need to get things done. But we miss a lot of the world’s beauty when our eyes are only fixed on that car in front of us.

Okay, I’m not suggesting we should take our eyes off the car in front of us. But you get the point. It’s easy to get tunnel vision, so short-focused that we never see the wonder around us. The baby calf in the pasture, the eagle perched in a dead tree, the snowman carefully crafted a day earlier, or the toddler lovingly waving goodbye to an older sibling.

It’s easy to see our world as a challenge to be conquered, full of people who are determined to get in our way. That guy in the left lane who’s only going five miles per hour over the speed limit. The person you have to reach around to get a can of corn off the grocery store shelf. Or the child who won’t stop crying when it should be obvious to the whole world you’ve got a headache.

But it’s just as easy to take a step back and enjoy those same situations. Instead of lamenting heavy traffic, turn up the radio and sing along. If you can’t race through the grocery store, take a little time to read some labels and find healthier alternatives. And when a child is crying, think of the innocence of youth. Try to remember a similar time in your own life.

It’s all about perspective. George Carlin once said the same words that hurt can heal. It’s that way with just about anything in life. Even the deadly venom of a rattlesnake can be used to make blood-thinning medicines that can lower blood pressure and prevent stroke. Now, I don’t suggest petting one, but they do have a purpose in our world. So does everything and everyone around us.

When the pace of life starts raising your stress level, slow down and take a deep breath. Take a moment to enjoy the world around you. Smile a little. Wave somebody else into traffic in front of you. It’s therapeutic – try it sometime. And when the jerk behind you starts blowing his horn, just wave and wish him a better day. You may get the finger in return, but that’s on him, not you.

When we take time to smell the roses, we find another level of existence. We find enjoyment in things that once were a source of irritation. We make new friends. We find new paths and enjoy new scenery. But most importantly of all, we enjoy this journey a lot more, and maybe even help those around us to do the same. That, my friends, is living.

That’s all for now. Have an awesome day!

Dig the Well Today – You May Need a Drink Tomorrow

February 6, 2019February 6, 2019 by Dave Glardon, posted in Uncategorized

Good morning! I hope your day is off to a great start.

This is the time of day that many of us are getting ready to leave for work. Hopefully you only have to do this once each day. There are lots of people who work more than one job, clocking in twice or even three times a day. Sometimes it’s just for some of life’s extras, like maybe a down payment on a car or a vacation. But all too often, we need these extra jobs just to make ends meet.

There could be lots of reasons for that, some a little more self-inflicted than others. But it really doesn’t matter. When bills are piling up and there’s not enough money to make them go away, it’s more than frustrating. It can be downright paralyzing.

Of course, the easy answer (and the one offered up most often) is don’t over-extend yourself. That’s great advice, but it doesn’t do much to make the problem go away right now. Time is usually not part of the equation, because the time to get something started was weeks, or even months, ago. Even if you started a second job today, it could be three weeks before you get paid.

Part of the problem is we tend to miss the signs that things are headed in the wrong direction. We know the bills will need to be paid, but somehow overlook the reality that there just won’t be enough to go around. By the time the problem becomes obvious, it’s too late. Now we’re robbing Peter to pay Paul, and setting ourselves up for months, or even years, of being behind.

It all goes back to a concept I’ve written about in the past – dig the well before you get thirsty. Digging the well takes time, and the first water coming up may not even be fit to drink. But if we see the need and respond before it becomes a problem, it’s usually little more than a bump in the road. You pump the handle, and out comes water. You go to the bank, and the money you need is there.

And this concept stretches way beyond just financial matters. Have you ever seen a job posting for something you’d really love to do, but realize in reading the qualifications you’ve come up a little short? Sure, you could take a class or learn a new skill. But the company doesn’t have time to wait. By the time you could get through a class, the job will be filled.

Or maybe you read about a special cruise with your favorite musician. It’s a once in a lifetime event, and you’d desperately love to go. But over the course of the year, you’ve burned all your personal leave a day or two at a time, maybe with frivolous things or just because you didn’t feel like going to work. Now, even if you had the money, you couldn’t get the time off.

Digging the well means anticipating the unexpected. It means recognizing that events will transpire over the coming year that you can’t begin to plan for. At the start of 2018, I didn’t expect to have brain surgery by the end of the year. But it happened, and let me tell you, having a little money in the bank and a whole bunch of vacation time on the books made a world of difference.

Digging the well also means keeping your mind open to trying something a little out of the ordinary. No matter what you hope to accomplish, there are opportunities out there just waiting to be discovered. But you have to do two things. First, you have to actually be looking. Opportunity doesn’t knock. Bill collectors knock. If you want to find opportunity, you have to do the knocking.

You also have to be ready when opportunities arise. That means being able to recognize an opportunity for what it is, to look beyond potential flaws and what other people think, to find what may be a pot of gold waiting at the end. It means keeping your options open instead of immediately looking for reasons not to even give it a try.

There are many paths to success, some a lot more traditional and predictable than others. But the fact remains, the obvious and predictable path is crowded, and the rewards may not be all that special. If you want something more, you have to do something more. Take those chances, stick your neck out a little. Be willing to embrace the path less traveled.

To have something you’ve never had, you have to do something you’ve never done. And success means spending a few years of your life doing the things most people won’t do so you can spend the rest of your life doing what most people can’t do. You’ve heard this all before. The question is, what will you do about it?

That’s all for now. Have yourself an awesome day!

Use It Or Lose It

February 5, 2019 by Dave Glardon, posted in Uncategorized

As I inch closer and closer to the age of retirement, I find myself focusing more on health and fitness. I guess that’s a normal thing. When we’re younger, it’s not so much of a concern. Bad things only happen to old people (not true) and we’ll always be able to get out and do the things we enjoy most (also not true, unless it involves a lot of sitting).

We talk a lot about dreams and success, but none of that really matters if we’re too frail or out of shape to enjoy it. When I was in the Navy, we made a port visit to Monaco. A group of us went to the Jacques Cousteau museum, at the top of a cliff next to the port. We had to climb several hundred steps to get there. And, believe me, it was worth the climb.

Now, I’m pretty sure we could have taken a taxi, but we were young and it was a nice day. Besides, the scenery was awesome. And not a one of us was tired when we reached the top. But if I tried that today, I’d never make it past the first 100 steps. And that’s with several rest breaks along the way.

That bothers me, because there are some magnificent attractions in this world that you can only access by climbing stairs. Pyramids don’t have elevators, and I don’t think you can get a helicopter to drop you off at the top. And even if I did make it to the top, I’d probably fall trying to get back down. It’s an attraction I’d have to admire from the ground.

Pick up any travel or leisure magazine, and they’re full of pictures of people zip lining, bungee jumping, or simply hiking up a narrow trail to swim at the base of a waterfall. And never once do you see them sitting on the side of that trail with an inhaler and a bottle of nitroglycerine. These people are having the time of their lives.

Most of us will work for at least forty years before we’re able to retire. All the more reason to set aside some money and do it while we’re still young, but that’s not always an option. Between paying bills, raising a family, and climbing the corporate ladder, life has a way of pushing our plans back. “Next year” we say. “Keep that magazine handy, because someday we’re going to do that!”

Well, magazines are a good way to feed your dreams and, if you’ve been reading these posts any time at all, you know I’m a proponent of dream-building. But if you neglect your health and fitness along the way, all the dreaming in the world won’t fix that. You may still get to your destination and you’ll have fun. But think of all those things you won’t be able to do when you get there.

Make no mistake – as we age, our health and physical abilities will deteriorate. It’s inevitable. But that doesn’t mean we have to passively accept it. And most doctors will tell you that physical activity, even a little, can make a huge difference in not only our level of fitness, but also in our physical and mental health.

I used to bowl on a league, and one night they stopped us mid-game to wish a member of the league a happy birthday. He was 103. More than a hundred years old, and still at it. They handed him a microphone and he told us he’d been bowling his entire life, and that if he hadn’t remained active, he’d have died years ago.

Now, my guess is the ball he was using weighed about half as much as mine, but it’s not about how much you can do – it’s about doing something. Anything to get you out of the house and moving. I see people in the gym who are much older and in much worse shape than I am, struggling to walk a leisurely pace or lift ten pounds. But you know what? They’re trying. They’re doing something.

We all have visions of a better, more relaxing life, and we spend most of our days on this planet working to attain that. And, for most of us, that day will come. We may not retire on a tropical beach or have the means to travel the world. But there’s something to be said for playing with the grandkids or getting through the grocery store without having to stop and take a breather.

So, as you work toward those dreams, make sure you take care of the body that will help you make the most of them. If you’re young and healthy, don’t take that for granted. And if you’re older and less fit, do something about it. Every little bit helps. It’s your life, so make the most of it.

That’s all for now. Have an awesome day!

Game On! What Position Will You Play?

February 4, 2019February 4, 2019 by Dave Glardon, posted in Uncategorized

Well, the Super Bowl is over, and one team is celebrating a lot more than the other. I didn’t watch but, from the score, it appears the stars of both teams were on the defense. It’s not often you see a big game with scoring so low on both sides.

I was never known for my athletic ability and, as a result, I was never much of a sports fan. I played little league baseball and football, which is to say they let me be on the team. I think there was something about that in the rules. My job on both teams was to occupy every square inch of the bench so the star players didn’t end up with splinters in their butt.

And that’s okay. We all get a few splinters every now and then. Besides, there were lots of things I could do much better than the stars of the team. But apparently, my mastery of the multiplication tables and ability to speak in complete sentences wasn’t a big turn-on for the girls back then. And I learned really fast not to compare report cards in the locker room.

Somewhere along the line, though, those things began to take on greater importance. Toward the end of high school, girls did start to gain an appreciation for intelligence. Or maybe it was my motorcycle. I’m still not completely sure. But my clumsiness on the playing field began to matter less over the years. Even the jocks didn’t care. To them, I was just another face in the hallway.

And here’s the thing – never once have I filled out a job application that asked about my batting average or how many times I sacked the quarterback. Seems now, all they care about is my brain. Well, that and my willingness to show up for work every day and actually do something productive.

That’s not to say I’m any better than the guys who chased me around the locker room with mentholatum and wet towels. In fact, I’m pretty sure some of them went on to have successful careers of their own. Hopefully someplace that places a high value on giving the new guy a wedgie. But I’m sure a lot of the people who control my paycheck were stars of the team back in the day.

We all have gifts. Some are more visible than others, and some are more valuable in a given situation. An athletic physique can be an asset when you’re sitting on the lifeguard stand or carrying a fire hose up six flights of stairs. But in the boardroom, where it’s covered by an Armani suit, nobody really cares.

For most of us, life exists somewhere in the middle. And, in that world, it takes a mix of skills to get by. There are days when a few extra muscles come in handy, like when it comes time to dump a 40-pound bag of salt into the water softener. Other times, those extra muscles are about as useful as a fork in a bowl of soup.

The key is to make the most of our gifts so that, when a situation arises, we’re able to pull out the right one. Ask any mechanic about their toolbox, and they’ll probably tell you they started with a couple of screwdrivers, and then built from there. One day they needed a set of wrenches. The next day it was a pair of pliers. And, for all of us, the day comes when we just need a bigger hammer.

There are some jobs that only require one tool, or one skill. But the more complex tasks require a mix of abilities. And sometimes, it’s the most delicate tools that we rely on the most. When I had my surgery a couple of months ago, one of the tools used was a bone saw. But I’m pretty sure the surgeon had a whole tray of tools to work with. Hopefully he counted them all when he was done.

We each have our own unique combination of skills and knowledge. That’s what makes us different and able to tackle a given situation with just a little more ability than the person next to us. But tomorrow, we may have to sit by and watch them take the “hero” spot for a day.

Our ability to use those gifts, and to seek out and find people who complement our own talents, can carry us to unlimited heights. We don’t have to be the star of the team. All we have to do is bring our best and make each day as important as the big game. Do that, and you’ll win every time.

That’s all for now. Have an awesome day!

Spread a Little Sunshine!

February 1, 2019February 1, 2019 by Dave Glardon, posted in Uncategorized

Good morning, and happy Friday! I hope your day is starting off well.

My grandson used to tease me about my morning greeting in these posts. “Hi good morning man. I hope your day is starting off well.” Okay, I must say that a lot. But it’s something that comes naturally. At work, I’m known as the Walmart greeter of the 5^th floor because I say good morning to everyone. And I begin every email or text message with “I hope you’re having a nice day.”

I just find it to be a lot more personal than, “Hi – I need some help from you, and I’m hoping you’ll drop everything you were doing at the moment to read this message and answer my question.” It befriends the person you’re speaking with, and friends tend to work well together. Besides, I really DO hope they’re having a nice day. I hope everybody is.

Years ago, we had a woman in the front office who was over-the-top bubbly all the time. I only saw her upset once, and she tried to hide that. And, any time I needed anything from anybody in the front office, I went to see Amy. Even if she had to send me to somebody else, I just walked away feeling better. Have you ever met anyone like that?

And yet, one day as some of us were working on the shop floor, she came by to talk to one of the guys about something. As she left, he looked at the rest of us and said, “I can’t stand somebody who always wants to blow sunshine up my (behind).” Okay, that’s not exactly the word he used, but you get the idea. He was verbally trashing her for trying to make his day better.

I remember thinking, seriously? With all the foul moods and bickering in the shop, how could anybody begrudge a person who went out of her way to spread a little cheer? And trust me, that place needed all the help it could get. Maybe because they hired too many people like my coworker who, although very good at his job, would rather spread negativity than receive happiness.

Every employer knows the value of morale and camaraderie. When you have a group of people who view one another as friends, where smiles and warm greetings are abundant, they not only work well together, but their own individual productivity is better as well. And that can be seen on the bottom line of the Profit & Loss statement.

The problem is, too many employers don’t pay attention to morale until it’s too late. On the job I was describing, most people weren’t happy. We did our job because was somebody was watching through the office window to make sure we did. After a while, verbal and physical altercations became a common occurrence. And productivity was at an all-time low. Go figure.

And it would be easy to put all the blame on the managers who saw employees as lazy people who won’t do anything unless you constantly crack the whip, and who viewed social interaction as a work interruption. But the truth is, we were as much to blame as they were. It was our company as much as it was theirs. And we created the work environment – all they did was supervise.

There will always be days at work when things aren’t going well. I had one of them yesterday. After spending almost two days chasing an issue, I found out it had been solved months ago and all that work was for nothing. It was nobody’s fault, and it could happen again tomorrow. But suffice to say I left work feeling pretty discouraged.

It happens to all of us. Somebody gets upset because of something you did, and someone else is peeved because of something you didn’t do. Or maybe you just didn’t do it to their satisfaction. We’ll start a project, only to have it yanked out from under us. Equipment breaks, supplies run out, a customer vents their frustration with somebody else on you, whatever. We all have bad days.

And the truth is, there’s often very little we can do to keep these things from happening. But it’s how we react to those situations that makes or breaks the day. Even more importantly, our reaction can make or break the day for the person working alongside us. And that’s what drives morale. It all comes back to the people who have the most to lose (or gain) from it.

It all begins with a smile. It may not make all the bad stuff go away, but it changes the way we let it affect us. It puts us in control. And it rubs off on everyone around us. There are few things in this world more powerful than a team working toward the same goal. And when that goal is happiness, just think of all the great things we can accomplish.

That’s all for now. Have an awesome day!

Do Your Body Right

January 31, 2019 by Dave Glardon, posted in Uncategorized

Anyone who knows me knows I’m not the image of fitness. I see a lot of other people my age and younger who aren’t nearly as healthy as I am, but when it comes to body weight and the ability to move it around freely, I’ve got some work to do. I guess that can be said for a lot of us.

And something I’ve noticed over the years – every time I talk to my doctor about any of a variety of issues, the response always included “diet and exercise.” Blood sugar is getting a little high? Diet and exercise. Need to take off a few pounds? Diet and exercise. Blood pressure needs to come down? Diet and exercise. I’m starting to think there’s a conspiracy.

And if you read the label on any of the multitude of weight loss products, where they brag about how the pounds and inches will just melt away, there’s always an asterisk next to that comment. Scroll down to the bottom of the label, that line you can’t read without a magnifying glass. It says, “When combined with proper diet and exercise.” Well, duh!

I like working out in a gym, weightlifting and flexibility training. I even like yoga. My problem was always a matter of convenience. My gym has several locations in the area, but they’re all several miles from the house. And, you know, my horse doesn’t like traveling long distances, especially in the cold. That’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it.

But a few weeks ago, the YMCA opened a new location a half-mile from the house. Worse yet, it’s right on the way to work. And it’s open ALL DAY. I’m starting to think I’ve run out of viable excuses. So, a couple of days ago, I took the plunge and got us signed up. My wife and I both. As luck would have it, it’s right on the way to every store she visits. Now we both have to go.

I had my first workout the day we signed up. Whatever your goal, or your taste in exercise, they’ve got you covered. Well, everything you can do in public, anyway. And as I looked around at all the equipment and facilities, it occurred to me that there’s no way I’ll ever get it all done. So, you have to pick and choose. You have to find something that will help accomplish your goal.

And, I think that’s one of the most important parts of any exercise program. You have to start with a goal. What are you trying to accomplish? If it’s just weight loss, they’ve got a routine for that. If you want to strengthen and tone as you go, there are exercises for that. And if you just want to be able to grunt and throw around really heavy weights, well … there’s a gym down the street.

For most of us, knowing how to accomplish those goals is a challenge. If you just go into a gym and watch what everybody else is doing, you’re not working on your goals – you’re working on theirs. Exercise programs need to be tailored to your specific condition and your specific needs. Walking is good for everybody. But a treadmill is just a little too much impact for my lower back. At least now.

You could work with a trainer, even just long enough to figure out how to use certain machines correctly. But, be careful because trainers are like those leftovers in the back of your refrigerator … some are a lot better than others. There are lots of books you could read, or you can just surf the internet and get the information for free.

And, believe me, the internet is loaded with info. I was looking for specific exercises to help reduce the size of my … you know, mammaries. I think that’s the technical term. And you know how Google reads what you’ve typed so far and suggests some options? Well, when I typed in “Getting ride of mo …” the first thing that popped up was “Getting rid of moobs?” Seriously? Do they have a camera or something? Like nobody out there is trying to get rid of mosquitoes? Thanks!

The point is, do a little research. Talk to people, read, surf the internet, whatever it takes. Because the same machine one person uses to slim down will help another to bulk up. And it’s critical to do the exercises correctly. Form comes first, then you can work on being macho.

We all need to exercise. And, with very few exceptions, we all need to exercise a lot more than we do now. Start with a goal – know what you’re trying to accomplish, and why. Then take a little time to find out the best (and safest) ways to accomplish that goal. Start easy and build up. It’s not a race. And don’t try to keep up with the person next to you. Just keep up with yourself.

That’s all for now. Have an awesome day!

Believe, and You Can Achieve

January 30, 2019 by Dave Glardon, posted in Uncategorized

Have you ever had something you wanted, something pretty much out of reach, and then that day comes when you believe it’s possible? Maybe it was a job you wanted that you never dared apply for. You’d read the qualifications, and it just seemed a bit unrealistic. But then that day comes when you take a leap of faith. You ace the interview and get the job. Or you get a step closer and they ask you to apply again next year.

Several times in my life, I was able to advance my career by taking that leap of faith. My mom always used to say, “If you say no to yourself, they don’t have to.” And I found that a lot of those job descriptions were a wish list – something dreamed up by a manager and polished up by a Human Resources recruiter with no real idea of what the job entails.

It’s like that with a lot of things in life. You see something you want, and you begin compiling your own list of qualifications. Halfway through, you decide there’s no way you’re even remotely qualified for this, so you give up and move on to something else. Or, worse yet, you just stay right where you are.

But if you took a little time to meet somebody who has already reached your goal and asked them a few simple questions, you may find some of those qualifications (roadblocks) you put in your way are really just speed bumps. And in some cases, they’re just lines on the road. After a while, you begin to realize maybe you can do this.

Why? Because you’ve done something remotely similar before, and that came out well. Maybe you made a few mistakes along the way, and maybe you failed completely. But you learned from that experience and know what you’d do differently this time. Success may not be guaranteed, but it’s a lot more likely than you thought.

Napoleon Hill said whatever the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve. Well, the “conceive” part is easy. You see something you want or come up with a brilliant idea for something you want to accomplish. The more you think about it and begin to visualize success, it becomes a dream. Let that dream become a burning desire, and you’re on your way.

But, that’s not enough. The second part of that equation is to believe. It’s not enough to want financial success, or even to visualize yourself enjoying the rewards. You have to believe you can actually achieve that goal. You have to see yourself going through all the steps required to get there. And you have to know that, regardless of any setbacks, you will succeed.

That can be tough if you don’t have any successes to look back upon. But you do. We all do. An infant sees you holding their bottle and begins to believe they can do it. Then they see you pick up toys, and that doesn’t look so hard. One day they realize they have the ability to move a few inches across the floor, so they crawl. And, based on all those successes, they decide maybe they can walk.

It’s all part of what I call the habit of success. When you’ve learned to play Chopsticks on the piano, it’s easier to believe you can learn the next song. After a while, you’re playing with both hands, and not even looking at the keys. Then, one day, you hear somebody playing the works of Beethoven and decide that’s your next goal. Why? Because you can.

The habit of success is all about building on those seemingly small wins. After a while, taking that next step or reaching for new heights is no big deal, because if you’ve learned one thing in life, it’s that you can succeed. You’ve proven it time after time. And that, my friends, is the basis of belief. Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve.

Believing in yourself is as simple as reflecting on all those wins in the past, both big and small. And it means understanding that, what may have seemed like a failure at the time was simply a learning experience that’s made you that much stronger today. Focus on that, and you’ll begin to realize there’s nothing you can’t accomplish.

That’s all for now. Have an awesome day!