New Year – Dave Glardon

It’s Your Year – Make it Count!

January 1, 2024January 1, 2024 by Dave Glardon, posted in Motivational Humor

Good morning, and happy New Year! I hope wherever you are, your day is off to a blessed start.

I know, I don’t usually write posts on holidays. But, being relegated to my own little corner in my own little chair (at the kitchen table) because of Covid, I find myself with all this creative energy and the need to do something constructive with it. I just hope this continues throughout 2024. The creative energy, not the Covid. All I can say is thank God for modern medicine. I’m much better.

I used to tell everyone my only New Year’s resolution was never to make another New Year’s resolution. It seemed to be the only one I could actually keep for 12 months. Over the years, I’ve resolved to get healthy (does surviving a stroke count?), write a book (don’t rush out to the store just yet), build my business (okay, laugh), and lose weight. That last one is the biggest joke of all.

I still want to do all those things, but I’ve learned you can’t just make a wish and expect those things to happen. Believe me, I’ve rubbed the finish off enough lamps over the years to realize there’s no genie waiting inside to magically grant my wishes. The only way for any of this to happen is for me to get up a little earlier each day and make it happen. So far all I’ve done is eat an earlier breakfast.

But you know, it all starts with a mindset. We can’t simply want to succeed; we have to focus on the reasons we want to succeed. Change for the sake of change is doomed to fail. I have a few bosses who could stand to learn that one. But change, based on a clear understanding of what was wrong in the first place, at least stands a chance. I’m not buying bigger pants. How’s that for motivation?

The other thing to keep in mind is that you can’t torment yourself to the achievement of a goal. You have to lighten up. That’s why I try so hard (and not always so successfully) to inject a little humor in what would be an otherwise boring message. It’s impossible to be miserable when you laugh. Okay, abdominal stitches aside. A comedy club is not the place to be right after hernia surgery.

But as a standup comedian, I usually ended my show by reminding my audience of the importance of laughter. I once did a tour with gout in both feet so bad I was nearly crippled. But from the start of my shows until the end, there was no pain – just exhilaration. Sure, the pain came back later, usually with a vengeance. “I’ll teach you to ignore me!” Oh well. It was worth it.

The point is, no matter what your goals for the coming year, face them with a sense of humor. Get rid of that contorted face and stop telling everyone how hard you’re working and what you’re giving up. Nobody wants to hear it, and it’s not doing you any favors, either. Just focus on the reason and enjoy the journey. Who knows? You might even make a few new friends along the way.

I have some dear friends whose health challenges this past year make mine look like a walk in the park. Some of them have no idea what the future may bring, but they’re still out there making the most of each day, because they can. So can you. No matter what 2023 threw your way, you made it this far. So, put a smile on your face, a song in your heart, and get on with life. You ain’t dead yet.

That’s all for now, friends. May 2024 bring you all peace, prosperity, health, and happiness. Have an awesome day!

P.S. Those of you who have been with me over the years know how much I love hearing from you. I don’t write these posts for me – it’s all for you. Your feedback helps keep me inspired and on track. And if you know anybody who could use a little more positivity in their life, please share this link and invite them to come along. Together, we can make this thing rock!

What Else You Got Planned?

January 6, 2023 by Dave Glardon, posted in Uncategorized

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

The first week of 2023 is just about behind us, and I think we can all breathe a sigh of relief. Getting back to work is always a challenge, especially if you had time off over the holidays. I gave serious thought to early retirement. My wife said no. She won.

But I just turned 65, and that day is out there. Like most people, my body, mind, and bank account are not in complete agreement on when it should happen. After 50 years in the work force, I’m thinking my body may win. It certainly won’t be my brain.

I know my retirement will involve some kind of ongoing income. Social Security will buy gas, and my 401k will cover one health emergency. If the “emergency” is a flu shot. Beyond that, I need a little extra. Anyone know how much Walmart greeters make?

And I’m not alone in this. Most of us will need that extra boost to keep from moving in with the kids. Sure, I know people who think they’ve got it under control. In other words, they’re delusional. And I’ve met others who think retirement planning means putting their own numbers on the lottery ticket.

None of us knows when retirement will begin or end. We can plan, and we may even hit our target date. But life can change in an instant, and all those plans go right out the window. Accidents happen. Companies fail. And that Nigerian prince may have no intention of coughing up the cash. Just sayin’.

Those of you who have been with me for a while have heard these words – dig the well before you get thirsty. The time to come up with an alternate plan is not while you’re laid up in the hospital or just got your severance notice. That’s the time to fall back on Plan B, not invent it.

The reality is most of us will make it to retirement without any catastrophic life-altering event. So what? Have you ever heard anybody complain that they have too much money? If so, send them my way. I can make that problem go away in an instant. So can fate.

Our future is what we make of it. Expand your options today, and you can enjoy the ride tomorrow. Opportunity is out there, just waiting for you to make the next move. You can pick the one you want today, or let fate choose it for you. I know my preference. What’s yours?

That’s all for now. Enjoy your day and have an awesome weekend!

Why Would You Ever Want to Change?

January 2, 2023January 9, 2023 by Dave Glardon, posted in Motivational Humor, Uncategorized

Good morning! I hope your day (and your new year) is off to a great start.

I read a while back that if 2022 was a drink, it would have been a colonoscopy prep. Decaffeinated. Okay, I think they’ve said the same thing about every year since 1952. It’s normal to start the new year with an eye on change. For our health, for our finances, for our future. But most of all, because there’s something we want that we don’t have now.

It’s that vision of something better that drives us to make the necessary change. But when we put change first, we often miss the mark. Have you ever known anybody who changes jobs every time they do laundry? “Ready, fire, aim!” And we wonder why we keep coming up short.

The vision has to come first. We have to know what we hope to accomplish before we can figure out how to do it. And don’t ask the boss. They only have one answer. “Challenge yourself to excel every day!” All that means is he’s got his eyes on a brand-new boat and he needs your help to buy it.

No matter what, change is part of the formula. If what you’ve been doing all these years hasn’t gotten you where you want to be, another year isn’t likely to get you any closer. But change for the sake of change won’t get you there, either. It has to be part of a plan.

A good friend always said to have something you’ve never had you have to do something you’ve never done. I’ll take that a step further. To have something you’ve never had you may have to quit doing the same stupid stuff over and over and over. And habits are hard to change. We find comfort in the status quo, whether it’s good for us or not.

To grow, we need to step outside our comfort zone. We need to make the necessary changes and open our mind to those opportunities that are right there, just waiting to be discovered. And who cares if somebody else discovered it first? Best Buy didn’t invent computers and TVs. They just found a way to make money selling them.

Focus on your dreams first. Get a clear vision of what you want to achieve in the coming year, and then look for opportunities that can help you get there. Find one, and the changes you need to make will present themselves.

This is my wish for all of you in 2023 and beyond. Change is never easy, but it’s a lot easier when you have an overriding goal in mind. Focus on that goal, and the path will present itself.

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

New Year, New Day … It’s How You Use It That Counts

December 31, 2020 by Dave Glardon, posted in Uncategorized

Good morning, and happy New Year’s Eve! I’m not sure we EVER thought it would get here. Hope your day is off to a great start.

I’ve had a lot of fun reading the humorous (and sometimes not-so-humorous) farewells to 2020 on social media. It sure beats the political discourse that seems to work its way into every conversation from thunderstorms to family recipes. Well, call me old-fashioned, but I’d rather see pictures of puppies. Okay, and I watch Hallmark movies, too. So there.

Now that I’ve officially crumpled up my “man card,” let’s move on. It was faded anyway. But this is the last day of the year. It’s the day we bid farewell to what has, for most of us, been one of the worst years ever. And it’s my last chance to write something meaningful (if not at least a little funny) this year. Starting tomorrow, I get 365 chances to get it right. Buckle up!

Like many of you, I had things I needed to get done this year that just never floated to the top of the pile. As a consequence, I get to go outside today in near-freezing weather and finish up a couple of those chores. Every warm day we’ve had this winter somehow got filled with other things. You know, like sitting in front of the TV in my pajamas. Now I have to pay the piper.

Looking back on this year, it hasn’t been nearly as bad for us as it could have been. I got hired into my current job a week after the nation shut down for Covid, and I’m still employed today – “today” being the operative word. My contract expires in 14 hours, so all bets are off on whether it gets renewed in time. Guess I’m not the only one who didn’t get it all done in 2020.

As we reach this point in the year, most of us are saying pretty much the same thing. “I had the best of intentions, but life just got in the way. Other stuff came up, time was short, and I just didn’t get it all done. But I did my best!” Uh huh. So, if we gave it our very best this year, what makes us think next year will be that much better? “Because it won’t be 2020 anymore!”

It’s easy to view external factors as the driving force behind success and failure. Oh, we like to take credit for accomplishments, but when it comes to something that didn’t go quite right, it’s a lot easier to look for a scapegoat. And believe me, with 2020 behind us, finding a scapegoat is a piece of cake. It’s right there in living color. So what?

Let’s get real for a moment. 2021 is just a number. It’s one year in our lives that begins in less than a day. Will tomorrow be magically different just because you can write a new number on your checks? If you’re like me, you’ll get that wrong for a month anyway. But what about the day after tomorrow, and the days after that? We can’t blame 2020 forever.

Today is the first day of the rest of your life. Seems I’ve heard that somewhere before. We don’t need a new year, a new month, or even a new day to start working toward our dreams. Tomorrow is a figment of your imagination. It’s the day that never comes, because once it gets here, it’s “today.” Okay, that was a lot funnier in the second grade. But you get the point.

That said, we do have one shot at beginning a new year and a new day all at the same time. After that, you have to wait another year. And given that a good percentage of the world will be hung-over by this time tomorrow, I’m betting all those plans for the new year will come with a headache-induced caveat … “tomorrow.” Yep. Tomorrow. The day that never comes.

So, try something different this year. Start now. Get your plans in order and start filling in dates on the calendar. Do it early, before you spike the eggnog. Go to sleep with your dreams clearly in focus. Then, when you wake up tomorrow, pick up those plans and get moving. “But nothing is open on New Year’s Day!” Perfect. That means no distractions. Just you and your goal.

If you’ve been waiting for the new year to begin, it’s here. Make the most of it. Use all 365 days to accomplish your dreams. My hope for each of you is that, at the end of 2021, you can say, “There goes one of the best years of my life. Not because it was an inherently good year, but because I made it so.” Then, take a bow and have a drink. You’ve earned it.

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

Follow @dglardon

Forget the Resolutions – It’s Time to Dream!

December 31, 2019March 22, 2020 by Dave Glardon, posted in Uncategorized

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

Well, it’s New Year’s Eve. Not only the last day of the year, but the last day of the decade. Twenty years ago we were all freaking out about global devastation as our computers mysteriously lost their ability to know what day it was. I wondered about all those poor souls whose lives depended on a computer-driven cardiac pacemaker. That had the potential to be a midnight we’d never forget.

By some estimates, companies spent today’s equivalent of more than $400 billion to combat the perceived threat of what was commonly known as the “Y2K bug.” For those of you too young to remember, it was pretty simple. Computers used to use a two-digit date format (e.g., “99” instead of “1999”), because nobody really expected them to last long enough to see a new century. They did.

So, all of a sudden, we were faced with the prospect of a device that was supposed to be smarter than a three-year-old suddenly thinking it was operating in the year 1900. It was kinda like that NASA probe that crash-landed on Mars because a bona fide rocket scientist calculated the descent speed in feet per second rather than meters. Oops!

Well, we rang in the year 2000 without any of the disasters that could have been caused by computers run amok. And a lot of the people working in the IT industry on programs to prevent those disasters were suddenly out of work. So, they went home and invented social media. And here we are.

As we ring in the New Year, our minds often turn to our hopes and dreams. It’s not like we can’t dream any other time of year, but this is when we really stick our neck out and go for the gold. “I’m gonna quit smoking, lay off the booze, stop chasing wild women, lose 200 pounds, and become a millionaire!” Okay, alcohol is usually at the root of those aspirations, but you get the idea.

This is a time when we dare to dream just a little more. Because we’re not talking about what we plan to do tomorrow, or even next week. Besides, for a lot of people, tomorrow will involve an ice bag and a lot of aspirin. But it’s easy to make plans when you’ve got a whole year to get started. And therein lies the problem. The end of January comes, and you say, “But I still have eleven months!”

Then comes February, and March, and April. By June you’re saying, “As soon as summer break is over, I’ll get started.” Then comes September and the kids are back in school. And guess what? You still haven’t made a step in the right direction. Oh well, there’s always next year.

Well, this time we get not only the start of a new year, but a new decade. Now, if you took that to mean you’ve got ten more years to get started on your goals, we need to talk. The idea is to get everything done long before then so you can start on something else. Because, trust me, nothing you can dream of today can hold a candle to what you could potentially do ten years from now.

What stops us from dreaming, or at least halts those dreams before they ever take flight, is one simple question … how on earth can I ever do that? It’s been said that when there’s a will there’s a way. Sometimes we don’t have to know how we’ll do something. We just need a goal. In a little over three hours, my job will come to an end. I don’t know how I’ll find another one. I just know that I will.

So, instead of worrying about the details of how you’ll accomplish your goals, take a day or two to just focus on the dream. Put it in writing. Get pictures. Fill in all the details. Make that dream so crystal-clear in your mind that you can see and feel it wrapping closer around you with each passing day. It doesn’t matter how you’ll do it. What matters is knowing the end result.

I’ve asked this question several times in the past – what would your goals be if you knew you couldn’t fail? For the next two days, approach your dreams from that perspective. Put failure out of your mind and just focus on the goal. Then see what kind of ideas pop up over the coming days. You already know what to do. All you need is a reason to do it.

That’s all for now. Have an awesome day, and a safe and happy New Year!

What is Your “Why”?

January 2, 2019 by Dave Glardon, posted in Uncategorized

Well, the holidays are over and it’s back to the grind. This is the time when we reflect on good times shared with family and friends, and face (for most of us) the longest stretch of the year before our next paid holiday. And if you live in the northern hemisphere, you get to contend with winter at the same time. And the hits just keep on coming!

It’s easy to get wrapped up in the post-holiday blues. The celebrations are over, the decorations are put away, and we’re expected to pick up right where left off, full speed ahead. Meanwhile, the credit card bills are coming in and we’re trying to figure out how to stretch what little is left in our checking account to cover expenses for the next month.

That said, it’s also a time of renewal. It’s a time to get back on our feet, shake off any lingering baggage from the previous year, and move forward with a sense of purpose. Whether you made a resolution for the whole year, or just for one week as I suggested in Monday’s post, this is where the rubber meets the pavement.

Like many of you, I need to lose weight. Okay, I need to lose a pretty fair amount of weight. I’m a member at a local gym and, over the past few years, I’ve exercised pretty regularly. That is to say, I’ve gone through periods of a few months where I exercised almost daily, and then several more months where I didn’t go at all. It happens.

But in my time at the gym, there’s something I’ve noticed. Every year, starting in the first week of January, the gym is full of fresh faces, people I’ve never seen there before. The morning workout crowd is about three times its normal size for a month or two, and then all those new faces are gone.

And there’s a simple reason for this. It’s not a lack of willpower, or failed resolutions, or anything of the sort. It’s simply the natural result of working toward a goal without a firm understanding of why you’re doing it in the first place.

It’s easy to set goals, and probably just as easy to start working toward them. But if we don’t know the real reason why, it won’t last very long. Ask somebody why they’re in the gym, and they can offer a bunch of superficial reasons. “To lose weight.” “To get healthy.” “To get my doctor off my back.” But those are goals – they don’t explain why.

This time of year, another common goal is paying off some bills. That may mean anything from cutting monthly expenses like cable TV or dinners out, to taking on a part-time job or even starting a business. And the goal is simple – we need more money, so we can pay off some bills. But why?

Maybe the goal is to pay down the credit cards, so we can spend more next Christmas. Maybe we want to save a down-payment for a new house or car. Maybe we want extra money for vacations or to send the kids to college. And maybe we just want a safety net, so we can start saving for retirement.

Whatever the reason, it’s important to understand what it means to you. Losing weight isn’t a reason – it’s a goal. Why do you want to lose weight? To get off your blood pressure medicine? To look more attractive? To fit into the seat of your favorite rollercoaster? It could be that simple.

Root cause analysis is a method of identifying a problem by continually asking the question “why?” The plane crashed. Why? Because it fell out of the sky. Why? Because the engine stopped. Why? Because it ran out of fuel. Why? Because it was raining, and the pilot didn’t want to risk getting water in the tanks by doing a visual inspection. Ah, now we’re getting somewhere.

Sometimes, you have to follow the same process to get to the real reason why you want to make a change. And once you’ve got that bottom-line reason firmly planted in your mind, the excuses seem to melt away. You wake up every day with a solid vision of what you’re doing, and why. It’s what drives you to succeed when you’d rather take a break.

We’ll talk more about this later, but for now, take some time to get your “why” firmly planted in your mind. It may take some time, and a few sheets of paper. But it’s worth the effort, because when you combine a goal with belief and a firm understanding of why, nothing can stand in your way.

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

Dreams for the New Year

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

Happy New Year! I hope your day is off to a great start.

It’s hard to believe 2019 is here. My daughter shared a post this morning with a warning from a popular computer retailer 19 years ago, advising us to shut off our computers before midnight. As the world watched in anticipation of all the bad things that could possibly go wrong because of the Y2K issue, the new millennium came in without a hitch.

Throughout history, there have been times when we expected the worst. Religious devotees have predicted the end of the world, right down to the date and hour. Outbreaks of deadly viruses have sparked fears of a global pandemic. The entire Cold War was based on the very realistic threat of a massive nuclear war. And the Y2K issue predicted the simultaneous crash of every computer-driven system on the planet.

Yet here we are, alive and kicking, and launching into a brand-new year. Go figure.

Could any of those things have gone wrong? Absolutely. But they didn’t. And that was largely due to preparation and intervention. On any given day, there are things in our world that can bring us to our knees if we’re not careful. And it’s good to be aware of those potential disasters, so we can do our best to avoid them.

That said, it’s easy to get so wrapped up in these things that we miss the beauty of living. In the movie “Blast from the Past”, a family retreated into their private fallout shelter at the height of the Cuban missile crisis and remained there for the next 35 years. Their son, born in the shelter, had no exposure to anything known of the outside world beyond the year 1962.

Okay, so that’s Hollywood, and it made for an entertaining, though improbable, scenario. But how many people do you know who spend their life hiding from a perceived danger, waiting for the hammer to fall? Some are a lot more afflicted by this mindset than others, literally refusing to leave the house for fear of disaster. Others spend their days out in the world, where they can spread the effects of their pessimism among the rest of us.

It’s difficult to accurately estimate the number of optimists and pessimists in the world, mostly because it’s not something that can be scientifically diagnosed. Hundreds of polls and surveys have been conducted, but let’s be real – how many people would actually describe themselves as a pessimist? But, if you talk to people long enough, you’ll figure out who’s who.

And, make no mistake – a little dose of pessimism can be healthy in a world where things can and do go wrong. We need to be aware of the dangers around us and understand the potential impact. But, like fresh cayenne pepper, a little pessimism goes a long way.

As we begin a new year, it’s important that we look ahead with hope, and the knowledge that we can make a difference in our world. It’s important to identify those things that have been holding us back and do whatever is necessary to overcome them. It’s a time to put the past behind and move forward.

It’s also a time to dust off those dreams and pick one or two for the coming year. Not to dream about, but to accomplish. And, here’s something to think about – if all of your dreams can be accomplished in a single year, you’re not dreaming big enough. Try harder. We should all be working toward at least one goal that will carry us into the following year and beyond.

Take a few moments over the coming days to feed those dreams. Drive through a section of town where property values are on another planet. Go to an open house in a neighborhood where you’d like to live. Visit an RV or boat show. Have a family dream night with the kids. Buy a travel magazine or go to the library and check out a book on your dream destination.

If we only focus on that little part of this planet and this life that fills our own reality, we’ll completely miss all the wonderful things that are waiting to be discovered. We can sit in our own self-imposed fallout shelter for the next 35 years or get out and enjoy what’s right outside that imaginary steel door.

There are people for whom the things we think are beyond reach are part of their everyday reality. They’re no smarter than you are, and they’re no more deserving. They just got there first. Dare to dream. Allow yourself to believe. Then get up off the couch and make it happen. Dreams really do come true, but only if we make them. Let 2019 be your year.

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

Harness the Habit of Success

December 31, 2018January 1, 2019 by Dave Glardon, posted in Uncategorized

It’s New Year’s Eve, and we all know what that means. Okay, forty years ago it meant something entirely different, beginning with a trip to the liquor store. From there, it was a party (or a series of parties) until the ball drops at midnight ringing in the new year, along with the obligatory kissing of every young lady in the room. Granted, there was nothing “obligatory” about that.

New Year’s Eve is also a time of reflection and resolutions. We reflect on all the things we messed up in the previous year and resolve to make changes in the new year. Just one more night of overeating and debauchery, and tomorrow morning we’re getting serious about this stuff! As soon as the hangover is gone.

I don’t make New Year’s resolutions. It’s just too easy to lay out grand plans for the coming year, and even easier still to take a week or two off from those goals when you have the whole year to get them done. “I’ll stop smoking this year!” That’s a worthy goal. But it gives you a whole year to get it done, so if you’re still smoking in December, you haven’t really failed because you still have a month to go.

I read an article last week that said, according to a 2017 Marist poll, about a third of people who make a New Year’s resolution fail to stick with it. You know what that means. Most of the remaining two-thirds lied about it, or their only resolution was to continue breathing for the next year. Based on my own observations, the overwhelming majority of resolutions go unfulfilled.

The article went on to suggest something more meaningful and more likely to succeed. Instead of making New Year’s resolutions that give you a whole year to get it right, make Monday resolutions. Do it every week. If you succeed for the week, you’ve got something to celebrate. If you fall off the wagon, you get to start over in just a few days. Every year, you get 52 chances to get it right.

I think the article was spot-on, with one exception. When you know in the back of your mind that you can always start over next week, there’s no sense of urgency. If you mess up this week, it’s no big deal, right? You might as well have said, “This week I’ll give some thought to making a change, but if it’s too hard or inconvenient, I’ll just push it off to next week. Or the week after. No big deal.” That’s not commitment – it’s not even wishful thinking. It’s just words.

Try this instead. The first Monday (today), you commit to making a change. You have seven days to make that change. Then, every Monday after that, you commit to continuing what you’ve started. Instead of giving yourself a stack of “get out of jail free” cards at the beginning of the year, you build on the previous week’s success and keep moving in the right direction until you reach your goal.

This all ties in with a concept I’ve talked about a lot in the past – the habit of success. When you succeed at anything, even something small, you prove to yourself that you have the ability to succeed. The more you succeed at small goals, the easier it is to see yourself succeeding at bigger and better things. Do that often enough, and success becomes inevitable. Not likely – inevitable.

So, if you want to make a resolution for the year, try this … “I will start the year with a goal for the next seven days. Then, every Monday for the rest of the year, I will repeat that resolution for the coming week. I’ll succeed in small steps instead of one giant leap. And I’ll continue taking those small steps every week until I reach my ultimate goal.”

You can build a habit of success just as easily as you built a habit of tying your shoes in the morning. It’s all about setting small, achievable goals, and then accomplishing them. Do that over and over, and before you know it, you’ll become one of “those” people … the kind who, no matter what you try, you just can’t seem to lose. Let this be your year. Let this be your week. And let it all start today.

That’s all for now. Have an awesome day and a happy, healthy, and success-filled New Year!

© 2018 Dave Glardon