Reward – Dave Glardon

Nice Goal! But What’s In It For You?

February 3, 2021February 3, 2021 by Dave Glardon, posted in Uncategorized

Good morning, and happy Hump Day! I hope your day is off to a great start.

I need to go shopping. I know, that’s not something men say very often. But I need a suit. One that actually fits. I’ve got plenty of jackets with non-matching pants, but the buttons won’t close and the pants are mix and match. You know, like navy blue against plaid, or vice-versa. Fashion has never been my thing. My wife can attest to that.

I’ve been talking about buying a suit for years. “When I finally lose this weight, I’m gonna buy myself a nice suit.” It finally occurred to me that, if I’d just bought the suit the first time I thought about it, the damn thing would still fit, and it would probably be worn out by now. Can I get an amen?

How often do we do that? We condition one goal on another, as some sort of reward for doing something we know deep down we’ll never do. But who wants to buy a nice suit right before they lose weight? Then you just have to give it away and go buy another one. Boo-hoo! I doubt many women would even give that a moment of thought. “I lose weight AND get to go shopping? Yeah!”

So, as a consequence, I’ve spent the past 20 years going to dressy functions looking like I just stepped out of the Goodwill store. And, for good reason. I think that’s exactly where most of my suit jackets came from. Not that there’s anything wrong with them, or shopping at Goodwill. They’re in pretty good shape. And, according to my wife, thirty years ago they were right in style.

But let’s be honest. Men’s fashions don’t change much. From year to year, they pretty much stay the same. Okay, the powder-blue leisure suit I wore for my high-school senior picture is a little dated, and the white shoes & belt would draw a few laughs. But the jeans I buy today look exactly like the ones I bought in 1976. They’re just a lot bigger.

Okay, back to the original point – conditioning something we want on a goal we may or may not ever achieve. We think it’s motivating. Doctors even feed us that crap. “Promise yourself you’ll buy a new article of clothing for every ten pounds you lose.” Okay, but do I have to return it when I gain the weight back? I’ve lost the same ten pounds a hundred times. Give me a break!

There is something to be said for dangling a carrot on a stick, especially when you’re trying to do something challenging or unpleasant. And let’s be real, dieting is not at the top of our list of dreams. Losing weight, sure. That’s the pleasant part. I tried telling myself that if I’d eat right for six months, I’d reward myself with a lower bathroom scale reading. The scale had other ideas.

Now, ask me if I actually ate right for six months. No, don’t. We both know the answer to that one. I know what I need to do, but doing it takes a little more willpower. And that’s especially true when the reward part isn’t materializing the way we’d planned. “Ten pounds this month, ten pounds next month, nine the month after that, by Christmas I’ll be back in onesies!” Right.

Rewards are an important part of goals as long as the goal is realistic, and the reward is proportional to the effort. A new car may motivate you to make a few phone calls to build your business, but if those phone calls only net an extra $4 profit, that’s not going to buy much of a car. On the other hand, it’s not realistic to think a few extra phone calls will quadruple your income.

But a couple of phone calls a day, over the span of a few months, could set the wheels in motion for something much bigger than you’d ever imagined. A couple of hours each week learning a new skill could put you in line for a promotion later in the year. And, according to my doctor, if I lose a pound a week, I’ll eventually get to my goal weight. Too bad I didn’t start that two years ago.

It’s the small changes that make the biggest difference. But we have to repeat them every day, without fail. That takes patience. It takes faith. It takes constantly reminding ourselves why we’re doing it in the first place. And that’s where the reward comes in. What will YOU get out of this? What will be YOUR reward when it’s all over?

Get a picture of that reward and hang it someplace you’ll see it several times every day. And if you need a suit sooner or your car dies before you reach that goal, do what you have to do. But keep working toward the goal. Find another reward, something even better. Now that you know how to achieve those rewards, the sky is the limit!

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

Follow @dglardon

Not Until You Eat Your Brussels Sprouts!

January 8, 2021January 8, 2021 by Dave Glardon, posted in Uncategorized

Good morning, and happy Friday! I hope your day is off to a great start.

Well, it’s been a week. I know, understatement of the century. That’s a nice way to avoid the more descriptive response, one that involves a legendary British detective and a lack of manure. Don’t spend too much time thinking about that one. I already did.

Thankfully, this week is coming to an end. Hopefully it’s not an indication of what 2021 has in store for us. If it’s any comfort, a year ago we welcomed the New Year with reasonably mild weather, no pandemic (that we knew of yet), and little more than a mild hangover to remind us of the preceding year. Then it all went to hell.

So, maybe this year will work in reverse. Get the bad stuff out of the way now so we can get to the good stuff that much sooner. You know, like those steamed Brussels sprouts for dinner. Mom didn’t make dessert very often, but every time she did, dinner included something I wouldn’t feed a skunk. I tricked her. I came to enjoy liver. I just never let her know it.

There’s something to be said for paying our dues and earning life’s rewards. There’s something to be said for skipping some of that obnoxious stuff, too. I’ve often said the best way to cook spinach is with coconut oil. It’s a lot easier to scrape into the trash that way.

Okay, if you’ve ever seen me try to run, you can fully appreciate the result of that thinking. I’ve always been one who wants to skip right to the good stuff and pay my dues later. You know, way later. Like when I’m too old to enjoy the fun stuff and don’t have anything else to fill my days. Besides, old people have to read books and eat healthy stuff. That’s the law.

Well, here’s the thing. Somewhere along the way, I got old. It happened while I was sleeping, because I certainly didn’t notice it while I was awake. I was too busy partying. I always figured we live life backward anyway. Retirement should come first, while you’re still young enough to enjoy it, and then you work yourself into an early grave. Okay, the first part sounds nice.

Of course, life has other plans. As long as there are bills to pay, kids to feed, and nobody is willing to send me to exotic locations so I can write about them in my spare time, the work part has to come first. And believe me, it has. When I got my first job at the age of 15, Mom tried to talk me out of it. “Once you start working, you’ll work the rest of your life.” File that one with “Don’t spit into the wind.”

Yes, Mom knew exactly what she was talking about. Aside from a few very brief periods of unemployment, I’ve been working nonstop for 48 years. When you’re 15, that’s inconceivable. Besides, by the age of 19 I was supposed to be a rock star and I’d have paid servants to do all that other work.

Well, strangely enough, it rarely works out that way. Most of us will work most of our lives, whether as a paid employee or an even harder working slave to the home. That’s just the way it goes. And if we want that phase of our life to end early and yield to a more relaxing and recreational existence, we have to eat a few extra servings of pungent green vegetables along the way.

It would be nice if we could just wave a magic wand and skip right to the good stuff. Or even put in a few hours of extra work and suddenly find success. But it doesn’t work that way. Sometimes, we have to beat our head against a brick wall for a long time before we see any appreciable results. And maybe that’s too much to ask. If so, modify your dreams. It’s really that simple.

But if there’s something you want, something you don’t have the ability to accomplish this instant, then resign yourself to the fact that you’ll have to work for it. The sooner that work begins, in earnest, the sooner that dream will materialize.

And here’s the thing – if you focus too heavily on results, especially in the beginning, frustration sets in and success becomes that much more elusive. Focus on the goal, and just do the work that needs to be done. It doesn’t matter if you got the desired results today, or any day. Success isn’t linear, and it doesn’t have to be. It just has to happen.

If you have a clear dream, you know the things you need to be doing. Get through the hard part now, and you’ll be enjoying the reward that much sooner.

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

Follow @dglardon

Don’t Let Up Now – You’re Almost There!

October 10, 2019 by Dave Glardon, posted in Uncategorized

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

Have you ever given somebody a gift, not quite sure if it’s what they really want? You did the best you could and hoped it would hit the mark, but you just weren’t sure. Know the feeling? And then, they open it up and it’s the best surprise ever. Their eyes light up, their face begins to glow, and you know all the searching for that perfect gift paid off. It’s a good feeling.

It’s the same when you’re on the job and you’re just not sure if what you’re doing is exactly what the boss wants. Then you hand over the report and wait for the verdict. Especially if it didn’t take that long to complete, you’re pretty sure it came up short somewhere. But then you get a thumbs-up that says it was exactly what was needed. Whew! Time for a fresh cup of coffee!

That happens all through our lives. Sometimes you get the results immediately, like when the wrapping comes off a gift or you tell a brand-new joke onstage. Let me tell you, that one can be brutal. If its good, the payoff is exhilarating. If not, it can throw the rest of your night into one big disaster. And there’s nowhere to run. You have to finish the job and take the blows as they come.

As a comedian, I quickly learned how it feels to stand in that spotlight and deliver my best material to an audience that’s looking at their watch. If you’re lucky, they keep their opinions to themselves. But you have to work through that to get to the nights when they’re howling at everything you say. In the beginning, you wonder if it’ll ever happen, and if it’s worth all the trouble it takes to get there.

Sometimes, the results aren’t so immediate. You can put in your best effort for years before you find out if you did the job right. Parents, can I get an amen? It’s one thing to watch your kid tie their shoe for the first time and pat yourself on the back for being such a great teacher. But wait till they hit their teenage years or move out on their own. That’s when the real report card comes in.

Thankfully, with most things, we’re able to measure our success along the way. I sit here each morning and hammer out 800 words to (hopefully) brighten your day. Some days are better than others, and it’s usually the ones I’m not really sure of that get the best response. And going back to read it again is about as effective as telling the same joke twice, hoping it’ll be better the second time around.

I see people at work who are unsure of their position, praying they’ll measure up and do the job well. More often than not, they’re a lot more capable than they realize. And maybe it’s that uncertainty making them try harder that makes them so good. It’s usually the slouch who thinks they know it all that gets blindsided when the boss calls them in for a conversation nobody wants to hear.

If we approached everything thinking we can’t get any better, we never would. And, in the process, we’d eventually slide backward into a place of comfort that doesn’t require the extra effort it took to get good in the first place. On takeoff, the plane’s engines are at full throttle. As it climbs, the pilot gradually eases back until the plane reaches the desired altitude. At that point, it just cruises.

Cruising can be a good thing, if you’re happy with your current pace and trying to conserve energy. But sooner or later, another plane will zoom past because its throttles are set just a little bit higher. Then, when you get to your final destination, you find that the best parking spot is already taken by the pilot who wasn’t content to ease back and just cruise.

I find myself in that position a lot. I’ll work hard to get something going, and when I finally get some traction, I pat myself on the back and take a well-deserved breather. And with the throttles set on cruise, guess what happens? I sit back in my place of comfort as the world zooms past. The only way to catch up is to step on the gas and get back in the race. I’m guessing I’m not alone here.

We’ve all read the story of the tortoise and the hare. The rabbit would race to get ahead, then sit back until the tortoise crawled past. Then the race was on again. Granted, there was more than one tortoise in that story, so there was a little deception going on. But the point of the story is don’t get so cocky at anything that you don’t think you have to try.

Whatever you do, give it your best every day. The reward will always be worth the effort.

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