"A great flame follows a little spark." ~ Dante
There are a lot of these types of metaphors. What happens when you start a snowball rolling down a hill? You get a bigger and bigger snowball. What happens when a small leak breaks through a dam? If left unchecked, it will erode the hole in the dam till water is flowing through it with the power of a waterfall. What happens when one ant finds your picnic? Soon your food will be covered in the entire colony of ants.
What you have to learn from these metaphors is all it takes is an idea or even an small inspiration. All you have to do is feed it and it will grow into something great and amazing. The blog you are reading right now; it was an inspired thought. What would happen if I found some of life's great quotes and let my mind run away with them? Would I be able to write something that would benefit everyone? Would I be able to write something every weekday for an entire year? If I did, then this would turn into something great, something everyone would want to visit on a regular basis, something that would turn into a book or a calendar or who knows what else.
Take a few minutes and look at the things in your life. Don't just look at the normal things like your meals, and your job. Look at the friends around you and the projects you have started but laid aside because you lost interest or ran into some sort of roadblock. Ponder the new ideas or rekindle the old ideas. Envision how some of those ideas might blossom into something that could make money for you. Think about the things that have possibilities. Take those possibilities to the next level.
Meet with your friends... You know the ones. The ones who have ambition; the ones who know how to take an idea and run with it; the ones who will do their best to support you, to drive you to do more with what you have, to encourage you to take your ideas and make something amazing out of them. I think you will be surprised at what comes from those people and ideas.
Friday, September 30, 2011
Thursday, September 29, 2011
How Your Destiny is Shaped
"It is in your moments of decision that your destiny is shaped." ~ Tony Robbins
Do you know how to make a decision? Are you someone who continuously has to think about something over and over and over pounding his own brain trying to figure out what the outcome of each decision might be? Well I don't think that is any way to live.
I have found that if I sit there and think about a problem for hours before I make a decision, then not only do I become a tortured soul, but so does everyone else around me.
Have you ever sat at home with your loved one and tried to decide what you want to do for dinner. You all know you want to go out for dinner, but you can't decide where. You bounce ideas back and forth but neither of you want to make the final decision, sometime because you want the other person to be happy with the choice; sometime because you don't really have a preference. Whatever the case, you spend more time trying to figure out where you want to go than the actual time it takes to get there and eat.
I think the best thing to do it to lay out the best things about each decision down on the table, then make a gut choice. Just choose the one that feels right. If they both feel good, then it doesn't really matter which one you choose, just pick one randomly.
After you have made that choice, stay with it. Once you make the choice, it is too late to go back and change your mind. See that choice through. Whatever the case (unless you foresee something horrible happening) do not change you mind. Just move forward and enjoy the choice you made.
Do you know how to make a decision? Are you someone who continuously has to think about something over and over and over pounding his own brain trying to figure out what the outcome of each decision might be? Well I don't think that is any way to live.
I have found that if I sit there and think about a problem for hours before I make a decision, then not only do I become a tortured soul, but so does everyone else around me.
Have you ever sat at home with your loved one and tried to decide what you want to do for dinner. You all know you want to go out for dinner, but you can't decide where. You bounce ideas back and forth but neither of you want to make the final decision, sometime because you want the other person to be happy with the choice; sometime because you don't really have a preference. Whatever the case, you spend more time trying to figure out where you want to go than the actual time it takes to get there and eat.
I think the best thing to do it to lay out the best things about each decision down on the table, then make a gut choice. Just choose the one that feels right. If they both feel good, then it doesn't really matter which one you choose, just pick one randomly.
After you have made that choice, stay with it. Once you make the choice, it is too late to go back and change your mind. See that choice through. Whatever the case (unless you foresee something horrible happening) do not change you mind. Just move forward and enjoy the choice you made.
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Do What You Know You Can Do
"Don't let what you can't do stop you from doing what you can do." ~ John Wooden
Sometimes there are just things you can't do. For the majority of us, we can't fly to the moon. That is something we can't do. Are we going to let that stop us from getting into orbit? Today it is possible to buy a ticket to get on a shuttle and spend a few days in space orbiting the Earth. The only thing it will cost you is money and a bit of astronaut training.
I think sometimes we have it set in our mind that we cannot do certain things. Maybe you think you can't speak in front of large groups of people. That is not true. It might take some practice and a lot of self focus, talking yourself into getting up in front of those people. Once you are up there, I think you will find that people will be willing to listen to you. If there are those in the audience who are not interested in what you have to say or actually try to make fun of you, that is OK. Those are not the people you are speaking to. You are speaking to the people who are going to get something out of what you have to say. If you don't get up there, then the people you are there to speak to will not get the benefits of learning about what you are going to speak about.
Most of the time the things you think you believe you can't do are just that beliefs. You can change those beliefs. All you have to do is sit down and start writing down that you can do these things. Think about it. When you write something, you make that thing concrete in your mind. If you can make that concrete in your mind then you will be better prepared to do the things that you once thought you could not do.
Sometimes there are just things you can't do. For the majority of us, we can't fly to the moon. That is something we can't do. Are we going to let that stop us from getting into orbit? Today it is possible to buy a ticket to get on a shuttle and spend a few days in space orbiting the Earth. The only thing it will cost you is money and a bit of astronaut training.
I think sometimes we have it set in our mind that we cannot do certain things. Maybe you think you can't speak in front of large groups of people. That is not true. It might take some practice and a lot of self focus, talking yourself into getting up in front of those people. Once you are up there, I think you will find that people will be willing to listen to you. If there are those in the audience who are not interested in what you have to say or actually try to make fun of you, that is OK. Those are not the people you are speaking to. You are speaking to the people who are going to get something out of what you have to say. If you don't get up there, then the people you are there to speak to will not get the benefits of learning about what you are going to speak about.
Most of the time the things you think you believe you can't do are just that beliefs. You can change those beliefs. All you have to do is sit down and start writing down that you can do these things. Think about it. When you write something, you make that thing concrete in your mind. If you can make that concrete in your mind then you will be better prepared to do the things that you once thought you could not do.
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Go Ahead and Do It
"If it's a good idea, go ahead and do it. It is much easier to apologize than it is to get permission." - Admiral Grace Hopper
This quote almost feels like bad advice. But upon second look, I don't think that it is. The admiral is telling you that if faced with a choice of making a decision to do something without permission, if it is a good idea, then you should go ahead and do it. It is better to take the chance of being wrong than to miss an opportunity when you can grasp it.
I think this quote is great advice for leaders. It is something that anyone in management is faced with on a regular basis. If you are left in charge, you will have to make decisions without the leadership of your superiors. That is why they gave you a management roll.
I work retail and I am in charge of a crew who stocks shelves. I often have to decide what to do with stock that comes in that we don't have space for in the normal spots. Sometimes this will lead me to make a special display for upcoming sales just to get the stock out of the stockroom. Now I make these decisions knowing that my boss may come in the next morning and tell me to take down what I have taken the time to put together. Sometimes I fins that my work is for nothing. But, other times the work is noticed and appreciated and it leaves my stockroom clean and empty, just the way it is supposed to be.
When the Admiral made this statement, I wonder how many of his decisions without permissions dealt with the life and death of his soldiers. I don't know if I could make those kinds of decisions. It takes a stronger man that me to put someone's life at risk to do a particular job. That is why he is a Military Admiral and I am a Retail Manager.
This quote almost feels like bad advice. But upon second look, I don't think that it is. The admiral is telling you that if faced with a choice of making a decision to do something without permission, if it is a good idea, then you should go ahead and do it. It is better to take the chance of being wrong than to miss an opportunity when you can grasp it.
I think this quote is great advice for leaders. It is something that anyone in management is faced with on a regular basis. If you are left in charge, you will have to make decisions without the leadership of your superiors. That is why they gave you a management roll.
I work retail and I am in charge of a crew who stocks shelves. I often have to decide what to do with stock that comes in that we don't have space for in the normal spots. Sometimes this will lead me to make a special display for upcoming sales just to get the stock out of the stockroom. Now I make these decisions knowing that my boss may come in the next morning and tell me to take down what I have taken the time to put together. Sometimes I fins that my work is for nothing. But, other times the work is noticed and appreciated and it leaves my stockroom clean and empty, just the way it is supposed to be.
When the Admiral made this statement, I wonder how many of his decisions without permissions dealt with the life and death of his soldiers. I don't know if I could make those kinds of decisions. It takes a stronger man that me to put someone's life at risk to do a particular job. That is why he is a Military Admiral and I am a Retail Manager.
Monday, September 26, 2011
Look For Stars, Not Mud
Two men look out through the same bars: One sees the mud and one the stars.
~ Frederick Langbridge
This could be said in so many ways. You hand someone a glass with a bit of water in it. One person sees the glass as half empty. The other sees the glass as half full. We have all heard that one. I don't know who said it, but it is a good way to see the nature of a person.
Take a look at yourself first. How do you look at things? Do you think about what is happening to you? Are you seeing all the things people are doing to hurt you? Are you thing about all the negatives in you life? From my experience, thinking about the bad things in life just brings on more things that are bad.
What you want to do is try to turn your thinking around; take a complete 180 turn and start thinking about what is good in your life, or better yet, make the negative things in your life a positive. If your car had a flat tire, take a moment to breathe and realize that the universe is just trying to slow you down. If you move too fast, you might not be able to stop when you see the brick wall.
Look for the positive things in life so you can attract more positive things. Change your way of thinking. Happiness is a choice. You can choose to feel happy. It is easy. Just think to yourself, I refuse to feel negative and I think I am going to feel happy. Want to concrete that feeling. Then start laughing. Start laughing for no reason. Just laugh. You will find it makes you feel better. You will also find that people around you will wonder why you are laughing.
Want another way to feel good. Take a deep breath. Hold it.... Then let it out slowly. It feels good.
This could be said in so many ways. You hand someone a glass with a bit of water in it. One person sees the glass as half empty. The other sees the glass as half full. We have all heard that one. I don't know who said it, but it is a good way to see the nature of a person.
Take a look at yourself first. How do you look at things? Do you think about what is happening to you? Are you seeing all the things people are doing to hurt you? Are you thing about all the negatives in you life? From my experience, thinking about the bad things in life just brings on more things that are bad.
What you want to do is try to turn your thinking around; take a complete 180 turn and start thinking about what is good in your life, or better yet, make the negative things in your life a positive. If your car had a flat tire, take a moment to breathe and realize that the universe is just trying to slow you down. If you move too fast, you might not be able to stop when you see the brick wall.
Look for the positive things in life so you can attract more positive things. Change your way of thinking. Happiness is a choice. You can choose to feel happy. It is easy. Just think to yourself, I refuse to feel negative and I think I am going to feel happy. Want to concrete that feeling. Then start laughing. Start laughing for no reason. Just laugh. You will find it makes you feel better. You will also find that people around you will wonder why you are laughing.
Want another way to feel good. Take a deep breath. Hold it.... Then let it out slowly. It feels good.
Friday, September 23, 2011
Don't Miss Your Sunrise
"Opportunities are like sunrises....If you wait too long, you miss them" ~Unknown
Have I ever told you my Lotto story? I don't tell it often because I don't really condone gambling. But I will still tell you about it. I was working for a grocery store back in the 90's. I was a photo lab tech when there was such a thing as photo labs. I guess you still see them around now and then. Most of them were put out of business because of the digital camera.
Every once in a while I would take part in the lotto pool conducted by a number of our stockers and baggers at the store. We would all put in two dollars and a bunch of lotto tickets would be bought for the group with the understanding that if we ever did win, the winnings would be split up evenly between all who were in the pool.
This one week the boys asked me if I wanted to be in that weeks pool. I made it a rule that if i didn't have the extra cash in my pocket, I would not play. So I told them I didn't have a spare dollar that week to play, but thank you for asking.
Needless to say when I came to work that weekend, I found out that the group of 8 people won $7 million dollars. That meant (after all the taxes and lawyer fees were taken out) they each got $20,000 each year for the next 20 years. Every time I think about that day I kick myself. It was a missed opportunity.
Now here is my disclaimer. I have not played the lotto but maybe twice in the past 5 years. I ran a work lotto pool for a while before that, but we never did win. I don't think anyone should play the lotto if they expect to win a lot of money. The odds are against you and it is a bad investment. But I do think if you just want to have some fun with friends, playing the lotto can be a fun game to play. Just don't spend money that should be spent on food, rent and other bills. If it's not extra money, then don't spend it.
If you do see an opportunity, a way to move up in your career that helps everyone around you, a car you have always wanted for a cheap price, a girl you've had a crush on who has just smiled at you. Take that leap and find a way to gamble on that opportunity. If something comes of it, then you will be happy. If it doesn't, then you will learn something from it.
Have I ever told you my Lotto story? I don't tell it often because I don't really condone gambling. But I will still tell you about it. I was working for a grocery store back in the 90's. I was a photo lab tech when there was such a thing as photo labs. I guess you still see them around now and then. Most of them were put out of business because of the digital camera.
Every once in a while I would take part in the lotto pool conducted by a number of our stockers and baggers at the store. We would all put in two dollars and a bunch of lotto tickets would be bought for the group with the understanding that if we ever did win, the winnings would be split up evenly between all who were in the pool.
This one week the boys asked me if I wanted to be in that weeks pool. I made it a rule that if i didn't have the extra cash in my pocket, I would not play. So I told them I didn't have a spare dollar that week to play, but thank you for asking.
Needless to say when I came to work that weekend, I found out that the group of 8 people won $7 million dollars. That meant (after all the taxes and lawyer fees were taken out) they each got $20,000 each year for the next 20 years. Every time I think about that day I kick myself. It was a missed opportunity.
Now here is my disclaimer. I have not played the lotto but maybe twice in the past 5 years. I ran a work lotto pool for a while before that, but we never did win. I don't think anyone should play the lotto if they expect to win a lot of money. The odds are against you and it is a bad investment. But I do think if you just want to have some fun with friends, playing the lotto can be a fun game to play. Just don't spend money that should be spent on food, rent and other bills. If it's not extra money, then don't spend it.
If you do see an opportunity, a way to move up in your career that helps everyone around you, a car you have always wanted for a cheap price, a girl you've had a crush on who has just smiled at you. Take that leap and find a way to gamble on that opportunity. If something comes of it, then you will be happy. If it doesn't, then you will learn something from it.
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Begin Your Life Today
Don't be afraid your life will end; be afraid that it will never begin. -Grace Hansen
I see so many people living for the future. It is important to plan for the future. I will admit to that, but I think a lot of people focus on the future so much that they forget about today.
The biggest example I can think of this thinking is with religion. People work so hard to make sure they are going to heaven, that they forget to think about what is happening right now. They forget to live. Sure planning for the afterlife is important and going to church is important, but you only get one life. You need to live it to the fullest. If you don't then what is the point in living? That is what God put us here to do, right?
I know people live in the past as well. They feel guilt or anger over what has happened to them or what other people have done to them. They let those emotions run their lives and they don't realize they are missing great opportunities in their lives today.
My best advice is to look at today. See the opportunities that are passing by you. Then move on those opportunities. It doesn't matter what has happened in your past, or what you are planning for in the future, if you take advantage of those opportunities, then great things will happen for you.
I see so many people living for the future. It is important to plan for the future. I will admit to that, but I think a lot of people focus on the future so much that they forget about today.
The biggest example I can think of this thinking is with religion. People work so hard to make sure they are going to heaven, that they forget to think about what is happening right now. They forget to live. Sure planning for the afterlife is important and going to church is important, but you only get one life. You need to live it to the fullest. If you don't then what is the point in living? That is what God put us here to do, right?
I know people live in the past as well. They feel guilt or anger over what has happened to them or what other people have done to them. They let those emotions run their lives and they don't realize they are missing great opportunities in their lives today.
My best advice is to look at today. See the opportunities that are passing by you. Then move on those opportunities. It doesn't matter what has happened in your past, or what you are planning for in the future, if you take advantage of those opportunities, then great things will happen for you.
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Make Your Better Your Best
Good, better, best. Never let it rest. Until your good is better and your better is best. - Tim Duncan
You should be striving to do better than you are right now. I don't care what you are doing. I don't care how well you are doing it. I think there is always room for improvement and you should have a goal to find ways to better yourself.
If you believe you are good at something, that is awesome. You should be good at it. Don't settle for just being good at it. There is probably someone out there who is better than you. Lets say you are a pretty good tennis player. You have found there is no one in your circle of friends who has been able to beat you in years. You may think you are good, but if you have the opportunity to play someone who is on a national circuit playing professionally, then you may find yourself getting beat by someone who is better than you.
That is OK though. When you lose, you have the opportunity to learn from the experience. Lean what it was that tennis player did differently to best you in the match. Befriend that player and ask lots of questions. Then you might be able to apply some of those techniques to your came to become better. Who knows, the coach of that player might have taken the time to watch you play and feels you have a potential for greatness. He might just ask you to join their team and drive around the country and give you the opportunity to play the best tennis players in the world. If that happens, you have the best opportunity to become better at the game.
If you feel you are better than you used to be and can beat most of the professional players around you, you still have the opportunity to continue to learn and to become the best tennis player of all time. The only way to do this is to keep playing till you can make your way to an international competition like Wimbledon. If you can beat every other Tennis Player in the competition, then you will be the best.
Don't settle for what you are doing in you life. Always strive to be better. If you are better, why not strive to be the best. Along that journey, make sure you are enjoying yourself. If you are not having fun becoming the best, then it is not worth the struggle. Only be the best if you enjoy what you are doing.
You should be striving to do better than you are right now. I don't care what you are doing. I don't care how well you are doing it. I think there is always room for improvement and you should have a goal to find ways to better yourself.
If you believe you are good at something, that is awesome. You should be good at it. Don't settle for just being good at it. There is probably someone out there who is better than you. Lets say you are a pretty good tennis player. You have found there is no one in your circle of friends who has been able to beat you in years. You may think you are good, but if you have the opportunity to play someone who is on a national circuit playing professionally, then you may find yourself getting beat by someone who is better than you.
That is OK though. When you lose, you have the opportunity to learn from the experience. Lean what it was that tennis player did differently to best you in the match. Befriend that player and ask lots of questions. Then you might be able to apply some of those techniques to your came to become better. Who knows, the coach of that player might have taken the time to watch you play and feels you have a potential for greatness. He might just ask you to join their team and drive around the country and give you the opportunity to play the best tennis players in the world. If that happens, you have the best opportunity to become better at the game.
If you feel you are better than you used to be and can beat most of the professional players around you, you still have the opportunity to continue to learn and to become the best tennis player of all time. The only way to do this is to keep playing till you can make your way to an international competition like Wimbledon. If you can beat every other Tennis Player in the competition, then you will be the best.
Don't settle for what you are doing in you life. Always strive to be better. If you are better, why not strive to be the best. Along that journey, make sure you are enjoying yourself. If you are not having fun becoming the best, then it is not worth the struggle. Only be the best if you enjoy what you are doing.
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Making a Life
We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give. ~Winston Churchill
I see people who live in one of these two ways. It is rare that I find someone who can do both effectively. They either live for the hard to earn dollar, or they live to help others around them. It is hard to focus on both of these at the same time. They tend to fight against each other.
Most people are worried about what they have to do to make money to keep a roof over their head and food in the mouths of their family. They don't usually have the time to think about other people. They don't take the time to stop to see what other people around them might need. They are only worried about themselves, which they have the perfectly reasonable right to do. They should think about their family first. That is their priority.
I have seen other people give away their lives to help those in need. I have seen people give away food and go hungry because some stranger looked like they needed it more than they felt they needed it. I have seen people use the majority of their paycheck to pay others people's light bill and never have any savings of their own. They have a heart of a giver, the heart to help those they feel are less fortunate than themselves. The problem is they never get anywhere in life because they give away everything.
I think there should be a happy median. In fact I think there should be a priority to how you deal with life. I think you should make as much money as you can, use that money to pay for your life, make yourself debt free and set yourself up so you don't have to worry about bills, then use whatever is left to help as many people as you can.
I am not saying you can't help other people along the way. You should have a giving heart, but I think you should think of yourself and your family before you go out and give away what you have earned to make your life easier.
Whose to say that we could not give other things other than money while we were getting our lives straightened out. We can always give of our time. We have 24 hours in every day. We should give some of those hours to helping other people freely and without expecting anything in return. Sure time is money, but time is all we have. Se can always make unlimited amounts of money. We can only give up to 24 hours each day. We might as well make that time count for something.
I see people who live in one of these two ways. It is rare that I find someone who can do both effectively. They either live for the hard to earn dollar, or they live to help others around them. It is hard to focus on both of these at the same time. They tend to fight against each other.
Most people are worried about what they have to do to make money to keep a roof over their head and food in the mouths of their family. They don't usually have the time to think about other people. They don't take the time to stop to see what other people around them might need. They are only worried about themselves, which they have the perfectly reasonable right to do. They should think about their family first. That is their priority.
I have seen other people give away their lives to help those in need. I have seen people give away food and go hungry because some stranger looked like they needed it more than they felt they needed it. I have seen people use the majority of their paycheck to pay others people's light bill and never have any savings of their own. They have a heart of a giver, the heart to help those they feel are less fortunate than themselves. The problem is they never get anywhere in life because they give away everything.
I think there should be a happy median. In fact I think there should be a priority to how you deal with life. I think you should make as much money as you can, use that money to pay for your life, make yourself debt free and set yourself up so you don't have to worry about bills, then use whatever is left to help as many people as you can.
I am not saying you can't help other people along the way. You should have a giving heart, but I think you should think of yourself and your family before you go out and give away what you have earned to make your life easier.
Whose to say that we could not give other things other than money while we were getting our lives straightened out. We can always give of our time. We have 24 hours in every day. We should give some of those hours to helping other people freely and without expecting anything in return. Sure time is money, but time is all we have. Se can always make unlimited amounts of money. We can only give up to 24 hours each day. We might as well make that time count for something.
Monday, September 19, 2011
Never Regret
Never regret. If it’s good, it’s wonderful. If it’s bad, it’s experience. ~ Victoria Holt
A lot of people I fins, live in the fear that they are going to do something wrong. They live in the fear they are going to let someone down. They fear they will fail. I will be the first to admit, I have this fear more often than I don't.
As I live and work and learn, I have found that life is full of successes and failures. The successes are awesome. They feel good and may get you places you never dreamed you could get. It is the failures though that are the most productive. When you fail at something, you have the opportunity to learn from it. If you can learn from it, you will not only have the ability not to let that failure happen again, you also have the ability to teach other the avoid that same failure.
Now you can either give that knowledge away for free and let karma bring you the rewards of helping others, or you can charge for that advice and make a monetary profit from what you have learned. There is nothing wrong in charging for teaching others what you have learned. People do it all the time. There is an entire educational system that thrives of selling knowledge. I have found that if you give your knowledge away, you may get a whole lot more in return than what you will get by charging for it.
Another thing about failure is that it tends to make you feel bad. That is OK. You are allowed to feel the defeat of a failure. The only thing is that you need to immediately pick yourself back up and try it again. There are a lot more failures out there than there are successes. You have to keep trying so you can figure out what truly works. If you don't, then you will never know what you are capable of. So keep trying.
A lot of people I fins, live in the fear that they are going to do something wrong. They live in the fear they are going to let someone down. They fear they will fail. I will be the first to admit, I have this fear more often than I don't.
As I live and work and learn, I have found that life is full of successes and failures. The successes are awesome. They feel good and may get you places you never dreamed you could get. It is the failures though that are the most productive. When you fail at something, you have the opportunity to learn from it. If you can learn from it, you will not only have the ability not to let that failure happen again, you also have the ability to teach other the avoid that same failure.
Now you can either give that knowledge away for free and let karma bring you the rewards of helping others, or you can charge for that advice and make a monetary profit from what you have learned. There is nothing wrong in charging for teaching others what you have learned. People do it all the time. There is an entire educational system that thrives of selling knowledge. I have found that if you give your knowledge away, you may get a whole lot more in return than what you will get by charging for it.
Another thing about failure is that it tends to make you feel bad. That is OK. You are allowed to feel the defeat of a failure. The only thing is that you need to immediately pick yourself back up and try it again. There are a lot more failures out there than there are successes. You have to keep trying so you can figure out what truly works. If you don't, then you will never know what you are capable of. So keep trying.
Friday, September 16, 2011
Pride in Your Appearance
You cannot climb the ladder of success dressed in the costume of failure. - Zig Ziglar
I have spent a lot of my life not really caring how I look. I have always preferred dressing for comfort than for style or impressing other people. I have never really had people say anything about how I dress except maybe the ones who live in my house. I figure most other people don't care or they care and don't say anything. Either way, I think there is a time when one should start caring more about his or her own appearance.
There is a time when your appearance can hurt your chances for something you want. You have heard the old saying: You only get ten seconds to make your first impression. That is all the time someone needs to make up their mind about you and how you might be able to help them. If you are dressed like a slob, they are not going to believe you are going to be able to help them. They will think you are someone who does not care. If you don't care about looking like a professional, then why would you take your job seriously and do the work professionally?
It is one thing to dress professionally when you are working. Many people dress well when they go to work, but then they let things fall when they get home. For the most part, that is OK. Think about this though. If you thought you looked good all the time, would you be more willing to take chances when the opportunities arose? These opportunities could be anything.
Lets say you went to the store to get something. There is a woman at the checkout who doesn't give you a second glance because you look like a slob. If you were dressed presentable, she might smile at you, maybe even spark up a conversation.
What if someone came to the door to offer you some sort of service. If you are dressed like a slob, they would not take you serious. If you are dressed like you are someone who could help them, you might be surprised at what they might give you for free just because you held yourself in a professional manner.
When I worked retail, It was often someone would walk in in a dirty T-Shirt and shorts with holes in them. They would walk around and no one would help them because they didn't seem like they had money. I found on more than one occasion that if I helped these people, they would shell out thousands of dollars on things they were looking for. If he dressed cleaner and more like someone who had money, he would have received help right away and possibly gotten a better deal because of that top notch service.
Make sure you dress for success.
I have spent a lot of my life not really caring how I look. I have always preferred dressing for comfort than for style or impressing other people. I have never really had people say anything about how I dress except maybe the ones who live in my house. I figure most other people don't care or they care and don't say anything. Either way, I think there is a time when one should start caring more about his or her own appearance.
There is a time when your appearance can hurt your chances for something you want. You have heard the old saying: You only get ten seconds to make your first impression. That is all the time someone needs to make up their mind about you and how you might be able to help them. If you are dressed like a slob, they are not going to believe you are going to be able to help them. They will think you are someone who does not care. If you don't care about looking like a professional, then why would you take your job seriously and do the work professionally?
It is one thing to dress professionally when you are working. Many people dress well when they go to work, but then they let things fall when they get home. For the most part, that is OK. Think about this though. If you thought you looked good all the time, would you be more willing to take chances when the opportunities arose? These opportunities could be anything.
Lets say you went to the store to get something. There is a woman at the checkout who doesn't give you a second glance because you look like a slob. If you were dressed presentable, she might smile at you, maybe even spark up a conversation.
What if someone came to the door to offer you some sort of service. If you are dressed like a slob, they would not take you serious. If you are dressed like you are someone who could help them, you might be surprised at what they might give you for free just because you held yourself in a professional manner.
When I worked retail, It was often someone would walk in in a dirty T-Shirt and shorts with holes in them. They would walk around and no one would help them because they didn't seem like they had money. I found on more than one occasion that if I helped these people, they would shell out thousands of dollars on things they were looking for. If he dressed cleaner and more like someone who had money, he would have received help right away and possibly gotten a better deal because of that top notch service.
Make sure you dress for success.
Thursday, September 15, 2011
The World Within You
Think of the world you carry within you. — Rainer Maria Rilke
Life is a personal point of view. You have to look around you and think about what is going on. You have to process and make your own judgements. You have to listen to the sounds and the words and make of them what you know about. It is personal to each of us. The same experience is impossible for each of us to have. That means we each have a different world within us that each of us are living.
Now that I have completely confused you let me see if I can explain it a little; try to make it clearer. Lets say two people are standing at the bus stop. They are both standing side by side and the bus pulls to the curb and the doors open. It is there to pick them up to take them wherever they want to go. It may seem they are having the same physical experience, but the true experience each one is having is completely different.
First they are experiencing the bus coming to the bus stop at a slightly different angle than the person standing next to them. Therefore they are not seeing the exact same view of the bus.
Second they may be feeling different emotions about taking the bus. One of them might be excited about taking the bus because they have a little bit of pocket change that day and don't have to walk to the store. The other person might be dreading the bus because they don't like crowds and this bus is always crowded. You never know how a person's past experiences are going to affect the present moment.
Even though one thing is happening in the world, each person experiences it differently, therefore the world is different inside their mind than the person standing next to them. There is only one physical world, but we only experience a small fraction of that world, creating something unique within ourselves. Let's live it like it's our own.
Please Leave a comment and expand on my thoughts about personal experience; about the world within ourselves.
Life is a personal point of view. You have to look around you and think about what is going on. You have to process and make your own judgements. You have to listen to the sounds and the words and make of them what you know about. It is personal to each of us. The same experience is impossible for each of us to have. That means we each have a different world within us that each of us are living.
Now that I have completely confused you let me see if I can explain it a little; try to make it clearer. Lets say two people are standing at the bus stop. They are both standing side by side and the bus pulls to the curb and the doors open. It is there to pick them up to take them wherever they want to go. It may seem they are having the same physical experience, but the true experience each one is having is completely different.
First they are experiencing the bus coming to the bus stop at a slightly different angle than the person standing next to them. Therefore they are not seeing the exact same view of the bus.
Second they may be feeling different emotions about taking the bus. One of them might be excited about taking the bus because they have a little bit of pocket change that day and don't have to walk to the store. The other person might be dreading the bus because they don't like crowds and this bus is always crowded. You never know how a person's past experiences are going to affect the present moment.
Even though one thing is happening in the world, each person experiences it differently, therefore the world is different inside their mind than the person standing next to them. There is only one physical world, but we only experience a small fraction of that world, creating something unique within ourselves. Let's live it like it's our own.
Please Leave a comment and expand on my thoughts about personal experience; about the world within ourselves.
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