Category: Choice

Have Many Irons in the Fire?

Too many irons in the fire hark back to the days of blacksmiths when irons were heated in a fire stoked by a bellows.  The irons were heated red hot and then pounded into shape by the blacksmith using an anvil and hammer. Having too many irons in the fire meant that the blacksmith could not handle all the work he had to do. Today, we use the saying for too many projects that we’re doing.

It is in our training and in our desire to help. We take on some tasks which interest us we take on even more because the powers-that-be want us to do more. And sometimes there is not enough money for two people to do the tasks and therefore one is let go in the other one has to do the tasks for both. This happens more than you think.

Often, this takes place without a lot of complaint up the chain. For one thing, we still want the job, and the higher workload is one of the requirements to keep it. Another item that’s not so well understood is that many of us are wired to take on added work and/or are ashamed to admit that we need help. We see asking for help as a sign of weakness.

Here’s the question, and if you’re new to our blog so I always ask questions. Is it better work as hard as you can, knowing some things will fall through the cracks; or, is it better to ask for assistance or delegate work?

As much as we would like to be the hero, save the day, get all our work done and never need to ask for help, it does not always happen. Would you rather be standing in the boardroom explaining why a pet project was not completed? Would you rather be standing in the board room,  congratulated along with your team that helped to complete the project?

We all live with some fear in the back of our mind about what others may think of us. Most of that fear leads us in wrong directions. Leadership always prefers the person with that will ask for help when needed because the action shows they put the project first. And everything being equal, leadership respects and honors positive project actions.

Next time you have too many irons in the fire get a few more blacksmiths and just pound that project out.

Thanks for being with us. We have piled up a few irons in the fire ourselves. And I am hoping by the end of this week or the beginning of next we will have some exciting news to share.

Inspire Someone

Thanks, we are glad to have you here with us again!

Have you been thinking about what we’ve been talking about this week? Have you been writing things down? This is your life. I think we each only get one, and it is important that you have the chance to live the life that does you honor.

I have been taking a course on various companies. Learning what motivated them. Learning about their passions. Learning what it took to become viable and sustainable. For the founders of these companies, it truly is work. It is the work of fulfilling their passion.

Two kids from the same high school, one in ends up flipping burgers and salting fries. The other is driving Mercedes and taking vacations to Hawaii. Why?

Think of life as trade offs. 

Even better, think of where your passions live.  What do you need to do to fulfill them?  And, how that helps others because if done right, you could inspire generations that come after you. Don’t believe me?  Three words: Disney, Ford, Edison.

Succeed or Settle

Welcome back!

I left yesterday with the cliffhanger. You can do anything that you want to; and, to do so you have to do whatever it takes to succeed.

Life is rarely handed to us on a silver platter. What makes our life so precious to us are the things we work and sacrifice for to make our lives better for our families and us. Anything just handed to us no matter how nice, unexpected, or needed, does not hold the same value to us as those things we scrimped, saved, or strived for.

So, the question becomes, who is the future you, and what are you willing to put into making it happen? If you haven’t done so yet, now, before others get up and speak for you, write down what you would want to say about yourself and the things you’ve done during your life and those things you want to do.

I know you feel you are doing a lot of writing this week. It is important. Think about a cartoon of a kid who shoots an arrow into the side of the building, and then runs out and draws the target around where the arrow had landed and thinks he has succeeded. Did he succeed? Or did he settle?

Do you want to succeed? Or do you want to settle? This is a decision you have to make, and I cannot tell you what is right or wrong for you.

 

 

Mountains and Molehills

Hi there!

Did you sit down and consider the questions from yesterday? Did you write something down?

I saw a saying that goes you can be anything you want to be. A Variation on the saying is that you can do anything you want to do. Another variation is you can go wherever you want to go in life.

For some people, those things appear to be just lip service. They point at obstacles, and hindrances, and the results of poor decisions because no one to give them a chance. At the same time, there are people whose mountain of concerns make other people’s look like molehills, and yet they succeed.

Many people look at those who succeed and say, “Sure, but there they are outliers.” My thought on that is, “Yeah, so?”

You can do whatever it is you set your mind to. And, the second part of that? You have to be willing to do what it takes to succeed.

We will talk about what that looks like tomorrow.

Hidden Factories???

Up until now, we’ve talked about systems and habits at home. Most workplaces also have systems in habits. Some of those systems and habits probably work well. Some could always work better with a little improvement.

There is always the formal workplace and the informal workplace. Both are important to the business. One is the direct channel that management uses to set up processes and requirements and to maintain the actions needed for the business to be sustained. The other is the method by which the workers take what management dictates and makes it happen.

As I said, one does not work well without the other. Smart management and smart workers know this. The really smart companies don’t set up new systems and requirements until the management and workers have sat down together and gone over them.

On the other hand, sometimes management sends down new processes that it expects to have implemented within two weeks. The workers who actually do the work day in and day out look at the new processes, find the places where it does not work well, and simply substitutes whatever they feel it takes to complete what they think should be accomplished. When this happens, no one is happy.

Changes always work best with good, logical explanations and positive agreement before implementation.  Without this step, your new systems have just turned into hidden factories.

What is a hidden factory?  Join us Monday for our next blog, and I will tell you all about it.

Do you wash your dishes by hand? Or, do you use a dishwasher? Do you take care of dishes and get them into the dishwasher as soon as you use them, daily, or to you wait until you can no longer see the sink and/or most of the counter?

The easiest time to take care of something is before it grows. Handling one or two plates to clean them and/or put them into a dishwasher is easier than looking at the kitchen three days later when you can no longer see the sink. You are also less likely to run out of the utensils you use the most. And, with the kitchen looking better, you feel better.

A House with less clutter helps keep the mind clutter free.

The easiest time to ensure that you have your clothes, shoes, belts, purses, car keys, socks and wallets is to put them all together the night before. Place them in one place where you plan to get dressed so that everything is ready for the next morning. Some of you are saying, ‘Oh yeah that’s the only way to do it.’ Others are saying, ‘That’s a waste of time.’

There are some great advantages to gathering everything the night before. How many times have you gotten dressed and then been unable to leave the house because you can not find the car keys? How often do you spend valuable morning time looking for two socks that match? How many times did you wake to find out that there were no pressed or wrinkle free pants or shirts? It happens.

When you set up everything the night before you save time. Your stress levels are lower, and once you’re dressed in the morning, you feel better. You were prepared.

Is it easy? Never at first, although when you are used to it, you will think it is the only and best way. You will have developed your system for being ready, for having less stress, and you will find you are happier because of it.

Systems and Habits

The more I work in my chosen field of my business, the more I know that I need good systems. I also know that if I don’t have the habit to use the systems, they will fall by the wayside. That does neither my consumers nor me any good.

I was born into a military family. Dad was a staff Sgt. the Army and just as everything was shipshape at work, so would things be ship shape at home. I still remember having to answer the phone with my expected saying,” Balof quarters, Mike speaking.” After a while, as I grew, I stepped away from all the rigmarole. I believed in spontaneity, and I had a belief that everything would be done in time, just that maybe the time wasn’t now.

When I went into the Air Force, everything came back. I was used to the various systems of doing things and the habits that were trying to be instilled. And I understood them in a new light. When I had my kids, I remembered what I went through with my dad, and did not want to inflict that upon them. Try as I might a little always seeps through. Yet, I did my best to instill in them their free agency.

After being out of the service for over 20 years, I have decided to go into my own business. I write these blogs that you get to read for free, and I love to make them. I write books which are a lot of fun. And I’m still developing courses as I have done for the last 15 years. Only this time, I am making the majority rather than the minority of them for online presentation. And the one thing I know for sure, for everyone who uses my offerings, I need to have good systems in place, and good habits to serve you better.

With your permission, this week I am going to spend our five days together looking into habits and systems and similar items we can all use to be better at what we do.

If you would like to share, please add to the comments below and let us know about your favorite habits and the type of systems you use to stay on track. When we learn from each other, we learn great things, and everyone does better because of new knowledge.

We look forward to being with you again tomorrow. In the meantime, have a great day.

 

If You Change Your Angle

Hello and welcome back.

We’ve been talking about comfort zones. Up until now, we’ve been talking about having a comfort zone and going to a new one as something fearful. There are always worries about what might happen. The truth is you don’t know until you try.

Would it be fearful for something to offer you a large sum of money? To give you prestige? To give you a better lifestyle? You’re probably expecting me now to tell you all this happens with the comfort zone to the next. Sorry. As stated in the last blog, I have been around the block a few times. But I am here to tell you that with a little research and a little work moving from one comfort zone to another can be a very good thing.

Look at changing a comfort zone like this. I had a friend in Alaska who won a free trip to Hawaii from a radio station. It was for him and his wife, and the catch was they had to leave in two days. They both had jobs, and kids, and other responsibilities.

Most people would have just said no I can’t go, I have too many responsibilities. The contest involved packing suitcases, so the suitcases were packed. They each made a quick call and explanation to their jobs and their employers who understood and encouraged the trip. The next-door neighbor, who they traded babysitting with offered to take care of the kids while they were gone. And in about 18 hours, they were ready to board the plane and enjoy a vacation paid for by local radio station.

Many things look impossible when you’re down looking up. If you can change your angle of view a little bit, you can start to see ways in which obstacles diminish and opportunities become possible.

Take another look at the worries and concerns that you may have in trying to achieve something new. If you can adjust the view, maybe with reading a few articles or watching a few YouTube videos, maybe you can see a way.

Thank you for being with me today and listening to one person’s ideas. We hope you find the way to seek and find what you’re looking for.

We look forward to being with you again tomorrow. Thank you.

 

 

Just One Opinion

Thank you for being here again, it is always great to provide these blogs for great people and friends such as you.

Yesterday we talked about the fears of leaving the comfort zone. And indeed there are real fears in doing so. And considering that, why would anyone ever want to leave their comfort zone facing all that fear? Before we decide to stay where we are forever, let’s look at some other views of comfort zones.

Comfort zones can quite often hold us back when it is time for us to move onto something better. Again this happens because fears of the unknown prey upon us and make us want to stay where not everything is perfect, but at least we know more about the situation.

What we need to remember is we are smart, strong people. We can easily learn new ways and Excel at new tasks and, if we are training correctly we can excel. And these days training is as easy as YouTube and the Internet.

I’m here to assure you, if you do not try you will never know the great things you could accomplish. If you do not move out of one comfort zone, you will never get the rewards of the next comfort zone.

I believe it was Teddy Roosevelt when talking to a gathering of business leaders, both successful and unsuccessful. He told them he was glad to be there because everyone there had one thing in common. He told them it did not matter, were they successful or unsuccessful. The thing that they had in common was everyone in the room had tried. And Teddy Roosevelt felt that the most important thing was to at least try.

Can I promise you that everything will always be roses, and nothing bad will ever befall you? Sorry, I’ve been around the block a few times myself. What I will say, is that Win, lose, or draw, you will be happier in trying, than in never trying and not knowing.

Of course, this is one man’s opinion. But it is one person’s opinion, shared by a president of the United States and a multitude of others.

Thank you for being here with us today. Please leave a comment, and we look forward to meeting with you again tomorrow.

 

 

Think about your Comfort zones

Thank you for being with us today.

We have been talking about comfort zones and what may happen when we have to leave one comfort zone and move to a new comfort zone.

Sometimes we are convinced that if we leave our comfort zone, we will never find another one again. It’s a real fear, and yet it is one that I assure you is nothing to worry about. Will you find a comfort zone? Yes, you will build it for yourself, we always do.

Look back over your life, and think for a moment. How many times have you changed comfort zones? The first day of going to school, whether it was kindergarten or first grade, was a change in your comfort zone. It was something new and different. And, although it may have looked scary at first, you met people, learn things, and were better overall from moving from one comfort zone to another.

I can cite several other times you changed comfort zones at least times most of us did. Going from grade school to junior high. The first day of high school initiated a change of comfort zones. Your first job. The first time he left home on your own. Matriculating to college is a very scary change in comfort zones. And there are many others.  Some happen to everyone, and some are unique to ourselves.

We would like to encourage you to take a few minutes and think about the different comfort zones you found yourself in throughout your life. What was good about the comfort zone? What about the comfort zone wasn’t as good as the comfort zones you had before it or after it? And, before you changed from one comfort zone to another what were the knowledge points you wish you would’ve known ahead of time?

Please think this over, and if you wish to, please feel free to share in our comments area.

Please have a great day. And, remember, any time you move from one location to another whether it is to the end of the block for coffee or to the other side of the country for a new job, do so safely