Category: Uncategorized

Free Mapping Your Future Book

For all those who follow me on WordPress and other Social media, I thank you.  You have seen where I have come from and where I am going.  Having your company on this journey to the future is something I really cherish.  If you are looking for something I could help you with, please let me know.

Thank you for being so understanding while waiting for the book I promised.  Here is the free book and the workbook I promised you on Mapping Your Future:

Mapping Your Future 101518   and  Mapping Your Future Free Workbook 101518.

Please remember there are no strings attached to these.  I am not even asking for your email address.  If you have questions, you can contact me through the comment section on my WordPress, or through Facebook or Messenger. The books also list other ways to contact me.

How will you know when I have new items out?  You will see them on my blog and other places.  I am not going to talk about them exclusively on the blog, and I promise my offerings will not dominate the blog ideas I write on.

Thank You for being with me today.  Please enjoy the book and workbook, and I hope to be with you again Tomorrow.

 

Too Much of a Good Thing?

Do you ever feel surrounded by too many things? Things that duplicate other things? Are the things you have taking over your life?  George Carlin used to joke about stuff, and how we all had stuff and house stuff grew, and we ended up having to rent storage Spaces to save all of our stuff. I find myself more and more in this type of a dilemma.

When I was in the military, I moved a lot, when I retired, I stayed in the same place, going on 27 years now. I know that when I moved every 3 or 4 years, I did not have this problem. When you get ready to move you get rid of the things you don’t need to take with you, and you take the things you do. I imagine we have all had this type of experience at one time or another.

Lately, I’m starting to wonder who’s running the house the things or me. I know the old saying is ‘a place for everything and everything in its place.’ The problem now is all the other junk in the house is banding together and looking for a place for me. I am not sure what I need to do about this. However, I have a plan.

Every time I see something sitting around that annoys me, I ask a couple of questions. Why do I have this? Where did it come from? Where and how do I use this?  (Where I use it gives me an idea of where it should be.) Do I need to have more than one of these? Do I need more than one?

As I work at this, one item at a time, the great people at Goodwill get some excellent benefits of my trimming down. I used to watch a cooking show by Alton Brown, and he always talked about using multi-use tools in the kitchen. In other words, a tool that would allow you to do more than one particular task with it. I like that idea. Using that idea,  I remove unneeded junk from the house.

If you want to feel better, you need to release some endorphins from the brain. One way of releasing those endorphins is actually completing tasks that you know need to be done. Removing excess things from the house also gives you a better view of where you live and helps you to keep those good feelings. 

Thanks for being with me today, I hope to be with you again tomorrow.

Thank You and Please

I want to take a moment and thank all those who helped during hurricane Michael and everyone helping with the aftermath and the cleanup. Right now, there is much to do with the search for survivors and providing the services for those without food and housing. If the track had moved a few degrees to the West, precious members of my own family would have been at or near the ground zero for this horrific event. I pray for everyone involved, and I thank everyone who is assisting.

Life is precious. Quite often, life is also serendipitous. We don’t always know what is going to happen nor, how bad it’s going to be. What we can do is keep faith with and follow the guidance of those we pay to monitor the situation and protect us.

Many of us tend to live with the ‘John Wayne’ mentality, which makes us think we can do just about anything. The truth of the matter is, unlike Mr. Wayne who could call ‘Cut’ at any moment during his movies, we cannot stop, nor walk away, in the middle of the real scene we have put ourselves into. Once we have made the decision, and we’re there, the best we can do is play the scene out against destructive forces, sometimes far more significant than anything we might be able to handle.

When the call comes out for us to do our boarding up, securing of our valuables and leaving, we need to do so. If it turns out not to be as bad as predicted that’s great. It would be better than having to be caught in something that was far worse than we ever imagined. We can rebuild structures, we can buy new things, we can rebuild our lives. And remember, we’re the only one of us there is.

Please be kind to others and take care of yourself. You would be amazed the number of people who would be a little bit lonelier without you.

Thank you for being here today, and we look forward to being with you again soon.

 

 

 

 

Two Things to Think About

In the spirit of Throwback Thursday, here is a piece from October of 2015.  I have cleaned it up a little, the sentiment is the same.

You are capable of great things.  And, if you don’t try, you will never know.  Why don’t we spend more time believing in ourselves and what we want to do?  This failure in self-faith is often a conditioned response.  It reminds me of a Christmas movie where everyone told a young child he could not have a B-B gun because he would shoot his eye out.  Where these people being mean, or trying to keep the child from fulfilling his dreams?  No! Those advising him were trying to protect him from misguided tragedy.

How many of us have held off on dreams or not gone on to fulfill our destinies because of the misguiding of well-meaning friends, family, or other sources?  Does this mean they were not concerned about you?  Did they speak out of spite or jealousy? Is there really no danger involved? The answer to all is no. 

Anything worth doing will have a risk involved. To keep us from getting hurt, others who are concerned for us, and even our own thoughts, will point out problems and roadblocks that could be there along the way to our success with the project. The trick is to believe in yourself and your goals enough that you can overcome the warnings of everyone else and to overcome your own fears.

 If you have that much determination, then you are on the right road to solving those problems, removing those roadblocks and actually bringing something new into being in our world. Just remember, nothing is possible until it is done and then everybody wants to do it.

Thanks for being with me today.  I hope to be with you again tomorrow.

Can You Help Yourself?

This is a fair question, and we would like to think that yes, we can take care of ourselves and help ourselves when we get into a pinch. Everyone wants to look as though he or she is in control. And sometimes we are willing to put on false airs to pretend everything is okay.

Pretending everything is okay, though, just doesn’t help as things start to stack up against us. As problems and worries stack up, we end up having tunnel vision and lose sight of the full picture, especially solutions. It’s hard to see anything except for the problems.

This is the best time to have someone else in our corner that we can turn to for help. Working with someone else is often essential because, we see in a nearsighted fashion, often being able to identify problems and not able to tell whether there even real or not. With someone else by our side, they may be able to look a little more far afield, and they are much more likely to be able to see in a 360-degree range. They can help us decipher what the real problems are and even help find ways to overcome them.

This person could be an accountability partner, a mentor, or a life coach. It is better to have someone that we talk to on a recurring basis who knows us. If we only show up and talk to someone when we’ve got a problem and are worried or scared, it is much harder for them to help because they don’t know the whole us.

Even having a life coach and spending $70 once or twice a month to meet and discuss plans for the future is well worth the money. Just by being able to talk to someone else you can often hear what works and what won’t. Discussing concerns and problems has a magical way of reducing stress and worry on us. And by thinking things through, we could probably even save more than what the coach costs just by being able to discuss things in advance and have someone else to help you find solutions.

I have come to learn that having a coach, a mentor, or someone else who work with and be honest with me is an excellent idea.

Thanks for being with me today, I look forward to being with you again tomorrow.

Delays

I have hit a development/production delay in delivering you the book I hoped to giveaway today. After putting things together in beginning data, I realized that I needed to change some wording. By including better explanations and other information, the book will be much better in assisting you to map your future goals.

I ask your understanding and patience while I take a week to make inclusions and corrections. As soon as I have this manuscript corrected, I will get it to you. Please remember I will be giving this to you as an attachment in my blog. You will not have to send me your email nor end up in a funnel somewhere. If you find errors that you believe should be corrected or changed, please let me know. I’ll give you my email, and my phone number.

Thank you for being with me today, I hope to be with you again tomorrow.

 

 

 

Things to Remember

Now that I am one, I am allowed to say, “Don’t mess with me just because I’m old.” Another joke has to do with being wiser, meaner and over insured. The truth of the matter is the reason we grow old is to share the knowledge and the lessons we have learned. We share our experiences with those younger, in hopes that they will not need the same trials and tribulations which we have encountered. And at the same time, we understand there are some lessons each person must just learn on their own.

I know we get deluged by ideas, thoughts, and rules to live by every day. And yet there are some truths which bear repeating. I would like to share those rules with you, at least some of them. It is essential to keep some things in mind to use as mental tools during your journey.

Rules to the Future:

  • You do not have to say yes to everything. And, you should not say no to everything either. Take a moment to weigh what is being asked of you. Is there a moment in the request where you can see yourself doing something or meeting someone that will help propel you along your path to your desired future? Also, ask yourself, do I have the time and tools to do this task correctly, or is this something where I will be funneled into failure.
  • Always know that middle-management must be given due respect and kindness, yet they are rarely the movers and shakers that make things work. The real movers and shakers are those on the floor doing the work. If an executive is locked in the office all day how can that executive no more than someone who comes in contact with the majority of people within the plant? You may be surprised how much a friendly janitorial staff member or the guy from the mail room actually knows.
  • Never treat somebody differently (either better or worse) because of their job title or station within the company. Treat everyone with kindness and good thoughts. You will find this much more enjoyable, and your work will be better.
  • If you are going to hold anyone to account, you have to start with the person in the mirror. To not act on this with yourself first, and then have a radiating effect on others, will never give you the best outcome.
  • If you work with the betterment of others in mind, you will find yourself being seen more and more in a positive light.
  • Never, ever make or keep an assumption that something will last forever. In our world, there are beginnings and endings to just about everything. To assume the job, the house, family, the car, or anything else will be as it is now forever, could leave you dismayed at some point. Treasure what you have, understand that things do change, and know with a little hope and work they might change for the better.

I hope this helps.

Thank you for being with me today, I hope to be with you again tomorrow.

Take Care Of Yourself

You have friends, relatives, extended family, those who count on you and those who want you to rely on them. And yet, you only have one self, yourself. The more you use your skills, thoughts, ideas, muscles and other attributes, the more you need to take time to take care of yourself.

For each of us to take care of ourselves for the work that we do is essential. I am not talking about binge-watching the latest season of a TV series while going to seed on the couch, that would actually end up being counterproductive. Just like you plan and do for others, plan and do for yourself. If you’re around people all the time, would you like some alone time for a walk in the park or to go fishing or maybe even to a movie? If you would like to be with friends, would you enjoy going to a party, or to lunch with someone, or on a picnic?

I cannot tell you what would be best for you. We each only know what would be best for us. What I am suggesting is whether it is five minutes to read the quote of the day, 10 minutes to relax with of favorite munchie and a cup of coffee, or something else, if it helps you be more productive, you should get it in. A morning walk in the park, or a planned trip for a few days to go to a city you’ve always wanted to see, takes more time and could be much more therapeutic if needed.  You should plan, and do the things that will help you to relax and enjoy a little life.

Taking care of yourself is part of keeping yourself mentally and physically fit, so you can stay healthy and stay on top of your game.

Thanks for being with me today. I hope to be with you again soon.

 

What We Do for Others

Once upon a time, when someone wished to limit interaction with others, there was a wide and vast frontier which they could disappear into. When our nation was younger, those seeking the solitary life could live and hunt and fish and rarely see others. As our nation has grown, we find it harder and harder to find such an alternative viable.

Today it is hard to do anything without having some effect on someone else. This is true whether it was talking to your neighbors, working at a job, or blogging on the Internet. Today, it is difficult to even get to anything left of that frontier without having to stop for either gas or electricity.

The question then is what do I do for others? I try to keep to the rule of doing for others as I would like someone to do for me. There is a lot of good in this, and yet sometimes there is some wrong and it also. Why? Because others aren’t me. And sometimes, what is right for me would be entirely wrong for someone else.

To better interact with all those around us, we should really get to know them. We take time to learn how to use a TV set so we can get the TV to give us the channels we want. If we get a new vehicle, take a drive to understand how it handles. We bond with our pets and talk to our plants (sometimes.)  Why should we do less for the people in our lives?

We don’t start out meaning to be rude or ignorant of others. Quite often this happens when we are trying to do bigger things, and between stress and over-focus on a few wrong things, we forget to be kind to those around us. We are so focused on a goal that we ignore everyone else’s desires and concerns.

As humans, we are not really individuals. We are an amalgam of those around us and all the actions within our lives which affect us. The secret is, the better we treat others, the better we treat ourselves. Want to live long, be happy, feel satisfied? Treat yourself (and those around you) well.

Thank you for reading this today. I hope to be with you again tomorrow.

 

 

 

Difficult Things Made Easy

Sometimes what looks like the hardest and most difficult things to do, are the things we need to do anyway. If we try to maneuver around them for the sake of ease and timing, they can often blow up in our face. If we just do them to start with, we find things to be much more comfortable, and our life, better lived because of the actions.

Sometimes I get grumpy. I don’t clean the kitchen, I don’t pick up things I’m working with once I’m done with them, and I do not dust. When I get like this, I find myself looking at a dirty, dusty house. The sink is full of dishes, junk is all over the countertops, and books and manuscripts are strewn throughout the house. Wherever I look, there is no peace or place for quiet contemplation. The sight is just a mess. Even the yard is a mess because I didn’t take care of it either.

Even though I tend to forget this lesson every now and then, and I have to go back and do a little relearning. 20 minutes a day in the kitchen cleaning up after dinner leaves both good looks and good smells through the night and well into the next day. An hour, two days a week to cut the lawn and trim some trees gives us a good Vista to sit outside and write an article while enjoying the fresh air. I can spend 10 minutes a day to pick up the house and do some dusting, or I can let it go and spend a full week once a quarter.

I am an ornery student, yet I have learned the hard way, 10 minutes a day is much better than a full week. Not only that, it gives me at least 70 days of better views and better smells.

I don’t write this to talk about what a poor housekeeper I’ve been. I write this to remind myself that taking care of things up front actually saves a lot of time and energy. Looking at this as the process improvement specialist, I believe that there are things we can all do, not just to save ourselves time, money and anguish, also to give us a better daily outlook on life.

If you think you need to, you probably need to.  Is this not true in most of our life’s endeavors?

Just one mean old Master Sergeant’s thoughts.

Thank you for spending some time with a mean old Master Sergeant. I hope to be with you again tomorrow.