The 7.8% Mistake

I was sitting in the office today (12/18) when the weekly email came from a friend from my days at Westminster College in New Wilmington, PA.  Jeff Tobin and I spent many an hour yucking it up at the college radio station.  He's now got a public speaking business based in Pennsylvania and sends out a weekly email with sometimes just random thoughts and other times with food for thought.  The latter category applies to this week's offering that he has titled the 7.8% mistake.  It's worth a read and it may just help make a difference in your life.   


The 7.8% Mistake

Catching the Younger Generation

I have been doing some marketing work lately.  Even though I have no degree in the area, I have actually been teaching fundamentals of marketing for about five years now, primarily through my association with Optimist International.  There have been frequent presentations at conferences and seminars at international conventions and at each one I have been amazed that how little is known about marketing yet how easy it is to accomplish. 

I won't get in to all of that right now.  I do have ready made marketing programs and session that can be tailored to specific organizations.  This is not rocket science yet it can be a doorway to increasing the visibility of your organization or company.    It all about tailoring your message to the demographic (s) you want to reach.  As an example below is a link to a blog post on marketing to the 20 and 30 something crowd, also known as the millennial generation.  Fajen Consulting LLC has a great blog post on this topic

http://welaunchit.wordpress.com/2012/10/23/data-on-millennials-the-lucrative-generation-is-worth-the-marketing-effort

You'll see that structuring a marketing program doesn't have to be complicated.  If you need a consultation I would welcome the opportunity  My profile has the contact info. 

Make it a good week.

A Little Help from Your Friends

I have had a mentor in public speaking.  He is one of the best in my humble opinion.  I ran into Michael Angelo Caruso at an Optimist International Convention several years ago.  After the presentation we talked and I asked him to come to Iowa to address one of our district Optimist conferences so those who could not make it to an international event could hear one of his presentations.  It was very well received.

Then this week an email from Michael with an offer two good to refuse.  Feel free to post some of my articles on your blog or website.  Now that's a nice gesture.  Here's an example and from time to time on this blog,you'll be able to find comments from Michael who several years ago turned the phrase "5 Cool Ideas" into a multi-faceted teaching tool.  Want to learn more?...

www.MichaelAngeloCaruso.com.

 

5 cool ideas for meeting your goal

1. Study your desired goal for one hour a day. There’s no shortage of books, white papers, magazine articles, podcasts, YouTube videos, etc. Within a few months, you’ll be an expert. Achieving your goal will be much easier when you actually know what you’re doing.
2. Get in better physical shape. Even if your goal has nothing to do with athletic performance, you’ll gain increased energy, better stamina, and more confidence.
3. Network like crazy. Associate with others who are connected to your goal. Seek out people who share your goal, ideally people who have already achieved something similar. Connecting with these folks will almost guarantee more opportunities and a faster learning curve.
4. Approach your goal differently. History tends to remember people who take the road less traveled.
5. Work toward small victories. Keep your eyes on the big prize, but be ready to celebrate small victories.

Why?

I saw this on Sunday and it made me wonder.  By the end of the day all kinds of questions were running through my head.  So I've decided to share.

I was in church Sunday morning while visiting our son, daughter in law and two grand children over the weekend.  To my left was an elderly gentleman in a wheel chair.  He was wearing what looked like a horse shoe cushioned brace that ran from the middle of the back of his neck to the middle of his throat area. He said nothing and could not raise his head.  What really hit home was during communion when his wife, who held his hand often during the service, had to force the wafer into his mouth so he could eat it.

It was at that moment that I looked to my right to see my wife holding our five month old grand daughter who was peacefully sleeping in her arms. In that second or two I witnessed the beginning and nearly the end.  Even more perplexing is the thought that at one time, the man to my left was just likely my grand daughter to my right.  There was a time when his body was like her body, new and developing and just about perfect. 

There are a number or levels through the above two paragraphs where the question, Why?...would be appropriate.  Why do people have to go through that kind of suffering?  Why was he put in my path at the same place of my grand daughter?  I know the beginning and the end story of life so why was this example so vivid? .  Why did I come up with these and other questions?  And last but not least, why did I feel compelled to go through this exercise using this blog on line in order to pose these questions?

I know maybe an answer or two to the above but in the interest of stimulating discussion, what do you think? .  If you are so inclined reply with a sentence or two or a paragraph at my email address
jim.boyd4512@gmail.com.  Or you can comment below.  It's your option.  I look forward to your input.

Jim Boyd

Lessons from Frustration

I've wanted to do this for a few weeks now ever since I got really ticked off about something and learned a lesson in the process.  I decided to do this today (Aug 28th) because it happened again.

The first incident involved my wife and vacation plans for 2013.  We usually go to the Colorado mountains for a week and I look at it as a time to reconnect with her.  But we have now made plans to take with us a son, daughter in law and two grand children.  I found it frustrating that my plans for re-connection would be interrupted.  But before blowing my stack about it, I instead allowed the idea to sink in and now the idea seems less intrusive and actually may be beneficial to all of us.

Today, an email from corporate headquarters came in my inbox indicating a new program to be implemented in early September that would challenge my staff.  Instead of going off the deep end, I again let the idea sink in and within a couple of hours, had figured out how to implement it with the least amount of angst.

The point should be clear.  If you are faced with something frustrating, take a step or two back from it, think on it a bit, and clarity should emerge.  It may not be the best scenario, but it sure beats kicking the dog.

A Miracle

I waited a few days to write this entry on the blog.  I wanted to make sure the emotions were right. 

We had sat down for the 4^th of July dinner at our place and had invited a couple of friends over.  In the middle of it, the phone rings.  I told my wife, Judy, not to answer it since we were eating.  She did and I’m glad she did.

Our youngest son, Nick, was on the other end of the phone to tell us that we were grandparents for the 9^th time.  Graham Wesley Heeren had been born less than two hours before the call.  We were at the hospital 90 minutes later.

It was the first time since my daughter was born just over 26 years ago that I had held a human being who four hours earlier was not in our world.  It is really hard to put into words the emotions that were churning inside. Here was this fragile person in my hands who had his full life ahead of him.  Here was a person who would be influenced by dozens and dozens of people over the next several decades that would shape and mold him yet I did not know how that will turn out.

 But most importantly I held in my hands a miracle.  There is no other accurate way to describe it.  When you consider the complexities of the human body, it was a miracle. And I know of only one place where miracles originate. The newborn is also a gift.  It is a gift to be treasured, to be nurtured and to be appreciated.

I am pretty certain those attributes will be a part of Graham’s life.  We can only hope that every child, who should be viewed as a miracle, has an opportunity to experience those attributes as well.

Lessons from Father's Day

I had a great Father's Day.  I got to spend several hours with my daughter at a minor league baseball game.  It's rare that we get that much time together anymore just the two of us .  But in the days that followed something else became very clear.  I was really a lucky father.

Think about this for a moment.  How many father's were unable to experience such a day because of an estranged relationship with their son or daughter?  How many sons and daughters were in a similar situation?  How many children don't even know who their Dad is?  Sobering questions to say the least.

It made me think most of the latter, those children  who don't know or who's Dad just isn't around.  The studies suggests these are the young people who could easily fall into the "at risk" category.  It also is moving me toward doing something.  Perhaps getting involved in a program that tries to help at risk young people.  Or volunteering in projects that could be of some intervention. 

Those of us who have it better than others need to seriously think about getting involved, perhaps by getting our hands "a little dirty" so that there's a positive impact in a child's life.  Change happens only one person at a time and it often happens when one person makes a decision to try to create change.

Are you that person?