Month: December 2012

I love fruitcake.  Like everything else, fruitcake has people who love it and people who do not.  Nearly two million fruitcakes are sold each year.  I doubt that many people eat an entire fruitcake, since most fruitcakes have a very dense texture and are about a foot in diameter and four inches high less that plug missing in the middle.  However, I think that given a week, I could eat an entire fruitcake.  The best fruitcake I have ever had comes from the Collin Street Bakery in Corsicana, TX.

I read an article online the other day that was very critical of fruitcakes.  Fruitcakes seem to have a public polarity rarely seen outside of politics.  There are folks who love fruitcakes and folks who hate fruitcakes and as in politics, there are those folks in the middle.  Also, as in politics, I’d prefer not to be in the room when the two polarized sides start discussing the subject of fruitcakes.  I feel somewhat hypocritical about mentioning the subject in an article about being positive.

The person who wrote the critical article used all the qualities of a fruitcake to draw negatives about how not to write a business letter.  I enjoyed the article and found the person’s approach a little different.  Instead of a “how-to” manual, the person had written a “how-not-to” manual and had a pretty fierce  attitude on the subject of fruitcakes and poorly written business letters.

During Procter & Gamble sales training, I studied how to emphasize the benefits of the product I was selling.  Keep my message positive.  The words I choose not only affect a person’s feelings, they affect a person’s decision.  “Sell the sizzle.”

On another website,  I came across an Internet endorsement the president of a company had written about the services his company had received.  He was thoughtful to take the time to write the endorsement.

From what I read, I would say that the services of the company he endorsed were exceedingly fair in pricing, and in my estimation, were far above industry standards in performance.  The company being endorsed deserved the endorsement.

The president writing the endorsement went on to draw a negative contrast of  competitive services.  Oops:  his endorsement that had begun with such a positive spin ended in a negative ripple that I am guessing could reach clients of his own company.

Reading this person’s endorsement reminded me just how slippery the Internet can be for all of us.

Today, people who would never bother to write a postcard are prolific web writers on Twitter© and Facebook©.  Hundreds of millions of people with no training in journalism are publishing material that has the potential to reach people all over the world.   Moreover, through emails and Internet reposting and linking, Internet material never really goes out of publication. There is an article from BusinessWeek©, 2004, which I reference on my website today.

It does me no good to dwell on the negative things that come across a social network or at times a commercial website.  We all make mistakes.  My getting angry or resentful only causes me pain.  I also recognize that I can easily misunderstand what a person is saying.

My goodness, though, this Internet publishing is a risky deal and here and there has caused embarrassment and even the loss of jobs (Mashable).

The best boss I ever had was a Navy captain who retired as the Commander, U.S. Pacific Fleet.  As the commanding officer of a United States Ship, he had the  responsibility of handing out sentences of fines and brig confinements, and he could be hard as nails when his job called for him to write a letter of reprimand.

At the same time, he had the best attitude of any human being I have ever known.

One day while serving under this Captain, I made a comment about a woman being attractive but having a somewhat large nose.  His response was, in a very gentle tone, “When speaking of others, if you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all.”

This advice is handy advice when speaking or writing on the Internet.

I want to be extraordinary today by keeping it positive and try to remember that when I point at another person for things they say or do there are three fingers pointing back at me.

I am going to be extraordinary today by appreciating that I have the present moment to be effective at my job, love my friends and my family, and experience life.  For those things and many other things I am grateful.

My wife went through the experience last night of buying a gift for a friend who is very ill. On my wife’s mind was whether this is the last year she will have this friend to share gifts.

There are times when my friends and my family frustrate me. I forget that my friends and family are humans and that they get tired or hungry or have trying days and may be unpleasant. I forget that I get tired or hungry or have trying days and may be less impatient.

There are times when my job seems impossible. I feel overwhelmed. I forget that I can only do one task at a time and that I can only do that task in the present moment.

I forget that life is not made up of a past and a future. Life is only the present moment. I can mentally project into the future. I can ruminate on the past. Yet I must remember that planning for the future or repairing the past can only happen in the present moment.
Only in the present moment can I have the wisdom to be excellent at my job, make any decision, taste food, smell the air, speak with my friends, hug my family, and count my blessings.

So in this present moment, my wife has bought her gift for her friend and when the moment arrives will share this gift with her friend.

Sharing gifts with friends or making decisions that determine the failure or success of corporations both take place at the same time: in the present moment.  I a going to be extraordinary today by remaining in the present moment and remembering that counting my blessings is a good way to remain in the present moment.

Today to be extraordinary, I am going to take breaks.  I know when I need a break.  There are signals.

When I dial the correct phone number and get the wrong phone, that is a signal to take a break.

When I enter the correct password and the password does not work, that is a signal to take a break.

When I begin to worry and nothing has changed, that is a signal to take a break.

When I get angry with my computer or telephone or any machinery, that is a signal to take a break.

When I am replacing a light bulb and turning the bulb the wrong direction, that is a signal to take a break.

These signals all tell me that I need to change from what I am doing physically and mentally to doing something physically and mentally different.  If my work involves sitting, I need to stand up.  I need to walk outdoors or to another place in the building.  If my work involves standing, I need to sit down.  The body benefits from these breaks, but it is the mind that needs the break.  So I give my mind a change of pace, a new setting.  I take a break.

Sometimes it is important for me to tell someone else, “I am taking a break.”  My mind seems to appreciate my making an announcement that I am taking a break.  When I tell someone else I am taking a break, I am letting my mind know that that I am creating an environment, a setting, for there to be a break.  I am making a commitment to my mind.  “Here I go, mind, I am taking a break.”

I try to remember that going from working on my business mail to interacting on Facebook is not a break.  I can tell my mind that I am taking a break, but my mind does not accept that switching from one Internet page to another Internet page is in any way taking a break.  Mentally, the subject may be more fun but the mental process is the same.

The way I know that my mind has not had a break is that, just as was the case before the break, the right password still does not work. The right phone number still gets the wrong person. The mental drifts to the future or the past still trouble me.

No, my mind holds me accountable, requires that I change my location and activity.

It is still okay to be extraordinary and extraordinary people take breaks.

William Shakespeare wrote 37 plays and 154 sonnets. At the same time he was running a theater, where he also acted.  Shakespeare, as the result of years of very hard work, became a wealthy man.  He is also the greatest English writer in history.

Thomas Edison executed 1093 successful patents.  Thomas Edison, along with Michelangelo, Margaret Thatcher, Martha Stewart, Napoleon Bonaparte, and many others are well-known for working on very little sleep.  Much is made today of the correlation between rest and success.  It seems, however, that to be extraordinary, not sleeping seems to be an important ingredient to success.

So be extraordinary.  It takes time.  It takes commitment.  But it is still okay!