A loved one
recently bought
a used pair of crutches.
He loves sports
and he plays them all out.
He has hurt himself
numerous times
in the past.
He figures
it is merely a matter of time
before he hurts himself
again.
THIS time, he’ll be
better prepared.
Bad times
will come.
That is merely part
of doing business.
Do what you can do
to prepare for them.
I don’t read books
in a series
in order.
I usually start
with book 3
and then go backward.
I am NOT my average reader.
Most of my readers
read my books in order.
They expect the series
to build.
I design my books
and my series
to do that.
You are NOT your customer.
Don’t assume
your preferences
are their preferences.
Ask your customers.
Research them.
The talk of the Grammys
was Tracy Chapman’s return
and her shared performance
of Fast Car.
Fast Car is an emotional song
for me
because it is the only song
I know
that
clearly talks about the choice
between helping the people we love
and getting out of poverty.
Getting out of poverty
usually involves a stretch of time
where we can’t contribute financially
to our desperately poor loved ones’ situation.
In my case,
I didn’t send money home
for four years
while I was at university.
That meant my family didn’t have
electricity
for a while.
That meant my family sourced
the little food they ate
from food banks.
Taking away my minimum wage earnings
HURT them.
Temporarily.
We were fortunate.
My family survived the ordeal.
Our collective gamble paid off.
I got out of poverty
and I was able to take my immediate family
out of poverty also.
But it WAS a choice.
And I still feel guilty about it.
If you’re making that choice
right now,
maybe the choice
is between
sending money
to parents
and
building a business,
know that many of us
realize it is a difficult choice
to make.
And know, for some of us,
taking the risk
to get out of poverty
paid off.
An American buddy
was told she should vote
for Biden
because he’ll protect reproductive rights.
Reproductive rights have decreased
since he became President.
He didn’t protect reproductive rights.
That’s not a valid reason
to support him.
As leaders,
we’re evaluated on our results.
If we promise employees
they’ll have more sick days
under our leadership,
they will judge us harshly,
and rightly so,
if they have less sick days
at the end
or
during our leadership.
Expect, as leaders,
to be judged on results.
Unless circumstances
severely change,
deliver on
your promises.
A business building buddy
inserts a strip of paper
with a very bad child-friendly joke
into every shipment
of her products.
She grins every time
she does this.
It gives her joy.
It also gives
some of her customers joy.
But that isn’t the primary purpose.
The primary purpose
is it makes my friend happy.
And happy business builders
continue to build businesses.
Add some joy
to your work day.
That happiness
might be the burst of energy
you need.
I watched
The Creator recently
(and LOVED it).
One of the many things
I enjoyed about this movie
is…
it quietly showed
that creations are a reflection
of their creator.
If we have different creators
working on similar projects,
we’ll end up with
different creations or products.
This is why one hundred writers
can receive the same writing prompt
and write one hundred very different stories.
And this is also why
I don’t worry excessively
about my ideas being stolen.
Others might take my ideas
but they can’t take my unique way
of approaching those ideas.
Creations are a reflection
of their creators.
We’re unique.
Our products will be unique
also.
A loved one
often
replays the bad decisions
in his life.
He dwells on them.
And that is causing him
to make more bad decisions.
While he’s thinking constantly
about the past,
he’s missing opportunities
in the present.
If we drive forward
while
gazing constantly
behind us,
we’ll crash.
We should glance behind us
once or twice
briefly
and then concentrate
on the road before us.
Study the past.
Learn from it.
Then take those lessons
and focus on the present
and
the future.
It is January 31st,
the last day
of the first month
of 2024.
Take action on
your 2024 goals/resolutions.
You don’t have to complete
any of them
today.
Merely take an additional step.
Decide on a font
for your packaging.
Make a phone call.
Uncover what type of breakfast
your target market eats.
If you feel good
after taking that small step,
consider taking another small step.
If you don’t feel good,
stop for today.
You can take another small step
tomorrow.
Take action on your goals
today.
Finish the month strong.
One of my loved ones
creates drama and fights
wherever she goes.
She visited other loved ones
over the holidays.
There were fights and drama.
Some of those loved ones
were surprised.
The drama-creating loved one
was older.
They thought
she had changed.
People rarely
if ever change.
That employee
who isn’t concerned
about being on time?
They will
never be concerned
about being on time.
Plan around that.
That partner
who does everything
at the last minute?
They will continue
to do everything
at the last minute.
Plan around that also.
People rarely change.
Work with who they are
or don’t work with them
at all.
My farming granddad
had a saying
– Make hay
while the sun shines.
Take advantage
when great circumstances
to complete certain tasks
present themselves.
For example,
when I’m in a bad mood,
I edit stories.
I don’t hesitate
to scrap entire scenes
then.
After I’ve submitted a story
to my editor
and I’m riding that energy high,
as another example,
I continue to work hard
and complete a sh*tload of promo
in advance.
Make hay
while the sun shines.
When the conditions
are great
to complete a certain task,
rearrange your schedule
and complete that task.