While I won’t be able to talk about policies and specifics, I am going to talk about life. I love to tell the stories about what I have experienced and it is time for more. I help employers, employees and individuals everyday; it is my passion, my service and my ministry. But, there’s much more which happens between my ears…beware

Oh, I suppose you’d like to know what 4′ 8.5″ has to do with my blog-renewal…well here goes. Thanks to one of my heros, Andy Andrews, and his book Mastering the Seven Decisions I learned something profound. Here’s the shortest version I can give: The Space Shuttle’s booster rockets were made the size they are because they had to go through a train tunnel, the tunnel must fit over the tracks, the tracks are the size they are because it’s the size they used in England, the English used the size because of wagon wheel ruts, the ruts were based on the Roman wagon wheels…and the measurement consistent throughout is 4′ 8.5″ because that was the measurement which allowed for…ready for it?…2 Roman horse behinds.  So, our great accomplishments are still being determined by what has been done in history . We are ”behind” before we start!!!!  His (Andy’s) point is conditioning.  My conditioning was I wasn’t going to blog because of limitations…kinda forgot about the whole world outside that I can talk about without prior approval.  Silly girl.  Please understand…I completely agree about the prior approval thing…it’s of utmost importance in our industry.

My question to you today is what is limiting you that doesn’t have to?   Here’s another little story that made my Mom absolutely howl laughing.  Family get together – 4 generations of women talking about the holiday ham.  The question was asked of Mom why is it important to cut off the ends of the ham before baking it.  Did it allow the juices to flow better, cook better, allow the flavor of the glaze to work better?  Mom said because that’s the way Grandma did it.  Grandma said it’s because it’s the way that Great Grandma did it.  Great Grandma piped up…She cut the ends off the ham because that was the only way to FIT IT IN THE PAN!!!

In 2011, I am going to make it a point to ask “why,” think out of the “pan” and maybe even make it 4′ 9″ because it might work better. 

Glad to be back talking to you.  Sorry I got off-”track.”

I love Roy H. Williams and his brain. His book SECRET FORMULAS OF THE WIZARD OF ADS fell off my shelf today, hmmmm…the beginning of the convergence.  It speaks to Category Dominance…a concept that applies EVERYWHERE, even if you have NO need to worry about your “category.” He says,  “…you must take a stand and be known for something.”  In this section he points to Colonel Sanders and a restaurant that only served fried chicken.  Focus and Commitment were the cornerstones of his  success.  I humbly agree…LOUDLY.  Are you all over the place? Sustained results come from  focus.  While you can get great results by luck, ride the wave, baby… ’cause it won’t last.

Into my in-box comes Harrison Barnes, the CEO of EmploymentCrossing, sharing a very interesting blog on what he calls “complexity creep.”  Business, people, organizations, families and more often fall victim to expanding complexity…more people, more products and more things to accomplish in a non-expanding amount of time. Very worth the read.  Again, with the simplicity thing converging.

Know your personal limits; People having differing levels of how many things they can juggle.   I have questions about Twitter, of which I am an active participant,  from the perspective  it seems to be an all out rush to gain as many followers as possible.  Quantity being the motivation of the majority of articles and white papers I have seen.  I can appreciate it, however, it seems to beg the question: busy or effective?  What pays the bills?  My feeling is  that people who keep, as Steven Covey says “First Things First” find they don’t wonder about direction or what they are going to do today.  (By the way, got a notice on LinkedIn about my Covey group and the on-going dilemma of using technology to keep focused on the 7 Habits…again, hmmmm, simplifying the tools we have to stay focused on what’s ultimately important…saw the pattern when this happened!)

Now we move into making life more actionable for others.  It is a gift to employees, team members, children, spouses and everyone around us if we aren’t darting from thought to thought.  I worked for a company that wanted complete focus on sales now and complete focus on long-term growth…while theoretically not impossible…didn’t work in the real world.  Do you also know of  companies “meeting” people to death while beating them for not getting more business?  As a parent, spouse, leader, follower, designer, human being sometimes all I want to do is shout, “WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO DO?” Just pick one…just one.  (What added this point to the convergence, I take the 5th…Let’s just say, that it wasn’t you!)  Are you being specific with your expectations?  Your directions?  Your needs that you expect others to fulfill?

So, what is your focus?  Are you daring to let the gnawing fears fade into the background and focus your brand, your ads, your time?  What is most important in your life…and be specific.  Is what you do on a daily basis…what demonstrates to the world, your clients or your family, what you think is MOST important?  If everything is urgent then nothing is.  Don’t live the ADD of the world-at-large let distractions dictate.

Dare, right now, to take a moment and consider…what specifically do I want and what do I need to do to get there?  What do other people need me to simplify so they can act on what I need them to do?

And to the final and most random point of convergence – happenings that pointed me  to today’s  message…and it’s tentacles.  I accidentally found (something to do with my typing acumen) on Wikipedia “Don’t Repeat Yourself inconsistency (DRY, also known as Single Point of Truth)… The philosophy emphasizes that information should not be duplicated, because duplication increases the difficulty of change, may decrease clarity, and leads to opportunities for .”  Just an interesting philosophy I wanted to share…because if you spend time repeating your actions or what you are saying you are thwarting (such a fun word) your own plan.  If you HAVE to repeat yourself, you better re-tool your message or talk to someone else!

So, all these unexpectedly non-interrelatedly random happenings have lead me to the consciously purposefully specific message of today.

What made you go “hmmmm” today?

If you want someone to remember your information…a winning way to accomplish the task…is to make it into a story.  For example, a classic story from Steven Covey, in his book 7 Habits of Highly Effective People not only explains what a “paradigm shift” is, but makes it understandable.  It involves disobedient children, an inattentive father and an annoyed storyteller who watches from a distance  (Covey) or,  in reality it involves children processing the death of their mother, a grief stricken and overwhelmed father and a compassionate storyteller (Covey) who reaches out to this family.  The concept takes a quantum leap within the telling of this relational and relatable story from abstraction to comprehension.  To comprehend is to have “ownership” of the information.  Ownership means it moves into the usable category…if someone owns the understanding…then they can utilize and apply it.  This is the core of what is needed for you to achieve your business goals.

Are you working with your image, brand, advertising to create something that will  “stick” with your targets?    Check out this site and article to start looking for ways that you can step it up.  http://www.edwardlowe.orgindex.elf?page=sserc&storyid=0169&function=story (Even though this story is from 2001 originally, the information is timeless and the site, interesting).

If you would like to look specifically at what your approach should include, let’s talk.  Many times, this has taken some examining to understand how to apply it.  I have some stories for you!!!!

And, they lived happily ever after…with successful businesses, joyful clients and a blissful life.

So, I thought I would give you a couple of  my favorites and some tips.  I love Kim Kommando and when I can, I listen to her on the radio and keep and eye out on her website http://www.komando.com/  She has  great info with limited techno-speak on a wide variety of technologies. 

I also use PC Tools products (www.pctools.com) and  the most recent newsletter for customers is called  TRICKS HACKERS’ USE YOU PROBABLY NEVER HEARD ABOUT!  This is a warning for social media users. The take-away for me, if the site that you are on tells you to download a new flash or some other download…don’t. I’ve seem a huge increase lately in requests to download updates…but being HIGHLY suspicious, I usually don’t. The best advice is to go to the official site and download it there.  But, beware, there may be NO update available.  Apparently these creative souls feel the need to trick the unsuspecting by mimicking normal, helpful downloads.  Bad news for the errant click.

I can’t tell you HOW MANY times very savvy people I know get caught and it costs them time and money to get back to normal computer operation. The phone call goes ” Hi, don’t you know a lot about computers…?”  Honestly, who can afford this stuff?  Forget the fact that you would probably have to go through withdrawal…it’s ugly. 

Would you be interested in joining a group with me  “Hackers and mean people, suck like a Hoover?”  Let me know…we could make t-shirts and have a special handshake. 

Happiness and Blessings to you and yours for Easter.

So, I’m twittering and find this great report: http://www.comscore.com/blog/2009/04/twitter_traffic_explodes.html and what I find most notable is the fact one would THINK that it’s the hip younger crowd that is making this explode…700% growth was a number quoted…yeah…I’d love one of my clients to have that number…anyway, it’s really the 45 – 54 year olds.  Go us. Well, actually, I just want to say for the record, I’m in the 30+ range…I am my daughter’s mother, afterall. 

The point?  Relevant isn’t left for the young…interesting isn’t for the youthful…tools are tools and this social media blast-off is about the fact that it is filling a need.  It’s connecting people and making networking a thing of beauty – at a few fingertips.  This also means this type of media and it’s possibilities aren’t just for the “first to try-ers” out there.  They may work out the bugs for everyone else…but the rest of the people make the wheels go round.

If you’re not using social media…get going.  We’ll talk more about how to make it a relevant part of what you do for your business.  Tweet, tweet!

In a training session, I met someone that I could have easily talked to over the phone and gotten where we wanted to be.  But, we met and I got a chance to hear why we met, what brought her to the point in her life that we were together.  I looked in her eyes and listened carefully to her story.  Her story included her pain.  She didn’t complain or dwell. She didn’t whine or blame.  She simply told me what was going on.  Because we were face-to-face, we talked about it.  Because we were face to face I was able to share my story.  Five years not being able to walk on my own gives me ample ability to connect.  And why I am able to walk now is a source of my complete faith.

If you are looking for something on the internet to connect with remember that it is at best…two dimensional.  Technology doesn’t fill the void of a real connection with another person.  There is nothing that will ever replace, as my sales manager, Tom Ranker, would say…getting “gut to gut” with someone (he had some doosies, too!) rather than email or phone. 

Who did you look in the eye today and really connect with?

Right now, there is a tremendous fear wafting through the air in the business world. The only ways to overcome the fear that everyone faces…some more than others…is to do three things. 1. Have something powerful to work for…something that makes you get up and get going each day. 2. Make a decision that every person you come in contact with is there for a reason and you can help them or make their day/life better just by meeting up with you, and the big one 3. When you feel fear…do it anyway. The only way to get over a fear is to go through it…do it anyway…don’t spend time thinking…spend time doing.

This might sound like more mumbo jumbo…but I have used this and done this…and it works.

Is anyone else suffering from a lack of excitment  that it is now officially baseball season?