I found a wonderful quote about how doing well is a decision you make. It’s from Abraham Lincoln: “Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.” That’s really true. So you can choose how you are going to feel on any given day. So I hope today you choose to be happy. It seems to be a beautiful day and life is a very special occasion. So go for it.
Passion
Serve, Don’t Expect to be Served
You know, I was recently listening to a tape by a wonderful young guy named Matthew Barnett, who heads up the Dream Center in Los Angeles. I’m on the board there. They have taken over an old hospital that was condemned, and they have refurbished the whole thing through money raised. They have 1400 people living there; people who are really learning how to turn their lives around. They also have a church, a temple, that was given to them and they run services there. Matthew is just an amazing guy. The essence of his talk was that, when he took over and started to plant the church and they had nothing, he was mainly focused on his own success and thinking about how many people he could get to come to church. And all of a sudden one day, when things were really going downhill for this church, he realized his problem—it had been all about him. And when he got that he was there to serve, and he went out into the streets and met with the people and talked and walked with them and helped and served them and all, slowly they began to trust him. And they started to come to him. And then he was able to, unbelievably, get control of this old hospital. He said when he turned the corner and really realized that life is about serving, not being served, that just made all the difference.
One Thing at a Time
I really like my friend B. J. Gallagher’s little book called Staying the Course. B. J. says, “Our journey in life is about progress, not perfection.” (Boy, isn’t that true.) “It’s not about doing one thing 100 percent better, it’s about doing a number of things one percent better each day. Progress is evolutionary, not revolutionary. Most days we measure our progress in inches, not miles.” (That’s feedback, that’s the breakfast of champions!) “What matters most is showing up for your life, whether you feel like it or not. Ask yourself, ‘What two or three things can I do today that would move me forward?’” (That’s a very good question—what could you do?) “You’d be amazed at how much distance you could cover by taking it in increments. The little things add up. The inches turn to miles and we string together our efforts like so many pearls. Before long, look what you have—a whole strand. Ahhh—beautiful!” So, what can you do today to keep going? To keep making a difference for your customers and for each other? Remember, things are about progress. One thing at a time. One small step can change your life. So take that step today.
Feedback is the Breakfast of Champions
You know you’ve heard me talk a number of times about “Feedback is the breakfast of champions.” This is a saying that Rick Tate, who used to be a consulting partner with our company, often said. People in sales constantly get feedback. They know how well they are doing by whether it’s a “yes” or a “no.” Other people with different jobs don’t get feedback as much as they want. That’s why it’s so important for us to reach out and thank people—particularly people who are in jobs where they can’t always count what they do in terms of numbers or anything like that. Because it really does feel good. I remember as a young man, cutting the grass—that was always a great pleasure—and then sitting up on the porch, sipping a beer and looking out to see what I had done. That’s immediate feedback.
So life is a special occasion, but it’s also nice to have something to do once in a while where you get feedback on results. So continue today to reach out and thank other people for the work they do—give them some feedback so they can feel good. Remember, people who feel good about themselves produce good results, as well as people who produce good results feel good about themselves. It’s all based on feedback.
Nature’s Beauty
Have you seen the moon recently? It was absolutely incredible. And last night when the sun was about to set, we went out on the deck and watched the sun set. It was just unbelievable. I was just struck by all the fabulous things that are free—Looking at the moon at night, a sunset, going over to the beach and sitting and watching the waves, or sitting down and enjoying the view of the mountains and hills, or walking through the woods and enjoying the flowers. Hearing the cry of a newborn baby—just wonderful, wonderful things that really are free.
Rabbi Kushner, who wrote When Bad Things Happen to Good People, wrote a wonderful book called Why God? In that book he tells about, when the first astronaut went up, everybody in the country had their TV on and was watching. And when the second astronaut went up, you watched if you were home but you didn’t if you weren’t. And with the third, they had him play golf on the moon for anybody to pay attention. He said that we get tired of things made by man, but we never get tired of a babbling brook, a sunset, or those kinds of things. So next weekend, no matter what’s happening around you, you can always take a walk and look at the beauty of nature, and know that things are all right in that realm and they are free for all of us.
How We Lead 