I’ve cut and pasted an e-mail I recieved just yesterday from Bill Brown for today’s T4D.  It’s just fantastic….I hope that you’ll be able to share it in a meaningful way with your teams so that perhaps they too can say….”It won’t fail because of me.”

Kirk, I’ve enjoyed your T4D for years since you came to Bloomington, IL and talked to our unit.  Thought the below part of a book I read was pretty relevant to bigger companies, we often don’t see or understand how are piece relates to the enterprise.  

The below comes from a book I started reading on vacation; A Man On The Moon, The Voyages of the Apollo Astronauts by Andrew Chaikin.

A few weeks before his Apollo 17 launch Ken Mattingly went to the launch pad and gazed up at the towering Saturn V rocket that would take him and two other astronauts to the moon. He realized at that moment that he barely knew what he was looking at. Sure, he understood the basic design, and he knew the parts and pieces he had to know. But their were several million parts in the whole thing and each one had been designed, fabricated, tested and installed by someone. Standing there, he knew the scope of Apollo was beyond the grasp of any one mind. He then rode the elevator up to the place where the third stage met the spacecraft adapter section, and there, at the juncture, was an open hatchway. He climbed through until he was standing inside a great metallic ring lined with pipes and electrical lines and all kinds of components. The lone technician who was working in there was startled- “Who are you? Get out of here.” - but once he understood that he was talking to one of the men who would ride this rocket, he was just as gracious as could be. He said to Mattingly, “You know, I can’t imagine what it’s going to be like for you. But I can tell you this: It won’t fail because of what I do.” Mattingly realized that the reason Apollo worked at all was because thousands of people had said to themselves, “It won’t fail because of me.”

Bill Brown 
State Farm

Maturity is achieved when a person postpones immediate pleasures for long-term values.  ~ Joshua L. Liebman

BELIEVE WHILE OTHERS … by William Arthur Ward

Believe while others are doubting.

Plan while others are playing.

Study while others are sleeping.

Decide while others are delaying.

Prepare while others are daydreaming.

Begin while others are procrastinating.

Work while others are wishing.

Save while others are wasting.

Listen while others are talking.

Smile while others are frowning.

Commend while others are criticizing.

Persist while others are quitting.

Day by day, what you do is who you become. 

 (Thanks Lynne) ~ Kirk

The nobler sort of man emphasizes the good qualities in others, and does not accentuate the bad. The inferior does the reverse.   — Confucius (551-479 BC) Chinese Philosopher 

There are far to many people willing to be inferior….let’s be the nobler sort.  ~ Kirk

A great quote from John Glenn and an interesting link to an article about how the fear of the future is effecting some people.  Certainly nothing I am endorsing…only observing.  Enjoy ~ Kirk 

“An innate searching curiosity about all around us- What do we not know?  How can we do it differently? How can we do it better? is at the heart of excellence. Then, human progress and excellence comes when someone goes beyond “why” to “why not?”"  -John Glenn (US Senator, Astronaut)

Energy fears looming, new survivalists prepare

By SAMANTHA GROSS
Associated Press Writer

A few years ago, Kathleen Breault was just another suburban grandma, driving countless hours every week, stopping for lunch at McDonald’s, buying clothes at the mall, watching TV in the evenings.

That was before Breault heard an author talk about the bleak future of the world’s oil supply. Now, she’s preparing for the world as we know it to disappear.

Breault cut her driving time in half. She switched to a diet of locally grown foods near her upstate New York home and lost 70 pounds. She sliced up her credit cards, banished her television and swore off plane travel. She began relying on a wood-burning stove.   FULL ARTICLE CLICK HERE

Many have heard or watched this true and truely wonderful story - but just in case you haven’t.   YOU SHOULD!

I would invite you to skip the words below and go write to the video. http://sports.espn.go.com/broadband/video/videopage?videoId=3380875

Last week, Sara Tucholsky, a 5-foot-2-inch softball layer in her senior year for Western Oregon University, was playing in a big game with Central Washington University. Both teams were vying for the Division II NCAA playoffs. Sara, who was batting less than .200 all season, hit the ball over the fence with two runners on.

She had never hit a ball out of the park before, even in practice. She was so excited, she missed first base. Realizing this, she turned to go back but collapsed in agony as her knee gave out. Her first-base coach yelled that she had to crawl back to first base because if anyone on Sara’s team touched her, she’d be out and her home run would be nullified. Her coach encouraged her to try to crawl around the other bases to preserve her home run, but it was out of the question.

That’s when the star player on the other team, Mallory Holtman, asked the umpire if she and a teammate could carry Sara around the bases. It was an unprecedented request from an opponent fighting for a playoff berth, but the rules allowed it. Without hesitation, Mallory and shortstop Liz Wallace lifted Sara and carried her, lowering her to touch each base with her good leg.

To Mallory it was simple: “In the end, it’s not about winning and losing so much; it was about this girl. She hit it over the fence and was in pain and deserved a home run.”

Mallory was right. It’s just common decency.

Sadly, such kindness isn’t common at all in sports, and that’s why all the coaches, players, and spectators who were stunned by this spontaneous act of sportsmanship wept. And that’s how Mallory became a national hero.

Today’s thought comes to us all the way from Israel from my dear friend June Stone.

Nothing is good or bad but thinking makes it so.
–Shakespeare

Look for the Good

Life is an interpretive experience. What happens is less important than how we respond to our circumstances. An intense stimulus that some people report as pain others report as pleasure. It is we who decide what the interpretation will be.

Are you a “good finder”? A recent study of the country’s millionaires showed that the most common trait they all shared was the ability to discover good in any situation. This trait is also common in “triumphant survivors” - those individuals who overcome adversity and emerge strengthened and renewed.

A sincere spiritual seeker suffering from a chronic illness wondered, “Why haven’t my prayers been answered?” One day, in deep meditation the reply came: “Look for the good in your situation and you will see that the answer has already been provided.” Suddenly this woman realized that her crisis provided a wonderful opportunity. She embarked on a program of nutrition, exercise, and yoga, which led to a dramatic improvement in the quality of her life.

Abraham Lincoln once said, “Most people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.” Your state of mind is up to you. Choose now to look for the good.

“You can never thank people enough.” ~ Jeff Zucker, president, NBC television

( I pulled this from a short interview piece on Fast Company magazines website.  Click here to read the interview. http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/90/wikn.html

 Handle them carefully, for words have more power than atom bombs. –Pearl Strachan

When you have spoken the word, it reigns over you. When it is unspoken you reign over it. –Arabian Proverb

Speak when you are angry and you will make the best speech you will ever regret. –Ambrose Bierce

It was entertainment night at the Senior Center and the Amazing Claude was topping the bill. People came from miles around to see the famed hypnotist do his stuff.

It took three days to clean up the senior center.

Make it a Great Day!  - It’s Your Choice ~ Kirk

Everyone who has ever taken a shower has had an idea. It’s the person who gets out of the shower, dries off, and does something about it that makes a difference.  — Nolan Bushnell

I have sent the following Donkey story before. But since it has been a while and since there are certain people in our lives that seem to be constantly willing to throw dirt and hurt on us… here it is again. 

One day a farmer’s donkey fell down into a well.  The animal cried pitifully for hours as the farmer tried to figure out what to do.  Finally, he decided the animal was old, and the well needed to be covered up anyway; it just wasn’t worth it to retrieve the donkey.

The farmer invited all his neighbors to come over and help him.  They all grabbed a shovel and began to toss the dirt into the well.  At first, the donkey realized what was happening and cried horribly.  Then, to everyone’s amazement, he quieted down. A few shovel loads later, the farmer finally looked down the well.

He was astonished at what he saw.  With each shovel of dirt that hit his back, the donkey was doing something amazing.  He would shake it off and then take a step up.  As the farmer’s neighbors continued to shovel dirt on top of the animal, he would shake it off and take a step up.  Pretty soon, everyone was amazed as the donkey stepped up over the edge of the well and happily trotted off!

Life is going to shoveled dirt on you, all kinds of dirt.  The trick to getting out of the “well” is to shake it off and take a “step up.”  Each of our troubles is a stepping stone.  We can get out of the deepest of “wells” just by not stopping, never giving up!  Shake it off and take a step up.

Dear frind Lynn Nash from the UK shared these terrific quotes with me a while back.  To me they re-inforce the vital principle of being very careful of the language and stories we tell ourselves and others.  We create our own energy, feelings and outcomes with the language we use and the thoughts that we allow to dominate our minds.

Hi Kirk, I’m currently reading “Psycho-Linguistics - The Language of the Mind” by Patrick Porter.  Not the easiest of reads (the kind where you have to stop every three of four pages and go “Huh?”) but it contains some great quotes.  I’m persevering just to find the quotes.  Thought I’d send you a few.   Hugs Lynne  

“The greatest discovery of my generation is that a human being can alter his life by altering his attitudes of mind”  ~William James  

“What you get by reaching your destination is not as important as what you become by reaching your destination”    ~Dr. Robert Anthony  

This one is a favourite… “Success is not the result of spontaneous combustion. You must set yourself on fire” Reggie Leach  

“Don’t go around saying the world owes you a living. The world owes you nothing; it was here first” Mark Twain  

“Happiness is the only good. The place to be happy is here. The time to be happy is now. The way to be happy is to make others so.” Robert Ingersoll