“Nothing is so contagious as an example. We never do great good or great evil without bringing about more of the same on the part of others.” ~ ~ La Rochefoucauld

We can either choose to be kinder, more patient, more happy, more committed, more understanding… in short we can choose to be our best self - OR - we can choose to be less than our best.  

You might be thinking…. ”C’mon Kirk who would choose to be less than their best?”

The answer is… “Everyone who doesn’t deliberately and consistently choose and strive towards being their best has by default settled for and indeed chosen to be something less than their best. 

Choosing excellence is most often a choice that requires a a conscious, deliberate and thoughtful effort.  In stark contrast choosing the mediocre or less than path is merely the natural and consequential result of not choosing the other.

Hence not choosing is choosing.   So choose and choose wisely by choosing a path that requires you to be and become more than you are right now.  The best choice is the one to be your best.

Kirk Out

“The only lifelong, reliable motivations are those that come from within, and one of the strongest of those is the joy and pride that grow from knowing that you’ve just done something as well as you can do it.”  ~ Lloyd Dobens and Clare Crawford-Mason (”Thinking About Quality”)

What follows is a couple bits of advice I pulled from an old e-zine…might help get you in the groove for this 4 day work week.  :)  Kirk Out  

LIMIT THE SIZE OF YOUR TASK TEAMS

Want to form a team of workers or friends to accomplish something? How many is enough? Too much? My experience (and the studies I’ve seen) suggests a number between three and seven. Two people can get too easily deadlocked. Groups of eight or more are unwieldy. One reason, studies confirm, is communication. The larger the group, the more time people spend “communicating.” In some instances, large teams spend up to 90% of their time talking instead of doing.

HOW TO GET IN THE GROOVE

Studies show that successful people make the most progress when they get themselves into an emotional groove, one in which they feel confident and alert and are able to work toward their objectives with a sense of purpose. If you could get into such a groove whenever you wanted to, succeeding would be easy. But getting your head and heart working in synch takes more than just a decision to do so. It takes a combination of factors — some external, some internal — all of which need to be just right.

I like to get into a groove at least once a day and stay in that groove for at least 90 minutes. It’s not easy — but it helps when I:

1. prevent distractions by closing the door and turning off the phone

2. stimulate my mood with classical music

3. stimulate my mind by reading something relevant and inspiring

4. prevent interruptions by keeping the rest of my daily schedule as open as possible

I looked at the T4D I posted for Labor Day 2008 and smiled at the memories.  (To Read it click HERE)

Someone once said… “The ability to work is a blessing, the love of work is success.”

Something I heard recently from a fellow speaker who addressed a large group of wonderful people from Westar Energy.   “Times are tough, but everyone here today has at least one thing that 10% of Americans would like to have… A JOB.” 

I know there are some who are reading this who are in that 10%…  Who may be worried or stressed about tomorrow or the next day.  There are many who have work that is not sufficient, satisfying and lacks a promising future.  Many are re-grouping, re-evaluating, even going back to school for re-training.  Life can be hard, but it is in the hard times when our character is being tested that we can become refined….and our confidence can wax stronger… I encourage you to stay the course.  Many people are pulling and praying for your success.

Labor Day… is a day we can be grateful for the work we have….  a day that we can be grateful that we have the desire and ability to work.  ….and interestingly it is a day when most of our nation takes off from work? 

Well today’s T4D is not as pithy and clever as I had hoped.  But nonetheless I wish you a safe, wonderful, and especially memorable weekend.

Kirk Out

That duct tape is a staple of life is a simple and undisputable truth.  Earlier this week my teen age son Jake and I were running a few errands and I remembered I needed to buy a roll.  Jake had only recently discovered the magical power of duct tape for himself which made the trip much more of a father son, right of passage, male bonding experience than I would have imagined. 

With pride and excitement I built on my sons few small successes and duct tape discoveries by sharing with him some of my own noteworthy duct tape moments.  At age 45 I had much to tell…(or at least thought that I did).  He listened intently and I could see his mind expanding with the possibilities… this was far bigger than X-Box or Game Cube… this was HUGE.

We couldn’t pick it up, until we picked it out! 

Once in Walmart we made our way to isle where we would pick up our roll.  But when we got there I realized again how much things have changed since I was a kid.   Because when I was Jakes age, duct tape came in one color… grey.  Over the years other colors had been introduced….. such as black and olive drab (we used it in the rangers alot).  But the shelf we stood in front of well over 45 colors to choose from!  Duct tape had made the leap from functional to fashionable and I felt like I was the last one coming to the party.

The choices were almost overwhelming.  I stood there a bit unsure what to do next…and finally chose one of the “traditional” duct tape colors I had grown up with. (grey))  I felt somehow it showed loyalty to something I can’t quite describe. 

 Jake picked something a little more flashy.. and I’m OK with it. 

It’s a new age…a new time and that doesn’t mean that the all the old stuff needs to be dismissed, discontinued or devalued.  It just might mean that it needs to be repackaged, re-colored, refined, and RE-FRESHED.  If you can go from Functional to Fashionable with Duct Tape… well the possibilities are endless.

 For even more validation and examples of functionalbe to fashionalbe.. I invite you to scroll down past the signature block.

Kirk Out - 

 

  It shouldn’t be too hard to place today’s thought into a corporate context.   I think most can relate to those times at work when we slip from teaching to telling and from leading to managing.   When we choose the lower road of efficiency over the higher road of effectiveness casualties can occur in the form of relationships and trust.  Leading and teaching take time.  But if we will take the time that it takes, it will take less time.

Here’s today’s T4D.

I find myself too often getting tricked into family management rather than family leadership and parenting. I can tell when I’m there because I hear myself talking about tasks, and obedience rather than teaching with simple metaphor, encouraging with love, and coaching with the spirit.

I am thankful for the times I catch myself doing this, so I can stop, regroup, and go for true effectiveness rather than false efficiency. Where I can make memories, strengthen relationships, and be patient while still expecting the best of my children.  I can still expect excellence but I won’t be expecting too much… and amidst all of my expectations and hopes for them, they will never feel that they are lacking, but will feel that they are loved. This “Just For This Morning” piece published below inspired todays’ T4D….  I hope you enjoy it.

Kirk

Just for this morning, I am going to smile when I see your face and laugh when I feel like crying.
Just for this morning, I will let you choose what you want to wear, and smile and say how perfect it is.
Just for this morning, I am going to step over the laundry, and pick you up and take you to the park to play.
Just for this morning, I will leave the dishes in the sink, and let you teach me how to put that puzzle of yours together.
Just for this afternoon, I will unplug the telephone and keep the computer off, and sit with you in the backyard and blow bubbles.
Just for this afternoon, I will not yell once, not even a tiny grumble when you scream and whine for the ice cream truck, and I will buy you one if he comes by.
Just for this afternoon, I won’t worry about what you are going to be when you grow up, or second guess every decision I have made where you are concerned. Just for this afternoon, I will let you help me bake cookies, and I won’t stand over you trying to fix them.
Just for this afternoon, I will take us to McDonald’s and buy us both a Happy Meal so you can have both toys.
Just for this evening, I will hold you in my arms and tell you a story about how you were born and how much I love you.
Just for this evening, I will let you splash in the tub and not get angry.
Just for this evening, I will let you stay up late while we sit on the porch and count all the stars.
Just for this evening, I will snuggle beside you for hours, and miss my favorite TV shows.
Just for this evening when I run my finger through your hair as you pray, I will simply be grateful that God has given me the greatest gift ever given. I will think about the mothers and fathers who are searching for their missing children, the mothers and fathers who are visiting their children’s graves instead of their bedrooms, and mothers and fathers who are in hospital rooms watching their children suffer senselessly, and screaming inside that they can’t handle it anymore. And when I kiss you good night I will hold you a little tighter, a little longer. It is then, that I will thank God for you, and ask him for nothing, except one more day.

Kirk out

A wonderful note shared with me last week — enjoy. “Jono’s Jar”

In managing a 24/7 Call Center I began losing the battle between work and home; my work/life balance is out of balance.   Too many hours behind the desk and another excuse on the “emergency” of the day, given to family upon my late arrival home.  The result, missing dinner with my family (critical conversation/family time) and not investing enough quality time at home.   

One evening I was greeted by my son Jonathan; Jono had a glass jar in his hands and it had a small note on the front that read “Late Jar, $1 per Hour”.  He told me that since work seemed so important to me that he was charging me a dollar an hour, for each hour I was late.  I laughed and dropped a buck or two in the jar, this became our evening ritual.  It didn’t take long for the jar to begin to fill up.  An hour here and a few more there and six more the night before we were leaving for vacation, in July.  In just a few weeks this smart young man collected over $50 in cash and I lost over 50 hours with my family!   

Jono turned 15 this past Friday 8/14 and will be a sophomore in high school, this fall.  Sunday evening I took him to the store to pick up iced tea and we talked about the new school year, friends, etc.  He then brought up the jar and he said something to the affect of “your know the song about time in a bottle, don’t you?  Well that’s the message behind my jar”!  I was blown away, the son began to teach the father…   I am working to delegate more, gab less, and remember what is truly important in life.  I will not be late this evening and I hope this message can be shared with fathers, mothers, sisters, and brothers everywhere.   

Kirk, thanks again for all you do!   
Jeffrey J. Madison  -  Mgr. Customer Service  -  Milton Hershey School