“All Men Are Kings Before Potatoes.” This has become something of a catch phrase for me, lately. I'm a gardener at heart, you see, so it is a natural expression of that pastime.
Few activities are as fulfilling as gardening. It is simple, often laborious work, but it gives you time to think and the results are immediate. Sinking a spade into the soil and turning the earth offers "real-time" feedback; the smell of the soil, the twinge as unused muscles awaken - your results are timely and visible. The Earth does not complain or talk back, either. It knows nothing of negativity... you work, it complies. Simple, basic.
It should be no surprise that I am inspired by Henry David Thoreau and his classic work, "Walden." In that book, Thoreau left the hectic, burdened world of 'civilized' people to live a simple agrarian life, without trappings. What his experiment ultimately proved was that whether you're a king or pauper, rich man or poor, you are on equal footing with the soil.
Gardens also are the epitome of dreams, since they are dreams, realized. All gardeners are planners and people of vision. They schedule, organize and endlessly rotate the features of their garden, manipulating the earth for one goal: TO prepare it for the greatness to come. By deliberately making their visions bear fruit, they hold in their hands the core of all achievement.
Turning the earth to cultivate your own food, is the purest distillation of the Human Charter I talk so often about. That Charter, to "GO, DO and BECOME" is at the core of every garden.
You GO out to the earth, laid before you and embrace it. There is no sitting down and hoping with the garden... you must get up and go there.
You DO, by planting and watering, cultivating and nurturing until it produces that which sustains you. "Garden" is an action word.
In doing all this, you BECOME far more than if you had you simply dreamed and wished for something to have occurred. It is the culmination of vision and applied effort, the highest purpose man can attain.
At the same time, it is a very fulfilling purpose. You see, it is all up to you.
In the garden, you are generally alone and it succeeds only because you make it work... or fail to.
It is the glorious paradox of the garden that this basic, unfettered work makes it such a life-changing force. Often, people scorn the garden as oafish, or arcane - but nothing is farther from the truth. What they cannot see is that in calling forth the powers of the Earth, you fulfill the core need of all humanity to GO, DO and BECOME. In the garden you meet the expectations of all society to do something useful with yourself..
SO, if you are feeling like you are wasting your life, getting nowhere or are unfocused, don't buy another self-help CD, or pay for another session with some "guru." Instead, shed these things, go dig in the soil and plant some tomatoes!
You will find that you are refreshed in both body and spirit and will see things in a vastly different way.
16 June 2009
23 May 2009
Real Heroes
I listened to a radio show today about battle field medics and doctors in Vietnam. The horrors they described, the deprivations they endured were beyond re-telling. No words I can write would do their story justice. No one should be placed in such a position as they, trying to revive young men blasted to shreds, any one of which might be a neighbor, friend or brother.
Some of them came apart and lost it, never regaining their full sanity... no one of us can, or should, blame them. But most went on after the war to become "regular" people.
What impressed me the most was that these were ordinary men, thrust into extraordinary circumstances. They didnt ask for these things, but they endured and they went on. They coped any way possible and in the midst of the carnage, they did their job - they saved lives.
Many men living today, as you read this, owe their lives to these gallant men.
Most of these gallant men owe their own sense of purpose to the men they saved. For them, those they saved made it all worthwhile.
It's no surprise that most of these men have kept in touch over the last 40 years, saved and saviors alike. Only men who have carried each other in battle can know this connection.
No trite commentary, regardless of it's content, can supplant what these men have done, what they are. So I won't try. I'll simply stand in awe of them, this day.
Instead, I'd ask that each of you remember the servicemen and women who have tasted death itself for their family, their friends and a nation of citizens whom they will never know. God Bless them.
Some of them came apart and lost it, never regaining their full sanity... no one of us can, or should, blame them. But most went on after the war to become "regular" people.
What impressed me the most was that these were ordinary men, thrust into extraordinary circumstances. They didnt ask for these things, but they endured and they went on. They coped any way possible and in the midst of the carnage, they did their job - they saved lives.
Many men living today, as you read this, owe their lives to these gallant men.
Most of these gallant men owe their own sense of purpose to the men they saved. For them, those they saved made it all worthwhile.
It's no surprise that most of these men have kept in touch over the last 40 years, saved and saviors alike. Only men who have carried each other in battle can know this connection.
No trite commentary, regardless of it's content, can supplant what these men have done, what they are. So I won't try. I'll simply stand in awe of them, this day.
Instead, I'd ask that each of you remember the servicemen and women who have tasted death itself for their family, their friends and a nation of citizens whom they will never know. God Bless them.
19 May 2009
The Power Of Action
Action. One word, six letters. This single noun, described by Webster as, “The manner or method of performing,” is perhaps the most important word in all of human history. I’ve said for years that the world cares little for you the person, except in an arbitrary way. You take up space, you eat food and you are there, so to speak.
But do something notable, worthwhile or even despicable and people know who you are. The richest, most successful, and yes, even the most murderous of men got that way by their actions. Mountain climbers or champion racers win by doing, not by standing on the corner. But, none of these people would do more than take up space on this planet had they not acted on something, at some point in time.
I’ve noticed a tendency among today’s younger people, by contrast, to do very little. Many are content to stay home with their parents well into their 20’s, or even 30’s, and make nothing more of themselves than that. They like to ‘hang out’ with their friends and if asked what they are doing, respond, with “Oh, not much. “
I suspect the root of this attitude is our highly touted and civilized ‘social welfare system.’ I can't prove it - but I suspect it. The welfare system's intent is, of course, caring for the truly poor and infirm. However, what started as people caring for people has morphed into the modern expectation that somehow “the System” will take care of you; that someone will step forward to provide you with that which you want or require. In that case, why do more than wait for the program, grant or handout to come your way?
The problem is, there is always a price. Someone who has achieved something in life pays for these handouts, and often grudgingly so. This means there is also the expectation that you, the recipient, accept being dictated to by those who give the handout. Once you get used to it, in other words, you do what they say to keep it flowing freely. Not everyone gives in to this way of thinking, but far too many do, it seems.
What has been overlooked is the notion that if you want something, the only person who will ensure you get it is you.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My son Daniel had these two extremes, action vs. handout, driven home recently. He has a friend who has a pressure washer sitting around the yard and some folks asked the two of them if they would wash some houses for them. Daniel was waiting to go off to school and they were paying pretty well, so why not? When the job was finished, his comment to me was something like, “Dad, it was nice to get paid for that simple work. It wasn‘t really hard, and now someone else wants us to come and do some washing for them. Man, it sure beats trying to find new ways to bum money from you!“
Did you catch that? Now, he could have asked me to hand him some money, but he knew that was wearing thin with me, real fast. "Others people money running out..." in other words.
Instead, by sheer chance, he had taken the action needed to earn more money than I would have thought to give.
And he hadn‘t had to beg for a handout to get it, nor put up with my enslavement or expectations. It took only the simple action of washing with a pressure hose to open a world of possibilities and get the message across - DO something, and in turn, become something. In Daniels’ case, he became a man with money in his pocket
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It’s not what you dream about or wish for that gets you where you’re going. Dreams and wishes give shape to your desires, but they are just a place to start. It’s not what you say, talk or complain about that does it, either. “Talk is cheap,” as they say. The world is full of pundits and boors to tell you how bad things are, but that gets no one anywhere.
No, it’s taking ACTION that gets you where you want to be. It’s the “DO” part of your Human Charter, the Charter that places before each of us the challenge to GO, DO and BECOME in our life. Some will say that there is a risk of failure in all this doing, but there is also the chance that you will succeed - or even exceed your own expectations. In the end it‘s about performance, either way.
That is the only thing that gets you noticed and which brings you success at anything. Besides, everyone who succeeds at anything has also failed more than a few times. So get over that fear, right now.
So, what are you waiting for? You know what you want; get a plan together and don’t let anything stop you from getting there. Make no complaints, offer no excuses.
Man, it’s time for you to take action. It’s time to GO, DO, and BECOME!
But do something notable, worthwhile or even despicable and people know who you are. The richest, most successful, and yes, even the most murderous of men got that way by their actions. Mountain climbers or champion racers win by doing, not by standing on the corner. But, none of these people would do more than take up space on this planet had they not acted on something, at some point in time.
I’ve noticed a tendency among today’s younger people, by contrast, to do very little. Many are content to stay home with their parents well into their 20’s, or even 30’s, and make nothing more of themselves than that. They like to ‘hang out’ with their friends and if asked what they are doing, respond, with “Oh, not much. “
I suspect the root of this attitude is our highly touted and civilized ‘social welfare system.’ I can't prove it - but I suspect it. The welfare system's intent is, of course, caring for the truly poor and infirm. However, what started as people caring for people has morphed into the modern expectation that somehow “the System” will take care of you; that someone will step forward to provide you with that which you want or require. In that case, why do more than wait for the program, grant or handout to come your way?
The problem is, there is always a price. Someone who has achieved something in life pays for these handouts, and often grudgingly so. This means there is also the expectation that you, the recipient, accept being dictated to by those who give the handout. Once you get used to it, in other words, you do what they say to keep it flowing freely. Not everyone gives in to this way of thinking, but far too many do, it seems.
What has been overlooked is the notion that if you want something, the only person who will ensure you get it is you.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My son Daniel had these two extremes, action vs. handout, driven home recently. He has a friend who has a pressure washer sitting around the yard and some folks asked the two of them if they would wash some houses for them. Daniel was waiting to go off to school and they were paying pretty well, so why not? When the job was finished, his comment to me was something like, “Dad, it was nice to get paid for that simple work. It wasn‘t really hard, and now someone else wants us to come and do some washing for them. Man, it sure beats trying to find new ways to bum money from you!“
Did you catch that? Now, he could have asked me to hand him some money, but he knew that was wearing thin with me, real fast. "Others people money running out..." in other words.
Instead, by sheer chance, he had taken the action needed to earn more money than I would have thought to give.
And he hadn‘t had to beg for a handout to get it, nor put up with my enslavement or expectations. It took only the simple action of washing with a pressure hose to open a world of possibilities and get the message across - DO something, and in turn, become something. In Daniels’ case, he became a man with money in his pocket
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It’s not what you dream about or wish for that gets you where you’re going. Dreams and wishes give shape to your desires, but they are just a place to start. It’s not what you say, talk or complain about that does it, either. “Talk is cheap,” as they say. The world is full of pundits and boors to tell you how bad things are, but that gets no one anywhere.
No, it’s taking ACTION that gets you where you want to be. It’s the “DO” part of your Human Charter, the Charter that places before each of us the challenge to GO, DO and BECOME in our life. Some will say that there is a risk of failure in all this doing, but there is also the chance that you will succeed - or even exceed your own expectations. In the end it‘s about performance, either way.
That is the only thing that gets you noticed and which brings you success at anything. Besides, everyone who succeeds at anything has also failed more than a few times. So get over that fear, right now.
So, what are you waiting for? You know what you want; get a plan together and don’t let anything stop you from getting there. Make no complaints, offer no excuses.
Man, it’s time for you to take action. It’s time to GO, DO, and BECOME!
17 May 2009
Have Great Day - Get Control Of Your Time!
Lately, I’ve been reading Leo Thorsness’ book, “Surviving Hell.” Leo is one of only 96 Congressional Medal of Honor winners still alive today. But, what really draws me to him is the six years he spent in a North Vietnamese prison camp during Vietnam, after being shot down over Hanoi. The years he spent at the Hanoi Hilton being tortured, beaten to a pulp, neglected and ultimately dehumanized by his captors would break most men - but not Leo.
He claims to be a better man for the experience!
I met Mr. Thorsness’ recently and found him to be both irascible and lovable, all at once. Considering all he has been through, he is an amazingly upbeat and likable fellow. He claims, “In the 35 years since my release from prison, I’ve never had a really bad day!” What a superior human being he is.
One of the things I’ve taken away from his story is just how little time truly significant things take. For example, Leo would fly out of Laos for hours to fulfill a mission over North Vietnam, but the “action” only lasted an average of 12 minutes. Think about that.
Long prebriefing sessions, aircraft and equipment checks, hours of flying there and back, then more time in post briefing - for 12 minutes worth of “business.“
So I gave this notion a test. I lined up the things I had planned to do for a day: phone calls, advertising sign placement, taking may dad to his appointments, moving yet another sofa… all the usual things.
I allowed my normal time for “briefing” myself, “doing my checks,” and travelling to and fro. I did all the things one must do to “make ready“ without change.
But the actual time it took to do anything important? SECONDS.
I logged them all. 15 seconds to load the sofa. 182 seconds to take my dad downtown. 13 seconds to place my sign… well, you get the point. Maybe one took a little more than another, but mere seconds were all that were required for any of them.
When I had everything completed, I still had time to sort out some of the collected “stuff” in my car, have a shower and shave, do a bit of light gardening, write this and it was still only 3 PM! All my pre-planning and getting ready was important - critical, even - but the fact remains that the actual time expended on any one thing was tiny.
So the next time you think you have too many things to do, just follow these three simple steps.
- SCRUTINIZE your coming activities through a magnifying lens. Strip them down to their barest elements, a mental vision of what is actually involved in the act. This is in stark contrast to what other “gurus” will tell you. They always put the plan before the action.
But realizing how little time is actually required by each activity brings it into a more realistic perspective.
- PLAN in a similar fashion. Allow each bit of planning only the moments it deserves. We usually worry and stew over a thing far in excess of it’s importance, and so end up with what seems to be toom uch on our plate.
But, since the important things come down to crucial seconds of activity, prepare the same way. Everything in your planning is designed to get you to those crucial seconds, seamlessly.
DO - Once you have scrutinized and planned accordingly, then focus on doing the activity exactly as you envisioned. Don’t invest more time in it than you pictured, don’t get sidetracked in diversions. Do it exactly as you saw it in your pre-planning scrutiny.
At first, this will seem backwards from what you are accustomed to. But stick with it. By doing things in this order, you will sharply focus your efforts, leaving you more time to do what you must. In turn, this will give you more time to do more of the things you enjoy!
Before long, you will have gained control of your time and feel more alive, more free. And like Leo Thorsness, you will likely catch yourself exclaiming, “When you’re me, it’s hard to have a really bad day!”
He claims to be a better man for the experience!
I met Mr. Thorsness’ recently and found him to be both irascible and lovable, all at once. Considering all he has been through, he is an amazingly upbeat and likable fellow. He claims, “In the 35 years since my release from prison, I’ve never had a really bad day!” What a superior human being he is.
One of the things I’ve taken away from his story is just how little time truly significant things take. For example, Leo would fly out of Laos for hours to fulfill a mission over North Vietnam, but the “action” only lasted an average of 12 minutes. Think about that.
Long prebriefing sessions, aircraft and equipment checks, hours of flying there and back, then more time in post briefing - for 12 minutes worth of “business.“
So I gave this notion a test. I lined up the things I had planned to do for a day: phone calls, advertising sign placement, taking may dad to his appointments, moving yet another sofa… all the usual things.
I allowed my normal time for “briefing” myself, “doing my checks,” and travelling to and fro. I did all the things one must do to “make ready“ without change.
But the actual time it took to do anything important? SECONDS.
I logged them all. 15 seconds to load the sofa. 182 seconds to take my dad downtown. 13 seconds to place my sign… well, you get the point. Maybe one took a little more than another, but mere seconds were all that were required for any of them.
When I had everything completed, I still had time to sort out some of the collected “stuff” in my car, have a shower and shave, do a bit of light gardening, write this and it was still only 3 PM! All my pre-planning and getting ready was important - critical, even - but the fact remains that the actual time expended on any one thing was tiny.
So the next time you think you have too many things to do, just follow these three simple steps.
- SCRUTINIZE your coming activities through a magnifying lens. Strip them down to their barest elements, a mental vision of what is actually involved in the act. This is in stark contrast to what other “gurus” will tell you. They always put the plan before the action.
But realizing how little time is actually required by each activity brings it into a more realistic perspective.
- PLAN in a similar fashion. Allow each bit of planning only the moments it deserves. We usually worry and stew over a thing far in excess of it’s importance, and so end up with what seems to be toom uch on our plate.
But, since the important things come down to crucial seconds of activity, prepare the same way. Everything in your planning is designed to get you to those crucial seconds, seamlessly.
DO - Once you have scrutinized and planned accordingly, then focus on doing the activity exactly as you envisioned. Don’t invest more time in it than you pictured, don’t get sidetracked in diversions. Do it exactly as you saw it in your pre-planning scrutiny.
At first, this will seem backwards from what you are accustomed to. But stick with it. By doing things in this order, you will sharply focus your efforts, leaving you more time to do what you must. In turn, this will give you more time to do more of the things you enjoy!
Before long, you will have gained control of your time and feel more alive, more free. And like Leo Thorsness, you will likely catch yourself exclaiming, “When you’re me, it’s hard to have a really bad day!”
12 May 2009
Talking to Friends about Your Business.
This is from Michael Oliver, who is the driving force behind the "Natural Selling(R)" program. I thought it was good enough to include here, since it has some wide ranging applications in both life and business. I hope you enjoy it.
"When I talk with Network Marketers and Direct Sales People, it's
surprising how many are reluctant to talk with friends and family
about their business.
I guess it's understandable in many ways, because they don’t want
to run the risk of alienating those close to them.
If this happens to you, it does mean you're missing out on a
source of high quality business partners and customers.
Perhaps even worse, they might need what you have to offer and
they're missing out because you haven't spoken with them about
it.
(The story is always told of the insurance man who didn't sell his friend a policy, because he didn't want business to ruin their friendship - and then the friend promptly dies, leaving nothing for his family to live on.
The bereaved widow, who is destitute, now despises the insurance man - for not selling life insurance to her husband, the man he called his friend.)
So, what's the solution so that everyone wins? Here are some
suggestions.
1. Keep in mind the first principle of Natural Selling. That is, your purpose is to help other people solve their problems. When you're talking with friends, or anyone come to that, all you're looking to do is to discover if they have the types of problems you can help them solve. That's all.
2. Before approaching a friend, take some time to prepare yourself. Think about everything you know about them. Write down everything you can about their family, their hobbies, their sports, their jobs, their relationships, and especially their likes, dislikes, passions, and so on.
3. Write down all the problems you might have heard them talk about, that your business might be able to solve. Things like health problems or tight finances, and think, if you can, how it’s affecting them.
These are the things you can explore further when you next speak with them.
Now, when you do speak with someone keep in mind the following...
* Respect the relationship that is already there. What’s more important? Your friendship or wanting them as a business partner?
* Explore their previously expressed problems or see if they do have the types of problems you can help them solve without necessarily talking about your solutions.
* Let go from talking about your business opportunity. Your first aim at this stage is to simply discover if you might be able to be of help. If in the course of your conversation it becomes clear your friend or family member might have an interest in changing their present situation, then you can offer your solution there and then, or continue the dialogue at another time.
If you adopt this approach, you won't run the risk of upsetting people. You'll be pleasantly surprised at how many of them will be open to listening to you."
Michael Oliver
Natural Selling® Sales Training
For Personal & Business Success
Find Michael at www.NaturalSelling.com
"When I talk with Network Marketers and Direct Sales People, it's
surprising how many are reluctant to talk with friends and family
about their business.
I guess it's understandable in many ways, because they don’t want
to run the risk of alienating those close to them.
If this happens to you, it does mean you're missing out on a
source of high quality business partners and customers.
Perhaps even worse, they might need what you have to offer and
they're missing out because you haven't spoken with them about
it.
(The story is always told of the insurance man who didn't sell his friend a policy, because he didn't want business to ruin their friendship - and then the friend promptly dies, leaving nothing for his family to live on.
The bereaved widow, who is destitute, now despises the insurance man - for not selling life insurance to her husband, the man he called his friend.)
So, what's the solution so that everyone wins? Here are some
suggestions.
1. Keep in mind the first principle of Natural Selling. That is, your purpose is to help other people solve their problems. When you're talking with friends, or anyone come to that, all you're looking to do is to discover if they have the types of problems you can help them solve. That's all.
2. Before approaching a friend, take some time to prepare yourself. Think about everything you know about them. Write down everything you can about their family, their hobbies, their sports, their jobs, their relationships, and especially their likes, dislikes, passions, and so on.
3. Write down all the problems you might have heard them talk about, that your business might be able to solve. Things like health problems or tight finances, and think, if you can, how it’s affecting them.
These are the things you can explore further when you next speak with them.
Now, when you do speak with someone keep in mind the following...
* Respect the relationship that is already there. What’s more important? Your friendship or wanting them as a business partner?
* Explore their previously expressed problems or see if they do have the types of problems you can help them solve without necessarily talking about your solutions.
* Let go from talking about your business opportunity. Your first aim at this stage is to simply discover if you might be able to be of help. If in the course of your conversation it becomes clear your friend or family member might have an interest in changing their present situation, then you can offer your solution there and then, or continue the dialogue at another time.
If you adopt this approach, you won't run the risk of upsetting people. You'll be pleasantly surprised at how many of them will be open to listening to you."
Michael Oliver
Natural Selling® Sales Training
For Personal & Business Success
Find Michael at www.NaturalSelling.com
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