The Detail Only You Can See

This is my new favorite shirt.

It's purple.

It's got cool patterns.

My wife insisted I buy it.

My dad thinks it looks like pajamas.

The main reason I like this shirt, though, is the detail only I can see. This picture shows the underside of the collar. It's a different fabric than the rest of the shirt. And you can really only see it when you flip the collar up like the Fonz. If you're under 35, I realize you may not know who the Fonz is, so here's a handy link. Try to keep up.

Of course, I never wear it with the collar flipped up. So why go to the trouble of sewing in a detail that only my laundry lady (um, that would be my wife)  and I will see?

Maybe it's because they ran out of the other fabric. Maybe the designer was smokin' weed. Maybe someone at the factory did it on this one shirt to see if anyone would notice.

Or maybe it shows that someone cares about the details that nobody can see. Maybe it shows that not everyone performs their job to the accepted - and expected - mediocre standard. Maybe it is simply to deliver a moment of surprise and pleasure to the person who irons it each week (um, that would be me). All of these reasons are why it's my new favorite shirt. Plus, I look good in purple.

By the way, this is one of the most expensive shirts I own. And I quickly and happily paid the price, mainly because of the detail only I can see.

How To Create A Fantastic Monday

Want to know the secret to having a fantastic Monday? Choosing to have one.

I searched the Internet for an image depicts a happy Monday. I found maybe three images and those looked like greeting cards my grandma would have sent me.

Know how many images there are that show how bad Monday sucks? Thousands. No kidding.

With the explosion of social media, it seems like our favorite past time of Monday bashing has hit an all time high. "It's only Monday and I already can't wait for the weekend" is the mantra repeated week in and week out by the masses of worker bees across the country.

That attitude is a choice. We consciously choose to treat Monday as if it is a national anti-holiday created by the Devil himself. Monday could be a great day - a FANTASTIC day - if we would just choose to make it that way. But how?

Here's an activity that we introduced in our Positive Charge Mastermind group this morning. I share it with you freely in hopes that you will share it with others -- as many people as possible.

A Fantastic Monday Exercise

1. Make three columns on a piece of paper. 
2. In the left column, write down your five most important tasks today.
3. In the middle column, re-write your task list with the intention of a FANTASTIC result for each task.
4. In the right column, jot down how you might achieve that fantastic result, or the first step you need to take.

Here's an example:

• One of my tasks today is to review a pile of resumes. 
• If I re-write that task with the intention of a FANTASTIC result, I will be reviewing resumes looking for our next FANTASTIC team member.
• How? I need to describe what I mean by a FANTASTIC team member before I review the resumes. That way, I'll much more likely find what I'm looking for.

Honestly, I was dreading reading through a pile of 30 resumes. Now that I'm looking for someone FANTASTIC, I'm kind of excited about it!

I tested this on my to-do list and found that I could do this even for the most mundane tasks on my list. It has made me realize that I don't go after FANTASTIC results as much as I could (and should).

If you look at every task today and challenge yourself to creating a FANTASTIC result, would you have a better Monday?

By the way, it works for Monday, there are six other days just waiting for you to make them FANTASTIC, too.

Yay For The Post Office!

We all need to cheer on the USPS for their flat rate shipping services.

"If it fits, it ships, for one low price." 

Certainly one of the most brilliant marketing ideas they've ever had. It's also one of the biggest customer service ideas ever, and not just for the Post Office.

Why don't more companies make their prices this clear (and accessible)?

Instead, they make us hunt all over their website. Or call a number, only to be transferred. Or physically find a sales person to ask. In all of these scenarios, we, the customers, have to jump through hoops just to get a simple answer.

Three cheers for the Post Office. And three cheers for you if this makes you re-think how you present your pricing.

Create More Energy! Unplug!

It's counter-intuitive, non-scientific, and definitely anti-establishment, but unplugging is the best way I've found to create more energy.


Do you ever get overloaded with all the information you are asked to process every day? On top of that we pile even more information via TV, radio, Facebook, Twitter, and Linked in. And don't even get me started on the stacks of magazines, books, and blogs I'm falling behind on.


I'm gonna bet that last paragraph stressed you out. It stressed me out writing it! 'Cause it's TRUE. Too much information clutters your brain. When your brain is cluttered, it's confused. Confusion causes stress. Stress sucks your energy like that unibrow vampire from Twilight sucks his dinner.


Fortunately, there's a cure. And it doesn't require a walk-a-thon to raise money for. It's free. But it's not easy...the first time. 


Unplug.


Try it for at least one day each weekend. Don't pull out your laptop, don't check your computer, don't watch TV, don't tweet, and for God's sake, don't go near Facebook! 


I've been doing this for about a month. It was hard at first. I'm addicted just like you are. Let me tell ya, it got real easy, real fast. Now I look forward to it each week. I'm much less stressed. I'm enjoying my weekend SO MUCH MORE, and I'm pretty sure my family likes having me around now. I've even done a whole unplugged weekend, but that's really for crazy people.


The best benefit of all? Unplugging has given me time to re-charge my brain and my body. I've always liked Mondays, but now I actually feel like I'm ready for them! And what's truly amazing is that I don't feel like I've missed out on a single thing.


C'mon, be crazy with me this weekend. Unplug.

When Did Sunday Stop Being A Day of Rest?

Call me old-fashioned, but I wish Sunday was a day of rest again. 


Sundays fly by now with Church, the boy's soccer game, the girl's soccer game, and somehow squeezing in a quick breakfast, lunch, and dinner, usually on the go.


We used to work all day on Saturday mowing the lawn, doing the laundry, cleaning the house, etc. so we wouldn't have anything to do on Sunday. Now we work all day on Saturday because we have too MUCH to do on Sunday.


And I hate that we have to choose between which kid's soccer game we go to. Maybe if enough of us band together, we could create "no-sports Sundays" and spend time playing with our kids instead of sitting on the sidelines watching our kids play.

Great Grass Takes Time (So Does A Great Company)

Man, my grass looks good. I gotta tell you, it's downright luscious. 


I've written about my grass before. This is an important tidbit of info because I've been writing articles for more than ten years and I don't remember ever writing about any other single thing more than once. That's how much I like my grass. I'd go out right now and just roll in it, but I do think there's a line even a "live out loud" dude like me crosses when you roll around in your own lawn for no apparent reason. 


I looked at my grass this morning and couldn't help wondering how it got so nice. How come it's so thick, green, and healthy? What did I do to deserve such nice carpeting on my little slice of the planet?


Then I remember how hard I've worked to get it there over the past seven years. I've filled in holes, planted grass, pulled a lot of weeds, mowed regularly, watered insanely, and spent more than my fair share of money helping to keep Scotts - the very fine Ohio-based fertilizer company - in the green. 


During that seven years, the grass hasn't always been perfect. I've had some clover infestations, a few battles with dandelions (they're tougher than they look), and a city truck once dug up a putting-green sized chunk of lawn while picking up my neatly stacked debris piles with a big claw. 


Because of my consistent and ongoing hard work, my grass has survived the little tragedies along the way. Not only that, but it also gets a little bit better, thicker, and more luscious every year.


Business is the same way. You can't grow luscious grass in a few days, weeks, or even months. Likewise, in spite of the few companies that get big press about their "overnight success," most successful businesses grow that success over many years of planting, pulling a lot of weeds, mowing regularly, watering insanely, and applying fertilizer at the right times. 


It's hard not to pay attention to the success stories of the meteoric companies and think you're behind the curve. Sure, there's a long list of things that you could do to get better at what you do, but you also need to take a good look at where you've been. Sometimes you'll find that all of your work has led you right to the edge of your biggest success yet. And because you've worked hard on your "grass", you're ready. I can't wait to see what happens next, can you?

The Invisible Railroad (That Only I Can See)

I got a great piece of feedback from a guest today. She told me the driving and parking directions we provide are confusing. The reason? The directions say, "Turn right on Marconi Blvd. Proceed to the railroad tracks. The parking garage will be on your right."

Our directions are correct, you do proceed to the railroad tracks. The problem is that they're invisible.

Our guests can't see the railroad tracks because the City of Columbus has done a bang-up job of landscaping the area that used to be a railroad crossing. In fact, when we wrote up our driving directions a few years ago, there was still a railroad crossing gate in place, even though they had closed the crossing to car traffic. At that time, the railroad gates made it pretty clear there was a railroad there. Well, the gates are long gone.

Ok, the real problem is that I still know the tracks are there, but my customer doesn't. How could she? For many of our guests, it's their first trip down this stretch of Marconi Blvd. Heck, I think even some of our staff might not know the tracks are hiding there, and they drive by the every day.

The only way you'd know the tracks were there is if you already knew the tracks were there. Or if a big honkin' train came through at the exact moment you were looking for the railroad tracks.

My familiarity with the street has blinded me to an obvious flaw in our directions. As I write this, I wonder how many of our guests have scratched their heads wondering where those darn tracks are.

One of our jobs as a customer-focused organization is to live as much as possible with our blinders off. To do that, we've got to actively look for things like invisible railroad tracks. If we really want to super serve our customers, we have to identify the obstacles they face and work like crazy to remove them.

Push Your Reset Button Early and Often

The Internet conspired against me yesterday. Normally I love the Internet. Love technology in general. Yesterday, not so much.

Not to bore you with too many details, but I "own" three different Internet connections: one for our office, one for our guests, and one at home. For the first time ever, all three crapped out on me. I'm not a tech guy, but I play one at work and at home. I know just enough to create an awful lot of work for myself.

Yesterday, I should have called in help. Instead I spent 7 hours I'll never see again, desperately trying to fix problems that really were beyond my control. Sadly, it took 7 hours to figure that out. But this is not a post about calling for help when you need to (although you really should...so should I). Nope, this is a post about pushing the reset button.

By the end of my workday yesterday, I realized I had reached a dangerous level of frustration. I was muttering and sighing uncontrollably. I'm not even sure what all I muttered, although I do think the words "shooting spree" came out at one point. Remember that scene in the movie Office Space where they beat the heck out of a piece of office equipment in pure revenge for all the grief that piece of equipment caused? That was me yesterday, only I was short one baseball bat or my modem and router would be toast.

Thank God it was my wife's birthday and we had dinner plans. I have to admit, I reluctantly left work to go celebrate with the birthday girl. As we all know, we just can't live without the Internet, so I had a really, really hard time leaving it unfixed. But, boy am I glad I did.

Going to dinner, celebrating my foxy wife's birthday, and hanging out with the kids was exactly what I needed. I really had done all I could do with my problem at work. I had literally pressed the reset button about fifty times on all of my equipment, so it was time to push the reset button on ME.

Over the course of dinner, I let go of my problem and focused more and more just being present with my family. Somehow, after dinner, my Internet problems just didn't seem so frustrating.

It's a good reminder that we really need to push our own reset button more often. And we probably need to do it way sooner than I did this time. Really should do it BEFORE we're forced to.

Working through frustration and fixing a problem isn't a bad thing, but there is definitely a point of diminishing return on the effort. We've all been there, so you know what that feels like. When you feel that begin to happen, go for a walk, go to dinner with your foxy wife (or husband), do anything that puts some physical and mental distance between you and the problem. Push your reset button.

Heck, maybe you need to push your reset button right now.

Just What Is That Hawk Trying To Say Anyway?

I think the Universe is trying to tell me something.


First of all, I've seen an abnormal amount of large hawks in the past few weeks. Yeah, I know, it's Spring. The hawks are taking advantage of all scurrying creatures that are emerging from hibernation.


But it's weird that I've never noticed them like this before. I mean, it's not my first spring. It's not even my forty first spring (keep counting). So why am I noticing so many hawks? I looked it up. Hang with me here for a minute. It might sound a little new-agey, but hang with me anyway.


According to most sources I found, hawks are the Universe's way of telling me I need to take a higher level, bigger picture view of my life. Hawks float up there on the thermal winds, taking it all in, looking for precisely the right opportunities. And they're extremely patient. 


They are also telling me to learn how to focus on what's truly important, like they do. What's important to a hawk? That little mouse down there. That's opportunity. And a squirrel or a rabbit? Don't even get me started! That's what we'd call a GREAT opportunity!


Know what? Those hawks are right. I do need to step back and re-evaluate what's happening in my life, my business, and the world. Perhaps the world needs me to contribute differently. I'll never see those mice, squirrels, and rabbits standing on the ground. I need to get back up in the air and take a look around. I'm kind of excited about what I might find.


How about you? Have you been focused too much on what you're doing to see what maybe you could/should be doing instead? Maybe the Universe wants something more out of you, too.

Time For Tough Decisions

Ah, Spring. The grass turns green, flowers begin to bloom, birds chirp happily in the air. It's time to renew, refresh, re-create.


It's also the time to ask some really tough questions, make some really tough decisions, and take some really tough actions. Now is the time of year that we should be asking ourselves what are we going to do differently for the rest of the year? What do we need to stop doing? What do we need to start doing? What do we need to clean up? What CHANGES do we need to make to be the best we can be right now?


The process of re-creation isn't all butterflies and rainbows, is it? In fact, it can be downright painful and a lot of extra work. But it's worth it if you stick it out. And the more you stick it out, the stronger and more resilient you become.


I was reminded of this as I tried to clear some ivy from my flower beds over the weekend. Ivy is, well, evil. You can clear it out, but it never dies. It slowly creeps back and before you know it, you've got to clear it out again.


Now you might think I'm going to say something like "Ivy is like the stuff in our lives that keeps creeping back, and we have to stop once in awhile to clean it up or it will completely take us over."


But I'm not, as clever as that analogy might be.


Actually, I had a much different observation as I was pulling, straining, cussing (just a little), and completely exhausting myself trying to rid my flowerbeds of this demonic plant. The reason ivy is so hard to get rid of is that it doesn't have a single, central root. As the vines grow longer, every so often they sprout another root that reaches down and grabs the dirt with a surprisingly firm grip. And it takes an amazing amount of effort to destroy all the work the ivy has done. In fact, after much struggle, you usually only break off the vine and most of the roots stay in the dirt. That's why it's able to grow back. The roots are still there.


When we go through a re-creation process we have to make tough decisions. As painful as it may be, every time we work our way through one of these decisions and take action we lay down another root. Making tough decisions and taking difficult actions makes us grow. And it's not always growth you can see right away. Periods of re-creation are often periods of "it's going to get worse before it gets better."


This isn't as much about change as it is about transition. We want the change, right? We can see how life will be better on the other side of our tough decisions and difficult actions. But, man, do we dread the period of transition. Why? Because it usually involves hard work and discomfort for us.


But if we're ever going to grow up, we first have to grow down. In other words, we've got to lay down some more roots. The more we make tough decisions and take difficult actions, the more roots we put down and the more resilient we become.


In the worst of the recent recession, I had to make the tough decision to lay off six out of eight of my employees. That's 75% of my work force. That's about as drastic of a reduction as you can have without completely shutting your doors. That was a dark, dark time for me. It was also the strongest period of growth as a manager, leader, and business owner that I've ever experienced. None of that growth could really be seen. It was all internal, all in my heart and mind. And I grew some strong roots that continue to help me weather the tough times. I'm not saying it would be impossible to uproot me at this point, but the roots I've laid in the last 12 months would certainly put up quite a fight.


It's much easier to not grow roots. It's much easier to not make the tough decisions. There's a very strong, primal part of our brain that tries incredibly hard to keep us from taking risks and getting hurt. In Seth Godin's new book, Linchpin, he calls it "the resistance." And he says the only way we ever create anything is to work our buns off against the resistance.


So I ask you now, what are you resisting?


What tough decisions do you need to make?

What do you need to do differently?

What do you need to start?

What do you need to stop? 

What do you need to CHANGE to be the best you can be right now?


What roots do you need to grow?


Make tough decisions, take difficult actions, and the roots will begin to take hold. It's automatic. It 'aint always pretty, but it's necessary if you ever want to grow.