A few Tips to succeed

Be on time. Nothing, I mean nothing, is more penalizing than being habitually late. There is a lot of truth to the saying “90% of success is showing up” – that is, provided it isn’t after the appointed hour
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Keep your promises, and over deliver too. This is like mom and apple pie, I know, but getting the boss to trust you explicitly is absolutely critical. You need to be counted on when the pressure is on. And that makes you indispensable – the kind of folks that get the promotions.

Display common courtesy, especially by returning phone calls, texts & E-mails. In this day and age, doing this consistently actually makes you stick out. Those “Thank You”s and “I’m sorry”s add up in the “who’s a better person for the promotion” derby.

Show quiet confidence, and take “can’t” out of your vocabulary. A little positivity goes a long way out there – and trust me, you will rarely get an outright impossible task, and even if you do there’s probably an alternative to suggest. Let the boss be the person to make the “can’t do” call

MORE CARLIN ON STUFF

That's when your friend calls up from Maui, and says, "Hey, why don'tcha come over to Maui for the weekend and spend a couple of nights over here." Oh, no! Now what do I pack? Right, you've gotta pack an even smaller version of your stuff. The third version of your house. Just enough stuff to take to Maui for a coupla days. You get over to Maui- I mean you're really getting extended now, when you think about it. You got stuff all the way back on the mainland, you got stuff on another island, you got stuff on this island. I mean, supply lines are getting longer and harder to maintain.

You get over to your friend's house on Maui and he gives you a little place to sleep, a little bed right next to his windowsill or something. You put some of your stuff up there. You put your stuff up there. You got your Visine, you got your nail clippers, and you put everything up. It takes about an hour and a half, but after a while you finally feel okay, say, "All right, I got my nail clippers, I must be okay." That's when your friend says, "Aaaaay, I think tonight we'll go over the other side of the island, visit a pal of mine and maybe stay over." Aww, no. NOW what do you pack? Right- you gotta pack an even SMALLER version of your stuff. The fourth version of your house. Only the stuff you know you're gonna need. Money, keys, comb, wallet, lighter, hanky, pen, smokes, rubber and change. Well, only the stuff you HOPE you're gonna need.

STUFF

One of my favorite bits by George Carlin...STUFF


Actually, this is just a place for my stuff, ya know? That's all; a little place for my stuff. That's all I want, that's all you need in life, is a little place for your stuff, ya know? I can see it on your table, everybody's got a little place for their stuff. This is my stuff, that's your stuff, that'll be his stuff over there.
That's all you need in life, a little place for your stuff. That's all your house is- a place to keep your stuff. If you didn't have so much stuff, you wouldn't need a house. You could just walk around all the time. A house is just a pile of stuff with a cover on it. You can see that when you're taking off in an airplane. You look down, you see everybody's got a little pile of stuff. All the little piles of stuff. And when you leave your house, you gotta lock it up. Wouldn't want somebody to come by and take some of your stuff. They always take the good stuff. They never bother with that crap you're saving. All they want is the shiny stuff. That's what your house is, a place to keep your stuff while you go out and get...more stuff! Sometimes you gotta move, gotta get a bigger house. Why? No room for your stuff anymore.

Did you ever notice when you go to somebody else's house, you never quite feel a hundred percent at home? You know why? No room for your stuff. Somebody else's stuff is all over the goddamn place! And if you stay overnight, unexpectedly, they give you a little bedroom to sleep in. Bedroom they haven't used in about eleven years. Someone died in it, eleven years ago. And they haven't moved any of his stuff! Right next to the bed there's usually a dresser or a bureau of some kind, and there's no room for your stuff on it. Somebody else's shit is on the dresser. Have you noticed that their stuff is shit and your shit is stuff? God! And you say, "Get that shit off of there and let me put my stuff down!"

Sometimes you leave your house to go on vacation. And you gotta take some of your stuff with you. Gotta take about two big suitcases full of stuff, when you go on vacation. You gotta take a smaller version of your house. It's the second version of your stuff. And you're gonna fly all the way to Honolulu. Gonna go across the continent, across half an ocean to Honolulu. You get down to the hotel room in Honolulu and you open up your suitcase and you put away all your stuff. "Here's a place here, put a little bit of stuff there, put some stuff here, put some stuff- you put your stuff there, I'll put some stuff- here's another place for stuff, look at this, I'll put some stuff here." And even though you're far away from home, you start to get used to it, you start to feel okay, because after all, you do have some of your stuff with you.

TOP 10 AND 21 REASONS

LETTERMAN'S TOP 10 REASONS TO VOTE DEMOCRAT!!
Every person should read

#10. I vote Democrat because I love the fact that I can now marry whatever I want. I've decided to marry my German Shepherd.

# 9. I vote Democrat because I believe oil companies profits of 4% on a gallon of gas are obscene, but the government taxing the same gallon at 15% isn't.

# 8. I vote Democrat because I believe the government will do a better job of spending the money I earn than I would.

# 7. I vote Democrat because Freedom of Speech is fine as long as nobody is offended by it.

# 6. I vote Democrat because I'm way too irresponsible to own a gun, and I know that my local police are all I need to protect me from murderers and thieves. I am also thankful that we have a 911 service that gets police to your home in order to identify your body after a home invasion.

# 5. I vote Democrat because I'm not concerned about millions of babies being aborted so long as we keep all death row inmates alive and comfy.

# 4. I vote Democrat because I think illegal aliens have a right to free health care, education, and Social Security benefits, and we should take away Social Security from those who paid into it.

# 3. I vote Democrat because I believe that businesses should not be allowed to make profits for themselves. They need to break even and give the rest away to the government for redistribution as the Democrat Party sees fit.

# 2. I vote Democrat because I believe liberal judges need to rewrite the Constitution every few days to suit fringe kooks who would never get their agendas past the voters.

...And, the #1 reason I vote Democrat is because I think it's better to pay $billions$ for oil to people who hate us, but not drill our own because it might upset some endangered beetle, gopher, or fish here in America. We don't care about the beetles, gophers, or fish in those other countries.


21 Reasons to Vote Republican

1. I believe that “freedom of religion” doesn’t mean “freedom from religion.” I believe the entire country should be yoked to the religious ideologies of politicians.

2. As a woman, I’d like my reproductive system to be at the mercy of the religious right, and those politicians who cater to the religious right for votes.

3. As a mother, I believe that if my teen daughter makes a mistake, like putting out on prom night and using a breakable condom, she should pay for that mistake by carrying the pregnancy to term. You make your bed, you lie in it. And the same goes for if she (or I) gets pregnant as the result of rape. After all, if God or my traumatized body didn’t want it to happen, it wouldn’t have.

4. I believe that all girls and women should have to abide by my religious beliefs and the religious beliefs promoted by my right-wing leaders.

5. I don’t think rich people are rich enough.

6. I don’t think corporations get nearly enough tax breaks.

7. I think if we punished poor people more, they’d learn not to be poor. Single mothers, especially.

8. I don’t think patriarchy should ever end. After all, God made Adam and Eve, not Eve and Adam.

9. I’m not racist. I just don’t think a Black, African, Mestizo, Mulatto, Indonesian, Hawaiian, Muslim, Socialist who probably wasn’t even born in this country should be president.

10. I believe that if gays aren’t willing to pray it away, they should at least get back into the closet. No one needs to see that. Why should they have the right to shove their perverted beliefs in my face?

11. I don’t believe “hate crimes” really exist. Unless they’re perpetrated by Muslims. Then they totally exist.

12. I think bullying gets a bad rap. Sometimes kids just need to learn to toughen up. All this coddling is making pansies of our boys and whiners out of our girls.

13. I believe that children are the property of their parents. It shouldn’t be the government’s place to tell a parent they should be educated themselves if they want to homeschool their children. When it comes to public schools, I’d rather have my children indoctrinated than educated. No sex ed should be taught, unless it’s abstinence only. Creation should be in textbooks, not evolution. Also, the teaching of critical thinking skills should be banned, and history should be rewritten in a way that doesn’t promote unwarranted sympathy for Blacks, Indians, Asians, women, child laborers, and others whom liberals claim were victimized in the process of making this the Greatest Country on Earth.

14. I still believe Reagan’s trickle-down theory will work if we give it more of a chance.

15. I’m not racist. I just think Mexicans, like liberals, are destroying this country.

16. I don’t really trust Jews because they’re all liberals, especially the ones in Hollywood, but I like to think that with enough support of Israel, they’ll all come around.

17. I believe the world needs more people like Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Sarah Palin, Ann Coulter, Pat Robertson, Bill O’Reilly, Michele Bachmann, and Todd Akin. I’ve learned so much from them. I think if more liberals watched Fox News and right-wing radio, they’d learn the real truth.

18. I believe the NRA when it tells me that my right to own a gun is threatened by any sort of legislation banning things like assault rifles, or limiting my ability to buy thousands of rounds of ammo online.

19. Look how well California is doing after 8 years of Republican leadership under Arnold Schwarzenegger. After all, they defeated Prop 8, at least until one of those activist courts ruled it unconstitutional.

20. I want to live in a country where I’m not criticized for my “Don’t ReNig in 2012” bumper sticker. Because that’s not racist, it’s just a funny play on words, ya’ll. Everything’s so politically correct nowadays. I swear, those people have really lost their sense of humor.

21. There’s just something so maverick-y about the expression “Let’s Take Our Country Back”. It’s like the Civil War all over again, except maybe this time my side will win.

 

Complaining

 What were you complaining about again ?

 

His name is Omran Daqneesh. The image of him, bloodied and covered with dust, sitting silently in an ambulance awaiting help, is another stark reminder of the toll of the war in Syria.

He is young -- one witness puts him at five years old, as old as the Syrian war itself. But his chubby arms and legs and the way he clings to the man who pulled him from the rubble of his bombed-out home suggest he is younger, maybe still a toddler.

 

He lived with his mother, father, brother and sister in the Syrian city of Aleppo, a contact on the ground tells CNN.

He and his family were injured when their house was destroyed by an airstrike Wednesday. Miraculously, everyone in his immediate family survived. Activists blame the Syrian regime and Russia for the bombings.

Aleppo, in northern Syria, has been besieged for years during that country's civil war. Thousands of people have been killed there, including 4,500 children, and many lives have been upended.

Omran's family is among them.

 

Stop your complaining and start counting your blessings !

Miss directed anger

Wow- miss directed anger is crazy-
I at least can recognize it now sooner but I still fall prey to it.
Just the other day I blew up on someone and I know that usually I would never have handled the situation the way I did- it was over something really small and trivial but as soon as I returned to me desk I knew it was just me being angry over something completely different but I took it out on him.
I immediately apologized to him of coarse and tried to file it away as another lesson.
It happens all the time- think about it next time you blow up or lose it or say something that is hurtful.
Are you miss directing your anger?
If so try to recognize it and address it sooner rather than later.
We all are guilty of it so the best we can do and is try limit the times we do and apologize and move on.

How much is too much?

How much is too much ?
When do you have enough STUFF ?
Do you work just for more STUFF and pay off all the STUFF you bought ?
What is priority in your life?
Who and what is most important?
When you become overwhelmed try to remember why you do what you do.
You should work so you can live- not live so you can work.
Maybe you should scale back on the STUFF ?
Less is More.

Who were you ?

Who were you before people told you who you are suppose to be ?

Can you even remember back when you did not HAVE TO work or when you actually did what you wanted?

That is why we all look forward so much to retirement- so you can revert back to what life was like before all " The Have To's "

I guess the secret is to try to keep that yesteryear feeling and attitude as we go through life in all those in between years. We spend more of our life in those in between years of teens and retirement so it is important to remember that life goes by while you are making other plans. ( That is actually a line from a John Lennon song).

Take the time to look up and look around, take a deep breath and try to shake off all that heaviness laying on your shoulders and in your mind. Take a few minutes each day to just be thankful and realize that no matter what- tomorrow will come and it may be different from yesterday or maybe different from even what you had planned but that is all part of the experience.

So who were you ?

A article from what a driver learned On The Road

Burger King has destroyed the burrito.
I don’t know this specifically because of trucking, but I do know a few things about eating on the road.

First of all, if you plan on trying something “new” and possibly “exotic” in any way, don’t tell the driver. Example:
Me: “I’m going to get a Whopperito, just to see what it’s like.”
George: “It’s like you should be sitting on a toilet while you eat it. You’re not eating that and riding with me.”
Me: “Have you had one?”
George: “I don’t need to have one to know it’s going to cause problems. Get what you usually get, and let’s roll.”
Party pooper. (Actually, they weren’t for sale yet, they were just advertising the “arrival” of the free-range herd of Whopperitos Burger King expects to show up next week.)
We had this discussion about boiled eggs and cold case sandwiches a long time ago. Apparently, I become unpleasant in some offending manner when I eat boiled eggs. Ahem. Anyway, I have been asked rather tartly to refrain from them, so that’s another thing I’ve learned. (Note to self: only eat boiled eggs when you’re alone.)
I also learned that the lunch box-sized bags of chips sometimes explode when you get into high altitudes. Example:
I’m sitting in the bunk, minding my own business, and I hear a distinct “pop pop” against the side of the truck.
Me: “Oh my God, someone is shooting at us! Stop!”
George: “What?? Why the hell would I stop??”
Me: “I heard gunshots!”
George: “Those weren’t gunshots…open the food cabinet.”
I open the food cabinet, fully expecting to see two bullet holes in the back side of it, and am showered with a confetti of Cheetos and Doritos. Nice. You coulda warned a sista, driver. For a split second I though I was being attacked by orange bullets.
(Side note: I quit eating Doritos after this incident. I don’t know what the orange stuff is they spray on to make them cheesy is, but if Clorox wipes can’t take it off the cabinet, I don’t want it in my tummy.)

 Another food item I’ve learned about is yogurt. It doesn’t seem to travel well when you forget to put it in the fridge, which I’ve done twice now. The exploding stink bomb full of active yogurt cultures created by a tiny tub of rancid milk is pretty incredible, but I can assure you the other people living in the truck won’t appreciate the science behind it.

One last thing: if you eat something openly called a “Tornado,” you should expect the same effect within your gut. I swear to you, someone landed a house on a witch in my large intestine when I broke down and ate one in a fit of hungriness once in Nashville.
 Never again.

Sometimes, road lessons are hard.

Leaders and Trust

So how can a leader build trust?  Here are five places I’d start.  See how this matches up with your experience.

1. Increase self awareness, and living with core values.

A good leader needs to know themselves well, and understand their own behaviors and actions. Becoming more aware of their own moral values and personality traits allows a leader to identify assumptions and behaviors that might hinder their ability to lead effectively.

2. Avoid breaking promises.

Leaders who keep their word build trust because people know what to expect from them. Leaders can avoid breaking promises by learning to say “no” if necessary; only making promises they intend to keep in the first place, and keeping agreements clear and precise. If something comes up that requires a change, share any setbacks early on.

3. Being honest and upfront.

Trustworthy leaders keep their team members informed as much as they can—sharing information openly and honestly—even if this means having a difficult conversation. Honesty and openness increase trustworthiness because employees know that their leader isn’t intentionally hiding information.

4. Approachability and mutual respect.

A trustworthy leader needs to be approachable. Team members won’t approach their leader if they can’t predict how the leader will react, or what kind of mood he or she will be in. This consistency in reaction should be applied to everyone on the team (and not just the people they like the most!)

5. Being firm, but fair.

Leaders need to be clear on their expectations and then be available for course corrections as needed. If a leader sees someone off course, tell them right away. Be honest and upfront but also be prepared to listen carefully and really understand the reasons why a direct report is not meeting the expectation set.
Trust is a key element of success in today’s business environment.  When everything is moving quickly, you need people you can count on, and people need leaders they can trust.  Without it, things grind to a halt and even the simplest of tasks takes forever.
Leaders have a major role to play in setting the tone for their team, department, or organization. I hope these five points get you thinking about ways you can improve trust in your organization.  Any additional ideas?  Be sure to share them below.

You Know it Don't Come Easy

Got to pay your dues if you want to sing the blues
And you know it don't come easy
You don't have to shout or leap about
You can even play them easy
Forget about the past and all your sorrow
The future won't last
It will soon be your tomorrow

 

I don't ask for much, I only want your trust
And you know it don't come easy
And this love of mine keeps growing all the time
And you know it don't come easy
Open up your heart, let's come together
Use a little luck, and we will make it work out better

 

Please remember peace is how we make it
Here within your reach, is your freedom to take it

 

I don't ask for much, I only want your trust
And you know it don't come easy
  growing all the time
And you know it don't come easy

 

Lyrics by George Harrison

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4p5yzdCa2GE

Change

Change is inevitable and it can be good.
No matter what change will happen in your life, people will pass away that you love, your job will change , the world is changing every day. How we communicate has changed drastically just in the past decade.
Change is inevitable.
How we deal with change is up to us, we can stamp our feet and get angry and talk about how much better it was before or we can learn how to adapt.
In today's ever changing culture it is more important then ever that we learn how to adapt and learn and embrace change. It will happen with or without you so might as well jump on board and find a way to coexist.
In the end it is all part of the journey, change is good, change keeps us in tune and energized -
When change happens in your life be thankful that you have a opportunity and that you are here on the wonderful ride and try to figure out what is best for you but in order to do that you need to give it a chance.

Actions Speak Louder Than Words

Your Actions Speak Louder Than Your Words

I have listened to people promise the world and then the rubber hits the road and they are nothing what they claimed to be.
I gravitate to those that brag less and promise less and just go out there and perform.
I have also learned to never judge a book by it's cover.
In the end you are judged by what you DO not what you say.
Some People will say whatever it is that they think you want to hear or say whatever it is they need to in order to get what they want- the problem with that is sooner or later they need to produce.
Of course many of them are the same people that when they do not produce they will immediately blame everyone else.
A real winner and successful person works hard and talks less, they find out how to improve and accepts responsibility and if things go wrong they shoulder the blame and learn from it.
The thing is some people think they are cleaver and can out wit others when actually most people see right through them but allow them to spin their wheels.

Speak softly and carry a big stick.

Peronalities - Judgement - Forgiveness

I will turn 59 in a few days and I am still learning and trying my best to experience this great ride we are on. Three things that I have learned that I am constantly working on and are what I think are vital in enjoying this ride are:

-Learning personalities of others.

-Trying not to judge others and accepting them for who they are.

-And forgiving , both others and yourself

These hold true in your personal life as well as your business life.
We all have our positives and our negatives - what is difficult is taking a good look in the mirror at ourselves and reflecting on how we handle situations. It is much easier to point the finger and get angry.

After having been in a management since I was 21 I had to learn on the job and the major ingredient was trying to learn people's personalities and positives and then to try to work with them. You cannot succeed when you try to bang a square peg into a round hole, everyone has their positives and it is up to you to look for them and to sharpen them.

The same goes in your family life- as much as you love the people in your family we are all different, rather it is your brother or sister or your wife or husband we all can rub each other the wrong way at times and that is because what I can see plainly you may not and vice versa.
Unconditional love means accepting those around you for what they are- easier said then done at times but certainly a goal worth working toward.

Because we all have different views, opinions , hobbies and likes and dislikes it is important to not judge others, just because I may like a certain something it does not mean you have to like it so acceptance is crucial in relaxing our minds and our outlook- DO NOT JUDGE

Lastly - FORGIVE- because we are all human we will step on even our best intentions at times- forgive yourself and forgive others.

Enjoy the ride and along the way try to better yourself and help others
 

Cast the first stone

There was only one person that walked this earth that was perfect and that was thousands of years ago and he wore sandals and preached in Jerusalem.
So for all of us other folk here on this wonderful planet lighten up and stop being so judgmental.
We all slip up and make mistakes - try not to talk about others.
We see all day - at work with friends in politics- everyone is throwing stones at the other guy and they all have baggage- WE ALL HAVE BAGGAGE.
That is the point- stop looking at another person's failings or where they went wrong or spoke incorrectly and look at who they are and are trying to be - judge not and be not judged.
We are human- we will fall - that is all right- live and learn and mostly forgive- forgive others and forgive yourself.
Lighten up...after all we are all just visiting.