Vacation

Just off vacation with my wife it once again reminds me how important vacations are.
The down time helps you rejuvenate and through that you become more productive and more important you become more happy.
At this stage in my life I enjoy doing very little on vacation, sitting enjoying the warm weather and the beautiful Caribbean water with my wife is my happy place.
When my family was young we did not have much money and we lived paycheck to paycheck but we always had vacations to look forward to and those memories are priceless.
Vacation back then may have been going in with other friends on a house in New Hampshire or camping in New York or Disney - they ALL hold special memories.
You owe it to yourself and your family to dial it back and plan a vacation- NOW- stop putting it off.
Life is short... enjoy it !

New England

The New England Patriots team in the National Football League are a dynasty.
The Patriots have won more then any other sports organization but was not always that way, they began their dynasty back in 2001 and they are still going strong in 2019.
They are a good study for any other sports team or any business as well as a study for individuals.
What makes them so good ?
As I said it was not always that way, before 2001 they had never even won a championship.
What changed ?
Coaching and players- especially one coach and one player, football is a team sport and no matter how good one coach and one player may be they still need other coaches and other players and they need complete “ buy in “.
Great coaching without great players will not succeed and vice versa.
It begins with a philosophy and a determination.
Everyone- EVERYONE- needs to know their role and DO THEIR JOB!
How does that occur?
It starts with choosing the right players , players that are smart and tough, players that respect one another and are willing to sacrifice for the team for the ultimate goal.
Coaches need to start on day one and have a great training program to give their players the tools to do their job so they begin to believe in their team and their coaches and their goal and themselves.
You are ALL constantly learning to get better and to be better !
Business can learn a lot from The Patriots and so can you, rather you are an owner or a boss or an employee you are all part of a team.
Know your role- study and strife to improve and do your best- Do Your Job !
Believe !

Worry

As adults we spend far too much time worrying.
We worry about finances the most but tied to that we worry about our jobs, our bosses, our weight, how people perceive us, our fashion, our looks and pretty much everything else that may effect our day... really- think about it.
Also as we get older , like late 50’s or 60’s we begin to experience more friends and relatives and coworkers passing away and it starts to make you wonder about all the things we worry about and all the time we waste.
We are all on borrowed time and we all do not know when our time may be up so how crazy is it that we spend it worrying about crap that is either out of or control or that will make no difference in our life ?
YOU have the controls and the power - how you choose to use that power is up to you - do not hand YOUR power over to others. When you start to worry so much about what others think or start to bow down to your bosses because you are scared to lose your job or position you are giving away your power.
If your goal is to always do your best and to continue to learn and help others the rest will follow.
In the end your life is like a blink of an eye, do not waste a day.
Enjoy - Live- Learn- Love

Be yourself and worry less

1. The biggest regrets come from pleasing other people. A Buddhist monk said if you meditated for 20 years the final message you would arrive at is, "Be yourself."
2. Talk to new people. All opportunities come from the people you meet. It's humans who make things happen, nothing else.
3. Focus on your strengths, always. Crafting your strengths will get you much further than improving your weaker areas. Let your strengths shine and don't apologize for them!
4. Say no and don't feel guilty about it. Martha Beck put it best, "When it comes to saying yes or no to something or someone, choose the answer that feels like freedom."
5. Forgive others no matter what they did to you. This is like inner-peace on a platter. BUT you don't have to be friends with people who've hurt you.

1. Worry less. As happiness researcher Shawn Achor says, "Adversities, no matter what they are, simply don't hit us as hard as we think they will. Our fear of consequences is always worse than the consequences themselves."

Always leave work on time

1) Work is a never ending process .  It can never be completed.
2) Interest in a client is important. So is your family.
3) If you fall in your life, nether your boss nor client will offer you a helping hand; your family and friends will.
4) Life is not about work, office and client. There is more to life. You need to socialize, entertain, relax and exercise. Don’t let life be meaningless.
5) A person who stays late at the office is not a hard working person. Instead he/she is a fool who does not know how to manage work within the stipulated time.
6) You did not study hard and struggle in life to become a machine.
7) If your boss forces you to work late , he/she may be ineffective and have a meaningless life too; so send this to him/her. 

Really- Always leave your work on time. 

Follow

To learn how to Lead ... you first must learn how to Follow.
Good leaders know loyalty and they would of had to show loyalty.
Loyalty comes from respect and when people know that you have their best interest at heart.
It is possible to be tough and hold others accountable but you must also be accountable, people will watch what you do and what you do means more then what you say.
Somewhere along your way I hope you had a mentor and someone that respected you and showed you the way, pass that on... think of them.
That is why good leaders would of had to be good followers.

John Wayne

For those of us that were young in the 50’s and 60’s we know who John Wayne was.
John Wayne was a movie actor and was in dozens of Western movies and more important John Wayne always played the “good guy” and was an example of “honor” and he always did the “the right thing”. John Wayne was always a gentleman and he was a man of his word. He represented everything that you wanted to be and a person and had the character of a true American hero.
Where is that person today ? Where are our John Wayne’s ?
More important- where is “ Honor” ?
Has money and power taken over ? The win at all cost mentality?
Our children learn more from what they see and hear then what they learn in school, and if our leaders show them that respect and honor takes a back seat to “ winning” then that is their take away.
Your kids watch and listen to the world around them , as I grew up watching black and white TV and John Wayne movies we also listened to the speeches of John Kennedy and Martin Luther King , it shaped our world.
Where are the John Wayne’s ? Where is Honor ?

What’s your price ?

What’s your price?
How much is your happiness or freedom worth ?
Here is the big challenge as we climb the work ladder- as we climb the ladder and work hard to get paid more money we may start to make a comfortable living but your personal decisions also get harder. Once you make a certain amount of money it is hard to go backwards , it is our nature to always live a bit above our means ( some live a lot above their moves ) - the result
 is we start enslaving ourselves to the master - your company or place of business.
James Taylor has a line in one of his songs , Millworker, that says -
it's my life has been wasted
And I have been the fool
To let this manufacturer
Use my body for a tool

It is rewarding to work hard and it is right to get paid properly for our hard work but remember why we work - we work so we can live- we should not live so we can work.
Do not get trapped in a job that sucks the life out of you or that you have to drag yourself in every day or worse work for people that disrespect you and do not appreciate you .

What is your a Price ? What is the price of your freedom? 

Honesty

As I grow older what I see missing in most people , in business, politics and life is HONESTY.

What seems so simple becomes so hard , people twist the truth or avoid the real questions or answers or just plain lie.

Unfortunately not telling the truth only creates problems and will never give the positive results we all seek. When we do run across someone that has sincerity and speaks the truth we tend to gravitate to them , unfortunately I am seeing it less and less.

Honesty is such a lonely word
Everyone is so untrue
Honesty is hardly ever heard
And mostly what I need from you

I can always find someone
To say they sympathize
If I wear my heart out on my sleeve
But I don't want some pretty face
To tell me pretty lies
All I want is someone to believe

When I'm deep inside of me
Don't be too concerned
I won't ask for nothin' while I'm gone
But when I want sincerity
Tell me where else can I turn
'Cause you're the one I depend upon

Song and lyrics by Billy Joel

Pride

If a person is not proud of themselves or who they work with and who they work for they will never reach their true potential.
You are less proud when you take part in something you know is wrong or you do not speak up when you see abuse, or you witness abuse of power or when you go along just to get along.
Most people do not want to stir the pot or shake the boat and they definitely do not want to jeopardize their paycheck so they shut up and keep their head down, the only problem with that is it starts to eat away at your insides and your pride begins to diminish.
There is a time to speak out and a place , speaking your mind does not mean yelling it out or shouting in anger , choose the right time and be sure to not only have the facts right but a possible soloution. There is nothing worse then an employee constantly throwing another employee or process under the bus without a solid suggestion on how to improve.
Always strive to make it better and to be better and to foster a team environment.
Be Proud.

Age

"At age 23, Tina Fey was working at a YMCA.
At age 23, Oprah was fired from her first reporting job.
At age 24, Stephen King was working as a janitor and living in a trailer.
At age 27, Vincent Van Gogh failed as a missionary and decided to go to art school.
At age 28, J.K. Rowling was a suicidal single parent living on welfare.
At age 28, Wayne Coyne (from The Flaming Lips) was a fry cook.
At age 30, Harrison Ford was a carpenter.
At age 30, Martha Stewart was a stockbroker.
At age 37, Ang Lee was a stay-at-home-dad working odd jobs.
Julia Child released her first cookbook at age 39, and got her own cooking show at age 51.
Vera Wang failed to make the Olympic figure skating team, didn’t get the Editor-in-Chief position at Vogue, and designed her first dress at age 40.
Stan Lee didn’t release his first big comic book until he was 40.
Alan Rickman gave up his graphic design career to pursue acting at age 42.
Samuel L. Jackson didn’t get his first movie role until he was 46.
Morgan Freeman landed his first MAJOR movie role at age 52.
Kathryn Bigelow only reached international success when she made The Hurt Locker at age 57.
Grandma Moses didn’t begin her painting career until age 76.
Louise Bourgeois didn’t become a famous artist until she was 78.
Whatever your dream is, it is not too late to achieve it. You aren’t a failure because you haven’t found fame and fortune by the age of 21. Hell, it’s okay if you don’t even know what your dream is yet. Even if you’re flipping burgers, waiting tables or answering phones today, you never know where you’ll end up tomorrow.
Never tell yourself you’re too old to make it.
Never tell yourself you missed your chance.
Never tell yourself that you aren’t good enough.
You can do it. Whatever it is."

One Love

Happy New Year -

Sunshine, on the horizon
Over two young lovers, while it's going down
Somewhere, the same sun rising
On another two lovers, as the world goes 'round

Same scene played over and over
Same sweet passion, same warm blood
Softly speaking the universal language
So many lovers, one love

One love might make the difference (One love)
Might take the walls and tear them down
One light might keep on shining (One love)
If we take one love and we spread it around

Old religions, new generations
Caught in a struggle about a righteous way
Can't see the forest for all the frustrations
So many lyin', so many dyin'
But only one love

One love might make the difference (One love)
Might take the walls and tear them down
One light might keep on shining (One love)
If we take one love and we spread it around

Lyrics and song by Hootie and The Blowfish