Thank Goodness It's Monday #345

LET’S EXPLORE

SOME CHALLENGES & LIFE LESSONS

FROM THE SPACE AGE

The Space Shuttle Columbia
takes off for the first time
April 12, 1981

Space exploration is back in the headlines, it seems.

• The topic is raising a ruckus on the Presidential campaign trail.
• The now-90-years-old John Glenn, one of the original “We Seven” US astronauts and the first US citizen to circle the earth, is newsworthy again. 
• Star Trek’s Captain James T. Kirk is selling out his limited-run one-man Broadway show. (I mean, of course, William Shatner, the guy who played him on TV and in the movies.)

I like the concept of space exploration. I’d argue that, net, it’s paid back what’s been invested in it many times over and that a diminished interest in it diminishes all mankind. 

But, as noble as that claim is meant to sound, we’re not going to get into that here and now.  

Instead, let me take this opportunity to boldly go where TGIM has not gone before and share a mini- brain dump of some “spacey” stuff I’ve gathered over the years. As a child of the Sputnik era, I’d like to think it may be of interest and applicable to the kind of self-improvement information and inspiration we routinely post.

****

Let’s start with a classic from respected broadcast correspondent Charles Osgood. He’s said: 

“As an example of how top management can set an agenda, business school professors sometimes point to John F. Kennedy’s call in the early 1960s that America should put a man on the Moon by the end of the decade. 

“There were lots of problems that would have to be solved – technical, political, and money problems – but Kennedy didn’t try to solve them all in advance.  All he did was set a definite timetable.  He left it to others to work out how it was going to be done.”  

And it was done.  Neil Armstrong took his “giant leap for mankind” before the decade was over. 

TGIM Takeaway: No matter what your interest or industry, give people the leadership they need to get started – a goal and a timetable – and you have a good chance of obtaining the objective. Like reaching the Moon, tell them what they’re aiming for and when it’s to be done.  Then let them do it. 

****

“What can we gain by sailing to the moon if we are not able to cross the abyss that separates us from ourselves?”  Thomas Merton (1915-1968) posed that challenge in his 1960 book, The Wisdom of the Desert. 

The plaque marking the spot on the moon where the

historic landing took place reads: 

Here men from the planet Earth

first set foot on the moon

July 1969 A.D.

We came in peace for all mankind. 

TGIM Challenge: By Merton’s standard is the historic claim True or False? If False, why? And what can you and I do about it in the 21^st Century? 

***

“There shall be no end to our striving. Man must go on, conquest beyond conquest. And when he has conquered all the deeps of space and all the ends of time, still he will be just beginning.” H. G. Wells (1866–1946) said that. 

“We never stop investigating. We are never satisfied that we know enough to get by. Every question we answer leads to another question. This has become the greatest survival trick of our species.” British zoologist, ethnologist and anthropologist Desmond Morris concludes that. 

TGIM Challenge: Is it Darwinian predestination to never cease from exploring? Will we fulfill T. S. Eliot’s (1888-1965) oft-cited poetic observation: 

“We shall not cease from exploration.

And the end of all our exploring

Will be to arrive where we started

And know the place for the first time.” 

***

“Space – the final frontier.” Star Trek (the TV series) creator Gene Roddenberry (1921-1991) is credited with that observation. 

“Inner space is the real frontier.”  Gloria Steinem made a case for that “spatial” thinking. 

TGIM Challenge: Are “final” and “real” independent? Does achieving a frontier equal conquest?

****

On the occasion of the 30^th anniversary of the first manned landing on the Moon, columnist William Safire, who was a speechwriter for President Richard Nixon at the time, told of how he had drafted a speech for the president should the Moon walking Apollo astronauts be unable to return to earth. 

Writing in his column in the New York Times, Safire said Nixon’s speech was to open, “Fate has ordained that the men who went to the Moon to explore in peace will stay to rest in peace.” 

Fortunately, the speech was not needed.

But being told about its creation is a good reminder for leaders about the importance of contingency planning.  

TGIM Takeaway: It also reminds us that good leaders take a little more than their share of blame and a little less than their share of credit.

****

“I suppose the one quality in an astronaut more powerful than any other is curiosity.  They have to get someplace nobody’s ever been.” John Glenn said that.

***

Life Lesson from Superman 

Christopher Reeve
speaking at MIT
about stem-cell research

“On the wall of my room when I was in rehab was a picture of the space shuttle blasting off, autographed by every astronaut now at NASA.  On the top of the picture it says: 

‘We found nothing is impossible.’ 

“That should be our motto.” 

Christopher Reeve (1952-2004) said that. 

***

TGIM Action Idea: Accept the challenge of the possible impossibility this week. Shoot for the moon. That way, even if you miss, you’ll end up among the stars. 

Geoff Steck
Chief Catalyst
Alexander Publishing & Marketing

8 Depot Square

Englewood, NJ 07631
201-569-5373
tgimguy@gmail.com 

P.S.  And the Last Word goes to Ralph Waldo Emerson: “When it is dark enough you can see stars.” 

P.P.S. Speaking of “space” … only a dozen or so seats are still available for – 

Speak Like A Pro!

Thursday, March 15, 2012

at The Sheraton Hotel & Conference Center

Eatontown, NJ 

You must ACT NOW …

The event will be a SELL OUT …

When you hear about how much you missed, you will regret not having been there, live and in person.  

Click through IMMEDIATELY -- www.EricTaylorSpeaker.com -- to get all of the details and register NOW.  

Hope you can get in under the wire. I look forward to seeing you there.

Thank Goodness It's Monday #344

HOW DO YOU PUNCTUATE PRESIDENTS DAY?

(AND DOES IT MATTER?)

one of the challenges of today – as I have noted before – is sorting out just what we’re observing.

Presidential Portraits
Mount Rushmore National Monument

And how the day is punctuated – 

Presidents Day …

President’s Day …

Presidents’ Day …

    – doesn’t help much.

Let’s check the advertisements. Auto sales, furniture sales, all manner of goods get “presidential’ treatment in the post-Valentine’s Day (similar punctuation challenge but not an “official” holiday so I’ll pass that discussion by) chunk of February. 

Uh, oh: Punctuating the word “presidents” in the BIG SALE headlines is as varied, inconsistent and illogical as can be. 

So, with no help there -- 

Let’s check the history books. If you’re old enough (and I am) you’ll recall a time when there was just one February federal holiday – Washington’s Birthday. In my youth there was none of this rounding-off-to-Monday stuff so that holiday, as a general rule, was celebrated on George Washington’s actual birthday – February 22. 

So if the evolved 21^st Century version of a February holiday about presidential qualities is rooted there, the punctuation rule’s easy: 

One President + His birthday = President’s Day. 

But few things are that simple. Add the Abe-Lincoln-born-in-February factor and we’ve got at least two presidential birthdays to contend with and so – 

It’s plural possessive = Presidents’ Day. 

But wait. There’s more. In 1951 a National Committee was formed in Washington D.C. The purpose: Not to honor any particular President, but to honor the office of the Presidency with a Presidents Day.  

So there was no apostrophe in the paperwork they filed.  

Only problem: The idea caught on in some places, but never at a nationwide level. 

So …On January 1, 1971 the federal holiday honoring George Washington was shifted to the third Monday in February by the Uniform Monday Holiday Act. A draft of the Uniform Holidays Bill of 1968 would have renamed the holiday Presidents' Day to honor the birthdays of both Washington and Lincoln. But … this proposal failed in committee and the bill as voted on and signed into law on June 28, 1968 kept the name Washington's Birthday. 

So there’s nothing official and we’re just about back where we began.  

Boring? Maybe. 

But there are some relevant TGIM Takeaways we should consider. 

Remember the original challenge: Sorting out just what we’re observing today and its importance. 

• President’s Day: If it’s about George Washington, we should be committed to learning all we can about what enabled this one man to rise above the many insightful Founding Fathers (and “Mothers”), provide inspired leadership to a rag-tag army of citizens who were certainly not his peers in wealth or influence, then keep united a new nation of very conflicting opinions and move it successfully forward. 
• Presidents’ Day: If it includes Lincoln, we should be committed to learning all we can about what enabled this one man to rise above the disparate views of his day, overcome an intolerable institution, and still hold together the union that the Founding Fathers envisioned.
• Presidents Day: If it’s about the Presidency, an office that many would seek to hold but, to date, only 44 have achieved, we should be committed to learning all we can about what characteristics have made the greatest of those office holders great and what flaws have hampered the achievements of those who stumbled on their way.

TGIM ACTION IDEA: When you ponder presidential greatness, do this: Apply a brain-stimulating exercise that dates back to my days as the editor of the pocket-sized magazine Leadership … with a human touch. And it’s now a significant part of the Best Year Ever program my buddy Eric Taylor and I put together some time ago.

(For a number of years an employee-taken photo of the Presidential Portraits at the Mount Rushmore National Monument graced the Leadership cover.)

For the President who most inspires you and whose characteristics you would like to emulate, take the -- 

 L-E-A-D-E-R-S-H-I-P Challenge: For each of the letters in the word “Leadership,” supply words or phrases that – in your opinion – define the concept and admirable qualities as embodied by your presidential preference. 

TGIM IDEA IN ACTION: Make your list. 

Cheat sheet: To get you started, here’s what comes quickly to my mind for Abraham Lincoln: 

L - Listen. He listened to the many differing viewpoints of his council of rivals to inform his thinking.

E - Empathy. He tried to relate to the problems, and understand the difficulties, of others.

A – Accessible. He was available when others needed help and direction.

D – Desire. He knew the outcome he wanted and created an atmosphere that encouraged it.

E – Embolden. He allowed his advisors to give input without fear of reprisal.

R – Remember. He kept his humble beginnings in mind and applied the life lessons and experience of his formative years to his present situation. (“For score and seven years ago …”)

S – Selfless. His personal needs came second to the lofty goals he held for the nation.

H – Help. He was always willing to assist in whatever way he could.

I – Integrity. It wasn’t just by chance that he became known as “Honest Abe.”

P – Persevere. Even in the most difficult times, he strove to move forward – and did.

No weighty conclusions here. Just this: No matter what your political leanings are, it's nearly impossible not to find some glimmer of the human side of each of the Presidents who come to mind today. The biggest point, as with many of the ideas we put forward here, is to have the process of self discovery.  

TGIM Takeaway: You don't have to be President to be great. The behaviors that we view as greatness are acquired. They can be learned. All change begins with the individual. A proven strategy for self improvement is to emulate the great. 

You can be sure that all the Presidential leaders we remember and celebrate were aware of that. Now you are, too. 

Punctuate today with an exclamation point! Find out all you can about what made your heroes great. Then -- by George! -- strive to follow and master their best practices as you build Your Best Year Ever.  

Geoff Steck

Chief Catalyst

Alexander Publishing & Marketing

8 Depot Square

Englewood, NJ 07631

201-569-5373 

tgimguy@gmail.com 

P.S.  “If you are as happy, my dear sir, on entering this house as I am in leaving it and returning home, you are the happiest man in this country. The 15^th President, James Buchanan (1791 -1868), said that to the 16^th President, Abraham Lincoln (1809 – 1865). 

P.P.S. Speaking of getting bargains on Presidents Day, here’s –

Great News: Eric Taylor is facilitating a dynamic public-speaking seminar that's 100% about giving you the skills, tools, tactics, and insider insights guaranteed to empower you to --

Speak Like A Pro!

Thursday, March 15, 2012

at The Sheraton Hotel & Conference Center

Eatontown, NJ 

Your BIG BARGAIN: Click this link -- www.EricTaylorSpeaker.com -- to get all of the details and register for this event at your exclusive, TGIM, friend-of-the-family, Pre- Early-Bird 50%-Discount rate (and sponsorship opportunities). 

I look forward to seeing you there.

Thank Goodness It's Monday #343

“HOW TO CONTRIVE NOT TO WASTE ONE’S TIME?”

APPLY THE LAW OF SLIGHT EDGE

The philosopher Albert Camus (1913-1960) posited the question that’s in today’s headline.

The Law of Slight Edge:
Small changes, over time, make a big difference.

Metamorphosis Insectorum Surinamensis, Plate XI.
Maria Sybilla Merian's image
of the stages of an Emperor Moth

His answer: “By being fully aware of it all the while.”  

Hmmm … In the spirit of TGIM #342’s suggested breakdown of the time of our lives into three “buckets” – Money Time, Family Time, Personal Time – let’s continue the discussion with a bit of Time Analysis and see what kind of useful insight that reveals. 

A Dozen Money-Time Questions

That Won’t Take Too Much Time To Answer 

TGIM ACTION IDEA: Please don’t make this a big deal. It’s just a little mental review and analysis.  

The intention is to find just where your Money Time goes, since that is what you are probably most concerned about when it comes to time waste and time management. 

Watch this: The “base” for calculating your percentages should be a normal workweek (if there is such a thing in your life) plus one that you felt was out of control.  

It might be useful to check your day planner to refresh your memory about what was supposed to happen when.  But – again -- please don’t add to your time challenges by spending hours fooling with this exercise.  Just give it a fair thinking as you read it through. 

A friend to lend a guiding hand: I’ll also give you some benchmarks to which you can compare your findings.  Since this is an imprecise survey, they are not carved in stone by any means.  But the comparisons of your reality to a standard may hint at where you might be going astray. 

Q #1. What percentage of your time did you spend planning and setting priorities? 

Benchmark: If you aren’t spending at least an hour a week in planning your time and organizing your priorities, you’re probably not going to end up using your time as effectively as you should. 

Q #2.  What percentage of your time did you spend on a high priority work – work that helps you accomplish your Money Time job successfully and is important to the organization? 

Benchmark: If your figure is below 65-70%, you aren’t doing justice to your job or to your career, for that matter. 

Q #3. What percentage of days did you have “high” and “medium” interruptions? 

Benchmark: Any day with high- or medium- interruptions was a day when you were sidetracked from your work too many times.  Of course, interruptions are bound to happen.  If more than 2 or 3 of your days in the two-week stretch had high- or medium- interruptions, that’s too many. 

Q #4. What percentage of your time did you spend in meetings? 

Benchmark: If you spent more than 25% of your time in meetings, you’re probably unhappy.  If you spend 50% or more, you have our sympathy. 

Q #5. What percentage of your time did you spend traveling?

Benchmark: We’re going to cheat a little here.  If travel means the morning and evening commute, or if it means the flight across the country, or if it means the miles on the road making sales calls, the travel measure is relative.  So we’ll simply ask, “What do you think of that percentage?” 

Q #6. What percentage of your time did you spend waiting? 

Benchmark: Time spent waiting for information… waiting to see people… waiting to get in to deliver your presentation… waiting for transportation to arrive….  If you didn’t have something worthwhile to do while you waited, any percentage is too high. 

Q #7. Tell the truth now, estimate the percentage of your time spent goofing off.  By that we mean, throwing the bull with coworkers… extending the lunch hour… flirting… social media not used for business purposes … winning a round of computer solitaire or Words With Friends.

Benchmark: We don’t know what’s right for you but we can say with certainty that 90% is too high.  Some “mindless” activity might be a worthwhile investment of your time, if you plan it.  Give yourself a goof-off break and you just might build up some speed in the “easy” stretch and get back to “serious” work with renewed vigor and enthusiasm that helps you accomplish more, more quickly.  How do you feel about the amount of time you spent goofing off? 

Q #8. What percentage of your time did you spend on work you shouldn’t be doing; low-priority work, or work that could be done at least as well by someone else? 

Benchmark: Anything more than 0% is too much and is taking away from the time you could invest elsewhere. 

Q #9. How often do you agree to do something and then think, “How did I get stuck with this?  It’s not really mine to do.” Estimate the percentage of time it took to work on these things. 

Benchmark: Once or twice may be the OK reality of getting by in the workplace.  But if you find more than 10% of your time is being taken up by people giving you their work to do, you’re being had. 

Q #10. What percentage of your time do you spend looking for things you couldn’t easily find? 

Benchmark: Any time spent searching for the tools you need to get the job done is too much.  This is time that seldom does anyone any good. 

Q #11. What percentage of your time did you spend doing “paperwork?” 

Benchmark: Some paperwork is required of virtually any worthwhile task.  (Someone has to fill out the order form that completes the sale that eventually creates the profit.) Think of it as recording success.  However, if you sneeringly view a task as “paperwork,” then the time spent is too much. 

Q #12. What percentage of your time did you spend redoing things that you should/could have done right the first time? 

Benchmark: Again, any percentage is too high. 

So how did you make out?  Are you beginning to see where the problems are? 

There are many, many specific strategies that can be implemented to successfully rebalance the important Times of your life.  

But there’s also one big Universal Law of Living that works like gangbusters in many aspects of your life and that works best when it’s applied to time management. 

So are you ready?  OK, here it is: 

The Law of Slight Edge 

Small changes,

Over time,

Make a big difference. 

Sounds too simple to be profound?  We’ll, it may be simple. But think about it the next time you feel you don’t have “enough time” in one of your compartments.  And consider what little time-nibbling habit you might have avoided or changed that it would have given you the “extra” time. 

• Small changes, over time, can make a BIG difference.
• And small changes, over time, can ADD TIME where you want it, BIG time.

Fully aware of the time you put into reviewing TGIM – and thankful for your interest, big time. 

Geoff Steck
Chief Catalyst
Alexander Publishing & Marketing

8 Depot Square

Englewood, NJ 07631
201-569-5373

tgimguy@gmail.com   

P.S. “For those who love …” Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day (as if you need to be reminded by me.) Here’s a “timely” thought for the occasion: “Time is too slow for those who wait, too swift for those who fear, too long for those who grieve, too short for those who rejoice, but for those who love, time is eternity.” Author/educator Henry van Dyke (1852 – 1933) shared that.  

P. P.S. And speaking of time well spent --  

• Does the thought of speaking in public, or simply having to present to a small group of your peers, make you nervous?
• Are you overwhelmed trying to figure out what to say and anxious about how to say it?
• Are you a professional who wants to gain more confidence, build your business and your personal brand by capturing your audience's attention and moving them to inspired action?

Then here's Great News! My friend Eric Taylor is facilitating a dynamic public-speaking seminar that's 100% about giving you the skills, tools, tactics, and insider insights guaranteed to empower you to --

Speak Like A Pro!

Thursday, March 15, 2012

at The Sheraton Hotel & Conference Center

Eatontown, NJ

Click this link -- www.EricTaylorSpeaker.com -- to get all of the details and register for this event at your exclusive, TGIM, friend-of-the-family, Pre- Early-Bird 50%-Discount rate (and sponsorship opportunities).

I look forward to seeing you there.

Thank Goodness It's Monday #342

TIME IS NOT MONEY

BUT …

How do you value your time?

One of the classic tools for “teaching” Time Management has been the process of dividing an annual dollar value (say salary or commission plus benefits, bonus, options, etc.) by some manipulated time factor (say, 60 hour weeks for 50 weeks a year = 3000 hours) to produce a dollars-per-hour outcome that’s attention riveting.

Maybe you’ve done this in the past? The idea is to convince you that every moment is precious.

Congratulations!  I don’t think you’re so naïve that you need to do that exercise. In fact, I'm pretty sure that it’s not particularly worthwhile.

While time is valuable and should be invested wisely, it’s not always a dollar-and-cents (or, allowing the bad pun, sense) issue.

Time is not money – at least not purely money. You can’t save it or store it, lend it or borrow it.  Sure, it has worth.  But time’s worth is not always tangible.

So I try to not use words such as spending, killing or wasting when talking about time.

You, too? Sometimes these verbs do slip into our time conversations and we’re not always completely successful in monitoring how we talk about time.  But the key here is to be aware and understand the way you think about time.

What Time IS: Time is a resource that each of us possesses in equal amounts.  Everything has a price and that price is time. Like money, we may do many things with it.

But only one thing makes sense since, unlike money, you can seldom take steps that gain you more time. You can only take steps that enable you to use the finite amount of time you have in alternative -- hopefully more productive and satisfactory -- ways.

So now it’s time to ask—

How Are You Investing Your Time?

Like your other investments, your time should never be tied up in one place – unless that’s what makes you happiest in which case you don’t need my input (or desperately do, but are hardly going to be convinced by this TGIM).

There are three big opportunities for dispersing your allocated time. They are --

• your Money Time
• your Family Time
• your Private Time

TGIM Takeaway: One of the reasons it’s worthwhile to think of your time divvied up into these three compartments is that it enables you to --

Confront the “robbing Peter to pay Paul” problem. If you’re feeling time pressure, that feeling probably comes from guilt about investing/spending too much time in one compartment to the detriment of time allocated to another compartment.

So now let’s break it down a little. Despite the brush off we gave to the “time is money” concept, a lot of people are focused on enhancing their money situation.  So let's review that first.

● Cash in on your Money Time. Money Time is not just weekdays 9-to-5. It’s the time within that time.

Here’s the deal: When you have a Money Time mentality you realize that more effective management of that time of your life makes your money-making activity more effective.

So, for example:

??? What times of the day are you most effective? No doubt there are morning people and definitely-NOT-morning people. When are you sharper, more alert and focused? What are you doing then?

??? What time (times?) of the day is your per-hour money-earning rate highest? Do you just putter around the office in the AM getting psyched to close that big deal over lunch then ride that high to prospect through the afternoon so you can do the same tomorrow? Then how might you use the morning more effectively?

??? Have you thought about which activities during the day bring you the highest return on time invested? Is working your connections at morning networking meet ups a can’t-miss money generator? Or have your quiet-office after-hours social network postings become your preferred way of starting the relationship ball rolling? How can you do more of the more profitable activity?

TGIM Takeaway: Certain Money Time activities are not completely in your control all of the time, of course.  And you can’t necessarily go full tilt from dawn to dark. But with heightened Money Time awareness, you can make more effective use of it than you do now.

● What do you do with Family Time? Here’s some of the best advice you’ll ever be reminded of:

When you are with your family, be with your family.

Sure, this sounds old fashioned. 

But it works.

If you are married with children or in a significant relationship, when it’s Family Time, and you don’t take a business phone call or jump on some Money Matter text message, it tells the people you care most about – that you truly care most about THEM!

By the way: For Time Management purposes “Family” can be a big, inclusive group of people that you care about in a special way. So, although they may not literally be blood-relation family members, when you have quality time with certain other people --

Be There. It can have a tremendous impact on them – and you.

And speaking of you –

● Let’s talk about managing Private Time. This is one of the most critical time investments. If you feel stress and overtaxed in areas of your life, you really need to assess what you’re doing for you.

It’s not greedy to set aside Private Time; decompressing time; refueling time.

What do you do? One great Private Time tactic is to make appointments with yourself, for yourself. What happens then is for you to decide (after all, it is your Private Time).

TGIM ACTION IDEA: Prioritize Private Time based on what you love to do, what makes you feel great about yourself, and by what you can do on your own to re-energize and re-focus your inner-self, priorities and goals.

Watch this: Understand that Private Time appointments you set are non-negotiable. Hold them in high-priority status. This yours-alone time is as important as Family Time, Money Time or any other time-with-others that you value.

Triple Payoff: Well-invested Private Time maximizes your energy and effectiveness in the time you dedicate to your Family and Money.

I hope you found today’s TGIM useful in all three areas.

Geoff Steck
Chief Catalyst
Alexander Publishing & Marketing

8 Depot Square

Englewood, NJ 07631
201-569-5373

tgimguy@gmail.com 

P.S.  “Dost thou love life? Then do not squander Time: For that’s the Stuff Life is made of.” Benjamin Franklin (1706 -1790) advised that in Poor Richard’s Almanack, June 1746.