Thank Goodness It's Monday #397

 

CELEBRATING 100 YEARS OF INCOME TAX

Yup, you read that right: Celebrating! 

The Federal Income Tax as we know it has its 100^th birthday this month. The origin of the modern day income tax on individuals is generally cited as the passage of the 16th Amendment, passed by Congress on July 2, 1909, and ratified in February of 1913.

The New Man on the Job

Artist:John Scott Clubb

Date: 1913

With precious few fans of the tax (especially in our nation’s capital) there are not likely to be many candle-covered cakes and parties.

 

But I’ll be celebrating -- for a slightly curious reason.

And maybe you can, too. The Income Tax Centennial provides me with a timely “hook” for sharing (once again for anyone who knows me even moderately well) one of my favorite Life Lessons.

In fact, I’ve told and retold, repurposed, e-blasted, blogged and whatever the core story I’ll be sharing today many, many times before. So I apologize in advance if you find it old news dressed in a new outfit for this Centennial Party. 

• But even if I’ve accosted you with it before, please read on. I hope you find “tickler” value in its repetition and maybe new insight for dealing with all manner of challenges in today’s economic conditions. Thanks for your patience in reviewing it again.
• If it turns out to be a new item for you, I hope you can take it to heart and use it to make these “taxing” times easier to weather.

Here’s the 100^th Birthday version, starting with -- 

Some basic info: As you may have noted by now, I like acronyms, TGIM... FYI… BYE... DREAMS… JDS. 

Certainly they serve as convenient "shorthand." But they are also a powerful and valuable tool for reinforcing important concepts and bringing the full force of the underlying principles quickly to mind.

So, although it’s a centennial birthday for the dread acronym IRS, that leads my thinking to the origins of perhaps the most important acronym in my mind – 

EHFTB

EHFTB stands for –

Everything Happens For The Best

Here's the tax time story behind it: Richard Prentice Ettinger, the co-founder of the publishing giant Prentice-Hall, discovered EHFTB as he started in business as a publisher. 

In the earliest days of the company, the pages for his second book, about the new-in-1913 Federal Income Tax Law, had just come off the press. 

However: Congress, then as now, couldn’t settle and fiddled about with ongoing last-minute changes in the law. 

This made many of the already-printed pages inaccurate. Stuck with a huge printing bill and pages of worthlessly incorrect information, it appeared the new publishing enterprise was doomed.

But RPE, as he was known (more initials), thought hard about what he HAD.

He realized many of the pages were NOT adversely affected.

Snatching victory from the jaws of defeat. He concluded that he could salvage the unaffected pages … print some new, correct pages ... punch holes in the whole batch ... and put them all together in a loose-leaf binder.

Bonus payoff: He could sell not just one book but also sell replacement pages on a continuing basis as the Tax Law continued to evolve.

That was in 1913. The forward-thinking author of Brave New World, Aldous Huxley, noted at the time that Ettinger had done with the loose-leaf page something equivalent to what Guttenberg had done with moveable type. 

Such subscription publishing became a cornerstone of a highly successful enterprise; proof indeed that EHFTB -- Everything Happens For The Best.

 “A nice, but slightly Pollyanna-ish, sentiment,” you say?

Wait! There's more. 

In fact, the “more” is, perhaps, the most important part. 

Richard Neill, RPE’s protégé who was entrusted with the ongoing publication of that first tax tome, passed along this history lesson for many years. 

(I was a Dick Neill protégé and was fortunate enough to have also known RPE. And yes, he was referred to as RN and I was GS.) 

But in the telling and reminding, RN added the crucial element that makes the difference between an interesting bit of business history and –

-- a principle which any of us

can take to heart and apply

TGIM ACTION IDEA: When appropriate, and especially if some problem needed confronting or remedying, Richard Neill would annotate the margin of a memo or report with a handwritten reminder -- EHFTB. 

And under those initials he would write –

FTWMIH

The importance of this second thought, and the principle behind the phrase these letters represent, is THE KEY to making EHFTB work.

Richard Neill's FTWMIH reminder is that –

Everything Happens For The Best

For Those Who Make It Happen

TGIM IDEA IN ACTION: You must take action for anything to turn out “for the best.” You must be ever alert for opportunities to triumph in the face of adversity. 

And it’s not easy. You can’t be a passive bystander. You must be constantly and consistently preparing for the future. And when challenges arise you must rally that preparation and confront them. 

It isn’t enough to want the best. Continually challenge yourself to know what you’re going to do to get to where you want to be. Effort makes achievement. 

Make the effort. Make it happen – for the best.

Then celebrate along with me. 

Geoff Steck
Chief Catalyst
Alexander Publishing & Marketing

8 Depot Square

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

P.S. Return with us now to those taxing times of yesteryear: Here’s a thumbnail earliest-days-of-the-Federal-Income-Tax time line.

1909 - President Taft recommended Congress propose a constitutional amendment that would give the government the power to tax incomes without apportioning the burden among the states in line with population. Congress also levied a 1 percent tax on net corporate incomes of more than $5,000.

The first Form 1040 -- 1913

 

1913 - As the threat of what would be known as the First World War loomed, Wyoming became the 36th and last state needed to ratify the 16th Amendment. The Amendment stated, "Congress shall have the power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several states, and without regard to any census or enumeration." Later, Congress adopted a 1 percent tax on net personal income of more than $3,000 with a surtax of 6 percent on incomes of more than $500,000. It also repealed the 1909 corporate income tax. The first Form 1040 was introduced.

1918 - The Revenue Act of 1918 raised even greater sums for the World War I effort. It codified all existing tax laws and imposed a progressive income-tax rate structure of up to 77 percent. (For 2013 the top marginal rate is 39.6%.)

 

"Taxes are what we pay for civilized society.'' — U.S. Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. (1841-1935) said that.

Thank Goodness It's Monday #396

CASHING IN ON HONEST ABE

The acclaimed film “Lincoln” leads this year’s Oscar race with 12 nominations. Since its release in November, it’s grossed roughly $250 million worldwide at the box office by my rough and quick to-date tally.

So, if you don’t mind, I’m going to cash in on that popularity.

While it’s been a bit of a TGIM Tradition to commemorate Presidents Day by acknowledging that the Federal holiday is supposed to be inclusive of all the holders of the office, today I’m concentrating on the 16th president –

Abraham Lincoln



The Lincoln statue at the foot of the Essex County NJ Courthouse steps

in Newark, NJ was created by the world-renowned sculptor

Gutzon Borglum.

Portraying a weary Lincoln during the darkest hours of the Civil War,

the bronze statue is one-third larger than life-size.

Theodore Roosevelt attended the statue's dedication ceremony,

held in 1911.

 

Borglum's most celebrated work – or is it works? -- are his 60-feet tall carvings
of the heads of Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt
at Mt Rushmore in the Black Hills of South Dakota.

►Honest Abe

►The Rail Splitter

►The Great Emancipator

►The Liberator

►The Sage of Springfield

►Father Abraham and Uncle Abe

►The Uncommon Friend of the Common Man 

His enemies called him The Ape. 

His White House staff fondly called him The Tycoon and insiders called him The Ancient One for his wisdom.

Speaking of his ancestry, Lincoln once remarked: I don’t know who my grandfather was, and I am much more concerned to know what his grandson will be.

Of course, we know the notable and noble fulfillment of this “concern” of Lincoln’s.

In addition to the February birthday of our Founding Father and first President, George Washington, it’s primarily Lincoln (also a February birthday, February 12, 1809) who provides the basis for observing a rounded-off-to-Monday federally prescribed Presidents Day holiday today.

And since it is a holiday – I’m not going to tie up too much of your time. And I’m giving myself a break as well. I’m not going to write too much more “original” for this TGIM. 

TGIM ACTION IDEA: I’m defaulting to Lincoln’s own words in the expectation they can provide guidance and inspiration suitable to our challenges in our times. I’m going to try to avoid what my aging memory tells me are commonly known quotes or those that are most directly to the issues of the Civil War and share with you Lincoln thoughts that will lead to new personal insights.

Let’s start with a standard Lincoln clearly set for himself:

… men should utter nothing for which they could not willingly be responsible through time and eternity.

And –

I am very little inclined on any occasion to say anything unless I hope to produce some good by it.

Likewise for this TGIM. So let’s continue:

If we could at first know where we are, and wither we are tending, we could better judge what we do, and how to do it.

Stand with anybody that stands right. Stand with him while he is right, and part with him when he goes wrong.

Give me six hours to chop down a tree, and I will spend the first four sharpening the ax.

I have never had a policy. I have simply tried to do what seemed best each day, as each day came.

I have not willingly planted a thorn is any man’s bosom.

Reputation is like fine china: Once broken it's very hard to repair.

Determine that the thing can and shall be done, and then we shall find the way.

Don't worry when you are not recognized, but strive to be worthy of recognition.

I say “try”; if we never try, we shall never succeed.

Commitment is what transforms a promise into reality.

Half-finished work generally proves to be labor lost.

I don’t think much of a man who is not wiser today than he was yesterday.

I shall try to correct errors where shown to be errors, and I shall adopt new views as fast as they shall appear to be true views.

Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other thing.

When I am getting ready for an argument, I spend one third of my time thinking about what I am going to say, and two thirds about what my opponent will say.

 

Every man has his own peculiar and particular way of doing things, and he is often criticized because that way is not the one adopted by others. The great idea is to accomplish what you set out to do.

Let us dare to do our duty as we understand it.

I consider my TGIM duty for today done.

Inspired by the spirit of “The Uncommon Friend of the Common Man,” please do your duty – this Presidents Day and daily -- likewise.

Geoff Steck
Chief Catalyst
Alexander Publishing & Marketing

8 Depot Square

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



Several days after the state convention,
the Republican Party held its national convention
in Chicago and nominated Lincoln for president.
Lincoln did not actively campaign for office (as was the custom),
but his supporters staged a lively campaign.
An unknown artist created this mythical, life-size portrait of
Lincoln the Railsplitter to be used at public rallies. 
Note that there’s an image of the White House
on the distant horizon.

P.S. On November 6, 1860, Abraham Lincoln was elected sixteenth president of the United States. He won as “The Railsplitter” candidate, a nickname acquired the previous May when Illinois Republicans convened at Decatur to endorse a favorite son for president.

Lincoln was the likely choice but his supporters felt he needed a catchier nickname than “Old Abe” or “Honest Abe.” Thus, Richard J. Oglesby and John Hanks, a first cousin of Lincoln’s mother, located a split-rail fence supposedly built by Lincoln in 1830. When they walked into the hall carrying two of the rails—decorated with flags, streamers, and a sign that read, “Abraham Lincoln/The Rail Candidate”—the crowd went wild.

 

Although Lincoln claimed he could not say for certain that he had split those particular rails, he said that “he had mauled many and many better ones since he had grown to manhood.” By now, Lincoln was a prominent lawyer, not a backwoodsman. But, he had split rails in his youth, and the image held enormous appeal to voters (all male) who shared similar backgrounds and cultural beliefs about the merits of hard work and self-reliance.

Valentine's Day 2013

She Tells Her Love While Half Asleep

Robert Graves
(1895-9185)

She tells her love while half asleep,

    In the dark hours,

        With half-words whispered low;

As Earth stirs in her winter sleep

    And puts out grass and flowers

        Despite the snow;

        Despite the falling snow. 

Many scholars contend that this is the “best” love poem by poet, novelist, mythographer, critic & historian Robert Graves (1895–1985). As a Graves fan I’m not sure I agree, but it seems quite appropriate for the February observance of Valentine’s Day.

Enjoy celebrating.

Thank Goodness It's Monday #395

HOW TO REACTIVATE

LONG-DORMANT ACCOUNTS

Now that prosperity appears to be stirring anew in many parts of the economy, it’s a good time to take a look at old “dormant” accounts. These are the customers who once did a greater volume of business with your company than they do now. 

Watch this: Some business people tend to ignore dormant accounts, treating them as a lost cause. Others, who have power over such things, succumb to the urge to reassign the accounts to the most novice players on the team. 

Big mistake. No matter where you stand or how you feel about the subject, here’s how to turn the enterprise’s inactive/barely active historic clientele into bigger sales dollars and profits.

TGIM ACTION IDEA: Consider dormancy as hibernation – a prolonged period of sleep – at least as far as your business is concerned. Since the “official” observance has only just passed, take a “Groundhog Day” approach.

 

 

TGIM IDEA IN ACTION: Initiate a great reawakening. Be aware that, although it’s asleep with you, an account may still be doing a lot of business with competitors. If you (or the folks you lead and/or manage) want to revive the full potential of the dozing previous purchasers and  get them back on the track to more sales and profits, try these steps:

● Become a detective. Find out all you can about the current state of the accounts. Perhaps start in accounting and review old records. 

Some Qs to review:

Q: What was the account buying and why?

Q: Is it clear why the account is dormant?

Q: What was its annual volume?

Q: Who in your organization had last contact?

Q: Has anyone got “exclusive” responsibility now?

Q: Is the account’s industry moving up or down?

Q: Has growth been evident?

● Narrow your list. Fire up the computer and start searching. Pick up the phone and start dialing for dollars. Your primary objective at this early stage: Eliminate (or postpone pursuit of) accounts that don’t show promise. And put the balance in descending order of 2013 potential. Then go after the top of the list.

● Develop an action plan tailored to each account. If the account was yours and you once knew their hot buttons, push them again and see what happens. If they don’t click, default to the “We’ve got something new that may be beneficial for you” approach. (Just be sure you can back it up.)

● Try the old contact first. If the account went sour because of something that went wrong on your side and an apology is in order, issue it on behalf of your company. Or recognize that there were differences that you feel can be easily resolved. 

Bad news: Expect some rejection and be ready to respond to: “We’ve got new sources we’re quite happy with.”

Good news: You won’t always get rejected. Some accounts will welcome you back with open arms, especially if you’ve apologized. That may be all some of them have been waiting for.

● Ask for an “update” appointment. If you feel you don’t really understand them or their needs at this point, say you’d just like to be brought up to speed during this interview. If you have something new to share, tell them you’d also like to keep them updated. 

Emphasize that it’s an “information sharing” call, not a sales pitch. That takes the pressure off and makes the first reconnection easier to get.

● During the appointment listen, listen, LISTEN. Go with the intent to learn anew. Be interested. Take notes, it shows interest. Don’t overstay your visit unless asked. Be prepared to share your own “what’s new” but don’t press and insist on leading with it or even revealing it until you’ve got a clear picture of the account’s current state of affairs and interests. 

● Before leaving -- Seek to determine what your potential competitors are offering (best price, easier terms, faster delivery, etc.) that holds the biggest appeal to your would-be-revived account. Then --

● Ask for permission. To continue the dialogue … connect with more specifics … to work up a proposal. At the very least, if you determine to go forward, lock down a precise “who will do what” and “when” – specific date and time -- you will reconnect. 

● Deliver on your part of the bargain – and then some.

Wrapping it up: Why look backward to and invest so much time and energy in clients who have faded and all but abandoned a working relationship over time? 

TGIM Takeaway: Because it’s still at least one step closer, and at least one step easier than starting from scratch, zip, zero, zilch and cold calling a total stranger. 

Even if the last contact with the long dormant account was totally acrimonious, at least you have that acrimony in common.

And that’s a great starting point for progress.

 

It doesn't matter what the shadow revealed. Get digging for those Groundhogs NOW!

Geoff Steck
Chief Catalyst
Alexander Publishing & Marketing

8 Depot Square

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

 

P.S. “Let’s take this opportunity to honor the movie Groundhog Day and pretend everything I did the last time we saw each other never happened.” That’s an unattributed quote floating out in the blogosphere. It appears to be referring to personal relationships. But it also seems also like a pretty good mindset (and maybe even opening line for someone with a wry movie-wise sense of humor) for reestablishing long-dormant business relationships.

Thank Goodness It's Monday #394

PLOM OUTBREAK DETECTED!

AND HAND SANITIZER WON’T PROTECT YOU

 

How are you? The question’s been plaguing (intentional word choice) my thinking recently.

It originates, of course, with the still-present “flu” that’s beset many quite seriously this year. 

 

That’s not over yet and, worse, it’s newly coupled with a nasty stomach-turning, hand-sanitizer-resistant norovirus (dubbed G11.4 Sydney because it was first identified in Sydney, Australia).

 

Concern about contracting some contagious malady did click up a notch or two for me recently having spent some time handshaking and close talking among tens of thousands of visitors and exhibitors at the Jacob Javits Convention Center in the crossroads of the world, Manhattan.

But NOT the flu or “Sydney” in particular.

Something, perhaps –

 

More devastating in its way. At the Javits Center I detected a little-reported outbreak of a malady that may be as pernicious as the communicable health bugs spreading among the attendees.

 

TGIM EPIDEMIC ALERT: To inform you about this outbreak, and to share how to safely immunize yourself and those you care about from this scourge, let me state the case for you here --

 

PLOM runs rampant in New York!

 

As I worked my way from exhibitor to exhibitor Javits I found an almost universal trace of PLOM in the folks I talked with.

 

You could see it in their eyes and hear it in their voices. Virtually every one exhibited the telltale signs and behaviors of infection. And since the folks I met came from around the nation and the world, I think we can conclude the contagion is global! 

While PLOM is not a new disease, the particular strain I encountered seems to have evolved into something virulent and its contagious aspects threaten even previously immune and robust individuals.

 

With my usual dedication to bringing you the facts, I’ve been digging to find the origins of PLOM. And here’s what I’ve come up with including remedies that   can still counter the dread disease, if you’re willing to apply them.

First, let’s spell out the basics.

 

PLOM stands for

“Poor Little Old Me” disease

A mentor of mine I’ve mentioned before in TGIM, John Beckley, (fondly referred to as Mr. B.) founder of The Economics Press and longtime publisher of business-skills training and motivation and inspirational material, first made me aware of the childhood form of the disease. 

He told the story this way:

Years ago, when a childhood friend of ours was in a foul mood, and complaining bitterly about almost everything, her mother would, sooner or later, interrupt the proceedings.

“Melinda,” she would say. “It seems to me that you’ve got a bad case of PLOM.” 

Then she would send Melinda to her room with a paper and pencil to write down a list of things she ought to be thankful for. 

When the list was long enough – and when her “Poor Little Old Me” attitude improved enough to satisfy her mother – Melinda would be allowed to rejoin the group.

The conclusion that Mr. B reached: We all, adults as well as children, occasionally --

OVER-emphasize the BAD side of things

and

UNDER-emphasize the GOOD

Certainly some folks more than others. Yet the fact is we all have things to be thankful for. 

It’s also a fact that, practically no matter what the situation –

It could be worse. So if we do for ourselves what Melinda’s mother enforced for her, we should get a better perspective on things.

Helen Keller, who certainly knew adversity, counseled: “Self-pity is our worst enemy and if we yield to it, we can never do anything wise in this world.”

Now, about the PLOM epidemic sweeping through Javits Center:

I hear you. It’s been a rough couple years – maybe longer.

No doubt “The Business” … “The Economy” … “The Politicians” … maybe even “Life” … have dealt you a bad hand.

 

Perhaps you’ve lost customers, money, family or health.

I get it. Everybody can find it gratifying to wallow in a little self-pity. It gives some kind of pleasure to remind ourselves how terrible the world is … how we’ve not been given the right opportunities … how people are against us … how life has been a real struggle. 

I sympathize. No doubt you (and I) have had undeserved blows and missed out on many opportunities.

But here’s an axiomatic –

Secret to Happiness:

Don’t believe everything you think.

Yes, you’ve got reasons to think that fate really HAS been unfair to you. 

But feeling sorry for yourself and whining about it is not going to help the situation. 

Poor Little Old Me thinking, and behaving like a victim, only sinks you deeper into the quicksand of apathy.

Think about this: It’s not what happens to you; it’s how you handle what happens to you that makes more of a difference in your life.

Q: Are you really the kind of person who can’t do anything about the things that happen to you?

If you’ve read this far, I doubt it. So stop feeling sorry for yourself and actually GO and DO something about it.

TGIM ACTION IDEA: Turn your attention to the things you really appreciate:

►   Favorite daily moments

►   Interesting ideas

►   Attractive sights

►   Stimulating experiences

►   Funny incidents

►   People who brighten your day

 

Think about these things. Write them down. And appreciate all of the stuff that you can appreciate.

 

TGIM IDEA IN ACTION: Here are a few more PLOM-countering suggestions to help you combat the dread disease and maybe even inoculate yourself with happiness and joy so a more “healthy” mindset becomes the dominant factor in your daily routine and life.

·         Let the future be the future and the past be the past. Live in the “now” as much as you’re able.

·         Focus and work hardest on your own life and your own path forward.

·         Let go of judgment, resentment, criticism, blame.

·         Let others have their own experiences and lessons.

·         Take a personal inventory. Would you exchange your work … your eyes … your freedom … the people you love … the people that love you … for things to be better? Define “better.”

·         There is always someone else worse off. Practice random acts of kindness. Or not-so-random. Give of yourself to someone whose need is greater.

·         Make some time just for you. Step back. Get “quiet.” Go within. Pray or meditate. Listen to what some might call “your higher self” wants and needs.

·         Do the Melinda’s-Mom Drill. Make a list of something/someone you are thankful for. You don’t have to stay in your room until you’re called. Start with one person and one thing you are grateful for each day and build on that.

·         Add your new-and-improved PLOM-resistant attitude to the items on your list.

There. That makes me feel better about the lousy time stuck in Javits with all those whiny people.

Just joking. In fact I thank them for bringing these TGIM strategies back to top-of-mind awareness for me. 

See. It works.

Geoff Steck
Chief Catalyst
Alexander Publishing & Marketing

8 Depot Square

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

 

P.S. Essayist and philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer (1788 – 1860) noted: How much our happiness depends upon our spirits, and these again upon our state of health, may be seen by comparing the influence which the same external circumstances or events have upon us when we are well and strong with the effects which they have when we are depressed and troubled with ill-health. It is not what things are objectively and in themselves, but what they are for us, in our way of looking at them, that makes us happy or the reverse. As Epictetus [first century Greek sage and Stoic philosopher, born a slave] says, “Men are not influenced by things, but by their thoughts about things.”