Thank Goodness It's Monday #460

 Tyger Tyger, Burning Bright!

A RED ENVELOPE FOR YOU

-- AND SOME POETRY

Welcome to The Year of The Tiger. You may know that, based on an ancient system of astronomy and astrology, the 15-day festival that marks the so-called Chinese New Year begins tomorrow.

You may also recognize some of the traditions that will be observed over the days ahead to welcome good luck and happiness.

Not surprisingly, many are customs that would fit in any cultural context at the beginning of a New Year. People dress in finery to represent contentment and wealth. Homes are scrubbed clean. Rooms are decorated for the holiday.

Other traditions are unique. The room decorations are paper lanterns and flower blossoms. Walls are adorned with the Chinese characters -- 恭喜发财

-- is one simplified form – roughly equivalent to “Happy New Year” and transliterated in some places as Gung hay fa choy in Cantonese.

In places lacking restrictive pandemic protocols Dragon-dance parades may snake along streets with clashing cymbals and firecrackers exploding to ward off evil spirits. Children and single, unemployed adults look forward to receiving red envelopes stuffed with cash from elders.

Some years ago, as the “elder” co-creator (with Eric Taylor) of a program we boldly called the Best Year Ever Program! I feel obliged to commemorate any “New Year” observance and tie it to our message that –

Anytime is the right time to begin Your Best Year Ever!

So, although you may not be a child or unemployed single, here’s --

A Red Envelope for you.   

Sorry, no cash. (Awwww!)

But in the spirit of these blog posts and TGIM messages, I believe that “Sharing An Idea” is a time-proven strategy that’s –

More valuable than money. Think of it this way: If I have a dollar and you have a dollar, and we give our dollar to one another, we each still have only a dollar. But --

And it’s a Big BUT: If I give you an idea, and you give me an idea, then we each have two ideas that we can contemplate … be inspired by … work on with our individual talents … and craft into something even greater than the original inspiration.

So let’s get back to this idea of astrology and universal truths and my idea of the moment for you --

According to the astrological aspects of the holiday, babies born in a Year of the Tiger are expected to have the following traits:

"They are courageous and energetic, love a challenge or competition and are prepared to take risks. They are hungry for excitement and crave attention. They can be rebellious, short-tempered and outspoken, preferring to give order rather than take them, which often leads to conflict."

Were you born in a Year of the Tiger? You probably don’t know. But you also probably felt that some of the characteristics – especially the positive ones – fit you.

Now for me, almost any astrological stuff is –

Beyond understanding. Yet I often look at my horoscope in the ink-on-paper newspaper. And I read the transmitted wisdom with the fascinated knowledge that there is guidance to be gleaned in the cryptic messages (although that it is celestial and unwavering and universal is highly suspect to me).

I figure, at the least, horoscopes are well-intended advice. I’m certainly open to that. And that leads me, at this auspicious new beginning of the Year of the Tiger, to this –

TGIM Takeaway: “We are wiser than we know.” Ralph Waldo Emerson said that in 1841.

How does that relate to today? We all would want the positive characteristics of those born in a Year of the Tiger and the other 11 Chinese astrological animal signs. And who wouldn’t want to embody the best parts of Libra, Scorpio, etc., etc.

YEAR-OF-THE-TIGER ACTION IDEA: If we’re wise enough to know what characteristics are desirable, then we should be wise enough to set our own course in raising our skills in those areas in order that we might become all that we might become.

Our fate is not in the stars. The future is in our own hands. Self-improvement is the precursor to all improvement. Start today. We must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin the work. There’s never been a more auspicious time.

Gung hay fa choy!  Get started on Your Best Year Ever! NOW.

Geoff Steck
Chief Catalyst
Alexander Publishing & Marketing
Englewood, NJ 07631

tgimguy@gmail.com  

P.S.  About that "Tyger Tyger ..." side head at the top of today's post. Seem familiar? It's from one of the most anthologized English language poems out there, William Blake's "The Tyger" published in 1794 as part of his Songs of Experience collection.

Perhaps it's also personally informative then to compare the Chinese Zodiac tiger characteristics to Blake's quite western, mystical, romantic take on the struggle of humanity based on the concept of the contrary nature of things, 

 

Copy A of Blake's original printing of The Tyger, 1794.
Copy A is held by the British Museum.

Thank Goodness It's Monday #459

HOW TO GET OTHERS 

TO LEVEL WITH YOU

Monarchs of old often punished bearers of bad news, making it crystal clear just who was in charge.

As a result, these despots and dictators made decisions based on incomplete or distorted information, a fact that contributed to many military defeats and the crumbling of empires.

Welcome to the 21^st Century: Of course in our enlightened era, we know that the long-term outcome of a “shoot the messenger” strategy is not a more frank and forthright information exchange but, rather, withholding or revising of unpleasant truths.

So – in the “leadership” roles we’ve achieved as managers, or family heads or community leaders and such – we’re more benevolent than those kickin’-it-old-school kings and commissars, right?

Why then do we too often discover, after the fact, that we’ve taken action based on received information that’s distorted, inaccurate, and sketchy?

Why didn’t people level with us? The only way to get accurate information from people is to realize why they hesitate to give it, and act accordingly.

TGIM ACTION IDEA: It’s just like in those “days of old.” People fail to level with other people out of fear. Not like “off with her head” kind of fear but, nonetheless, fear ultimately connected to the psychology of survival.

If you’ve got any power, people are fearful.

Yes, of you pussycat. In all probability few TGIM readers have the fearful power to imprison or hurt people physically. We may even believe we’re perceived as gentle as a kitten.

But we all have power to wield. If you have “boss” status at work, at home or anywhere in the world at large, others recognize you might punish them in any of a thousand subtle and not-so-subtle ways.

Maybe you could fire them.

Or pass them over for promotion.

Or ground them or withhold their allowance.

People certainly don’t want to lose their livelihood or be on anyone’s blacklist.

They don’t even want mild disapproval. They fear – and “fear” is an accurate assessment of the dread feeling they experience – even a sharp remark; even from someone held in high esteem.

Need more proof? Think about what you feel when you find yourself in an inferior position.

TGIM Takeaway: People want to please. (Don’t you?) So, even when they would really like you, and maybe even mean to level with you, they frame their answers in terms of --

“What does she (or he) want to hear?”

The two-part antidote to this truth-distorting situation:

First: Realize that the fear factor isn’t likely to go away.

Then: Skirt it gingerly.

To judge whether you are being properly informed by others, ask yourself a few questions:

• Do people stop talking or change the subject when you begin to speak?
• Do they give you information only when you ask for it?
• Are they reluctant to talk with you at all?
• Do people who must deal directly with you keep “lower-level” personnel away from you.

A “Yes” answer to any of these can be a sign that you’re getting something less than the whole truth.

Watch this: Sometimes individuals who recognize they aren’t getting the straight dope react by grasping for information in a way that makes matters worse. They may alienate their informants by cross-examining them. They may also create truth-twisting suspicion and conflict by inviting people to inform on one another.

TGIM IDEA IN ACTION: Eliminate the fear factor. Or mitigate it.

Here are a handful of Get-To-The-Truth Tactics that help do that:

Truth Tactic #1: Make a point of talking with people informally – not just when you want to learn something, but as a matter of habit. Chat, exchange small talk, remove the barriers that say, “I’m the boss; you’d better watch what you say.”

Truth Tactic #2: Be accessible to people at all levels. Executives who talk only to the next lower level of management tend to isolate themselves in a bubble of unreality. Accessible execs gain the perspective of a wider range of views.

Case in point: In my ancient days in retailing I knew a VP of Operations who, virtually every morning, walked in through the basement receiving area and up through nine selling floors and support areas to his executive office, engaging with staff along the way. At lunchtime, if he was going out, he reversed the process; otherwise he routinely ate in the company cafeteria. And, at the end of most days, he walked down again through each floor a half hour before closing and was available at the bank of elevators until most everyone had gone home. Outcome: There was rarely an operational “surprise” in his years of service.

Truth Tactic #3: A useful way to skirt the fear of reprisal is to reward people no matter what they tell you, positive or negative. Don’t be one of those people who asks for comments or suggestions and then gets defensive. The people they engage soon learn to keep mum. Say, “Thanks for telling me that,” even if it’s the last thing in the world you want to hear.

In a similar line:

Truth Tactic #4: Be aware of how you sound when you ask for information. Through your wording, tone of voice, even gestures, you can unintentionally prejudice the answer.

And not just in a threatening, repressive way: If you ask with an expectant smile, “How do you like this idea?” you’ll probably come away thinking people love the idea when, perhaps, they are only trying to please.

A better way to gather information: Ask your question in terms of, “Which idea do you prefer, A , B or C?” striving to not indicate your preference.

Truth Tactic #5: When probing for information, realize that people are reluctant to be too negative. So you hear only the positive. They know from experience that even well-intentioned criticism can bring a backlash.

“It’s all good,” isn’t good. Be clear that you want to hear it all. When asking for comments, specify that you also want to be filled in on the minuses, especially if all you’re hearing are positives.

Case in point: A division president asked several people if they liked a recent reorganization. He got kudos all around. Then he asked if they noticed anything that “could be better.” He got many more candid and useful comments.

So level with me. Did this TGIM meet your expectations? Can you recommend ways you think it might have been made better? Have you insights to add?

Please feel free to share your thoughts.

I look forward to learning from you.

Geoff Steck
Chief Catalyst
Alexander Publishing & Marketing

Englewood, NJ 07631

201-569-5373

tgimguy@gmail.com   

P.S.  “The best test of truth is the power of thought to get itself accepted in the competition of the market.” Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. (1841-1935) said that in his 1919 decision in Abrams v. United States – which also immortalized the phrase “clear and present danger.”

Thank Goodness It's Monday #458

 LIVE THE DREAM IN 2022?

(OR HAS IT BECOME AN IMPOSSIBLE DREAM?)

Martin Luther King Jr. said: 

"ML" as he was known
in his seminarian years
1948-1951

"Life's most persistent and urgent question is: 

'What are you doing for others?'"

Today marks yet another Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.

After a long struggle, legislation was signed in 1983 creating this Federal Holiday marking the January birthday of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. It was first observed as such in 1986.

This third-Monday-in-January milestone is a striking opportunity to consider anew how we live the dream in 2022 as well as honor Dr. King’s legacy in these tumultuous times.

There’s a now-often-overlooked "extra" reason why: In 1994, Congress made the Martin Luther King Jr. Federal Holiday the only federal holiday also designated as a National Day of Service. (There's a Corporation for National and Community Service charged with leading this effort.)

Because of Dr. King’s dedication to human rights and a better society, the holiday was envisioned to become known as –

“A day on, not a day off.” And people were encouraged to perform acts that strengthen communities, empower individuals, bridge barriers, and create solutions.  

As such this governmental national “call to service” initiative intended to encourage Americans from all walks of life to work together to provide solutions to our most pressing national problems; to empower us individually and collectively to devise and implement solutions to social challenges and move us closer to Dr. King's vision of a "Beloved Community."

So how's that seem to be working out?

Not so well in these wearying 21st Century days, right? Clearly much work lies before us if we are to realize this governmentally endorsed actuation of Dr. King’s dream. 

And, perhaps presciently, MLK Jr. seems to have anticipated this unfortunate reality and formed an observation still painful to recollect.

In 1967 he spoke these words: 

"[This year] finds us a rather bewildered human race. 

We have neither peace within, not peace without. 

Everywhere, paralyzing fears harrow people by day and haunt them by night. 

Our world is sick ... Everywhere we turn we see its ominous possibilities."

But wait. There's more.

Before we fall into despair, let's also acknowledge the highly instructive follow-on observation to Dr. King's "ominous" analysis. He continued:

"And yet, my friends, 

the hope for peace and goodwill toward men can no longer be dismissed 

as a kind of pious dream of some utopian. 

If we do not have goodwill toward men in this world, 

we will destroy ourselves by the misuse of our own instruments and our own power."

TGIM/MLK Jr. ACTION IDEA: You likely know the following observation, the most famous part of the 1967 message I'm sharing above. As Dr. King concluded --

“We must learn to live together as brothers

 or perish together as fools.”

Everyone should live the dream in 2022. Just as MLK Jr. set big goals and focused relentlessly on results, we need sustained citizen action to address today’s social challenges. 

Even in the current civilian breach, this National Day of Service should remind us we are the inheritors of his intent. For starters, the ongoing day-on dedication of frontline health and service workers in the face of Covid and cultural challenges is a bright reminder of how the capabilities we all possess might be best applied for the greater good.

TGIM/MLK Jr. IDEA IN ACTION: As we understand it in this day and age -- newly shaped in ways MLK Jr. could, perhaps, have barely conceived in 1967 -- we must behave as we imagine he would have us behave.

And in doing so, is it trite to suggest that we, too, shall overcome?

I think not.

MLK Jr.’s charismatic leadership inspired men and women, young and old, in this nation and around the world. His speeches, lectures and writing stirred the concern and sparked the conscience of a generation. Many of his great thoughts, compellingly expressed, live on today.

Among my favorites: 

“Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. 

I can never be what I ought to be 

until you are what you ought to be. 

This is the interrelated structure of reality.” 

Already feel you do your part? Then -- in the spirit of Dr. King’s legacy -- share a dream, quote, story, experience of your own. 

Share it today.

Geoff Steck
Chief Catalyst
Alexander Publishing & Marketing
Englewood, NJ 07631
tgimguy@gmail.com   

Thank Goodness It's Monday #457

 

Thank Goodness It's Monday #457

RESOLUTIONS ALONE ARE BUPKIS

(OH, AND WELCOME TO 2022)

“Bupkis” – if, by chance, you’re not familiar with the word – is a dictionary-accepted English language word more often spoken than written.


The etymology of "bupkis"

 -- if you care to delve deeper --

finds the origins in a Yiddish phrase

concerning goat droppings.

It’s defined as “absolutely nothing; nothing of value, significance, or substance.” 

It’s use in today’s TGIM headline is to both attract your attention and to emphasize an important idea that, I hope, will help us all better keep our newly made resolutions and achieve our 2022 goals as we persue them in these early days of the year.

So let’s get started: On New Year's Eve a decade or so past a fellow celebrator said to me –

“This year I’m not making resolutions,

but finding solutions.”

Hmmm. Interesting idea. And on reflection, I agree.

Now, exactly what the shorthand “no resolutions/solutions” meant for him was not revealed in our passing exchange.

But we can figure out the spirit of it. And we can apply the intent we figure out to any of the fast-lapsing resolutions we may have made just a week ago. If we let them stand simply as stand-alone expressions of intent, the outcome’s bound to be discouraging and disappointing. 

Goals – like final destinations – are for planning. And eventually a well-designed system will be the prime mover in accomplishing what you desire most fervently.

TGIM Takeaway: As my New-Year’s-Eve reveling friend suggested, it’s the solution-creating process we devise and act on that will have the most impact on our goal-achievement outcome.

Correctly assessing your ability and commitment is the starting point. Having a system and routinely reviewing, evaluating, tweaking and finely honing that is what matters in the long run. Then committing to that process is what makes the difference.

TGIM ACTION IDEA: In 2022 -- rather than fretting about big, life-changing goals -- we can keep things simple and reduce stress by focusing on the daily process and sticking to a well-thought-out schedule plotted with an honest assessment of our ability and commitment to sticking to it.

By focusing on the practice and step-by-step performance instead of the big end result, you can enjoy the present moment and improve at the same time. It’s in the assessment and forecasting and development and scheduling and preparing and setting up and execution and adapting to change that we make progress.

Although we can agree you, too, are awesome --
please dig deeper than Garfield does in this year-end Jim Davis strip.

So are you buying this argument?

Are you ready for some solution-finding input?

Here’s some perhaps-fresh insight:

1. Individuals change best when the motivation comes from within rather from the outside. For example, perhaps you think, “There’s not much I can do about my career until we get back to an office setting and my boss shapes up and does something.” Or you might say, “Things would be different for me if only my spouse were to behave differently.”

In these cases you are relying on an external force to make change happen. But as any mentor worth his or her salt should be quick to point out, “Nothing will change until you change.” 

The truth is, you are 100% responsible for you! Any questions?

2022 ACTION IDEA: Take responsibility. Rely on yourself. Set your own priorities. Change occurs more effectively when you say, in essence, “Things must be changed and I am the one who must initiate the change. I must, in fact, change myself first. There are things only I can do which will have the desired payoff for me.” Motivate yourself by getting excited about your goal quest.

2. Individuals change best when their objectives are specific. Maybe this is stating the obvious but let’s be clear: We do more when we have a purposeful direction. Once we have a specific goal, we see change occurring more readily. 

Why? Because specific objectives permit us to seek specific feedback on how we’re doing. General objectives such as “I want to get ahead” or “I want to be somebody” keep you from knowing whether you’re succeeding or failing because they set no goal criterion.

2022 ACTION IDEA: Putting performance measurements, time limits, real milestones and actual rewards in each goal makes it specific and easier to determine whether it’s being achieved or not. And knowing that a desired change is taking place can feed your personal satisfaction.

3. Individuals change best when there is personal commitment. “Oh, I’m committed to making the changes necessary to reach my goals” you tell yourself. 

But face it: It’s more difficult to change in a vacuum. It helps to have feedback.

2022 ACTION IDEA: Tell others. Share your hopes, your dreams and your goals. Other people will be glad to give you feedback, support and ideas. And the more specific you are in detailing your aspirations, the more specific and informative that feedback can be. And by making the commitment “public,” you become more emotionally involved and that also helps you stick to it.

4. Individuals change best when changes are timely and gradual. While the idea that revolutionary change comes dramatically in a flash of brilliance is appealing, life seldom happens like that.

Change takes time. Individual change takes patience and time. Achieving the kind of 2022 goals I hope you set in recent days won’t be finished tomorrow. (If it is I’d like to hear about it.)

2022 ACTION IDEA: Be patient. Most changes require a series of events to occur in some evolving way. Granted, we can help some or all of those events to occur, but even then the magnitude and complexity of achieving great goals demand shifts in attitude, values, policies and procedures – and that takes time and careful planning.

 

There’s more … much more. Obviously. Whole books been written, entire careers have been build upon goal-setting and outcome-achieving strategies. 

But that’s plenty enough for right now. My short-term TGIM goal for today was to put in your hands some proven-in-action solutions you might implement immediately to keep your 2022 Resolution/Goals process on track. 

Hope you found them, at least, worthy of consideration

 

– NOT bupkis. 

Geoff Steck
Chief Catalyst
Alexander Publishing & Marketing

tgimguy@gmail.com

 

P.S. ““A good system shortens the road to the goal” That old-timey publisher of motivational and inspirational wisdom in his Success magazine, Orison Swett Marden (1850-1924) propounded that bit of rousing opinion.

Thank Goodness It's Monday #456

 IT'S BEEN A WHILE

This first Monday of the New Year of 2022 seems to me a good time to revive this old blog. 

There's certainly been no shortage of thoughtful and thoughtless input across digital media platforms since I last seriously posted here more than a half-dozen years ago. 

And I've certainly raised my voice and also held my tongue (and nose) in many of those places in the interim. Likewise, in the best tradition of recycling, I've resurrected, revised and re-shared not a few thoughts originally aired here. 

But as I reflect now, all that airing and sharing feels a bit out-in-the-ether and impermanent. 

So I've a mind to recommit to this space and process and, with some good fortune, see if I can use it and the process to both focus my thinking and support the original stated premise of this endeavor namely to provide "ideas for your information & inspiration" that might serve as a catalyst to create outcomes beneficial to the days ahead. 

And thus, we begin anew with a bit of philosophizing, seasonally appropriate and evergreen:

"What we call the beginning is often the end. 

And to make an end is to make a beginning. 

The end is where we start from."

Poet T.S. Eliot, (1888-1965) made that clear in "Little Gidding,” the fourth and final poem of his Four Quartets.

A penny for the old man.

And onward we go into 2022.

Persist.