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 #455

TIME OFF FOR GOOD BEHAVIOR

I say that too often, I think. It’s become a go-to phrase for me that slips too easily and mindlessly into the conversation. 

“Time off for good behavior” is usually deployed by me when someone indicates that they’re not going to do something … or that they’re going to do something “entertaining” rather than workaday routine … or that they’re actually giving themselves just that – time off that they feel/know they’ve deservedly earned.

With a common-usage link to the idea of incarceration for some kind of wrongdoing, I guess it’s got a bit of a snarky tone to it. 

One reading: It’s as if I’m implying the break-taker is maybe not quite as deserving as they think they are; as if by doing what’s expected of them they’ve gained some privilege.

• College student off for a spring-break fling? “Ah, been a tough semester, huh?” sez Geoff. “Time off for good behavior.”
• Networking buddy who asks me to sub at morning breakfast while she heads out for her industry’s annual Las Vegas gathering? “Happy to do it,” sez I. “Enjoy your time off for good behavior.”
• Working spouse neighbors who give you the heads up that they’re taking their kids to the Florida theme park experience. Yup. Imagining the air travel and transportation and standing in lines with kids in tow, I drop the phrase again.

But you know what? That’s unfair. Judgmental. And just plain wrong (most of the time).

It’s suddenly obvious to me that, even if dispensed with a smile and expressed with interest in the time-off plans, this note of disapproving approval is rooted perhaps in some bit of envy, or jealousy or desire to be on the partaking side of the equation versus being stuck here in the daily humdrum.

TGIM ACTION IDEA: You deserve a break today. Not to give too much to that old McDonald’s sales pitch, everyone who makes an honest effort, no matter how small or immediately effective, has earned some respite.

Ideally, we all do. And a brief fast-food-sized interlude in the daily routine is just a beginning. Even the dominant guideline of the religious beliefs of many remarks that, on the seventh day, the creator of the world we dwell in rested.

That ought to be a good clue to guide our own behavior.

From a more secular and pragmatic view: No doubt our human batteries need to be routinely and regularly recharged. 

Hardworking English banker, politician, naturalist and archaeologist John Lubbock (1834-1913) certainly knew that. 

Although his scientific work was an avocation, Lubbock discovered the first fossil remains of musk-ox in England (1855), and undertook archaeological work identifying prehistoric cultures. As a naturalist and friend and advocate of Charles Darwin, he studied insect vision and color sense. He published a number of books on natural history and primitive man. He coined the terms Neolithic and Paleolithic.

In 1870, he became a member of Parliament. The legislation he initiated included the Bank Holidays Act (1871) and the Ancient Monuments Act (1882) and the Shop Hours Act (1886). He became 1st Baron Avebury when he was made a peer in 1900.

And, in addition to his work/ life example, he gave us many useful guidelines for living, such as this nicely depicted one from the 1920 collection in the Volume of Contentment we’ve been featuring:

In a similar spirit Lord Avebury also shared these thoughts:

            “A day of worry is more exhausting than a week of work.” 

“Happiness is a thing to be practiced, like the violin.”

“If we are ever in doubt what to do, it is a good rule to ask ourselves what we shall wish on the morrow that we had done.”

“We often hear of people breaking down from overwork, but in nine cases out of ten they are really suffering from worry or anxiety.”

“In truth, people can generally make time for what they choose to do; it is not really the time but the will that is wanting.”

“Our ambition should be to rule ourselves, the true kingdom for each one of us; and true progress is to know more, and be more, and to do more.”

“When we have done our best, we should wait the result in peace.” 

“Your character will be what you yourself choose to make it.”

And speaking of character: Here’s my personal Spring Break –

TGIM IDEA IN ACTION: I apologize to those I have pestered with my “Time off for good behavior” glibness. To have had your effort at all belittled is unfair. I really do wish you happy interludes to your routine.

Now I think I’ll give myself some time off for good behavior.

Back soon.   

Geoff Steck
Chief Catalyst
Alexander Publishing & Marketing

8 Depot Square

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

P.S.  And speaking nearly directly to the incarceration premise of “Time off for good behavior,” Lubbock said: “The whole value of solitude depends upon oneself; it may be a sanctuary or a prison, a haven of repose or a place of punishment, a heaven or a hell, as we ourselves make it.”

Thank Goodness It's Monday #454

WHAT’S WRITTEN ON YOUR HEART?

 

It’s been a lot of Mondays (454 divided by 52 = a bit short of a decade) since these weekly messages began their routine appearance as part of a multi-platform program created with my buddy Eric Taylor and The EmpowermentGroup.

Our first connection had been at a public event perhaps a year or two prior.

After that we spent some time assessing each other, trying to figure out just what the connection was between an older, words-on-paper, pass-along business soft-skills, jacket & tie guy (that was me at the time) and, dare I say, a brash, young, great-on-the-platform, hyper-energized, fit and trim people-motivator like Eric (often decked out in preferred-at-the-time Tony Robbins look).

To cut to the chase: In those ancient days of business “courting” we discovered much in common and that our complementary talents played nicely and well together. A mutual acquaintance noted once we were like Lennon and McCartney, which I always took as a compliment (although I’ve never been sure who’s who in that equation).

The grandest production of those days became, as I have suggested above, a multi-media program conceived as and modestly tagged, How to Have Your Best Year Ever. 

The BYE elements consisted of ballroom-filling half-day presentations, CDs and DVDs, ring binders filled with stuff from all the productions and more, e-delivery of content (before the idea of an “e-book” had seriously entered the equation), and weekly outreach, free of charge and low on promo, to anyone who would have us in their e-mail box.

 

Fast forward to 2014: The world has spun on its axis and made its circuit around the sun many, many times since TGIM #1. The road has been winding and sometimes challenging. Other paths have crossed ours and we’ve investigated them in our own way. And through it all –

 

The journey has been interesting, enlightening, rewarding. We’ve met good and stimulating people who challenged us. And, I like to believe, on all sides of those “meetings” we’ve all come away better for the experience.

 

So that gets us to today’s TGIM headline.

It’s a reference to a source, mentor, guru – you pick the description -- and a touch point that Eric and I, as Best Year Ever kind of guys, found we had in common in the early going.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

 

It’s been my custom in over two score-and-then-some years of writing for a business audience to pepper my editorial input with what I deem worthwhile and actionable quotations from noteworthy individuals. When I did this in an early exchange with Eric, his response (as I recall it) was the equivalent of –

 

“I love Ralph Waldo Emerson!”

 

OK, maybe not literally that. But close enough to win me over inasmuch as I, too, “love” the eminently sensible and quotable RWE.

I have little doubt this moment was influential in cementing our “You know, I think I can work with this guy” decision and has informed our relationship in the years since.

 

So … In its way this TGIM #454 post brings things full circle.

Visually it’s from the Volume of Contentment we’ve been sharing much of this month.

 

TGIM Takeaway: Thoughtfully, philosophical and realistically it’s precisely the kind of “How to have your Best Year Ever” guidance guys who “love Ralph Waldo Emerson” can heartily endorse:

 

 

TGIM IDEA IN ACTION: Write it on your heart this Monday.

 

And Tuesday … 

 

And Wednesday …

 

And …

Every Day of this, 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.  "I am going into an unknown future, but I'm still all here, and still while there's life, there's hope." John Lennon (October 9, 1940- December 8, 1980) said that, prophetically in December of 1980.

Thank Goodness It's Monday #453

TODAY IS YOUR DAY

AND MINE

David Starr Jordan (1851-1931), credited among such notables as Ruskin, Goethe and Emerson in our Volume of Contentment, was a new name to me. 

But as I’ve learned –

The oversight is mine. Impressive-to-me biographical material about him abounds online. 

The in-a-nutshell synopsis goes like this: David Starr Jordan was a leading ichthyologist, educator, peace activist, president of Indiana University, and was handpicked by Leland Stanford to become the founding president of Stanford University.

There’s more, of course. Much more. You can check it out in all its diversity, too. But before you click away, let’s look at our page:

Why this selection now?

One reason: Because it strikes a particularly personal chord in me.

The words run parallel to an approach to life that was passed along by my mother who died a decade or so ago. And while it’s likely no one would have asked her to start up their namesake university she, in striving to “play her part” as the Volume of Contentment frames Jordan’s creed, was pretty effective at living her days from her perspective as well.

So I’d like to take this opportunity to also share this Betty Steck (1921-2004) Daily Discipline with you.

She left a typewritten copy of the following words with her important family documents. While they are not original to her, she called them “The creed by which I try to live” and noted, “You will find these words over my kitchen sink where I read them at the beginning of each day.”

See the similarities in these approaches to the day and, more broadly, to life? 

Go ahead, call me a Momma’s Boy. I trust I’m not, of course, in the derisive sense of that phrase. But I do try to adhere to the mindset she meant to pass along.

The image above is the postcard-sized reproduction I had made of Betty’s kitchen-sink post up and distributed at her memorial service. This one hangs over my computer screen, thus the fuzzy photo and the hint of yellow wallpaper border. 

Another is on my dresser where the content of my pockets goes every evening and where it’s gathered at the start of each day. So there’s barely a day when I don’t bump hard into a tangible reminder of what I hope I have adapted as a lifelong behavior.

TGIM CHALLENGE: Got a “creed” by which you try to live? 

I’m sure you do. So how about this –

TGIM ACTION IDEA: Share it. For starters, post it up on social media with a little bit of explanation if necessary. Let us know – via “friend” request if Eric and I are not already connected with you on Facebook or LinkedIn or whatever -- so we can see and share in it if it’s not likely we’d catch a glimpse of it in passing.

Now is the time.

Go play your part.

Seize your unique day.

I’ve already started with mine. 

Geoff Steck
Chief Catalyst
Alexander Publishing & Marketing

8 Depot Square

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

P.S.  I’ve got a small bundle of “Today is mine” postcards left and I’d be honored to share them (supply permitting) with anyone who reaches out and tells me a physical address to which to snail mail it. Just put “Today is mine” in your subject line or on an envelope containing something with your postal address and send the info to me at either of the AP&M addresses above. That will start things rolling.