SIX WAYS I QUIT CHURCH

Check out this article - some good thoughts. Click Here.

POP UP WINDOWS & TELEMARKETERS

I'm serious about this... There are 2 things that I absolutely, dogmatically cannot stand: Pop-up ads & telemarketers. I'm convinced that if computers and telephones were around back in the days of Pharoah & Moses that God would have most certainly used pop-up ads and telemarketers as a way to curse Pharoah for not letting the Israelites go free.

It's actually ironic to me that I can't stand telemarketers because that is actually how I "made a living" (and a pretty good one at that!) for a few years after graduating high school and while in college. I can even remember thinking to myself, "Why do people hate telemarketing so much?" But now that I am on the receiving end of it all, it makes plenty of sense to me. I guess the "hundred fold return" really does work. ;-)

Pop-up windows (a.k.a. the curse of satan) should be outlawed. Now that I think about it, there is one thing that really drives me nuts too... Whenever I visit weather.com to check my daily weather, a part of the ad on the front page jumps out at me and begins taking over my entire computer screen. I call this terrorism. While we are at it, in our "War on Terrorism", let's take care of these moronic marketing tactics too.

NOTICE TO MARKETING PEOPLE: A quick way to get me NOT to buy your product is by bombarding me with your pop-up ads.

I don't need larger body parts, I don't need generic Viagra, I don't need tickets to Guam and I certainly don't need a free Pasta Pot Set.

Goodnight.

SH

A reply from my latest "blog" - see below (entry made 7/16 @ 5:10pm)

Good blog. I think you are right- consistency is the key; looking at the BIG picture keeps us in check. Just look at people who, with the exception of genetics, have constant physical fitness issue. These people own gym memberships and $3000 worth of Suzanne Sommers exercise equipment- but only use them sporadically. Inconsistency happens because people feel lazy as a result of not keeping their eyes on the prize of healthy, physically fit lifestyles. I think the same is true in all areas of life. When we forget our mission, we lose the drive to do the daily mental or physical tasks required to help us fulfill our incremental goals.

I am convinced that if there is anything that will hinder us from being long term, effective leaders it is the tendency that we often have to not keep a proper handle on our emotions.

There is no way around the fact that the role of leadership in our lives will bring with it "ups" and "downs". There will be days when we, as leaders, will feel excited, motivated, and optimistic.

Then, there will be those days when we feel completely out of our "element" and even question whether or not we are truly "called" to be a leader. There will be times that we look around us and say to ourselves, "I am the worst leader in this world - I am making no impact on the environment around me whatsoever!"

So with all that said, I truly believe that one of the things that will help us keep our emotions in "check" is to keep our eyes focused on the BIG PICTURE.

The tendency that most of us have is to hang out in a ditch. We either become negatively jolted by every bit of bad news or we have the tendency to jump over on the other side of the ditch and sometimes "over" celebrate accomplishments and get into this "everything's cool - let's just stop pushing now" mentality.

I think there has to be a balance in between the two. When I read and study successful business people, the one thing that I see over and over again is that those CEO's keep their eyes on the big picture - not on the wavering stock market or bad news that might come in on occassion. They don't ignore those things, but they also don't allow those "temporary" DISTRACTIONS (and let me tell you - that is exactly what they are - distractions...) to knock them off their path.

Speaking from the aspect of an organization that is in transition, I can say that one of the things that will continue to push us through to "success" is staying "die-hard" focused on what God wants us to do - no matter how bad it looks, no matter what people say, no matter what the 'market' says - but staying consistently focused on what we believe we are here to accomplish.

That means that, as a leader, not everyone will like you and me and there may be times that Newsweek will give us a downward pointed arrow. But then again, Newsweek can kiss my....

Can I get a big "amen"? Tell me your thoughts - I'll post them... happyweeble@hotmail.com

SH

Ok - today's topic: Ice Cream. As I write this, I have just finished up an Edy's Creamy Coconut WholeFruit Bar. It has taken me on a journey to Hawaii where the sun is shining, the ocean waves are high in the air and ok, nevermind... I'm sitting in the dark chewing on the wooden stick that is left after the bar and wondering why it tastes so bad. Truth be told.

Speaking of ice cream... Have you ever been to Cold Stone Creamery? I'm talking HEART ATTACK CITY. When I drive by that place my arteries scream at the top of their lungs. So does my mouth.

If you don't know how this works, you walk in, decide which flavor of ice cream you want and then you pick from like 2.8 million types of add-in's - everything from pipin' hot fresh brownies, sponge cake, caramel to fresh fruit. And I'm figuring that if I add in fresh fruit then it MUST be healthy, right?

Then, they take the ice cream and mix in all this stuff on a "cold stone" - given the name... They mix it all up and you eat it and die. It's unbelievable. This stuff will definitely make you slap your grandma. Watch out granny!

Ok, enought about that. I'm going to go to bed and dream about swimming in a giant ice cream cone filled with Germanchökolätekäke ice cream. Yum!

SH

Started a new book today - Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity by David Allen. Check it out here. Fast Company hails Allen as "The personal productivity guru." So, he might have something useful to say.

He says 3 good things about managing commitments:

1. If it's on your mind, your mind isn't clear. (i.e. Anything you consider unfinished in any way must be captured in a trusted system OUTSIDE your mind (a collection bucket) that you know you'll come back to regularly and sort through.

2. You must clarify exactly what your commitment is and decide what you have to do, if anything, to make progress toward fulfilling it.

3. Once you've decided on all the actions you need to take, you must keep reminders of them organized in a system you review regularly.

Another good quote:

"We've never really taught that we have to think about our work before we can do it; much of our daily activity is already defined for us by the undone and unmoved things staring at us when we come to work, or by the family to be fed, the laundry to be done, or the children to be dressed at home."

Good stuff - I'll post more as I read.

SH