I saw this painted on a storefront window.
Community, United We Stand.
With all the polarization these days, is this still true?
Unity is literally built into Comm-unity.
Divided, we tear each other apart.
Instead, we could accomplish so much together. 😉
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
So we just finished watching Season Six of Alone (and have now started Season Seven).
Highly trained professionals (military and otherwise) with ALL the skills, experience, and confidence setting out to survive in the arctic, alone.
Each one thinks they can make it and outlast the others.
And watching these folks, you think to yourself, wow, these people can fish, hunt, build shelters, survive off of the land, and know how to survive.
Yet, usually well before 100 days, (virtually) all the contestants are out:
No matter how well prepared they are, life happens!
– They get hugely sick, often from the gross food they are eating.
-They fall down and hurt or break something.
– They cut or stab themselves.
– They lose one or more of their essential survival tools.
– They inadvertently burn down their own shelters.
– Animals steal their food or attack them.
– They starve and their bodies start to break down critical fat stores in their heart or other vital organs.
– They start to lose their minds from the lack of nutrition and mind-numbing loneliness.
It seems like no matter how well trained and prepared they are, they can’t outrun, outwit, out-survive what life eventually throws at them.
Even the last person “standing” is still usually more dead than alive.
Anything other than self-control is ultimately an illusion.
Remember, life happens, and eventually everyone needs help from someone.
No man is an island even if you are living on one. 😉
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
There are two things to know.
None of us is perfect.
We each have strengths and weaknesses.
No one has all the answers–despite some big egos out there!
That’s why we all need each other.
Knowledge is great, but networking magnifies your potential many times over.
These are two things you definitely want to know. 😉
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
This is a useful 4-part communications process (developed by Dr. Marshall Rosenberg):
1. Observations: Tell the other person the behavior you observe from them that is making you uncomfortable.
When I Observe…
2. Feelings: Explain how the person’s behavior makes you feel (happy, sad, angry, annoyed, excited, worried, scared, hurt, embarrassed, confused)
I feel…
3. Needs: Describe what you need from the other person (physiological, safety, social, esteem, self-actualization)
Because I need…
4. Requests: Ask them specifically what you’d like them to do.
Would you be willing to…
It’s a way to make your feelings and needs known and ask nicely what you’d like from others.
This provides a mechanism to give feedback and work with other people without being confrontational, threatening, dictatorial, or nasty.
When I see you reading my blog, I feel happy, because I need to try to be a good person and good influence in this world. Would you be willing to share my blog with others? 😉
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal and Colleague from Work)
This was a funny photo…
Sign around the ape says:
Laugh now, but one day, we’ll be in charge
I guess you never know who will be in charge.
All of life is a circle–and everything and everybody goes around and around. 😉
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
Thought this was funny at work.
One person writes:
Be Happy. Have Fun.
Another chimes in:
Ok, I will!
And finally a 3rd person writes:
Me too.
Smiley faces and all.
Never take yourself too seriously.
It’s true–try to enjoy the ride! 😉
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
This was sort of a funny scene in a project meeting.
One person describing the challenges at one point, spontaneously and dramatically motions to take a knife and slit both wrists.
This absolutely got people’s attention.
Understanding the struggles the person was expressing, and trying to add a little lightheartedness to the situation, I say:
“This is a tough project, pass around the knife.”
This got a good hearty laugh around the table, with one person saying that this was the quote of the day.
Anyway, we want to make operations as effortless as possible on people, but the project work to get there is definitely making people work for it.
Let’s avoid project or people suicide–be supportive of each other, pace ourselves, team together, and problem-solve to get it successfully over the finish line.
Soon we can celebrate all the challenges we overcame together and from our determined efforts, all the wonderful results. 😉
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
I loved this from a colleague the other day.
When things got a little tough in the office, I came in the next day to 6 smiley faces lined up on my desk.
This is something that I really appreciate from some people:
Their HUMANITY.
Even though my colleague faced the same tough day, she was thoughtful of others and the impact on them (not herself).
There are some amazing people out there, and I thank G-d for putting them in my orbit. 😉
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
Sometimes, others can get negative at you in life.
People are unhappy.
Complaints are rolling in.
It seems like you can’t do right.
But you have to have a thick skin or as one colleague told me:
You need to be like Teflon and have it all just roll off you.
And this book title reminded me of this:
“The Subtle Art of Not Giving A F*ck”
Yes, we do have to care about doing good in what we do.
It’s just that we shouldn’t “give a f*ck” when others are just wanting to tear us down and enjoying it.
Constructive feedback is good.
But destructive negativity at every turn is just hurtful.
It’s also a way for others to not take ownership.
We all need to do our part to make things better in this world.
Sure, no one does everything right and no one is perfect.
But everyone needs to try their best, and when others just want to beat on you…
That’s a completely appropriate time to not give a firetruck. 😉
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
So I learned some important lessons about stretch goals.
You want to have stretch goals because they make your strive to do and be your best.
When you have to stretch yourself above your normal then you can take yourself to whole new levels of performance and achievement.
However, if the stretch goals are ridiculously unachievable than you simply set yourself up for frustration and failure.
Goals need to be SMART: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time-bound.
But too often they are DUMB goals: Directed by others, Unachievable, Made to fail, and Based on false assumptions.
For example, if someone tells you to jump off that bridge into the whitewater beneath because they assume that somehow you can spread you bare arms and fly–guess what is going to happen to you?
Goals can help you get to new heights of accomplishment in life or they can pull you down in false condemnation and despair.
Like in fighting the good fight…be careful when you are sent to the front lines in trench warfare with heavily dug fortifications, machine guns, artillery placements aimed your way and yelled at with no rational strategy to “Advance!”
The only place that is going to take you is to an early grave.
Instead, fight smart and take the hill when the hill is takable–you save a lot of lives that way and you actually take the hill successfully. 😉
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
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