In This Edition:
1. Babies Teach the Darndest Things
2. Info Avalanche!
3. A Minute to Connect on the Highest Levels
4. Jokes Worth Saving
November is my second favorite month after October. Hope the weather where you are is as
spectacular as it is here!
Clean air, blue skies, Breathing Space kind-of-days!
Speaking about Breathing Space, have you ever considered that
earlier in life --right after birth -- we each at to make sense out of a
noisy, congested world? We overcame information and communication overload
like to true pros!
Babies Teach the Darndest Things
A newborn faces the challenge of making sense of sights and sounds.
Most of what a baby hears is gobbledegook until the baby can incorporate
what he hears into the structure of language. Until the baby slowly begins
to form words, what he utters is gobbledegook to others.
Words such as "mama" (single syllables repeated) are the baby's
first words. Later, the baby tries more complex polysyllabic words. The
baby eats strained peaches, pears, plums and other mush. As the baby
develops teeth, he can eat more solid and complex foods. The baby plays
with simple toys (often brightly colored, washable, child-safe, and
durable) that he hits, bangs, or simply touches.
The baby steadily draws upon basic skills. The baby starts walking
by first leaning on the side of a couch or whatever else is available.
In time, the baby takes a step, and finally walks across the living room
without help. Even then, the baby will fall many times, but usually gets
up and optimistically begins again.
Concurrently, tackling new information such as navigating the
Internet, integrating another technology into your work routine, or
assimilating other change is smoother when you employ basics.
Basics: Follow directions; take a step at a time; assess where you
are couple of steps; determine that you're on the right path; measure your
progress; practice; and then, develop a new routine. Having Breathing Space
entails employing basics such as managing the beforehand, conditioning your
environments, and using multiple stations until they become routines.
Info Avalanche!
A single Barnes and Noble bookstore offers 150,000+ titles;
stocks nearly 2,500 domestic and international newspapers, periodicals, and
magazines; and can order an additional 200,000 book titles from national
distributors. The children's section includes 15,000 titles; the music
section has 25,000 CDs and cassettes.
A Minute to Connect on the Highest Levels
I was driving back from the store with my
daughter, Valerie. While we were waiting at a traffic light, a promotional
bus, owned by one of the large radio stations in Raleigh, passed us. On the
side panel of the bus, in huge letters, were the radio station's call
letters followed by the message, "Big Ass Bus."
When I saw this phrase, I was taken aback. I hoped that my
daughter didn't see it, but she did. She said, "Daddy, how come it says
'ass' on the bus?" I didn't have a good answer for her.
When I got home, I called the radio station and reached the voice
mail of the manager in charge of this particular promotion. I said that
having such a bus was offensive and it wasn't appropriate to be parading
through communities in the Triangle with such a message. I left my email
address, and to my surprise, later that day received his reply. His
responding email follows:
"Thanks for your phone call. We are not changing the bus, and fans
of the morning show love it. We have had it for a year now. Thanks for
caring enough to call. I certainly appreciate it. Good luck with
'Breathingspace.com'. "
"Sure they do," I responded. "You've attracted the element that
found what they were looking for. You need to rethink why you're in
business and what you want to accomplish in your career and in your life.
It's not parading a sign saying "Bad Ass Bus" through the streets of
Triangle communities.
Then next day he wrote back: "I would have to agree with you. I
will certainly bring it up with everyone on our management team. Thanks
again Jeff."
By luck or happenstance, I was able to reach into his psyche and
touch him in a way that caused immediate change. From this I concluded
others could change in a minute or even a few seconds if the appeal was made
at the appropriate time, on the highest level, to the other person's
greatest sense of good.
Jokes Worth Saving
Along with legitimate email messages, and spam, comes jokes from
friends. I received this in my in basket a few days ago:
Secrets to a Great
Relationship
- 1. It is important to find a man who works around the house, occasionally
cooks and cleans, and who has a job.
- 2. It is important to find a man who makes you laugh.
- 3. It is important to find a man who is dependable.
- 4. It is important that these three men never meet.
and this:
An airline pilot wrote that on a particular flight he had hammered
his ship into the runway really hard. The airline had a policy which
required the first officer to stand at the door while the passengers exited,
give a smile, and a "Thanks for flying XYZ airline." He said that in light
of his bad landing, he had a hard time looking the passengers in the eye,
thinking that someone would have a smart comment. Finally everyone had
gotten off except for this little old lady walking with a cane. She said,
"Sonny, mind if I ask you a question?" "Why no Ma'am," said the pilot, "what
is it?" The little old lady said, "Did we land or were we shot down?"
