Common enemies…

“OK Pokorn”, you might say, “How does that title correlate with peace and positivity?”  Well, there is actually great power found in emotional negativity that can appeal to the greater good. 

Sunday, America will remember Pearl Harbor Day.  Eighty-four years ago, December 7, 1941, an emotionally charged, negative event occurred that summoned a powerful, driving force for the greater good.  Factually, according to Google: 

2,335 Americans died and 1,143 were wounded. 

Not remarkable in the annals of bloody combat, or even the bloody headlines of today, true?  But the highly-charged, political discourse that followed, epitomized by President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s “Infamy Speech”, (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infamy_Speech ) united our country against common enemies.

Are negative emotions always a force for the greater good?  With the difficult events that have occurred almost daily throughout 2025 I worry we are becoming our own common enemies. 

The significant problems we face cannot be solved by the same level of thinking that created them. 

Albert Einstein 

Are we willing to think differently? 

I always feel good when everyone says I'm nuts because it's a sign that we're trying to do something innovative. 

Larry Ellison 

Thinking differently may offer us hope, but different does not have to be radical; dis-uniting;  or mean-spirited.  I believe thinking differently can create friends and allies.  However, too much “different” can be bad.  Back to Larry: 

On the other hand, when people say you’re nuts, you just might be nuts… You don't want people saying you’re nuts too often - once every three or four years is good.  Any more than that, and you should be worried because no one's smart enough to have a good idea more than once every three or four years. 

In business we’ve seen power when a company unites against common enemies.  Steve Jobs famously crusaded to be taken seriously.  The common enemy was the adversity of marketplace disrespect.  That negative driving force drove Apple to astronomical heights. 

"ADVERSITY”: 

Adversity has the effect of eliciting talents, which, in prosperous circumstances, would have lain dormant. 

Horace 

The American Red Cross was inspired by the carnage of our Civil War.  This powerful organization is also untied against common enemies – the devastated; the wounded; the needy; the destitute.  

Yes, there are many common enemies that can stimulate negative, emotional reactions enabling us to harness power for the greater good:  

In every community, there is work to be done. 

In every nation, there are wounds to heal. 

In every heart, there is the power to do it. 

Marianne Williamson 

Here’s to Pearly Harbor Day and all the power it generated to propel our country forward in the face of common enemies.  How will we propel America and our fellow Americans, forward this December in the face of today’s common enemies?  

Yes Marianne - in every community, there is work to be done.  In our hearts we all have the power to do it! 

GAP 

When life gets tough we could get a helmet… or… we could leverage the peace and share the power of a positive perspective.

 

Giving thanks…

Thanksgiving remind us of our blessings, yes?  Before I go any further permit me to say, “Thank you”! 

Thank you for reading me.  Thank you for commenting on my little ditties.  Thank you for respecting my viewpoints.  Thank you for buying my book.  Thank you for encouraging me to continue. 

I can’t count all that I am thankful for; nor all of the times I have wanted to thank someone for their kindness.  But I am thankful for sure.  Thankfully, smart people have put counting in perspective: 

Everything that can be counted does not necessarily count; everything that counts cannot necessarily be counted. 

Albert Einstein 

I’m thankful for living in Denver – most of the time anyway: 

Welcome to Denver: 

The morning rush hour is from 5:00 to 10:00 AM. The evening rush hour is from 3:00 to 7:00 PM.  Friday's rush hour starts on Thursday.

Forget the traffic rules you learned elsewhere.  Denver has its own version.  The car or truck with the loudest muffler goes next at a 4-way stop.  The truck with the biggest tires goes after that.  Blue-haired, green-haired, or cranberry-haired ladies driving anything have the right of way all of the time.

North and South only vaguely resemble the real direction of certain streets.  University and Colorado are two boulevards that run parallel.  Geometry evidently not working at altitude, these streets intersect south of C470.

Highway 285 runs North, South, East and West and every direction in between; it can be found in every section of the Denver area making navigation very interesting.  You can turn west onto southbound 285; you can turn north onto westbound C470; and you can drive southeast on the Northwest Parkway.  This is why Denver uses the additional driving directions of “out”, “up”, “in”, “down”, and sometimes “over”.

Construction barrels are permanent, and are simply moved around in the middle of the night to make the next day’s drive more challenging.  When you see an orange cone, you must stop and then move ahead slowly until there are no more cones.  There need not be construction, just cones.

If someone has their turn signal on, wave them to the shoulder immediately to let them know it has been accidentally activated.

If it’s 70 degrees, Thanksgiving is probably next week; if it’s snowing, it’s probably the weekend after Memorial Day.

If you stop at a yellow light, you will be rear-ended or cussed-out.  A red light means four more cars can go through.  Not three; not five.  Four.  Never honk at anyone.  Ever.  Seriously.  Never yield at a “Yield” sign.  The yield sign is like an appendix; it once had a purpose but nobody can remember what it was.

Just because a street on the east side of town has the same name as a street on the west side of town doesn’t mean they’re connected. 

Unknown Sage 

Thankfully we can celebrate with family, friends, food, and fun and a little football during the Thanksgiving holiday.  Permit me to share my favorite quote: 

Thank you Lord.  I may never have a lot; but I have always had enough. 

May He bless you, too. 

GAP 

When life gets tough we could get a helmet… or… we could leverage the peace and share the power of a positive perspective.

Fine line…

There’s a fine line among accountability; criticism; and coaching, true?  It can be easy to criticize.  On the other hand many people are motivated by coaching - when it’s done right.  In his book Peak: Secrets from the New Science of Expertise©, Anders Ericsson offers: 

… meaningful positive feedback is one of the crucial factors in maintaining motivation.

Note the qualifier, “meaningful”.  Not all coaching is motivational.  It’s also often easier to coach someone you like; someone who’s already preforming well.  It’s those you don’t like; those who suck that are the challenge.  Yet a sales manager can’t simply ignore the under-performers.  Ignoring is not on the path to superior performance.  It’s not fair to the team.  It’s not fair to the under-performer: 

… if the person is struggling, it is actively uncaring to allow him to keep playing a part that doesn't fit. By this definition, firing the person is a caring act. 

Marcus Buckingham 

There’s that fine line… The path between the books-ends of coaching and firing is narrow.  That’s where we find accountability.  In my experience the best salespeople accept accountability for their own responsibility e.g. sales performance.  Beyond our individual people’s attitude, applying accountability is a management skill: 

Accountability, particularly when executed well, trumps coaching and enabling every day of the month and twice on the day that the sales report gets published. 

Mike Weinberg 

Note the qualifier, “when executed well”.  That’s the skill. Otherwise, accountability attempts can send the wrong counter-productive message.  It’s a fine line: 

Great managers want each employee to feel a certain tension, a tension to achieve. 

Marcus Buckingham 

The “feel of tension to achieve” is a great feeling!  However, it’s found on a very narrow path indeed aka a fine line. 

GAP 

When life gets tough we could get a helmet… or… we could leverage the peace and share the power of a positive perspective.

Lightening up…

Work, stress, the economy, and the state of world affairs being what they are today, those fast, convenient, sweet foods seem to be calling our name.  They can even be delivered right to our office or doorstep by Uber Eats, Door Dash, etc. for what we salespeople call “a nominal fee”. 

I think our “battle of the bulge” in the face of today’s job stress needs a little reinforcement.  Though retired there’s no exception here; I’m 21 pounds over my college playing weight.  Margaret Thatcher reminds us: 

You may have to fight a battle more than once to win it. 

Did you see this recent Facebook post?

Making matters even more challenging, we’re surrounded by lots of nutrition misinformation, true?  We can’t even rely on our favorite Unknown Sage: 

Question: How can I calculate my body/fat ratio?

Answer: Well, if you have a body, and you have body fat, your ratio is one-to-one. If you have two bodies, your ratio is two-to-one, etc. 

Question: I’ve heard that cardiovascular exercise can prolong life.  Is this true?

Answer: How could that be true?  Your heart is only good for so many beats, and that’s it.  Everything wears out eventually, so how could speeding up your heart make you live longer?  If you want to live longer – take a nap. 

Question: My wife says I should cut down on meat, and eat more fruits and vegetables.  What do you say?

Answer: Look, what does a cow eat?  Corn.  And what’s corn?  A vegetable.  So a steak is nothing more than an efficient mechanism of delivering vegetables to your system. 

Question: Is beer bad for you?

Answer: Look, it goes to the earlier point about vegetables.  As we all know, scientists divide everything in the world into three categories: animal, mineral, and vegetable.  Well, we all know that beer is not an animal, and it’s not on the periodic table of elements, so that only leaves one thing, right? 

My advice:  Have a burger and a beer and tell everyone you’re on a vegetarian diet.                  

                        Unknown Sage 

Battling for good health over job stress is definitely worthwhile.  It was none other than Colonel Harlan Sanders (yes, that Colonel Sanders) who said: 

Make sure you don’t wind up the richest person in the cemetery.  You can’t do business from there.                                 

So here’s to lightening up on ourselves, our job, and our intake; burgers, beer, ice-cream and otherwise! 

GAP 

When life gets tough we could get a helmet… or… we could leverage the peace and share the power of a positive perspective.

 

To our cowboys …

I’m fascinated by cowboys and the great traditions of the American West.  I think we all could make a big difference in our daily lives if we heeded the advice found in Cowboy Ethics ©: 

I have come to realize that anybody can make money; it is much harder to make a difference. 

James P. Owen 

My son Kevin’s birthday was Friday.  He makes a difference the cowboy way; hard work, modest life style, knowing what’s important.  Before he was 40 he achieved the “American Dream” which some say is now out of reach.  He owns a house and property in Wyoming – mortgage free!

I thought you might like this present I gave him for his birthday several years ago.  It's from my book The Peace and Power of a Positive Perspective ©: 

Chapter VII:  Cowboy Up – You’ll Get Through It! 

Dedicated to the American Cowboy – may we all learn to be more like them. 

Now, I’m no cowboy; but I know one. 

Cowboys are quiet, polite - men of few words; comfortable just listening while others around them bark at the moon nonstop. 

No, I’m no cowboy; but I’ve heard one. 

Cowboys have a reserve of strength far and above the average person – physical strength to be sure; but also great emotional strength. 

I’m definitely no cowboy; but I’ve seen one. 

Cowboys have the ability to remain in control even while every living thing around them, man and beast, spooks in mortal fear. 

True, I’m no cowboy; but I’ve been protected by one. 

Cowboys remain focused even with adrenaline rushing through their veins when they’re bull riding, or racing flat out, one-handed on horseback, to rope an escaping calf. 

Yes, I’m no cowboy; but I’ve lived with one. 

Cowboys are fearless especially at the age of 15 when they look down in the shoot and prepare to mount a bare back bucking bronco at their very first high school rodeo competition. 

Absolutely, I’m no cowboy; but I’ve filmed one looking down that very shoot. 

Cowboys always believe they can.  The cowboy feels that sigh of relief when he’s all twisted up in the dirt, having fallen off a stumbling horse and the rodeo announcer comes on the PA system and says, “Well folks, he’ll have an option for a re-ride.” 

So, I’m no cowboy, but I’ve sat next to his Mother in the stands when we heard that rodeo announcer come over the P.A. System to say, “Well folks, he’ll have an option for a re-ride.” And as the announcer glanced down to the stands to see her reaction he quickly added, “But his Mother says NO!” 

You see, I know a lot about cowboys.  That’s why I’m so sure I’m not one.  No, I’m no cowboy, but my son Kevin is.  And every day I try to be a little bit more like him 

Yes, American Cowboys are still among us and making a difference.  My son is one of them. 

Happy birthday Kevin!  I love you, Dad. 

GAP 

When life gets tough we could get a helmet… or… we could leverage the peace and share the power of a positive perspective.

Veterans’ Day…

Today we honor those in service and those still missing from service.  Service to their country; service to the military; service to their comrades; service to us.  Thank you to all past, present, and future Americans who serve!

Google AI tells us: 

The purpose of Veterans Day is to honor all individuals who have served in the U.S. military, both living and deceased, in wartime or peacetime. Originally known as Armistice Day to commemorate the end of World War I, the holiday was renamed in 1954 to broaden its scope to include and thank all veterans for their service and sacrifice to the country. 

…“service and sacrifice…” definitely predates Armistice Day.  Perhaps originating historically whenever mankind created organizations of warriors.  Having not served myself, I often wonder what it’s like.  Why do men and women serve?  How do they muster the courage? 

One of my readers offered me a transcript from a journal written by his great grandfather at the end of the Civil War.  “James Le Roy Burnside… H.S. 55^th Regt Ill. V.V. Infty…was in the Union Army from 1861 to 1865.”  His journal of daily activities started on January 1, 1865 opening with: 

His “private views and feelings” included this entry on January 2, 1865 about how Dr. C.B. Thompkins’ “patriotic heart so strongly urged him to again enter his country’s service”:

The word “service” seems too understated to describe a person’s military commitment or explain how “the patriotic fire burns in his breast”: 

 Nonetheless, serve they have and serve they continue to do.  All committed to our country and their contribution to “improve it”:

Veterans from all walks of life; past, present, and future…  we thank you!

GAP 

When life gets tough we could get a helmet… or… we could leverage the peace and share the power of a positive perspective.