Between a rock and …

You know the rest.  You’ve been between “that” and the “other” yourself, yes? 

I was at Ron Meyer’s “Business for Breakfast” meeting recently when one of the business people said that’s exactly where she’s at.  Her company just went through a lay-off.  That was the “rock”.  The “hard place”?  Her workload doubled.  

The fact she was kept on was positioned as “good news” by her company.  The conversation with her boss started down the proverbial, “I’ve got good news and bad news…”.  We’ve all been there before, too and we know the reality of it: 

The phrase, “I have good news and I have bad news”, is really just bad news.  We know this because we learn of good news this way; “You’re not going to freaking believe this, but…” 

Even though our breakfast colleague is recognized as a leader at her firm her dilemma is knowing she can’t possibly get everything asked of her done each day.  So, she said she’s going to have to learn to say, “No” even though doing so goes against her fundamental nature.

I can relate.  As a sales professional I believe I’m in the business of saying, “Yes”.  Sometimes, I have to be creative in order to say, “Yes”; especially when asked for something way above and beyond.  The Army Corps of Engineers can relate: 

The difficult we do immediately.  The impossible takes a little longer. 

The breakfast discussion turned to how to say, “No”.  What are your favorite techniques? 

     Nope           Can’t          Don’t have to

     No way         Won’t          Don’t know how to

     Negatory       Uh-Uh          I’ll get back to you 

Yes, there are lots of ways to say “No” in the business world.  Yet, no matter how creative we try to wordsmith a response so it sounds like “Yes”, or at least “Maybe”, the customer mostly hears, “No”.  And customers hate hearing “No”, true?  Our favorite, Unknown Sage offers this coaching: 

How to Manage an Irate Client Call: 

I’m sorry you’re so upset.  I really feel your pain.  No, I don’t think we can fix the problem.  No, you can’t get your money back.  Well, I am the supervisor.  Let me transfer you to Mr. Dial Tone…

Don't worry, our breakfast meeting colleague won’t actually transfer her clients to Mr. Dial Tone.   But she has started following the advice from her daughter.  When asked for something she knows she can’t commit to, her response now is: 

No… and that’s a complete sentence. 

Such a one word sentence is the sound of being between that rock and that… 

GAP 

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

Getting things done…

It was around 2 o’clock.  I started feeling a little run down.  Since I’m retired, my pick-me-up now consists of a short nap, LOL!  You take a nap at work, too?  Here’s a tip:

Thing to say when you get caught sleeping at your computer:

“Did you ever notice the sound that comes out of the keyboard when you put your ear real close?”

Or, raise your head slowly and say, “In Jesus' name, Amen."                                 

Unknown Sage

Feeling a little run down is even worse when we wake up that way in the morning before we go to work, true?  Work being what it is these days we have limited options:

I used up all my sick days so I called in dead.

Harry Beckwith

What’s your favorite remedy for that run down feeling?  Comedian Anthony Jeselnik offers this idea:

Instead of water, I put Red Bull in the back of my coffee maker this morning.  I was halfway to work before I realized I forgot my car.

Many people prefer to leverage exercise for their pick-me-up.  Maybe you’re of a mind that physical activity helps with mental energy and decision-making.  Our favorite, Unknown Sage agrees:

Does exercise help the brain make decisions?  Yes, last week I ran a mile and decided, “Never again!”

Well, what ever your routine when you’re feeling a little run down, here’s to your toughness and determination to overcome it and GET THINGS DONE!

GAP

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

Remembering…

Today, war seams to permeate our daily lives.  War on drugs.  War against illegals.  War for the sake of radical religious fanaticism (ongoing for centuries in the Middle East, IMHO).  War against the spread of communism (ongoing since my grade school years and before).  That was the time of the Cuban Missile Crisis: 

War: the pursuit of political goals by other means.

Carl von Clausewitz                       

I never served in the military.  I was fearful.  I remember.  My early adulthood was a time of social upheaval across the country.  It was the era of the Viet Nam War.  Presumably a war combating the “Domino Theory”.  It was the last period when we had military conscription, aka “the draft”.  (My draft number in 1971 was 271.  I remember.)

Today it’s ISIS; Tren de Aragua; Russia (still); China; the Panama Canal; the Arctic Circle; Canada!  We still face continuous nuclear bomb threats.  It’s the application of “advanced” science that Douglas Rushkoff spoke of:

Whereas the original Renaissance gave us the ability to circumnavigate the globe, out current one gives us the ability to blow it up.

Monday is Memorial Day.  A day that enables us to remember; to pause; to honor the men and women of our military; especially those who made the ultimate sacrifice:

Then Tuesday, we will return to work; return to our world problems; return to war.  Will our country ever remember peace?  I wonder if we’re even trying given Dwight D. Eisenhower's 1961 farewell address warning against the establishment of a "military-industrial complex."  Sixty four years later and we’re still producing abundant war materiel.

America was founded by cultures of diversity wanting to live together - united.  Today, we have our differences and there is plenty of strife.  Even so, Americans have much to remember in the pursuit of a more perfect union.  Thankfully:

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

Yes Marianne, “In every heart, there is the power to do it!”  We Americans can.  I just hope we remember how.

GAP

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