Going to Heaven

August 2018

​I realize this isn’t being published until August, but do you remember, at the end of June, when a couple in Florida was arrested for selling Gold tickets to heaven? They did. They sold for $99 and they told people the paper was gold. The couple said they received the certificates from aliens and heaven in a plane filled with drugs. This really happened.

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There is a lot of misinformation in this world on what heaven is and how to get there. The what it is, isn’t as important as the how to get there. Some religions teach that there is no heaven, so nothing you do on this earth matters in the long run, because there is no hereafter.

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Some sects teach that a certain number of people have been pre-selected for heaven. I’m not sure who these chosen people are, and whether or not they know who they are, but based on the sheer number of people who are alive now and have lived throughout history, a small percentage is allowed in, so chances are pretty durn slim that either of us are going to make it.

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There are churches that promise you a way in. If you are wearing the appropriate accessory, you will be sent to heaven within a short time, if you missed it upon dying. Where they believe you go while you’re waiting has never been made clear to me, but in case you miss, a second chance is waiting, as long as you died wearing the right thing.

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There are churches that allow you, or your loved ones after you pass, to buy your way in. It’s not always that blunt, but basically, you can pay to have services said and these will ease your way into heaven if, again, you missed it.

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Several churches teach that it’s what you do that determines your entrance into heaven. You have to be a good person, always being on your best behavior – check all the boxes and you’re allowed admittance. Sadly, you’re not told until you’re dead whether or not you checked all the right boxes, or maybe enough boxes. Now, people are happy to surmise about who will make it or who might already be there.

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Then there are the churches that tell you what you can’t do if you want to go to heaven: no sinning, which usually means no cussing or drinking, sometimes even no dancing or card or dice games. If you don’t do any of the things considered bad and sinful on their list, you’re good to go.

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The Biblical truth is that it’s not what you do that gets you into heaven. Yes, there are murderers in the Bible. Of course there are sinners there because “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). Only one man born in the history of the world was without sin. And it’s not what you don’t do that gets you in, either. You can live a pious life, hurting no one, never eating or drinking any questionable thing, and that won’t open the pearly gates for you.

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It’s not what you do, or what you won’t do, that gets you into heaven, it’s WHAT WAS DONE FOR YOU, and BY WHOM. There is something you have to do, but you need to understand the last line. What was done for you, and by Whom?

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God cannot be around sinners. He’s too great and too good and He just can’t be, so there is a canyon between us and the Lord. You can make it a moat or a river or a valley or anything your imagination allows. The point is, you can’t get to heaven on your own.

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Thankfully, happily, joyfully, Jesus came to earth and became the bridge between earth and heaven. Because the Father can’t be near sin, Jesus takes your sin off you, upon death, so you can go to heaven. It’s Jesus Who is the reason you can go to heaven – nothing you do, but something He did. Jesus died, and descended into hell for three days, so that you can live eternally in heaven. WOW!

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Jesus even knew what was coming, and did it anyway. Now, He sweat blood (Luke 22:44) just thinking about it! But He went through with it and died a human, painful death on that cross. He cried to His Father and His Father was silent. That had to be as difficult for the Lord as for Jesus. Can you ignore your children when they cry out to you? Then Jesus was three days in hell. Upon rising from the dead, Jesus gave us the gift of being able to go to heaven.

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There is one thing we have to do to go to heaven. We need to accept the gift. If someone leaves a gift on your doorstep, maybe for your birthday or as a welcome gift, and you leave it there, it remains unopened and unaccepted. Therefore, you’ve never received the gift, even though it was there for you. You need to open it and accept it. Yes, we have heard stories of honest little children who open gifts and say, “That’s ugly. I don’t want it.” Oh, to be so honest! When you accept the gift of salvation from Jesus Christ, you will recognize how perfect it is.

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Yes, we need to accept the truth of Jesus’ dying on the cross for us. That’s the one and only way into heaven (John 14:6). It’s not what you do. It’s not what you don’t do. It’s what was done for you.

Don’t Lose Your Focus

August 1, 2018

By Lindy Earl

I’m a sports fan.  We have so much to learn from every sport, every game, and every play.  I was recently watching a baseball game and saw the short stop bobble the ball.  There was a player on second running past him, and it was enough to make the short stop lose his focus, bobble the ball, consider throwing to third, before finally throwing to first but missing the out.  I use the word finally, but the entire play took a few seconds, but it felt like forever from the stands.  I can’t imagine how it felt from the infield!

We were deep into the game, 9^th inning with a tied score.  There were two ways it could go.  The missed out with two men on base put the opposing team in a scoring position.  That error could have allowed the runners to score and the home team to ultimately lose the game.  Or, the game could continue with no lasting result from the error.

In life, you can’t know what will happen, so you need to stay focused.  Maybe you can make an error and your team will still win . . . but what if your organization loses, and the error can be traced back to you? What if it can’t? Would you step up and admit your mistake?

How do we stay focused? First, try doing only one thing as a time.  Stop this multitasking stuff.  Focus on one thing, especially when it’s a conversation.  Do not check your phone or review an email when someone is in front of you.  Everything can wait.  We all waited a decade or two ago, and nobody died!  In fact, we probably led a more simple, happier life.

Second, know what you do well.  If you’re asked to perform a task beyond your comfort zone, determine if this is the best time for you to spread your wings.  If it’s pretty important, you may want to defer to someone with more experience but request them to mentor you.  Not only will you learn a lot but they should appreciate you.

Third, you focus by being good at what you do.  In many cases that takes practice.  I’m not just talking about sports teams.  I have yet to arrive at a presentation where I have failed to rehearse.  No matter how many times I have given a seminar (and several of my communication seminars have been requested repeatedly) I always practice several times.  I do not discriminate on the importance of the company or the attendees.  When people are taking their time to see me, I’m going to give them my best.  I can’t do that if I haven’t rehearsed and am therefore unfocused.

Last, make a decision every day, in some cases every inning, to stay focused.  Do not allow your mind to wander.  Make a conscious decision to be in the moment . . . over and over until it’s a habit.  Habits come from repeated action, so ensure you are repeating good actions.  Focus is a respect-worthy action.

As for the game . . .   The next batter up hit short and a double play was made.  End of the inning.  The error did not cost the team any runs.  In fact, the home team went on to win in extra innings.

While the results in this case were good, the team was not unaffected.  The first and second basemen needed to work together to get a double play that would have been an easy out if not for the previous error.  Why? Because one player lost his focus.

In fact, it was something far beyond the short stop’s control that made his error not overly important.  You can’t be sure of that in real life.

Better to not err and stay focused.

Lindy is a Business Consultant and Speaker for companies of all sizes and individuals of all levels.  In addition, she is an author and columnist.  Contact her at LMEarl@EarlMarketing.com to speak to your corporation or organization.

Is Work a 4-letter Word?

By Lindy Earl

Why does work, too often, have a negative connotation?  We all have to work in order to survive.  Rent doesn’t get paid, food can’t be bought, without income.  Yes, some people legitimately can’t work and we understand that.  Some people refuse to work, and in truth, we look down on that.

Yet people who enjoy our work, and truly love working, are looked at like we have two heads.  People shake their heads when I tell them that I love working.  Now, I have not always loved my jobs.  I have definitely NOT always liked my bosses.  I haven’t even always liked my working conditions. I have done work that I’d like to pretend was beneath me, but in truth, nothing is beneath me. I’m as human as everyone else and we all have parts of our jobs that we don’t especially enjoy.  I learned to not look down on any job any person does well.  I have had bosses I disrespected, in one case because she would present my work as her own.  The only way I saw out of that situation was to quit, which was sad, because I liked the work.

My very first job was in a pizza kitchen at a theme park – work conditions were less than ideal.  I traveled half an hour to the park, the parking lot was huge even before the half mile walk to my shop, and the kitchen was hot in the middle of the summer.  My work ethic was extreme compared to my co-workers but I really enjoyed putting together the meals and even waiting on customers, which for some reason was supposed to be the bad part of the job.  I even went along with pretending to dislike the patrons, because I was 16 and trying to fit in. In truth, I enjoyed the work.

There are a lot of 4-letter words that are perfectly good: Live, love, give.  Yet 4-letter words have a bad reputation because a few naughty words happen to have the same number of letters.  Naughty words can be traced back hundreds of years and originally were often a combination of words.  While not a 4-letter word, Golly was a contraction for God’s body.  In the 16^th century this was scandalous. You can learn more at  https://io9.gizmodo.com/5912901/a-brief-history-of-four-letter-words.

So, over time, 4-letter words derived a bad connotation and I think it’s time to stop that.  Work is a good 4-letter word.  Work suggests industrious, assiduous, diligent, even attentive, conscientious, and meticulous.  How are any of these bad things?

Every generation seems to look at the following generation and talk about slovenly ways and lack of work ethic.  In truth, sluggards exist in every generation.  We started naming generations in 1946 by calling them Baby Boomers.  We went backwards and named previous generations. Then we had Gen X, Xennials, Millennials, then Gen Z and Gen Alpha.  Many of the Gen Alpha’s haven’t been born yet since that generation’s births will continue until 2025.

Will every generation continue to look at the next group and share a horror story of work?  Will we continue to pretend that work is a bad thing?

It’s from work that we earn a sense of accomplishment.  We should take pride in our work. People once knew that a job worth doing is worth doing right.  I think it’s still true.  I think you believe it’s still true, too.

Work is a good thing.  Beyond providing for our needs, it gives us a great sense of purpose.  You have a place to go.  Tasks wouldn’t be accomplished without you. Without workers the marketplace would collapse. If you dislike your work, then make an effort to change it.  Go to school, talk to your boss, evaluate your strengths and weaknesses.  If you like what you do but dislike the pay, then change your lifestyle to live within the means you have created.  In truth, we could all do with less.

Some people work to live, others live to work.  I’m the latter since I truly enjoy working.  Whether or not I had a good weekend often depends on what I accomplished.  A nice looking yard and clean house often means I had a good weekend.  If I knocked out a couple of organizational projects, then it was a great weekend.

Start viewing work as a way of sharing your knowledge and showing off your abilities.  Volunteer for extra jobs.  Do everything to the best of your abilities, even if others are slacking off. If somebody teases you about being an overachiever just smile and say, “Yep. And it feels great!”

Lindy is a Business Consultant and Speaker for companies of all sizes and individuals of all levels.  In addition, she is an author and columnist.  Contact her at LMEarl@EarlMarketing.com to speak to your corporation or organization.

Target Marketing

July 18, 2018

by Lindy Earl

Just for fun, I’d like to return to my first business love – Marketing.  So few people seem to truly understand the concept of Marketing.  The word is often misused to mean Sales or Advertising or Promotion.  Those are all small aspects that, together with far more sub-particles, together create Marketing.

Target Marketing is specifically choosing the clients you would like to find.  Why is it important?  The same reason every business decision is important – the bottom line.  By narrowly defining your best customer, you can choose the best promotion and distribution, saving you money on both.  You will know the best price to charge and can even hone your product to fit your target market.  It all comes down to the bottom line – how to maximize your income and minimize your costs.

Now, we are searching for your Primary Target Market.  Realize that a Secondary Market, and maybe even a Tertiary Market, may fall out of your research.  That’s a good thing, because now you’re ready for future efforts.  If you’re as big as McDonald’s, you can have multiple primary markets. Think about it: Mickey D’s sells to children during cartoons with Ronald McDonald the clown.  They also sell to tired mothers on Friday afternoon drive time radio shows.  They sell fun and toys to the children, but convenience and stress-free to the moms.  See, for every audience you have to have a different campaign.  For now, focus on your primary market.

Previous marketers have been so kind to create four general areas by which you can target.  Please know, the more characteristics you can find, the more specific you can be in reaching your target.  Once you find your best target market, you can consistently and frequently advertise to them, increasing your chance of sales.

Demographics are often the easiest to define, but often the least useful.  Sorry, but that’s factual.  So, define the age, gender, education, income level, and other demographic information for your target.  Do NOT say, “everyone!”  You do not have the promotional budget to hit everyone.  The more focused you can be, the less you will pay in advertising.

Second is Geographic Segmentation.  With the joy of the internet, you can sell world-wide.  But do you want to?  If you’re a retailer or service organization, wouldn’t you prefer to sell to the people in your area?  Define that area.  Is it a 20 mile radius or a 40 mile radius?  How far people will travel to buy from you depends on how unique your services are.  If you are the only provider in a hundred mile radius, then there’s your geographic distribution.  If, however, you have competitors all over the place, then limit your marketing to your specific area.  Set yourself apart as the very best in your city or on your street or even on your block.  As you promote yourself in a small area, your reputation will float further out, but you won’t be paying for it.  Word of mouth will kick in when you truly offer the best service and products.  Word of mouth remains the single best form of advertising – it has no cost directly associated with it and the quality of a referral is beyond compare.

Now we start getting to the fun parts of targeting:  Benefits!  Similar to Behavioristic Segmentation, the concept is to find the reason people need your product or service.  For instance, some people only buy cakes for birthdays while others buy cakes for holidays.  Some buy toothpaste for taste while others choose toothpaste based on promises of whiter teeth.  Learn the reason people want to buy your service, and be the company that always provides exactly that benefit.  In my world as a Consultant, I provide a meeting summary to my clients, every time we meet.  During our time together, my clients do not have to do anything but sit and talk and listen.  When we first begin they often want to take notes, but they don’t need to, because they receive a written summary of the meeting.  Those summaries set me apart from other consultants.  Do people buy your products more during one season?  Find that season and promote hard.  Then, mirror those reasons in another season and promote again.

Last is Psychographic Segmentation.  I think this is often where the rubber meets the road.  Psychographics includes things like attitudes, interests, hobbies, and opinions.  When you figure out where the clients you want are spending their leisure time – whether it’s volunteering or at an event – you can then advertise at those places.  For instance, sporting events and operas both hand out programs.  Check out the advertisers on both programs.  For sporting events you’ll probably find ads for local bars and restaurants.  For the opera or symphony you’ll find ads for Mercedes dealers, furriers, and upscale jewelry.  These businesses have learned what their target market does in their off-hours.  This is why these businesses remain successful.

Knowing your target market is a huge part of your future success.  If, for example, you’re a Realtor with the theory that you can sell to anyone, I probably won’t recommend you, because I want a specialist for my friends and clients.  If you set yourself up as the premiere Realtor in a specific area, and truly know the school system and shopping district and utilities in that area, so you can be a true benefit to your clients, then you’re the one I will recommend.

Take time to list a few dozen characteristics and you will see that the best places for you to network, advertise, and promote your business will become evident. The joy of Target Marketing!

Lindy is a Business Consultant and Speaker for companies of all sizes and individuals of all levels.  In addition, she is an author and columnist.  Contact her at LMEarl@EarlMarketing.com.

Where Do We Get Drive?

July 11, 2018

By Lindy Earl

Drive is kind of an old-fashioned word.  We understand the verb immediately – it means get in your car and go.  What was once a huge and exciting event when we were 16 is now just a way to get where we’re going.

Yet, we all know people who seem to have an inner drive.  They have an internal pushing mechanism within them that makes them keep going. Even when everyone else is done, they just keep going.  Then, after seemingly little rest, they are back, ready to go again – longer, harder, stronger than others. We describe them as driven.

What is the source of their mystical power?  I think it can come from a number of places.  First, some people are just blessed with it.  They have an energy that they have to expend, and they choose to spend it on useful, functional areas, not video games or Instagram.

Second, I think that drive fuels drive.  I like the (anonymous – unless you know something that I don’t) quote, The harder I work, the luckier I get.  There is truth in these words!  And, as a person works and drives themselves harder and harder, they find their inner drive and push themselves even further.  We see it with athletes.  No five year old starts that driven – they have parents and coaches who encourage them.  It’s when they get a taste of success that they find their drive. We see it with adrenaline junkies.  We see it in the business world.  Success breeds success.  We are driven by our own accomplishments.

But what if you don’t seem to have drive within you?  Can you manufacture drive within yourself?  Definitely.  One way, catastrophes.  Hear me out.  As badly as it begins, it does get better.  You’ve heard of great charities, often raising money for a rare disease.  If you look into the history of these organizations, you sometimes find that they were founded and built due to the death of a child.  Parents who went through the horrible pain of losing their child now dedicate their lives to finding a cure, so other parents don’t suffer the same fate.  This is how they find their inner drive.

Sometimes the catastrophe isn’t quite as horrific, but the drive is equally strong.  I knew a woman who, after a divorce and being left a single mom of young children, became uniquely successful in the multi-level marketing world.  She was often asked to speak at events.  When asked how she did it, she never had an answer like, “I made 100 calls a day,” or “I never took no for an answer.”  She would shake her head and say, “I didn’t have any choice.  I had rent to pay and children to feed.”  The woman was driven by an outside force, children, and that became an inner drive.  While I don’t want anything bad to happen to you, maybe you can borrow a charity and find your drive.

You can create the drive within yourself.  Set goals using the 3 rules (attainable, given amount of time, measurable), then make yourself achieve them.  Do whatever it takes:  get up early, increase your discipline, work late, think outside of the box.  Once you achieve your goals, preferably before your self-imposed time, create new goals and start all over. Make it a game if that helps you.  Award yourself prizes, like a fun evening out or a special dessert or a new toy.  Charge yourself if you miss your goal – extra laps or no game this weekend.  Find your motivator that makes you a driven person.

Now, I realize that not all people are meant to be driven.  Those who are not, and have no wish to be, can say that they will never die of a heart attack.  They may be right.  So while we did learn where we can find drive, it doesn’t mean it’s for all people.  Still, lighting a fire under yourselves, or your employees, isn’t a bad idea.  You can call it something else, but the point is to get the job done.

Lindy is a Business Consultant and Speaker for companies of all sizes and individuals of all levels.  In addition, she is an author and columnist.  Contact her at LMEarl@EarlMarketing.com.

What Were You Mistaught?

 

July 4, 2018

By Lindy Earl

If you’ve read me for even a little while, you may recognize this title.  I first wrote on being mistaught from the Christian perspective.  I have spoken on being mistaught in relationships.  I’d like to address the idea of being mistaught in the business world.

Some of what we were taught turned out to be wrong, not because it was faulty information, but because the world changed.  They used to tell us to snail mail hundreds of resumes, and one would hit.  Or making hundreds of phone calls was the path to success.  With our technological changes, I’m no longer convinced these are always the best paths.

Let’s look at a simple example.  Were you taught that the definition of insanity is doing something the same way over and over but expecting a different result?  If so, please know that this is Einstein’s definition of insanity.  It is not the true definition of a neurological disorder. The medical definition is, Of unsound mind; severely mentally impaired.

There are legal definitions of insanity, too:  mental illness of such a severe nature that a person cannot distinguish fantasy from reality (law.com).  You were mistaught the definition, maybe even heard it repeatedly, thus accepted and believed it and possibly used the term incorrectly any number of times.

What other things have you been mistaught?  For instance, back in high school, did you ever hear the concept that if somebody goes into a crying fit they should be slapped repeatedly until they come around?  In fact, it is definitely not the right way to deal with a hysterical person.  The correct response is exactly the opposite: calmly speak to someone until they calm down.

Here’s another one: if you burn yourself you should put butter on the burn.  Silliest idea ever!  The butter can infect your injury so now you have double trouble.  So, how did these untruths come into commonality?  And, why do they persist?  We believe these things because they are taught by people in authority over us, such as parents or teachers.  Or maybe someone who sounded authoritative just took control and deemed something to be true.  That doesn’t make it so, but we accepted and believed ideas we shouldn’t have.

So the question becomes, how do we know if we were taught incorrectly?  One common sense way is to see what others are doing.  There is nothing wrong with being a sheep if you look ahead and see that the sheep are going in the right direction.  If, however, the sheep are being led to slaughter, get out of line!

The most important thing is to not pass on misinformation to other people.  In some cases, as we said above about getting a job, we need to accept that the hiring process has changed in the last generation.  You can tell people what worked 30 years ago, but recognize that it may not work as well today.

It may be more difficult, but if somebody makes an incorrect statement, you have a responsibility to gently correct them.  Smiling and nodding so you don’t offend someone is not helpful.  A gentle correction should be accepted and appreciated by an intelligent person.  If, instead, the person is angry with you, then recognize that you may not be dealing with the right person and move on.  At least you will know you tried.

When you hear something, stop and ask yourself: Does the person sharing the information have any credibility in this matter?  Einstein was a physicist, not a psychologist.  Second, does it make sense?  If it doesn’t, then move on.  Do you need to do any research to prove the validity?  I would, because I don’t want to hurt my reputation by passing along bad information.

The challenge is that we often don’t realize that information is incorrect.  Obviously, if we did, we wouldn’t accept it.  I’m sure there have been times when you knew something, only to have someone contradict you, and you accepted their erroneous information over your own.  Then you check and you prove to yourself that you were right, but it’s often too late to correct the person who shared bad intel.  Frustrating, huh?

The old, old adage, Don’t take any wooden nickels, was a warning to not be fooled.  I don’t think, in general, that people intelligently mislead us.  Sadly, poor information is out in the world – sometimes because information changes (the world is not flat), or because it was just wrong in the first place.

The last step, once you’re aware that you were mistaught, is to relearn the information correctly.  That can be hard!  You have years believing an untruth, so you need to remove the lies from your mind to allow space for the real truth.  It can be very difficult, but it’s possible.  I know from experience.  I continue to learn.

Lindy is a Business Consultant and Speaker for companies of all sizes and individuals of all levels.  In addition, she is an author and columnist.  Contact her at LMEarl@EarlMarketing.com.

The ABCs of a Tragedy

July 2018

Ah, the 4^th of July is coming.  A time to barbecue and see friends and watch Baseball and celebrate our nation’s independence.  But what was success for our country was a defeat, and a tragedy, for England. They lost their colonies, and they lost a portion of their income.  No longer were we paying taxes to the crown.

Have you contemplated that, often, in order for one to win, another must lose?  You want that promotion so badly, but if you get it, several others will not.  You win, they lose.  You want your team to make it to the Final Four or World Series or Super Bowl, but for the two teams that survive until the end, many were defeated along the way.  One person’s, or team’s, success is another’s tragedy.

Tragedy affects everyone.  Only a young child does not know some type of tragedy.  It could be the death of a loved one.  That’s a tragedy.  It may be something we caused ourselves, like flunking out of school due to non-participation.  That’s a tragedy!  It could be something where we did everything right, but still lost, such as the job that went to the Manager’s nephew when you were the better candidate.  Tragedy.

Throughout our lives, tragedies can take many forms and many degrees.  It could be a national tragedy, such as Military issues anywhere around the world or in our own country (911). It could be a personal tragedy, such as a divorce.  It could be financial, such as a job loss.  It could be a family tragedy, such as SIDS.

The degree could be severe – 3,000 lives lost in one morning on September 11^th.  It could affect many people or just a few.  It may be minor in terms of global tragedies, but it still hit you hard.  Two children can be affected very differently by a family loss.

Some people respond to tragedies with anger. Others are able to shrug their shoulders and move on.  Some people have to lay the blame at someone’s feet but never their own, but they need to blame someone.  What about you?  How do you react to tragedies?  Some people fall apart while others get stronger from the adversity.

I have three very basic steps, Christian steps, for you to try, ABC.

Attention –  When was the last time you had a good conversation with God?  I do not mean a prayer before a meal or a quick thank you.  In order to get past a tragedy, you want to have an intimate discussion with the Lord.  Give the Lord all your attention, and accept all of His.  Separate yourself from everyone, maybe in an empty room or car.  Remove distractions, starting with electronic devices, and include anything that will both you.  In my bedroom I have a stain on my carpet that has the most annoying habit of calling my attention.  If you are going to be distracted by anything or anyone, find another place.  And accept the Lord’s attention. You are that important to Him. Enjoy it.

Belief – You need to know, deep down in your heart, really recognize that God is in control.  If you’ve never done that, truly given your heart and your life over to the Lord, now is the time.  There’s also an ABC for salvation (Accept, Believe, Confess).  If you truly believe that the Lord is omniscient, then He already knew about your situation before it occurred.  Don’t worry about why it happened.  Accept it. Don’t ask the Lord why – it may not be in His plan to tell you. If He does, consider yourself extra blessed.  Truly believing that the Lord is in control of the situation allows you to relax.  It somehow makes dealing with the tragedy easier.  It also helps absolve you from unnecessary and undeserved guilt.

Commitment – Change your life.  Now is the time to pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and start all over again.  It’s the time for new beginnings.  Learn from the tragedy. Examine your feelings and the situation. Use this information to more intelligently and more intentionally live your life, closer to the Lord, closer to the way you want to live, closer to the person you want to be.  So, ask yourself some tough questions:  What are you doing right in your life? What are you doing wrong? Are you truly making good decisions, or only easy ones?  If you haven’t been taking a quiet time, or prayer time, or Bible study, or whatever you want to call it, now is the time to schedule it into your life.  You get to choose when, but choose a time when you can truly commit to it, every day.

Are there people in your life who don’t belong there (maybe people who encourage you to do things you’d rather not), or maybe there are not people who do belong (accountability partners maybe)? Who should you be listening to, not based on their willingness to agree with you, but based on their good decisions and Godly behavior?

What actions – exercise and diet, prayer time, discipline at work or school, do you need to implement and stick with?  Anyone can exercise once or diet for a day; anyone can be a non-complainer and good employee for a few hours.  I’m asking what actions do you need to set in motion that you will commit to doing on a regular basis (daily or a few times a week)?  Not only will these actions get you through your current tragedy, but they will set the tone for a better, happier life, and help prepare you for future challenges.

Tragedies come into everyone’s life.  We dislike them, but it’s better to deal with them than to ignore them.  It’s even better if we use the opportunity to grow from them.

What Are You Doing Wrong?

June 27, 2018

By Lindy Earl

Wow, what an uninspiring title for a Business blog. Don’t leaders tell us to find what we do well, and do more of it?  Didn’t Steve Jobs tell us to hire smart people and listen to what they have to say?

Why, then, are we looking at what we don’t do well? Maybe some mistakes we have not only made, but based on the present tense of the sentence, are continuing to make?

We have also heard Edison’s quote that he did not fail 700 times to create a lightbulb (ignoring the fact that the lightbulb had existed for 50 years and Edison was trying to find a filament to make the bulb functional, not create it), but that he succeeded 700 times in learning what did not work.  Yes, success comes from failure.

So, on a very small scale, and this is just about you, what are you doing wrong?  It could be something as simple as putting on your socks wrong.  Now, it doesn’t really matter if you wear your socks inside out or not, but if you do, you should know the right way.  I wear mismatched earrings every day.  I have for years.  Some people consider this wrong.  My response, when asked, is that “I am disinclined to resign to conformity” borrowed and altered from the Psych theme song.

What I’m asking is, what are you doing wrong that could be corrected, thus make you a more successful person?  Maybe you’re chronically late.  Even if you’re the boss, so can claim the meeting starts when you get there (durn it), it’s still rude and inconsiderate, thus wrong.  What can you do, starting now, to always be on time?  Will setting your clocks ahead help you?  I tried that as a child, although I didn’t have a tardiness problem, but it was just my effort to trick my brain that I was getting extra sleep. It wasn’t a good idea.  Do you need an accountability partner to force you on your way?  Maybe you simply need to gain competence in how long it takes to do things.

I had a friend, years ago, who was always late.  Always. Her excuse was that she was on island time, even though we lived in Ohio.  If you need an excuse for anything, you’re doing something wrong.  In her case, she thought she could get anywhere in five minutes.  My point, she couldn’t get her kids in the car in five minutes.  When I said this, I saw a light dawn in her eyes.  She had never allowed for anything but drive time, and even then she was often incorrect.  Once she realized she had to allow ten minutes to bundle her children into their coats and into the car, then drive, then get them out of the car and into a building, she realized why she was always late.  Until then, she had really believed she was leaving on time and there had to be some other reason, beyond her control, like traffic, that made her consistently late.

Maybe you can’t decide what to wear.  It’s not often an issue for me, but there have been times when I’ve dressed then changed my outfit completely, costing me time that is very dear in the morning.  A simple solution is to set your clothes out the night before.  That handles the morning rush, but it didn’t address the problem.  You may still spend far too much time in the decision process, you’ve simply moved the time involved to the night before.  Maybe that’s a sufficient fix.

I have known several guys (yes, all men, I’m not being sexist here), who solved this problem by basically buying and wearing the same clothes all the time.  In one case it was khaki pants and a blue shirt.  He had ten of each.  In another case it was jeans and a black shirt.  He threw them all in a drawer and grabbed one, never wondering if he had worn something similar too recently.

In my case, I solved this by rotating my clothes, even though I never really considered it a problem.  This idea, however, has saved me hours of time over the years and more than a few moments of anxiety.  If it’s a shorts day (today), I simply grabbed the next pair of shorts in my drawer, checked to be sure the next t-shirt in line coordinated, and I was ready to shower.  Easy.  The same works with my jeans, suits, and dresses.  It’s a system that solves what could be a time-wasting, irritating challenge:  what to wear?!

Your issues could be over food. They could be transportation – if you have a car that you’re not sure will get you to work, then admit you are doing transportation wrong and find a cure. It may take months or years to fully implement, but you’re on your way (no pun intended).

Your issues could be a more complex, like communication.  Is what you’re saying, and what the other person is hearing, not always the same?  Is information getting lost somewhere along the line?  Admit you’re doing something wrong and correct it.

Whatever you’re doing wrong, when you go to fix it, be sure you are aiming at the ends, and not the means.  If you want to lose weight, for instance, and you see chocolate (in my case) as the culprit, that’s the ends.  The truth is, taking in more calories than I expend is the problem.  So if you deprive yourself of chocolate, but substitute another food, anything from gummy bears to chips, you are not facing the challenge – too many calories.  And think out of the box – rather than deleting a loved food (yes, I love chocolate), maybe increase your caloric count by increasing exercise.  You can run after your cake and eat it too.

Even if you’re doing everything well, first, congratulations! Second, you might want to look again.  Even if you’re doing everything well, it doesn’t mean some things couldn’t be done better.  It’s also possible that while you believe that you’re doing everything well, others may disagree and have some very legitimate and helpful ideas.

The first place to look, to see what you’re doing wrong, is with the areas of your life where you are less happy or stressed.  If there aren’t any, then just keep your eyes open.  Is there someone at work who is always on top of things? Someone who always looks pulled together?  Somebody who seems to be ahead of the game?  Talk to them. Learn their secrets and implement what applies to you.  Some people have it all together because their children are grown and gone – that may not be something you can implement for another decade or so. You can get online and google Life Hacks.  Just learn what you can and apply what works.  It may take more than a few efforts, but in a short time, you’ll be more efficient and effective in whatever you try to do.

Lindy is a Business Consultant and Speaker for companies of all sizes and individuals of all levels.  In addition, she is an author and columnist.  Contact her at LMEarl@EarlMarketing.com.

The Worst Things About Work

June 20, 2018

Everyone has something about their job that they dislike.  Even if you have the perfect job, there is something you dislike.  Even if you have the best boss – maybe you work for yourself so have an absolutely brilliant boss – there are still some things you just dislike about your job.

For some it’s just having to get up in the morning.  If that’s the reason, then your issue is really not with your job.  It’s with your dislike of mornings.  So, please stop blaming your job because you’re not a morning person.

For some people it’s the commute – it may be long due to distance or traffic.  Again, that’s not the fault of your employer.  I realize that everyone can’t live close to work.  Some people intentionally move close to the office then change jobs.  Oh well.  Traffic is going to exist, and accidents will continue to happen.  You should certainly speak to the powers that be about changing your hours or working from home.  There are multiple options if you’re unhappy with your commute.

Some people have a challenge with their office environment.  It could be the corporate culture or some of the people at the office. Admit it!  You just don’t get along with everyone you meet, or work with.  If this is the case, you need to find a way of accepting, if not enjoying, your work environment.

What if it’s the actual work you dislike?  You thought you were being hired for one job, yet somehow tasks were added or taken away.  Dang.  That doesn’t seem right, yet there it is.

Maybe there’s nothing specific, but just a general dislike of working – you’re too smart for this role, you should have been promoted by now.

So, what do you get in exchange for these really irritating, absolutely horrible . . . wait.  When you look at these, doesn’t it seem that, when you look at them, they can all be dealt with?

Let’s get back to the last point, what do you get in exchange for the worst thing about work?  First, you get a paycheck.  Even if it’s not as much as you like, it’s more than you would have sleeping in and staying home.  In truth, you can’t live without a paycheck, so let’s have some gratitude for employment.

Second, you get to use your time, talents, abilities, physical labor, effort and energy, for something that matters.  You are a productive part of a productive system.  That should feel pretty durn good.  If you weren’t there, somebody else would have to be hired and trained to replace you.  You’re pretty important.  So maybe let’s find some pride in our productivity.

Third, you have a place to go multiple days a week.  I realize not everyone is working a full time job, but however many days you do work, it adds some good structure to your week.  Structure is a good thing.

Question:  do you have friends at work?  I’m guessing, unless you work alone, that there are people at work who you like and like you.  So, maybe some socialization is added to what we get from work.

Even if you don’t really like your work, I’m guessing you feel some accomplishment, at least on occasion.  It just feels good to get things done.  At the end of the day, you can count your day well spent, if you’re giving an honest effort.  Another good thing.

So, when we ask what’s the worst think about work, I believe the answer is, nothing, really.  You can enjoy your pay, pride in productivity, your importance, structure, socialization, and accomplishments.  It must be great to wake every day with all this waiting for you.  Enjoy your work.  Enjoy your life.

Lindy is a Business Consultant and Speaker for companies of all sizes and individuals of all levels.  In addition, she is an author and columnist.  Contact her at LMEarl@EarlMarketing.com.