by LT MarathonGirl | Jan 3, 2014 | Uncategorized
“Hey Type A girl, it’s just the driveway. You don’t need to get all of the snow off.”
What? But, I am shoveling the driveway and my work is a reflection of me and did you see the neighbors driveway? How about wanting to set a good example for our son who is making money shoveling snow? Do we want to set the bar so low that we can’t look our neighbors in the eye this spring because our son saw mommy do a crappy job on the driveway and he felt that was how it should look when he was out working for real money? Hey, he owes us a ton of dough for hacking our xbox live account and buying all of those games. He needs to be the best snow shoveler in town or we’ll never see that money.
Type A isn’t the problem. Wanting to do everything with excellence should be celebrated. Mediocrity is the problem. Do one job poorly and the world doesn’t come to an end so you put a little less attention into the next job and then the next and all of a sudden you aren’t performing at your best at anything. Getting it back. That is tough. Never getting there by refusing to settle for mediocrity. That is much easier.
How many people today are making a New Year’s resolution to get back something they lost?
- get out of debt
- get back to the gym
- get a new career
- lose 10 pounds
- quit smoking
How did it start? We let one little detail slide and all of a sudden we wake up one day in debt or with a little pouch in our belly. We all make choices. If you don’t want to see both lanes in the driveway. That’s ok. Just don’t hate me because I am Type A.
by LT MarathonGirl | Dec 20, 2013 | Uncategorized
How is it that some people get so much farther ahead than others? Some executives complete endless projects while some make projects endless. Some moms and dads get breakfast made, kids clothed, school bags packed, 2 loads of laundry done, kitchen cleaned up, grocery shopping complete and all of the errands run, all before 1:00 when others are just getting started at 1:00.
It would be easy to say, they have more help, they have better genes, magic worker fairies secretly appear
and get stuff done for them. Here’s their real secret. Are you ready? They make To-Do lists. Successful people set goals and put them in writing and the majority of them make daily To-Do lists.
Why create daily To-Do lists?
- To prioritize what you focus your time on.
- To eliminate procrastination.
- To be the driver of your own bus
- To achieve more of your goals.
Knowing this, but not diligent about doing it EVERY day myself I went searching for a To-Do app for my iPad. I read a review from Lifehack and went with their top pick. Instantly I was in love with their pick Any.do. It has everything you could want
- It’s free
- It’s simple
- It’s visual
- It sends you rewards for using the app
- And ….it does this (I don’t even know what to call it, but I love it)
Happiness is an app calling you gorgeous every day. The message changes throughout the day: “Good morning Gorgeous”, “Good day Princess”. A girl could get used to getting spoiled by her app. It just makes me smile and makes me want to use the To-Do list.
Is one of your resolutions to get more stuff done?
by LT MarathonGirl | Dec 17, 2013 | Uncategorized
The hubby and I enjoyed a feel good movie on date night this week, Delivery Man with Vince Vaughn. Man, he is tall! If you were wondering, just like me, is he really that big or is everyone else puny? Vince Vaughn is 6’5″. As you can tell, it was lady’s choice. Even though it averaged about 2 stars in the ratings, to all the men out there who might not want to go to this movie, you will leave the theater feeling good. Take your wife, girlfriend, significant other…the night will end good for you ;).
There is a part of the movie that really got me thinking this holiday season.
Vince Vaughn’s character visits one of his biological children in a nursing home. The nurse coaxes him with this advice, “just tell him whatever you are thinking.” After spending the entire day with the boy he is leaving the facility and passes by the nurse again. He says to her “I didn’t say one word.” She replies, “you did good.”
There are a lot of people out there who need our help and not just financially. They just need someone by their side. You may know a few. A neighbor, a distant relative, maybe the parent, aunt, uncle, or grandparent of a friend who doesn’t make it home for the holidays anymore. What would it take to ask them to join you for a cup of coffee.
Maybe it’s not someone you know, maybe it’s a stranger. My husband and I were in a Starbucks in the heart of the D. At the table beside us was two men. One, was clearly living on the streets. He wore a shoe on one foot and one half of a boot on the other. His companion had clean clothes and cash. They talked like they were old friends. I marveled at the mutual respect the two men shared. Both left the coffeehouse feeling great about themselves.
I am not recommending that you go to Detroit and befriend the first person you come across on a corner, but for those who want to make a difference, there are plenty of opportunities to do so.
Detroit area volunteer opportunities:
Children’s Hospital Volunteers provide a wonderful gift to patients and their families by offering their time, their presence, their smile, and kind gestures that can draw a smile or even a giggle from the child, making their day as normal and happy as possible.
A Time to Help A Time To Help has staged more than 100 monthly projects ranging from building houses, delivering meals, beautifying city streets, running adoption fairs, repairing homeless shelters, packing food, and hosting an annual Christmas party to a shelter for battered women.
Assistance finding a place to volunteer:
Volunteer Match Find a cause that lights you up. Get in touch with a nonprofit that needs you.
Network for Good Some of the best reasons to give are the ones you may not have considered — the ones that make it worth your while to go that extra step. People who have spent time volunteering for a cause report that they get back in satisfaction and joy more than they ever expend in inconvenience or effort — what you get back is immeasurable.
by LT MarathonGirl | Nov 4, 2013 | Uncategorized
successful
trustworthy
well dressed
reputable
expert
having integrity
funny
reliable
smart
relatable
….and many more
These are all characteristics that can describe one’s persona. Who you are, or at least how you are perceived. They describe what you stand for and what people can expect from you. As a sales leader I believe in representing yourself at your personal best all of the time; however, a term that is over-used and abused is “personal brand”. Why this term came about to describe one’s personal image is beyond me. It almost seems like an oxymoron.
Personal – human, intimate, living
Brand – product, thing, inanimate
Do Not Brand Me
Here are a few definitions for brand. When you read through them it’s hard to believe that any person would desire to have a “personal brand”.
-
a particular product or a characteristic that serves to identify a particular product
-
kind, grade, or make, as indicated by a stamp, trademark
-
a mark made by burning or otherwise, to indicate kind, grade, make, or ownership
-
a mark put upon criminals with a hot iron
-
any mark of disgrace; stigma.
Here’s another undesirable definition for the word brand
6. a fungal disease of garden plants characterized by brown spots on the leaves
There are only 57 days left to 2013. Take a personal inventory.
-How do you want people to see you?
-What do you want them to say about you when you leave the room?
-How do you think that this differs from reality?
-What can you do about it to make their perception of you match the image you want them to see?
by LT MarathonGirl | Oct 16, 2013 | Uncategorized
A couple of months ago I had car trouble and was choosing between the expensive repair costs and replacing the vehicle. I drive a tremendous number of miles each day and reliability is extremely important to me. Talking through my options with a coworker, he recommended a salesperson who he and another colleague highly endorsed. Since the salesman worked at the dealership that I wanted to make my purchase from anyway it was a no brainer. This dealership has a cafe. It has a shopping boutique with clothing, jewelry and baubles. And, get this, it has a full service spa. Heck, yeah! That’s where I want to shop for a car.
When my husband and I arrived and asked for the salesman we were told that he was “three deep”. The sales lingo didn’t bother me a bit since I deal with it every day. We looked around the showroom while we waited for him to assist the three other customers. Everyone was nice, said “hello”, and smiled as they hurriedly walked by. We were quickly greeted by another associate who was filled in on our story. They knew who we were waiting for, what cars I wanted to test drive, and was going to make arrangements to get us on the road to try them out.
Awesome service, but . . .
I didn’t know who they were and by their appearance I couldn’t tell what role they played at the dealership. Appearing out of nowhere; no clues to discover their identy could be found by their work station. The salespeople at the dealership seemed to have a casual dress code, but this person was not just casual. They were sloppy. Wrinkled clothing, untucked shirt, unkept hair, I could go on, but you get it. This was not a great representative for a dealership that was state of the art.
This left me mind boggled.
Who was this person?
What is their position with the dealership?
Don’t they see what their peers look like?
How does their boss allow this?
Are they the part of the housekeeping staff?
If the above question is true then kudos to the leadership team for crosstraining them so well.
Take a look around you. Who are the best dressed? Who are the worst dressed? Where would you place yourself on the spectrum; closer to the best or the worst?
Myths about dressing for success.
- It is expensive. You can look sharp without breaking the bank.
- Casual Fridays are a good thing. Casual leads to casualties.
- Your work is more important than your appearance. First impressions are everything and if you are going to move on to larger roles what your employees think of you is important.
- I don’t have to look better until I get that promotion. If you are not paying attention to the details now, that promotion may never come. How you look represents your companies image. Would they put you on a company billboard?
