… Eliminate the negative.

So let me ask you: if you were really interested in, say, learning a new language and the first thing your language teacher said was, “This is going to be really hard and you’re never going to be fluent, but you may be able to learn to understand when someone gives you directions,” would you still keep going to class? Would your heart be a little pained because your happy dreams had been stomped on?

(Okay, that first sentence was really long. Sorry.)

I bring this up because I just got back from getting some work done at a medical massage clinic here in town. As I was waiting for my turn, I overheard a therapist “answering questions” in a bored tone of voice about the clinic’s approach to massage.

“Accentuate the Positive …” continues »

The long and short of it is I miss you.

You and I used to chat every time you called. You’d tell me how you were doing, how your business was doing, what your plans were. I loved to talk to you. When I got to visit with you for two minutes I could do my job better. I had an idea of the challenges you faced and what tools or ideas you needed to help you succeed. Just like when you talk to your clients before you begin your work with them.

Between us, you and I came up with some pretty good ideas. The absolute best phone calls for me were when you called back to tell me our original thought didn’t do so well, but you had tweaked a few things and now you were merrily rolling along. (I loved that. You took the time to call and you tailor-made my advice to fit you. Nice.)

“I’ve Missed You” continues »