I have always looked forward to two days of the year.  The first is Thanksgiving. Now, knowing what we have learned in the last decade or so in relation to Native Americans, there is a tainted feel about Thanksgiving, but, you cannot argue that Thanksgiving is a day where thanks is given for those you love, for what you have and for life itself.  It is not materialized like the other holidays, it is as pure a holiday as can be.  Thanksgiving has not been tainted by the material giant thankfully.  It is  a simple holiday where we give thanks, in any religion, race, creed or color.  Can we not do this for more things?  My other favorite day was the eve before Christmas.  What a special time.  I have always felt everyone was at their best on this day.  I was raised in a place that celebrated Christmas as a fantastic “end of year” celebration.  There was no politics, no hatred, no bad feelings, everything positive, a nice slide into the new year.  Remember, these feelings and memories are from when I was a kid.  Oh how I would love to feel those feelings again, without all the worry and uncertainty of today.  A lot can be learned from some past cinema.  How about we all decide to go into the new year like this…

“Be excellent to each other” “Bill and Teds Excellent Adventure”

Feedback is an interesting thing.  Sometimes you hope for it, sometimes, you pray it never comes.  That being said, feedback by itself, is a very important tool. Not only in the music world (pun intended) is feedback an important issue, but in the business world as well.  If you can handle it early, dial it in, well, everything will surely go better then expected.  If you are able to get to it early well, you are able to curb potential issues (infections) that could send your business off the rails.  Feedback is possibly the most important tool you have, it really only comes from your customers.

Feedback can be forced, surveys and what-not, but that is usually not the most useful.  Sure, you can blanket the particular market with call center’s and e-mail blasts, but what data, real data, are you getting?  More and more companies are baiting customers to give feedback with points or gift cards which makes the customer want to give a favorable rating so they don’t miss out on the 2500 points to their loyalty club membership, or whatever.  The best feedback a business, sales person or interviewee can get, is the hard, not asked for, or even better, asked for,  direct, in your face type of feedback.  Let’s face it, Yelp (TM) has changed the way we all go to market, in a good way.  We have all had to up our collective game, no?  I say YES!  It’s about time we all take a long, hard look at how we (by “we” I mean everyone in your business, our business, whatever business) go to market every day.  If you have to make some hard demands, make them.  If you have to make some tough choices, make them.  If you have to cut, then cut.  Grow, well then grow.  It may not seem the best time to do so but, is it ever?  If you have done your homework (and you have better done your homework), crunched the data, bit the darn bullet, then make these things happen.  Push NOW.   The rear view mirror is just that, what’s behind you.  Can you see your competition back there?

 

I have recently hired some new employees, both of whom are in the “younger” age bracket.  I guess I could say “Millennial” but I feel like that generation tag has a lot of unnecessary negativity attached to it so I prefer to say younger.   After working with, and training, my new hires, I’ve noticed a minor, yet disturbing, trend.  It seems whenever they go to the restroom throughout the day, the visit last’s anywhere from 10 to 20 minutes, and once or twice as long as 30.  Now, that being said, we are in a business where it is difficult to take a traditional break, so we take the time when we can.  Do you have to take your phone with you every time you go to the can?  I am a pretty easy going manager so, if one of my employees was to ask me to take a break, saying “no”, or “not now”, would never cross my mind.  I guess it kind of bothers me that they feel they have to take solace in the restroom instead of taking a traditional break.  Now, the part of all this that really rubs me raw, is the amount of time they spend on their phones in general.  If their phone was in a handbag or locker and they grabbed it to go to the bathroom for twenty minutes, I probably wouldn’t even notice, but that is not the case.  I don’t want to crush their enthusiasm by setting phone rules or some sort of boundary, but what else can be done, as it is becoming a bit difficult to find a younger person with enthusiasm toward work.

Is it just me, or are other business managers facing the same kinds of issues?  Am I some sort of nut that needs to relax and let things be what they are?  The work they do is not too bad but there are some mistakes that could clearly be headed off by paying a little more attention to detail.  I can’t imagine my boss coming to me saying “Hey sport, you’re  spending a little too much time in the bathroom”, I mean hey, err, thanks for noticing?  Signed: Swirling in cyberspace.

#Management101 #WhyYouNeedPhoneToPoo #insomnia

Why is that word so darn scary?  Just the look of that word creates an uneasy feeling in the gut.  Not in everyone of course, I mean, some folks are just wired in a way that the sight of that word is somehow motivational.  I tend to be a guy that thinks about all the many potential outcomes in any risky situation or commitment.  You can re-read that last sentence as, I try to find everything that could go wrong.   I personally think it smart to know what you are risking, or up against if you throw whatever it is you are risking out there.  I will admit, that way of operating has caused me to miss out on a few things that could have gone really well for me.  I have also been fortunate to have held back from a few things that would have made things quite bad for me.  So how do you know when to throw it all in?  I’ve been finding as I get older I am willing to risk more, and more often.  What is my point here you may be asking?  I think the new ad campaign for “The Wall Street Journal” say’s it best.  “Good things come to those who DON’T wait”  Sometimes, the greatest things in life happen when you close your eyes and jump.  That last sentence has nothing to do with bridges, just in case you were wondering.  #WhatTheHellIsHeTalkingAbout #MyAumakua #MakeMyBookAMovie #ScrapingBottom

How often have we all heard this statement?  Followed by all kinds of hopes and dreams.  I always like to ask “So, how much do you spend on lottery tickets a week”?  It surprises me how often people tell me that they spend a dollar a month, or even none at all.  When someone brings it up I would imagine they have a budget for tickets.  I mean, we all know that if you want to be successful in life, you have to have a plan and put the work in.  That includes winning the lottery.  You have to make the effort to purchase the ticket at the bare minimum.  This would be a good place for a side note that I do not feel that winning the lottery makes one successful.  My personal definition of success is just that, personal, like everyone else out there.  My point is, why sit around daydreaming about something that is truly impossible?  If you don’t purchase a ticket, don’t waste your time dreaming about it.  It’s like chewing gum for some nutritional value, not gonna happen.  What would you do if you won the lottery?  I actually purchase a ticket about twice a month so I can dare to dream a little.  It would be nice to have a little extra capital given to me for choosing some random numbers, I mean, talk about a return on investment, wow.

All this came up when a good customer came in this past week and asked me what I would do if I won the big prize.  I told him I wasn’t really sure what I would do if it actually happened.  He found it funny that I didn’t have a plan, being that he knows I am a guy that believes in ALWAYS having a plan.  In between other customers, I asked him the same question he asked me and boy oh boy did he have plans.  All sorts of plans.  Travel, philanthropy, cars, boats, real estate, you name it, he had plans to spend that money.  After listening to him for about ten minutes, I asked the question I like to ask everyone,  “So, how much do you spend on lottery tickets a week”?  His response floored me.  “Oh, I don’t play the lottery because I think gambling is a foolish waste of time and money”. #SundayFunday #MondayMotivation #myaumakua #LotteryLosers #WasteOfTime

I see.  Can I have my 20 minutes back please.

Seriously?

Today I came home from work, sat down in my home office and thought about all the projects I have.  All the “to-do’s”.  All the stuff that will take time to complete in a world dictated by the clock on the wall.  I thought about how I wish there was some surf so I could enjoy some quality time with my new board and the waves.  I thought about the books and screenplays I have going that are desperately pining for my attention.  I thought about the time management course I am taking on Linkedin Learning (which by the way is amazing and  It never hurts to click on any button or link that has “Learning” in the title).   I thought about how much time I work.  How much time I talk to friends and family.  I thought again about how much time I spend at work and wondered if I am managing that, the largest block of my day’s time, effectively.  The course I am taking want’s me to make a list of all of these things but, to be honest, I am kind of afraid to.  I mean, what if I make the list and it has so many unfinished things that I slip into shock or something?  I am taking the course for this very reason.  I feel like I am a fairly organized person but I think it wise to re-evaluate my list.  I was reminded today on social media just how fast time blows by.  A photo taken 6 years ago but seemed as though it was last week.  I definitely can stand to manage my time a little better.  After all, “Tomorrow is promised to no one” Walter Payton

decides to follow its suggested path laid out by the National Hurricane Center or not, it is sure to be bad for somebody.  I can’t help but feel anguish for the people of the outlying islands and Cuba (which as I write this are being pounded by this major storm).  These storms are given a name because they are truly alive.  The muscle their way through whatever they want and spare some for reasons that are tough to explain.  To all of my friends and family in the South East including the people of Cuba, stay alert and stay tough.  It is so hard being a spectator from the left coast.  Good luck everyone.

Last we spoke, I explained how I was “blocked” in writers terms.  I have been having a heck of a time getting my usually over-active imagination down on paper.  I tried to just muscle through it the way I do everything else, but didn’t have much luck.  I forced myself to sit down in front of this computer a few times and re-read my outline, re-read what I’ve already written and try to get the wheels turning again.  What I realized this week is that I have a great many things on my mind causing a “thought pile-up” in my head.  The company I work for was sold this week which brings a lot of uncertainty to the future.  I’m newly married and feel like I’ve been letting the stresses of my work life get in the way of my life life.  That one ends today.  I have also, finally, been able to get back out into the water surfing and paddling again after recovering from a broken rib.  It’s a lot of stuff to be dealing with.  I’ve been so “work focused” that I realized I need to go through the pile-up and clean it up, give it some organization.  I’ve gone ahead and started a new project that I plan to turn very quickly.  It will be a personal, business, career self-help style book similar to “Can’t Sell, Can Sell” I wrote a year or so ago.  I really write these things for myself, as strange as that may sound, but if they wind up helping someone else along the way, well that’s great.  I guess my way of fighting the stresses of my work life is to grab a hold of them and make them work for me, not against me any longer.  I looked into the mirror and we’ve decided that we know what to fix so there is truly no time like the present.  I need to get my but back on my bicycle.

Good day readers.  Doesn’t seem to be many of us around anymore.  Or is there? (key sinister music) I haven’t posted on my web page for quite some time.  Many things have changed in the recent past causing me to back up and reflect.  Went to Cuba, in the nick of time, closed now, wonderful, and quite beautiful place.

I got married as well, not in Cuba, so amazing and happy!

I came home and have been in a complete and total block.  Writers block that is.  Reading is one thing…a good thing…a GREAT thing.  Writing on the other hand is a little more complicated.  To have the imagination I have and not have the ability to put it on paper completely savages my soul.  I have been putting so  much physical and mental energy into my ten hour a day job that when I get home I no longer have time, or energy, to put my imagination onto paper.  I want to finish my first draft of my second novel so bad.  I am exhausted.

Have any advice?

I get to start a glorious two week vacation today.  It sort of figures that there is no surf to be had right now, but that may be a good thing.  According to the news, there are an awful lot of sharks hanging around the shoreline.  So many sightings in fact that several beaches in the area are closed.  I really wanted to go surf this morning, and would have, if there was any.  I stayed in and fired up the computer to see what, if anything, has been happening with my ever so neglected website http://www.ventsurfer.com  As it happens, something BIG happened.  I posted a blog about my aggravating time at the gym (yes, I noticed my mood as well and am fixing that) and an old friend made contact with me.  He and I were “thick as thieves” as they say back in the day.  His contact has actually made my heart sing!  If you read this one pal, lets figure out a way to get a call made, eh?  I truly cannot stress how wonderful a feeling it is to get that contact.  Its something we should all make time to do.  Find that friend you think about often and do a little detective work and make that contact.  You will be glad you did, but the person on the other end will be absolutely delighted.

I have got to go get packing now for our trip to Florida and a little side jaunt to Cuba.  Yes, the island nation that Americans are finally allowed to travel to directly from the U.S.  I am so very excited about this trip.  Look for a little “travel blog” to pop up from all this.  Be excellent to each other.