The THOUGHT for Today

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This section was compiled by Frank M. Painter, D.C.
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Eagle Service

No one can make you serve customers well.

That's because great service is a choice.

Harvey Mackay, tells a wonderful story about a cab driver that proved this point.

He was waiting in line for a ride at the airport. When a cab pulled up, the first thing Harvey noticed was that the taxi was polished to a bright shine. Smartly dressed in a white shirt, black tie, and freshly pressed black slacks, the cab driver jumped out and rounded the car to open the back passenger door for Harvey .

He handed my friend a laminated card and said: 'I'm Wally, your driver. While I'm loading your bags in the trunk I'd like you to read my mission statement.'

Taken aback, Harvey read the card.

It said: Wally's Mission Statement:
To get my customers to their destination in the quickest, safest and cheapest way possible in a friendly environment.

This blew Harvey away. Especially when he noticed that the inside of the cab matched the outside. Spotlessly clean!

As he slid behind the wheel, Wally said, 'Would you like a cup of coffee? I have a thermos of regular and one of decaf.'

My friend said jokingly, 'No, I'd prefer a soft drink.'

Wally smiled and said, 'No problem. I have a cooler up front with regular and Diet Coke, water and orange juice.'

Almost stuttering, Harvey said, 'I'll take a Diet Coke.'

Handing him his drink, Wally said, 'If you'd like something to read, I have The Wall Street Journal, Time, Sports Illustrated and USA Today.'

As they were pulling away, Wally handed my friend another laminated card, 'These are the stations I get and the music they play, if you'd like to listen to the radio.'

And as if that weren't enough, Wally told Harvey that he had the air conditioning on and asked if the temperature was comfortable for him.

Then he advised Harvey of the best route to his destination for that time of day. He also let him know that he'd be happy to chat and tell him about some of the sights or, if Harvey preferred, to leave him with his own thoughts.

'Tell me, Wally,' my amazed friend asked the driver, 'have you always served customers like this?'

Wally smiled into the rear view mirror. 'No, not always. In fact, it's only been in the last two years. My first five years driving, I spent most of my time complaining like all the rest of the cabbies do. Then I heard the personal growth guru, Wayne Dyer, on the radio one day.

He had just written a book called You'll See It When You Believe It . Dyer said that if you get up in the morning expecting to have a bad day, you'll rarely disappoint yourself. He said, 'Stop complaining! Differentiate yourself from your competition. Don't be a duck. Be an eagle. Ducks quack and complain. Eagles soar above the crowd.''

'That hit me right between the eyes,' said Wally. 'Dyer was really talking about me. I was always quacking and complaining, so I decided to change my attitude and become an eagle. I looked around at the other cabs and their drivers. The cabs were dirty, the drivers were unfriendly, and the customers were unhappy. So I decided to make some changes. I put in a few at a time. When my customers responded well, I did more.' 'I take it that has paid off for you,' Harvey said.

'It sure has,' Wally replied. 'My first year as an eagle, I doubled my income from the previous year. This year I'll probably quadruple it.

You were lucky to get me today. I don't sit at cabstands anymore. My customers call me for appointments on my cell phone or leave a message on my answering machine. If I can't pick them up myself, I get a reliable cabbie friend to do it and I take a piece of the action.'

Wally was phenomenal. He was running a limo service out of a Yellow Cab. I've probably told that story to more than fifty cab drivers over the years, and only two took the idea and ran with it. Whenever I go to their cities, I give them a call. The rest of the drivers quacked like ducks and told me all the reasons they couldn't do any of what I was suggesting.

Wally the Cab Driver made a different choice. He decided to stop quacking like ducks and start soaring like eagles.

How about us?

Smile, and the whole world smiles with you... The ball is in our hands!

A man reaps what he sows. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up... let us do good to all people.

Ducks Quack, Eagles Soar

Put the Big Rocks in First

A while back, I was reading about an expert on the subject of time management. One day this expert was speaking to a group of business students and to drive home a point, used an illustration those students will never forget.

As this man stood in front of the group of high-powered over achievers he said, “Okay, time for a quiz.”

Then he pulled out a one gallon, wide-mouthed Mason jar and set it on a table in front of him. Then he produced about a dozen fist sized rocks and carefully placed them into the jar, one at a time.

When the jar was filled to the top and no more rocks would fit inside, he asked, “Is this jar full?”

Everyone in the class said, “Yes.” Then he said, “Really?” He reached under the table and pulled out a bucket of gravel. Then he dumped some gravel in and shook the jar causing pieces of gravel to work down into the spaces between the big rocks.

Then he asked the group once more, “Is the jar full?” By this time the class was onto him. “Probably not,” one of them answered.

“Good!” he replied. He reached under the table and brought out a bucket of sand. He started dumping the sand in and it went into all the spaces left between the rocks and gravel. Once more he asked the question, “Is this jar full?”

“No!” the class shouted. Once again he said, “Good!” Then he grabbed a pitcher of water and began to put it in until the jar was filled to the brim. Then he looked up at the class and asked, “What is the point of this illustration?”

One eager beaver raised his hand and said, “The point is, no matter how full your schedule is, if you try really hard, you can always fit some more things into it!”

“No,” the speaker replied, “that's not the point.”

The truth this illustration teaches us is:

“If you don't put the big rocks in first, you'll never get them in at all.”

What are the “big rocks” in your life? Time with your loved ones? A project that YOU want to accomplish? Your faith, your education, your finances? A cause? Teaching or mentoring others? Remember to put these BIG ROCKS in your jar first, or you'll never get them in at all.

So, tonight or in the morning when you are reflecting on this short story, ask yourself this questions: “What are the big rocks” in my life?

Then.........put those rocks in your jar first!

“The Joy of Life”

“This is the joy of life, the being used up for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one: being a force of nature instead of a feverish, selfish little clod of ailments and grievances, complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy.

I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the community, and as long as I live, it is my privilege to do for it whatever I can.

I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work, the more I live. Life is no “brief candle” to me. It is sort of a splendid torch which I have got hold of for a moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations.”

-George Bernard Shaw

Winner's Circle Network with Lou Tice

“Great Leaders”

What makes great leaders great? Is it the number of people following them? Or could it be something else? What do you think a good leader does? Run the show? Tell others what to do? My friend Chris Braiden, who was Superintendent of Police Services in Edmonton, Canada, has some interesting ideas about leadership.

He believes, and I agree, that great leaders are really servants. Their function is not to command, but rather to remove barriers so that those around them can do their jobs better. Leaders don't start out leading. They start out serving others, and because of their character and effectiveness, others push them forward to lead.

Something I've noticed as I've studied leadership over the years is that great leaders naturally develop those around them and teach them to be leaders too. They do it all the time, because competition or the new generation coming up behind them does not threaten them.

Great leaders earn the trust of those who follow them. It wouldn't occur to a great leader to think of the people he or she leads as subordinates or in any way inferior. They respect the unique talents and worth of every individual, and can step aside and allow someone more qualified to lead when the situation calls for it.

Great leaders are not in a quest for personal power. They are, though, passionate about their purpose and can inspire others to feel strongly as well. What do you think? Who qualifies as a great leader in your book?

- Lou Tice
The Pacific Institute
http://www.loutice.com

The Time to Act

by Jim Rohn

Engaging in genuine discipline requires that you develop the ability to take action. You don't need to be hasty if it isn't required, but you don't want to lose much time either. Here's the time to act: when the idea is hot and the emotion is strong.

Let's say you would like to build your library. If that is a strong desire for you, what you've got to do is get the first book. Then get the second book. Take action as soon as possible, before the feeling passes and before the idea dims. If you don't, here's what happens -

- You Fall Prey To The Law Of Diminishing Intent -

We intend to take action when the idea strikes us. We intend to do something when the emotion is high. But if we don't translate that intention into action fairly soon, the urgency starts to diminish. A month from now the passion is cold. A year from now it can't be found.

So take action. Set up a discipline when the emotions are high and the idea is strong, clear, and powerful. If somebody talks about good health and you're motivated by it, you need to get a book on nutrition. Get the book before the idea passes, before the emotion gets cold. Begin the process. Fall on the floor and do some push-ups. You've got to take action; otherwise the wisdom is wasted. The emotion soon passes unless you apply it to a disciplined activity. Discipline enables you to capture the emotion and the wisdom and translate them into action. The key is to increase your motivation by quickly setting up the disciplines. By doing so, you've started a whole new life process.

Here is the greatest value of discipline: self-worth, also known as self-esteem. Many people who are teaching self-esteem these days don't connect it to discipline. But once we sense the least lack of discipline within ourselves, it starts to erode our psyche. One of the greatest temptations is to just ease up a little bit. Instead of doing your best, you allow yourself to do just a little less than your best. Sure enough, you've started in the slightest way to decrease your sense of self-worth.

There is a problem with even a little bit of neglect. Neglect starts as an infection. If you don't take care of it, it becomes a disease. And one neglect leads to another. Worst of all, when neglect starts, it diminishes our self-worth.

Once this has happened, how can you regain your self-respect? All you have to do is act now! Start with the smallest discipline that corresponds to your own philosophy. Make the commitment: “I will discipline myself to achieve my goals so that in the years ahead I can celebrate my successes.”

To Your Success,
Jim Rohn

Thanks to Steve Chaney for sharing this!

Winner's Circle Network with Lou Tice  

“Bouncing Back from Adversity”

When adversity strikes, whether it be loss of your job, an illness, a natural disaster or when you take a big hit that really knocks you off your feet for a while, how fast you get up again depends on a number of things such as:

· How good your support network is,
· How solid your self-esteem is,
· The extent to which you believe that you can control your own destiny, and
· Your experiences of overcoming adversity in the past.

If you want to shorten the time it takes to get back on your feet, try this:

· Ask yourself how it will look when you no longer have your current problems.
· Spend time visualizing yourself in that picture and imagining how you'll feel.
· Do it over and over, day after day, week after week.
· List your strengths and past accomplishments and add to it on a daily basis.

At the same time,
· Set and prioritize some immediate, short-term goals to improve your situation.
· Write a detailed plan of action for the top three, including day and time.

Once you've accomplished a few short-term goals, you may feel ready to do some long-term visioning and goal-setting. Finally - and this is important - no matter how much you've lost, take time to help someone else who is struggling. Even the worst adversity can be used to learn and grow.

- Lou Tice
The Pacific Institute
http://www.loutice.com

A person is limited only by the thoughts that he chooses

“A person is limited only by the thoughts that he chooses.” - James Allen, As A Man Thinketh

You are not limited to the life you now live. It has been accepted by you as the best you can do at this moment. Any time you're ready to go beyond the limitations currently in your life, you're capable of doing that by choosing different thoughts.

We each earn the income we do today because that is the amount we have limited ourselves to earn. We could easily earn 5, 10, 20 times more if we did not limit ourselves through the thoughts we maintain.

Don't believe that's true? Surely you know people who earn much more than you who don't have your education, your skills, or your intelligence. So why do they earn more than you?

I love the story of George Dantzig that Cynthia Kersey wrote about in Unstoppable.

As a college student, George studied very hard and always late into the night. So late that he overslept one morning, arriving 20 minutes late for class. He quickly copied the two math problems on the board, assuming they were the homework assignment. It took him several days to work through the two problems, but finally he had a breakthrough and dropped the homework on the professor's desk the next day.

Later, on a Sunday morning, George was awakened at 6 a.m. by his excited professor. Since George was late for class, he hadn't heard the professor announce that the two unsolvable equations on the board were mathematical mind teasers that even Einstein hadn't been able to answer. But George Dantzig, working without any thoughts of limitation, had solved not one, but two problems that had stumped mathematicians for thousands of years.

Simply put, George solved the problems because he didn't know he couldn't.

Bob Proctor tells us to “keep reminding yourself that you have tremendous reservoirs of potential within you, and therefore you are quite capable of doing anything you set your mind to. All you must do is figure out how you can do it, not whether or not you can. And once you have made your mind up to do it, it's amazing how your mind begins to figure out how.”

And that's worth thinking about.

Thanks to Steve Chaney for sharing this!

Slow Dance

This poem was written by a terminally ill young girl in a New York Hospital. It was sent by a medical doctor.

SLOW DANCE

Have you ever watched kids
On a merry-go-round?
Or listened to the rain
Slapping on the ground?

Ever followed a butterfly's erratic flight?
Or gazed at the sun into the fading night?
You better slow down.
Don't dance so fast.
Time is short.
The music won't last.

Do you run through each day
On the fly?
When you ask How are you?
Do you hear the reply?

When the day is done
Do you lie in your bed
With the next hundred chores
Running through your head?

You'd better slow down
Don't dance so fast.
Time is short.
The music won't last.

Ever told your child,
We'll do it tomorrow?
And in your haste,
Not see his sorrow?

Ever lost touch,
Let a good friendship die
Cause you never had time
To call and say,“hi”

You'd better slow down.
Don't dance so fast.
Time is short.
The music won't last.

When you run so fast to get somewhere
You miss half the fun of getting there.
When you worry and hurry through your day,
It is like an unopened gift....
Thrown away.

Life is not a race.
Do take it slower
Hear the music
Before the song is over.

Thanks to Mary Steen for sharing this!

Take a Pause

Take a “Positive Pause”

Thanks to Andrea Worth for sharing this!

George Carlin's View on Aging

Do you realize that the only time in our lives when we like to get old is when we're kids?

If you're less than 10 years old, you're so excited about aging that you think in fractions. “How old are you?” “I'm four and a half!” You're never thirty-six and a half. You're four and a half, going on five! That's the key.

You get into your teens, now they can't hold you back. You jump to the next number, or even a few ahead. “How old are you?” “I'm gonna be 16!” You could be 13, but hey, you're gonna be 16!

And then the greatest day of your life . . . you become 21. Even the words sound like a ceremony . . YOU BECOME 21! YESSSS!!!

But then you turn 30. Oooohh, what happened there? Makes you sound like bad milk. He TURNED; we had to throw him out. There's no fun now, you're just a sour-dumpling. What's wrong? What's changed?

You BECOME 21, you TURN 30, then you're PUSHING 40.

Whoa! Put on the brakes, it's all slipping away. Before you know it, you REACH 50 . . . and your dreams are gone.

But wait!!! You MAKE it to 60. You didn't think you would!

So you BECOME 21, TURN 30, PUSH 40, REACH 50 and MAKE it to 60.

You've built up so much speed that you HIT 70! After that it's a day-by-day thing; you HIT Wednesday!

You get into your 80s and every day is a complete cycle; you HIT lunch; you TURN 4:30; you REACH bedtime. And it doesn't end there.

Into the 90s, you start going backwards; “I was JUST 92.”

Then a strange thing happens. If you make it over 100, you become a little kid again. “I'm 100 and a half!”

May you all make it to a healthy 100 and a half!!


HOW TO STAY YOUNG

1. Throw out nonessential numbers. This includes age, weight and height. Let the doctor worry about them. That why you pay him/her.

2. Keep only cheerful friends. The grouches pull you down.

3. Keep learning. Learn more about the computer, crafts, gardening, whatever. Never let the brain idle. “An idle mind is the devil's workshop.” And the devil's name is Alzheimer's.

4. Enjoy the simple things.

5. Laugh often, long and loud. Laugh until you gasp for breath.

6. The tears happen. Endure, grieve, and move on. The only person who is with us our entire life, is ourselves.

Be ALIVE while you are alive.

7. Surround yourself with what you love, whether it's family, pets, keepsakes, music, plants, hobbies, whatever. Your home is your refuge.

8. Cherish your health: If it is good, preserve it. If it is unstable, improve it. If it is beyond what you can improve, get help.

9. Don't take guilt trips. Take a trip to the mall, to the next county, to a foreign country, but NOT to where the guilt is.

10. Tell the people you love that you love them, at every opportunity.

AND ALWAYS REMEMBER:

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.


Thanks to Wendy Kerr for sharing this!

Winner's Circle Network with Lou Tice  

“Peace on Earth”

Today is Veteran's Day in the U.S. and Remembrance Day in Canada. It is a day when we take a moment to remember those who fought and, for some of us, those who gave up their lives, so that peace might one day reign on earth. However, peace is not a “one day a year” job, something we talk about during the holidays but do little about during the other 364 days of the year.

Some people believe that peace on earth is impossible. They say war and conflict have always been part of human existence and that peace is not in our makeup. But I'm not so sure. When I look at a newborn baby, who is getting its basic needs met, I see the face of peace. When I look at people who are doing meaningful work in the world by helping others, I see the hands of peace. And when I hear people talk about changing their lives for the better, by encouraging their own positive thoughts, I hear the voice of peace.

You see, peace is not something that we need to have happen in the Middle East or some other geographical location. It's something much more immediate and personal.

Peace is an idea that lives or dies inside you. If you want peace on earth, stop fighting. Live your life according to your deepest values and allow others to do so, too. If they don't agree with you, fine. If they want to argue or make trouble, leave them alone. Don't expect perfection from yourself or from others, and keep peace alive within your heart.

When it happens, peace on earth will occur - one person at a time. And the only one you have absolute control over is you.

- Lou Tice
The Pacific Institute
http://www.loutice.com

Attitude Adjustment

One Precious Day     There is no such thing in anyone’s life as an important day. A friend of mine always used to say that any day above ground was a great day. No matter what you have to do today you can choose to do it with an attitude of gratitude for the opportunities it will bring you. Some days are filled with fun and sometimes they are difficult, some days have sorrow and grief in them and with the passage of time even those days will again be filled with love and joy. If your day seems to be one of those days that follows Murphy’s Law (if anything can go wrong it will) the best defense is a sense of humor. Ask yourself, Will this matter 5 years from now? Usually it will not and when you put your challenges into that perspective it is easier to find humor in the foolishness of wasting one of your precious days in a ‘funk.’

Make a decision now to appreciate each and every day of your life, find the lesson in your challenges and to see the beauty in life..it is all around us. Enjoy this precious day.

Thanks to Pat Gayman, D.C.! Receive her e-mail from drempoweru@earthlink.net

“A New Idea”

A new idea

is first condemned

as ridiculous

and then is dismissed as trivial,

until finally

it becomes

what everybody knows.

––William James

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Since 1-01-1999

Updated 3-12-2014