Happy Thanksgiving

Of course, we say thanks today for everything.  We are thankful for things that we are not even aware are blessings in our lives.

I guess that as long as we are thankful to God for everything, that covers it.  It is really not possible to count your blessings because there are so many.

I am also thankful for everyone in my life and I mean everyone!

Happy Thanksgiving and Thank You Lord for Everything!

Teamwork and truths about it

Many years ago, when I was coaching young kids in baseball, softball, and basketball, some people, mostly parents would say thinks that I though were curious.  They said things like "c'mon kids play together as a team" or "there is no I in team."

I thought back then that there is something fundamentally wrong about these statements and now that I am older and, hopefully wiser, I understand it a little better. 

Yes, teamwork is essential to success in sports as well as in business.  However, it is clear that all individuals have unique talent and sets of talents.  Bringing these talents together for a common good is the job of a leader.

In his book Go Put Your Strengths to Work, author Marcus Buckingham puts into works some of the notions I have had about teamwork.  In this book Marcus discusses some key myths about success and one of them specifically involves teamwork.  He states it like this:  Myth - a good team member does whatever it takes to help the team.

Truth - a good team member deliberately volunteers his or her strengths to the team most of the time.  Further, a great team member is not well rounded.  The great team is well rounded, precisely because each team member is not.

Well said, Marcus.

Your Strengths

The latest book that I am reading in the Strengths series by Marcus Buckingham is Go Put Your Strengths to Work.  As I have said often, we all have strengths.  Often we are not clearly aware of our strengths.

My advice is for everyone to understand their strengths and put them to use.  Whether it is in your personal life or in your career, you have the opportunity to utilize your God-given talents to improve your career, your relationships, and your overall life experience.

I recommend this series and this book.  There will be more reports as I read through it.

What's Really Holding You Back

When I saw a brief interview of Valorie Burton on a TV news show, she got my attention enough for me to buy her book "What's Really Holding You Back?"  I am very glad that I did.

I strongly recommend this book for everyone, especially if you feel that you are in a gap between where you are and where you want to be.  Even if you believe that you are where you want to be in life, I still recommend the book.

In this book, Valorie, gives chapter after chapter of great advice on gaining and maintaining balance in your life while moving forward with your career and your life goals.  She speaks of five main focus areas and they are:  your relationships, your career, your finances and resources, your physical health and environments, and your spiritual life.

If you are a Christian, you should find this book especially enriching.  You can find it at this link at Amazon.com or probably in your bookstore.

The Referral of a Lifetime

I recently read this book by Tim Templeton which is a very cleverly written book about improving your business relationships to change your fortunes.  It is a fictional setting but it offers many factual business ideas designed to transform the way that you interact with business partners, associates, customers, friends, and more.

Without gettng into a lot of detail, the author leads you to clearly examine your prospect list, organize them, and communicate regularly with them.  But it is a lot more than that.  If you are involved with customers, prospects, or relationships of any kind, I recommend this book.  http://amzn.to/nCm1T1

Just about every waking moment ...

... of your life offers you an opportunity to reach out to someone else and let them know that you care.  It will make a big difference to them.  Politics aside, differences aside, apprehensions aside, let someone know that you care by understanding them, by listening to them, by showing that you care.

Everyone needs others.  It takes an effort to understand others and to communicate even when it is difficult.  But we all need to have mentors and advisors and it may often be you.  So, don't miss the opportunity.

Your time is valuable ...

Many people like to be do-it-yourselfers.  Power to you all  I admire people who can fix things, and build things, and make all the arrangements for things all by themself.  These are talents.

Here is how I see it, though. Your time, every minute of it, is an investment.  If you feel that doing work by yourself around your home is the best investment of your time, then that is great.  If you feel that you need to take control of situations and see them through to finish and that works for you, then fine.

Just keep in mind, that every moment you spend trying to maximize your savings by doing it yourself, you are not doing something else that just could be a better investment of your time.  When you look at the big picture, always consider what the return on investment of your time will be.  Your time is actually more valuable than your monetary wealth.  Spend it wisely.