MEASURING....

The world of the generous gets larger and larger; the world of the stingy gets smaller and smaller.The one who blesses others is abundantly blessed; those who help others are helped. Proverbs 11:24-25

                                                                                                                (via seth godin)

ENGAGING Progress!

engaging –verb - to occupy the attention or efforts

progress –noun - a movement toward a goal

I have not been blogging much lately but for good reason, we are working on what I think is a very big idea and project for our company.  It has consumed most of my waking hours (and a lot of my sleeping hours).  Our team has made a lot of progress lately and I hope to share with you soon the good news and the launch of this venture.  As I was sharing this new idea with a friend, I made the comment that somedays it seems like we move forward and make a lot of progress and then there are days there seems to be no progress!

He responded with a unique statement:

I feel I don't make progress most days.  I have made it a goal to be incredibly informed about task management, leadership,  and project execution.  I read everything I can get my hands on in this subject area.  In short, in the area of engaging progress, I feel like the guy who is always planning but never executing. All of my reading has not made me more efficient … it seems to have made me less so, on most fronts I don't feel like a productive person at all.  But I want to live a life of forward progress.....reach my potential.....impact the world!

I get where he is..... I don't know about you but I have been there, lots of knowledge and potential but no progress.

“You’re not supposed to die with your potential. A life well-lived squeezes all the potential placed within and does something with it.” – Erwin McManus

How do we utilize our potential and do something with it?  I think there are many times the task in front of us whether it is personal or business is too overwhelming, too big, maybe even intimidating.  So we either do nothing or we attack with a flurry of activity with no progress.

A few quotes come to mind:

Plans are only good intentions unless they immediately degenerate into hard work. -Peter Drucker

How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. - unknown

The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step. -Lao Tzu

I know I hear what your saying, "hey stop throwing quotes at me.....that is not helping".  Your probably right, so, I have a new word for us....maybe it will help give application to taking that first step on our journey in engaging progress.

Kaizen.

Kaizen is a Japanese term for a Chinese concept. The gist of its meaning is; continuous improvement by slow degrees of change. It has applications in quality improvement (at least in the US) but can be applied to many disciplines. You don’t set out to be perfect immediately. Start with what you have and slowly improve it through continuous/ daily actions.

Ok that's it.....nothing magical, or miraculous, just being consistent and working toward the next step and engaging progress. 

Seems to be the theme of my life at the moment :-)

Anticipating the SWELL FOOP!

 

Have you ever said something and then wondered what it meant or where it came from?  This happened to me in a conversation this week....I said, 

"I am hoping it could all happen in one fell swoop" to which the person I was talking to said, 

"or one swell foop". 

We had a good laugh and moved on but later I thought.....what does fell swoop mean or swell foop for that matter?  I decided to look it up just in case someone asked me...."what are you talking about?"  :-)

The phrase is one of those fixed expressions that we hardly think about most of the time. It means all at once, suddenly. It’s been around in the language for at least 400 years. Shakespeare is first recorded as using it, in Macbeth: when Macduff hears that his family has been murdered, he says in disbelief:

All my pretty ones?
Did you say all? O hell-kite! All?
What, all my pretty chickens and their dam
At one fell swoop?

The image that Shakespeare’s audience would have brought to mind at once was a falcon plummeting out of the sky to snatch its prey.

While I am enlightening myself, I might as well go all the way with this and figure out what "one swell foop" means.  This is called a "spoonerism".  A spoonerism is an error in speech or deliberate play on words in which corresponding consonants, vowels, or morphemes are switched . It is named after the Reverend William Archibald Spooner (1844–1930), Warden of New College, Oxford, who was notoriously prone to this tendency.

Ok, now we know and here is my thought about 

"fell swoops"; they rarely happen!

Things rarely get fixed "suddenly". But we do live in a world of instant gratification, don't we? We want it to happen NOW!

 

We would like for things to happen "instantaneously". 

Everything to be fixed in one moment. 

A miracle!

But the truth is, most of the big things that happen come from doing things one day, one hour, one moment at a time!

A quote from the talented Danny Kaye:

       You bet I succeeded overnight.  Over a few hundred nights in the Catskills, in vaudeville, in clubs and on Broadway.

Do I believe in miracles? Absolutely and I hope you and I both experience one today!  But I also believe that the miraculous life you and I are living comes through living and moving forward in each moment.

NEWS ALERT:  The elevator to success is out of order. You'll have to use the stairs... one step at a time. -Joe Girard 

Let's don't live our lives Anticipating the "swell foops" but be diligent in the days, hours, and moments to move toward excellence and then be surprised and happy when they come our way! :-)

Develop an attitude of gratitude, and give thanks for everything that happens to you, knowing that every step forward is a step toward achieving something bigger and better than your current situation. 

-Brian Tracy 

Igniting SPARKS!

 “If we take man as he is we’ll make him worse. But if we take man as he should be we make him capable of becoming what he can be”. -Victor Frankl

Viktor Frankl was a survivor of the Holocaust.  Frankl believed that one cannot find one’s purpose without first experiencing “a spark” — an event or “moment of clarity” which causes one to realize the disparity between who one is and who one can be.
And so, Frankl challenged his audiences to not only believe that they could experience such “a spark”, but he also challenged his audiences to believe in others and to help others understand their potential.

There was a moment when this happened to you.  Someone gave you hope, energy to continue, and faith that there were greater moments ahead.

What if you and I lived our life trying to ignite the same "spark" in others?  Does this change your schedule today?  Does it change how I interact with the person I am having coffee with this morning?  I believe so.

I believe that believing in other people is one of the greatest gifts we can give.  Want to accomplish everything you were created to do and be?  Go ignite "sparks" in people to become who they are created to be!

You do well when you complete the Royal Rule of the Scriptures: "Love others as you love yourself."  James 2:8 (The Message)

The true gift creates ART

The subtle energetic power of the true gift creates art.
 
We all know the experience of a gift, because these are the experiences that have us coming back, again and again, for more. The gift is that extra; spontaneous care...a smile, a thoughtful gesture, a kind action, a felt experience. A gift is the ingredient that works below the level of rational sense.

A meal made by someone who pours their love into their work as a cook or chef is no longer just food. It is art.

A yard mowed by a friend is no longer a chore. It is art.

A bag of groceries given to a family who is having a tough time is no longer a bag of groceries. It is art.

A few minutes encouraging someone who is going through a challenging time is not just friendship. It is art.

Visiting a child who has a heart problem and making him smile is not just a visit.  It is art.

You can think of a hundred more.....post some here in the comment section and give us all more ideas on how to make art.

Go ahead....take one of your ideas and create the subtle energetic power of a true gift.....create some art....I am going to :-)

Giving is true having. -Charles Spurgeon