A Person can get "LESS" almost Anywhere...

Good Morning!



It is the weekend!



I bet you are looking backward and celebrating numerous accomplishments!



How could you not?



Last weekend...you assessed what was in front of you...and...



...Identified what was achievable in the next 5 days...



...you prioritized those efforts and built a plan to accomplish them...



...you constantly assessed your progress...and sought help when you needed it...to keep "on track"



AND...



...YOU DID IT!



I am proud of you for not wasting your time muddling about on valueless activities...



I am proud of you for taking time to partition out a part of your week on "foundational" activities that will set you up for future success...



I am proud of you for having indelibly put these lessons learned in the fabric of your behavior!



You DO NOT repeat the failures of the past...those things which make a person "just like the others..."



Do not be conformed to this world...unless you want to be part of that...



This is what makes a person "world class" all else is facade!



Upward and Onward!



I have a unique need...it sometimes goes beyond a simple need to a obsession!



It is the need to listen!



As strange as it sounds...I realized that in myself...and now use that realization to better myself...



I stopped the other day at purchase gas at my favorite station.



It is owned by a couple from Pakistan.



Having absolutely nothing in common...we hit it off...from the first time I stopped there for directions...when I was looking for a home for my family!



"WHAT? Nothing in common...and you hit it off?" you ask...



Allow me a brief moment to digress...as if you had a choice...



A long time ago...in kids years...



Rachel told me..."that the things that we most have in common are the differences between us..."



When I probed her a bit deeper...she explained that the differences between you and another person are exactly the same as the ones between that person and you...



Although a semantic play on logic...it hit home with me and I have NEVER forgotten that lesson out of a 5 year-old's mouth!



We tend to treat differences as a barrier rather than a benefit!



Differences are the perfect starting place!



So my logic has it that having nothing in common actually gives us perfect commonality!



Thus the reason for the diversion...an explanation to your question...



Back on Track



I enjoy hearing about their perspectives and experiences...



I realized that it fulfills my need to listen...and as an added benefit...I learn something...



They came to this country to escape poverty...



In a discussion...the husband told me that they (the family) decided to come to America to give the family a chance at a better life...



"You can get "LESS" anywhere...he told me...



"It is finding a place where "MORE" is possible that is elusive...



Diverting AGAIN!



I am amused when I stand in line and watch how people treat "the owners."



I have discovered that this couple is highly learned (they possess advanced degrees), DEEPLY philosophical and thoughtful...and could out-think a vast majority of their customers...



People treat them as if they were "untouchables" and are demeaning or at best superficial...



What is important to them is how they treat people...and how that impacts their family...



They are not your normal 7/11 store owners...OR ARE THEY?



When I worked in Ft Lauderdale, I used to stop at a store owned by a Haitian immigrant and who only employed Haitian immigrants. It was unique in every sense of the word...



I was amazed at how the "people with nice cars" treated the owner and his peeps!



They once told me that I was not like the "those people with nice cars" and I told them that I was honored to get such a compliment!



In our brief encounters...I learned much from them...by listening...just like I experienced with my Pakistan friends...

One late evening...after a LONG day...I was on my way home...when I looked at the gauges...I saw that I was really low on fuel...I quickly checked my on board computer...and saw that I had 7 miles worth of fuel remaining...

Not to worry...I was a block from fuel...

I pulled in and saw that my friend's pumps were not taking credit cards...

so I walked in...thinking that he could run my card at the register...he couldn't...the system was down...(actually it has been since that day)

He saw the look on my face and asked..."What's up boss?"

I told him that I needed gas, and he said...

"...Fill that ride up and pay me cash when you get some..."

and that is why I kept going back!

It wasn't for what I got...it was the "MORE" that I got...

Back on Track

OK...you have suffered my experiences enough!

The point is that you can "go anywhere and get less!"

Success has more to to with "MORE!"

EVERY company can learn a lesson from this kind of behavior...

Think of how many times you have said...or heard, "They are just a grocery store, or a bank (or whatever) BUT...they are friendly, or they treat me like a person...or I like..."

This goes deeper than sales...this cuts at the core of what we should be doing as people...

We need to be seeking and giving "MORE!"

Anyone can go anywhere and get "LESS!"

APPLICATION

There is an OLD and overused saying..."We have 2 ears and 1 mouth...we should realize that we should listen twice as much as we speak..." or some variant on that...

I was recently accused "blasphemy" when I modified a well used axiom...(The Serenity Prayer)...

I wrote:

Grant me the Serenity to:
Accept the people I can not change;
Courage to change the ONE I can...and;
Wisdom to know that it is ME!

Actually this was not of my making...but something I found out on the Internet! It tells the whole story...and steps us up another level when we really grasp it!

We have 2 ears...not only as a reminder to listen more than we speak...but on each side of our head to provide 3 dimensional listening...

In order for us to be effective...we need to listen from multiple directions...not from our own narrow perspective...

That is part of what MORE is all about...

The major function of the mouth is not as an output device...it is an input device!

Think about that...

It is about taking in nourishment...

The only time it functions as an output...is when we are sick!

Speech is an adjunct function!

...and like the primary function...(you get the picture!)

Listen!

Listen MUCH!

Talk has become cheap!

Listening is a virtue...that pays BIG dividends! I think that is why I crave the opportunity to listen!

You can get talk anywhere!

BUT it is a rare place where someone really listens!

A person can get "TALK" anywhere,,,but to be heard is recognition that they have something of value to share...and guess what?

They do!

Enough Said!