So long, Farewell, Auf wiedersehen, Good night!!

Those familiar words from a song in the play and movie “The Sound of Music” keep coming to mind. After thirty-nine of the last forty-two years of living in Winfield we have sold our current home and relocating in Wichita. Along with my farewell thoughts are the probability this may well be my last column. So, I have several thanks to hand out.

I would be remiss to not thanks Dave Seaton for the opportunity to develop and write my column for these ten years. The Courier staff has been cooperative throughout the years and prompt in getting the columns in print. I have enjoyed the chance to share insights shared with me and developed over the last fifty years.

K.B. Murray and Jeff McCaskill are the next to be thanked. They have pastored Millington Street Baptist church during these years and have been the human instruments for much of the spiritual growth we have enjoyed. Their leadership and the church fellowship will be missed in this time of transition.

Southwestern College has been an important part of our lives for over forty years. Sharon worked in various position, retiring as Assistant to the President and Provost, for over twenty- five years. I completed my Bachelor’s Degrees and later taught in Professional Studies, Campus, and the Campus Fifth Year MBA also for twenty-five years. We are both thankful for the friendships and memories of our time at SC.

I also want to personally thank Wayne Wilt for inviting me to join Winfield Optimist Club and the Winfield Jaycees. I learned a great deal about leadership and extended my leadership role when selected President of the Jaycees. Their Personal Dynamics, Leadership Dynamics, and Communications Dynamics course helped me and many others improve skills and move into leadership in many other organizations.

My time on the Winfield Board of Education was another rewarding experience. Experiences with other board members, administrators, teachers, and parents were great learning experiences. As board members we faced and dealt with the difficult education issues of our time. We often disagreed but nearly always came together to benefit the children attending our schools.

Quail Ridge Golf Course, my “home away from home” has been a big part of my life for the past twenty-six years. Everyone involved has been great from Mike Hammond to Brad Sexon and everyone in between. The course remains as one of the best in Kansas and will be missed.

The forty plus years have gone by quickly and we will carry great memories to the next chapter of our lives. We also want to thank anyone we inadvertently omitted. So in closing in the words of the great cowboy movie star Roy Rogers, “ Happy trails to you until we meet again.”

Overcoming Failure!

Aristotle once wrote that we never know a thing until we know it by its causes. Every failure, as well as every success, has its cause. If we understand the cause and reverse it if we can, then we overcome failure and turn it into success. We can learn from our failures and as Pro football coach Don Shula once said, “failure isn’t fatal, and success isn’t final.” What we do after the failure makes the difference.

Self-discipline is often a cause of failure as people can’t manage themselves. Looking to others as role models and following their lead can help us overcome inability to self-discipline. By viewing people who have been successful we find methods to help us move towards success. Our task then becomes to take their ideas and personalize those ideas so they fit our personality and work for us.

A related cause of failure is the issue of time control. Many lack the ability to put business first and reject nonproductive demands on their working time. Setting priorities and staying with them is a must to overcome failure. As a manager once told me “to work when you work and play when you play, but don’t mix the two.” It is important to balance the important areas of our life, so we get our priorities taken care of.

Sometimes we fail because we lack the sense of urgency to complete the task. We put off completion or look for an easier way to finish. Overcoming procrastination frees us both mentally and physically to have availability to get additional tasks completed. Completing tasks also give us a sense of accomplishment that will carry us on to the next challenge.

Lack of faith in oneself is another reason people fail. Most of us can do almost anything we want to do! The problem is deciding what we want and then going after it with all our efforts. Too often we set and dream about an outcome while others are making things happen. Instead of being spectators we need to become participants.

One final comment about overcoming failure. Everyone that has attained great victories has done so after failure, sometimes great failure. As W. Clement Stone once wrote, “Success is achieved by those that try, and keep trying.” Some of the greatest achievements in history were made after failure, often after many attempts. Abe Lincoln and Walt Disney are examples of multiple failures that became monumental successes!

Contact Chuck at: chuck.wright@sckans.edu

Finishing Well!

We spend our lives reaching for goals and trying to accomplish our personal dreams. Often we get sidetracked along the way and we settle for less than we had planned. We look for success and have to understand that as the late great speaker Earl Nightingale once stated “success is the progressive realization of a worthy ideal.” One of the key words in the definition is progressive! We can’t get it all done at once. No matter what happens along the way the key is finishing well.

It almost goes without saying that to finish well one of the keys is getting off to a good start. Starting slow or poorly means we have to make up the ground we’ve lost and play catch up with others or other organizations that did get going well. We need to decide what we really want to do and then plan the steps necessary to get what sports calls “momentum.” There are times when there are “great comebacks” but most of the time starting well precedes finishing well!

Next, as Stephen Covey wrote, we not only “Begin with the end in mind’’ but keep the end in mind! Distractions and roadblocks will come along as we progress toward the goal so we must make adjustments that will get us on track during the journey. Seldom, if ever does a plan work exactly the way we envisioned it to work so we need to be flexible and adjust our plan to keep it moving. Often in sports two halves of a game look completely different because one team makes the adjustments to finish well and win the game.

Another important aspect of finishing well is staying the course. Losing focus and ultimately being distracted loses time and makes our chosen end more difficult. Even when there are times we can only make small amounts of progress it is important to stay on course. Procrastination can cause our getting off course for a while and can sabotage the whole plan. The Nike motto “Just do it.” is important and can help in staying the course.

When we finish well and achieve the goal we will have the opportunity to “enjoy the fruits.” The first fruit is that of accomplishment, the satisfaction of success. Other fruits depend upon the goal but could be income, more family time, a better retirement, a nicer home, an almost limitless list of possibilities that come from “finishing well.”

The Importance of Growth!!

Throughout our lives one of the most important aspects is that of growth. When a child is born we record weight and length and then measure standards of whether proper growth is occurring. We make sure proper rules of nourishment are followed as well as activities meant to gain proper levels of strength. Some of us even grow to levels exceeding standards when rules of growth are broken and exceeded. Such is the story of physical growth in our society.

We also have a need for internal growth. The problem with internal growth is that it isn’t as easily observable. We can think growth is happening or not happening and be wrong. Some level could be going on but is it enough or in the desired direction? We need to understand three factors of growth in ourselves and others.

First, growth is necessary. Just as we grow physically we must also grow internally (both emotionally and intellectually). No matter where we are we must work at growth. I remember hearing once that a person could have “twenty years of experience” or “one year of experience twenty times.” It all depends upon how we take our experiences and learn from them. Whether successes or failures we can learn and grow or be in the same place over and over. One thing for sure we can’t stand still.

The second important factor is that growth is not automatic. Two people go to work in a similar job for the same company and in ten years there is a vast difference in their level of performance. Sometimes ability is the answer but more often deciding for growth opportunities is the separation. John Maxwell put it well recently in one of his one minute broadcasts, “Some people go through life, while others grow through life.” Some people wander through life taking life as it comes others grow and make things happen.

A wise man once told me there are three types of people. One type watches what happens, the second type makes things happen, and the third type wonders what happened. The middle group knows that growth is not automatic and they set out to grow and by doing so they make things happen in their lives.

The final factor, hinted at by the first two, is that growth must be continuous. One we reach a level it is time to move to the next level. We don’t live in a static society, it is very dynamic. If we don’t grow we will be left behind and perhaps replaced by someone who does. The Japanese have a concept in their society that is important to visit. The concept is kaizen, or small continuous improvement. Their goal is improvement every day.

As Americans we are in a microwave culture. We want it and we want it now! Sometimes we aren’t willing to pay the price. We want large, fast growth rather than steady growth which more often can be maintained. We need to remember that growth is necessary, it is not automatic and it must be continuous.

2017: A Year of Challenges!

2017 is fast approaching and will soon be upon us. The year will certainly have challenges. Just as the early part of the century tried us, so will this year. The century was off to a bad start with the Y2K scare and the horrific events of September 11, 2001. As time went on we had close, divisive elections and one of the greatest economic downturns in our country’s history. Now again we are faced with a divisive election and the global threat of terrorism. Despite all of the negatives many have managed to both survive and thrive. What are some things we can do to have a better chance of succeeding in 2017 and beyond?

One of the great lessons of the first seventeen years of the century is to expect the unexpected. Whether in the business world or our personal life things just don’t always go the way we thought they would. The unexpected could be a fire, a storm, a prolonged illness, or even an unexpected windfall, but as we have seen in the past, the unexpected will happen. Certainly our recent election produced the unexpected! History tells us we will see many more this year.

Once we have had the unexpected happen we need to “roll with the punches” or as Charlie Rich sang “so on and on I go, I keep on rolling with the flow.” If we can change and redirect the unexpected we must do so, if not we have to adapt to the change and continue moving forward. If we are stiff and resist changing times we delay our movement towards solving our problems. As a nation we need to pull together and move in the same direction for the good of all concerned.

Preparation is another key to success as we move into 2017. We must keep preparing for the direction our efforts will take us and also prepare for those “unexpecteds” as they happen. We don’t need two plans, but rather we need plans coming from our preparation efforts that must be both specific enough to lead us and flexible enough to move in the direction or directions change takes us. If we can anticipate some of the issues that we might face we can escape being reactionary and thus save a lot of time in the process.

Preparation gets us ready to face events and working the plan or following through puts us in position to gain outcomes. Once the plan is worked and outcomes are achieved we can fine tune the plan so that the goals of the plan can be met. If there is a shortfall adjustments need to be made and we once again need to “keep on rolling with the flow.” Seldom does a plan work out exactly the way it was formed.

One final thought for achieving success in 2017 is to have patience as the year unfolds. Events and happenings in our life can get us too optimistic or too pessimistic about results. New leadership will hopefully provide direction that will solve problems. Things can start bad or good and can go the opposite as the year unfolds. If we apply the thoughts we have discussed and give them time to work we have our best chance of positive results and a successful 2017, individually, collectively, and as a nation.

"Wearing Out or Rusting Out?"

“Grow old along with me!
The best is yet to be,
The last of life, for which the first was made:
Our times are in His hand
Who saith "A whole I planned,
Youth shows but half; trust God: see all, nor be afraid!'' Robert Browning “Rabbi Ben Ezra”

These opening lines from Browning’s poem remind us that all of life is important, not just the first part. Someone once told me “I’d rather wear out than rust out.” Life is in the doing. He was so right! We can continue to do something with our lives or we can just set around, rust, and become old in every way. Too often in our society we settle for a very passive lifestyle in front of the television. Health issues come or worsen, the rust out process begins.

As we grow older we can’t do everything we once could. We can however do some things better as a result of experiences along the way. We can help others benefit from the knowledge gained and stored for use another day. In that way our ideas pass on to a new generation. Our opportunity to wear out rather than rust out is enhanced by following a number of rules.

First, growing older doesn’t change the person you are inside. The battles of life have made you smarter and tougher. The old axiom “work smarter, not harder” comes into play here. The energy level may be lower, but the tasks take less time as a result of being able to anticipate problems and having the ability to finish them in a timely manner. Focusing on the task at hand can allow us great results in far less time.

Next, growing older does not keep us from being able to enjoy life and its challenges. In his book “Man’s Search for Meaning” Viktor Frankl wrote of the importance of purpose in life. As we age we need to focus on what we want to accomplish with the balance of our years. This may be work-related, new interests, or just taking time to enjoy the simple things in life. Several years ago my wife, Sharon, and I spent several days searching out and taking pictures of the stone bridges in Cowley County. What a great time we had!

Finally, these “golden years” are best spent and shared with someone or several someones. Sharing our dreams and living them with others leaves a legacy that lasts well into the future. For about ten years Sharon and I had the privilege of sharing trips to various locations with our four youngest grandchildren. Eventually jobs, boyfriends and girlfriends, and other activities ended the “Grandkid trips”, but Sharon and I have continued the adventure of travelling. I would much rather finally “wear out than rust out.”

"Keep On Keeping On"

Sometimes we are our own worst enemies when it comes to trying to accomplish tasks. Often we get enthused, start, and when the task becomes too hard, we move off to something else. Focus is lost and the task delayed or forgotten. A wise man once told me to succeed in sales I needed to “keep on keeping on.” His obvious success made me heed his advice.

At first glance “keep on keeping on” seems simple, but it can be a daunting task. Often Murphy’s Law “if it can go wrong it will” gets in the way and discourages us. We have to learn to discipline ourselves to stay on task. Anything less wastes time and dooms us to failure. We have to be mentally tough and stay on task.

One attitude that hinders our progress is the “go along to get along” position many take. We get upset when our children yield to “peer pressure” and yet we fall victim to the same position. Others get discouraged or “They decide to go a different direction and so we follow their lead and get derailed. It is much more difficult to get back on track than to just keep things going in the first place.

Early in my insurance career I read a book by insurance millionaire The W. Clement Stone, “The Success System That Never Fails” where Mr. Stone stated “Success is achieved by those who try and keep trying.” Whenever I’m inclined to quit or just delay a task I’m reminded of words of wisdom and “keep on keeping on. Maybe Norman Albright said it in best way when we were at coffee one day and he said “No one has endurance like the man that sells insurance.” That statement about endurance is true of anyone wanting success.

When the task seems difficult we also end up procrastinating. Putting things off will serve to allow the task to become bigger and increases the procrastinating. A better way to handle large tasks is to break them into smaller tasks and move the job towards completion. I remember hearing “by the yard it’s hard: by the inch it’s a cinch.” It is certainly easier to handle smaller tasks that yield momentum.

In reality if we learn the lesson of “keeping on keeping on” we will set ourselves apart from the most of those around us. Earl Nightingale, the great motivational speaker of yesteryear, estimated that only 5% of the total population would continuously do the activities necessary for success. That puts them in exclusive company. Determining to “keep on keeping on” is a great starting place.