Starting Fresh

 

This is the beginning of a new day.

                        God has given me this day to use as I will.

                        I can waste it or use it for good

                        What I do today is very important because I am    

                                    exchanging a day of my life for it.

                        When tomorrow comes, this day will be gone forever,

                                    leaving something in its place I have traded for it

                        I want it to be gain not loss...

                        Good not evil...

                        Success, not failure...

                        In order that I shall not forget the price I paid for it.  -Anon

 

We could easily substitute the word year where the word day appears in the poem above. We all have the chance to start anew when a new year begins. In order to do so we have to overcome some natural tendencies inhibiting change in our personal or business life. I’ve had the poem on my wall since it was given to me in 1974. It reminds me daily to use my time wisely.  What keeps us from making better use of the 365 days we will all have this year?

 

I think there is a tendency for us to think since we do have all those days ahead we’ll relax and get started “pretty soon.” Unfortunately, “pretty soon” never seems to come. We wake up later in the year and realize we’re once again victim of the same old habits hindering us before. Procrastination has kept us from making the gains we had planned. We all have had those things we’ll do when “we get around to it.” Early in my insurance career I was given “a round tuit”, a circular, washer-like object meant to remind me to “get around to it!!” I often think of the little tuit and it has served its original purpose many times.

 

Someone has said insanity is doing the same thing we’ve always done and expecting different results. Each day we must decide what we want to use the day for. What are the two or three things we must accomplish and then what else would we like to do if there is some time left over. A successful year is just a series of successful days and weeks. The key is as the poem says choosing what will be done. Once the choice is made we can move on with the task.

 

No matter how well we use the time we also need to be flexible. We can get so organized and structured that no time is left for our personal priorities. From time to time take a break, re-evaluate, smell the coffee, and move forward. Life’s too short to not enjoy the journey. Getting a breather often leaves us refreshed and able to get more focused. We can get things accomplished and still enjoy the ride.

Remembering Dad- June, 2010

Each June we pause to pay tribute to our fathers with gifts, dinners, etc. for those we still have with us. Fond memories for those of us whose Fathers have departed this life.

My Dad, Harvey E. Wright, or Ernie as family and friends called him, or “Slick” as his co-workers at Santa Fe Railroad knew him, was a unique man. He had an uncanny ability for unconditional love. Each family member, close and distant, thought they were his favorite because he made them feel so without slighting anyone else.

As a teenager Dad won a Purple Heart and Bronze Star in the Battle of the Bulge during World War II. He always said he was old enough to fight for his country, but not old enough to vote. He was a member of Tom Brokaw’s “Greatest Generation.”

We measure success in our world in many ways. Longevity, education, and financial accumulation are just three of a list that could be much longer. Dad lived just a little over sixty- five years, completed only a sixth- grade education, and I doubt that his income level ever reached $10,000 a year. Yet he raised three successful children and provided funds for my Mother, Jean, to live on for the last twenty-one years since his passing.

Dad had three simple rules dealing with finances.  First, if you make money save some, second, don’t spend money before you make it, and finally, stay away from credit. When I entered my career in life insurance I began to realize the wisdom of his views.

Dad was a natural craftsman and artist who could draw or build nearly anything. Over a period of years he built three houses on two lots in Southwest Wichita. We sold the last house he built in 2003 to provide funds for Mom to reside at Cumbernauld.

Two of the more meaningful events of my life were comments from my Dad. In 1974 he was in the Veteran’s Hospital in Kansas City and he and I were visiting. He said, “We were lucky. This could have happened when all of you were in school, but it didn’t. We got you through on about half of what you needed. Then one turns out like you, it makes you kind of proud.”  Years later at the VA Hospital in Wichita my oldest daughter Sharla was going for a visit. Before she turned the corner into a lounge area she could here Grandpa bragging again about her Dad.

Those events might not seem so special to some of you. Just a father being proud, that’s not too unusual. But you see, Dad wasn’t my biological father. He got me in the deal when he married my Mom. No one ever knew the difference. That was his unconditional love on display again. Thanks Dad.

 

Thankfulness

November is one of my favorite months of the year. So much goes on in our family and in general activity sometimes we don’t pause and enjoy the month that opens our great holiday season. In our family our oldest and youngest grandsons were born in November. In addition, my wife Sharon and I celebrate our wedding anniversary late in the month and close to or on Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving is our truly American holiday, but thankfulness isn’t limited to just Americans. We’ve all heard and read the stories of the first Thanksgiving and I remember drawing pictures of the Pilgrims, the Indians, and of course the turkeys. They celebrated the harvest and looked toward to the hard winter that their stored supply must get them through. In our current society we have endured some really hard times as a nation but still have much to show thankfulness for. I’ll share a few of the items on my “thankful list.”

I’m thankful that today we still have freedom of religion in this great country. We can worship God in our own choosing and in the way we believe he leads us. Many in this world don’t have that freedom and if we assume we will always have it we open the door to the possibility of losing this wonderful freedom.

Related to religious freedom is the thankfulness of being born a citizen of this great land. A nation governed by laws and not just the whim of one or a few persons. A nation that a group of great men put together with a Constitution that has stood the test of over 200 years. At the same time a nation that has seen fit to change that initial document by the will of the people in order to meet life’s current issues.

Because of our freedom we can be thankful we can live where we want, work where we want, and associate with those of our choosing. Our limitations are only those of God-given talents and the initiative to apply them. We must understand that our overall goals should be to provide equal opportunity and not equal outcome. Outcome should be based upon our taking personal responsibility to take advantage of that equal opportunity.

I also am blessed and thankful for a wonderful family. First, parents that raised and supported my sisters and I so that we might become responsible adults. Also, my immediate family, my wife Sharon, our three daughters, and six grandchildren make life worth living and worth looking forward to.

There are so many things we need to be thankful for. The list could go on for longer than I have space for. I’ll close with just one final item. I am so thankful that I have been blessed with great work. My last fifteen years have been so enjoyable my work has been more like a hobby. Whether my consulting business or my teaching time at Southwestern it hasn’t seemed like work because it has been so enjoyable. Let’s all take some time to think of what we can be thankful for and try to apply our thankfulness year round.

Facing 2013

In just a few days our current century will be a teenager. 2013 is fast approaching and will soon be upon us. 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. 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 2013 and beyond? I’m glad you asked.

One of the great lessons of the first twelve 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.

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.

Preparation is another key to success as we move into 2013. 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.”

One final thought for achieving success in 2013 is to have patience as the year unfolds. Events and happenings in our life can get us too optimistic or too pessimistic about results. 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 2013.

Hello!!

My high school friend Ken Brown suggested I enter the blohusphere to get my column on Facebook. I'll take this opportunity to introduce myself and share my background.
I sarted working for Prudential as a agent in 1968. Over the next 28 years I was also a Sales Manager and District Manager. In 1994 I started my Seminar and Training business and did training and consulting with insurance agents, insurance agencies, and banks. During the same time period I taught business courses in Southwestern College in Winfield, Kansas. I  was and am active in their Professional Studies, Campus, and MBA programs.
Personally I have beeen married to my wife Sharon for 47 years. We have three daughters and six grandchildren.