What better way to boost your

business than to learn how to

write killer copy and content?

     Okay, a slight departure tonight to fit in a couple of news items . . .

     The Delaware Technical & Community College Spring “Business & Professional Development” promotional booklet and the College’s “Personal Development” promotional booklet both arrived today, announcing upcoming course offerings, including two I’m scheduled to teach that a number of you have asked about.  Here are the two course offering descriptions:

     Business & Professional Development

1)  BETTER BUSINESS WORDS WORK!  Learn how to boost your business and professional practice revenues with better writing!  Focus will be on writing business plan narratives, strategic marketing plans, business correspondence, reports, creative marketing and advertising for all traditional and non-traditional media applications (Website, email, print ads, news releases, broadcast commercials, brochures, billboards, direct mail, “elevator speeches”).  For owners, managers, entrepreneurs (15 hours, 1.5 CEUs); 2/4-3/11; Wednesdays; 5:30-8pm; 6 sessions. Georgetown, Delaware Campus.  $195 EYC212 231-2  Registration Info: 302.854.6966  www.dtcc.edu/owens/ccp

     Personal Development

2)  IMAGERY WITH WORDS.  Explore ways to paint fiction and nonfiction pictures with words.  Proven methods for strengthening your creative writing skills will be shared.  Sessions include stress and time management how-to’s for writers.  Tap your inner resources and sharpen your writing wits.  All levels of writing skills are welcome.  Participants will present one-minute weekly reports and bring a work-in-progress for personalized coaching  (10 hours); Wednesdays; 5:30-8pm; 4 sessions. Creative Writing Center of Delaware in Lewes, Delaware.  $119. ENO 289 271-2  Registration Info: 302.854.6966  www.dtcc.edu/owens/ccp

     Please share this information with anyone you think might be interested who lives in Delaware or the Eastern Shore of Maryland, or (especially in the case of the IMAGERY WITH WORDS sessions, anyone who lives in the Cape May, NJ area who might commute via the Cape May-Lewes Ferry.  Thank you for your ongoing support.  Tomorrow night is back to business as usual.  Have a GREAT Tuesday!  halalpiar 

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Check out and contribute to the daily growing 7-Word Story started 124 days ago (inside a coffin).  Click on the link to the right, or go to the “BOOKS” tab at the top of this page, then to the top headline link.

“Panic At The Disco” ROCKS!

(ROFLMBO)

Well, I can tell you from two days of firsthand, frontline experience, that there’s very little in the world that can compare with what’s left of your brain after it’s been overhauled by a thirteen year-old girl.

You know those anti-drug commercials showing fried eggs with some line like, “This is your brain on drugs!”?  Well, a thirteen year-old girl (my spectacularly brilliant and charming granddaughter, to be specific) has the ability to fry your eggs and make you think you’re eating watermelon!

Grandma Kathy and I got indoctrinated to Fallout Boy, Panic at the Disco, and All Time Low among other top new recording sensations. 

(And yes, we do understand that Lady Gaga has “a message”!)

Of course we had our cell phone ringtones programmed to remind us of our our own, out-of-touch, oldtime favorites. 

And, no, it didn’t stop there.  Our granddaughter also connected my ipod to a new docking station Christmas present from her parents.  and promised to help me set up a podcast.  (“A piece of cake, Grandpa!”)  Double-cool! 

It might be awhile before I run out to buy any Panic at the Disco tunes to play, but I certainly enjoyed hearing The Eagles; Joni Mitchell; and Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young sounding –if such a thing is possible– better than the original recordings!

Like having a bee in your bonnet, this child (and I do use that term advisedly) keeps a schedule that would embarrass the workplace pace of any CEO.  Oh, right, and the economy is not, like, worth worrying about anymore than whether the awesome sparrows will, like, indeed return this year to Capistrano.

Here’s the point, Dear Bosses of Businesses: It’s an extraordinarily healthy experience for your enterprise –stodgy corporate or edgy entrepreneurial makes no difference– to shake up your awareness levels and get your tired boring self off the treadmill for a day.  Take the chance you can get your mind fast-forward catapulted into reality.

When you gain a fresh perspective,

your business gains fresh customers!

When you can look at things differently, you are prompting others to do the same.  Internal AND external customers will evaluate and re-evaluate your offerings with increased receptivity.

Now I know you can get some of the same values by getting down on the floor and playing with a baby or a puppy, but you’ll never learn about the hot new music groups or how “txt msgs” literally dominate the communication existences of those between the ages of 10 and 25! 

     Have you any idea, for example what some of these texting acronyms mean?  (Ask any 13 year-old!):

KWIM~~~~SHID~~~~YYSSW~~~~ROFLMBO~~~~?

Ah, just one other point of significant consequence, BTW: neither the baby nor the puppy can get you dynamically ring-toned! 

But don’t get me wrong.  Babies and puppies are good.  And they are better than nothing.  Playing with either and/or both will definitely divert your brain from your daily routines enough to force you to step up to your phone, desk, computer, meeting. or work site with some degree of renewed vigor –at least until the diaper needs changing or the puppy needs to be out the door.

So ANYthing you experience that’ s different 

can produce some ripples,

maybe even a tide change!

But if you’re going for some big-time rattle-your-business-cage kind of stuff, put aside (not literally of course) the baby and puppy in favor of a thirteen year-old girl, an experience that can help you create new ideas for exciting change.  The resultant energy can help you realign your attitude and reconstitute your commitment to move your business forward.

If you’re not already getting a daily dosage, spend a day with your kids or grandkids or a baby or puppy, and open your mind enough to allow them to step (or crawl, or jump!) inside! 

Then see how that experience changes the ways you think about what you’re doing every day to create and build sales, to attract and keep customers, to cultivate best employees and top suppliers.  If your life is all about getting ongoing adrenalin shots from kids already, look deep inside your business with their eyes! 

Go ahead.  What have you got to lose?  A stuck-in-the-mud reputation?  Another stress-filled day?  Opportunities to do more of the same thing you’ve been doing for weeks?  Months?  Years?  Go enjoy yourself!  Give yourself permission to play for a day!  (Or to see what you’ve been overlooking!)  

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www.TheWriterWorks.com or 302.933.0116 or Hal@BusinessWorks.US

Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals! God Bless You.

“The price of freedom is eternal vigilance!” [Thomas Jefferson]

Make today a GREAT day for someone

Yes, you’ll live. Take two aspirin,

and call me in the morning!

     I read a study that said something like 94% of all doctor and hospital visits, even to emergency rooms, are for (drumroll): reassurance! 

     The extent to which we all need to have our backs, shoulders and tops of our hands and heads patted while being told that we will live after all, and that everything will be okay, seems highly improbable in the face of what the exaggerated tv news coverage and drama series portrayals would have us believe.

     I mean who among us hasn’t cringed at the thought of being thumped onto stainless steel and wheeled like so much beef through the butcher’s back door, into the chaos and hysteria of ER, or Grey’s Anatomy, or House, or Chicago Hope (reruns), or General Hospital, thinking we’re at death’s door but still not be a priority case because others (jumpers, stab and gunshot wounds, drug overdose and heart attacks) are dying quicker? Aaargh!

     Anyway, these thoughts surfaced today in a “BURRIS UNIVERSITY” customer service training session I ran for 25 management team members of BURRIS LOGISTICS http://BurrisLogistics.com on the Delaware Technical & Community College www.dtcc.edu campus in Georgetown, DE. 

     Participants who volunteered feedback comments in the training room, and many who approached me during and after were particularly vocal about the reassurance values of the material and methodologies covered (including stress management, behavioral focus and choices, written communications and listening skills, and the pursuit of increased self-awareness as keys to dealing better with others). 

     Based on this writer’s firsthand experience facilitating over 500 management training programs, the participation and energy levels of this particular cross-section-of-management group from 15 different Connecticut-to-Florida BURRIS locations, was exceptional.

     And it was a genuine pleasure to be the designated deliveryman of reassurance. 

     Reassurance increases self-confidence. Increased self-confidence boosts feelings of self-esteem. The combination serves to eliminate or minimize feelings of self-doubt, inadequacy and skepticism that hold us back from making progress . . . even hard-charging entrepreneurs need reassurance. Reassurance triggers sales and builds customer loyalty.

     Don’t you as a parent evoke the same confident behaviors and obvious feelings of self-worth from a small child when you pat him or her on the head for “a job well done”? Doesn’t this patting business work wonders on the family dog? Don’t you like it when a spouse or partner or boss or customer pats YOU on the back, even if it’s just a verbal pat? And don’t you perform better?

     Reassurance works wonders. Try some today. See how many backpats you can give out in one week! A dozen? More? I’m sure you’ve got what it takes to be that generous with your (deserving of course) compliments!    halalpiar  

Special thanks for inspiring tonight’s post to Kirk Hoover, Atlanta, GA, Vice President of Business Development, and Wendy Singer-Lowry, Philadelphia, PA, Director of Purchasing for BURRIS LOGISTICS

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Check out and contribute to the daily growing 7-Word Story started 120 days ago (inside a coffin).  Click on the link to the right, or go to the “BOOKS” tab at the top of this page, then to the top headline link.

You’ve only one year to live.

What do you do with yourself?

Your business?

     Far-fetched?  Hopefully, yes.  But possibly, no.  It’s often been said that all of life is simply preparation for death, and that all we ever do from the moment of birth, is begin to die.  That’s admittedly some pretty heady philosophical stuff that many of us shy away from thinking about. 

     But is it worth considering? 

     Of course (unless, that is, you have little or no regard for yourself, your business, your family and friends, in which case –assuming you are reading this– you are probably a hermit in a cave with a laptop, and it’s probably time for you to rub some sticks together and begin thinking about what’s for dinner!) 

     Okay, back to serious for a minute, what are the first three things you think of in answer to each of the two headline (in dark red) questions above?  What do you think about your answers?

     What about if those questions followed a revised headline statement that said: You’ve only 6 months to live . . . ? 

     Would your answers change?  How?  How much?  And what if the headline statement only gave you one day? 

     This exercise can be very useful in the thinking process of establishing both life and business priorities (as well as delegating, and decision making) because whatever your responses may be, they serve to push the envelope.  It’s hard to imagine choosing to spend time doing tasks of avoidance, and harder still to imagine assigning lesser values to the tasks that are most important. 

     By forcing your focus on this for a minute or two, you can almost always prompt yourself to assess and evaluate situations and options (especially stressful ones) more realistically.  You will certainly make yourself more productive (the way you are the day before you leave for vacation?) more often. 

     Yes, yes, I know, you might rather join the hermit hunting down some berries and a squirrel to BBQ.  (I’ve heard the furs can actually be quite warm, assuming you’ve managed to save them from a few dozen meals’ worth, and sew them together. Okay, Gorilla Glue.)

     So, give it a chance (not the squirrel fur!).  For a grand total of about 2 minutes of applying your mind to such a “what if” circumstance, you stand to gain a finely-tuned and highly accurate appraisal of what’s important and what’s not, and what should be tackled in what order.  It sure beats dusting file tops, alphabetizing your DVD’s, and counting out-of-state license plates in a parking lot!

     “Bah!  Dis exercise is nuttin’ so revealin’,” you might exclaim. 

     Okay, so take it one more step.  You with me?  Get a piece of paper out (I know, you don’t own any paper; well, borrow a piece!) and write out your own obituary notice.  Ah, now there’s a challenge.  Notice what you mention first and second and third (and last) about your life.  Pay attention to what you have to say about you.  THAT’s what’s important!                halalpiar  

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Check out and contribute to the daily growing 7-Word Story started 114 days ago (inside a coffin).  Click on the link to the right, or go to the “BOOKS” tab at the top of this page, then to the top headline link.

SKIM, MEMORIZE, CHEW,

DIGEST, OR JUST DELETE ~~~ 

Here’s a short list of what I think were some of my best blog blurts for 2008.  If something strikes you and you want the whole story, just go to Archives in far right column and click on the month, scroll (and if the dates not showing, just click on next at bottom of the page)!

Anyway, here’s a compilation of hot headings . . . stuff that makes you think about where you are and where you’re going which, on the cusp of a brand new year, is probably a good thing for all of us.  A few more tomorrow.  But for now: 

1) Think and

2) Laugh and

3) Have a great (and safe!) New Year’s Eve!   halalpiar

“The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter — ’tis the difference between the lightning-bug and the lightning.”  Mark Twain  5/1/08

“The solution to any group or organization problem lies within the group or organization that has the problem…No one knows you better than you…Knowledge is strength”  5/2/08

“Write a billboard–7 words or less with a beginning, middle and end, and be persuasive–that encapsulates what you want to express before you express it in a letter, business plan, print or broadcast advertisement, sales pitch, speech, short story, editorial, script, sermon, novel, poem, email, chapter…”  5/6/08

“If everyone in your company knew how to deal effectively with customers, you wouldn’t need any customer service reps!”  5/18.08

“A sale is made or broken in the first 10 seconds, and there is no such thing as a second first impression.”  6/1/08

“OPEN MINDS OPEN DOORS!”  6/4/08

“If you think your head is worth $24.95, buy a $24.95 helmet!”  7/8/08

“Life is more like baseball than any other sport!”  7/11/08

“Do you have all your marbles but can’t find the playground?”  8/6/08

“You ARE your attitude!”  8/15/08

“Your every action, your every thought, is your CHOICE!”  8/19/08

“We do best what we most enjoy!”  9/7/08

“Besides that they suck, meetings waste time; hold your next meeting STANDING!” 9/16/08

“Hustle your muscle — SOME action beats no action!”  9/24/08

“People need to be rewarded and motivated at the level of what’s important to them at the time.”  10/5/08

“The sooner you accept the ugly fact that you have to be a salesperson, doctor, the healthier your practice will be!”  10/10/08

“You have a stableful of race horses that act like they came from wagon-train school?”  10/13/08

“I’m tellin’ you, ball, next pitch . . . you gotta be a strike!”  10/20/08

“Just go to the basement and make more money!”  10/24/08

“Change the way you look at things, and the things you look at change.”  Dr. Wayne Dyer 10/29/08

“Take two talkwalks, get a good sleep, and call me in the morning!”  11/8/08

“Where laughter fails to heal, it never fails to ease the pain.”  11/13/08

“Sleeping With The Boss?”  (Family Business Ups & Downs)  11/22/08

“What one thing could you be doing better?”  12/1/08

“I coont efen spel untreeprenewer, an’ now I are one!”  12/6/08

“EVERY purchase decision is emotionally-triggered!”  12/12/08

“Is what you’re doing right this very minute taking you to where you want to go?”  12/27/08 

… and thank you, worldclass #1 novelist Dean Koontz for being such an authentic, inspiring, and upstanding human being! 

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Check out and contribute to the daily growing 7-Word Story started 111 days ago (inside a coffin).  Click on the link to the right, or go to the “BOOKS” tab at the top of this page, then to the top headline link.

STOP business deaths

and staff infections NOW!

     By now, all of us know, or have heard (or we believe instinctively) that the majority of hospital deaths, complications compounded or initiated by staph infections can be traced back to caregiver professionals and support staff not properly and frequently enough washing their hands. 

     Who woulda thunk it?  Such a simple thing.

     Well, not only is it true, but I believe it’s even truer (though never researched) in business.  It’s no secret that the majority of business failures, corrupted products and innefective misguided staffs and services come from poor management. 

     Management (even when it’s more task than people oriented) is all about interfacing, interacting, and encountering.  It’s about keeping a clear and receptive mindset.  Open doors open minds!   

     Now I’m not talking about hot water, soap, scrubbing and towel drying.  I’m talking about:

1. Closing your eyes for just 10 seconds (perhaps 5 if you’re telemarketing, and not at all if you’re driving!) before and after every customer/employee/vendor/investor encounter,
2. Taking a deep breath (to focus and maintain blood pressure) and
3. Mentally (imagining yourself) washing your hands, like a doctor between examinations. 

     For many who try or maintain this practice, it helps to go through a 2-3 second physical action of simply rubbing your hands together.  The action sends a reinforcing mental message to your brain.

     EVERY meeting, conference, phone call, email, letter, overnight delivery, and text message exchange, you are after all being a doctor, aren’t you? 

     You ARE examining, aren’t you? 

     You ARE listening, exploring, considering, assessing, recommending, deciding, weighing, evaluating, checking and re-checking, sizing up, assuring and reassuring, projecting, planning, strategizing, and predicting, aren’t you?

     And what happens to your brain when you’re on the fly and go straight from one encounter to another without –it sometimes seems– even breathing?  Go on, answer this last question.  I’ll wait.  Okay, and how does that stress translate to your body? 

     Headaches, backaches, toothaches, stiff neck, upset stomach, constipation, diarrhea, short temper, edginess, leg cramps, burning eyes, skin rash, urinary infection, or worse — cancer, heart problems?  Bottom line: is it worth it? 

     TRY THE 10-SECOND APPROACH for just one week –the first week of 2009 is a perfect test period.  Try it and see what happens. 

     Here’s what you’ll get:  IF you’re honest with yourself and IF you actually follow the presecription, you will be more tuned in to each person you communicate with; you will be noticeably more productive; you will GUARANTEED feel better – mentally, physically, and emotionally; you will more positively affect others around you. 

     Put reminder notes around you, or a sign over your desk, or stuck to your phone and computer screen.  Ask a co-worker, friend or associate to ask you: “Did you wash your hands?” before and after you turn a doorknob, before and after you lift and replace your phone, start or end your meeting . . . improvise here; just keep making the effort. 

     You will, I promise, astound yourself!     halalpiar

Okay, we’ve got one last Christmas-Business-Politics thing to say, and it’s best summed up by this high level laugh (and maybe cry too!) “C-SPAN Coverage” of Santa in Washington . . . definitely worth the check-it-out!  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxBl9BXLom4

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Check out and contribute to the daily growing 7-Word Story started 109 days ago (inside a coffin).  Click on the link to the right, or go to the “BOOKS” tab at the top of this page, then to the top headline link.

Is what you’re doing right this

very minute taking you to

where you want to go?

     You run your own business, or a number of businesses.  You know who you are.  You know you’re an entrepreneur but you don’r readily admit it.  (Why?  Some other time.)  Right now, what matters is that you step back for the couple of minutes it takes to read this, and pat yourself on the back.

     What’s the reward backpat for?  You deserve to appreciate yourself for believing in yourself.  And you should probably get a medal for keeping your ego in check enough to engage the “missing ingredient” help you need from those with the expertise to excel at the tasks you never mastered.

     You haven’t been squirreled away this holiday season assessing your past business moves and decisions and carefully designing your next gameplan strategy for 2009.  I know this because I know if you are truly the stuff entrepreneurs are made of, these are things you do weekly, if not daily or hourly. 

     While others are racking their brains with planning exercises, you are busy testing and trying new ideas and new twists on old ideas.  You do this trial and error thing all year long because there’s just not enough time to take your advisory board on a retreat weekend, or lock up in some hotel room for days on end talking each other’s brains out. 

     That’s time that could be spent doing it, right?   

     In fact, odds are you hate to think about or plan anything farther out than about 60-90 days.  You prefer not thinking past 30!  And you’d rather get in and out of a convenience store with breakfast to eat while you drive than to sit down in a restaurant for more than 15-20 minutes, or at home where you’d have to waste time cleaning up after yourself, except maybe on Saturday or Sunday, when you can move a little slower. 

     Shopping excursions you actually enjoy are probably limited to Staples or Office Max, and to Lowes or Home Depot.  I say all this just to let you know I get it.  I got it.  And, you, as independent a cuss as you may be, are not –surprise– alone.  I’ve been working with entrepreneurial whack-o’s like you most of my life because I love the challenge, high energy, enthusiasm, and turn-on-a-dime response level.

     What’s important to know is that YOU, and others who fit chunks of this profile I’ve outlined, are the catalysts in society that in fact make the world go around. 

     If it was not for you and other dreamer/doers we would surely no longer be a (at least partly) civilized nation on this fragile planet.  There would be no industry or marketplace or culture or technology to speak of.

     Now with all this positive fluff floating around, it’s also important that –to be and/or continue to be successful– you maintain a balance with reality.  This means you need to be forever vigilent about  recognizing one extremely critical entrepreneurial business factor. 

The foundation of your business rests squarely on shifting sands, and the stability of your enterprise is only as strong as your ability to remain flexible enough to shift when the sands shift. 

     Those who entrench themselves thrive only in corporate environments that lack this balance and awareness.  And you can only maintain your own ability to go with the flow by staying focused on which ways the moving targets move. 

     Is what you’re doing right now with your business growth, development, and presentation of itself (how it communicates its messages) keeping a step ahead of the pace within the universe of business you’ve chosen?  Is what you’re doing right this very minute taking you to where you want to go?

     In other words, for example: Are you making the best possible most-in-demand kinds of pizzas with the best possible ingredients for the market you most want to capture and presenting them at the price and service level that will usher in the sales you need to generate the profits you want? 

     REMEMBER:  Shifting sands work just fine when you’ve got a four-wheel drive vehicle, can deflate and inflate your tires according to how packed the surface is, have a couple of pieces of planking with you in case you get stuck, and are constantly monitoring wind, tide and precipitation (where appropriate), temperature and other weather conditions.

     Stay alert.  Don’t get hurt.  Build bridges, but don’t burn them.  Make sure the risks you take are “REASONABLE.”  Always imagine a “worst case scenerio” before you act. 

Remember your energy and the people around you in your life are your most importanat assets. Protect them by keeping on top of your stress, not under it!

halalpiar

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See Nov 29th post (Nov Archives, far right) for New Year’s contest prize and rules – Then GO FOR IT!  Emails to Hal@TheWriterWorks.com with “SOUNDS OF THE SEASON” in the subject line.          # # #

Check out and contribute to the daily growing 7-Word Story started 108 days ago (inside a coffin).  Click on the link to the right, or go to the “BOOKS” tab at the top of this page, then to the top headline link.

Dogs, music, and BJ’s

. . . sounds a little raunchy, but remember the source.

       How hard is it to keep your stomach from gurgling with anxiety when you’ve got blog posts to put up and articles that need writing and editing, and the hours tick by, while no one at the cable company knows more than to tell you that your connections are not functioning?  Duh!  Uh, we called you, remember? 

     So me, the great 30-year teacher of stress management needs to . . . well, you know the rest. 

       A little diversionary follow-up report to yesterday’s post, btw, is that the BJ’s I mentioned, that had the gall to charge prospective customers for the privilege to shop in their new (197^th) store, opened today.   

     The most telling comment I heard was that there were more people inside the store at any given moment of the day than live in the entire town (and probably four surrounding towns as well).  So that just goes to show you how little I know about what works anymore in retailing.  Who woulda thunk it?  Right, BJ’s! 

       But the good news is that the store is 100% perfect, bright, cheerful, beautifully laid out, lots of quality merchandise at very low prices, and offering a huge selection.  Just too crowded!  Oh, well.  We’ll try it on a weekday.  I’ll let you know.  Humpf!  

     I just wrote a reminder note for Monday Vet checkup appointment for my two dogs and that stool samples are needed.  Best place to put it is with my papers for early morning meeting with clients so I remember to get on the road asap after the meeting.  Hope the note doesn’t fall out.  “Bring poop samples to next meeting!” might be hard to explain.

       It’s weird to be typing this in Word instead of my friendly little blog window. 

I was reminded today of two things you can never get back:

the stones you throw and the words you use.

     Belated Happy Birthday to my son the musician.  We spoke (and I sang!) on his day, 12/11, but I hadn’t yet managed to squeeze Christopher www.alpiar.com into my blog.  Anyway, he sent me the following link that he ran across:  http://video.stumbleupon.com/?p=kkdpiahine . . . a pretty cool solo performance no matter what your level of music interest.

       Oh, right, dogs.  So now you know the slow motion truth of my brain activity.  But since you already know about their poop, you should want to know that one’s an all black 5 year-old cocker spaniel, Tuckerton (he’s named after NJ’s Tuckerton Seaport, a mile from where we once lived), and the other’s an 11½ year-old golden retriever, Barnegat (she’s named after NJ’s Barnegat Bay, where we once welcomed the waves onto our front yard).  Now you know why I’m not moving to Machipongo, VA, anytime soon.  

     I promise more substance tomorrow, assuming the great awakening of my cable company.  In the meantime, have a wonderful night.   halalpiar

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See Nov 29th post (below) for New Year’s contest prize and rules – Then GO FOR IT!  Emails to Hal@TheWriterWorks.com with “SOUNDS OF THE SEASON” in the subject line.  # # #

Check out and contribute to the daily growing 7-Word Story started 95 days ago (inside a coffin).  Click on the link to the right, or go to the “BOOKS” tab at the top of this page, then to the top headline link.

ONE thing about Christmas  

There is ONE thing about Christmas that thankfully always survives.  And that ONE thing always manages to rise above:

• the protests of close-minded “PC” worrywarts who cringe (and yes, panic) at the thought of anyone mentioning anything more specific than “Happy Holidays” for fear of insulting and upending the belief systems of non-Christians

• the life-threatening turmoil of struggling people and countries

• the out-of-touch, out-of-place over-the-top commercialization of a joyous and sacred religious celebration

• the self-inflicted emotional and physical stress that breeds in upsetting memories and unrealistic worries triggered by self-indulgences and self-inadequacies that accompany annual cultural periods of celebration of love and family

• the shakiest of world economies, national economies, state economies, county and town economies, company and organization economies, family and personal economies

That ONE thing I’m talking about is the ever-expanding collection of traditional Christmas Carols.  The traditional Christmas Carols that all of us have grown up with and sang and hummed (and memorized so many of) that thankfully find their way into our hearts year after year. 

The poorest of times, the saddest of times, the most disconcerting of times are all at once lifted in spirit each year by the music that the celebration of Christmas inspires. 

Well, not for everyone, you say?  Wrong!  For everyone, save those that lurk among and hide behind the evilest and blackest of terroristic souls. 

The impact in today’s world for many is that Christmas carols in all their splendor supercede even much of the sacredness they celebrate.  The music is respected and enjoyed in every corner of our world. 

Find me even one non-Christian who doesn’t know some of these tunes and refrains, and who fails to find reassurance in the messages of peace and love and joy that the marvelous songs convey.

Am I suggesting the music is so pure and the music is enough that we should take down the Santa Clauses, pull the light display plugs, and not exchange gifts?  Hmmmm.  Maybe not a bad idea.  After all, times are pretty tough. 

Let me snap you back to reality: If you are reading this, odds are at least a zillion to one that times are not so tough for you compared to those who are suffering pain and hunger right now.  

I AM suggesting that our traditional Christmas music can and does literally carry the holiday season, even for many less fortunate people.  The point is that it can and does. 

However the spirit moves you best

is the best way for you to move. 

But whatever you do for or about Christmas, let yourself SING OUT!  It’s as good for your soul and well-being as laughter is for your heart!   halalpiar

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See Nov 29th post (below) for New Year’s contest prize and rules – Then GO FOR IT!  Emails to Hal@TheWriterWorks.com with “SOUNDS OF THE SEASON” in the subject line.  # # #

Check out and contribute to the daily growing 7-Word Story started 91 days ago (inside a coffin).  Click on the link to the right, or go to the “BOOKS” tab at the top of this page, then to the top headline link.

Be kinder than necessary

because everyone

you meet is fighting

some kind of battle!

     I know, I know, I promised more today on listening skills.  Well the number one rule of listening for many people and many professions is to use empathy, and that’s what this heading is all about. 

     Empathy is mentally putting yourself in another person’s shoes.  It is a step up from sympathy, or feeling sorry for someone, because empathy implies active involvement.

Of course there’s more, a lot more, to active listening skills than being empathetic, but I relate strongly to the message of the heading, so I’m leaving it there while I take you down another listening skill path: paraphrasing!

“If I understand you correctly, you are saying that . . .” or “What I think I hear you saying is . . .” or “Do I understand you to mean . . .? are three excellent lead-ins to use when paraphrasing (putting your “take” on a statement into your own words) something someone else has just said.  Why would you do this?  To make SURE that you got the opinion or information or directions right!

This paraphrasing device, by the way, when it’s delivered in a persistently unemotional, understanding tone of voice, has great value in defusing moments of conflict.  It forces a person who’s just tossed out an emotional barrage of complaints to hear how their words have come across to someone else in a non-threatening and non-confrontative way.

  Paraphrasing serves to slow down the rush of upset, and often prompts the other person to reconsider or at least to better explain the issues.  It sets a stage for the upset person to talk more, and often to be more careful and reasoned.

   We’ve all heard that (especially in sales, customer service, counseling, consulting, and marriage ) we need to try to speak 20% of the time and listen 80% of the time.

This may be a challenging prescription, but speaking and listening are behaviors.  We choose our behaviors.  We also choose to be challenged or we can choose to be accepting.

Water flows best downhill.  Choose the easy route.  Just tell yourself to “Listen up!” [Taking notes ALWAYS helps, and flatters as well.  “Would you please speak a little slower (or repeat that) so I can jot it down; I want to make sure I get it right!” works wonders in terms of ensuring full understanding and in boosting the other person’s ego.]

On the flip side, ask someone who’s just unloaded a barrage of concerns to help you sort them out by writing them down, one at a time, and assigning a #1 for most important and #2 for next most important, etc. to each item — and then proceed to address (chew and digest) each issue separately and exclusively, beginning with #1.

Odds are pretty good you’ll never get past the first two or three items on the list before the complainant withdraws the remaining ones or backs off the initial sense of fury, or both.  Either way, you have nothing to lose by trying, except miscommunications and upsets.

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Hal@Businessworks.US or 931.854.0474

 “The price of freedom is eternal vigilance!” [Thomas Jefferson]

Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals. God Bless You.

Make today a GREAT day for someone!