Friday Fun

It has been a long hard week. I figured if your week has been anything like mine, you could use a smile to get your Friday off to the right start. I found this video on YouTube while surfing the other night and just thought it was hilarious; especially the recap over coffee conversation between Superman and Batman. Classic!

Enjoy!



Have a wonderful weekend and remember to laugh and smile. You never know what Ripples those two simple actions might cause for you!

Ripple On!!!

Steve

Mid-January Self-Check

So you ended last year thinking about all that you had accomplished and all that you want to achieve in the new year. You sat down and wrote out your list of goals, resolutions or commitments to yourself and at the end had this satisfying smile on your face of all that you were going to achieve in the coming year.

So you started off this month with a bang doing all the things you needed to do to stay on track and take the new year by the tail right? Yup...no doubt, this is going to be your year. 2008 is the year that everything is going to change for you right?

But now a few weeks have gone by. The routine of going back to work and having to stay for a full week (damn I miss the holidays) has started to sink in. Those lofty aspirations of hitting the gym several times a week and getting up at the ass crack of dawn to go running now suddenly seems less exciting and romantic. It looked so much better on paper didn't it? Those important contacts you were going to make now seem a little more intimidating. Those great events that you just knew you had to go to, to make the best connections, now all seem to fall on days that something more appealing (like a new episode of ER or a hot bath) or important (beer with the buddies) is happening.

Welcome to mid-January.

This is where the men are separated from the boys. The women are separated from the girls. The weak from the strong. The fun and exciting from the simply boring. The destiny makers from the destiny takers.

You get the picture right?

Where are you? Where do you stack up compared to all the lofty goals, dreams and aspirations you held for yourself a mere 17 days ago? Are you still approaching the new year like it's gonna be your best one yet or are you settling in to another year of mediocrity?

Where are you? Why aren't you doing more? Why have you given up already?

It's time for a self-check.

The good news.....it's only day 17. There are 339 more to go.

Don't waste them.

Ripple On!!!

Random Acts of Kindness

So for years and years I have been trying to get Kathy, my wife, to go to Starbucks. She wouldn't do it...mainly because she doesn't care for coffee and I think out of protest for what I "spend on a cup of coffee!" (have to hear her say it to get the full effect). Then one day she discovered they sell iced tea and that was all she wrote. If coffee is my legalized drug of choice then iced tea is hers. Now months after discovering this little factoid she goes to Starbucks more than I do...which for those of you who know me..is a lot!

Anyway the other day I was at the office and my phone rang. It was Kathy. I could tell she was excited about something. She proceeded to tell me about how she just encountered something amazing while sitting at the drive-thru of Starbucks. Apparently she was down to her last two dollars but really needed that iced tea so she steered her car into the line at Starbucks. As she scrounged for some change to insure she had enough she pulled up to the window and the Barista handed her her iced tea and said the car in front of her had paid for hers. I would have paid for the next fifty cars to have been there to see her face!

She was certain that she didn't know the person. They left no indication with the Starbucks worker that they knew Kathy either. They simply did a random act of kindness and boy did it make her day. Kathy immediately called my dad who, if you read my BLOG regularly, has experience his own random acts of kindness (search Breakfast Fairy on the BLOG search tool) and I am sure they both went to town on the Ripple Effect of what had just happened.

A simple act of kindness like buying someone's coffee (or iced tea), breakfast or whatever can have the biggest impact on another person. My question to you is how many Ripples are you willing to create anonymously just for the sake of making this world a better place?

That many huh?

Ripple On!!!


Steve

P.S. Here's a neat article on the Starbucks Pay it Backwards concept.

ALL IN

She stood at the door to the conference room. The biggest presentation of her career was about to begin. She thought to herself, I can't do it. They will see right through me. But she knew in her heart of hearts that simply wasn't the case. She was made for this moment and she was going to take what belonged to her. She deserved to be here and both the team and their client would see that too.

It was now or never and there was no looking back. She was going to give the presentation of her life and leave nothing in the tank. She was going ALL IN and in the end would be a better person, personally and professionally, for it.

She opened the door and over the threshold into destiny.

Could this be you? Do you have something big coming up? Perhaps an opportunity to take advantage of a defining moment in your life or career.

Are you ready for it? Are you 100% prepared to give it your all and take it?

Just like the guys you see on television that play those big poker tournaments, you too will eventually reach a point where the only play is to push all the chips towards the center of the table and go ALL IN.