Words, Yes Words Are All I Have...etc and so forth

It occurs to me that there's nothing in the world as important as words...and how you say them. Honest, the right words said the right way makes all the difference. Try this experiment on your co-workers or friends or total strangers today. When you see them and you get the predictible "How are you?", reply with "better now that I've seen you". You might even go so far as to add "You're a ray of bright sunshine on a cloudy day". Just see how they react. If there's not a smile, try saying it with more sincerity.

I could go on about how the wrong words are just....well, wrong, but that's another blog. What words do you use to bolster other's morale? I'll give them a try around here. In the meantime, remember...everyone else's mood affects yours and you're just helping yourself when you go out of your way to make them feel good. Thanks for reading and we'll leave the mic on for ya.

Read the Classics

Through the years, I've discovered a few things about myself. One is, I'm lazy. No, really. Given the choice between catching up on paperwork and playing golf? No contest. Make that phone call or watch a movie? Does anyone else smell popcorn? I found out a long time ago, that I need help on the "motivation thing". My half hour commute each way is the perfect time to put in that book on tape that gets my mind going. Over the years I've listened to such motivational speakers as Brian Tracy and the like. One I'm listening to again right now is Dale Carnegie. Yeah, really. I'm a man of the new century and I'm listening to one of the motivational icons of the last.

It's fun. Honest, I think it's because the examples used in the audio book are so....last century. These are situations that just wouldn't happen today. But the underlying truths are as relevant today as they were seventy years ago. How to deal with people, how to stop worrying, how to make a mouthwatering souffle. Okay, so I made the last part up. My point is...we all suffer from "Gee, I'd rather be goofing offitus" and there's help in the form of motivational books on tape. Worth every penny you might care to invest, but also available at your local library. Remember the library? It's a building with books and entertainment that you can borrow for weeks on end for free. Ahh, but that's another blog.

If you're already listening to some books on tape that might get me performing up to my potential, I'd love to hear about them. Let me know. In the meantime, thanks for reading and we'll leave the mic on for ya.

Okay Fine, I'm Back

I can't begin to tell you how much fun I have on vacation. There's just something so completely liberating about hitting the open road with only vague destinations in mind. This year, we knew we needed some mountain time, but didn't decide until the very last minute whether we were headed for the Rockies, or the Black Hills. Then Wednesday, before we left on Friday, I had a vivid dream of standing in a tourist trap holding one of those cheap plastic snow globes of Mount Rushmore. Guess where we went?

Anyway, we had a wonderful time and have learned some valuable lessons. Number one being, no matter how much vacation time you take....it's just never enough. Now, I was thinking it had to do with getting older, but then remembered how I felt at the end of Summer as we were getting ready to head back to school as a kid. See....never enough. If we, as advertising types, could find a way to bottle that wonderful feeling of getting ready to leave on vacation, we'd all be high on life all the time. And sure, we'd be rich.

So get to work. How do we recreate those magical memories of life? Or at least write with the passion and genuine joy to get everyone thinking about the product or service we're trying to promote. Because we all know, the spots that are best at making an "emotional connection" are the most effective. You're the genius. I know you can do it.

Thanks for reading and we'll leave the mic on for ya.