Choosing To Be Content

In his book Money: A User's Manual, Bob Russell describes a farmer who once grew discontent with his farm. He griped about the lake on his property always needing to be stocked and managed... And those fat cows lumbered through his pasture. All the fencing and feeding - what a headache!

He called a Realtor and made plans to list the farm. A few days later the agent phoned, wanting approval for the advertisement she intended to place in the local paper. She read the ad to the farmer. It described a lovely farm in an ideal location - quiet and peaceful, contoured with rolling hills, carpeted with soft meadows, nourished by a fresh lake, and blessed with well-bred livestock. The farmer said, "Read that ad to me again."

After hearing it a second time, he decided, "I've changed my mind. I'm not going to sell. I've been looking for a place like that all my life."

Contributed by Derek Avera, YTB Corporate, Wood River, Illinois.

Ducks or Eagles? (Part 2 of a 2-part series)

'Tell me, Wally,' my amazed friend asked the driver, 'have you always served customers like this?'

Wally smiled into the rear view mirror. 'No, not always. In fact, it's only been in the last two years. My first five years driving, I spent most of my time complaining like all the rest of the cabbies do. Then I heard the personal growth guru, Wayne Dyer, on the radio one day.

Dyer said that if you get up in the morning expecting to have a bad day, you'll rarely disappoint yourself. He said, 'Stop complaining! Differentiate yourself from your competition. Don't be a duck. Be an eagle. Ducks quack and complain. Eagles soar above the crowd.''

'That hit me right between the eyes,' said Wally. 'Dyer was really talking about me. I was always quacking and complaining, so I decided to change my attitude and become an eagle. I looked around at the other cabs and their drivers. The cabs were dirty, the drivers were unfriendly, and the customers were unhappy. So I decided to make some changes. I put in a few at a time. When my customers responded well, I did more.'

'I take it that has paid off for you,' Harvey said.

'It sure has,' Wally replied. 'My first year as an eagle, I doubled my income from the previous year. You were lucky to get me today. I don't sit at cabstands anymore. My customers call me for appointments on my cell phone or leave a message on my answering machine.'

Wally was phenomenal.He was running a limo service out of a Yellow Cab. I've probably told that story to more than fifty cab drivers over the years, and only two took the idea and ran with it. The rest of the drivers quacked like ducks and told me all the reasons they couldn't do any of what I was suggesting.

Wally the Cab Driver made a different choice. He decided to stop quacking like ducks and start soaring like eagles.

How about us?

Contributing writer: Don MacLean, Punta Gorda, Florida.

Ducks or Eagles? pt 1 of 2-part series

Harvey Mackay was waiting in line for a ride at the airport. When a cab pulled up, the first thing Harvey noticed was that the taxi was polished to a bright shine. Smartly dressed in a white shirt, black tie, and freshly pressed black slacks, the cab driver jumped out and rounded the car to open the back passenger door for Harvey.

He handed my friend a laminated card and said: 'I'm Wally, your driver. While I'm loading your bags in the trunk I'd like you to read my mission statement.'

It said: Wally's Mission Statement: To get my customers to their destination in the quickest, safest and cheapest way possible in a friendly environment.

This blew Harvey away. Especially when he noticed that the inside of the cab matched the outside. Spotlessly clean!

As he slid behind the wheel, Wally said, 'Would you like a cup of coffee? I have a thermos of regular and one of decaf.'

My friend said jokingly, 'No, I'd prefer a soft drink.'

Wally smiled and said, 'No problem. I have a cooler up front with regular and Diet Coke, water and orange juice.'

Almost stuttering, Harvey said, 'I'll take a Diet Coke.'

As they were pulling away, Wally handed my friend another laminated card, 'These are the stations I get and the music they play, if you'd like to listen to the radio.' And as if that weren't enough, Wally told Harvey that he had the air conditioning on and asked if the temperature was comfortable for him

The Me-First Mentality

Self-Preservation
By Dr. John C. Maxwell
(Part 1 of 2; continuing tomorrow)

The most recognizable symbols of Ancient Egypt - the mummy and the pyramid - were elaborate attempts at self-preservation. The Egyptian pharaohs believed their spirits would remain inside their bodies after death to embark on a journey into the afterlife. On account of this belief, the pharaohs spared no expense to ensure their bodies would transition securely and comfortably into the hereafter. It was not uncommon for a pharaoh to begin drawing up plans for his pyramid as the first order of business after ascending to the throne.

Generations of Egyptians were forced into decades of backbreaking labor to build pyramids so that the deceased body of one pharaoh would be pampered in the afterlife. To construct a pyramid, stones averaging 2.5 tons had to be hewn out of rock quarries by laborers with primitive tools, hauled across the desert, and carried up ramps to be set into place. Archeologists estimate the Pyramids at Giza took between 20,000 and 30,000 workers about 80 years to build!

The primary purpose of the extravagant pyramids was to protect the pharaoh's body, which itself was mummified for maximum preservation. A team of embalmers spent 70 days performing a variety of activities to prepare a pharaoh's body for burial. When they had finally finished, the mummy was laid to rest in an ornate coffin and placed inside of the pyramid.

The pharaohs exhausted staggering amounts of their kingdom's wealth and work force to preserve themselves. The exorbitant expenditures left many Egyptians in poverty and robbed the economy of essential funds. By frittering away national resources on self-preservation, the pharaohs likely accelerated the deterioration of their mighty kingdom.(Part 2 continuing tomorrow)

The Me-First Mentality

Self-Preservation
(Part 2 of 2; continued from yesterday)

As evidenced by the ancient Egyptians, leaders have prioritized self-preservation for thousands of years. Regrettably, self-preservation runs contrary to the true nature of leadership, which involves serving constituents. By operating with a me-first mentality, leaders deprive and exploit those they lead instead of equipping and inspiring them. In the process, they provoke resentment, lose respect, and accomplish little.

Although self-preservation sabotages leadership, throughout history men and women in authority have been preoccupied with protecting their position and status. What drives leaders to be so inwardly focused?

Root Causes of a Self-Preserving Leader

1) They Fear Change
Change can be viewed as a threat or an opportunity. Either way, it's inevitable. A self-preserving leader dreads change and erects barriers to it whenever possible. After change proves to be unavoidable, the self-preserving leader is jostled and has trouble coping with new realities.

2) They Stop Growing
Leaders who stop growing eventually start clinging to position instead of merit. These leaders rely on experience and seniority to compensate for their decline in knowledge and ability. The lure of self-preservation sucks them into the narrow confines of their comfort zones, and, as a consequence, they dodge assignments that require learning new skills or breaking with the usual routine.

3) They Lose Self-Belief
Insecure leaders place others at arm's length and guard their turf. Having lost self-belief, they fear being exposed as incompetent. These sorts of people live with a tremendous sense of vulnerability. For this reason, they respond poorly to failure, seeing it as an indictment of their ineptitude rather than a learning experience.

In Conclusion
Whatever the source, self-preservation causes leaders foolishly to expend their energies and influence fortifying their own position. In doing so, they malnourish the persons they should be serving. By neglecting the effectiveness of their people, self-preserving leaders indirectly minimize the extent of their own influence.

By Dr. John C. Maxwell

"Happyness" : Happiness with a 'Why'

I have a habit a collecting lots of business cards from people I have met over the years. After all, "your network determines your net worth", right? But recently while cleaning up my office, I noted that only a small percentage of these "contacts" ever become "connections".
As a result, I am creating a Rolodex of all the people with whom I share core values, those I enjoy being around - the people that being around makes me Happy.

This idea that having fundamental principles and core values upon which to build relationships, businesses, and even one's life is not so novel, in and of itself, but to witness this idea driving a company from nothing to over $1 billion in gross merchandise sales in less than ten years is quite remarkable.

It's been nearly 6 wks since I received two advance copies of the new book by Tony Hsieh, Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose. I was honored to have the opportunity to share with each of my readers my honest review of the book. If you have never heard of Tony Hsieh, read on.

In 1999, at the age of 24, Tony Hsieh (pronounced Shay) sold LinkExchange, the company he co-founded, to Microsoft for $265 million. He then joined Zappos as an advisor and investor, and eventually became CEO, where he helped Zappos grow from almost no sales to over $1 billion in gross merchandise sales annually, while simultaneously making Fortune magazines annual Best Companies to Work For list. In November 2009, Zappos was acquired by Amazon.com in a deal valued at $1.2 billion on the day of closing. His first book, Delivering Happiness will be released on June 7.

Here's an excerpt:

When I ask people [What is your goal in life?], I get a lot of different answers. Some people say they want to start a company. Others people say they want to find a boyfriend or girlfriend. Others say they want to get healthy.
Whatever your response is, I'd like you to think about your answer to the follow-up question:
"Why?"
Depending on what they said before, people might say they want to retire early, or find a soul mate, or run faster.
Again, whatever your response to the previous question was, I'd like you to ask yourself:
"Why?"
The next set of answers people give might be so they can spend more time with their family, or get married, or run a marathon.
What's interesting is that if you keep asking yourself "Why" enough times, you'll find yourself arriving at the same answer that most people do when they repeatedly ask themselves why they are doing what the are doing: They believe that whatever they are pursuing in life will ultimately make them happier.

Sharing this excerpt, I was reminded of the opening scene in one of my favorite movies, The Pursuit of Happiness, Chris Gardner (played by Will Smith) told the daycare owner that "happyness" was misspelled saying there was no "Y" in 'happiness'. Well, we came to learn the "why" driving Chris' pursuit of happiness - his son. And as Tony writes in what is now one of my favorite books, "In the end, it turns out that we're all taking different paths in pursuit of the same goal: happiness."

Delivering Happiness may not make you prompt you to create your own "Happy Rolodex", but for anyone who still dreams dreams, this book is for you. The personal stories and insights into Tony's paths and lessons connect with readers from all walks and experiences. Delivering Happiness
demystifies the tenets of success and delivers in tangible terms.

If this is your first visit to ChoiceJourneys101, stay tuned. Over the coming days and weeks, in the spirit of entrepreneurship, education, and inspiration ChoiceJourneys101 will feature topics, excerpts and links surrounding the Delivering Happiness movement. Your are invited to provide comments and hook up with us on Twitter @choicejourneys.

To order your copy of the book, visit:
http://www.amazon.com/deliveringhappiness

To follow the Delivering Happiness Movement visit:
http://www.deliveringhappinessbook.com/

Resist the Urge to Criticize

When we judge or criticize another person, it says nothing about that person; it merely says something about our own need to be critical.

If you attend a gathering and listen to all the criticism that is typically levied against others, and then go home and consider how much good all that criticism actually does to make our world a better place, you'll probably come up with the same answer that I do: Zero! It does no good. But that's not all. Being critical not only solves nothing; it contributes to the anger and distrust in our world. After all, none of us likes to be criticized. Our reaction to criticism is usually to become defensive and/or withdrawn. A person who feels attached is likely to do one of two things: he will either retreat in fear or shame, or he will attack or lash out in anger. How many times have you criticized someone and had them respond by saying, "Thank you so much for pointing out my flaws. I really appreciate it?"

Criticism, like swearing, is actually nothing more than a bad habit. It's something we get used to doing; we're familiar with how it feels. It keeps us busy and gives us something to talk about.

If, however, you take a moment to observe how you actually feel immediately after you criticize someone, you'll notice that you will feel a little deflated and ashamed, almost like you're the one who has been attacked. The reason this is true is that when we criticize, it's a statement to the world and to ourselves, "I have a need to be critical." This isn't something we are usually proud to admit.

The solution is to catch yourself in the act of being critical. Notice how often you do it and how bad it makes you feel. What I like to do is turn it into a game. I still catch myself being critical, but as my need to criticize arises, I try to remember to say to myself, "There I go again." Hopefully, more often than not, I can turn my criticism into tolerance and respect.

By Richard Carlson, Ph.D.

Antonio Stradivari was a seventeenth-century violin maker whose name in its Latin form, Stradivarius, has become synonymous with excellence. He once said that to make a violin less than his best would be to rob God, who could not make Antonio Stradivari's violins without Antonio. He was right. Stradivarius violins could not be made without him.

Certain gifts were given to that craftsman that no other violin maker possessed. In the same vein, there are certain things you can do that no one else can. Perhaps it is parenting, or constructing houses, or encouraging the discouraged.

There are things that only you can do and you are alive to do them. In the great orchestra we call life, you have an instrument and a song, and you owe it to those around you to play them both sublimely.

Max Lucado, best-selling author.