Getting Started

Good morning,

Happy Friday! Have you often noticed that getting started is usually the hardest part of any task? Especially the distasteful ones! It certainly is for me, and apparently I’m not alone. We all seem to face unappealing tasks, sometimes as distasteful as eating a frog - raw! So what’s the solution?

Eat the frog for breakfast.

These are wise words I try to live by, which I originally heard some time ago from Pamela Jett, an expert on how to manage pressure and stay positively focused. The concept is simple. Since you have to eat the frog eventually, get it out of the way first. Without the distasteful task (whatever it is) hanging over your head, suddenly the day is sunnier and more productive.

But what about the big roadblock: getting started? I use another simple, helpful technique: set a time limit. Tell yourself you’re only going to work on it for ten minutes. Then you’ll move on to something else and get back to it later. Ten minutes seems palatable so the concept gets you started; then the magic happens when the ten minutes have passed and you suddenly discover you’re on a roll with the hardest part behind you.

Best of luck eating today’s frog – and have a sunny day!

Clarity

P.S. “The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The secret of getting started is breaking your complex overwhelming tasks into small manageable tasks, and then starting on the first one.” Mark Twain

P.P.S. Thank you for visiting MySunnyNotes.com. If you’re new to Sunny Notes and would like to receive my sunny email each Friday, visit JoinSunnyNotes.com.

Clarity Patton Newhouse
Metropolitan Lincoln Mercury
32000 Ford Road
Garden City, MI 48135
313-670-7505
MetroMichigan.com

Perspective

Good morning,

Happy Friday! Today’s sunny thought is a piece of practical advice a friend of mine gave me earlier this week. It’s simple, helpful and worth sharing with you this morning. When weighing important decisions, this approach helps put the decision and the potential consequences in perspective.

It’s the “10-10-10” principle.

The principle boils down to this. When facing a difficult decision, it helps to ask ourselves: How will this affect me in 10 ten minutes? In 10 months? In 10 years? Three slightly different questions that can generate three very different answers. Sure, the answer to the immediate question is important, but sometimes we don’t consider far enough into the future. Often it’s the long view that gives us the best perspective.

After hearing my friend’s story about how helpful he’s found this principle to be, which he originally heard about from another friend, I did a little Googling. I learned that 10-10-10 was authored by Suzy Welch, who has written a whole book on the subject. So if you’d like to know more, you can check out SuzyWelch101010.com.

Best wishes for all your decisions and have a sunny day!

Sincerely,
Clarity

P.S. "You are as powerful and strong as you allow yourself to be, and the most difficult part of any endeavor is taking the first step, making the first decision."

Robyn Davidson, Australian author born 1950

P.P.S. Thank you for visiting MySunnyNotes.com. If you’re new to Sunny Notes and would like to receive my sunny email each Friday, visit JoinSunnyNotes.com.

Clarity Patton Newhouse
Metropolitan Lincoln Mercury
32000 Ford Road
Garden City, MI 48135
313-670-7505
MetroMichigan.com

Impossible

Good morning,

It’s Friday and that’s reason to smile. Even though or especially because sometimes the chaos around us – at home or work or on the news - gets so intense that we need to step back for a moment to regain some positive perspective.

When we find ourselves thinking things like, “This is impossible!” Then it’s time to take a deep breath (pause for breath) and remember:

The impossible just takes a little longer.

I love that saying. It’s a one line pep-talk I give myself periodically. So when situations seem impossible, hang in there. Have faith and confidence that your efforts will pay off and that with perseverance – especially perseverance – you will succeed.

Stay strong and have a sunny day!

Clarity

P.S. “Most of the things worth doing in the world had been declared impossible before they were done.” Louis Dembitz Brandeis, United States Supreme Court Justice from 1916 to 1939.

P.P.S. Thank you for visiting MySunnyNotes.com. If you’re new to Sunny Notes and would like to receive my sunny email each Friday, visit JoinSunnyNotes.com.

Clarity Patton Newhouse
Metropolitan Lincoln Mercury
32000 Ford Road
Garden City, MI 48135
313-670-7505
MetroMichigan.com

The Choice

Good morning,

Happy Friday! Is today going to be a good day or a bad day? Life is so full of surprises that it might seem impossible to know at six a.m. how the day will turn out. On one hand, it’s true that many things are outside our control. But on the other hand, we control the single most determining factor, our attitude.

Attitude is a choice - a choice that makes all the difference.

In business, as in other aspects of our lives, there are so many times when a change of attitude not only changes our feelings toward a situation but actually helps improve the situation itself. Yet changing our attitude often seems like the most unnatural thing in the world. We assume that if something looks bad, sounds bad and feels bad, it must be bad. But the reality is that it only IS bad if we say it is.

I’m sure we can all remember plenty of occasions when we’ve turned “problems” into “opportunities” and it usually starts with the attitude we choose to have about the situation.

Changing the way we describe a situation to ourselves, for example from “this stinks” to “no problem,” makes an amazing difference. Our self talk is inseparable from our attitude, and so just by changing the things we tell ourselves, we can change our lives.

This day, no matter what arises, let’s make it a good one!

Have a sunny day,
Clarity

P.S. "Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude."
Thomas Jefferson, 3rd President of the United States (1801–1809)

"A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort."
Herm Albright, Painter and lithographer born 1876 in Mannheim, Germany

P.P.S. Thank you for visiting www.MySunnyNotes.com. If you’re new to Sunny Notes and would like to receive my sunny email each Friday, visit www.JoinSunnyNotes.com.

Clarity Patton Newhouse
Metropolitan Lincoln Mercury
32000 Ford Road
Garden City, MI 48135
313-670-7505
MetroMichigan.com

Claim the Blame

Good morning,

It's Friday and it's sunny! Two great reasons to smile. Plus, hopefully we'll get to enjoy some sunshine this weekend. Meanwhile, I'm reflecting on a fact that's quite simple but sometimes surprisingly controversial.

It's okay to apologize.

Strike that. It's essential to apologize. However, you've probably noticed that as a society we're out of the habit. Maybe it's fear of lawsuits. Maybe it's picked up from politicians who don't want to claim the blame. Sure - none of us wants to admit we screwed up, but saying "I'm sorry" isn't as scary as it seems.

This subject is on my mind today because I recently had the pleasure of attending a customer service seminar hosted by the Livonia Chamber of Commerce at the Embassy Suites. One of the many points addressed by presenter Robin Whitfield, Embassy Suites general manager, pertained to resolving customer concerns. Robin specifically brought up the fact that, too often, business representatives skip the important steps of being empathetic and apologizing to the customer. Instead, they jump straight from listening, if they really listen at all, to trying to problem solve.

I'll leave you with a handy little acronym that Robin used to articulate four important steps that should be followed - in this order - when addressing customer concerns, or anyone's concerns for that matter: LEAP. Listen, Empathize, Apologize and Problem Solve.

Have a sunny day!

Clarity

P.S. "Never ruin an apology with an excuse." Kimberly Johnson, American poet and Renaissance scholar.

P.P.S. Thank you for visiting www.MySunnyNotes.com. If you’re new to Sunny Notes and would like to receive my sunny email each Friday, visit www.JoinSunnyNotes.com.

Clarity Patton Newhouse
Metropolitan Lincoln Mercury
32000 Ford Road
Garden City, MI 48135
313-670-7505
MetroMichigan.com