Good morning,
Hurray - it’s Friday and Michigan is serving up a delicious sunny 79° today. In any weather, this morning’s Sunny Note is about staying cool under pressure. We all find ourselves in a pressure cooker more or less often, and a tough economy just turns up the heat.
So when the pressure hits – from lost keys to business deals – hopefully we all have strategies to help ourselves perform well. One of my favorites that’s indispensable in almost every situation is this:
Think first.
It doesn’t always have to be a big think. In a pressure cooker, often just a few seconds of thought can completely change our response from total panic to top performance. Sometimes it can be as simple as telling oneself, “I can handle it,” before diving into the situation. Other times, substantial thought must be invested in identifying the solution. Either way, the key is to make sure that thinking comes first.
For example, a basic technique I was taught years ago for handling media interviews is to repeat the question before answering it. Why? Simply to gain a few seconds to think, because once it’s on tape, you can’t take it back. The same applies in the presence of our family members, colleagues and customers, because although we can apologize, we can’t undo what we’ve said or done.
Happy thinking – and have a sunny day!
Clarity
P.S. “Let our advance worrying become advance thinking and planning.” Winston Churchill
P.P.S. Thank you for sharing Sunny Notes with others. New readers can visit This Link to add an email address to receive Sunny Notes directly each Friday or read prior Sunny Notes at clarity.tv.
Clarity Patton Newhouse
Metropolitan Lincoln Mercury
32000 Ford Road
Garden City, MI 48135313-670-7505
MetroMichigan.com
Friday, August 27, 2010
Friday, August 20, 2010
Slow & Steady
Good morning,
Happy Friday! I’m reminded this week of Aesop’s fable about the Tortoise and the Hare. The Hare started out fast but didn’t discipline himself to stick to the program, while the Tortoise consistently put one foot in front of the other until he crossed the finish line first. It’s a simple story to illustrate a profound point.
Self discipline is the foundation of success.
Without self discipline, we get distracted, fail to finish things we start and allow ourselves to drift away from fundamental practices that (in the back of our minds) we know would make us more successful.
The good news is that some of the most important things we must do every day aren’t physically demanding. Instead, the challenge - or opportunity - lies in exercising the necessary willpower to do what needs to be done, and done consistently.
Today, self discipline helped carve out the time to write this Sunny Note, in order to walk my talk and wish you a sunny day!
Clarity
P.S. “In reading the lives of great men, I found that the first victory they won was over themselves... self-discipline with all of them came first.” Harry S. Truman
P.P.S. Thank you for sharing Sunny Notes with others. New readers can visit This Link to add an email address to receive Sunny Notes directly each Friday or read prior Sunny Notes at clarity.tv.
Clarity Patton Newhouse
Metropolitan Lincoln Mercury
32000 Ford Road
Garden City, MI 48135
313-670-7505
MetroMichigan.com
Happy Friday! I’m reminded this week of Aesop’s fable about the Tortoise and the Hare. The Hare started out fast but didn’t discipline himself to stick to the program, while the Tortoise consistently put one foot in front of the other until he crossed the finish line first. It’s a simple story to illustrate a profound point.
Self discipline is the foundation of success.
Without self discipline, we get distracted, fail to finish things we start and allow ourselves to drift away from fundamental practices that (in the back of our minds) we know would make us more successful.
The good news is that some of the most important things we must do every day aren’t physically demanding. Instead, the challenge - or opportunity - lies in exercising the necessary willpower to do what needs to be done, and done consistently.
Today, self discipline helped carve out the time to write this Sunny Note, in order to walk my talk and wish you a sunny day!
Clarity
P.S. “In reading the lives of great men, I found that the first victory they won was over themselves... self-discipline with all of them came first.” Harry S. Truman
P.P.S. Thank you for sharing Sunny Notes with others. New readers can visit This Link to add an email address to receive Sunny Notes directly each Friday or read prior Sunny Notes at clarity.tv.
Clarity Patton Newhouse
Metropolitan Lincoln Mercury
32000 Ford Road
Garden City, MI 48135
313-670-7505
MetroMichigan.com
Friday, August 13, 2010
Sunny Face
Good morning,
Hurray for Friday! Even when it’s not the end of the work week, Friday still makes me smile. In fact, smiling is the topic of today’s Sunny Note – because it’s good for business and good for our health.
When we get up in the morning, putting on a smile is as important – or more important – than anything else we wear. It’s worth the effort to…
Put on a happy face.
I was recently talking with a friend who’s dealing with a lot of challenges at home and at work. The weight of the world seems to be on his shoulders and yet he puts on a smile every day. Does he feel like smiling? No! But he smiles anyway and that simple act improves his career, his life and the lives of the people around him.
Smiling is so important that it’s official policy at the Embassy Suites Hotel in Livonia, where their training presentation includes this three-step slide:
Hurray for Friday! Even when it’s not the end of the work week, Friday still makes me smile. In fact, smiling is the topic of today’s Sunny Note – because it’s good for business and good for our health.
When we get up in the morning, putting on a smile is as important – or more important – than anything else we wear. It’s worth the effort to…
Put on a happy face.
I was recently talking with a friend who’s dealing with a lot of challenges at home and at work. The weight of the world seems to be on his shoulders and yet he puts on a smile every day. Does he feel like smiling? No! But he smiles anyway and that simple act improves his career, his life and the lives of the people around him.
Smiling is so important that it’s official policy at the Embassy Suites Hotel in Livonia, where their training presentation includes this three-step slide:
- STEP #1 – Smile
- STEP #2 – Make other people smile
- STEP #3 – Repeat as necessary
When times are tough it’s more important than ever to smile – and make other people smile – as often as possible.
This morning I’m sending you a smile and wishing you a sunny day!
Clarity
P.S. “Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.” Leo Buscaglia
P.P.S. Thank you for sharing Sunny Notes with others. New readers can visit This Link to add an email address to receive Sunny Notes directly each Friday or read prior Sunny Notes at http://www.clarity.tv/.
Clarity Patton Newhouse
Metropolitan Lincoln Mercury
32000 Ford Road
Garden City, MI 48135
313-670-7505
MetroMichigan.com
Friday, August 6, 2010
Exemplary Leadership
Good morning,
Happy Friday! When I was a child one of our neighbor ladies often said, half joking, “Do as I say and not as I do.” Her wry tone came from the fact that she genuinely didn’t want us kids to pick up habits like smoking and drinking, yet she saw the hypocrisy in saying "don't smoke" at the same time that she lit up.
In business, as in our personal lives, leading by example is far more effective than leading by decree because:
Actions speak louder than words.
Leading by example is of course easier said than done, but it's usually worth the effort. I'm reminded of a friend who for years has had a plaque in his office featuring a great quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson, "What you do speaks so loudly that I cannot hear what you say."
Let's let our actions do the talking - and have a sunny day!
Clarity
P.S. “Setting an example is not the main means of influencing another, it is the only means.” Albert Einstein
P.P.S. Thank you for sharing Sunny Notes with others. New readers can visit This Link to add an email address to receive Sunny Notes directly each Friday or read prior Sunny Notes at http://www.clarity.tv/.
Clarity Patton Newhouse
Metropolitan Lincoln Mercury
32000 Ford Road
Garden City, MI 48135
313-670-7505
MetroMichigan.com
Happy Friday! When I was a child one of our neighbor ladies often said, half joking, “Do as I say and not as I do.” Her wry tone came from the fact that she genuinely didn’t want us kids to pick up habits like smoking and drinking, yet she saw the hypocrisy in saying "don't smoke" at the same time that she lit up.
In business, as in our personal lives, leading by example is far more effective than leading by decree because:
Actions speak louder than words.
Leading by example is of course easier said than done, but it's usually worth the effort. I'm reminded of a friend who for years has had a plaque in his office featuring a great quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson, "What you do speaks so loudly that I cannot hear what you say."
Let's let our actions do the talking - and have a sunny day!
Clarity
P.S. “Setting an example is not the main means of influencing another, it is the only means.” Albert Einstein
P.P.S. Thank you for sharing Sunny Notes with others. New readers can visit This Link to add an email address to receive Sunny Notes directly each Friday or read prior Sunny Notes at http://www.clarity.tv/.
Clarity Patton Newhouse
Metropolitan Lincoln Mercury
32000 Ford Road
Garden City, MI 48135
313-670-7505
MetroMichigan.com
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