Before I checked my PowerBall tickets I wrote an email to myself titled “The Day I Won The Lottery.” Here’s the email…

Now that I have won the lottery, here is the way that I am going to live my life….

What I look forward to….
- acknowledging LOVE and embracing the power of LOVE
- the “written” journey
- paying all those that I promised to pay
- creating jobs for those who need them
- saying “no” when appropriate
- being a persuasive influence
- marriage
- children
- traveling
- golfing
- San Diego
- new experiences……

So I found the PowerBall numbers online, and without even looking at my card, I saw the numbers of 5, 22 and 23. This made my heart stop because I picked those numbers for specific reasons. Had I written an email to myself and was now going to be forced by the universe to live that direction?

Long story short, I am a lottery winner of $7 for picking 3 correct numbers but I am not a jackpot winner. As I reflect on this email, I can still live a fulfilling life without matching all six numbers. But there is always next time.

Everyone has 168 hours a week to do whatever they choose to do. I stumbled on this concept months ago by doing the simple math of 24 hours multiplied by 7 days and poof – 168 hours of happiness.

If you tallied up what you do in a week, what would you spend the most time on? Sleeping, working, or time with friends and family?

Now that we know how much time we have in a week, how do you value your time?

As a consultant to CEO’s, I have struggled to price my time but never to value it. My CEO’s say not only have I helped them grow their businesses, solve problems faster than normal, but in the end they get better sleep at night because they aren’t as worried about their business as they used to be. I find tremendous value in these comments.

To date, I still price my engagements based upon what my CEO’s feel my service is worth. If they have no context for the service then I will take a base rate and earn my way up. This approach increases the chances of CEO happiness and helps me sleep at night.

If you are a parent, consultant or even a volunteer, look at every hour you spend and think about the value of the hour instead of the cost of it. And price accordingly!

Why an egg timer?

Being that I don’t have an egg timer in my kitchen, I began to wonder the “why” of an egg timer. After a quick google search, I see that the egg timer is a device to measure the time required to boil an egg. Unfortunately, that definition doesn’t answer my question of “why.”

I think the “why” of the egg timer is to relieve not only the worry of making a mistake but also to give me the peace of mind so I can do other things while I wait for the “ding.”

Can we put an egg timer on decisions that we haven’t made?

This question really got me closer to the bigger “why.” The decision to make a hard boiled egg is what is most important. The egg timer is there to support that decision. So I guess the purpose of an egg timer is as a device to measure the time required to reach the expected outcome of the decision that you make.

Time for me to turn on the egg timer for my decision to move to San Diego so I can experience more adventure, more companionship and better weather.

In the voice of an Indianapolis 500 announcer… “Drivers start your your egg timers!!!!”

Do you have a passive aggressive company?

While people can exhibit passive aggressiveness, have you ever thought about a company being passive aggressive? When you think of it, aren’t people what make a company what it is and how it behaves?

If you have a company filled with passive aggressive people then one would think you would have a passive aggressive company.

What are the things that you should look for to see if you own or work for a passive aggressive company?

Q: Are things purposely disguised to appear to be normal? Maybe everyone tells stories that customers are happy when customer loyalty isn’t being measured.

Q: Does everyone have the ability to express opinions or emotions without fear of capital punishment type consequences?

Q: Is conflict avoided or dismissed as a means to rationalize the company version of logical?

Q: Is information withheld?

Q: Are employees withdrawn or withdrawing?

Q: Are problems being ignored?

Q: Is responsibility being dodged by leadership?

Q: Are things that are real being distorted to fit the company agenda?

Q: Is there a company culture of each person making it look like he/she is pulling their weight?

Q: Are needs and expectations not communicated in a clear manner?

Q: Is everyone else an object of hostility?

I could go on and on to share other thought provoking questions but these should be enough for now. When assessing if your company is passive aggressive, don’t forget to look in the mirror because you might be a teammate.

Why do we fall in love?

Is it the attraction?

Is it what is brought to our attention?

I believe it’s the firsthand experience which reinforces our perceptions and observations.

Do you remember the first brand that you fell in love with and you told yourself “that’s me?”

Everyone wants to reach a sense of affirmation in any decision they make; new job, marriage, restaurant, hobby. In order to feel good about your decisions, one must know what they are drawn to, be present to what interests them, and experience the decision firsthand.

Then and only then can you really know if that decision “is you!”

We all have dreams and wishes. It’s up to you to not only keep them alive but also manage the distractions that diminish your intention. Distractions can be anything from consuming too much alcohol to ignoring the stressors of life.

What are the stressors that are distracting you?

One might think that ignoring something means that you are focusing on something else. If you ignore the weeds in your garden, you can expect the garden to die. Attack your stressors and the universe will make your dreams come true.

Do you think that direction or intention comes first?

It might appear to be a chicken and egg theory but take a moment to really think it through. Effective leaders understand that intention is the catalyst for creating and communicating compelling vision.

When was the last time you got in the car and didn’t know where you wanted to end up?

Or better yet, when was the last time you drove and the windshield was so dirty that you could barely see what was ahead of you?

As a leader, it is your duty to paint the picture as if it’s in high-definition television. The way to do this is to cast the vision based upon your compassionate understanding of your followers.

What are they confused about?

What information aren’t you sharing that might be helpful?

Fellowship and followship are entrusted gifts that are yours to manage in a selfless manner. If your followers don’t understand what’s going on, maybe it’s because you give inconsistent direction or no direction at all.

Be clear in your intention and the direction will follow.

There are CEO’s who think that being in the battlefield with the soldiers is act of building respect. While there is value to seeing the battlefield, the risk far outweighs the value if one doesn’t go into the battlefield with a sense of humility.

We see shows like “Undercover Boss” which are designed to show how ignorant CEO’s are about what’s going on in the battlefield. The resounding point is that these CEO’s have to have an open mind, receptive heart, and a spirit of empathy in order to fully embrace the smell of the battlefield.

I live in a gated community without a gate at the back entrance. This is by design because construction crews needed easier access into the community. What the homeowners association didn’t expect, by not having a back gate, was more traffic and speeding drivers from the adjoining neighborhood.

What did the homeowners association decide was the best solution?

Speed Bumps!!!! Speed bumps are very effective in keeping vehicle speed down, especially when you add 15 in your community. Unfortunately, these speed bumps became controversial as they were causing vehicle damage if taken at too great a speed.

Last week, construction ended which means that the gate was added to the back entrance and the speed bumps were also taken away. The interesting thing that I noticed, now that the speed bumps are removed, is that drivers are still slowing down and some are even stopping because they think the speed bumps are still there. How crazy is that?

What are the speed bumps that are slowing you down from living the life that you want to lead?

Recognize the speed bumps that are intended to slow you down and remove them. Just remember not to slow down because they aren’t there anymore.

Remember the times when you had to come up with excuses for why you didn’t deliver on a promise. We have all been there and when we look back on it, it’s crystal clear that maturity, responsibility, and equipping yourself to meet the commitment was all that was needed.

Do you think that children who make excuses for broken promises become adults who make excuses for broken promises?

Let’s take the age-old, “the dog ate my homework.” We all know that the excuse isn’t the explanation. In the end, the explanation has more to do with being immature, irresponsible, and ill-equipped to do what is expected of you. I know that is a bit harsh of a grading scale for the fourth-grader who forgot to finish his homework. The point that I am making here is that these children can become adults who say “the dog ate my computer.”

I can say that I have heard this exact explanation from someone (who will remain nameless) for why my emails were not responded to in a timely manner. Fortunately, there wasn’t a promise of an email response time and it wasn’t delivered as an excuse.

So the next time someone tells you an excuse that should be an explanation for a lack of specific discipline and accountability, make sure you display the appropriate level of acceptance. If not, the next excuse that you could here could be “the dog ate my car!”