Tag Archives: Team National

A NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTION: MEET MORE PEOPLE NOT LIKE ME

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We all have a (pick one: world, culture, environment) that we grew up in.
For most of us, nearly everyone in that milieu was pretty much like us. We shared the same beliefs. We had similar goals in life, even if our ways to pursue those goals might have been different.
That milieu is part of who we are. But, it’s not the “whole” world.
Keel Hunt, a columnist for the Tennessean newspaper in Nashville, talked about how diversity has been the key to that city’s prosperity. His new year’s resolution is to meet at least one person who is not like him. He discussed this in a Jan. 5, 2014, column.
Certainly, in his profession, Hunt meets a lot of folks not like him. But not everyone can say that.
Many people never leave the world in which they grew up. They never experience the culture, environments and worlds that others grew up in. Perhaps, if their children attend a school with students who are not like them, they move their children to a more homogeneous school.
This type of behavior breeds intolerance. But, today, “intolerance” has taken on new meanings.
When “Duck Dynasty’s” Phil Robertson talks about his religious and racial beliefs in public, or when a large group of people petition to have CNN’s Piers Morgan deported because of his views on gun control, it makes us re-examine what “intolerance” is.
“Intolerance” today has been comingled with free speech. Those who protest the views of Robertson and Morgan don’t watch them in large numbers. They are speaking largely to an audience of their peers, in terms of their beliefs. Those who disagree with them turn them off. It should come as no surprise that Robertson and Morgan believe what they believe.
Even though you may not agree with what they believe, or say in public, every person has to defend Robertson’s and Morgan’s rights to believe it and say it. If you disagree, turn them off. If enough people turn them off, they will pay a price not for believing what they believe, but expressing it so boldly in public.
If you follow Hunt’s idea and begin to meet people who are not like you, you may learn something. Neither you, nor they, should expect that either of your beliefs, customs, traditions etc., will change. But, neither party should presume the other is “wrong.”
We all are better people when we become an active part of the world. It takes all kinds of people to make a world, to quote an old adage. Many people in the world are different from you. They mean you no harm, in most cases. If they mean you harm, stay away from them. If you mean them harm, shame on you. Certainly, in most cultures or belief systems, most of us are taught to respect one another. There are a few cultures that teach children to avoid people because of what they look like, talk like or behave like – even when they are not misbehaving.
We learn from others. We should make it a point to learn ABOUT others. We should make it a point to live peacefully and respectfully among others who are not like us. And, yes, we should fight for the right of others to be who they are, as long as they mean no harm.
You can’t do much about others’ behavior, but you can start with your own. Believe what you want to believe, but learn more about others. You can help make the world a happier, healthier and more prosperous place for everyone. Eventually, blessings will come back to you in ways you may have never expected.
So, if you haven’t made it a practice to meet people who are not like you, try just meeting one such person. Don’t try to make him or her believe what you believe. It will never work. Instead, listen more and talk less. Each of you may learn more about each other and, perhaps, become friends. What a great world it would be if we could believe what we believe, and have an abundance of friends who are different from us.
Also, if you are well-known person, believing what you believe is certainly OK. And you are certainly free to talk about what you believe. But you might take a little extra care in how, and in what venue, you express your beliefs.
Peter

P.S. If you and your friends – those like you and those not like you – want to become prosperous, visit www.bign.com/pbilodeau. See how communities of friends of all types learn to prosper, and grow as people, by helping each other.

HOW MUCH IS YOUR CHARACTER WORTH?

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It’s not about brains. It’s about beliefs.
Your brains may be worth a given amount to someone else, i.e. an employer or a client.
Your beliefs have a value only to you. What would you sell them for?
Rory Vaden, cofounder of Southwestern Consulting and author of “Take the Stairs,” posed this question in a column in the Dec. 1, 2013, edition of The Tennessean newspaper in Nashville.
He calls the sum you would command to compromise your beliefs your “character quotient.”
If you have strong beliefs in something, what would tempt you to deviate from those beliefs?
Criminals, obviously, have a low character quotient. Their beliefs are compromised regularly, and they don’t seem to mind. Or, they never had a strong set of beliefs in the first place. Some of them would compromise themselves for very little.
Some business people have low character quotients. Their belief systems have much to do with making as much money as possible. Some of them don’t really care whom they hurt to feather their own nests. Because of these people, commerce and capitalism carry a bad name among many.
Some people in politics have low character quotients. But, there is an exception here. One does not want a politician unwilling to compromise. Governing is all about compromise, and accepting election results. But some in politics are in it for self-gain and, frankly, make no bones about it.
No matter what you do for a living, no matter your faith, no matter your core beliefs, you probably have something you would go to the wall for. No amount of money, in your mind, would make you deviate from that. Let’s look at Vaden’s formula: a quotient is the answer in a division problem. The dividend is what is being divided. The divisor is what the dividend is being divided by.
Your character dividend, Vaden says, represents the self-assigned value you place on sticking to your virtues and doing what you know is right. The divisor is the amount of money or other payoff that would be offered for you to choose NOT to stick to your principles.
In a concrete example, we all hate paying taxes. How many of us tinker with our tax returns to pay as few taxes as possible. Of course, there is legal tinkering that is OK. But illegal tinkering – cheating – is not. How much tax savings would tempt you to cheat on your taxes, perhaps risking an IRS audit etc.?
Perhaps, you may be offered a job that would violate your core principles. How much would they have to pay you to do it? As an example, you may have a place you’ve always wanted to work. You get an offer to work there, but as a strikebreaker. In other words, you’d have to cross a picket line to go to work. How much would they have to offer you to do that?
Or, you discover that your employer is doing something illegal or unethical. You do not want to be a part of it, because of your core beliefs. Would you quit your job over it – actually take something of value away from yourself?
These are questions we may never ponder, or we may ponder constantly. Do you consider selling out as selling yourself? Do you try to justify your decisions by saying you are doing it for the greater good? Again, politicians are the exception here. They must ALWAYS think about the greater good. Have you ever been placed in a bad position, having to make a decision from which none of the alternatives would be good? What are your beliefs really worth?
If you find yourself in a position to make what you feel is a bad choice, visit www.bign.com/pbilodeau. You may realize there is a positive place to go when all of the choices placed before you make sense to you, and none would compromise your beliefs.
People who do the right thing usually get rewarded in the end. Those who do the wrong things eventually get caught. Do what make s YOU feel good. Don’t hurt others in the process. The rewards for straying are usually short-lived. Your reward for standing firm may not come immediately, but one day, you’ll find it.

Peter

YOUR PROMISED PENSION MAY SHRINK OR DISAPPEAR

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When you were young, did mom or dad ever promise you something important, and not deliver? Or, did they give you something, but it wasn’t what you thought you were going to get?
Government entities have promised their workers, in most cases, a pension. Pension benefits, some of which are quite generous, are one of many reasons people take government jobs, often at lower salaries than they could make in the private sector.
But states, cities, counties and, yes, the federal government are all worried they may not be able to keep the promises they made to those workers.
Government revenue is down. Government workers are losing their jobs in relatively large numbers. And some public officials are taking action to ease their pension burdens.
Allysia Finley interviewed San Jose, Calif., Mayor Chuck Reed for an article in the Nov. 30-Dec. 1 weekend edition of The Wall Street Journal. Reed sees the crisis in the city’s pension obligation. It is now spending $45,263 each year per worker on pensions, according to the article. Reed sees that as unsustainable.
He is offering workers a choice: pay 16 percent more of your salary toward your pension – about 27 percent of a police officer’s salary – or accept lower benefits in the future. The choice circumvents state court decisions that protect workers’ vested pension rights. In other words, he can’t take their pensions away totally, but he can put more of the burden on the workers and less on the city.
The public employee unions are not too happy with this idea, as one might expect. Reed’s and other ideas from administrators and elected officials nationwide all but ensure that if you are young, and work for a government entity, chances are very good that you will not see the retirement benefits your older colleagues are seeing today.
Or, you’ll have to contribute more toward those benefits. Either way, government entities cannot sustain the status quo forever.
So, if you are that young, government worker, you have to begin thinking differently about retirement. Perhaps you will have to work longer than you’d planned. The idea of retiring with full benefits after 20 or 25 years of service – no matter how old you are – may not be in the cards. Yes, there are some jobs – firefighters and police officers, for example – that may not allow you to work past a certain age. So, you have to think differently.
That pension may not be enough for you to pursue a hobby, or second career, at your leisure, while you are relatively young. Instead, you may have to start now to set up your situation well ahead of retirement. You might even be able to set up something that won’t require you to work another job in your off time.
You hear people talk about investing and saving at an early age. That would be wise, but your government salary – and/or paying more for your pension benefits – may not allow as much flexibility to save much. Even if you can put away $5 a week, plus most, if not all, of any raises you get over time, and not touch it, you could have a pretty nice nest egg. Will it be enough?
There are lots of good ways to earn extra income while you are still on the job. For one of the best, visit www.bign.com/pbilodeau. If you and your friends in the same situation could lock arms, you all could not worry about making Reed’s choice, or deal with your promises not fully delivered.
Young folks in the private and public sectors all have to worry about how they will be employed for as long as they want to work. Unpleasant circumstances may intervene. Promises may be broken. If you presume they will happen, you can better prepare. Fighting valiantly to keep the status quo, as your union representatives and others may do, ultimately could be a waste of energy. Complaining about it is even a bigger energy waster.
Good things can come to those who prepare. The writing is on the wall. Eventually, Reed or some of his compatriots in government will reform pensions. Their decision(s) probably won’t benefit individual workers greatly. But they could benefit everyone into perpetuity. So get ready. Take action. Your future may depend on it.
Peter

LEADERSHIP: KNOWING WHEN TO LEAVE

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A person who reaches the pinnacle of leadership not only keeps leading, he is aiming to leave a legacy so that when he steps down, a high quality leader will follow him.
In John Maxwell’s “The 5 Levels of Leadership,” the leadership pinnacle is the fifth level. Leaders reach that level not only by developing other leaders, but by creating a situation that people follow him for who he is, and what he represents.
Maxwell says that a person reaches that level by continuing to develop leaders at all the other levels. By having a team of great leaders that the Level 5 leader has developed, he knows that he can step down, and the organization will still succeed like a well-oiled machine.
One of the main mistakes a leader can make at this level is hanging around too long. A Level 5 leader, Maxwell says, leaves before he has to. Most who get to this level have matured, probably had great financial success and may be ready to take on other challenges – or just retire and do something fun.
There’s a philosophy in any job to stay until they throw you out. But really great leaders don’t wait to be thrown out. Because they are so humble, they leave BEFORE they may want to.
So, perhaps you aren’t a CEO with a great nest egg. Are you hanging around a job waiting to see whether they throw you out? Do you see the day when they just might throw you out? Do you think that you are so great at what you do, they will NEVER throw you out?
In today’s working world, EVERY job is at risk. You, as an employee, are just one bad manager, or one reorganization, away from a potential end to a career. The job you are so good at perhaps can be done by someone who would earn less than you. Perhaps technology will advance quickly enough that a machine will replace you. Today’s worker cannot wait around expecting his employer to keep him until he can retire.
You have to keep your eyes and ears open for new opportunities. Those opportunities may lie in areas you may not logically gravitate to. Perhaps learning a new skill will increase your career options.
Chances are very good that someday, you’ll walk into work to a surprise – the company has reorganized and you’re being laid off. Never expect to be tipped off to this. It will come when you never expect it.
Or, that great boss you had has left the company, and his replacement is someone with whom you don’t hit it off. Perhaps this person sees you as a threat. Perhaps he just doesn’t like you. He can make your situation untenable.
Though the Level 5 leaders of which Maxwell speaks can usually control their own destinies, you may not have that luxury. But that doesn’t mean you can’t think the way they do. Perhaps you may not WANT to leave a job yet. But you may have to.
What to do to prepare for that? Have a Plan B in place to give you income if a career killer visits you. There are several good Plan Bs out there. To check out one of the best, visit www.bign.com/pbilodeau. You could be building a legacy of your own while you work. You could work your way up to a Level 5 leader, without interfering with your career. If the end of that career comes suddenly, you can leave with a smile.
Peter

WE NEED RISK TO GROW

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Everything is risky.
Getting in a car, an airplane, even going to school as a child is risky. We only have to look at the number of shootings and killings at schools in recent times to realize that.
With so much risk out there, why don’t we crave it?
Growing up in the 1950s or 1960s, we learned to love security. By security, we meant a job, with benefits and a pension. Companies and employers didn’t change much during these times. As long as you worked hard, you advanced. As long as you kept out of trouble, you could work there for as long as you wanted.
Today, having a job is risky. Benefits and pensions, if they are there at all, have been cut. Because progress happens at a much more rapid pace, companies need to be flexible, and change happens more often. Job descriptions, if they exist, are not cast in concrete. They can change a lot, and often.
You could be one reorganization away from losing everything you hold dear at work. You could be one bad manager away from having a career stopped in its tracks – no matter your age or how good you are at what you do.
But, instead of bemoaning our quickly changing times, you could embrace them. When we were taught that risk was bad, and security was good, how much did it hold us back from being the best we could be?
Today, being good, or the best, at something may not be appreciated. The thing you’re good at may become expendable. A company that gave you glowing evaluations yesterday may toss you out as excess tomorrow. It’s not your fault. But you can control what happens next for you.
One cannot grow without embracing risk. You don’t have to jump from airplanes, if that’s not your thing, to embrace risk. But you may have to do things that previously were not comfortable for you. Yes, you have to do it afraid.
If you are young and just getting out of school, don’t expect to get a job, or join a company, and hang around for 40 years. It could happen, but it is less and less likely as time passes. Expect that any job you take will be short-lived. What you were hired for yesterday could change even before your first day of work.
What to do? First, if you are young, take a job and manage expectations. Presume your job will change often. You may not get rewarded for all the change you endure, but presume change will happen often.
Secondly, keep your eyes open for opportunity. If you see an opportunity to use your skills and work for yourself, that would be ideal. There are many of those opportunities out there. To check out one of the best, visit www.bign.com/pbilodeau. It may or may not be for you, but don’t be deterred just because it seems uncomfortable. Remember, you can do this if you see it.
Thirdly, embrace risk and forget security. Today’s relative pillars of security can collapse on you in a heartbeat. Take what the world gives you, for as long as it gives it to you, as long as it works for you. But if something is working for you, don’t presume it will ALWAYS work for you.
Remember, too, that no one has achieved great success without risk. There are some great, true stories out there from those who started with nothing but an idea, and made it work for them. That’s not to say you should risk EVERYTHING all the time, or that you should be reckless with your circumstances. But don’t let discomfort alone deter you. Don’t let a full plate of activity keep you from seeing the bigger picture.
Don’t be trapped into “security.” It could be all gone tomorrow.
Peter

BE AND STAY POSITIVE

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John Maxwell is always a positive person.
It’s his strength, but positive people, who look for the best in everyone, sometimes get burned.
Maxwell, an author and leadership expert, discusses this in his book, “The 5 Levels of Leadership.”
Maxwell believes that it’s better to be always positive, and get burned once in a while, than to be negative and skeptical, and never take risks or think big.
The world is very different today, from decades ago. Almost everything we do involves taking a risk.
Let’s say you are working at your job, and see something you think could improve the operation. Let’s say you could act on it right then. Would you do it? Or, would you wait, talk to your boss about it and let HIM decide whether it should be done.
Of course, the latter is the safe course of action. After all, it’s not your company. You just work there. You just do what you’re told. You also might think that even if your boss agrees with you, that those above him may not. Your boss, fearful of his job and career, will pass any heat down to you, even if you tell the bigger bosses that you’d discussed this ahead of time.
The more productive companies will applaud your initiative. If your boss passes the heat down to you, why not just take the risk and claim all the credit. Your boss may be angry with you that you didn’t let him in on what you were doing, but so be it. A good boss will applaud you for taking the initiative, and bask in the credit because he hired you and molded a great employee.
Focusing on the positive also requires optimism. Remember that very few pessimists really succeed. They may climb a little, but pessimism gets in the way of being creative and innovative.
How can you tell that a person is positive, or how can you learn to be positive?
When you ask the question, “how are you,” what is the typical answer? If you hear, “I’m OK,” or “I’m getting by,” or “I’m here,” or “I’m on the right side of the dirt,” chances are these folks are not positive.
Positive people will usually respond with, “I’m great, how are you?” or, “I’m blessed, how are you?” You see, positive people are grateful for every day. They are grateful for everything good in their lives. And, positive people sincerely want to know how YOU are doing.
Positive people believe that the best years of their lives are ahead of them, no matter what. They don’t long for the past. Usually, they don’t fight for the status quo, unless their lives are exactly where they want them to be. There are few positive people who don’t see even greater things in the future.
The less positive will wax nostalgic about how things used to be. They will fight losing battles, trying to get back to those days. They will work very hard to resist change. They go home after some misfortune and wonder what might have been.
All of that wastes energy and keeps them from doing what they need to do to improve their future. Whereas, a positive person will work WITH change and embrace it. He knows that no matter what happens, he will do what he needs to do to make his future bright, and fulfill his dreams.
If you are a positive person, visit www.bign.com/pbilodeau. See what other positive people are doing to fulfill their dreams.
Also remember the best thing that you can do to stay positive is to hang around with other positive people. Don’t let the dream stealers get you down!
Peter

DO WHAT YOU KNOW, NOT WHAT YOU FEEL

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A slogan from the 1960s said: “If it feels good, do it.”
It was a way to assert one’s freedom , to branch out from what was socially acceptable into an area that was, well, not.
We all love to do what feels good, but it might be better to follow the advice of author, speaker and TV personality Les Brown: “do what you know, not what you feel.”
Brown is saying that we should do what we know we need to do, not just what feel like doing.
Let’s take that a step further. We know we need to eat right and exercise. But at a given moment, we might feel like relaxing on the couch with a big piece of chocolate cake. If you’ve exercised and eaten right most of the day, perhaps relaxation and a piece of cake are well deserved. But eating cake EVERY day because it feels good is not a good habit.
This works to the contrary as well. Sometimes, after a highly stressful day at work, you KNOW there is take-home work to do, but you want to just relax. You may need the relaxation more than the extra work. You may need balance in your life. Sometimes, your body tells you to back off work awhile.
Also, doing what you know you should do may mean spending more time with your family, instead of tackling that take-home work. A good rule here: if work really can wait, let it, if you are at home.
Some other activities make us feel good, but may keep us from doing what we know we should. Television is a perfect example. If you are neglecting something you know you should be doing but believe you don’t have time, think about how much time you may spend watching television.
Sure, the little screen is big entertainment, and very enjoyable. Some programming is certainly worth watching (much, sadly, is not). If you are doing what you know you should, chances are you are doing it with no remote in hand.
Many people get introduced to opportunities to change their lives and live their dreams, but pass it by because, “I couldn’t put another thing on my plate.” Some people really can’t. But most don’t want to change their lives badly enough to check it out.
You see, they will tell you that they are doing what they know they should be doing, and not what they feel like doing. Their plates may be overflowing, they are stressed, yet comfortable. Tackling something new and different would be uncomfortable. Perhaps they don’t realize what their lives are doing to them – and not doing for them.
Does that sound like you?
Perhaps you FEEL you have to do what you do, and neglecting some of what you REALLY should be doing, and don’t even know it.
Do you know there might be something better out there for you? If it were presented to you, would you want to look at it? If so, visit www.bign.com/pbilodeau.
If you KNOW you are not doing what you should be doing much of the time, but feel like you HAVE to do what you’re doing, then look for something that will encourage you to do more of what you should be doing.
Only you can know what that is. Only you can act on doing those things. Only you can change your life, if it needs changing.
That doesn’t mean you don’t treat yourself to a little decadence once in a while. But don’t eat cake EVERY day, at the expense of the right foods and exercise.
But your dreams are waiting. Eventually, why not eat your cake, and still have it.
Peter

OPTIMISM BREEDS SUCCESS

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Imagine being a pessimist and being a leader.
How can you lead people, or yourself, to success if failure is always in view.
That isn’t to say that leaders might not be realistic, but it would be difficult to find success if you never can see it.
Gregg Steinberg, professor of human performace at Austin Peay State University, uses the example of Diana Nyad, who swam from Cuba to Florida in September 2013, after several tries. Nyad had been trying to complete the swim since 1978. She faced obstacles like stinging jellyfish and other occurrences, but on her fifth try, everything was finally in place to ward off failure and she completed the swim.
Steinberg wrote about Nyad and optimism in the Sept. 29,2013, edition of the Tennessean newspaper in Nashville.
He says that even people who are natural pessimists can succeed by changing their view of failure. He talks about the TUF strategy, in which failure is viewed as temporary, unique and flexible. He says people who long for success must have internal dialogue that describes failure as TUF. It’s temporary, meaning today was not the day. Tomorrow we have another chance. Unique, because each situation is unique and a better situation will arise tomorrow. Today’s attempt was a strikeout, but there’s another turn at bat tomorrow. People talk within themselves about flexibility, because one or two tweaks in strategy may change the results.
All successful people have known failure. They’ve come to accept it as part of the journey. But they are always optimistic that failure today could become success tomorrow.
In recent years, it seems many of us are surrounded by failure. A good job may be gone. Our mortgage debt may have turned from manageable to underwater, with no action by us. The idea of getting a job, or working for a company for life has all but disappeared.
We see previous generations, now retired, who’ve never experienced this. They may or may not be able to help us. It’s not that we’re lazy. It’s just that our comfort zone has gotten very prickly.
What to do? First, as Steinberg suggests, maintain your optimism. If that’s not natural for you, try to change the inner dialogue you have with yourself. Sure, optimism isn’t going to give you a paycheck tomorrow, and it may not cover your underwater mortgage, but it will help you believe that there is something better out there awaiting you.
It may be a great job that you had never envisioned doing. It may be that person you had just met, who will become meaningful in your life. It may be something totally unexpected. But if you never believe good things will come, they may show up and you won’t recognize them. Your ship may come in, but if you don’t see it, you’ll miss the boat.
You also have to look at things that may be outside your comfort zone. For one such thing, visit www.bign.com/pbilodeau. It may not be your ship, but you won’t know unless you go to the dock to check it out.
Regardless, optimism and a positive attitude is the one thing you can do for yourself, despite your circumstances. Look at your life so far, and see where you are. Take stock about what’s good in your life. Be thankful for those blessings. Then, see about fixing what’s wrong. You may need some help, but don’t EXPECT help. Ships will come and go, but check out every one. A certain one may have your ticket to success.
Stay focused and positive. Be optimistic. Remember, employers are looking for people who have a genuinely good outlook on life. That may be the key to you landing that great opportunity.
Be optimistic that your ship is waiting.
Peter

TRUST IS A VALUABLE COMMODITY

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Trust must be earned. It can’t be ordered.
Therefore, trust is valuable.
If you’ve earned the trust of others, they will do what you want them to, and they expect you to have their backs.
As you earn trust, don’t lose it. It could cost you dearly.
Rory Vaden, a self-discipline strategist and speaker, as well as co-founder of Southwestern Consulting, lists seven ways to lose trust. They are: be selfish, be protective (of your turf), be ungrateful, be self-centered, be passive-aggressive, be negative and be incongruent.
Vaden talked about these trust busters in a Sept. 8, 2013, column in the Tennessean newspaper of Nashville.
People generally trust positive, upbeat people. Sure, we all occasionally meet phonies who fein a positive attitude, but turn out to be snakes in the grass. But most of us can spot those folks easily, before too much trust has been established. We react differently to those who are genuninely positive.
People who are genuinely positive, even under difficult circumstances, also tend not to be selfish. They tend to be grateful for anything anyone does for them. They tend to think of others first, and that generally separates them from the phonies.
They tend to be private people, but not secretive. They tend not to protect their own turf at any cost. They tend to do what they say and say what they mean all the time. They would not even think about being devious, unless it’s all in fun, as in surprising one’s spouse on a birthday.
Sometimes it’s difficult to trust, especially when someone you’d trusted violates the trust. In that case, don’t presume EVERYONE will violate your trust, and give the person who has violated trust sufficent time to earn it back. Many marriages that could have been saved dissolve because one spouse’s trust was violated, and the other spouse is never given a chance to earn it back. The rule here might be that one violation of trust is not insurmountable. Trust can be earned back. Multiple violations of trust may do you in.
In marriage, not only is it virtuous to be trustworthy with your spouse, but more convenient. It has to be really difficult keeping a false story straight every time, day in and day out. Eventually, if you try to do that, you’ll slip up and get caught. If you are trustworthy, period, your spouse always knows everything, and everything he or she knows about you is true.
One’s trust should be given with care, but still given. Never trusting anyone will lead a person to a pretty miserable life. It’s OK to trust. It’s also OK to, as former U.S. President Ronald Reagan once put it, to verify, if there is any question.
You’ve heard that if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Sometimes, we have good things come into our lives, yet we don’t trust that they are true, or they will do what they say they will do.
If you are looking to improve your life, visit www.bign.com/pbilodeau. You can trust that everything you read, hear and see there is true.
Trusting, and being trustworthy will also improve your life. Trust is valuable to give and valuable to receive. Do both with care.
Peter

THE BEST IS YET TO COME

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“The best is yet to come and babe, won’t it be fine.” (from the song by Cy Coleman and Carolyn Leigh, recorded by Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennett).

Jones — just Jones, no Mr. – is an old man who thrives on helping people see that the future is always bright – no matter one’s current circumstance.
Jones is the lead character in Andy Andrews’ book, “The Noticer,” which professional golfer Nancy Lopez called the greatest book she’s ever read.
Jones has a gift for noticing things, he says. He also has a gift for showing up in people’s lives to give them perspective on a problem – at the exact time they need it.
He is spiritual, yet practical. But mostly, he is ALWAYS optimistic that everyone will have a great future, no matter his age, or current troubles.
We probably all have a Jones character in our lives. It might be a friend, family member coworker, colleague or someone we’d just met. We may not even be able to identify that person off the top of our heads – but he or she is there. All we have to do is listen to him, and follow his advice.
We’ve all heard the saying that when God closes a door, he opens a window. We just have to recognize where the window is and go through it.
The last five years or so have been difficult for lots of people. There’s been much wailing and gnashing of teeth about what caused it, who’s to blame and what magic bullet is going to make things right again.
We are starting to see things get better, but too many people are still down. They may feel it to be the worst time in their lives. But as Andrews’ character points out, what seems to be the worst time in your life may lead you to the best time of your life. The secret to success, according to Jones: have people want to be around you.
Not a “people” person? Become one. No one has to undergo a radical personality change, but just try to see yourself from others’ perspective. What would THEY change about you, if they could, as Jones puts it.
Don’t know a lot of people? Start with the ones you do know. Make sure THEY want to be around you. Depending on how well you know them, you might ask them what they would change about you, if they could. Once you get the people you know to want to be around you, then you can work on those you don’t yet know. Believe it or not, it takes some effort to have people want to be around you.
Got people around you who are always negative, always saying, “Woe is me?” You might have to change the people around you, to paraphrase a popular adage, if the people already around you won’t change.
Be fun, but be good. Do the right thing, even when no one is looking. You see, good people don’t have to act, or put on a show. They are good to the core, naturally.
You don’t have to be a social butterfly. But be a good inviter. Invite people to coffee, lunch, dinner or whatever.
As you do this, you might, if you don’t have something already, have something to show them when you invite them. It needs to be something of which they can choose to partake – or not. Good inviters take no for an answer. If you don’t have something to show, visit www.bign.com/pbilodeau. You might find the best thing you’ve never heard of. And, you might want to show it to the world.
You also may find your Jones – or at least some perspective on your life that you’d not seen yet. Regardless, just know, as Jones says in Andrews’ book, that the past is not what you should focus on. The present may not be pleasant, but, no matter your age, the best is yet to come.
Peter