DW's Blog
12 Days of Christmas
by DW Green — December 21, 2022
Seven swans a swimming…
Did you know the meaning the popular Christmas song 12 Days of Christmas? I just found this out…amazing!
The partridge in a pear tree is Jesus Christ. Two turtle doves are the Old and New Testaments. Three French hens stand for faith, hope, and love. The four calling birds are the four gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. The five golden rings recalled the Torah or Law, the first five books of the Old Testament. The six geese a-laying stand for the six days of creation. Seven swans a-swimming represent the sevenfold gifts of the Holy Spirit–Prophesy, Serving, Teaching, Exhortation, Contribution, Leadership, and Mercy. The eight maids a-milking are the eight Beatitudes. Nine ladies dancing are the nine fruits of the Holy Spirit–Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self Control. The ten lords a-leaping are the Ten Commandments. The eleven pipers piping stand for the eleven faithful disciples. The twelve drummers drumming symbolize the twelve points of belief in the Apostles’ Creed. So there is your history lesson for today!
The s...
read moreWithin
by DW Green — December 14, 2022
You have to honor your own path and be able to trust that there is a place in you that knows what is best.
At the risk of sounding goofy or lecturing, I’m trusting my heart, here’s what I’m thinking. Learn to listen to that place inside yourself. You have to honor your own path and be able to trust that there is a place in you that knows what is best. There is a tendency to look to others for guidance, but really only you know what is suitable for you. Trust your intuitive heart. The Quakers call it the still, small voice within. When it speaks, listen. If, as you listen to your heart’s intuition, it feels right to do something, do it. The more you listen to your heart’s intuition, the more you stop living by other people’s judgments and expectations. You start doing what you need to do. In trying to decide what to do with your life, listen to your heart.
Read More – My Mistake
...read moreFear Is A Self-Fulfilling Prophecy
by DW Green — December 7, 2022
The things we fear or dread, we blindly inflict on ourselves.
“Only the paranoid survive,” Andy Grove, a former CEO of Intel, famously said. It might be true. But we also know that the paranoid often destroy themselves quicker and more spectacularly than any enemy.
The combination of power, fear, and mania can be deadly. The leader convinced that he might be betrayed, acts first and betrays others first. Afraid that that he’s not well liked, he works so hard to get others to like him that it has the opposite effect. Convinced of mismanagement, he micromanages and becomes the source of the mismanagement. And on and on—the things we fear or dread, we blindly inflict on ourselves.
The next time you are afraid of some supposedly disastrous outcome, remember that if you don’t control your impulses, if you lose your self-control, you may be the very source of the disaster you so fear. It has happened to smarter and more powerful and more successful people. It can happen to us too.
Read More – Just Say It
...read moreTimeless
by DW Green — November 30, 2022
Strong brands are enduring and successful over time.
Time is just an illusion. Albert Einstein said, “The distinction between past, present, and future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion.” Hmm.
Well, this blog post is not about time as an illusion, but indirectly, it is about time.
In my view a company’s BRAND is its most important asset. Strong brands are enduring and successful over time. Weak brands not so much. Wise leaders protect their brand by investing in their brand image. The brand is what connects their business with their customers, community and employees. Controlling expenses is critical but not at the expense of diluting or harming the brand. Marketing and promotional design must reflect the nature and professionalism of the brand. Poor design can have a negative effect on the relationship between the brand and its stakeholders.
2022 marked the 102nd Anniversary of the National Football League. Impressive. Even with their recent hiccups, the NFL is a very successful and enduring brand!
Gratitude And Generosity
by DW Green — November 23, 2022
Each and every morning offers us a chance to start anew, fresh, and to begin again.
Lakota author and activist Doug Good Feather writes about gratitude and generosity. I connect with his words, and for a moment, the true meaning of Thanksgiving comes to light. It’s easy to take things for granted and fall into autopilot as we prepare for the busyness of another holiday season. I ask that you take a few minutes and read Mr. Good Feather’s thoughts on gratitude and generosity.
“Each and every morning offers us a chance to start anew, fresh, and to begin again. Each morning when we wake—should we choose to listen—is a message from the Creator to remember the privilege we were given of waking up. It’s a reminder to get up and prepare our self, to honor our self, to go out into the world, to connect with Mother Earth and the hearts of other beings, to inspire and encourage those who cross our paths, and most importantly, to enjoy life.
Gratitude and generosity are similar virtues, but they differ in that gratitude is an internal characteristic and generosity is our external expression of our sense of gratitude. Basically, gratitude is how we ...
read moreMind Games
by DW Green — November 16, 2022
This internal mind game consists of the tricks your mind plays on you.
I usually think of mind games as something individuals intentionally play on rivals, subordinates, and peers. It happens in politics, office politics, in sports and relationships, used to gain advantage, manipulate or intimidate. It all seems pretty creepy to me. But as it turns out, we all play mind games with ourselves practically everyday.
This internal mind game consists of the tricks your mind plays on you, making you see reality according to old memories, fears, wounds, prejudices, outworn beliefs, second-hand opinions, and early conditioning. When you are aware your mind is filtering your reality based on the past, you can change it with that awareness. In fact, awareness is the change.
Awareness is huge. Seemingly so simple, yet so difficult to cultivate and sustain.
Read More – Save Some
...read moreThe Secret
by DW Green — November 9, 2022
Three words convey the secret of life.
“There are three words that convey the secret of the art of living, the secret of all success and happiness:
One With Life.
Being one with life is being one with Now. You then realize that you don’t live your life, but life lives you. Life is the dancer, and you are the dance.”
—Eckhart Tolle
Hmm, so no longer a secret.
Read More – Guest Vacation Blog
...read moreTeacher And Student
by DW Green — November 2, 2022
In essence, we’re both student and teacher.
As Adam says “Being a mentor to someone who’s a freshman in life is one way that you can make your workplace a great place to work, and shop.” Being a mentor to anyone, regardless of his or her age, status, or station in life is a good thing. I have been blessed with many amazing mentors in my life, beginning with my parents. And I’ve learned from younger generations too. As mentor’s we are teachers, sharing our wisdom and experience.
It’s been said that when the student is ready, the teacher appears. In essence, we’re both student and teacher. As students we can improve our awareness of restrictive thinking and seek to be ready for own teachers to appear. As effective teachers we make our impact by understanding the needs of the student. We light the way and ease the way—we facilitate learning—but the student has to walk the path.
Mentoring builds powerful relationships that can last a lifetime. Success in any venture is simply the automatic consequence of being the best that one can be as a lifes...
read moreStorytelling
by DW Green — October 26, 2022
Storytelling is a strategic branding concept and storytelling as a communication tool.
Tombstone Arizona is best known for Boot Hill and the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral. It was home of the legendary Earp bothers and their nemeses the Clanton’s and Frank and Tom McLaury. The townspeople were largely Republicans from the Northern states and many of the local ranchers (some like the Clanton’s, were also rustlers) were Confederate sympathizers and Democrats. The story of Tombstone in the late 1800’s is a very interesting story. And like any great story, it includes the four basic elements of storytelling:
The Message
The Conflict
The Characters
The Plot
In business, storytelling works on two levels: Storytelling is a strategic branding concept and storytelling as a communication tool. And like the frontier boomtown story of Tombstone, it includes the same four basic elements of storytelling.
Klaus Fog writes in his excellent book, Storytelling. Branding in Practice. “Tough times lay ahead for companies that shut their eyes and continue to compete only on product and price.” ...read more
Is Your Website ADA Compliant?
by DW Green — October 19, 2022
Provide a user-friendly website for all customers.
As you know the Americans Disability Act (ADA) is a civil rights law that prohibits discrimination based on disability. Including a person’s ability to successfully navigate websites. There are number of companies that provide ADA compliancy solutions.
Here are three that we use for our clients:
1. SiteImprove Daily Scanning … $7,000-$10,000/YEAR
2. BetaBreakers screen-reader user testing … $2,000-$4,000/TEST
3. AccessiBe automated web accessibility widget … $45/MONTH
We’ve had a positive experience with all three. It donned on me that the AccessiBe widget is a “visible” option for users as an ADA icon is noticeable on the homepage. It’s also a visible reminder that your company is committed to providing a user-friendly website for all customers.
Feel free to contact us for more information.
