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The Blame Game

by DW Green — July 31, 2019

The art of living.

Today, see if you can go without blaming a single person or single thing. Someone messes up your instructions—it’s on you for expecting anything different. Someone says something rude—it’s your sensitivity that interpreted their remark this way. Your stock portfolio takes a big loss—what did you expect making such a big bet? Why are you checking the market day to day anyway?Whatever it is, however bad it may be, see whether you can make it a whole day laying it all on your reasoned choice. If you can’t make it for a day, see if you can make it for an hour. If not an hour, then for ten minutes.Start where you need to. Even one minute without playing the blame game is progress in the art of living.

Read More – Be My Guest

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Reason

by DW Green — July 24, 2019

Reason, you only need to put it to use.

How many things you fear have actually come to pass? How many times has anxiety driven you to behave in a way you later regret? How many times have you let jealousy or frustration, or greed lead you down a bad path?Letting our reason rule the day might seem like more work, but it saves us quite a bit of trouble. As ole Ben Franklin would say “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”The brain was designed to do this work. It was meant to separate what is important from what is senseless, to keep things in perspective, to only become troubled by that which is worth becoming troubled about. You only need to put it to use. Reason that is.

Read More – Do you know better?

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The Good Life…

by DW Green — July 17, 2019

There are always distractions.

A well-known writer once complained that after becoming successful, wealthy friends were always inviting him to their beautiful, exotic houses. “Come to our beach home in Maui,” they would say. Or, “Our mountain complex in Aspen is a wonderful place to write.” The writer traveled the world, living in luxury, hoping to find inspiration and creativity in these inspiring homes and mansions. Yet it rarely happened. There was always the allure of another, better house. There were always distractions, always so many things to do—and the writer’s block and insecurity that plagues creative types traveled with him wherever he went.We tell ourselves that we need the right setup before we finally buckle down and get serious. Or we tell ourselves that some vacation time alone will be good for a relationship or an ailment. This is self-deceit at its finest.It’s far better that we become pragmatic and adaptable—able to do what we need to do anywhere, anytime. The place to do your work, to live the good life, is here.

Read More – How do you want to be treated?

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Accepting Enough

by DW Green — July 10, 2019

Their life is their business and yours is your own.

The foundation of a free country is that your freedom to swing your fist ends where someone else’s nose begins. That is, someone else is free to do what they like until it interferes with your physical body and space. That saying can work as a great personal philosophy as well.But living that way requires two important assumptions. First, you ought to live your own life in such a way that it doesn’t negatively impose on others. Second, you have to be open-minded and accepting enough to let others do the same.Can you do that? Even when you really, really disagree with the choices they’re making? Can you understand that their life is their business and yours is your own? And that you’ve got plenty to wrestle with yourself without bothering anyone else? I know I struggle with this at times.

Read More – The Local Oasis

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We’re Like A Start-Up

by DW Green — July 3, 2019

We should be just as invested in building ourselves as we are with building our company.

There is no question, building a business from scratch can be an immensely rewarding pursuit. It’s why we put our whole lives into doing it, working countless hours and taking countless risks.But shouldn’t we be just as invested in building ourselvesas we would be to any company.Like a start-up, we begin as just an idea: we’re incubated, put out into the world where we develop slowly, and then, over time, we accumulate partners, employees, customers, investors, and wealth.

Read More – The Professional Consumer Report

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Failure

by DW Green — June 26, 2019

Learning from failure is optional.

Failure is a part of life we have little choice over. Learning from failure, on the other hand, is optional. We have to choose to learn. We must consciously opt to do things differently—to tweak and change until we actually get the result we’re after. But that’s hard.Sticking with the same unsuccessful pattern is easy. It doesn’t take any thought or any additional effort, which is probably why most people do it.

Read More – The Non-Verbal Message

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Take A Walk

by DW Green — June 19, 2019

And solve your problems along the way.

Throughout the ages, philosophers, writers, poets, and thinkers have found that walking offers an additional benefit—time and space for better work. So today, make sure you take a walk. And in the future, when you get stressed or overwhelmed, take a walk. When you have a tough problem to solve or a decision to make, take a walk. When you want to be creative, take a walk. When you have a phone call to make, take a walk. When you need some exercise, take a long walk. When you have a meeting or a friend over, take a walk together.Nourish yourself and your mind and solve your problems along the way. Take a walk.

Read More – Chip You

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The Process

by DW Green — June 12, 2019

If teams follow The Process, they tend to win.

I’m reading The Daily Stoic: 322 Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living, by Ryan Holiday. A wonderful book!The June 8th reading is worth sharing. “Elite athletes in collegiate and professional sports increasingly follow a philosophy known as “The Process.” It’s a philosophy created by University of Alabama coach Nick Saban, who taught his players to ignore the big picture—important games, winning championships, the opponent’s enormous leads—and focus instead on doing the absolutely smallest things well—practicing with full effort, finishing a specific play, converting on a single possession. A season lasts months, a game lasts hours, catching up might be four touchdowns away, but a single play is only a few seconds. And games and seasons are constituted by seconds.If teams follow The Process, they tend to win. They overcome obstacles and eventually make their way to the top without ever having focused on the obstacles directly. If you follow the Process in your life—assembling the right actions in the right order, one right after another—you too will do well. Not only that, you will be better equipped to make quick work of the obstacles al...
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Sales vs Expenses

by DW Green — June 5, 2019

There is a fine line between reducing costs and maintaining or increasing sales.

A client is considering switching from a weekly ad to a biweekly ad. What effect will reducing print advertising in half do to sales? I don’t know the answer. In the short term maybe not so much. But long term, it could be a different story. Controlling/reducing expenses is a good thing. But there is a fine line between reducing costs and maintaining or increasing sales. Reducing labor expense too much will result in reduced sales. Reducing product purchasing will also reduce sales. And on and on.To me advertising frequency is about brand exposure and having an ad presence on a competitive basis. Though biweekly ads will reduce ad expense, what it will do to sales long term is unknown. To me, any activity that contributes to sales and brand awareness is a prudent expense.

Read More – They, Them, We, Us

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Copper River Salmon

by DW Green — May 29, 2019

I love those competitors that won’t sell the neat stuff…

“I love those competitors that won’t sell the neat stuff, I call them Sales Preventions Managers.”—Wise retailer.Last week several of our clients promoted Copper River Salmon. Salmon from the Copper River in Alaska could be the world’s best tasting fish. It’s truly a very special early summer treat. I remember back in the late 1980’s, suggesting a Copper River salmon promotion to an Alaskan retailer. The owner said, “No way Jose. They wouldn’t sell. Because everyone who lives in Alaska, catches their own salmon.” After some arm twisting, a couple shots of bourbon and a small wager, he agreed to promote them. It was a huge success and they continued to promote Copper River salmon every year thereafter. Now days, the cost of procuring Copper River salmon is the reason cited by retailers not to promote them. They are expensive, nearly $50 a pound retail in California.“I love those competitors that won’t sell the neat stuff, I call them Sales Preventions Managers.” Funny yet true. How many times do retailers discourage or prevent sales? Fear of loss always prevents gain.

Read More – The Most M...
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