116. Practice Starts Monday
Can you remember that time when you felt gut wrenching grief? The pain was more than emotional; it was physical. You can feel the physical effects inside your body. Your stomach tightened. Your pulse quickened. Your temples throbbed and the wrinkles on your forehead etched deeper. The feeling can be even deeper. There can be […]
115. Thank Your Coaches
I attended the Aquatic Hall of Fame Induction ceremony last week. There were six new inductees who were afforded five minutes to say a few words about…well, about anything. These are not professional speakers. They are average Joes…that can swim really fast. The speeches contained plenty of umms and sos and errs and likes and […]
113. Stop For Lemonade
Last Thursday was a hot day. Unusually hot for mid-April in New England. The temperature was climbing past eighty five degrees. It was a beach day except that the ocean temperature was still in the low 50s. Unfortunately, my office does not have a sunroof and I spent most of the morning looking outside with […]
112. Ask Your Question
Do you have any questions for me? That was the way she ended her presentation. Do you have any questions for me? My reply was “No. Thank You. Lovely presentation.” I stood up to leave the meeting. The saleswoman was stunned. She stammered, “So is this a service you want?” In my softest tone I […]
111. No Empty Threats
Silicon Valley Bank went under followed by Heritage, First Republic, and Credit Suisse. Each bank had a run on their deposits, and they were without the proper reserves to cover the requirements. So, they needed to liquidate assets in order to cover the payments however because of the rise in interest rates, the value of […]
110. Pick Your Line
I would like you to imagine a company three years ago that had $3.5 million of revenue. Modest, right? The company had an operating profit of $366,000, a decent 10% operating margin. The next year, the company’s revenues increased to $3.7 million, but only had an operating profit of a measly $26,000. Things going in […]
109. Succeed With Strengths
On May 26, 1993, Jose Canseco was playing rightfield for the Texas Rangers when another homerun left the field. Jose was a power hitting star for the Oakland Athletics when he broke into the major leagues in 1985. Jose won rookie of the year in 1986, he became the first 40/40 player in major league […]
107. Use Lombardi Time
Do you set your watch several minutes ahead of time, so you’ll never be late? This might be a silly question because I don’t imagine many of you are wearing watches right now because you keep time on your phone. Maybe it’s a better question for our parents. Did they set they clocks ahead so […]
106. List Your Failures
In every game there is a winner and a loser. Unless it’s soccer but leave that out. In baseball there is always a winner and a loser. There is a designation for the winning pitcher and an equal designation for the losing pitcher. More than any other game or sport, baseball clearly identifies the outcome. […]
105. Today Is Day One
My local gym was packed this week, packed. There were lines of people waiting to use the treadmills and the stair climbers and the ellipticals. It’s typically for early-January. People trying to honor their New Year’s resolutions – for a little while at least. I get my turn on the stair machine. It’s in the […]