In business, there is always people you need to meet with, presentations to make, sales pitches you need prepare, closings you need to consummate and ideas you need to show. In short, there are always other people you need to impress, sway, or convince. This may sound like this is only for owners, salespeople, managers etc. but its not. It is also for employees, teachers, firemen, cashiers, military etc. Basically, anyone who needs to communicate something. As we all know, it is not always the way you say it or present it, it is how it is received by the other party.

When we prepare for a meeting of any kind, we start with what we will say and how we will say it. This can be in verbal conversation or in presentation form. We have all the points we want to make, and we plan it down to the last word.

What we don’t usually do is practice reverse imagery. What I mean is to switch hats with the person you are going to meet with. Put yourself in that person’s shoes and then listen to what you plan to say through their eyes. When we do this, it often changes what we plan to say. See there are thing s that may be important to you that just may not be important to the other person. Try to get inside their head before you get to the meeting or the call and visualize what their need is. If you can determine what their need is, it will better prepare you to present yourself in the best possible way.

I have a friend who owns a hotel management company, and he was asked at the last minute to make a presentation for a large account. His competitor put eight people on a private jet and prepared a full one-hour presentation. My friend didn’t do that. He didn’t take a team and didn’t do a fancy presentation. He determined by imagining in reverse what the owner was looking for and it wasn’t someone slick and fancy. He was looking for someone he could trust. To hear my friend tell the story, “It was just me and Tahoe.” He went alone and instead of doing all the talking, he listened. He heard their problems and then he showed them how he could solve them. He got the job over the other group all because he chose to put himself in the owner’s shoes before the meeting and focus on what was important to him.

If we practiced reverse imagery in other areas of our life we would be impressed on how much easier life, jobs, marriage, parenting etc. would become. KT

Over the 4^th weekend I received some great advice from my oldest daughter regarding how to start each day and be better mentally prepared for what the day may bring.

For years, I have started each workday with a little scripture and prayer and then I read several news outlets to see what is going on in the world. Her advice was to stay away from the iPad screen and news until later in the morning. Her point is when you start the day off with screen time reading the news, it creates anxiety and causes the protective nature in adults to get started too fast and too early. Her point is to wake up slower and easy rather than diving right into all that is happening in the world.

The NIV version of Matthew 6:34 says, “therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”

My daughter’s advice was spot on because once you get started, it is hard to slow down as the day progresses. So, a little quite time with a morning cup of coffee in your easy chair is how to start the day. KT

17 days is the average length of time it takes for something to become a habit or adopted into the fabric of our daily lives. The story is told of a guy who made a New Year’s resolution to get in shape and lose weight. He goes to the local gym on January 2nd to pay for a new membership. There are so many people he can’t even work out. The manager comes over and tells him to come back in two weeks and the crowd will be gone because they will give up their New Year’s resolutions.

Isn’t that how it is for many of us in areas of life? “ I’m going to start leaving the officer earlier, we are going to budget our income, I’m going to be more present with my children, we are going to save more and spend less, I am going to get in shape, I’m going back to school, I’m going to paint the house, I’m going to be a better husband and dad, we are going to travel more, I’m going to read more, I’m going to,,,,” you fill in the blank.

I find that when you set a new initiative or goal the first several days are great and you have visions of being or doing exactly what you set out to do. Then comes day four and you say, “it won’t hurt if I skip one day. I have done good for three days and I deserve a day off.” When you give in to that thought, you are already on your way to day six or seven when you quit entirely.

If you can hold it together for 17 days you very likely will find on day 18 that you no longer dread it and in fact, began to enjoy it. I don’t know this to be true, but I suspect that if it takes you 17 days to develop a good habit it also takes you 17 days to get a bad habit out of your system. Just saying. KT

People by their very nature are leaners. Things we hide behind, lean on, or crutches we use. The following are examples of things people lean on: looks, education, history, talents, money, weight, health, looks, titles, speech, status, possessions, family, things, cars etc. etc. The list could go on for pages. The point is we all subconsciously lean on something to help us navigate through life.

The difficulty in life comes when that thing or things we have leaned on, goes away. I think it is important to make sure what you are leaning on for support, will last. History is of full of wealthy people that leaned on their money and when it went away, they were adrift. Your appearance and health are two things that could change on one bad report from the doctor. Titles, status, possessions, and things could be here today and gone tomorrow. If what you have built your personality and life around suddenly changes, what do you do?

I believe we shouldn’t build our house (our life) on the sand. We need a firm foundation that will not change. The house built on the sand may look just as great as the house built on the rock for a while, but as we all know in life, looks can be deceiving. Sometimes the very thing that looked so good may lose its luster after time. In life we need to choose well and select a foundation that will stand the test of time. Jesus said, “I am the same yesterday, today and tomorrow.” That sounds like the kind of foundation we all need to choose. KT  

Do you know what the quickest and most immediate emotion we as humans have?  Vengeance. It’s not, love, desire, temptation, anger, or any number of other emotions. It is the emotion to get back at someone.

Think of the last time someone cut you off on the highway for no real reason. What did you almost instantly want to do? I know, it has happened to me to. Ha. Vengeance can (if not controlled) take a very sharp turn before you even know it. One minute you are content and happy and the next, you are plotting how to get that person back.

Romans 12:17-19 – New Living Translation ¹⁷ Never pay back evil with more evil. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honorable. ¹⁸ Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone.¹⁹ Dear friends, never take revenge. Leave that to the righteous anger of God. “I will take revenge; I will pay them back,”^[a]says the Lord.

This does not mean to lay down and let people run over you. Stand up for what you believe and be bold in everything you do but when someone says something or does something meant to hurt you, don’t repay them with the same hurtful things. Be better than that. Be noble and honorable and God will work it out. Someone lies about you, don’t go to social media and blister them. Be better than them.

Elaine and I were coming home from the lake house yesterday (Sunday) and this guy is all over my rear bumper and then he cuts to the right and comes slinging around me with his arm out the window flipping me off. The funny thing was he was wearing a dress shirt with cuff links and a suit jacket,,,, meaning he had just come from church. Ha

Be quick to forgive minor slights and petty words and stay off Facebook and life will be much more content. KT