Category Archives: Life

Christmas movies

Without sounding to much like a sap, I have really enjoyed the Christmas movies this season. They all have the same components. Start with frustrations/problems that change to hope and then they experience a seemingly failure and then they all end with a Christmas miracle. Ha.

They are just like my other favorite movies, Rocky (all 7), Rambo, Rudy, Tombstone, Jason Bourne, Jack Reacher, Top Gun, John Wick and the most beloved movie of all time, White Christmas with Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney and Vera Ellen.

I find that Christmas movies are peaceful, restful and happy and the good guys always win. They allow you to enjoy the most pure form of entertainment. The bad guys always get left behind and the god guys always succeed. What more can you ask from a movie? When it is over you feel good and are relaxed. Again, what more can you ask from a movie?

During the rest of the year I am just like the next guy who loves to watch action movies where the good guys just blister the bad guys and wins the war or the football game. That said, during Christmas I really enjoy the happy and uplifting movies. I guess I am getting old. Ha.

If you don’t believe me, get a DVD or Netflix of White Christmas with Bing Crosby and It’s a Wonderful life with Jimmy Stewart. After you watch those two movies, especially, It’s a Wonderful Life, then you can judge whether what I am saying has any merit.

Merry Christmas. KT

Office work ethic

In business, the inner workings of an office have always intrigued and literally amused me. It’s like high school football, you have the ones who love to play the game and get after it, the ones who just want to get through the game and then my favorite, the ones who just want to talk about the game.

As a leader/boss etc. in an office environment you need to change things up periodically like placing a new person in the middle of the all-girls or all boys club. You would be amazed at how a little rearranging people from time to time can be effective. It is also very important to walk through the office several unexpected times a day to keep up with the general vibe of the work place. You will learn a great deal just walking through, listening and speaking to people.

I had this graphic designer one time that had his computer screens facing away from the door so you couldn’t see what he was working on. Mental note, don’t let anyone hide their screens from open view. Anyway, I would go into his office and always had the feeling he was closing files down when I walked in. One day I just hurried into his office all the way the around his desk before he could close files. Yep, you guessed it. He was doing something that was completely unrelated to work. Bless his heart, I thought he was going to need a shower because he almost had an accident in the chair. His face turned beet red and he broke out in a cold sweat. Needless to say, we changed his seating arrangement so he would not have the temptation to check on his social media pages at work.

One of the best tip offs that something is up around an office, is when you see people whispering. This always raises my antenna as to a potential problem brewing in the back ground. Sometimes it is just an employee having issues and needing to talk it through with someone else. Nothing wrong with that but when you see the same person involved in whispering to numerous employees, it is best to head it off before it gets traction with your people.

Have you ever been around an office where people are just lazily going about their day and doing what I call busy work? It generally happens when several people sit close together for a long period of time. They bond up together and start watching out for the boss and alerting each other and covering for each other. Before you know it, they have developed this little pack together against everyone else in the office and basically they have their own little group. Have you ever seen this? Locating a new person in their midst generally does the trick. If not you just have to separate them. They will get mad but who cares. The main function of an office is the business at hand.

I call these little tidbits, course 101 of management. People want to be lead, respected, inspired and they want to have examples to follow in life even though they would never admit it. When people believe in the mission of the company, it is amazing how enjoyable a work environment can be. KT

Silent Night

The song Silent Night is the world’s most popular, loved and recorded Christmas song of all time. It is also my personal favorite. The inspired lyrics were penned by Josef Mohr as a poem and the music was composed by Frank Xaver Gruber. It was first performed in 1818 at St. Nicholas Parish Church in Oberndorf bei Salzburg, Austria and was first published in America in 1863 during the Civil War. It is simply the most beloved Christmas song of all ages.

It depicts a peace and stillness in our lives that we all are looking and longing for. The image is to be fully and completely at rest. The song is not just a beautiful melody, but in my opinion, is about the story of how you are God’s child and how he wants that kind of peace and rest for you and me. He wants our trust in all things and he wants us to cast our worries to him and be full of joy.

It might be worth reading these 1818 lyrics again this holiday season.

Silent night, Holy night
All is calm, all is bright
Round yon virgin, mother and child
Holy infant, tender and mild
Sleep in heavenly peace,
Sleep in heavenly peace.

Silent night, Holy night
Son of God, love’s pure light
Radiant beams from thy holy face
With the dawn of redeeming grace,
Jesus, Lord at thy birth
Jesus, Lord at thy birth.

Silent night, Holy night
Shepherds quake, at the sight
Glories stream from heaven above
Heavenly, hosts sing Hallelujah.
Christ the Savior is born,
Christ the Savior is born.

I trust your Christmas is at peace and with joy. KT

What would you do differently?

I was watching a sappy Christmas movie the other night and it was about this lady that had died (she thought) and was given another week to see if she could change how she lived. She basically lived for work and put everything and everyone second to work. She began thinking about all the ways she would change her life if she just had another opportunity. In the end, she got to come back to life for a second chance.

In real life, you don’t get that chance. Once you pass, all that you leave to the ones you love is the memory of how you lived your life and the words and wisdom you taught them while you were alive.

The lady in the movie said to herself, if I just had another chance, I would;

I would do things differently

I would have different priorities in my life

I would take the time to make a difference

I would put my family first, not my work

I would take care of my health

When I died I would not wish I had spent more time in the office

I would really look at the things and people around me and listen to the music of life

I would not waste life’s minutes on strife, anger, jealousy and vengeance

I would embrace the talents I have and not lose minuets on the ones I don’t have

I would live each day as though it was my last

I would choose joy, love and peace

We all think we have a lot more life ahead and there will always be time to change our lives. What if you are wrong? What would you change in your life if you knew your time was up?

Merry Christmas. KT

The God Combination

The term God combination is how I refer to the following:

Your look, eye movement, speech, hair, mannerisms, the way you walk, the cadence of your voice, the conviction in your speech, hand movement, height, weight, the look in your eyes, the dilation of your pupils, your smile, your frown etc. Also how you slow or speed up your words for hidden meaning, your focus, intensity, actions, etc.

I could go on for 3 pages on just the various things that make up your combination that is unique to only you. There has never been and ever will be a person with your same combination. You are a one and only creation.

I have always said that real life connections happen in person. You cannot see any of the above personality traits in emails, texts, phone calls or websites. It only happens in person.

The point is to recognize that you were created for a purpose and given a combination by God that only you have. I cannot express the importance of this. You really need to let what I am saying today move from your mind to your heart. Basically, not only hear it, but also understand it. It could just be the piece of wisdom that changes your life as you know it and it could be just the piece of wisdom that finally allows you to except yourself and to stop trying to change who you are. Self-love, self-respect and self-esteem are literally the cornerstones of a confident, happy and successful life. You may need to read this blog several times a day so it can move your spirit to where you understand what this means. It means God created you just the way he wants you to be.

I have seen this in action probably thousands of times where I have had a phone call or email exchange with a new client that was just ok. Ok, but not great. That was followed up with a face to face meeting and in the meeting, everything changed. It is in the meeting where the other person sees firsthand the combination of you and decides if they like you and can trust you. This is where the magic happens in our personal life and in business.

In summary, I may be ugly, marginally intelligent and have a speech impediment,,,, but that is the combination God wants me to have. I don’t know why but it is what it is. I can spend my life trying to be someone I am not or I can make the decision to embrace who I am and get on with life. I suspect you have that same decision to make. KT