"Treat your body like a temple, not a woodshed. The mind and body work together. Your body needs to be a good support system for the mind and spirit. If you take good care of it, your body can take you wherever you want to go, with the power and strength and energy and vitality you will need to get there." -
Jim Rohn
**************************************************
The Words Do Matter
Air Canada Flight 154
I was boarding a flight in Edmonton, Alberta, bound for Toronto after a long day. As I handed my boarding pass to the Air Canada gate agent, I asked her if she was having a good day. Her response has been in my mind for nearly two weeks. She looked at me, smiled, and said, "All the better for you asking me, thanks."
As I literally skipped down the jetway, I smiled. I have asked hundreds of people if they are having a good day. Never have I received that response. I've heard, "It's ok.", "No not really," and "Fine, thanks." But never, until now, have I heard "All the better for you asking me, thanks."
Her response was gracious and warm. It wowed me as a Customer - giving me a very positive experience with Air Canada (even before I was on the plane!) More importantly, it made me feel special as a human being. Perhaps she was taught to say this by a parent at a young age and it was an automatic response. Even if this were true, her genuine response makes that irrelevant.
What would have been a normal flight was changed by eight words - eight words I am sure I will never forget.
The Internet Essay
Recently I read an essay from one of my favorite writers. Scott Ringwelski writes an essay each week called Positive Pause. Last week's issue starts . . .
"No Problem.actually is.
'No problem.' It seems natural, easy going, off the cuff, casual.
It's a throwaway line for a disposable world.
However, how does your throwaway line and casual attitude translate to those you say it to?"
Scott goes on to say that the two words are actually two negatives, no and problem. Through a wonderful personal story he relates that rather than answering a request with "no problem," it would be much more meaningful and powerful to say "It would be my pleasure." Scott knows, as does my Edmonton friend, that choosing these words can make a huge difference.
Rhea
A few hours ago my step mother passed away. While there are many ways she blessed my life and there will be many things I will remember about her, the thing that strikes me now is one of her favorite phrases. "Terrific!" Ask Rhea how she was, and she, more often than not, would say "Terrific!" Even over the last few months when she was very ill. When you saw her, or spoke to her on the phone, if you asked how she was, she would say, "Terrific!"
Certainly in these last few months she hasn't always been terrific, at least by most people's standards. Her optimistic reply though, always lifted my day - even if I were calling to try and lift hers.
The Common Thread
In all of these cases, the words chosen by people have made a positive difference to those around them. As a consultant if I think about these word choices, I could easily make a case that using these phrases would be powerful in terms of Customer Service, and internal communications.
Most importantly though is that choosing these words transforms the people who say the words. Think about my Air Canada friend saying, "All the better for you asking me, thanks!", or anyone saying "It's been a pleasure," or "Terrific!"
These phrases recast our thinking and our self talk in a more positive, focused, and accountable way. Indeed, these words can make a big difference in the lives of others, and in our lives as well.
The words do matter. To everyone.
Yours in Learning,
Kevin Eikenberry
*************************************************
"Laughter is the most healthful exertion."
Christoph Wilhelm Hufeland
***************************************************
Superbly fulfilling
The quickest route to an empty life is to live only for yourself. There is no pain greater than the pain of total self absorption. Yet there is always a way to get away from that unbearable emptiness. The moment you begin to sincerely care for someone or something beyond yourself, a golden warmth enters your life.
As soon as you let go of a few of your own self-centered concerns, you start to make room in your world for real joy and fulfillment. When you give of yourself, you begin to experience a magnificent sense of purpose that cannot be reached in any other way.
Behind every desire is a longing for meaning and fulfillment. A truly powerful way to quench that thirst for meaning is to live beyond yourself.
Before you speak, choose words that will serve a greater good. Before you act, choose deeds that will make a positive contribution to the world around you.
In small things and large, use the opportunity of each moment to look and to act beyond your own concerns. The success you create by so doing will be real and superbly fulfilling.
Ralph Marston
****************************************************
"It is not work that kills men; it is worry. Work is healthy; you can hardly put more upon a man than he can bear. Worry is rust upon the blade. It is not the revolution that destroys the machinery, but the friction. Fear secrets acids; but love and trust are sweet juices."
Henry Ward Beecher
Jim Rohn
**************************************************
The Words Do Matter
Air Canada Flight 154
I was boarding a flight in Edmonton, Alberta, bound for Toronto after a long day. As I handed my boarding pass to the Air Canada gate agent, I asked her if she was having a good day. Her response has been in my mind for nearly two weeks. She looked at me, smiled, and said, "All the better for you asking me, thanks."
As I literally skipped down the jetway, I smiled. I have asked hundreds of people if they are having a good day. Never have I received that response. I've heard, "It's ok.", "No not really," and "Fine, thanks." But never, until now, have I heard "All the better for you asking me, thanks."
Her response was gracious and warm. It wowed me as a Customer - giving me a very positive experience with Air Canada (even before I was on the plane!) More importantly, it made me feel special as a human being. Perhaps she was taught to say this by a parent at a young age and it was an automatic response. Even if this were true, her genuine response makes that irrelevant.
What would have been a normal flight was changed by eight words - eight words I am sure I will never forget.
The Internet Essay
Recently I read an essay from one of my favorite writers. Scott Ringwelski writes an essay each week called Positive Pause. Last week's issue starts . . .
"No Problem.actually is.
'No problem.' It seems natural, easy going, off the cuff, casual.
It's a throwaway line for a disposable world.
However, how does your throwaway line and casual attitude translate to those you say it to?"
Scott goes on to say that the two words are actually two negatives, no and problem. Through a wonderful personal story he relates that rather than answering a request with "no problem," it would be much more meaningful and powerful to say "It would be my pleasure." Scott knows, as does my Edmonton friend, that choosing these words can make a huge difference.
Rhea
A few hours ago my step mother passed away. While there are many ways she blessed my life and there will be many things I will remember about her, the thing that strikes me now is one of her favorite phrases. "Terrific!" Ask Rhea how she was, and she, more often than not, would say "Terrific!" Even over the last few months when she was very ill. When you saw her, or spoke to her on the phone, if you asked how she was, she would say, "Terrific!"
Certainly in these last few months she hasn't always been terrific, at least by most people's standards. Her optimistic reply though, always lifted my day - even if I were calling to try and lift hers.
The Common Thread
In all of these cases, the words chosen by people have made a positive difference to those around them. As a consultant if I think about these word choices, I could easily make a case that using these phrases would be powerful in terms of Customer Service, and internal communications.
Most importantly though is that choosing these words transforms the people who say the words. Think about my Air Canada friend saying, "All the better for you asking me, thanks!", or anyone saying "It's been a pleasure," or "Terrific!"
These phrases recast our thinking and our self talk in a more positive, focused, and accountable way. Indeed, these words can make a big difference in the lives of others, and in our lives as well.
The words do matter. To everyone.
Yours in Learning,
Kevin Eikenberry
*************************************************
"Laughter is the most healthful exertion."
Christoph Wilhelm Hufeland
***************************************************
Superbly fulfilling
The quickest route to an empty life is to live only for yourself. There is no pain greater than the pain of total self absorption. Yet there is always a way to get away from that unbearable emptiness. The moment you begin to sincerely care for someone or something beyond yourself, a golden warmth enters your life.
As soon as you let go of a few of your own self-centered concerns, you start to make room in your world for real joy and fulfillment. When you give of yourself, you begin to experience a magnificent sense of purpose that cannot be reached in any other way.
Behind every desire is a longing for meaning and fulfillment. A truly powerful way to quench that thirst for meaning is to live beyond yourself.
Before you speak, choose words that will serve a greater good. Before you act, choose deeds that will make a positive contribution to the world around you.
In small things and large, use the opportunity of each moment to look and to act beyond your own concerns. The success you create by so doing will be real and superbly fulfilling.
Ralph Marston
****************************************************
"It is not work that kills men; it is worry. Work is healthy; you can hardly put more upon a man than he can bear. Worry is rust upon the blade. It is not the revolution that destroys the machinery, but the friction. Fear secrets acids; but love and trust are sweet juices."
Henry Ward Beecher
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