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WE CONTROL ONLY TWO THINGS

Monday, October 19, 2020
 
 
The lessons of what to do now, what to do next – where are they?
 
We can consult history, books of wise and successful people, or Google every nonsensical blog post from the right, left, or middle of the political, economic, and philosophical spectrum. Still, there is no sensor/detector to separate the green grass from what is left after the bull grazes on all that grass.
 
The B.S. factor is woven into every medium.
 
The chance anyone of us will be the next bazillionaire/Silicon Valley whiz-kid, musical prodigy, or award-winning novelist (yet I can always hope!) – are slimmer than winning a lottery jackpot.
 
What can we do that startles and amazes – not because we are putting on a show, but because we are amazingly skilled at what we do?
 
What can we do more of to make people smile, delight customers, and inspire our competitors’ envy? 
 
These are things we can do, and do well, before-during-after any disaster, pandemic, reversal of fortune, or massive storm – just as artisans and craftsmen are best to stick with their tools and their craft, I believe we are best to BE BEST and what we do and not give up, not lose faith, not lose confidence.
 
Which is not to say we should ignore facts.
 
Everybody can get something cheaper and faster from someone else.
 
We control only two things – how well we do our work and how we manage our relationship with our customers.
 
Only two things, so let’s control those better than anyone else.
 
 

Reader feedback:
 
LEAVE A LIGHT ON
Good morning, Mark I hope the weekend has been a good one. In one of your recent Musing, you mused about buying a lakefront place. Um, I do have one that could suit...There is something therapeutic about watching the seasons of life on a lake, the waterfowl and other birds flocking up in groups of thousands, as they are right now, and to hear their excited calls to each other as they contemplate their annual pilgrimage south. The Trumpeter swans, majestic in sound and sight in their perfect formations. The deer, who are not around the house all summer, seem to know that the neighborhood will now be quiet for months, are now in search of my crabapple tree and others, on which they will feast all winter. The variety of activity out on the lake in winter... and all viewed through that WINDOW, seated with a coffee next to a crackling fire. The morning walk along Lakeshore Drive or, to mix it up, through Norglenwold to the north, to see which old cabin is being torn down and rebuilt this time... It all makes, methinks, for inspirational writing and, who knows, painting...? To know that the neighbour upstairs is not an annoying one who pounds the floor, but a loving One who wishes to know you... Yes, there is something different about life at the lake. All the best to you, my Friend, SW, Sylvan Lake, AB


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