Straight-Line Chipmunks - 05/21/10 12:15 PM


Full speed.
A straight line. 
Perpendicular to the road. 
The shortest path between two points.
This is what I see when a chipmunk or squirrel dashes across a road in traffic. Occasionally one will panic, freeze or turn back.  But not often. Usually it is a full-speed dash at an appropriate (hopefully) moment, made with purpose and focus to a clearly targeted destination.
As I saw a chipmunk make this dash across a busy five lane road recently, I thought about how often I see people that never make a focused and determined effort to attain ANY goals.  They pace the edge of the highways of life, … (0 comments)

Too Much Love - 05/08/10 11:03 AM
Real Estate is filled with stories of too much love.
We all see people love their houses too much.  We see Realtors love their marketing material too much.  We see bankslove their bbureaucracy too much.  People love their ideas, their offers, their egos and their need-to-be-right too much.
Now, passion is great.  Even encouraged.  But if we are overly fixated on ourselves and our messages, we are handicapped in how well we listen, learn, adapt and improve.  Feedback will bounce off of us (or we will intentionally deflect it to protect the ideas we love).  Opportunities will pass by, right in front of our face without us … (8 comments)

Yelling at Toddlers - 05/04/10 09:37 AM
When a toddler is learning to walk, they often fall down. Parents helping the toddler walk usually encourage them, guide them and help steady them as they slowly learn. Falling is an expected part of the process.  So expected that I don't think I've ever seen a parent yell at a toddler that fell down while learning to walk.
Yet in other situations, how many times do we see a negative response to a failure.  Even a first failure.  But isn't that like yelling at a falling toddler?  Does anyone expect that behaviour to help the situation or encourage growth and progress?
Maybe it is … (3 comments)