Tag: Motivation

A LESSON FROM A BEER EMPIRE

The other night I attended a talk on the brewing history in my city. Indirectly, it was supposed to be focused on the history of one company in particular – Schlitz Brewing Company. Why? The reason is they are going out of business after more than 150 years. In reality, they first went out of business in 1982, a little more about that later. What this talk, among others, taught me is that there is a lot to be learned from our history. It also taught me a few other lessons that I wanted to share with you today.

Schlitz was a brewery founded in 1849 in Milwaukee. I am not going to spend too much time on the history of this company as this is a self-improvement site and not a beer site. It is an interesting story if you want to research it. Through the years the company survived many challenges. This included prohibition where they were forced to develop and sell other products. As late as 1957, they were the largest brewer in the world. What happened? That is where the lessons begin. We will talk about the brewery, but I am sure you will be able to make the connections to how we can apply this to our lives fairly quickly.

In the 1970’s a man who was an accountant, not a brewer, was given major power at the brewery. Lesson one might be to stick to what you know. He somewhat did this as he was a number guy. He decided that instead of battling other brewers to sell the most beer, he would find ways in which they could increase their profit margins. This included swapping out cheaper ingredients and rushing how long it took to prepare the beer. Before we get to what happened at this brewery, let us look at one other company the company had purchased and tried this same experience with before. Primo beer in Hawaii. When they bought the company it had roughly 70% of the Hawaiian beer market. After cheapening the brewing process, in only a few years their market share was down to 20%. They dismissed it as a regional issue. Not learning from your mistakes, or at least pondering what could have caused them would be lesson two.

Meanwhile, on the mainland things were looking great. Profits were up. Beer was being produced quicker and cheaper. Shareholders seemed to be happy. Corporate executives were happy with their bonuses and raises. Only one problem remained. The beer tasted terrible. People noticed. What happens when you start producing an inferior product, even if it is faster and cheaper? People stop buying it. That is exactly what happened in this case. After several years of denial and falling profits (remember they were not good at learning from their mistakes) they went back to the original recipe. It was too little, too late. They first closed their doors in 1982 and sold to a different brewer. Side note, because of the debt this company inherited with the purchase, it also went out of business.

The final lesson, and perhaps the most important one, is the one we can gain by looking at what brought down the company. Sacrificing quality to cut corners. You may be thinking this does not apply to you if you are not a beer producer, or at least a business owner of some kind. Not true. It applies to us all. When we begin to cut corners in any area of our life. It can be performance in our job. It can be cutting corners when it comes to our health. We can cut corners in our relationship. All of these will come back to haunt us in the long run. We may try to go back to being a good employee and showing up to work on time and working hard while we are there. By then, our boss may have made up their mind to move on. We may want to start working out and eating healthy, but the damage to our body may be beyond our ability to repair. In our relationships, hurt may be forgiven, but seldom is it forgotten. As these continue to mount, it can be impossible to overcome, even if we become the most dedicated and loving partner.

The lesson should be abundantly clear. Never sacrifice quality. That is certainly true if you are a business owner. Even more so about ourselves. By delivering the highest quality product, which is the best version of ourselves, we keep the customers happy. This is our boss by being the best employee we can be. It is our own body, and mental health, by taking care of it. It is also our relationships. This is with our family, friends and romantic partner. If we do not take care of our relationships and bring the best version of ourselves, our life will be tough to make it through. Always work to bring the best quality product to market by working to be the best version of you that you can be. Keep all of the customers in your life happy. Your boss, your doctor and your friends, family and spouse.

THE DEFINITION OF EXCELLENCE

The ‘secret of success’. It is something that billions are spent on every year to discover. The amusing part of this is that it can be found in this quote by Aristotle. You need to have successful habits. Ones that continually push you to be a better version of yourself. If you make exercise and learning a habit, there is no limit to where this world may take you. When we are stressed, we do not rise to the level of our goals, we fall to the level of our habits. That is why it is paramount that we begin to work on them as soon as we can. Habits take time to develop. They are also easier to develop when we are not in a stressed state.

A few years back, I appeared on the television show Positively Milwaukee. One of the strategies for success that I advocated that day was that we should learn to swim while we are on the shore and not when the ship is sinking. Meaning, that learning and perfecting skills should be done before we need them. When will we need them? We never know. That is why it is so important to get into the habits that will be profitable to our lives now. Profitable does not only refer to financial concerns. A habit that increases, or profits, our health is a vital one to have. Self-care is a great habit to develop for mental health purposes. When will we need a hand with a mental health? That can be right around the corner!

Another important aspect to consider about success is that it cannot be compartmentalized. We have seen this is CEOs, celebrities and others. If your success in one area of your life comes at the sacrifice of others, you are not a success. If you are wealthy, but you family is not happy or your friendships are suffering, are you truly successful? We need to develop excellence habits and apply them to every area of our life. What healthy habits for excellence do you have? Which ones do you think would be healthy to develop?

NEW SOLUTION TO THE SAME PROBLEM

Let me ask you a question you may have never been asked, or even thought to ask. What stress are you grateful for? You read that right. Most of our lives, and a good many posts on this site, has been focused on reducing or eliminating stress. Wouldn’t a life with no stress be a great thing? You might think so, but stress does us a lot of good if managed properly. I recall listening to a talk by Norman Vincent Peale where he described a place where not a single person had a problem. Everyone there was completely problem free. A friend of his asked him to take him there. His response? “It is Woodlawn cemetery.”

That is very true. Stress is a sign of life. Many of us spend our lives trying to get rid of our stress. Our time would be best served if we found a way in which we could put stress to work for us. Changing our approach and interaction with stress can do this. A change in mindset can transform how we see stress. It will not change the stress. It will change us. The world will give us stress no matter who we are or what level we reach. Having a healthy approach to stress will allow us to succeed at every level. What is this switch in mindset? Let us take a look at it below.

I always reference working out. Lifting weights is a stress. It stresses the muscle. In response the muscle grows stronger. Without that, the muscle would remain weak. The same is true for our mental, emotional and spiritual muscles. Increasing our resilience, patience and compassion happens when we face opposition. It can be hard to be grateful for them in the moment, but they are indeed making us stronger, if we decide to let them. It may be a slightly tired cliche, but an airplane rises flying into the wind. How do you manage stress? How do you use it for motivation and getting stronger? Share your ideas with the rest of us in the comments below.

EXPRESS THIS OFTEN AND YOU WILL HAVE AN AMAZING LIFE

The above photo is one that Margie drew on the window on our front porch. She really is a talented lady. What does this have to do with you and living an amazing life? Plenty. Stick with me and we will uncover this secret together. In the title of this post we mentioned what you should express more often to have an amazing life. The answer is as simple as it is profound. What are you looking to have more of in your life? Health? Love? Money? The key is expressing that as often as you can. Even if you do not currently have as much of it as you desire. When it comes to love, can you really have too much?

This may sound like an odd version of the law of attraction. In some ways it is. When you surround yourself with what you wish to have more of, it is a constant reminder to focus on the that. Take the picture above. Every time that Margie and I sit on the porch, which we enjoy doing with a good cup of coffee, we will be reminded that we are two love birds. We have pictures of moments that we enjoyed together throughout our house and loving reminders of each other. Whenever we glance at one of those items, it gives us a gentle reminder of our love. If you are constantly reminded of how special something is, you are far less likely to take it for granted.

It can be easy to see how this works in love, but how about when you are looking for financial abundance and you are so poor you set off bank alarms simply by walking by? By focusing on what little you do have, even if it is far less than you wish. It can also be taking little mental vacations to where you wish to be. These can be facilitated by having those reminders placed around. It is more than just your decor. It is how you speak, what you think and most important, how you feel about a certain subject. If your bank account is as barren as a desert, it can be hard to feel abundant. That is when you must do your best to do so. You see, if you are constantly reminding yourself about how little you have you end up in a defeated mindset and may miss opportunities that could help that. It is not to say that you should act fiscally irresponsible, but foster a gratitude for what you do have.

Having these reminders work great to increase what you want to have in your life, but they work just as good for helping you to get back on track when things start to slip. Should you and your spouse find yourself in a moment of discord, seeing loving pictures or symbols of the two of you can help remind you that this is a moment in time. Yes, you may not like your partner very much at the moment, but you will be reminded how much you have loved them, and deep down still do. This can help keep the negative in perspective.

The secret to having an amazing life is to express all that you are grateful for and wish for. It is to limit discussing and thinking about all that you want less of. Think about your own life. Do you spend time thinking and getting excited for all that you have and all that you want? Do you find yourself worrying and complaining about all that is wrong in your life? It is important to be present and be aware of your thoughts. Yes, we all have challenges and bad days. Nobody’s life is all sunshine and rainbows, but the goal is to have more sunny days than cloudy. You can set yourself up for success in this by catering your surroundings and expression. How can you improve your own life in this way? I am always looking for suggestions. I would love to hear your story.

CHANGE 1 THING AND LIFE FEELS BETTER!

Self-improvement, personal-development or whatever term you choose to use can be a complicated affair. It need not be. Searching in your local library or bookstore the ‘self-help’ section can seem overwhelming. Where do you start? I wrote 3 books on the matter myself. They are filled with great tools and strategies that will improve the life you are now living. If you are interested, feel free to search ‘Neil Panosian’ and pick one up. That being said, there is a simple way to begin to live a more enjoyable and fulfilling life starting right now. You need not purchase a book, seminar or anything else. All it takes is a change in mindset.

As you can see in the photo above, it is more accurately a change of focus. As humans we are programed to focus on what is wrong with our life. That can be helpful. It can also be extremely detrimental. When our focus is exclusively, or even primarily on what is wrong, we can be left feeling heavy and defeated. Life can feel like something we have to ‘make it through’. This is a terrible way to go through life. A simple shift can lighten that load and make our life more enjoyable.

Many people call this change in focus “Looking at the world through rose-colored glasses”. That is but one way to look at it. Changing our primary focus on what continues to go right in our life is not denying that there are things that need work. What it does acknowledge is that in any life, there is still plenty of things to be grateful for. Will this help you fix and improve your life? The answer is a surprising ‘Yes’. Will being grateful that you only have a flat tire and not a more expensive repair fix the tire? No it will not. What it will do, however, is keep you in a better frame of mind. It will make the effort to change the tire, or the time waiting for someone to come and do it that much more enjoyable. To that end, you will treat those who help you with more gratitude and appreciation.

NEW MANDATORY CLASSES?

To begin this, I must state that I am a supporter of those in the education system. It is my opinion that being a teacher is one of the most noble and important professions one can be involved in. Shaping the minds of future generations is a great responsibility. That being said, the public education system itself could really use an update. Graduating school knowing how to calculate the surface area of an ellipse, but not how to craft a family budget does not seem very practical. Paying taxes, time management and other daily subjects seemed to be skipped over. Yes, math and science are very important. So is knowing how to manage your health. In a world where obesity is growing at an alarming rate, why is this not more a focus?

Even more important is the issue of mental health. We live in a generation that does not often include a healthy family base. More often than not, both parents are working outside of the home to make ends meet. Men especially are not taught about the proper way to address and communicate their emotions. Issues of domestic violence and depression can find their roots in emotional disconnect. Imagine if we were taught a class on what to do with the anger we feel? How about how to communicate during a passionate disagreement? That is why I enjoyed having Mr. Rogers around as a kid. He taught children how to deal with difficult subjects such as these. Another reason that How to Win Friends and Influence People is one of my favorite books. It teaches the art of personal communication.

Many of you may be tempted to say, “That should be the parents responsibility.” In an ideal world, you would be correct. In addition to having both parents working, as mentioned above, many of these parents do not know these skills themselves. How else to break generational curses than to show the youth a new way? This is why I am always happy to hear that a young person gets one of my books or joins this community. Being able to connect and share ways to live a healthier and more fulfilling life at an early age sets people up for success. That is not to say we should limit this to the young. If you find yourself having difficulty as an adult, brushing up on some fundamentals may not be a bad idea.

Rather than blaming the way you were raised, or using it as an excuse for your poor behavior, learn that there are better ways. It does not make you any less to admit your behavior could use a little improvement. Quite the opposite. Working to become the best version of yourself means that you must admit there are some areas that are not quite there yet. It is true of all of us. Learning self-improvement and life-fulfillment skills will not only make your life better, but the world at large better too! Feel free to share this website with as many as you can. Let us learn and share life lessons as we go through this world together.

EVERY DAY YOU HAVE A CHANCE

Have you ever complained about getting older? Anyone over the age of 30 probably answered ‘yes’ to that question. It is easy to do. Our energy seems to go down and the amount of things that hurt go up. This is more a matter of perspective than anything. The fact that we are here to complain is a great blessing. Yes, that sounds like some positive thinking talk. It is the truth. I tell people “Growing old may be tough, but it is better than the alternative.”

If you were to walk through a children’s cancer ward, it may change how you look at things. Looking at these brave young souls who are facing severe health challenges before their lives even had a chance to get started. We are complaining because our knee always hurts? When you put things into that perspective it feels a little silly. Someone, somewhere, always has it worse than us. It only takes looking at life from their perspective to realize how good we have it.

Scrolling through my social media pages the other day, I realized how many friends I have lost. Many younger than I am today. Their life is over. Yes, they may not have anymore problems, but what about the experience of a tight hug from a friend or loved one after a long day? What about seeing the smile on someone’s face you have just helped? How about tasting that first sip of coffee in the morning? These are all experiences that a moments of joy in even the most challenged life. Being here allows you to experience them. If you need more, it is easy to do. Find ways to bring joy to others. You will receive more smiles and hugs for sure! Your back and body may hurt sometimes, but your soul can feel amazing! Growing old, if you live your life right, is an amazing blessing.

BEWARE OF THIS ADDICTION

Wow! This is a good one. How many of us fall into this trap? At one time or another, probably every single one of us. It gives birth to all sorts of cliches such as ” The grass is always greener on the other side.” We continually postpone our happiness. Thinking it will find us over the next horizon. The hard truth is quite the opposite. The grass is really greener where you water it. The next horizon may contain new joys, but it will also contain new challenges. That is why ‘Destination Addiction’ is so dangerous. It can be facilitated by advertising convincing us that we need the next great thing. Social Media, where we compare our challenges to other’s highlights further pushes us in the wrong direction. Thinking our life does not compare to the life of those around us.

How do we overcome Destination Addiction? By changing the question we ask ourselves daily. We spend as much as 90% of our time on the journey and only 10% at the destination. If you had the choice, which would you rather work on making happier? What is the question we should be asking ourselves to make this switch? “What can I do to find, or create happiness right now?” In every situation there is the possibility to find some sort of happiness or the opportunity to create happiness. While it is true that certain circumstances are far easier to do this in, the truth is that our intention and mindset can make every situation a possibility for joy. Even if it may be difficult to find joy for ourselves, we can have the opportunity to create for others. Guess what that would do? Seeing that you have brought joy to another makes you feel….happy! Therefore, even in the struggle, even in the challenge, there exists the possibility of joy.

Have you ever thought of life in this way? Have you ever asked yourself the question we stated above, “What can I do to find, or create happiness right now?” Personally, I can confess that I have not done it enough. That should make us happy. It means we are leaving a lot of happiness unexperienced! There is so much more joy we could discover, and more important, experience, in our life! How exciting is that thought. Try asking yourself this question at least once a day. Whether you do it when things are going well, or if you try it when things are a little tough, you will add more joy to your life. That should be reason enough to do it!

THE BATTLE OF A LIFETIME

With Monday fast approaching, everyone is thinking of the battles they have to face. Getting up and out of bed when we would rather not. Dealing with traffic and coworkers we would much rather do without. How many of us consider the greatest battle of all; the battle against ourself? Even the previously mentioned challenges are more a battle of our perception, than our actual reality. Changing our mindset and our heart is what will change our life. That is certainly easier said than done. Fighting that battle is what will give us that amazing life we have been seeking.

On the surface I realize that this may sound a little like self-improvement mumbo jumbo, but let us pause and take a look at it. Start with having to get up early and get out of bed when we do not want to. I start work at 4am, and have to leave the most beautiful woman behind, so trust me when I tell you that I know the struggle. Here is what else I know. Four years ago I died briefly. It is with great fortune and grace that I am still here. There is not a day that goes by that I do not think about that. Another aspect to consider is that I have a job. There are so many that are hurting and looking to make ends meet. Is it the perfect job for me? Absolutely not, but it is one that allows me to pay the bills and pursue my passions of writing as well. The lovely lady that I have to leave? Each morning that I feel sad to leave her, I also am grateful she is there. Having someone you love that much in your life is a blessing. Even if you do not have a job yet, or a wonderful relationship, you do have life. The potential to improve is there every day. It can be gone in an instant. Make the most of it while it is here.

Looking at the other two items we mentioned, commute and coworkers, they also can be viewed differently and therefore felt differently. My morning journey to work is about 35 minutes give or take. That all depends on traffic and the ever present construction. In addition to the fact that I am alive to experience the commute, I think about the world we live in. There are paved roads, we have climate controlled cars and public transportation. Yes, roads can be bumpy and filled with potholes, but it sure beats dirt or no road at all. Do we all have our dream vehicle? Maybe not, but it beats having to ride on horse through rain and snow.

You may be tempted to dismiss all of this as a mere change in state of mind. It is, but that is the point. Developing this change will transform how your life feels. Can you imagine how that change of focus could affect your life? Is it easy to do? Of course not. That is why it is a battle every day. Is it worth it? It is as valuable as digging in a mine of pure gold! What are some of the ways that you can improve your mindset?

NOT SO FAST SOCRATES!

I have always found this quote from Socrates rather humorous. I would have to respectfully disagree with the gentleman though. Yes, being in a toxic relationship would probably urge you to spend time alone pondering the meaning of life. Especially your own. In this way I believe he is giving us one of the keys to an amazing life. That is to turn whatever challenging situation you find yourself in, into a more fulfilling one. It could be taking that time alone you would want to spend into developing a philosophy of your own. Perhaps it would be taking the job you want to leave so bad and using it to motivate you to take a different course of action. That could be educating yourself or just looking for something that would satisfy your soul as well as your wallet.

As great as comfort is, it can also be a trap. Finding ourselves in a bad job, relationship or other challenging situation may not be desirable, but it just might push us to finally get off our butt and do something about it. If one part of your life isn’t working, pivot to excel at another while you work on correcting it. In my case, a great relationship has allowed me to change my philosophy on life. Having an excellent life partner can help you excel at being a philosopher as well!