The Daily RICHual

After a short hiatus, one week for just taking the week off, the last week being buried under a home flooring and painting project, the Daily RICHual is back

I was listening to a podcast last week and I heard I guy mention the three L’s to growing as a person. I thought it would make a nice, brief, stand alone RICHual:

Listen, Learn, Leverage.

According to a recent survey, America's mid section will do nothing but get larger in the next twenty years.  No, we're not adding geography to the Midwest by adopting Canada. The geography being added is to our mid sections, our waistlines.

A Duke University study tells us that, at present, roughly a third of all Americans are considered obese. By 2030, that number is projected to be 42%. Think about this: That's two out of every five of us. And we're not talking just overweight here, we're talking obesity.

The Center for Disease Control says, "For adults, overweight and obesity ranges are determined by using weight and height to calculate a number called the "body mass index" (BMI). BMI is used because, for most people, it correlates with their amount of body fat.

You can check yourself at http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/guidelines/obesity/bmi_tbl.htm

As I was watching The Maltese Falcon for the umpteenth time Sunday, I anxiously awaited the "showdown" scene between Sam Spade (Humphrey Bogart) and Brigid O'Shaughnessy (Mary Astor). After a rough and rocky relationship (both business AND personal), Spade let's her know that he's turning her in for murder, even though he loves her. Spade's wonderful dialogue, both mildly loving and extremely sarcastic goes like this:  "I hope they don't hang you, precious, by that sweet neck. Yes, angel, I'm gonna send you over. The chances are you'll get off with life. That means if you're a good girl, you'll be out in 20 years. I'll be waiting for you. If they hang you, I'll always remember you."

If you are like me, even a little bit, you are inundated with the latest technological advancements to the point of being a) confused, b) overwhelmed, c) tired of the speed of the merry go round, or d) all of the above.

Anyone (well, most anyone who tries) can give reactive customer service. While reactive service is okay and proactive service is better, I think most of us prefer someone who isn't making us ask for help, or beg for service. I'm more satisfied when my service provider actually looks at my needs - my best interest and anticipates how they can help.

The greatest service providers, places like Nordstroms and the Ritz Carlton, understand that this phenomenon does not just happen without effort. That's why they work at it daily. We could do the same.

True pre-activeness, however. has some foundation beneath it. In order to be preactive you must do four things:

"Don't think, React!" That was the daily advice of my Junior High School basketball coach, Mr. Korwin. He believed that if we spent too long pondering the next move on the court, we would be prone to mistakes, indecisiveness, and poor judgment. For us, gangly eighth graders, it may well have been excellent advice.

Better advice might have been to learn to be proactive rather than reactive. Being proactive meanswe're taking charge of our situation, trying to be a bit in front of the wave, so to speak. Proactive people are taking control of today.

What are you doing to keep your business simple? How are you able to balance life and work without the work part getting out of hand? Are your systems aimed at running a smart, practical business? Do you have systems in place?

Technology is moving at a break neck speed. New gadgets, designed to save mankind from the discomforts of life, are developed daily (maybe hourly). Some things, however, remain as they have for years, decades, even centuries. 

"My son, Isaac, called me on that danged telephone contraption today," my great Grandfather said. "Why can't he just come over here if he wants to talk with me? It's only three towns away. Instead he expects me to hold that thing up to my ear like it's natural or something."