Monthly Archives: February 2013

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Part 2: Clean Plate Club

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Clean Plate Club

Here are some ways to remain in the Clean Plate Club.

  1. Do not put more on your plate than you can handle

In elementary school everyone received the same amount of food. In life every person has the same amount of time. How you use time determines the benefit you receive. As a business person you instinctively know your limits.  Do not take on the project you do not have time to finish.  You may have the aptitude to handle the project but if you drop the ball you lose face and you have added no value.

  1. Give it back so that you do not have to deal with it

When children are the lunch line there is an option to say, “No thank you, I do not want any of that.” Sometimes in business and in life we do not have the option before it is given to us, but we can look at the project and give it to the proper channels for a more expedient solution.  This is more than delegation this is distribution. There are others who can do more with what is on your plate than you can.

  1. If it is not yours than do not eat it

Sometimes in school we would have some undesirable food item and to get the reward we would have to finish everything all week. People would play the “hey look over there game” As soon as you would look away they would put some Brussel sprouts on your plate.  With projects and ideas you have to mindful of Brussel sprouts on your plate.  If it is not your problem, do not accept it.  People call me for advice from time to time, some good friends and some are business associates.   In these conversations I have to decide if I am helping or if they dumping a problem on me.  Mentally figuring solutions for business is an enterprise worthy of compensation. If you decide to eat the undesirable thing or handle a problem in business be sure to negotiate compensation. In elementary school, eating undesirable foods meant exchanging places in line for ice cream or maybe the whole cup of ice cream.

Joining the clean plate club is easy if you monitor your plate every day. Remember the rules and you will receive the reward…   Peace at the end of the week.

What example of the clean plate club have you demonstrated lately?

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Clean Plate Club: Part 1

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http://www.flickr.com/photos/panasonic-kei/

Our lunchroom in elementary school had a plan called the Clean Plate Club. We would try to eat all of the food on our plates. We would eat down to the last bean and then take our fingers and run them around the edge of the tray to get every ounce of dessert. I especially liked the gravy when we had those homemade yeast rolls… Okay, I am getting really hungry, the true reason behind this was so that we as kids received healthy full meals to be able to discern what was being taught.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/panasonic-kei/

Kitchen dinner

 

There is a Clean Plate Club for business also. It is the club where you leave no work on your plate that can be directed to others and moved forward. If it just sitting with you than no progress is being made. Progress happens when you excert force on an idea.   Ideas move when we share them with others that move them and add to the momentum.  Some ideas are not yours to do anything move.  This is where you have to use discernment.  discernment is a gift and a skill. Some of us have a strong sense of what we can put on our plate and the rest of us have to be really focused so we will not get trapped.

 

Part 2 of this post gives more ideas how develop the skill of business discernment as it relates to The Clean Plate Club.

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Please Be Patient with Me

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I included all the words to Dr. James Cleveland’s song, that is best sang by Albetina Walker because they have been in my heart since my mother played the record over and over and over on Sunday afternoons. Read the words and use them as your own.

Please be patient with me,
God is not through with me yet.

Please be patient with me,
God is not through with me yet.

When God gets through with me,
when God gets through with me,
I shall come forth,
I shall come forth like pure gold.

Verse
If you should see me and I’m not walking right,
and if you should hear me and I’m not talking right;
please remember what God has done for me,
when He gets through with me,
I’ll be what He wants me to be.

Normally I focus the Science of Patience on the Individual right now this is an outward request you should make to your friends and families.

” I’m still alive so the Lord must have me here for a reason”. 

This olde wives tale has some merit. . WE are all put here for the glory of God therefore , He still has a purpose for us living.

 

Luke 20:38  For He is not a God of the dead, but of the living: for all live unto Him

This letter is to those friends and family that ask ” when are you going to get it right?, or When are you going to get married or when are you going to write that book?  We all hear it and brush it off. It is easy for the doubt to creep in when you hear it or perceive it.  This is when we should say ‘Please be patient with me God is not through with me yet. If it really annoying you may want to sing it.

Make the most of your life and maximize your days but be satisfied with your current existence.  There is no time like the present.  Remember most of the people who question your progress actually care and are invested in your success.

You are here for a reason, do not be afraid to tell the world . Tell the world what you are going to do and go do it.  You are a  patient leader and nothing will stop you from dominating. The Science of Patience “knows that the Creator is in control ” Stretch yourself but do not get out of your element trying to please people. Please God and you will be fulfilled.

No matter what people think of you remember you are not a finished work.  There is still more to come.  Another chapter is being written as we speak.

Potter’s Clay

Jeremiah 18:6

O house of Israel cannot I do with you as the potter? Saith the Lord Behold as the clay is in the potters hand so you are ye in mine hand o house of Israel

In what area do you need to ask those around you to “Please be patient with me?”

 

 

 

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Indispensable Asset

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Make your business indispensable to the marketplace. There are some products and services that can be considered indispensable due to their unique and proprietary nature. Most others have competition and can be replaced. To put yourself in the category of indispensable you have to create and mold your product or service to fit your customer in ways unique to only them.

Tannehill State park

Tannehill State park

Listen

To know your client is to listen. There are limitations to every business but if you listen to what the customer is asking for then you can mold your business to fit comfortably with your clients desires.

Anticipate

After you listen then you will be able to anticipate the needs of your customers. This is helpful and it gives the client an unconscious rebuttal when the competition presents similar products and services.  The response will be, “my current provider knows our needs and is always ready to meet them.”

Recreate

Always evolve into a higher form of yourself. While staying consistent is beneficial if you recreate areas of your business bigger opportunities will arise.  Now you are not only the steady provider but the fresh idea merchant. Recreate yourself daily and make your business the fresh face of your industry.

 

How have you made yourself indispensable?