Give credit where credit is due.

We have great people working for us here at the firm.   I am excited about the possibilities for 2016.  I like this quote and hope I live up to it's meaning.

"There are two kinds of people, those who do the work and those who take the credit. Try to be in the first group; there is less competition there." — Indira Gandhi

Christmas with mom!

Yesterday morning I was sitting with my mom at her house while dad had gone to church. Mom fell Friday afternoon, banged her head and broke 3 fingers. She is making it pretty good considering.

Mom wanted to watch the church service from the Pulaski Heights Methodist Church in Little Rock. Of course the sermon was a Christmas sermon. The pastor had a very good message. Here is the Youtube video of the entire service. The sermon starts at about 22:00 and runs for about 15 minutes. It is worth 15 minutes of your time. I especially like what he has to say starting at 35:35

Check it out. You want be disappointed. Merry Christmas!

St Louis Cardinals - October 2011

“In Game 6 of the 2011 World Series, the Rangers held a 7-5 lead in the bottom of the ninth. With two on, two out and down to his last strike, David Freese tripled to tie the game. Texas’ Josh Hamilton silenced the crowd in the 10th with a two-run homer, but the Cards answered in the bottom of the inning as Lance Berkman — also down to his final strike — singled in the tying run. An inning later, St. Louis-native Freese crushed a full-count pitch deep into the October night for a Cardinals win. At home plate, the hero’s jersey was ‘shredded’ in the chaos, a tradition started earlier in the year by utility infielder Nick Punto. Typically, jersey fronts would simply pop open. On this night, though, the wildly exuberant players tore Freese’s jersey in two.”

“That game had everything in it. People were crying, people were laughing, people were hugging and people were screaming. It had every emotion possible.” –David Freese, 2011 World Series MVP

Good is the enemy of Great

"You have to decide what your highest priorities are and have the courage — pleasantly, smilingly, non—apologetically — to say 'no' to other things. And the way you do that is by having a bigger 'yes' burning inside. The enemy of the 'best' is often the 'good.'" — Stephen Covey

Blow up your TV

Spanish Pipedream  (AKA Blow Up Your TV)
© John Prine

She was a level-headed dancer on the road to alcohol

And I was just a soldier on my way to Montreal

Well she pressed her chest against me

About the time the juke box broke

Yeah, she gave me a peck on the back of the neck

And these are the words she spoke

Chorus:

Blow up your TV throw away your paper

Go to the country, build you a home

Plant a little garden, eat a lot of peaches

Try an find Jesus on your own  

Well, I sat there at the table and I acted real naive
For I knew that topless lady had something up her sleeve
Well, she danced around the bar room and she did the hoochy-coo
Yeah she sang her song all night long, tellin' me what to do

Repeat chorus:

Well, I was young and hungry and about to leave that place
When just as I was leavin', well she looked me in the face
I said "You must know the answer."
"She said, "No but I'll give it a try."
And to this very day we've been livin' our way
And here is the reason why

We blew up our TV threw away our paper
Went to the country, built us a home
Had a lot of children, fed 'em on peaches
They all found Jesus on their own

Fear is a distraction

"This great Nation will endure as it has endured, will revive and will prosper. So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself—nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance."

FDR’s First Inaugural Address - 1932

Your diamond mine

Most people are sitting on their diamond mines.  The surest ways to lose your diamond mine are to get bored, become overambitious, or start thinking that the grass is greener on the other side.  Find your core focus, stick to it, and devote your time and resources to excelling at it.

from Traction: Get a Grip on your Business by Gino Wickman
Chapter 3 - The Vision Component