Are you very social?

Social networking is the buzz word for 2008. Yes, we know all about the old fashioned networking events we have subjected ourselves to in the past. The ones where we show up with our pile of business cards and hope to find new leads. While those types of networking events are still good, if you know the right way to work a networking event, there are others ways to network with others outside of the small confines of a room.

Myspace and Facebook are two of the big ones, but there are so many other social networks out there. There are ones specific to gender or age, ones specific to hobbies, musical tastes, careers, and so on. I am a part of LinkedIn and Plaxo. Once you join these networks, take the time to add contacts, post thoughts on a subject, comment on someone else's posts, or even drop notes of encouragement or just to say "Hi".

With the internet allowing us to move our boundaries outside of our city limits, networking with others online allows us new opportunities to meet new clients or build relationships with vendors or even to visit new places and do new things.

Take the time to jump on the social networking bandwagon as you never know what opportunities may pass you by if you don't. If you don't at least give it a try, you will be like that little kid who always watches the other kids outside having fun from their bedroom window because they are afraid to join in.

Does pricing scare you?

No one likes to talk about money. Whether it is how much money you earn each year or what you charge per hour. For many people they are uncomfortable or fearful when asked information about their pricing. In turn, the people asking can sense your fear and uncomfortableness with the situation. Some will take advantage of you while there are others who won't, but they also may not give you a chance either.

So what are some of these fears that you may have? Do you feel you lack the experience to match your asking price? Do you think you are charging too much? Do you think that if you charge the price that you do that your prospective clients will move on to someone else who is cheaper? Are you unsure how to overcome objections?

I have people tell me all of the time how pricing is one issue that they have when it comes to running their business. They are unsure how much to charge or what to tell people who inquire about their prices. If they tell someone a price and that person objects to the price, they don't know how to tell them that they are worth it. When I started my business, I didn't want to price myself out of the market, yet at the same time I wanted clients. I was not very confident with my pricing and it showed in the type of clients I had at the beginning.

There are several things you can do to help you overcome your fear or uncomfortableness when it comes to discussing pricing.

1. Post your pricing. This is a topic for debate with many on one side saying that they post their prices on their website and in their materials, while others only reveal their pricing during their conversations with a prospective client. There are pros and cons to both sides. If you reveal your pricing you scare away those that can't afford you in the first place, but at the same time if you reveal your prices, you might miss out on an opportunity to share with a prospective client how you can take care of their particular needs. Also, once pricing is revealed, that is what a prospective client will focus on. Your other words will go in one ear and out the other.

2. Act confident. I have a take it or leave it stance when it comes to my pricing. When you make excuses for your pricing or discount your pricing immediately, your prospective client then can use this to their advantage to negotiate with you. I have had people state their price and then in the next breath lower it when they hear hesitation. I was guilty of it when I began my business. Be proud of your pricing structure. If you are on the phone or communication via email, be firm with your pricing in the tone of your voice. When talking face to face with someone, look the person in the eye when you state your price.

3. Get training. If you are unsure what pricing is like for the industry, get information from those in the industry who are considered experts or who have years of experience. They will know what it is like to have not been confident with their pricing at some point when they started and they can share with you some tips and hints about what you can do with your pricing.

Once you have decided on your pricing structure, practice over and over out loud talking about your pricing so that you can overcome your fears and have a new found confidence when speaking with prospective customers or even your current customers. Remember, if you don't have confidence in yourself, how do you expect others to?

Why are you in business?

There are many reasons that people give for going into business. They want to be their own boss, they want more time with the family, they want to earn some money to help with the family, they want to create their own schedule, and the list goes on and on.

These are all wonderful reasons, but I also find many are in business sort of as a hobby. They want to experiment with it like some people do marriages. They have the mindset, "If it doesn't work out, I will just walk away." They don't take it as seriously as others who want this to be their career or they want to put as little effort and money into it as possible, but still expect great results.

When the results they want don't happen, they get frustrated. I had a person ask me if they would be able to make what they did in their old job within the first year of their opening up their business. By the way they were earning $250,000 per year. I tried not to laugh out loud, but some of the misconceptions people out there have only hinders them.

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but it takes work, determination, patience, as well as money to turn your business from a hobby into a successful running company. You have probably heard this saying at least once in your life, "You get out if it what you put into it." This saying goes for a lot of things in life, personal or business.

If, for example, you want to be a tennis player, it will never work if you don't put out the money to buy the right equipment or put in the time to practice your serve or your swing. Going to the courts a couple of times a week isn't going to do it. You have to be willing to put in several hours a day, every day. There are parents who would rather drive around an older car then buy a new one just so they can purchase a top of the line racket or tennis lessons for their child. The passion and willingness to sacrifice has to be there.

I know someone in the concierge industry who had a great job making money, but left it to start her own business. She isn't rolling in the dough, but she is working hard to make her business a success. From some of the stories she has told me, I don't think some of her clients could function without her help.

I get emails and phone calls from new mothers on an almost daily basis who want a job where they can make money, yet be there for their new baby. Deep down, their main focus is that new baby and the business will not work if that is where their focus is. A baby takes a lot of your time. After all of the feedings and diaper changings and caring for their other needs, how much time is really left for a business?

If you are ready to jump into entrepreneurship, don't stand at the shoreline dipping your toes in the water. You'll never get far. You need to dive right in and see how far the tide takes you.

Where have all the names gone?

I have a HUGE pet peeve. Maybe I shouldn't care about these people, but I do. I am part of an industry association. I check in on a weekly basis to see who is still a member and who isn't. One trend I am noticing, is that many of the members do not put their name and/or their location in their profile. Some of them don't even list their phone number.

I try to look at their listing from the viewpoint of a potential client or media person. If I have to struggle through your profile to find out who you are, I will walk away and move on to someone else. If as a media person I am doing a story on several companies in the Dallas area, but I can't find anywhere on your profile or even your website where you are located, I won't contact you. There are so many missed opportunities because someone does not want to reveal who they are in some fashion. I can't understand why they would hide, unless they are in the witness protection program.

If I have a referral for Florida, for example, and I plug Florida in the search box and your name does not come up because you either left out your location or abbreviated your state name, then I will turn the referral over to someone who I can find during my search. If I do a search for California to pass on a referral, but I have no way of contacting you, outside of filling in some page where I have to hit the submit button, I will move on and hand that referral to someone else. I may even find someone who is not a member to pass that referral off to.

I have also noticed when I visit websites that many are vague on their About Us pages. I don't care to know how ABC Errand Service will use their experience to help me with my life. I want to know how Jane Doe or John Smith, who have a background as a hotel concierge or who used to manage 200 people, will be able to handle my needs. I want to know if you won an award or volunteer your time. I want to know why you have the ability you do to help me. This helps establish credibility. Whether the target is individual clients, corporate clients, or a combination of both, the About Us page does not have to be so sterile. Loosen up and share something about you.

Share who you are with the world, or at least your potential clients. You never know what opportunities may come your way.

What are your instincts telling you?

Good instincts usually tell you what to do long before your head has figured it out.
— Michael Burke

Animals are great creatures. They can sense when things are going to happen and act on them. For us humans, we don't always get it right. I have had times that I have been around a client or talked with them on the phone or have communicated with them via email, and the red flags were flying high all around me. Something told me that the situation wasn't right or that something in the future may happen. I have had other times where the flags were showing, but I didn't pay attention to them. About eight times out of ten I am right about my instincts.

For example, Thanksgiving week I had a woman call me from out of state for a last minute errand that needed to be completed that day. When I asked for certain pieces of information, she had an excuse why she couldn't send the information to me. Her scanner was not working. When she asked that the information be faxed over, I told her I refused to send it unless I had her credit card authorization on file. It was amazing how fast she got her scanner working.

I had a gut feeling that she would file a chargeback or something in the future, as I had issues getting the money from her in the first place, so I created her own file and included all of the information she faxed me and her invoice, as well as all of the correspondence we had. Almost two weeks ago I received an inquiry regarding this transaction from the credit card company. She was stating that the charge was unauthorized. Fortunately for me, I was able to fax over almost 20 pages worth of information I had to support my decision not to refund her, which was because she owed me the money.

Regardless of what the situation is, when your instincts rear their head, it is usually a good time to listen to them because you never know how they will help you.

Happy New Year!

I hope all of you had a wonderful 2007 and that 2008 treats you right. I have enjoyed sharing my words of wisdom with you and look forward to sharing more with you this next year and many more after that. Even though today is the start of a new year and the slate has been wiped clean, I have not created my list of goals for the new year yet. Why? Because I am off to watch the Rose Parade and then watch the USC Trojans kick butt in the Rose Bowl. Look for more words of wisdom later this week.

Angel

How far are you willing to run?

There is not telling how many miles you will have to run while chasing a dream. — Anonymous

We all dream about things we want, places we want to go, things we want to experience, people we want to meet. For me, my business became my dream. When I first decided to open my doors for business, it was to earn some extra spending money and feel like I was contributing, since I was a stay at home mom.

My husband basically laughed at me and told me that it wasn't going to work. Many times when I first opened my doors for business, he told me to go get a real job. While it got me down, I wanted to prove him wrong. I was going to show him that I could be a success no matter what it took. I put in plenty of long hours surfing the web for information, putting my paperwork together, pounding the pavement, and the list of things I did was endless.

Having three kids and trying to run a household and business kept me tired many nights of the week, but I was bound and determined. I got my first client, who only needed me for a couple of hours, but it was still my first client. Then I had another client come on and then another. Over the years my business has taken off and I am able to enjoy many things, including my dream of a successful business. My husband doesn't laugh at me anymore or tell me my business is stupid or that it sucks. I get to be there for my children, while many other moms are out there working.

The miles I have run chasing my dream have been long and exhausting, but well worth it to finally catch my dream and hold it in my hands.

Are you right or wrong?

It takes less time to do a thing right, than it does to explain why you did it wrong.
— Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

I have seen it before in the work environment. People are in such a rush to produce more work and get their their list of things to do done, that they make mistakes and have to sit there and explain what happened and re-do their work. Of course we are not perfect and mistakes will be made, but if you take the time to go over your work carefully and follow the procedures set up, you will have more time to get things done and not spend the majority of it fixing your errors.

In life I have seen the explanations flow from my husband's mouth as well as my children's mouths. They are in such a hurry to get something done so that they have more time to do something else, that they have to go back and do it all over again after explaining to me why it was done wrong in the first place. I always tell them, "If you would just slow down and take the time to do it right, you would end up with more time in the end."

My mom's friend owns rental property. In the past she has hired the cheapest person to do the fastest job and in the end has had to go back and spend more money to get the job done right instead of just doing it right in the first place. Not only did she lose more money, but she lost more time. I always would tell my mom, "You get what you pay for." If she would have just put out the money in the first place, it would have been done the first time around. Doing it her way ended up costing her more in the end.

The next time you feel yourself rushing through something, take a moment to ask yourself if you are doing it right or will you have to do some explaining later.

Do you force time or yield to it?

Who forces time is pushed back by time; who yields to time finds time on his side.
— The Talmud

In the Little House on the Prairie days, families would do all of their chores without the help of technology and yet they were able to have gatherings, visit with family and friends, and enjoy life. Later on, fathers worked all day outside of the home and mothers worked all day inside the home and yet they were able to have gatherings, visit with family and friends, and enjoy life. Nowadays, we have so much technology that it is overwhelming and yet we don't have time to get together or visit with family and friends or enjoy life.

When we try to force more than 24 hours in a day, we are pushed into a corner with all of our obligations hovering around us. When we use our 24 hours a day wisely, by saying "No" and outsourcing or delegating and using technology for good, and understand that those are the boundaries, we will find more time. Even buying time, by using errand and concierge services, can help you yield to time's boundaries.

We all want to sit down and relax, but never seem to find that time. We push ourselves and push ourselves. I love the Rascal Flatts song "Mayberry" because the lyrics below are so true.

Sometimes it feels like this world is spinning faster
Than it did in the old days
So naturally, we have more natural disasters
From the strain of a fast pace
Sunday was a day of rest
Now, it’s one more day for progress
And we can’t slow down
‘cause more is best
It’s all an endless process

If you are looking for time, it may be best to yield to it and not force it.

What do you overlook?

The art of being wise is the art of knowing what to overlook. — William James

When we wake up every morning, it is a new day of people we see, places we go, and things we do. Sometimes we are okay with it and sometimes we are not. It is up to us to decide what to look at and what to overlook.

My husband and I have had this discussion over and over when it comes to our teenage son. I have told him that sometimes he needs to overlook things our son does and pick his battles wisely. His dad was very strict and overbearing with him and he tends to have those same issues. I didn't have the same strictness when I was growing up. My mom is still a pushover to this day.

I did not have brothers growing up so I am learning firsthand what it is like to have a house full of boys. Some things I overlook and chalk up to boys being boys. There are other situations that I will step up and deal with because I have to in order to raise my son right. I can't stand my son having his pants hang down past his butt and neither can my husband. I choose to overlook it as a trend he is going through, as he has gone through many during his 15 years of life. I do get on him about it when we are in public, but I do it in a kind way. My husband chooses to be irritable about it and is always yelling at my son about picking up his pants.

My daughter and I were at the grocery store the other evening. As we were heading down the soda aisle, I noticed a woman in a store wheelchair/shopping cart struggling to put some boxes of soda in her cart. I tapped my daughter on the arm and asked her to help the lady out. We ended up putting several boxes in her cart and she was grateful. My husband on the other hand, although he probably would have helped, would have overlooked it because he is not as observant as me when it comes to little things like that.

Some people tend to go through life looking out for themselves and do not notice what is going on around them. I see it everyday when I am driving and people cut other drivers off or turn in front of others suddenly or grab a spot in the parking lot without looking to see if anyone else was there. I see it when I am out in the stores and people don't watch where they are going or just grab things off of the shelf or cut in line. They aren't paying attention to the world around them.

I tend to overlook most of these things as I don't want to have health problems at the expense of these other people's rudeness. Why stress out over something so insignificant? What you need to not overlook are the things that can harm you or your family. It takes a really wise person to decide which situations are the ones worth overlooking. Maybe that is why I have so much gray hair!

Do you set things straight?

A smile is a curve that sets everything straight. — Phyllis Diller

How many times have you been in a foul mood and someone smiled at you and everything got better? I know that it has happened to me many times. I could be upset one moment and then feel much better the next, all because of a smile.

In October my daughter and I headed over to Disneyland. On the way there we had stopped at McDonald's for her to get something to eat. I was sitting in the drive thru lane and one of the employees walked by. He said, "Come on, smile. You're at the yummiest place on earth." My daughter and I started laughing and smiling. He was in a good mood and that transferred over to us.

I was at the grocery store the other day and noticed that every employee who passed by me smiled and asked if they could help me with anything. I must of had about six people pass by me and do this. I brought my oldest son with me and he was acting hyper. I sent him on a scavenger hunt to find items to keep him out of my hair. One of the clerks kept overhearing me tell him different items to find. He started getting in on the scavenger hunt. I think I was keeping both of them busy as it was late in the evening and there were not that many customers at the store.

Then I ran out of room in my cart and needed another cart. My son decided he didn't want to push his cart anymore so he sat on the end of my cart and had me pushing my cart with him on it and his cart around. We got to the meat section and there were different signs in the middle of the floor so we started doing figure eights around the sign. We were smiling and laughing and having fun. We took a boring task and made it fun.

We all know that it takes more muscles to make a frown than it does to make a smile. Use those muscles to make someone's day, as it may be the only smile they see all day, and you will feel the effects even more.

Is the moment right for you?

Generosity lies less in giving much than in giving at the right moment.
— Jean de La Bruyere

With Thanksgiving and Christmas around the corner, many people dig into their pockets and give. With the fires in California, people have dug into their pockets to give to help those who lost their homes and possessions rebuild. There are still others who have given of their time and efforts to help in other ways. We can all think back to Hurricane Katrina and the tsunamis a few years ago. I still remember the Whittier earthquake back in 1987.

We have always had world events come up, whether they are natural disasters or not, and people give of themselves. It is not about the amount we give, but about giving at that moment. It doesn't have to even be when something is spotlighted in the news. To the person on the receiving end, it is just the fact that you made the effort to be generous to them that counts.

I will always remember the parable told to me about the people who had wealth that gave of their extra overflow in money and the widow who gave her last two coins. She didn't have much to give, but she gave at the right moment. No one would have noticed her and what she gave because to them the amount wasn't significant, but to one person it was.

I looked up some new versions of this parable on the web and Will Shetterly compared it this way: A woman gave a great fortune to charity. Everyone applauded. Then she went home to her mansion and her servants brought her a wonderful meal. Another woman gave five dollars to charity. No one noticed. Then she went home to her little apartment and made a meal of canned soup and crackers.

What you give does not necessarily have to be of monetary value. It is what you give of yourself that makes the moment right.

Are your shirt sleeves rolled up?

The person who is waiting for something to turn up might start with their shirt sleeves.
— Garth Henrichs

I have been frustrated lately with the amount of people I have come across who want everything done for them. It doesn't matter what it is. Many people want to put as little effort into getting things done as possible, but have high expectations on what their return should be.

My oldest son, who is a high school sophomore, decided this first semester to not put in as much effort into his homework and tests as he should have. His school progress report came in and it sucked. I don’t want to reward him for his efforts, or lack thereof. He has three months of not going anywhere to roll his shirt sleeves up and get in and do the work I know he can to raise his grades. He has already started with making the effort to get a weekly progress report from his teacher and he actually started on his community service hours that he needs to complete to graduate from high school.

He had the football coach come up to him at lunch, after he had seen my son play some football at lunch, and ask why he wasn’t on the football team this year. My son had stated to him that because we had just moved here a couple of months ago and he hadn’t trained with the team he was told he couldn’t be on it. The teacher wants him on the team next year badly. I told him that no matter how talented the coach thinks he is, that he won’t be able to play if he does not maintain a certain GPA. I hope that this is the motivation he needs to get going, but the work is up to him. He can’t skate by in life.

When we moved into our house in August, the grass was dead. The tenants before us had not watered the grass for several months. My husband wanted the grass to grow back again. After a lot of elbow grease each week raking out the dead grass after each watering and pulling out of weeds and getting a gardener to come in once the grass started to grow back in, the results are nice. We have a bright green front lawn. Because he had rolled up his shirt sleeves and made the effort, the results have paid off. He could have become frustrated because of the waiting process, but he knew that his work would eventually pay off.

Sometimes the effort we put into a project seems like it is too much for us or like it would just be easier to get someone else to do it all for you, but if we just persevere and accomplish our goal, the reward tastes so much sweeter.

Where's your favorite veggie hiding?

Vegetables are a must on a diet. I suggest carrot cake, zucchini bread and pumpkin pie.
— Jim Davis

I love vegetables, even if they are not part of a cake, bread, or pie. I am lucky enough to have kids who like vegetables, and I don't even have to find creative ways to cover them up or hide them in their meals. I do have to admit though that I enjoy a good cake, bread, and pie. I was never one of those who was watching my carb intake during the big "Cut Out The Carbs" craze. I love my carbs too much to give them up.

If everyone could incorporate their favorite vegetable into their favorite dessert, I am sure this world would be a much better place. We would all get our suggested amount of daily servings and and enjoy them while we are eating them. There would be peace and harmony....Well, maybe not. I was just imaging people running around trying to get some pumpkin pie saying, "This is a veggie jacking. Just hand over the pie and no one gets hurt."

As they say, "It's the thought that counts." I'm off to enjoy some delicious cornbread and no one better lay a hand on it.

I'm laughing. Are you?

Every survival kit should include a sense of humor. — Author Unknown

Have you ever set back and had a good laugh for no good reason other than something was just really funny? My youngest son makes me laugh everyday. He doesn't always do it intentionally, but the things that come out of his mouth can set me off. They say it takes more muscles to frown that it does to smile. They also say that those that laugh live longer than those who don't.

Now I don't go out of my way to be funny, but I try when I can. Other times, I am just speaking my mind, but it comes across as hilarious. When I was at the ICEA conference recently, two people came to mind immediately who made me laugh a lot. Indra Books and Jackie Farley. Their wit and sense of humor will take them far. I enjoy and try to surround myself with people who make me laugh.

Don't get me wrong, I am not saying that everyone I hang around with has a great sense of humor, but you have to admit that when you are around friends, colleagues, family, or whomever, you do have a better time when you are laughing. Whether it is a joke being told, a funny story being shared, or just your observations of life, why not enjoy yourself?

If I was stuck on an island today, I would want to find a sense of humor in my survival kit. Have you packed yours yet?

What were you today?

You become what you think about all day long. – Earl Nightingale

This is so true. If you have a bad attitude, then you notice that bad things come to you. When you think positively, you have good things come to you. I have had days where one thing has gone wrong, I dwelled on it, and it seemed that anything else that could go wrong did. On the other hand, I have had other times where something has not gone how I liked, but I didn’t think about the negative part of it. I put on my positive attitude and everything else seemed to go OK.

People can hear it in your voice and see it in your body language. If I am having a rough day, I stop and take a deep breath before answering my phone so that no one can hear it in my voice. I also think about the other person if I am out in public or on the phone. I shouldn’t take out my feelings on innocent parties and I try my darndest not to let them become a part of my bad day.
Sure we all get frustrated from time to time, but you just can’t dwell on it. Many people have been known to get ulcers or have other health issues because they allow themselves to be so overcome with their feelings of anger or frustration that their body can’t handle it.

They say “You are what you eat” and that can be a scary thought sometimes, considering some of the things I take in during the day. Why would I want to become what I have thought about all day long?

Have you been counting the years?

It’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years.
— Abraham Lincoln

When I was attending the ICEA Conference a couple of weeks ago, someone said in their session, "We shouldn't live to work, we should work to live." In the end, you can't take your house or your car or your other worldly possessions with you. All you can take with you are your memories. Why would you want to look back on your life and think about all of the hours you put in at work to just pay for a house that you never had time to enjoy or think about all of the "What if's" that you never got to fulfill because you had your nose to the grindstone?

Sure a person can live to be 100, but what good is it if you never enjoyed those 100 years? I would rather live to be 40 and have enjoyed my life than live to be 80 with nothing to look back on. I enjoy the Tim McGraw song "Live like you were dying". The words in it are so true. For most of us, if you were to ask the question "What would you do if you only had a week to live?" the list of things would be long. People would talk about the trips they would take, the food they would try, the things they would buy, the people they would see, and so on.

Why would it take someone knowing they only had a short amount of time to live for them to put aside the everyday things and finally live like they want to? Another great song I like is Garth Brooks' "If tomorrow never comes". He says in the song "So I made a promise to myself to say each day how much she means to me and avoid that circumstance where there’s no second chance to tell her how I feel." How many people do you know are given second chances? I bet that list is very, very short.

You still have time to live like you were dying. What are you waiting for?

Are you in love yet?

A love affair with knowledge will never end in heartbreak.
— Michael Garrett Marino

I love to read. I don't care if it is a newspaper, cereal box, or book. I thirst for knowledge and enjoy playing Jeopardy every evening. One thing I am trying to get across to my children is that knowledge doesn't hurt you, but helps you out. My youngest son, who loves to watch The Discovery Channel as well as many other channels, gives off all kinds of facts and trivia about all kinds of subjects. (Even though he has been complaining lately that he wants to become an elementary school dropout.) I always brag to everyone because of his knowledge and love for new things he has learned. On the other hand, my oldest son hates to read with a passion. I have tried to get him to read Agatha Christie novels, with some success, but he does not want to sit around taking in knowledge. He wants to be hands on with his learning.

I started thinking about the people who have and who have not attended my ECSU™ seminars and although I know some of the main reasons why they don't attend, such as money and traveling, those that have attended are so appreciative of the knowledge that they have taken in while at my seminars. I love learning and I also love to share and am surprised that so many more people do not want to invest in themselves, whether it is a book, joining a chat, coming to a seminar, or watching informative television shows.

Knowledge is all around us and I'll be the first one to admit that I am having a love affair with it. When are you going to start your affair?

Who's cutting into your leisure time?

The real problem of leisure time is how to keep others from using yours.
— Arthur Lacey

I was in a session at the ICEA conference where the topic was work/life balance. I realized as I was there that I give away too much of my leisure time for others. Some knowingly take it and others just happen to cut into it. I wrote down ideas of things I want to implement so I can get back more of my leisure time. The amount of "me" time left after all of the obligations is very little. Why would you want to give it up?

Many people today are overworked or put too much pressure on themselves to get everything done, which leads to very little leisure time. It seems that everyone gets a piece of the pie called "Leisure Time" except for the person who owns that pie. Take that pie and decide what slices you want to keep and which slices you want to give away to others. I know some weeks I look at my pie and all that's left is crumbs and other times I get to taste some of the whipped cream and filling.

Take a few moments of your time to jot down what you want from your leisure time and ways that you can cut others from dipping into it. I know I have a few new systems that I plan on implementing in the next few weeks to get back more of my leisure time. After all, don't you want your pie and to eat it too?

What do you believe?

I always prefer to believe the best of everybody, it saves so much trouble.
— Rudyard Kipling

I have to admit that I can be very naive at times. When first meeting someone, I try to give them the benefit of the doubt until I get to know them and can make a judgement call then. People in general are good, but sometimes the choices we make lead us down the wrong path. OK, there are some real psychos out there who do not have a good bone in their body, but I don't try and mingle with them. First impressions are usually right, but sometimes circumstances cause the first impression you receive from someone to not always be the right impression.

I have met many people over the years and I am pretty good at picking out who has a good heart and who does not always have good intentions. I recently got to spend time with someone whose first impression I had of them was totally different than how they came across this time. I am so glad that I took the time to get to know them better as I really enjoyed my time with them and I definitely appreciate who they are as a person now.

I remember in school getting to know all sorts of groups and cliques. I wanted to know what the person was really like, not what their public persona was. If I like a person, I will hang out with them, and if I don't like a person, I will have as little contact with them as possible. I made lots of great friends who may not have always fit in, but they were the best friends to have. You got to see the real them.

Don't be so quick to judge someone because you may be letting someone good get away.