2003 Second Quarter Newsletter

2003, Second Quarter

Focus on Life’s Guarantees

Thought for the Quarter
”The only thing that stands between a man and what he wants from life is often merely the will to try it and the faith to believe that it is possible.”
—–Richard M. DeVos

Five of Life's Guarantees

Contrary to popular belief, life does hold some guarantees. This newsletter will discuss five (5) of those guarantees. They are:

Life is constantly changing
You are going to fail
Your actions today impact your tomorrows
If you learn to laugh, life will be better
We can accomplish more together

This newsletter includes excerpts from a speech given by Charlene Aldridge at her alumni's (MVNU) 2003 Commencement Dinner.

Guarantee #1: Life is constantly changing

Change, ironically, is one of the few constants in our lives. Just look at how much life has changed in the last 10 years - in 1993, PC's were only in one out of four homes, the Internet had just been introduced to our world, and the word "digital" wasn't in most of our vocabularies.

And, we can only speculate how much our lives will again change in the next 10 years.

Yet, it isn't the fact that change will occur that will have a huge impact on our lives . . . We must each face the changes in our lives and make personal decisions as to how we will deal with those changes.

Change is guaranteed - but what we do with the change is optional.

Guarantee #2: You are going to fail

It is a guarantee that all of us fail and make mistakes. Thomas Edison tried 10,000 times before he was able to perfect the light bulb.

John C. Maxwell, in his book "Failing Forward: Turning Mistakes into Stepping Stones for Success," emphasizes that failures can lead to success. Maxwell says: "The process of achievement comes through repeated failures and the constant struggle to climb to a higher level.”

We know we will fail - but, like change, it is what we DO with those failures that is up to us.

Guarantee #3: Your actions today will impact your tomorrows

We've heard it our whole lives - from our parents, our friends . . . That our actions today impact our tomorrows. Why? Because it is a guarantee.

I recently planted a small vegetable garden in my yard . . . Just a few tomatoes, zucchini, and herbs. And, I can guarantee that no matter how many times I look at the garden, I'm never going to see corn or cucumbers. Why? What I planted (sowed) is what I'm going to (hopefully) reap.

What we do . . .say . . .think . . . spend our time . . . our associations . . . All will impact our tomorrows. Success doesn't typically occur with one big action - but it is the day-to-day actions that will lead us to success and richness of life . . . or will lead to failure, unhappiness, or sorrow.

A client of mine jokes that success comes from showing up. And, he is right. If we do what we say we will do, if we keep our promises, if we fill our thoughts with positive, forward thinking, people will see us as successful. Our daily actions will impact each of our tomorrows.

Guarantee #4: If you learn to laugh, life will be better

Mark Twain said, ”The human race has only one effective weapon, and that’s laughter.” And, Proverbs 17:22 reads: “The merry heart does good, like medicine."

Laughter IS the best medicine. In a Dallas Morning News article, the medical benefits of laughter were summarized:

Laughter tones the facial muscles.
It relaxes muscles and helps fight the chronic pain associated with muscle tension.
When we smile, it increases the blood flow to our skin, nourishing it.

Laughter is contagious - and is guaranteed to brighten our day. When I'm having a bad day, if I throw-back my head and laugh, my day is better. Learning to laugh at - and with life - is a guarantee that life will be better.

This quotation from an unknown source sums it up well: “It’s easy enough to smile when the world goes round and round but the man worthwhile is the man who can smile when his pants are falling down.”

Guarantee #5: We can accomplish more together

Stephen Covey, in his book “Seven Habits of Highly Successful People,” understood the significance of what we can do by working together when he dedicated one habit (#6) to this concept.

This habit is “Synergy,” which means “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts,” and emphasizes that when two or more come together to accomplish a goal - the merging of ideas and energies allows us to perform more effectively.

Working together creates better ideas, builds trust, expands our thoughts. We can accomplish more than we could by ourselves.

Covey states: “Once people have experienced real synergy, they are never quite the same again.”

I wonder if Thomas Edison, who failed 10,000 times before perfecting the light bulb (see Guarantee #2), could have invented the light bulb in less time if he had worked with others to meet his goal!

SIMPLE TIPS
(A quarterly feature)

Does the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 have you overwhelmed?

offers a unique approach and skill set to assist with Sarbanes-Oxley. Our specialties in project, process, and/or documentation can provide you with the following assistance:

Develop an implementation methodology - including the law (Sections 302/404), SEC, and/or COSO
Develop training strategies that support the methodology chosen
Create resource and/or training documentation to assist with the implementation
Define the processes, policies, and procedures to effectively implement this law
Document the chosen implementation methodology
Train impacted staff on the chosen implementation methodology
Monitor the progress of the implementation

Helping companies improve how they do what they do by providing project, process, and documentation solutions.

Charlene G. Aldridge
972.447.9787 (office)
972.897.0580 (cell)
CharleneAldridge@aldridgekerr.com

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