beBetter 

As I walk into the living room, CeCe is in her chair, scanning Facebook or shopping on her phone and my entry goes pretty much unnoticed. Well, let’s be transparent — totally unnoticed. I admit, it’s a real downer as I was hoping that my arrival might peak the slightest bit of excitement, joy, happy greeting or at least an expression of curiosity. Don’t we all look for that recognition and acceptance from our close family and friends?  

The CEO comes into the boardroom and everyone is standing. “Our oldest customer has fired us. Says they just don’t know us anymore — too much business by phone, email. Well folks, something has to change. We are going to see them all face-to-face.” He then hands out airline tickets to everyone.

This scene is from an old commercial, but with the current pandemic, I think it is a scene (being fired) we could replicate very easily today if we do not treat being relevant as important and urgent. This takes energy and creativity. It takes contacting, listening and collaborating with clients and customers.

Frankly, it’s easier today to assume that a client doesn’t want to collaborate or hear from us. How often are we letting these assumptions delay our actions? The hyper-speed of digital acceleration, remote work, changing business patterns, etc., all require a concerted effort to understand changing needs so we are relevant.

As the summer progressed, I felt myself losing some steam—my energy was too low. As I reflect on it now, I was having a few stomach aches along the way. Oddly enough, when I felt some abdominal pain, I would eat more. Sounds backward but I have always tried to eat my way through feeling bad. CeCe laughs at this every time and has been known to call me an idiot for doing so. (Please, no comments. I realize it might not be the best strategy.) So I am rocking along, eating my way through the pain, until my abdominal pain increased to the point that one Sunday evening I found myself curled up on our floor trying to ease the pain. That night I became violently ill. Thinking it was just food poisoning, I worked from home a day and then returned to work. But I knew something was wrong when I still felt weak and experienced the same abdominal pains.

“You might be a redneck if you take a fishing pole into Sea World.” Since I love to take a fishing pole most everywhere I go, Foxworthy may have nailed me on this one. I wish I had a dime for every time my wife has said, “When are you going to get those fishing poles out of your truck?”