doug smith training

"It's all too much," I've heard people say. "We're being overwhelmed," say others. "We'll never get the answer," says a pessimist. Go ahead and sigh. Go ahead and breathe. It's today and you are up to it.
What if you simply changed one thing for the better?
-- doug smith

Are you a big reader? Do you read from one book or another every day? 
I'm usually reading four or more books at a time. Not all at once (what an image that is!) but it's not unusual to pick one up, read a few chapters, then switch to fiction, then something else. Books give us depth. The slow journey through ideas helps us learn.  Reading helps to stretch our minds.
Reading readies the mind for bigger and better things.
What are you reading today?
-- doug smith

Helping someone else solve a problem could help you solve ten of your own.
How is that? By helping others you develop your problem solving skills, and that will serve you later. Also by helping others you build relationships with people who may well help you later to solve your own problems.
The essential question is "how can I help?"
-- doug smith

Are you thinking too much? 
I'm a thinker. I like to think. I like to think so much that I over-think some things. It can be immobilizing, and that's not useful. It's useful to be cautious. It's responsible to plan for contingencies. But, it's silly to think until I fall into stinking thinking -- talking myself out of what I want or need to do. 
It's better to stay inspired. 
If you aren't inspired you're either thinking too much or too little.
Plan well, then get moving.
-- doug smith

It's hard to resist a relentlessly positive outlook.
Stay positive.
-- doug smith

What's in your future?
Have you set meaningful, noble goals to get you there? The future is neutral. You've got to drive the ride.
The future does not care if you are in it -- it's up to you.
Drive.
-- doug smith

Do you know how it feels when someone blames you for something you didn't do? It is irritating, isn't it? And, even if you DID do it (and of course, you didn't, did you?) blaming does not help. When there is a problem, the goal is to solve it -- not assign blame. Claiming that it belongs to someone else might push it away momentarily but guess what? Like a whirling boomerang it comes whizzing back. 
Shifting a problem is not solving a problem, and when it comes back to you (and it will) it's worse.
Why not get started solving the problem?

-- doug smith

Do you care about your customers? Do your customers care about you?
Unless we truly, sincerely, passionately care for our customers why would they ever care about us?
It's too easy to provide shoddy service. In a world where price dominates and the lowest bidder gets the gig, we learn to cut corners in order to make more time for more work because we need more work because each job pays less. It's gotten many businesses to where we are today.
What if we paused long enough to think that thru? It is still true that you get what you pay for when it comes to quality. But, we control our end of that bargain. Here's what I'd like to see:
As a customer, consider carefully every transaction for value instead of just for cost.As a service provider, provide the best service available from anyone at any price -- even when we're underpaidWe can impact every transaction, one way or the other.
Let's care truly, sincerely, and passionately about our customers and provide the best …

The motivation for a goal is as important as the goal.
You can set a goal easily enough, but unless you really want to achieve that goal it will be a struggle.
Find out what's in it for you. What is it that you get out of achieving the goal? How much do you care?
When you care a lot you can do a lot.
The motivation for a goal is as important as the goal.

-- doug smith

What motivates you, moves you.
-- doug smith

Pretending to solve a problem does not get it solved.
Ignoring a problem does not get it solved.
Complaining about a problem does not get it solved.
It takes work to solve a problem.
-- doug smith