Weekly Tips

Tip: How to set “strict” training limits for your dog

Tip of the week

I don’t know how many of you are dog lovers, but I certainly am! For the many years, my daughter, Esther, and I have “co-owned” a four-pound miniature Yorkie. Her name was Bebe, and she was one of the loves of my life. We lost Bebe a while back due to illness and old age. It broke my heart. It was weeks before I could even speak about it in public because it hurt so badly to lose her. It was a painful experience. Someone once wisely commented, “A dog has friends because they wag their tail and not their tongue.” I believe that is true!

Tip: What you can walk away from, you have mastered; what you cannot walk away from has mastered you!

Tip of the week

Have you ever had something happen in your life and you just could not let it go? It might have been a situation involving money, or another family relationship, or one in which you were holding a grudge. All of us face situations with our family and friends that cause us to hold on more tightly than we should. When something goes deeply into our emotions, we sometimes just do not want to let it go until we have had our final say.

Tip: Keep in Mind the 3 I’s of Good Business Relationships!

Tip of the week

I am a simple-minded person. If something is presented to me in a way that is clear and easy to understand, I catch on quickly. In fact, I will be able to do a seminar on it! However, if a new concept is not presented in a simple-to-understand way, the opposite is true. I find myself confused and frustrated.

Tip: Little things mean a lot!

Tip of the week

About 40 years ago, I was teaching an adult class on the subject of home life. Rather than teaching the class I probably should have been taking the class, but that is another story.

Tip: Re-evaluate your mountaintop experience

Tip of the week

Most of us have had some type of “mountaintop experience” during our lifetime. Perhaps it was getting our driver’s license at the age of sixteen. It could have been graduating from college and then stepping into a dream job. Maybe it was getting married or having children. In any case, whenever something really wonderful happens to us, our excitement causes us to view it as one of life’s “mountaintop experiences”.

Tip: Stop acting and start being!

Tip of the week

When I was growing up, I was told many times, “You need to act like a fine young man!” My mother and father were trying to teach me how to behave properly and have good manners.

Tip: Be Innocent!

Tip of the week

Many of you may remember Yogi Berra. He was the catcher for the New York Yankees baseball team back in the 1950’s and ‘60’s. He has been credited with many, many famous sayings. Probably the most popular one is, “When you come to a fork in the road, take it!”

Tip: If you want to learn how to live life, just play golf!

Tip of the week

A few years ago, I started playing golf. It has been an interesting experience for me, to say the least, and I can assure you I have no intention of quitting my day job! Although it can be frustrating at times, I have gotten a little bit better with practice.

Tip: Positive thinking sometimes starts with negative thoughts!

Tip of the week

Most of you have heard of the monumental work written by Dr. Norman Vincent Peale called, The Power of Positive Thinking. The book was first published in 1952. Since that time, it has been translated into over forty languages and has sold two million copies. I would say that the book was fairly successful! Wouldn’t you?

Tip: If I am not the problem, then there is no solution!

Tip of the week

This Tip requires a lot of concentration for all who hear it. It is one of the most difficult concepts I have ever learned in my life. The first time I heard it, I immediately began to feel defensive. I tried to think of all the reasons why it was wrong. I thought to myself, “That cannot be right! I am not the problem in every difficult situation in which I find myself and I know that there are some problems that I have absolutely not brought upon myself!” But over the years, I have come to see the power of this deep, unusual truth. Keep reading with an open heart and mind.

Tip: Recognize the difference between “loose specs” and “tight specs”!

Tip of the week

Years ago, I lived in Dallas, Texas, and had a good friend there by the name of Ed Rawls. He was an architect and was great at his profession. I was amazed by some of the buildings he was able to create in his mind and then put on paper. Ed was a very gifted individual and a wonderful businessman as well.

Tip: Let go of fear!

Tip of the week

Each week when I write these Tips, I try to write them from a position of substance and reality. I have learned that if I share with other people what I am currently learning myself, it will make a far greater impact on them. In general, I think it is true that we help others most when we share with them from the real-life experiences that we are currently going through or have personally faced in our own life. In other words, experience will always trump theory, in my humble opinion.