135 or more hours a week for how much pay?!! (post by Kirk Weisler)
Just when you thought your job was tough… imagine interviewing for the a job that asks for medical, culinary, and educational skills… pays nothing and requires 135 plus hours a week. This was clever… ( I think it might be fun to do something similar on a true servant leader )
American Greetings created a phony “director of operations” position at the fictional “Rehtom Inc.” that came with a ridiculous workload, including no time to sleep, working “135 to unlimited hours per week,” and a salary of $0. Twenty four people actually applied for the job, and their interviews were captured on webcam video. At the end of each interview, it’s revealed who is already doing the impossibly difficult job described: Moms.
Check out the heartwarming video below:
Yeah, I called my Mom.
Kirk Out
Learning = Confident + Fun (post by Kirk Weisler)
This really inspired me… what a great clip for a staff meeting. Possible topics … – Don’t Judge, Never Stop Learning, Keep Moving, Choose to Grow, Give People A Chance, Your Never Too Old To Pursue Your Passions… and on and on.
The First 40 Seconds of a 79-Year-Old Woman’s Routine on ‘Britain’s Got Talent’ Had Simon Yawning — The Last 2:20 Brought Him to His Feet
When Paddy and Nico took the stage this weekend to perform for “Britain’s Got Talent,” the judges didn’t seem to expect much. The first 40 seconds confirmed that: In fact, judges and members of the audience could be seen staring off in the distance and Simon Cowell even yawned and buzzed them to show his displeasure.
Almost exactly at that moment, something incredible happened. And what unfolded over the next two minutes involving several incredible moves eventually brought Simon to his feet.
I am pretty sure my arms would fall off if I tried to do that. But I am also pretty sure that Einstein was right when he said, “Once you stop learning, you start dying.”
While some might look forward to retirement from their profession – we should be careful we never retire from learning. And like this sweet woman Paddy… we should never feel we are too old to get back in classroom and pick up where we left off. We can kick the bucket, or we can kick up our heels in learning. Thanks Paddy you have inspired millions…. and me too!
Me too Michelangelo!
Kirk Out
After You Have Done Your Best…let it rest (post by Kirk Weisler)
I come to the office each morning and stay for long hours doing what has to be done to the best of my ability. And when you’ve done the best you can you can’t do any better. — Harry S. Truman
Will do my best today… and on the weekend too!
Speaking of ”BEST” – can I just say thank you to each one of you reading this… YOU ARE THE BEST and I love knowing that you are out there!
Kirk Out
To Honor Life
To honor life, we must be willing to grow through what we don’t know yet, and outgrow what we know no longer fits us. We must be willing to give in to the process, moment by moment, realizing a new plot may be unfolding. ~Iyanla Vanzant
If Your Build It – Then it will be Built (post by Kirk Weisler)
Stop Making Excuses and Start Creating Your Future – The following 5 min video is perfect for the your team meeting. It illustrates many of the needed/desired behaviors of truly engaged teams. In this 5 min film one can easily see principles of Innovation, Collaboration, Cooperation, Trust, Team Building, Adversity(being overcome), Resourcefulness, Teamwork, Community, Service, Sacrifice, Dedication, Commitment, Leadership, Initiative, Courage, Vision, Momentum, Love, Creativity, …. WOW… and MORE!
Kirk Out
Note to Self…….
Note to self and warnings to others. (The names in this post has been changed to protect their identity. hehehehe) Do not, I repeat, do not consume a lot of caffeine after 4:15pm if you want to sleep at least 6 hours for the night. OMG!! Silly me did that and oh boy, did I pay for that. So usually I tried to go to bed around 9/9:30 because I need to be at the gym and ready to work out by 5am. But because I had a little too much caffeine in the late afternoon, I was still awake so I surfed YouTube and got caught up with music and not the soothing music to end the night with. hehehehe So it’s 10:30pm and I know I need to be in bed. Not sleepy yet but maybe some soothing music will do.
No kind of music could drown out the sound of a Pterodactyl with laryngitis snoring in my ear.
“My baby daddy” almost lost his life because his relationship with this Pterodactyl. Because I was wide I awake, I tried, rubbing his back thinking this would soothe him and he would stop. Usually it works for babies but not my baby daddy. So then I started growling in between his snores thinking this would wake him up but nope!! I scratched his back, pushed him a little, clawed him with my toe nails, called his name, NOTHING!! By now I’m sure it’s around midnight and the snoring continues. I even tried shaking the bed and barking, waaaaaaahhhh I’m still awake. Wait a minute, my baby daddy turned over, awwwww peace and quiet. SIKE!! Now he sounds like the mummy that created a sand face in Mummy 2.
Why Me?!?!?!?! Why Me?!?!?!?! Why Me?!?!?!?! Why Me?!?!?!?! 
Waaaahhhhhhh!!
I eventually fell asleep only to wake up way before my alarm goes off at 4:15am. And my baby daddy had the nerves to ask me if I am getting up to go to the gym. He has no idea what kind of crazy monster he has created in me last night. #wantmyownroomandbed!!
You’ll Be OK (post by Zen Habits)
By Leo Babauta
You’re walking down the street, and you’re worried about being late for meeting someone.
You’re anxious about what they might think of you. You pass some people and worry a bit about what they think of you, without realizing you’re doing it.
You’re worried about some things at work, and all the things you have to do in your personal life (taxes, errands, bills). You have this feeling you should be doing more, doing something else. All the time.
You worry about how you look, about how you’re perceived, about how you’ll do, about whether you’ll fail, about how much you have to do, about what you don’t have, about what you’re missing out on, about how you compare to others.
Don’t worry, you’re not alone. We all worry about these things.
Here’s the thing: in all of these cases, you’ll be OK. Life will turn out just fine.
We’re always worried about what might go wrong, about the bad things people think about us, and so on. We’re focused on the bad outcomes only.
Those bad outcomes are just a few possibilities out of many, and they’re unlikely to come true.
And even if they do (let’s say someone thinks badly of you), the bad outcomes rarely ever mean anything disastrous for our lives.
Even if the bad things come true, you’ll be OK.
Picture the things you’ve worried about in the last few years: little things mostly. And in all of those cases, you turned out fine. Life didn’t collapse.
If you start to build confidence that you’ll be OK, you can let go of the worries (when you notice them). You can feel good, rather than being consumed by worry and anxiety all the time.
You walk down the street, relaxed, with a smile on your face.
Smile Fairy… Really? The Triple Confirmation! (post by Kirk Weisler)
OK let’s close out this SMILE Week with a little confirmation, information and fun. Yesterday while I was at the optometrist my eyes were opened to the realities and existence of the SMILE FAIRY. Really I saw a book about it. I guess you have to be with Optometrist to see such things. But I captured this picture so I could prove to you that it’s true ! REALLY
How amazing is that… it doesn’t really say that there is a smile fairy. It invites you to BE ONE!! ( Double confirmation that this is all true) When I came home from the optometrist, where I learned that I could be a SMILE Fairy, by helping out the Tooth Fairy… I found my daughter watching “The Rock” playing a Tooth Fairy in the movie “Tooth”
One of the lines from this movie was “The Tooth be Told”… so let’s talk truth/tooth. Here is the 3rd confirmation that it truly was supposed to be SMILE WEEK this week. A T4D reader… Brian just shared this e-mail with me… (enjoy every word but look for the keyword SMILE)
Kirk, “My Dad recently announced his retirement after 38 years with Kodak and Carestream. This is truly a bittersweet time for Dad as the past several years have been both personally and professionally challenging for him. Sometimes facing difficult challenges really puts things in perspective. For him, it was a sign that it was time to slow down and enjoy time with those he cares most about. He was able to share some parting words with his team and I wanted to share some of those with you…
Improve yourself and your work environment each and every day. Take control of your personal and professional development, seek opportunities and continuously learn.
Life is short. Smile more, have a few laughs along the way…truly enjoy and find fulfillment and renewal in everything you do.
Take good care of yourself, and your family
One person can make a difference…and people joined together in a common purpose can do great things. Each of you can make a difference on your journey.
I am not sure I could say it any better myself. Thank you Brian… and be sure to thank you Dad for us.
And finally to close our week with a smile… let me share a few of the remaining happy graphics I had gathered for this week.
The above graphic shows that there are reasons to smile are all around us.
Smiling can help you connect with your inner elf.
And of course smiling can help to keep you young.
Just in case you have lost it… here is where you can find it.
And of course Smiles are one of the most powerful things we can share with others and give to the world.
Choose to be a SMILE FAIRY… by choosing to give, choosing to care, and choosing to SMILE
Kirk Out 🙂
Wait – just one more. Today is my birthday and one of the greatest gifts of my life is my family…and one of the greatest things they can give me is the happiness that comes from knowing that they are happy. Just this morning our newest team member Joseph Kirk Weisler, age 9 weeks, gave me this for my birthday.
