As many of you know, our greatest strengths can beome our greatest weaknesses! Many of you on this distribution list worked with the late Tom Rand, a brilliant and genuinely nice man who helped Unum and many other companies develop their leadership talent. In my Rand profile, as we called his evaluation of our leadership skills, Tom would point out that I was very persistent, never gave up, and did not know when to quit! His point to me was that was not always a good thing.
While persistency is one of the keys to being successful in my now humble opinion, the events of the last 4-5 years have driven home the fact that one of my greatest strengths, my not giving up, has been a weakness in what has been a dreary economic climate. I refused to believe that the housing market in Paradise Valley, Arizona, would take more than 5 years to turn back in the right direction. Up until about three months ago, all indications pointed to the fact that our house value was still greater than what we owed on the mortgage.
We have battled and scratched and clawed to continue making the house payments on our house. After all we had only borrowed 70% of the appraised value of our mountain-side lot and this was Paradise Valley, a community that had never experienced anything resembling a turn down. No way this mortgage meltdown and financial meltdown would send the values down more than 30%.
I was wrong. I am also painfully reminded of one of my favorite quotes that I use a lot. John Wooden said, "It is what you learn after you know it all that counts." Turns out I was not as smart as I thought I was when it came to real estate. Perhaps I have to look in the mirror and question had I become arrogant? Did my arrogance lead me to take steps to keep that mortgage current that make it so much more difficult and longer to recover? We all know how dangerous arrogance can be.
I am happy to report that we have finally received an offer on our house. It is 55% of the appraised value on the house in early 2007. That appraised value was before we finished the remodel by the way.
I am grateful that we finally have an offer for the house and I am reminded of the Kenny Rogers song The Gambler, and the famous line of "Know When to Hold 'em and Know When to Fold 'em!" Hindsight is 20/20 and hindsight says we should have folded a couple of years ago. It is what it is so it is time for me to absorb the lesson and begin moving forward! I am still sober and healthy which means I can and will come back strong.
As you can see on the right hand side of this blog. I have started a twitter page and I am just beginning to tweet! You can sign up as a follower to receive the tweets by going to @dlanestephens. Once again, humble beginnings. For those of you who know I can become quite verbose, the good news is that tweets are limited to only 140 characters!
It is what you do everyday that counts!
Lano
Saturday, February 4, 2012
Friday, January 6, 2012
Once again we have a New Year that we can all face with anticipation and determination to make this year a rewarding and satisfying year! Eugene Ware, American Lawyer and Poet said that "All glory comes from daring to begin!" If you don't take that first step of attaining your goals and aspirations, you will never achieve them!
Wayne Gretzky, the great hockey player, has said "You miss 100% of the shots you don't take!" I hope you take your shots in 2012!
Many people feel the anticipation and the excitement of a chance to start anew! Unfortunately, obstacles and roadblocks will appear during the year and many people can lose sight of their goals and that can easily dampen their enthusiasm and their resolve. I am reminded of a quote from Vince Lombardi the famous former NFL coach of the Green Bay Packers..."The spirit, the will to win, and the will to excel are the things that endure!" These qualities are so much more important than the events that occur."
I hope you will dare to begin your quest, that you take your shots, and that you remind yourself each day that it is your spirit, your will to win, and the will to excel that is important!
And.....remember to do it Every Day! it is What You Do Everyday That Counts!!!!!
Lano
Sunday, January 1, 2012
Happy New Year!
Happy New Year!
As we put say good bye to 2011 and head into 2012, I wanted to share one of my favorite quotes from the late Jim Rohn, a business philosopher, whose work included Leading an Exceptional Life.
"There are two ways to face the future. One way is with apprehension; the other is with anticipation!"
I once heard a Jim quote that has always stuck with me, "the expression is an apple a day keeps the doctor away: not a Hershey Bar a day keeps the doctor away!" Eat the apple, not the candy bar!
I hope you are anticipating greatness in 2012!
It is What You Do Every Day That Counts!
Lano
As we put say good bye to 2011 and head into 2012, I wanted to share one of my favorite quotes from the late Jim Rohn, a business philosopher, whose work included Leading an Exceptional Life.
"There are two ways to face the future. One way is with apprehension; the other is with anticipation!"
I once heard a Jim quote that has always stuck with me, "the expression is an apple a day keeps the doctor away: not a Hershey Bar a day keeps the doctor away!" Eat the apple, not the candy bar!
I hope you are anticipating greatness in 2012!
It is What You Do Every Day That Counts!
Lano
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Lano's First Book
I hope all of you had a Great Holiday Season and that you are off to a great 2011!
Many of you know that I have been working on writing a few books. Between working at my day (and night and weekend) job in building an insurance agency and writing the books, I have not had any new postings since mid-year 2010. I wanted to but as we all know we have to draw priorities as to where we spend our time.
I am happy to let you know that my first finished book is now available on Kindle as well as in paperback. The links to ordering the Kindle version as well as the paperback on Amazon are to the right. If you want an Ebook but don't have a Kindle, you can download Kindle readers for your PC as well as for your BlackBerry and IPhones. I am in the process of selecting a printer for traditional bound books. (Kindle Ebook is $7.95 and the paperback is $12.95) You can also order the paperback versions at CreateSpace.com or the Kindle Store
I have actually finished a second book but it needs a bit more tweaking. I anticipate that being available sometime in February or early March.
As you probably know by now, the book publishing business is going through enormous change right now and the margins for publishers are very thin. Given that I have never been President, ran for President or Vice-President, been a first lady or first man, or been caught doing anything scandalous, it is difficult to get the traditional well-known publishers to even read my information, much less agree to pay an advance or publish my book. I am sad to say that my advance of zero dollars is significantly below that of the advances that Mr. Obama, Mr. Bush, Ms. Palin, Ms. Clinton, Mr. Clinton, etc. etc. received. Thankfully we now live in a time where technology allows anyone to be able to publish their work. Given this is my first attempt at formatting and publishing, I hope you will be forgiving of any small formatting glitches you might run across. Judge the book on the content and the ideas and realize that my formatting skills will get better.
Many of you have heard me say many times that I feel a book or a meeting is successful and worth the money if I receive at least one good idea that makes me money or saves me time. My goodness, if people don’t think they get at least $8-$13 worth of value from this book, I need to rethink how I am spending my time and perhaps play more golf or take up painting.
It is a very quick read on purpose. No one has time to spend reading a long book. It is not deep and theoretical. It is simple and easy to follow which can be viewed as key for a leader…keep it simple and be easy for your people to follow!
For all of you that I have worked with I want to say thank you. I have learned something from each and every one of you. If you are wondering whether you were an example of a good leader or a bad leader, just remember, a bad leader can still be a great example as you will read in the book… Only you and your results can answer the question of which one were you???? (As the younger generation usually texts at this point…LOL… I am only kidding. Of course you were one of the good ones. You would not be on this distribution list if you weren’t usually an example of the good one.)
Many of you know that I have been working on writing a few books. Between working at my day (and night and weekend) job in building an insurance agency and writing the books, I have not had any new postings since mid-year 2010. I wanted to but as we all know we have to draw priorities as to where we spend our time.
I am happy to let you know that my first finished book is now available on Kindle as well as in paperback. The links to ordering the Kindle version as well as the paperback on Amazon are to the right. If you want an Ebook but don't have a Kindle, you can download Kindle readers for your PC as well as for your BlackBerry and IPhones. I am in the process of selecting a printer for traditional bound books. (Kindle Ebook is $7.95 and the paperback is $12.95) You can also order the paperback versions at CreateSpace.com or the Kindle Store
I have actually finished a second book but it needs a bit more tweaking. I anticipate that being available sometime in February or early March.
As you probably know by now, the book publishing business is going through enormous change right now and the margins for publishers are very thin. Given that I have never been President, ran for President or Vice-President, been a first lady or first man, or been caught doing anything scandalous, it is difficult to get the traditional well-known publishers to even read my information, much less agree to pay an advance or publish my book. I am sad to say that my advance of zero dollars is significantly below that of the advances that Mr. Obama, Mr. Bush, Ms. Palin, Ms. Clinton, Mr. Clinton, etc. etc. received. Thankfully we now live in a time where technology allows anyone to be able to publish their work. Given this is my first attempt at formatting and publishing, I hope you will be forgiving of any small formatting glitches you might run across. Judge the book on the content and the ideas and realize that my formatting skills will get better.
Many of you have heard me say many times that I feel a book or a meeting is successful and worth the money if I receive at least one good idea that makes me money or saves me time. My goodness, if people don’t think they get at least $8-$13 worth of value from this book, I need to rethink how I am spending my time and perhaps play more golf or take up painting.
It is a very quick read on purpose. No one has time to spend reading a long book. It is not deep and theoretical. It is simple and easy to follow which can be viewed as key for a leader…keep it simple and be easy for your people to follow!
For all of you that I have worked with I want to say thank you. I have learned something from each and every one of you. If you are wondering whether you were an example of a good leader or a bad leader, just remember, a bad leader can still be a great example as you will read in the book… Only you and your results can answer the question of which one were you???? (As the younger generation usually texts at this point…LOL… I am only kidding. Of course you were one of the good ones. You would not be on this distribution list if you weren’t usually an example of the good one.)
Seriously, thank you for all that you do and have done for me and I hope everyone has their best year ever in 2011! It is what you do every day that counts!
Thursday, June 10, 2010
John Wooden, a legend who died before the legend expired!
In this day and age we are a little reluctant to bestow hero status on people as we have
been surprised repeatedly by politicians, business people, athletes and coaches who have been "outed" as cheaters, liars, thieves, and addicts whether the addiction is steroids, alcohol and drugs, gambling, or sex. Some of our most legendary public profiles have turned out to be someone we did not want them to be. Sadly, their legend died before they did.
We have also seen aging athletes hanging on much longer than they should have to continue to recapture the glory and extend the legend. Unfortunately, in many of those cases, the legend died before they did.
This past weekend, John Wooden passed away at age 99. For those of you who do not know who John Wooden was, he was arguably the best college basketball coach ever. He coached UCLA to 10 NCAA National Championships in 12 years. Very few coaches ever make it to the Final Four much less win the National Championship.
More than that though, John Wooden did more than just win basketball games. He taught his players about life. He taught a lot of us about life. All of us benefited from John Wooden and who he was day in and day out. He was who he said he was.
There are many quotes associated with John Wooden and as many of you know, I have used a lot of them through the years. My favorite quote from John Wooden is "It is what you learn after you know it all that counts."
That quote has an incredible amount of significance over the last three years with the "great recession". We are all having to look at what is really important in our lives and make painfully tough decisions that some of us never thought we would have to face. Those decisions have for the most part been forced upon us by the bad behavior of a lot of organizations and individuals who have different moral compasses than the majority of U. S. Citizens.
What have I learned since I may have thought I knew it all?
First is that I don't know it all.
Second, no matter how well we thought we planned our future actions, external events that we have no control over can force us to have to revisit our plan and make changes.
Third, no matter how wrapped up we may get in our own situation, we have a lot to be grateful about.
Finally, we never allow ourselves to play victim. We don't do victim well and we never will. We will always take action rather than wait for our circumstances to get better on their own. Life happens. We deal with it and make it better.
The past three years have also reinforced a belief I have always had. My best accomplishments are still to come. If what you did yesterday still looks big today, you have not done anything today.
While we may have lost money in the market and in our retirement accounts and the value of our houses may be cut in half and still spiraling downward, we still have our dreams, and no one can take that away. We continue to dream big.
I have attached a link to Amazon.com with a link to a book by John Wooden. I have become an Amazon Associate as it ties in with one of my dreams. Clicking onto the link will allow you to not only order a book but shop on Amazon.com. You will also notice that I have added a search box where if you want to search the Internet while at my site you can go direct without having to exit the site and open your browser. Finally, please note the scrolling headlines across the top of the blog.
In closing, I would just like to say that I really appreciate your reading my blog and I hope you find information that helps you from time to time. If nothing else maybe to just remind you of something you already know but may not have thought about for a while.
While I am sad that John Wooden has passed away, I am happy that a legend has passed without the legend dieing first. It helps to keep my faith that the good folks who do the right things with their lives win in the end. John Wooden's legends live on.
To close here are two more John Wooden quotes:
Adversity is the state in which man mostly easily becomes acquainted with himself, being especially free of admirers then.
Failure is not fatal, but failure to change might be.
It is what you do everyday that counts!
been surprised repeatedly by politicians, business people, athletes and coaches who have been "outed" as cheaters, liars, thieves, and addicts whether the addiction is steroids, alcohol and drugs, gambling, or sex. Some of our most legendary public profiles have turned out to be someone we did not want them to be. Sadly, their legend died before they did.
We have also seen aging athletes hanging on much longer than they should have to continue to recapture the glory and extend the legend. Unfortunately, in many of those cases, the legend died before they did.
This past weekend, John Wooden passed away at age 99. For those of you who do not know who John Wooden was, he was arguably the best college basketball coach ever. He coached UCLA to 10 NCAA National Championships in 12 years. Very few coaches ever make it to the Final Four much less win the National Championship.
More than that though, John Wooden did more than just win basketball games. He taught his players about life. He taught a lot of us about life. All of us benefited from John Wooden and who he was day in and day out. He was who he said he was.
There are many quotes associated with John Wooden and as many of you know, I have used a lot of them through the years. My favorite quote from John Wooden is "It is what you learn after you know it all that counts."
That quote has an incredible amount of significance over the last three years with the "great recession". We are all having to look at what is really important in our lives and make painfully tough decisions that some of us never thought we would have to face. Those decisions have for the most part been forced upon us by the bad behavior of a lot of organizations and individuals who have different moral compasses than the majority of U. S. Citizens.
What have I learned since I may have thought I knew it all?
First is that I don't know it all.
Second, no matter how well we thought we planned our future actions, external events that we have no control over can force us to have to revisit our plan and make changes.
Third, no matter how wrapped up we may get in our own situation, we have a lot to be grateful about.
Finally, we never allow ourselves to play victim. We don't do victim well and we never will. We will always take action rather than wait for our circumstances to get better on their own. Life happens. We deal with it and make it better.
The past three years have also reinforced a belief I have always had. My best accomplishments are still to come. If what you did yesterday still looks big today, you have not done anything today.
While we may have lost money in the market and in our retirement accounts and the value of our houses may be cut in half and still spiraling downward, we still have our dreams, and no one can take that away. We continue to dream big.
I have attached a link to Amazon.com with a link to a book by John Wooden. I have become an Amazon Associate as it ties in with one of my dreams. Clicking onto the link will allow you to not only order a book but shop on Amazon.com. You will also notice that I have added a search box where if you want to search the Internet while at my site you can go direct without having to exit the site and open your browser. Finally, please note the scrolling headlines across the top of the blog.
In closing, I would just like to say that I really appreciate your reading my blog and I hope you find information that helps you from time to time. If nothing else maybe to just remind you of something you already know but may not have thought about for a while.
While I am sad that John Wooden has passed away, I am happy that a legend has passed without the legend dieing first. It helps to keep my faith that the good folks who do the right things with their lives win in the end. John Wooden's legends live on.
To close here are two more John Wooden quotes:
Adversity is the state in which man mostly easily becomes acquainted with himself, being especially free of admirers then.
Failure is not fatal, but failure to change might be.
It is what you do everyday that counts!
Saturday, May 1, 2010
Pass the Front Page Test...and the Twitter test...and the You Tube Test....And the Facebook Test
One of the things that I have preached throughout the years was to make sure that everything you do passes the Front Page Test. If you don't want to have whatever you are doing show up on the front page of the newspaper, then don't do it. I was reminded a bit about how limited that comment by itself might be this past week.
As most of you know, my wife Michele and I are partners in an Insurance Agency as our day jobs. This past week, Michele received a call from someone needing our help with their medical coverage. Normally they come from referrals of existing clients. When Michele asked the gentleman who referred him, he said he was not sure who it was, he read about her and our agency on Twitter.
That took me back a bit. Their are opportunities as well as challenges presented by technology today. I realized that we needed to recognize the communication power of today's technology. With Twitter, You Tube, Facebook, etc, communication occurs very quickly and beyond just a normal newspaper's reach to people across the globe. That good can be a very good thing if you do business the right way and make your customers' experiences good ones. It can also be a very bad thing if you are not doing things the right way and the customers' experiences are bad ones.
Do business the right way and you have no worries here. Make sure your people understand the power of communication.
Pass the Front Page, Twitter, You Tube and Facebook Test!
It Is What You Do Everyday That Counts!
Lano
As most of you know, my wife Michele and I are partners in an Insurance Agency as our day jobs. This past week, Michele received a call from someone needing our help with their medical coverage. Normally they come from referrals of existing clients. When Michele asked the gentleman who referred him, he said he was not sure who it was, he read about her and our agency on Twitter.
That took me back a bit. Their are opportunities as well as challenges presented by technology today. I realized that we needed to recognize the communication power of today's technology. With Twitter, You Tube, Facebook, etc, communication occurs very quickly and beyond just a normal newspaper's reach to people across the globe. That good can be a very good thing if you do business the right way and make your customers' experiences good ones. It can also be a very bad thing if you are not doing things the right way and the customers' experiences are bad ones.
Do business the right way and you have no worries here. Make sure your people understand the power of communication.
Pass the Front Page, Twitter, You Tube and Facebook Test!
It Is What You Do Everyday That Counts!
Lano
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Lano's Blog back with zero politics
My blog is back to it's original purpose. No more politics. I promise. While I remain totally committed to being involved in the political process, my activity will not be in written form in this blog. My hope is that I may reach more people and add value to people's lives to make it worth while for someone to take the time to follow my blog.
In spite of what you may be reading in the newspapers or on the internet or on the evening broadcast news, it is still OK to strive for greater accomplishments. It is still OK to be the very best you can be. It is still OK to enjoy the monetary results that come along with being more successful at what you do. While a large portion of our society has developed an "entitlement mentality", the silent majority of Americans still want to do the very best they can for themselves and for their families. They want to provide a better standard of living for themselves and for their families. (and they still want to help others)
It is still OK to dream. It is still OK to set goals and go after them with a passion. It is still OK to celebrate attaining those goals.
Sometimes with all of the negative energy flowing around you , it can be difficult to stay on track. Stinkin' thinkin' can take over and dominate your thought process. You can look at a horse and not see the beauty of the horse and only see the horse's behind.
When that happens, there are some simple steps that I take to get back on track. First I have to get outside of myself and stop focusing on what is happening to me and focus on helping others. When I take my energies and focus on helping others, I help myself as a byproduct of that. I have to put others first.
Second, I have to develop an Attitude of Gratitude. I have to remember the things I am grateful for. I am still breathing air and pumping blood so that is something to be grateful about. I am grateful for all of the things that my higher power has done for me. I am grateful for my wife and my family. I am grateful to know as many wonderful people as I do.
Third, I remember to thank my higher power for all of the many blessings I have received.
Finally, I remind myself of HALT. HALT stands for Don't get too Hungry, Angry, Lonely or Tired. When I have any of those 4 items out of kilter, I can create all kinds of negative energy in my head.
I hope that if at any time you find yourself drowning in negative energy that you try these techniques. I can't take credit for them, they came to me by way of Alcoholics Anonymous and have helped me enjoy 8313 Days at a time. They work for people who don't need Alcoholics Anonymous as well, I have been told.
Stay positive. Good things happen when we have positive expectations and we remember that it truly is...
What We Do Everyday That Counts!
Lano
In spite of what you may be reading in the newspapers or on the internet or on the evening broadcast news, it is still OK to strive for greater accomplishments. It is still OK to be the very best you can be. It is still OK to enjoy the monetary results that come along with being more successful at what you do. While a large portion of our society has developed an "entitlement mentality", the silent majority of Americans still want to do the very best they can for themselves and for their families. They want to provide a better standard of living for themselves and for their families. (and they still want to help others)
It is still OK to dream. It is still OK to set goals and go after them with a passion. It is still OK to celebrate attaining those goals.
Sometimes with all of the negative energy flowing around you , it can be difficult to stay on track. Stinkin' thinkin' can take over and dominate your thought process. You can look at a horse and not see the beauty of the horse and only see the horse's behind.
When that happens, there are some simple steps that I take to get back on track. First I have to get outside of myself and stop focusing on what is happening to me and focus on helping others. When I take my energies and focus on helping others, I help myself as a byproduct of that. I have to put others first.
Second, I have to develop an Attitude of Gratitude. I have to remember the things I am grateful for. I am still breathing air and pumping blood so that is something to be grateful about. I am grateful for all of the things that my higher power has done for me. I am grateful for my wife and my family. I am grateful to know as many wonderful people as I do.
Third, I remember to thank my higher power for all of the many blessings I have received.
Finally, I remind myself of HALT. HALT stands for Don't get too Hungry, Angry, Lonely or Tired. When I have any of those 4 items out of kilter, I can create all kinds of negative energy in my head.
I hope that if at any time you find yourself drowning in negative energy that you try these techniques. I can't take credit for them, they came to me by way of Alcoholics Anonymous and have helped me enjoy 8313 Days at a time. They work for people who don't need Alcoholics Anonymous as well, I have been told.
Stay positive. Good things happen when we have positive expectations and we remember that it truly is...
What We Do Everyday That Counts!
Lano
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