Improve Your Likeability, Improve Your Life

Improve Your Likeability, Improve Your Life – Harvey Mackay ~ / ~

I was fascinated by a CNBC article about Jennifer Hyman, the CEO of Rent the Runway, who attributed her business success to just two words – “Be likable.”

Hyman made the statement to a group of students at a Stanford Graduate School business event. Meg Sauer, the article’s author, said, “Hyman’s strategy – being warm, engaging and actively listening – helped sell her ideas as both an intern and a CEO.”

No matter what business you think you are in, you are in the people business. And the more people like you, the better and easier life becomes.

It’s that simple. Likeability can help to get you where you want to go – whether it’s a promotion at work, running a company, election to a political office, building a wonderful circle of friends … it applies to nearly every facet of life. People like people who are genuine, pleasant, sincere, easy to talk with and friendly.

You’ll do better on the job by being likable. Since most of us spend more than a third of our lives at work, it’s important to be likeable, which will allow us to be more successful.

Likeability is crucial in the sales game because people buy from people they like.

Leadership guru John Maxwell said: “If you are respected and not liked, then your influence will be limited and short-lived. People will not fully trust you and will only follow you at a distance. In fact, they will circle around like vultures, waiting for you to fail. Your team will also have a high rate of turnover because no one enjoys working for an unlikeable leader. Eventually, you will burn out since no one is close enough for you to be able to share their care. The remedy? Let people see your heart. Convince them you care about their lives.”

Motivational author Dale Carnegie provided a helpful hint at being more likeable when he said: “You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you.”

To drive home his point, Carnegie tells how dogs have learned the fine art of making friends. When you get within 10 feet of a friendly dog, he will begin to wag his tail, a visible sign he enjoys your presence. If you take time to pet him, he will become excited and lick and jump all over you to show how much he appreciates you. The dog became man’s best friend by being genuinely interested in people.

Here are some ways that you can improve your likeability:

• Make a strong first impression. Experts say it takes between five and 15 seconds for someone to form a first impression about a person. First impressions are lasting. If the first impression is less than great, it takes a long time to change it.

• Talk nicely about other people. Don’t gossip. The tongue is just three inches long, but it can kill a person six feet tall.

• Improve your listening skills. For some people, good listening means, “I talk, you listen.” Good listeners steer conversations toward other people’s interests. This is what separates a good talker from a good conversationalist. And remember, you can’t learn anything when you are doing the talking.

• Ask questions. Be inquisitive. This also shows you are listening. Ask about their lives and learn as much as you can about the other person. People love to talk about themselves.

• Watch your body language. Be aware of your gestures, expressions and tone of voice. Look people in the eye and let them know you have their full attention by nodding appropriately. Smile. Pay attention to the other person’s body language.

• Don’t be judgmental. Eliminate preconceived notions and judgment. Be approachable and open-minded, which will make you interesting to others.

• Stay positive. People much prefer being around happy, positive people.

• Be kind. Offer sincere compliments. We all love to receive compliments. They make everyone feel better. Mark Twain once said, “I could live for two months on one good compliment.”

• Use people’s names. We all like the sound of our own name. Using names shows that you know and value the person to whom you are talking.

• Use humor. Making people laugh is a likeable trait. You don’t have to be a stand-up comedian but be willing to laugh at yourself.

• Make others feel important. Treat people the way you like to be treated.

Mackay’s Moral: If you like doing business, work at being liked.

Yesterday Is History, Tomorrow Is A Mystery, Today Is A Gift – That’s Why It Is Called The Present!

Yesterday Is History, Tomorrow Is A Mystery, Today Is A Gift – That’s Why It Is Called The Present! – Robert Rohm ~ / ~

I do not know about you, but sometimes I find myself living in the past. I really do not like to make mistakes. I think I am an idealist. I have such a strong desire to do everything in an excellent manner that it frustrates me as I look back over my life because I realize there are many things I could have done better if I had just applied myself more. Education helps, but there is no greater teacher than personal experience and the feeling of a job well done!

It has always been a secret desire of mine to know how to play the drums, and I am confident I could have learned to play them when I was in middle school. When I see someone playing the drums (like my son-in-law Tim, who is an amazing drummer), I try to play along in my mind, but I have no idea how to actually play the drums. I believe, however, that I could have played the drums if I had only applied myself.

When I was in high school, I took a Spanish class, but at that time, learning to speak Spanish just did not seem to interest me. I now wish I had applied myself and could speak the Spanish language. I have been to Spain, Mexico, and South America. In fact, I have been to many other Spanish-speaking countries. Over the years, I have picked up a few words and phrases here and there, but I cannot speak fluent Spanish. I know I could have learned the language well had I applied myself more diligently at that time in my life.

Those are just a couple of examples, but I could go on and on. Don’t get me wrong; I am not depressed over these circumstances. I just wish I had done things differently. But all of that is now history.

When I look to the future, I sometimes wonder what will happen to our world during the remainder of my life. As I look at the world of politics, I see total confusion and a void of real leadership. Nothing ever gets done except infighting and bitterness toward one another. Each Presidential race creates more and more animosity toward different people groups. I see very little hope for all this changing anytime soon. It reminds me of the fact that the future has much that is yet to be revealed to us.

However, I look into the future with optimism. I know that I can play a role in my own life and in the lives of others to make things better. We live in an exciting time where the opportunities are endless as to what can be accomplished in this world. Although I am a strong believer in God, I also know that He has left many aspects of this world in our hands. It is very important that we all apply ourselves and do the very best we can to help shape the future for ourselves and our children. Depending on where you live in the world, some of the greatest, most prosperous, exciting, and happy days could still be in the future for all of us. However, for now, the future is still a mystery.

But that brings us to the third aspect of our life, which is today. The day you are reading this Tip is the only day that really matters because it is the only day in which you can actually do something. If you apply yourself to today, you have a better opportunity to see things change in your future. Maybe an illustration will help.

If I were a farmer and were disappointed in last year’s crop but wanted to have a better crop this year, the only day I could do something about that would be today. If I went out into my field and worked the soil, planted seeds, and fertilized my crop, that would be the best thing I could do. Although I would have no guarantee about what might happen regarding the weather and the future of the crops, I could not do anything about that either. All I could do was what I could do today. My part is called preparation.

As you read this, you may think, “But isn’t that obvious? Doesn’t everyone know that?” Actually, I think very few of us really realize it. Here is why: We tend to want to dedicate ourselves to a task that will be of monumental importance and greatly impact our lives immediately. The only problem is that is often just a fantasy dream. It is a hope. It is an idea. The question we should ask ourselves is, “What did I do today that will actually make my hopes and dreams come true in the future?” That is where the secret lies. Today is the only day that we really have. That is why it is called “the present.”

If I can take the present of today, open it, and use it to the best of my ability, I will do the best thing possible to make up for the past and plan for the future. If I want to learn to play the drums, I must enroll in drum lessons today. If I want to learn how to speak Spanish, I need to enroll in a Spanish class today. In other words, I need to do something today that will make things different in the future. Today is the key to life.

I once had a professor who said that it is easy to dedicate your life to a task. It is just hard to dedicate each day to that task. That sums it all up pretty well.

I hope you will begin to consider each day a little more special. The daily seeds that you plant will have an impact, but they will never come to fruition unless you plant them. And the best time to plant them is always today.

Why not take an inventory of your life? See what regrets you have from the past. See what dreams you have for the future. Use today as a gift to begin to see those dreams become a reality. Then you will have the present you want – one that will bless your life and the lives of others as well.

Tip: Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is a gift – that’s why it is called the present!

Have a great week! God bless you! Dr. Robert A. Rohm

You Can Make A Difference

You Can Make A Difference – – Harvey Mackay ~ / ~

Long ago, a huge fire erupted in a forest, and all the animals fled in terror. A wolf spotted a hummingbird high overhead flying back and forth several times and asked what it was doing.

“I am going to the lake,” the hummingbird said. “I draw some water into my beak and then I throw it on the fire to extinguish it.”

The wolf laughed and said, “Do you really think you can put this big fire out all by yourself?”

The hummingbird replied: “The forest is my home. It feeds and shelters me and my family. Maybe I can’t put out the fire, but I can do my part.”

The forest spirits, hearing the hummingbird, were moved by its devotion to the forest and sent a downpour of rain, which put an end to the great fire.

This story from “Bits & Pieces” shows what can happen when everyone does their part. If everyone does a little, no one must do a lot. Everyone can make a difference.

Helping others and making a difference in the world is what makes the world a better place. One person at a time, one day at a time, and one project at a time, you can make a difference that will leave a lasting impact.

Some of the biggest heroes in a business aren’t head honchos. They’re the regular line employees who take extra care to do their best.

I love this story about Paula, the waitress. She is credited with turning the restaurant where she works into a neighborhood hangout, all because she took the initiative to be the friendliest waitress in town. She remembers customers’ names, their favorite dishes and drinks and those of their children. She even knows a little about the people – birthdays, hobbies, pets’ names and so on. Paula greets all her regular customers affectionately. Her restaurant now has two reservation lists, one for the restaurant and another for Paula’s tables.

The development of the World Wide Web in 1994 at MIT’s Laboratory for Computer Science is credited to Tim Berners-Lee, a British computer scientist. According to an article in “Readers’ Digest,” “In the late 1980s, he proposed a project that combined hypertext (the system that allows you to click on links and open other webpages) and the internet. His goal was to allow researchers a place to share information online so that others could see it any time of the day. The result was the World Wide Web we know and rely on today. He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 2004, and the British Council named his invention the “No. 1 moment that shaped the world.”

Recently I had the opportunity to speak to about 3,000 Subway franchisees in Las Vegas. I heard many stories about customer service, cleanliness and their number one problem: attracting and keeping good employees. But one story from an Illinois franchisee caught my attention. He told me that sales in one of his stores were up more than 50 percent. I asked him why, and he told me it was all because of Sally, the store manager.

He said: “She’s a people person par excellence and makes every single customer feel like they are her favorite and only customer. She moves mountains to get to know the people personally and has developed friendships with many of them.”

Security guard Frank Wills noticed tape over the lock of a basement door as he made his rounds at the Watergate office building in Washington, D.C. in June of 1972. He assumed a worker had left it there accidentally, so he removed it. But Wills found the tape again on the same door. He called the police, and you know the rest. Two years later, President Nixon resigned over his involvement in the coverup of the Watergate break-in.

Susan B. Anthony was both a revered and despised American political figure. In the late 1800s she crusaded for a woman’s right to vote, a law that was not enacted until several years after her death. Women have only been able to vote in this country since 1920. At that time, the majority opinion was that women shouldn’t vote and were not the equal of men. Anyone trying to change the status quo was considered a troublemaker. Still, Anthony soldiered on and eventually earned a following. She was the leader who inspired, motivated and refused to give up – the one person who made all the difference.

Mackay’s Moral: We can talk about making a difference or we can make a difference.

Think Like A Fighter Pilot

Think Like A Fighter Pilot!  – Robert Rohm

Years ago, I read an article in a magazine that gave me a “guiding concept” for the rest of my life. It was written by a fighter pilot who was explaining the process by which he had been trained. I was fascinated as I read the story. The author explained how most of his training focused on what could go wrong. Although much attention was also given to learning how to do things right, that was not the primary focus of his training. He had to constantly be aware of the unlimited number of variables that could go wrong as he flew his plane. He had to consider what to do in case there was a fire on board since his plane was full of jet fuel. Or what to do in case of an emergency that would force him to eject from his seat. He always had to be aware that he was flying with high-powered missiles on board that could potentially explode at any moment. In addition to that, there was also the challenge of a possible enemy attack while he was in flight. He went into great detail as to all the possible things that could go wrong. Then, at the end of the article, he concluded by saying that he was grateful that he had been trained in that manner because, although he never had to use any of those tips, he was prepared for any situation that arose. He always felt safe because he knew his options if things went wrong.

This pilot went on to talk about how in life, business, and relationships, we have very little training in handling what could go wrong. We tend to focus on how wonderful we expect things to be. However, for those of us who have experienced life long enough, we have learned that some things can and will go wrong in business or in relationships. Unfortunately, there is very little training that we receive prior to the time things go wrong or in how to avoid trouble in the first place. Therefore, we often panic. You see, it is natural to panic when you are not prepared.

I am amazed when I stop to think about what takes place on an average day in my life. Although there are many things that go right and are wonderful, there are usually several surprises along the way. Last week, a hotel completely changed my contractual agreement with them because they made a scheduling mistake. Sure, I could create a big fight with them, but I needed to quickly resolve the situation, find another hotel, and spend my time on more important matters.

Because I read that article years ago, I have trained my mind to daily look for the endless possibilities of what might go wrong. Fortunately, it has not created a negative attitude in me or caused me to look at life’s “dark” side. Rather, it has caused me to develop a positive attitude and look at the “what if” side of life. Because I am aware that there is potential danger involved in business and personal relationships, it has caused me to be more careful, less bitter, and make quicker adjustments as I travel on the road of life.

Think about the last situation you were involved in that caught you off guard. Did you have any training to prepare you beforehand? Had you ever been warned that the possibility could exist? Had you ever considered that what you thought was such a wonderful situation could turn sour so quickly? Again, this is not to be negative or discouraging. It is just a fact. If we learn to look for the possible dangers that are in life, we will be much more prepared when they unexpectedly appear.

We have all heard of the ostrich who stuck his head in the sand because he did not want anyone to see him. Yet, 95% of him is still exposed. We can stick our heads in the sand if we want to, but challenges will still come our way.

Let me encourage you to look more closely at the wonderful situations you now find yourself in. Ask yourself what could possibly go wrong. Don’t do it in a way that makes you feel negative, discouraged, or bitter. Instead, look at it to see how you could be aware of danger approaching and what you could do to protect the situation.

Again, I am grateful for the article I read so many years ago. It has built in me a mindset of being proactive when it comes to the possibility of things going wrong or falling apart. I want to fly my life as a “successful pilot,” and the only way I can do that is to be aware of the possible dangers out there. It makes the trip a whole lot more enjoyable!

Tip: Think like a fighter pilot!

Have a great week! God bless you!
Dr. Robert A. Rohm

All Things Come To Those Who Go After Them

All Things Come To Those Who Go After Them – Harvey Mackay ~ / ~

In Aesop’s fable about the goose and the golden egg, the farmer visits his goose’s nest one day and finds a golden egg. Morning after morning, he collects a solid gold egg from the goose and becomes very rich. However, the richer he became, the greedier he got. So one day hoping to get all his goose’s gold at once, he killed the goose only to discover the goose was empty.

“Success is not a get-rich-quick scheme,” said motivational author Glenn Van Ekeren. “It is, however, a day-by-day process. “Short-term personal profits are not synonymous with long-term prosperity.”

Don’t be like the farmer and ruin your chances for long-term success by being impatient and reluctant to pay the daily price.

One of my friends gave me this advice, which I have used faithfully over the years. Before you go to bed each night, celebrate your successes of the day. Identify at least one great thing that happened. Think about what accomplishments made you most proud. When you focus on your daily success, you’ll look forward to producing more success tomorrow.

And I would add, there is no such thing as an “overnight success.”

Success is not easy. It might take longer than you expect. There will be days when you question yourself and wonder if it’s worth it or if you are on the right path. Trust your gut. Pay your dues. Work hard and smart and eventually success will come.

John Wooden didn’t win his first national college basketball title until his 16th season coaching at UCLA. Starbucks didn’t open its fifth store until 13 years after being founded. Sam Walton didn’t open his second store until seven years after creating Walmart.

Success takes time.

A woman rushed up to famed violinist Fritz Kreisler after a concert and exclaimed, “I’d give my life to play as beautifully as you do.”

Kreisler replied, “I did.”

Kemmons Wilson, the founder of Holiday Inns, was asked if there was a key to his company’s success. He said, “I believe, to be successful, that you have to work at least half a day – it doesn’t make any difference which half, the first 12 hours or the last 12.”

I remember reading about a former president of General Motors who started out as a stock boy. At his retirement, a reporter asked him if it were possible for a young person starting at the bottom today to get to the top?

“Indeed it is,” he replied. “The sad fact, however, is that so few young people realize it. Keep thinking ahead of your job! Let no one or anything stand between you and a difficult task. Let nothing deny you the rich opportunity to gain strength in adversity, confidence in mastery. Do each task better each time. Do it better than anyone else can do it. Do these things, and nothing can keep the job ahead from reaching out after you!”

Just as brand names tell consumers about the products they buy, a personal brand tells other people about you: your strengths, goals and commitment to success. Put some work into defining and establishing your brand so it reflects the image you want. Try these ideas:

• Identify your established strengths. Talk to your co-workers and your manager about what you’re known for – the strengths they depend on, the tasks you’re the “go-to” person for, and so on. Decide which of these to emphasize (by volunteering for specific projects more often, for example) and focus on those areas and tasks.

• Be authentic. You can’t fake your personal brand – not for long, anyway. The key to making it work is being honest about who you are and what you can do. You can’t get out of unwanted work just because it doesn’t fit your brand, naturally, but you can position yourself for assignments that match your strengths by focusing on what you do best.

• Adopt a unique style. You want to stand out, so do something different. It can be simple, or as challenging as developing a reputation for volunteering for the toughest assignments.

Snoopy, the memorable “Peanuts” cartoon pet, sat at the entrance of his doghouse and lamented, “Yesterday I was a dog. Today I’m a dog. Tomorrow I’ll probably still be a dog. SIGH. There’s so little hope for advancement.”

Don’t be like Snoopy and sit there droopy-eyed. Go out and make something happen.

Mackay’s Moral: Success – If it is to be, it is up to me.

Learning By Experience Is Better Than Learning By Information Alone

Learning By Experience Is Better Than Learning By Information Alone. – Robert Rohm ~ / ~

Have you ever thought about how you have learned the most important lessons in your life? It has not been from someone simply telling you something. Rather, it has been taking good information and doing something with it yourself. You create a much faster learning curve when you actually get involved in the process by doing something yourself. Perhaps an illustration will help.

If I wanted to teach you how to drive a car, I could give you the history of automobiles and tell you everything you would ever need to know about how a car operates and functions. You could consume all the information in the owner’s manual booklet that could possibly be in the vehicle’s glove box or see the owner’s manual online. And all that is good! However, if you really wanted to learn how to drive, you would still need to get behind the wheel and do it yourself. That is when you would begin to learn to really drive a car.

I have never been much of a golfer, but my son-in-law, Tim, has spent hours giving me tips and helping me understand little things about golf that cause the game to become much more enjoyable. I could watch it on TV or see someone else play it, and Tim could have explained it to me all day, but it was not until I started practicing what Tim taught me that I truly began learning the game. And I am still not very good!

These are simple illustrations and examples, yet I find that many people are unwilling to try to gain knowledge for themselves regarding their own lives. If you need guidance, getting help along the way is okay, like I did with Tim! Here are some areas to consider: in marriage (do you have a married couple mentor?), raising children (do you have a child-rearing mentor?), learning about money (do you have a financial mentor?), getting involved in good investments, (do you have an investment mentor?), creating a better life for themselves (do you have a life coach?), growing a business (do you have a business mentor?), developing their personal health (do you have a health coach or mentor?), learning spiritual information (do you have a spiritual mentor?), or any number of other things. Reading books alone will not cause us to understand the information for ourselves. It will only be when we apply good information that someone taught us from their own personal experience that we began to learn how something truly works. As Socrates once said, “The unexamined life is not worth living!”

Now, do not get me wrong. I want to make it clear that it is possible to learn some things when we absorb information that someone else teaches us. However, the pace of the entire process changes and accelerates when we begin to practice what we are trying to learn. It is often frustrating when we do not know how to do something. But no one knows how to do something when they first begin. I love what Zig Ziglar said, “Anything in life worth doing at all is worth doing poorly until you learn how to do it well!” Zig simply said that no one is an expert at something when they start. We may learn very slowly in the beginning, but as time passes, we become proficient at our different tasks through practice. Simply stated, “Every master was once a disaster!”

I know someone who wanted to learn how to sew. When she first started, she could barely do it, and she was very frustrated because her mother was an expert seamstress. She heard Zig make the statement, “Anything in life worth doing at all is worth doing poorly until you learn how to do it well!” That one concept gave her the freedom to “stumble along” until she could get better and faster at what she was trying to accomplish. Today, she is an expert seamstress!

This week, cut yourself a little slack and realize you may be moving so slowly because you are trying to do something based on information alone. Take a lesson from this Tip and start practicing what you want to learn. Even if you make a lot of mistakes along the way, you will gain momentum as you learn and grow in all that you do.

Tip: Learning by experience is better than learning by information alone.

Have a great week! God bless you! Dr. Robert A. Rohm

A Life Without Friends Is Like A Life Without Sun

A Life Without Friends Is Like A Life Without Sun – Harvey Mackay ~ / ~

I constantly preach about the importance of nurturing your network, but there’s one very important element of our networks that often takes a back seat to the business contacts we build. That is our invaluable network of friends.

For so many of us, focusing our attention on our work life is a high priority. That’s a noble goal, but what finally happens when we’re off the clock?

We need to concentrate our efforts on developing a network of friends. I can honestly say that my friends have saved me from making big mistakes, celebrated my victories and made difficult days better by just being there. And they know I will return the favor.

I have dear lifelong friends, business friends, neighborhood friends, golf friends, office friends, friends where I worship. And so on. I confide my deepest secrets to some. I ask for advice from several. I enjoy activities with others. All have impacted my life in important ways.

This Arabian proverb provides the perfect definition: A friend is one to whom one may pour out all the contents of one’s heart, chaff and grain together, knowing that the gentlest of hands will take and sift it, keep what is worth keeping and with the breath of kindness blow the rest away.

Great literature, movies and music lyrics are full of references to friendship. The Beatles got by “with a little help from my friends.” James Taylor reminded us that when you need a helping hand, “you’ve got a friend.” Bette Midler gave us a long list of reasons why “You’ve got to have friends.” One of the most successful and longest-running television shows of all time was “Friends,” which will probably continue to run in syndication when the stars are old and gray.

Henry David Thoreau, one of America’s most famous naturalists and philosophers, gave the following definition of friendship: “A friend is one who incessantly pays us the compliment of expecting from us all the virtues, and who can appreciate them in us. The friend asks no return but that his friend will religiously accept and wear and not disgrace the apotheosis of him. They cherish each other’s hopes. They are king to each other’s dreams.

“Friendship is never established as an understood relation. It is a miracle which requires constant proof. It is an exercise of the purest imagination and of the rarest faith.”

Friendship is so important that we celebrate it several times during the year. February is International Friendship Month, and Old Friends, New Friends Week is the third week of May. Congress declared a U.S. holiday in honor of friends by a proclamation in 1935. Since then, World Friendship Day is celebrated every year on the first Sunday of August (it was Aug. 6 this year). And September is Friendship Month.

It might not be a Hallmark holiday, but Friendship Month is still a great time to go over some tips on how to build, nurture and maintain great friendships.

• Be open. Share your feelings honestly. Open communication is important in building lasting friendships and an unwavering support system. And don’t forget to tell your customers how much you appreciate them.

• Be receptive. No one is perfect and there may be times when you don’t agree with your friends’ choices. Show them that you care and respect them. It’s okay to share your opinions because both sides need to practice acceptance. The reason a dog has so many friends is that he wags his tail and not his tongue.

• Make friendships a priority. It’s easy to get busy in life, working and raising a family, but don’t forget your friends. Friendship is a responsibility – not an opportunity. Reconnect with old friends and continue to make new ones. Make friendship a habit, and you will always have friends.

• Listen. Part of being a true friend is listening to their problems and concerns without interrupting or always trying to fix things. Sometimes all they want is a receptive ear. Everyone hears what you say. Friends listen to what you say. Best friends listen to what you don’t say.

• Express gratitude. Don’t forget to show your appreciation for your friends and let them know how much their friendship means to you. One close friend is worth more than a thousand acquaintances.

Considering all these points, ask yourself this: If you were another person, would you like to be a friend of yours?

Mackay’s Moral: A good friend is someone who thinks you’re a good egg even though you’re slightly cracked.

Your Personality Style Will Affect How You View Labor Day

Your Personality Style Will Affect How You View Labor Day! – Robert Rohm ~ / ~

Today is Labor Day in the United States. That is the day set aside to honor the American working person. Contrary to public opinion, work is not a dirty four-letter word. The personal dignity and self-worth of a person is usually closely related to his or her work. One of the first experiences of becoming an adult is getting a job (or starting your own business) and learning how to “pay your own way” in life. What a great feeling!

Everyone who has something to do each day has learned the pleasure and satisfaction of feeling part of something bigger than themselves. I once heard the statement, “He who is all wrapped up in himself has a mighty small package!” I believe that is true. We all should be part of something that is bigger and more important than ourselves. Knowing that you are helping your fellow man and making the world a better place daily is fundamental to a person’s well-being. I once heard a famous leader say, “Almost all mental illness begins when a person becomes irresponsible and refuses to work!” I do not know if that is true, but that is a scary thought to me.

During the Covid-19 period of time, many people lost their jobs. Their personal identity was so closely related to their line of work that losing their job or their position at work eventually caused them to have a physical, mental, or emotional breakdown. Some serious repercussions occurred as a result of their particular set of circumstances. That was a tragedy, for sure.

I have also heard it said, “Idle time is the devil’s workshop!” That means you are headed for trouble when you have nothing to do. As I look back on my own life and that of many of my friends, having too much “free time” on our hands was more hurtful than helpful. I have also heard discussions that some people are able to make almost as much money by staying at home as they can by going to work. To me, that is a dangerous situation. There is a difference between having a job and continuing to work. I believe work keeps you alert and healthy. I recently saw a sign that read, “Smoking is to cancer as a sedentary lifestyle is to old age.” That is why I stay busy. I will never retire. I will burn out, not rust out! But maybe that is just me!

Since I specialize in the DISC Model of Human Behavior, I thought this Labor Day I would share with you how each of the four different personality styles views work. Of course, we are all a unique blend of all four of these types, so some of the following information might overlap. Here we go:

The “D” type – (Dominant Personality Style) – This person says, “Get it done! What’s next?!” They are naturally hardworking and focused on success. Working to them is a hobby! They work quickly, determinedly, and intensely to get results. If you get in their way – good luck! They do not handle failure very well. They hate losing more than they enjoy winning. They are like cream; they rise to the top of almost any occasion. Their personality style basically prohibits them from working for another person. They prefer a leadership role where they can be the boss. Their blind spot may be supporting other people.

The ”I” type – (Inspiring Personality Style) – This person says, “Who can I work with every day? Is there anyone to talk to while I work? I enjoy people so much I may actually forget the working part of my day!” Working to them is more like a cheerleading event or a pep rally. Together Everyone Achieve More is why a TEAM exists! They are naturally fun-loving and playful. They enjoy working interactively and creatively with other people. They love recognition and being part of a team. They also like being right in the middle of everything, as long as the blame or the buck does not stop with them. Being unpopular or making a hard decision is not what they like. Their blind spot might be learning to stay focused until the end of a project.

The “S” type – (Supportive Personality Style) – This person asks, “How do you want me to do this work? I want to please you, and I love helping other people. I just do not want to be in charge or make anybody do anything!” They are naturally helpful and cooperative. They are a team player who does not need the spotlight. Just doing their best and helping others is what matters most to them. They do not like conflict. “Blessed are the peacemakers” is their way of life. They enjoy working at a steady, even pace. They especially enjoy supporting the entire team. Their blind spot might be knowing how to get started on any project. Procrastination occurs because they do not want anyone to feel they are trying to run over anyone.

The “C” type – (Cautious Personality Style) – This person says, “Plan your work, then work your plan! Get yourself organized and think because the person who knows how to plan and think will eventually have the best lifestyle. It all makes so much sense!” They are naturally focused and do well in almost any academic or structured environment. They enjoy an environment with plenty of details, data, and procedures because that makes them the most comfortable. They work methodically, seriously, and intently. The more sense something makes to them, the better they like it. They do not like being rushed or making mistakes because being right is important to them. Their blind spot might be learning to include other people in their work.

Again, every one of us may utilize some of all four of these work habits. If I had known more about the last one, I would have done better in school. I was too busy daydreaming, playing sports, and trying to look good to my friends than learning about real life. But that was then, and this is now. Gratefully, I have been working on all four of these areas for the last 30 plus years. I have not arrived yet, but things are pretty awesome now!

Please join me on the quest for a successful and purposeful life. Love God, love people, and love what you do each day! As Coach Jones used to say, “Just be a good person and help others along the way!”

Maybe that is what Labor Day is all about!

Tip: Your personality style will affect how you view Labor Day!

Have a great week! God bless you! Dr. Robert A. Rohm