What if...

What if…

We have those things or those people in our lives that make us happy, give us joy, and/or serve as the very rock on which we stand in the tough, not so magical times. 

We all have goals, dreams, aspirations, and we plan for our future.  Yet day in and day out, we’re reminded that life is not, nor will it ever be perfect.  

“Stuff” gets in the way, yet we continue to strive for the perfect life, the perfect job, the perfect salary, with the perfect someone. 

That gets old, and life gets tedious…why…because there’s no such thing as “The Perfect” anything.  It’s a myth in which we wrap our very hopes, dreams, and often times our every thought.

Life, here on Earth, isn’t perfect.  It never will be perfect.  However, the higher power to which we look for hope, love, salvation, and peace…is perfect. Therefore 'looking up' should be our focus.

Rather than striving for the perfect, instead we should reflect on the absolute best things or people in our lives.  We should reflect this week on whom or what makes us smile, at the very moment the thought of them enters our mind.  Whom or what allows us to be…not merely to do…but to really be who we want to be…

What if those things or those people were taken away from us tomorrow?

Let’s give thanks this week, for those things and those people in our lives that are the absolute BEST part of our day and the absolute BEST part of our lives. 

Perfect will never happen, but those things and those people (you know the ones), they will always be the best…be thankful for them.

Looking up, this Thanksgiving…and wishing the OneMoreStepRevolution Community  a very safe and happy Thanksgiving holiday.

Taylor

Thanks, for the road…

Thanks to my family: My Mom, Dad, Sister, Brother-In-Law, Aunts, Uncles, Grandmother, and Cousins – you’ve not only shaped my mind, heart, and character, but you’ve also been the very source of joy, inspiration, and love that always makes me feel better about life, no matter how imperfect it is, you’re the best.  It is for that very joy, inspiration, and love that I am extremely thankful.

People Help

People Help

Left to Right: Stephanie, Andy, Me

People help.  People not only make the place, they make any place or situation or day or month or year…better.

This week I’ve been feeling tense, nervous, uncertain, scared, and a bit uninspired…for probably silly reasons, but we’re all human.  We have our days.  We’re allowed. 

Perhaps it’s because I usually start my mornings with at least thirty to forty five minutes of jogging, running, sprinting, or something active.  A couple of weeks ago I injured my knee (most likely from overdoing it on my morning routine) so lately I haven’t been able to run.

Not only am I a bit off because of it, I’m nervous because I’m uncertain as to how serious (if at all) the injury is…and I’m uneasy about navigating the whole insurance company/copay/doctor visit/referral to a specialist journey. 

This morning my friend and colleague, Stephanie, put my mind at ease.  She has the fortunate and unfortunate desk location directly in front of the door in/out of our office.  We must pass by her every time we come and go.  I usually say hello and/or speak to her and/or get on her nerves (but we make each other laugh either way, so it’s cool) as I pass by her desk multiple times a day.
    

Today I told her about my knee injury and that I’m a bit annoyed by it, mainly because I can’t run and workout to the extent that I would like.  And I told her that I needed to figure out our insurance, how it works, where to go to the doctor, etc.

She stopped what she was doing and proceeded to give me a quick, 90 second tutorial on how our insurance works, and she suggested a place for me to go that would be convenient, quick, and efficient.  She said with a smile, laughing, tongue-in-cheek, to “please get it fixed for ALL of our sanity, get it fixed so you can run again.  We know how you get.”  All I could do was laugh...

Not only did she put my mind at ease, giving me one fewer worry as to where/how I would seek medical attention, she did so in such a way that made me smile…laugh…and I walked away thinking to myself, “wow, she really helped…” She may not have known it, but she truly helped my day get better than it was five minutes prior to our conversation.  Steph…thanks for just doing what you do.  It helps!

People help.

Today we also had the pleasure of spending two hours with author, speaker, and truly inspirational Chief Curator and Provocateur, AndyStefanovich, from Prohet (Prophet is a strategic brand and marketing consultancy).  

Andy taught a bit.  He coached a bit more.  He told stories with passion, creativity, and emotion.  In doing so, he dropped inspirational pearl after inspirational pearl of wisdom…I mean he had some absolute dimes.  From ‘focusing on the ‘beauty’, to ‘asking people about their story’ to my absolute favorite, ‘purposeful disruption’…I mean the content was extraordinary.  So awesome.

However, the most helpful, most profound, and most important thing he did was inspire our team to focus on people…starting with each other. 

He facilitated discussion and conversations among a group of individuals in such a way that by the time our two-hour session was over, we all felt a little more connected than we were an hour prior.  We felt inspired to go connect even more with one another.  (Maybe I’m the only one…but probably not.)  I found myself transforming from uninspired to INSPIRED.  It was all because I took the focus off of “me, me, me” and redirected it toward other people on our team.

Actively pursuing opportunities to learn about their story was fun, entertaining, and enlightening.  Focusing on them, how they have truly been an inspiration to me…and proclaiming my appreciation for them publicly…turned an otherwise routine Thursday into a game-changing, attitude 180-ing day. 

And finally, spending good old fashioned quality time with the people on our team, purposely disrupting our everyday routines, helped my outlook, my mental state, and my ability to inspire and be inspired.  It was all because of the people in the room, and most importantly how we made each other feel. 

People help.

If people help so much…if people not only make the place, but also make places better…and if people help any situation…there’s only one thing you and I should do, and that’s HELP PEOPLE every chance we get! 

Go OneMoreStep…today…HELP SOMEBODY.  They need it.

Have a great day.

Taylor

Ownership Leads to Membership

Ownership Leads to Membership

We all want to belong to something.  From the time we were young, it’s always been cool to belong…I’d classify belonging as a timeless feeling.  

It never gets old, nor do we ever hear many people saying they’re just so “bored or tired of belonging” to anything at all.

Individuals enjoy the sense of belonging to a team.  Guests, Customers, & Clients enjoy belonging to their favorite restaurants, bars, hotels, and/or vacation destinations. 

Family members experience the true joy and love of family when they feel like they truly belong. Members of a community feel safe, content, and happy when they experience belonging...they experience true membership.

Until anyone anywhere can experience the feeling of Membership…someone somewhere, must first take ownership.  Unless the people that work in the restaurants, bars, or hotels take ownership…unless the individual members of a family or a team or an organization take it upon themselves to own the responsibility and opportunity to make people feel welcome, comfortable, and important or to feel a sense of belonging, true feelings of Membership will be few and far between.

You and I can be catalysts and sources of inspiration for fellow members of our teams or for our family members – be it a family at home, a church family, or a work family which includes our Guests, customers, and clients.  Our challenge is for the buck to stop with us…we’ll own it.  Others will pass on the opportunity to make a positive impact.  Others will have more important things on their plate.  However, you and I will take full ownership of making magic for everyone around us…at home and at work.

Perhaps not right away, but eventually our ownership will be contagious among our peers, our teams, and our organizations.  The feeling of belonging we create in others will be one worth returning to for everyone.  And the more they come back to our homes or our places of business, the more positive feelings we’ll create.  Because we’ll continue to own it…we’ll continue to own the opportunity to make it about them, making people happy in the process.

Pretty soon…people – Guests, Customers, Clients, CoWorkers, Friends, and Family – will feel a part of something, like they fit in…like they truly belong.  That’s the membership experience that makes for a more meaningful experience, no matter where we are in our lives, personally or professionally. 

The feeling of 'Membership' can be the difference between happy and sad, productive and nonproductive, profitability and lost revenue, and it can also be the difference between “meaningful work” and “just a job”. 

Do the people on your team, in your peer group, in your community, or in your family feel like they belong?  We should OWN it.  You and I can be the difference…when we take ownership of the opportunity to create that feeling for them.

Ownership Leads to Membership…and membership leads to happiness, contentment, and fulfillment, for everyone.

Have a great day.

Taylor

One for the road...

Americans have the opportunity on November 6th to exercise our most important right...our right to vote.  Own it...take ownership.  Go vote.  After tomorrow we'll see all the red states and blue states fall back into the UNITED States of America.  At least I hope so...I hope we all own it.

3 Good Ones...

Three OneMoreSteps that are so difficult to carry out, but when practiced consistently reveal themselves as not only great concepts...but The Answer.

Be...

Quick to listen...

Slow to speak...

Slow to become angry...

The OneMoreStepRevolution Team didn't come up with these...someone else did...and we're following His lead.  The above are concepts...and He's the Answer.

#James_1:19