- George Cecil (1891–1970)
American advertising copywriter

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Give more risk…

Comfort. Risk. Both are enjoyable.

One we strive to create. One we try to minimize.

One can make us lazy. One can make us stronger.

When did you last risk failure? When did you last leave your comfort zone?

212 challenge… Step out of your comfort zone once more each week and create over 50 additional opportunities for excitement, challenge and possibility each year. This is what life’s about.

It’s been said that youth is wasted on the young. By taking risks, we assure life isn’t wasted on the living.

212 commitment… Risk. Attempt. Fail. Succeed. Once more each week.

(from the book, 212° the extra degree® – what’s 212?)
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Q1 printable GiveMore calendars for Two-Twelve (one less syllable… and a year long reminder to give it that extra degree of effort).

Area code and state abbreviation charts are here.
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Today’s quotation is from a correspondence school advertisement in 1921. George Cecil was writing as William Lawrence.

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- George Lucas (1944 – )
American film director, producer and screenwriter

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Give more evaluation…

Do your actions…

1. create a positive buzz about you and your work?
2. make others want you as a part of their team?
3. make your employer cringe at the thought of losing you?
4. make your colleagues (or customers, clients, patients) excited about referring you to others?

You want your actions to scream value without the need for you to say a word.

This is what creates true economic and job security – the value you and your team create for others.

This is care (what it’s all about).

When you have the opportunity over the next few days, set a reminder to review these four questions at the end of each month. Then, give yourself a little (objective) attention by reviewing them and creating an action plan to improve in each area where you feel you should.

Easier said than done… still needs to be done.

Forward this to a friend or colleague (it’s Smover approved).
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"Work is about a search for daily meaning as well as daily bread, for recognition as well as cash, for astonishment rather than torpor; in short, for a sort of life, rather than a Monday-to-Friday sort of dying."

Studs Terkel (1912 – 2008)
American writer, journalist, broadcaster
Pulitzer Prize winner (print it)

Outside the money hours, enjoy this clip from NPR – the story around Studs Terkel’s book "Working" – actual recordings from a few of his interviews for the book.

Particularly heartwarming (seriously… if you don’t get a little teary-eyed with Therese, check your pulse): Delores the waitress Loving Her People (at 1:50 to 3:00), Terry the newspaper boy on collections and his spending problem (at 3:30 to 4:45) and Therese on being "just a housewife" (at 6:45 to 8:10). I’m playing it for my kids.

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-George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950)
Irish writer

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Give more reflection…

Think about your work (contribution).

Whether you feel lucky or not with what you’ve been given (or earned) as your opportunity to work, you’re ultimately just a steward of it for a relatively brief period in time.

It will be handed off to someone else at some point.

If you thought of that work as being put in a box to be given to someone else, what would you want the recipient to think when they opened it up?

Wouldn’t you want it to be something that’s difficult to improve on?

Wouldn’t you want them to crack open that box… look in… smile… and say… "Wow. That’s great work."

No Gomos. No D-grunts.

Just Smove.

(gomo: someone who goes through the motions, d-grunt: someone who’s disgruntled… wristbands here)
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So many great quotes are hidden within even greater thoughts and passages. Here’s Shaw’s complete thought from above…

"This is the true joy in life, the being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one; the being thoroughly worn out before you are thrown on the scrap heap; the being a force of Nature instead of a feverish selfish little clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy."

Print out the full version.
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Another favorite minute from Nike to get you revved up. I watch this one at least once every couple of weeks. I love how it builds and then pops at 0.38.

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–George Eliot (Mary Ann Evans) (1819–1880)
English writer

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Give more reminder…

Always seeking certainty before taking action can severely limit productivity. In some cases, the evaluation and search for certainty is more costly than a potential failure due to action.

Worst case scenario for a wrong move is generally nothing more than an education (1 of the 4 points to better resilience).

Consider getting in the game a bit earlier the next time an opportunity arises. Avoid the "paralysis of analysis" and risk the uncertainty.

(1-minute from Nike to get you going. Better for smorning* people than late risers. So good.)

*smorning: the start of the day for a smover.

I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work, the more I live. I rejoice in life for its own sake.

Life is no brief candle to me. It is a sort of splendid torch, which I have got a hold of for the moment; and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations.”

–George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950)
Irish writer

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