My first aha moment of 2017!

For a fairly uneventful day I have had an absolutely amazingly eventful day!
I had planned to spend the last 24 hours before leaving for New Orleans preparing furiously , taking care of all of the last minute details I needed to take care of.
The only problem with that is that there is and was actually very little for me to prepare.
It's all a part of this whole process I have been experiencing of letting go.
I am reminded of a quote that one of my vendors and friends signs off with on his emails:
"Don't confuse motion with progress"
-Alfred A. Montapert-Running around like a whirling dervish constantly is not necessarily being productive.
When I coached football, I would often remind my middle line backer to just stand still at the snap of the ball and see how the play developed in front of him.Blindly charging off in a direction often leads to you being out of position to make a play.
As the centerpiece of the defense, his role was to communicate, to make sure every one knew where they should be and what they should be looking for as well as to pick up any tell tale signs as to what may be coming at them.
This is exactly the position I find myself in as I prepare for the Halloween show.Communicating with every one and preparing myself as best as possible to respond, not just react.
As I finished packing and gathering supplies for the trip, I had an aha moment.
I posed a question to a dear friend stating I wasn't sure if I was heading out alone possibly facing a twilight or was I in fact once again flying solo,buoyed by years of experience? The aha moment is that I am in fact experiencing the latter. Over the years I have led a contingent, a small army at times into this show. This often rag tag group were not exactly seasoned sales professionals. On the contrary, in almost ever case they all started out as green and as innocent as a new born. Walking into the show, they all experienced an overwhelming onslaught of people. The sheer magnitude of the show was almost impossible to comprehend. 
Most if not all of my troops had little if any sales experience. It was baptism under fire. I am sure each and every one of them had doubts as to how effective they might be. 
That is how they showed up. It is not how they left.Under my leadership and tutelage by the end of day 1 each and every one believed that they were the consummate professionals they were supposed to be.
I had some time to reflect on the dozens of young men and women who were part of the Vasa team at one time or another. Some I still see regularly. Some I run into every once in a while and others I get reports on or updates from.
The one common thread is that they all have grown up. They all have gone on to lead productive lives. And they all have continued on their own special Journey.
And I was a part of that. 
And that is a good thing.
That is a blessing!
The idea that I some how played a role in this process is a gift that can not be put into words.
This year I am going to the show solo. I will not be leading any troops into the battle of life.
Instead, I can take a moment and appreciate that the army that once was has gone on to create new armies and new opportunities and bring their own special gifts to the world.
It's a pretty special feeling!

Stay Focused!

That's what I keep repeating to myself. Stay focused....and stay focused on doing me.
Not on others, not on things that have no direct bearing on what I want to accomplish and certainly not on challenges or trivialities brought on by others or in other people's lives.
It sounds selfish and self centered , but it's not. I was reminded by my mentor Darren Hardy today, of the airplane air mask story. You can't help others until you secure your own breathing mask.
I have spent the last 5 hours knocking out a plethora of little things that just needed taking care of.Now I have a few hours to address some of the things that may be looming before heading out on Wednesday morning.
Handle what I can handle. Let go of those things that are out of my control. This seems to be the theme right now.And as long as I stay with in the realm of responsible, don't live in lack!
That doesn't mean go out on an unbridled shopping spree.It means buy what it is that needs to be purchased and do it with out guilt or remorse.
This is the first Monday since early November that Susan has been home. Sundays and Mondays are her days of. Since Halloween , she has either been called in to substitute or been in South Jersey taking care of her parents on Mondays.
Today we left the house at around 9:30. A trip to Motor Vehicle,Home Depot,my old office, the supermarket, Lowes, the bank and a slice of pizza  ........that's what old married folks call a date!
Now it's time to attend to business,while I still have enough left in the tank to accomplish something!

It's 6:18 on Sunday evening. 

We have already made our weekly pilgrimage to South Jersey,and dinner is now in the oven. I Had considered taking the day off from writing. It's late, I'm tired and quite frankly a bit distracted.
Over the last hour or so, I found myself swallowing a lot of stuff. I don't mean eating I mean emotionally. I decided to sit down and use this time to put the brakes on. Maybe by writing, by reaching out, I can create some a mental time out and catch my breath and my balance.
I have 2 days of final preparations starting tomorrow before I leave for 8 days.All sorts of pressures are mounting and to be honest I have no resources with which to alleviate the bulk of them.My self talk is "just let go!".
If these are in fact circumstances that I can not change or have an effect on, then all I can do is let go.
And move on.
7:00 pm
Dinner is over. Not much calmer than I was before we sat down to eat. I keep thinking back to the goals I have set up for myself and that is helping.
 Handle the things that I can handle.
Be 1% better today than I was yesterday.
And reach out to the people in my life.
So now I have 2 choices before me. 
I can shut down for the rest of the evening and look for a fresh start in the morning.
Or the more prudent choice ,take a few minutes to gather myself and clear my thoughts,have a cup of tea or coffee and then carefully construct a list of the things that absolutely must be handled between now and Tuesday evening.
I think you know me well enough by now to know exactly what I'm going to do.
Shavua Tov!

Goal #3

It has been almost 2 weeks since I handed out the first 2 dozen  Live 2 XL 2017 Goals Challenge cards. To date I have received exactly zero back.The good news is that by participating in this challenge myself, I have come to realize just how difficult the task of writing down 5 important achievable goals really is.
In review, after meeting with my editor. I was able to come up with goal #1....whittle down my book. 
Goal #2 came to me after a nudge from my mentor Darren Hardy and after a bit of self reflection....be 1% better today than I was yesterday.Build incrementally on what I have accomplished already. I quote my self "Incremental is monumental!"
After goals 1 and 2, it seemed as if I were stuck once again. 
What else should make my list of top 5 goals for 2017?
What is both important and achievable to me?
As I was cleaning up a slew of old and unanswered emails from friends over the past week or so,I stumbled over goal #3.
Stay connected to those who mean the most to me.
This is as important as any oath I could possibly swear myself to. 
So many people in my life. So many friends. So many loved ones.
For every one that I communicate with, 3 more names pop into my head.
Reaching out to as many as possible as often as possible is my next goal for the year. The magnitude of this particular goal is overwhelming. It has no limits. It has no end.
There will always be some one else to reach out to. There will always be another email to send, text to get out, phone call to be made, letter to be written or visit to be planned.If I remember to combine goal #2 with goal #3, make 1 more connection today than I did yesterday, I will have fulfilled my quest for this goal as well.
I can always be better today than I was yesterday and there will always be one more person I can reach out to tomorrow who I may have overlooked or not gotten around to today.
The task of writing down 5 goals for the year is much harder than I originally imagined. Now that I am participating in this challenge, I am both intrigued and excited by what the other goals may possibly be.
Maybe others are finding it equally as difficult as I am.
So I guess I'll continue ti check my mail box daily. 
Shabbat Shalom!

Halloween 2017!

In a couple of days I will be heading out to the Halloween industries big trade show for the year. It will be my 22nd year in a row. 
22 years ago, I remember just how overwhelming it all seemed to me. 
For the 20 years preceding that show, I had spent my career working in a warehouse. Every morning, I would leave my house around 6 a.m. and get home around 7 p.m. 
My days were spent on the floor of the warehouse or on the loading dock or in my office.My uniform was jeans and a sweatshirt in the cool months and jeans and a knit work shirt in the warmer weather.
Now life was different. My uniform became slacks and a nice shirt (yes always accompanied by a tie!).The truck drivers and warehouse workers I spent my days with were now being replaced by buyers and vendors.I was moving from an industry where I was a king and now found myself as a stranger in a strange land.I could not possibly have found myself in a more uncomfortable position.
22 years later....and here I am.My business card playfully reads :
" David Spiegel: Master of all things Halloween".
Even though this is my 22nd Halloween show, I once again find myself entering uncharted waters.
In the early years, it was me and my brother. We showed up together ,each with our own roles to fill. We were a team. As the years went by, we added to our team, always bringing enough support staff with us to ensure that our vendors were being covered and all of our customers were being taken care of.Year after year, that support staff grew.Sara and then her friends. Max and then his friends. Becca and then her friends. There were friends of Eliot's and some of my friends. And for the last 12 years, there was Becky who in a very short time became as integral to my business as any other part, including my brother and myself.And there were even Becky's friends.Literally dozens of people, too many to recount, who were part of the Halloween by Vasa team over the years.
This year, I am the team!
Eliot will be at the show. He works for one of the firms I represent and has his own responsibilities, nothing to do with Halloweeen Sales by Vasa.
In the old days , he and I always shared a room. Some times we even had a few other room mates (rooms for these shows can become expensive!). There were years where I can remember having 4 or 5 rooms with 4 or more people in a room.
This year, there will be just 3 of us in the room...me, myself and I!
I will fly out alone. I will fly home alone. 
I will be my only company back in my hotel room every night.
I hope that I find some one to have dinner with ! 
There is a very real possibility that I find myself eating alone as well.
Although I am aware of all of this, I don't think I am alarmed by any of it.
It is what it is....different.
Thee is nothing overwhelming about the show for me. As inexperienced as I was 22 years , today I am just what my business card says I am....Master of all things Halloween. United Airlines even has me listed as Professor Spiegel, when I go into the United Club lounge. Professor Spiegel......professor of Halloweenology!
There is nothing overwhelming as I make my final preparations before leaving town next week. There is however an air of pensive reflection as I take a peek back at the road I have traveled to get here.And a little bit of sadness that after all of that time and after traveling as far as I have, as I find myself standing alone at yet another crossroads in my Journey.
Shabbat Shalom!

1%

A good part of my day on Monday was spent cleaning the kitchen and dining room.Instead of turning Pandora on and listening to music while I was working, I decided to listen to an audio book on Audible.
BTW....I highly recommend this "treat" which I have gifted to myself. The cost is minimal  and I get a new book every month. I listen when I can in my car or at my desk when I take a short break or as I did on Monday, while I am tinkering around the house.I still love reading a hard copy book as well. however audio books have greatly enhanced my library.
But I digress!
The book I chose to listen to, Who Moved My Cheese by Spencer Johnson, has adorned my bookshelf for at least a decade. During that time , I have probably picked it up and began reading it 15 or 20 times.It's a short read, probably something I would normally knock off on a plane ride . For some unknown reason which I have yet to figure out, I never seem to have been able to just finish reading this tale. I purchased it on Audible 2 months ago and started listening to it 2 or 3 times with out success since then.
Monday was different. 
As I was going about my chores I listened intently to the story. When I felt I was being interrupted, I paused the audio, and when I started it back up, I would rewind to 2 minutes earlier, not just pick up where I left off. 
The story was engaging.
The message was simple ,direct and to the point.
And now, it has taken its place on the top of my list of "must reads".
I would love to be able to say that I am a prolific reader. That's just not the case. I have read more in the last 3 or 4 years than I have in the last 3 or 4 decades. And while I never ,or rarely , tell any one what they should do, reading  would be high on my list of "must do" activities.and since I am putting it out there, reading something other than fiction is a plus in my book.
In his daily message today,my mentor Darren Hardy talks about gifting yourself with education. Not the 13 years of crap that was forced upon you from kindergarten until you graduated high school. He talks about real education. Learning the things that will help you be better. Learning the things that will help you be successful. Learning that helps you grow as a person.
All of this brings me back to my January word of the month...GOALS.
Yesterday I proclaimed my first goal, to complete the next phase of preparing my book. My second goal for 2017 is 1%. I will be 1% better today than I was yesterday.
Success does not happen over night. No one goes from zero to hero in the blink of an eye.
The Compound Effect ,(another must read) is the accumulated success you develop by making minor improvements on a daily basis.
The question I will answer daily is what choices can I make today that are better than the ones I made yesterday. Tomorrow will take care of itself. 
It's like the instructions on a shampoo bottle,lather rinse repeat.
If I am 1% better today than yesterday and I continue that process every single day,the road inevitably leads to success.
Just 1%.
Much like Rome, a better me is not built in a day!

January Word of the Month:GOALS

Happy New Year! 
I know, it's been a while since I have written. Sometimes life just seems to get in the way! The good news is I seem to have found a break in the action and I am taking advantage of the opportunity.
I miss my daily alone time with you.
A new year, a fresh start and an opportunity for 12 more words of the month!
This months word, GOALS!
For the last two weeks or so, as the new year was approaching and then upon me,my emails were full of messages about New Years resolutions and goal setting. It seems every personal growth guru, every self help program and every motivational speaker I follow has some advice around this topic or some challenge for the new year.
To be honest, I am no exception.
Live 2 XL Coaching also has a 2017 New Years Goal Challenge. 
Being challenged is a good thing!
Setting goals is a good thing!
Making resolutions is a good thing!
Moving forward is a good thing!
Until this morning, I have been reluctant to step up and participate in any goals challenge for 2017.
I was afraid of failing!
The Live 2 XL Goals challenge is a simple 1. I created a card on which you write your name and list your top 5 goals for the year. I give you a stamped envelope addressed to me and in December, I will send the card back to you, for you to self evaluate how you did.Simple enough and a fun exercise. 
Yet every time I started to fill out my card I stopped. Setting attainable goals is the key and my number 1 goal,finishing my book just seemed out of reach. Listing it would be setting myself up to fail.
Is that the truth or am I just being a wimp?
What was holding me back?
Why can't I visualize finishing the book?
What am I afraid of?
I decided the best way to confront this dilemma would be to bounce it off of some one else and who better than my editor.So I reached out to her and set a breakfast meeting for this morning.
After exchanging some pleasantries and a quick catch up conversation around the families I eventually got around to bringing up my reticence around filling out my goals card.
I explained what my challenge was and how I did not want to set myself up for failure . My blurted out that as I had not started out to write a book and that what I keep seeing in front of me is hundreds of thousands of words that just don't seem to tell a story since I never set out to tell a story.
And then it dawned on me. While some day, finishing my book will be and is currently the ultimate goal, I can't achieve that until I whittle the text down to something manageable.Once it is cut down to manageable, it first has to go back to my editor for editing and story construction. We then will have to add things like an introduction, a forward, a cover, artwork and a prologue. There will be thank you's and acknowledgements to be written and all sorts of sundry details and additions. No wonder "finishing" the book seems daunting!It's not even in the realm of possible yet. My immediate goal is to whittle down to 150,000 words or less. 
That's a no brainer!
I can do that!
It will take some time. 
And a lot of effort. But I can and will do that!
So my number 1 goals is to whittle away at my manifesto until I get it down to a manageable size.
Whew .....that's an easy one!
Goals are great!
Goals are necessary.
Goals must be attainable!If they aren't failure is the only possible outcome. 
And as we all know......

Failure is not an option! 

If you want to participate in 

Live 2 XL's 2017 Goals Challenge

 drop me a note!