David J. Pollay's Blog

Monday Morning Momentum™: Be Happier - Let More Pass You By

                                

Welcome to Monday Morning Momentum!  Each Monday I lay out a simple momentum plan for you to follow: I help you focus on one thing each week that will increase your momentum in your career, business, and life.  Thanks for being here!  Best to you, David 

----------------------------------------------------------------

Be Happier - Let More Pass You ByÓ

Many people complain

If you sit in a café long enough, you will hear people complain about almost everything.  And if you listen closely enough, the complaints are mostly about the behavior of other people. 

But, if you want to be happy…

But, if you want to be happy, you know that this is not the way to go.  You know one of the most powerful keys to happiness is to follow The Law of the Garbage Truck.  The key is to let the negative things you cannot control pass you by without taking them personally. 

This week

Do two things this week.

(1)  Make it a point to focus on what is important to you.  Don’t allow anyone or anything to distract you from what you care about. 

Try not to be bothered by any of the following:

• Bad drivers
• Rude waiters
• Poorly trained customer service representatives
• Aggressive sales people
• Insensitive colleagues
• People who don’t hold the door open for you
• Bosses who aren’t friendly
• Employees who criticize your ideas
• People on talk radio
• Negative television hosts
• Telemarketers

(2)    Who else should be on your list?  How many more people could you let pass by without taking them personally?  Add these people to your list now. 

And remember to breathe deeply each time you let a Garbage Truck pass you by this week.  And then congratulate yourself for doing it.

Invite your family, friends, and colleagues to join you.

Please post your experience this week, or email me at david@davidjpollay.com with your story. 

And if you want your family, friends, and colleagues to join you on your Monday Morning Momentum mission, send this post along to them.

Have a great week, and let me know how it goes!

*********

And remember you can sign up for my newsletter, Monthly Momentum Minutesä, right here.

Monday Morning Momentum™: It’s Your Turn to Let a Garbage Truck Pass By

Welcome to Monday Morning Momentum! Each Monday I lay out a simple momentum plan for you to follow: I help you focus on one thing each week that will increase your momentum in your career, business, and life.  Thanks for being here!  Best to you, David

-----------------------------------------------

It's Your Turn to Let a Garbage Truck Pass ByÓ

When you let Garbage Trucks pass you by, you become happier and more successful.  And when you stop spreading garbage to others, your relationships improve, your business grows, and your family thrives.  If you have not yet read “Beware of Garbage Trucks!ä - The Law of the Garbage Truckä,” read it here.

Last week our Monday Morning Momentumä mission was to observe someone else stopping the Cycle of Garbage by letting a Garbage Truck pass them by.  Now it’s your turn:  Help stop the Cycle of Garbage and feed the Cycle of Love.

This Week

Look for at least one opportunity to let a Garbage Truck pass you by.  And then do it: Let the Garbage Truck pass by.  Then learn from your experience by answering these three questions:

·       How did it feel to let the Garbage Truck pass you by?

·       How did you benefit by letting the Garbage Truck pass you by?

·       How did you help your business and your family by letting the Garbage Truck pass you by?

Congratulate Yourself

Remember to congratulate yourself for letting a Garbage Truck pass by.  Feel good in knowing that you stopped the Cycle of Garbage and fed the Cycle of Love.

Please post your experience this week, or email me at david@davidjpollay.com with your story.  I want to recognize you.  I may include your story (with your permission) in my syndicated newspaper column, or in my book due out this fall, Beware of Garbage Trucks! – The Law of the Garbage Truck™.

Together we can make the world a more beautiful place.

Thanks for your help!

Invite your family, friends, and colleagues to join you.

And if you want your family, friends, and colleagues to join you on your Monday Morning Momentum mission, send this post along to them.

Have a great week, and let me know how it goes!

And remember you can sign up for my newsletter, Monthly Momentum Minutesä, right here.

Part II of the Interview

Last week I told you about my interview on the Google/YouTube news program, The Watercooler Diaries with Kate Bohner.  Kate is a former CNBC Journalist and co-author with Donald Trump of the best-selling book, The Art of the Comeback.  She did a two-part series on my company, The Momentum Project.

In the second part of the program, Kate asked me to talk about The Law of the Garbage Truck™.  So, I shared with her a short version of my story.  Here’s the full article:  Beware of Garbage Trucks!™ The Law of the Garbage Truck™.

You’ll also see footage of my leading the great teachers and leaders of The Village Academy School in Delray Beach, Florida, through the first part of The No Garbage Trucks! Pledge.™  To see the entire No Garbage Trucks! Pledge™, check out the short clip from my television program, The Happiness Answer™.

Here’s Part II of the interview.

And if you missed Part I of Kate’s Program where I tell my “Sticker Story,” watch it here.

Thanks for watching!  I hope you like it.

* Remember to check out Kate Bohner’s new series based in L.A., Profiles In Courage.

Monday Morning Momentum™: Spread Love, Not Garbage!™

Welcome to Monday Morning Momentum! Each Monday I lay out a simple momentum plan for you to follow: I help you focus on one thing each week that will increase your momentum in your career, business, and life.  Thanks for being here!  Best to you, David

-----------------------------------------------
Spread Love, Not Garbage!™

Based on The Law of the Garbage Truck™

I recently took my little girls, five-year-old Eliana and four-year-old Ariela, into Blockbuster Video to rent the movie Ratatouille. We found the movie on the shelf and took it to the counter to pay. And then we waited. And we waited.

My girls and I waited as the sales clerk handled a customer service issue on the telephone. The sales clerk signaled with her eyes that she knew that we were there. Her message was that she would help us as soon as possible. And so we waited. 

I could tell that the customer on the telephone was being difficult and would not let the sales clerk off the phone. This was putting even more pressure on her because she was the only one working in the store and customers were lining up behind us. 

So I turned away from the counter and started talking to my girls about the popcorn we would make when we got home.  Just then the sales clerk hung up the telephone and invited me to step forward. 

“I apologize for the wait,” she said.

I said, “It sounds like you had a tough customer on the line.”

She said, “Yeah, but that’s OK. It’s all right.”

I knew she was frustrated, but she was doing her best not to let it show. I handed her my money for the rental. She put the movie in a bag and handed it to me. I said thanks, and my girls and I walked to the exit.

Stopping the Cycle of Garbage.  Feeding the Cycle of Love.

And before we reached the door, my little girls started to debate who would get to carry the bag. I stopped. I knew the drill. I had to break the impasse. When I was just about to tell them how we would decide who would have the honor of carrying the bag this time, the sales clerk came out from behind the counter, and walked over to us. She was carrying another bag in her hand with a catalogue tucked inside. The sales clerk leaned down, smiled at my girls, and said, “I have another bag for you girls. One of you can carry the new bag and one of you can carry the bag with the movie. You both get to carry a bag. How’s that?” 

My girls looked at each other, smiled, and said, “Ohhhhh…thank you.” The sales clerk gave me a big smile, and said, “I have two girls. I know about these things.” She proudly walked back to her next customer. And I walked my girls to the car feeling grateful.

Our sales clerk had a choice to make. She could either have fed the Cycle of Garbage in the world or she could have fed the Cycle of Love. Our sales clerk chose to stop the garbage and feed the love. She followed The Law of the Garbage Truck. She let a difficult experience with a customer pass her by. She focused on what she could control. With that decision, our sales clerk made the world a more beautiful place. 

Good people like my sales clerk are all around us. Let’s find them together. Let’s acknowledge them and recognize them.

This Week’s Monday Morning Momentum Project

This week let’s help stop the Cycle of Garbage and feed the Cycle of Love.  Look for at least one instance that someone in your life let a Garbage Truck pass him or her by.  Then take note of three things:

(1)    How did it help the individual to let the Garbage Truck pass by?

(2)    How did you benefit when that individual let the Garbage Truck pass by?

(3)    And how did the world become a better place when that individual decided to let the Garbage Truck pass by?

Finally, remember to tell the person who stopped the Cycle of Garbage how much you appreciate what he or she did.

Please post your experience this week, or email me at david@davidjpollay.com with your story.  I want to recognize the people who are stopping the Cycle of Garbage and feeding the Cycle of Love.  I may include your story (with your permission) in my syndicated newspaper column, or in my book due out this fall, Beware of Garbage Trucks! – The Law of the Garbage Truck™. 

Together we can make the world a more beautiful place.

Thanks for your help! 

Invite Your Family, Friends, and Colleagues to Join You

And if you want your colleagues, friends, and family to join you on your Monday Morning Momentum mission, send this post along to them.

Have a great week, and let me know how it goes!

My “Sticker Story” on YouTube

Do you know my “Sticker Story?”  I tell this story in my speeches and seminars to help people understand the power of positive emotion in their lives. 

Recently I told the story in an interview on the Google/YouTube news program, The Watercooler Diaries.  The show is hosted by Kate Bohner, a former CNBC Journalist and co-author with Donald Trump of the best-selling book, The Art of the Comeback.  Kate did a two-part series on The Momentum Project and my work.  The program is just about 4 minutes long.

You can watch Part I here.

Let me know what you think.  And if you’d like to post a comment and rate Kate’s program, click here.

P.S.  You can read my original Sticker Story and the Power of Positive Emotion here.  Make sure to tell me if you need some stickers!  Have a wonderful day!

Don’t Let Garbage Trucks Cloud Your Judgment©

I ordered a cup of tea at Starbucks today.  After I paid, I walked over to the counter where the milk, sugar, and napkins are kept.  And as I made my way across the cafe, I saw a woman leaning against the counter waiting for someone.  She saw me, smiled, and stepped back so I could reach the milk.

She said, “Sorry about that.”

And I said, “That’s okay.  Standing there is a great way to meet people.”

She said, “You’re right.  I should probably try that.  It’s so hard to meet people around here.” 

“Really,” I said.  “Why?”

“People are so rude!” she said.

I responded with curiosity, “How long have you been here?”

“We moved down here yesterday,” she quickly said.

I then told her that I had lived in the area for five years, and that the people around here are nice.  In fact, they are as friendly as in any other part of the world where I have worked, studied, or visited.  And then I smiled and told her to make sure that she counts me in her “nice people” column! She laughed.  I told her my name was David.  She said hers was Jane.  I wished her well, and we said goodbye.

I walked out of the cafe and I was struck by one thing.  Jane seemed nice, but she jumped to a conclusion about more than a million people in less than 48 hours.

So, consider these questions.  When Jane decided “people are so rude” around here, how large was her sample of people?  And what was her attitude when she interacted with these people?  What was she saying?  What was she doing?  And will her judgment of the people here help her to make friends, or will it limit her ability to connect with people?

It’s possible that Jane had run into a few Garbage Trucks in the very short time she had been here.  However, her problem is that she let negative experiences with a few people cloud her view of the rest of the world.

You know better.  When you encounter Garbage Trucks in your life, let them pass by.  Don’t take them personally:  Just smile, wave, wish them well, and move on.  When you do, you free yourself to enjoy your best possible life.  This is the best time for you to meet people. 

Strategies for Recovering from Garbage Trucks

Thanks for all of your comments on the Beware of Garbage Trucks!™ blog and for all of your email! I am so glad that you have joined the No Garbage Trucks!™ Revolution!

We become happy when we stop accepting garbage in our lives, and we make the world a more beautiful place when we stop spreading garbage to others. Together we are making a difference.

While the best strategy in life is to steer clear of Garbage Trucks, there are times when a Garbage Truck is so big it is hard for you to get out of the way. And so you might get hit, or at least grazed by a Garbage Truck. Then your mood will change: You will take on the mood of the Garbage Truck. And then you will no longer be focused on what is important and good in your life.

So, I will share with you in my blog a number of strategies that you can use to free yourself of the influence of Garbage Trucks. Stay connected; I will share the first one of these this week.

I’m glad you’re here.

Have a wonderful day!

David