Remember the Pony

This is one of my favorite stories of all time. Mort was an amazing speaker and delivered some powerful things while I was working at Southwestern Company.

http://ttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IY4CIPBWkKY

Remember the Pony

Tom Peters posted this on his blog
"How to survive a recession"

You work longer. You work harder. You may well work for less; and, if so, you adapt to the untoward circumstances with a smile—even if it kills you inside. You volunteer to do more. You always bring a good attitude to work. You fake it if your good attitude flags. You literally practice your "game face" in the mirror in the morning, and in the loo mid-morning. You shrug off shit that flows downhill in your direction—buy a shovel or a "pre-worn" raincoat on eBay. You get there earlier. You leave later. You forget about "the good old days"—nostalgia is for wimps. You buck yourself up with the thought that "this too shall pass"—but then remind yourself that it might not pass anytime soon, so you re-dedicate yourself to making the absolute best of what you have now. You eschew all forms of personal excess. You simplify.You sweat the details as you never have before. You sweat the details as you never have before. You sweat the details as you never have before. You raise to the sky the standards of excellence by which you evaluate your own performance. You thank others by the truckload if good things happen—and take the heat yourself if bad things happen.You behave kindly, but you don't sugarcoat or hide the truth—humans are startlingly resilient.You treat small successes as if they were Superbowl victories—and celebrate and commend accordingly.You shrug off the losses (ignoring what's going on inside your tummy), and get back on the horse and try again.You avoid negative people to the extent you can—pollution kills. You eventually read the gloom-sprayers the riot act. You learn new tricks of your trade.You network like a demon.You help others with their issues. You give new meaning to the word "thoughtful." You redouble, re-triple your efforts to "walk in your customer's shoes." (Especially if the shoes smell.)You mind your manners—and accept others' lack of manners in the face of their strains.You are kind to all mankind.You leave the blame game at the office door. You become a paragon of accountability. And then you pray.
[This post sent to you from the business lounge aboard the M/S Star, en route Tallinn to Helsinki—and fully wired, or, rather, wireless, at Sea, crossing the Gulf of Finland. Photo above.]
[The list is also available in PowerPoint.—CM]

Florida to New York

My first summer selling books was living in the town of Pottsville, PA in 2001. My two roommates and I were able to score a huge place where three priests lived from the local Catholic Church. This place was huge because at one time it had held over eight priests. Also this place was right next door to the Yuengling Beer Brewery, American’s oldest brewery. It was a great smell to wake up too every morning.
I begin to empty out of new houses with one small mining town and so it was time to move on to the next town. I slip out onto interstate 81 to get over to the next town quickly. It’s only about a 10 mile difference but I want to get over quickly to do some afternoon mapping. As I begin to slip out on the road, I notice a man hitch hiking. Strangely enough he is holding sign that just says the next town up. I picked him up and offer the lift. He gladly accepts and we are on our way. As I begin to speak with this gentleman or let him speak mostly, I figured I talked to people all day and he has been to himself, so he could do the talking. He began to speak of his past and how he had gotten to this point. Somewhere along the story I caught that he was from Florida. I ask why on Earth was headed to Frackville, PA from Florida. He replied “I’m not; I am headed to New York.” In my lack of understanding I asked about his sign. He kindly replied, “You see David, you can’t just leave Florida and write New York on your sign. That isn’t how it works. I just write the next town up. Then, when I get there, I re-write the next town up. If I keep my head up to just one town at a time, I’ll get to New York. You can’t make the long trip all at one time”
By this time I was pulling off the interstate, it was time for him to make a new sign. I gave the guy the 2 sandwiches I had packed for the day. It was the least I could offer for the life lesson. Since then I have remember that story whenever I get frustrated about not hitting my goals all at one time. It was a tremendous lesson for a 20 year old man to have for the rest of the summer and the rest of my life. I don’t have to get the end just to the next spot along the way and one day I will look up and be in New York or in my case, a sunny central American island where I scuba dive all day! So maybe that is why we are here.