The politics of envy and what to do about it
Conway Daily Sun, February 8, 2012
By Michael Kline

When you feel envious, is it because you really want something or is it just a habit? Sometimes we say we want something, but we really don’t. Envy is not a friend. The world is a circle, and there is always someone much richer and much poorer than you. To envy is a major waste of time, as it cannot ever be satisfied.

Lately there’s been a lot of talk about envy in the news. You don’t need to be a cable TV junkie to see how even well-intended words can cause an uproar when words are poorly placed, taken out of context, or simply disagreeable. The phrase “politics of envy” seems to be one of the many new “code-phrases” politicians use because they know that their intended audience will understand them with a different twist than what other people think they mean. One person might think it means that people without money are just jealous and have nothing to complain about. Someone else might think the phrase means that some certain types of people are too lazy to work and only want government handouts. The politician brilliantly (or hideously depending on your point of view) lets his audience decide on their own, who he’s talking about. Each listener will insert either themselves or some minority group, or political group into the equation. That’s the brilliant part of using code words; you don’t have to defend what you let people think all by themselves. I don’t use code words. I am clearly stating that in my opinion, if you look at what other people have, and you think you want it, you can choose to complain about it, or you can empower yourself to do something about it.

Let’s talk about envy. On occasion, I am verbally assaulted with words like “easy for you – you have money”.  In my volunteer work, I hear people say things like “there’s no help for the poor to get started, everyone wants to keep us down”, or “no one will lend me money or give me a grant, or give me a chance, so I can’t start anything”. Knowing these people are suffering and have been fed (or fed themselves) a lot of brain-washing crap, I try to answer with encouragement. To be honest, my true feeling is that of astonishment and I want to say WTF? (win the future)!  I could almost say I understand how Mitt Romney must feel when he talks the politics of envy. (oh relax, I said almost)!     

Give or take a few hundred million dollars, I’m wealthy too, although still poor enough to be in a much higher tax bracket than real millionaires! My wealth is measured in blessings of family, friends, an ability to work, and personal traits such as creativity and tenacity, that allow me to create whatever I need.  Speaking about material wealth, at the poorest point in life I slept in my car and showered at work while between couch surfing and finding a room for rent. These days, I am enjoying my personal and financial freedom as I have defined it for me. I suspect many more affluent folks would freak if they had to live within my means, but as I said the world is a circle and this stuff is all relative. My point is that I am qualified to make the argument I am about to make, so if you find yourself wanting more from life, pay attention. I can’t imagine how most people couldn’t achieve at least enough to be comfortable and take care of themselves and their family.

Mostly, it takes wanting something.  I mean really, really want it. Most people don’t have a clue how to figure out what they really want, so start with this clue to know what you don’t want – if you are not willing to do the really hard work to get something, you’re not talking about something you really want, or you would just shut up and do it. I really wanted out of poverty – it turns out, I don’t enjoy poverty and I never want to see it again. Today I have a home I love, in a neighborhood I love, in the town I love, because I worked 7 days a week for most of twenty years. Smarter people might have accomplished much more in less time, but this is how I know that with enough passion and tenacity, anyone can do it eventually. We’ve renovated and flipped eight homes over the years, while most people would not be willing to live in renovation hell for two years at a time only to sell their home and move again and again. Constant disruption and stress is a price I’m willing to pay to get what I want. It’s just choices. Our current home (like every previous home) we bought at a steal which took three years of house-hunting to find.  Most people don’t have that level of patience, so they might make a different choice. Patience is a price I’m willing to pay to get what I want.  We worked fourteen hours last Friday and fifteen hours on Saturday, tiling floors. I felt like I did twenty years ago when we did our first house – excited, proud, rewarded, exhausted and aching. It’s a price I’m willing to pay to get what I want. The reward is I have no complaints and most everything I want.

Nothing is free, but everything is affordable.  Anything that costs money can be gotten without it. It doesn’t take huge talent to achieve something – consider most best-selling products and services today are mediocre at best.  You don’t have to be particularly smart – I’ve seen plenty of idiots achieve great results just out of pure commitment. You don’t need money or friends – you can make both. You don’t need looks or style – you have to figure out what you want, determine what it will cost to get it, then go about paying that price. Go get ‘em!

Disclaimer – in no way, shape or form, am I saying people don’t need our support and help. There are far too many people who do not have resources to make a change in their life. Not everyone lives in a community that enjoys our opportunities. Not everyone has the minimum level of skill to even read this article. Lots of people need government or charitable help, I just don’t want you to be among them if you don’t have to be. If you have resources, please share them – money may be the least helpful compared to advice, encouragement, education, inspiration, etc.
Michael Kline is a local retailer, success coach and trainer. He may be reached through his website, www.klineseminars.com, or e-mail, mike@klineseminars.com.

The Entreprenologist
Conway Daily Sun, January 25, By Michael Kline

It’s the most exciting time of the year once again. Only seven shopping days left until Ground Hog day. I know your busy planning your menus, decorating your house and sending out Ground Hog day cards, but I want you to take just a moment to consider what the big holiday really means.

Throughout history, we have looked for clues about our future. We look to the stars, to the seasons, soothsayers, fortune tellers, wooly caterpillars and ground hogs to help us predict what is about to happen to us. If this is beginning to sound silly, consider the fact that today, we’ve gone really crazy and started listening to cable news channels! If we accept that it is our nature to worry about the future, what is a sensible person to do?

You are your own best prognosticator. (Well maybe second only to Punxsutawny Phil). I argue that the best way to predict the future is to create it yourself. Let’s not worry about pessimists saying the economy is going to be slow for another year or five. Let’s make our own economy better! When you take a proactive stance, assume responsibility for your own future and take action, you can change anything you want in your life. From cooking skills to diet to business and relationships, you are in charge.  So what are you going to do about it?!

This is mostly (sometimes) a business column, so let’s talk work-related ideas.  Ask yourself what you can do with the resources you already have. Turn off the news and spend an hour listing all the little talents, creativity, friends, contacts, and ideas you have available to you.  Perhaps you had ideas a few years ago that you dismissed; today might be a great day to revitalize them. In challenging times, old ideas might more sense than they did a few years ago. There are more people in the market for new ideas, better ideas, new ways to feel better, new ways to save money, and even better ways to spend money. Not everyone is looking to spend less, but almost everyone is looking to spend more carefully and more wisely. Perhaps you could help. Next, it’s time to do some math. Calculate what it takes to make a return on your ideas. What would it take and what would be the return if you could you increase productivity, save money, improve cash flow, or make more sales? Stop telling me you need someone to lend you money – you really don’t. Using only what financial or creative resources you already have available to you, write down things you can do to start in the right direction. Get going, take action, do research, go meet people that could help, and the right people and resources start to show up in the most unexpected places.

The most important action you can take to improve your own economy is to accept that it is your personal responsibility. Please understand, I’m not using “personal responsibility” as political code words for abolishing assistance programs; I’m just saying that chances are, if you have the ability to get and read this paper, you have the power to do something to positively influence your future.

Happy Ground hog day, and may your next six weeks be filled with creative planning, excited implementation of new ideas and encouraging results. If not, spring will arrive eventually anyway.

Michael Kline is a local retailer, success coach and trainer. He may be reached through his website, www.klineseminars.com, or e-mail, mike@klineseminars.com.

The Entreprenologist
Conway Daily Sun, January 9, 2012
By Michael Kline
In our last column of 2011, we talked about four ideas behind making 2012 the best year it can be.  Almost half of the first month is already over, so how’s it going so far?
Don’t beat yourself up too much. Yet. We have more than 11 ½ months left to get something done!  Perhaps we make it sound too simple when we write these end-of-year articles with tips for a better new year. Real life requires far more than can be written in a quick-tips column, but that’s why they’re called tips. They aren’t the complete, everything you need to know and do answer book, they’re just tips. Your job, if you want to achieve your goals, is to figure out how to implement them in your real life.
My four top tips were about what to do, how to do it, cash flow and having the right people.  Basically, to make sure you have the right people doing the right things and being able to afford to do them.
I bet you have lots of goals. You’ve probably done the work of clarifying your goals and putting them in writing. I’m willing to bet you have the talent to do what you need to do and you probably know what you should be doing. Assuming you have the cash to do these things, why are you not achieving every personal goal or fantasy you have?
The big missing element would be follow-through.  Most people who are creative enough to get this far in goal setting, scheming and planning, often lack the self-discipline to stick to their plan and do the hard work of executing their plan. Or, they rely on others to do the work to their high expectations, and fail to get the results they want from others. This is called failure to execute and it’s not pretty.

Fortunately, “failure to execute” is curable. The cure involves three-pronged approach of goals, data and rhythm.  First, you and everyone around you must clearly understand your top priority. We call this focus and alignment and we have lots of tricks for achieving it. Next, we need to know what metrics matter most – how do you measure progress? What are the indicators of trouble? What do we monitor and strive for?  This is the data element on which all eyes concentrate.  Thirdly, you need a rhythm to keep the energy and discipline going.  We teach that your strategic plan is written annually, modified quarterly, monitored weekly and pulsed daily.  Never, should you have a work day where you don’t know what you should be doing. Using this formula properly can drive your productivity to levels you’ve never experienced before. This can be an exhilarating and scary ride and is not for the faint of heart.  Many people need to work for someone else to be this productive.  When working for oneself, there is no outside accountability to which we must answer.  All the brains and all the planning in the world won’t help without the commitment and accountability to the system that drives success.  I dare you to ask me how to create the accountability – go ahead, just ask me!

Conway Daily Sun Dec 27, 2012
By Michael Kline
1.       Planning – do the right things. Duh. Sounds so simple it’s almost stupid, but seriously, how do some people always know (or seem to know) what is the right thing to do?  People that have better luck than others at knowing what to do aren’t just lucky. They go to industry trade shows, conventions or meetings and they read the trade journals and top rated blogs for their industry to stay abreast of the latest trends and available tools. They keep accurate records at their own business, so they know what past efforts worked the best and repeat and improve upon them. They use industry standards as well as their own benchmarks to set goals and develop strategy to achieve those goals, with careful monitoring along the way. By the way, successful people don’t really always know what to do. They sometimes do the wrong things, fail without dwelling on it, and move on to the next thing. Mistakes are ok.
2.       Cash flow – make sure you can afford to do the right things.  Success is almost as expensive and failure.  Sometimes, success can lead to failure if it isn’t properly funded. Most people, who have asked me for help in finding a loan, didn’t need a loan at all. If you have cash flow, and you want to expand, then a loan might be for you. If you’re having trouble keeping up with the bills, you probably don’t need and can’t get a loan. If your business isn’t earning enough cash to pay the bills, how will it pay the bills plus the new debt?!  The loan only works if it is used to change something so that you will be able to pay the bills and the debt.  Most small businesses carry far too much accounts receivable and they don’t need to. If you think you need to, call me and let’s talk about it – you probably really don’t need to!  Here’s the simple truth – nothing solves problems like cash. Nothing makes cash like sales. Plan your sales calls and the amount of cash that will produce. Plan carefully though, because if you’re good really at growing, you’ll run out of cash – growth is expensive, but it’s much easier to fund.
3.       People – have the right people doing the right things.  Do you have the right people? Do they know what to do and how to do it?  Are you the right person?  I’ve often argued that it’s very difficult to find the right people.  And, if you find them, they’ll leave you because they’re self-motivated to do their own thing. Or, they would stay but you can’t afford them. For these reasons, I believe in growing your own people. This is hard work, but with the right systems, ordinary people can produce extraordinary results.  Even the largest of companies in the world, rely on pure talent of individuals for too many decisions and too many processes that could be systematized. You need the best people you can get, but don’t expect too much from the incapable, and don’t try to hold down the capable just because you need them. Better to rely less on people and more on systems.
4.       Systems – so the right things can be repeated with predictability. People don’t run successful businesses, systems do. Excellent people run the systems to produce predictable results.

Best wishes to all my clients, students and readers for a kinder and more prosperous 2012.

Conway Daily Sun Article Dec 14, 2012
By Michael Kline
Did you know that researchers say half the big Black-Friday deals are less expensive two weeks later?  Did your heart just start to race a little? How much do you want to confirm you got a real deal?  We all love a bargain - not just cheap stuff, but a real value we can rest easy with and feel good about.

We don't like to overpay with our finances, yet we often over-pay with our emotions.  You see, when we're facing anything that upsets us - say a difficult person at work, an especially challenging relative or maybe a simple event like other drivers or slow lines at the grocery store that irritate us. If only we had a price tag on each event that would tell us what each event should cost, we would know exactly how much to pay emotionally; how much energy and upset-ness we should put into a specific event. Then, it would be clear that any amount of excessive negativity and wasted emotion would be over-payment. We wouldn't get overly upset very often if it were this simple.

Now we just need a way to put a price tag on life's upsetting events, so we don't emotionally overpay. Forty years ago, Dr. Tom Miller created a system for this where he asks us to assign a bodily injury value to people, situations or events that upset us. His idea creates a "price" scale of 1 to a 100. On his scale, a 1 is a gnat bite, a 3 is a bruise, a 20 a laceration requiring stitches, and as you go higher on the scale the worse the injury becomes as you "progress" through breaking a limb, losing a limb, losing all limbs and ending with the 100 which is death. When we think of an event that upsets us, we can decide what we would pay to have that event gone from our life. We've all heard the figure of speech "I'd give my left arm to...", so if the person or event that upsets you is so bad, what bodily injury would you be willing to suffer to make it go away? A bruise? a cut? a broken arm? oh, that's what I thought - it's not as bad as all that.

To avoid overpaying when you feel yourself getting upset, simply give it a body part - or maybe it's only worth a hangnail, and say "This event is worth about a hangnail, and I can stand a hangnail." When you get more upset than something is worth you're overpaying.

It's not that we shouldn't get upset at all, life requires us to get reasonably and appropriately upset sometimes. But, when you let things go without getting overly upset, you never overpay. When you let things go without getting upset at all, you get a real bargain! Don't you just love a bargain?

Michael Kline is a local retailer, success coach and trainer. He may be reached through his website, www.klineseminars.com, or e-mail, mike@klineseminars.com.

What will 2012 bring?
Daily Sun Column Nov.

By Michael Kline

Happiness? Prosperity? Wealth? Disaster? Mediocrity? You don’t get a lot of holiday cards wishing you all the mediocrity of the season and best wishes for a “financially adequate” new year. Greeting cards always wish for a prosperous new year. If we invested as much as we spent on cards wishing for prosperity, we’d all be rich! Ok, maybe that’s a bit overstated, and I kind of miss the days when we all sent and received lots of cards every year. Somehow an E-card just doesn’t have the same flair, and definitely doesn’t look as nice on the mantel! But, I digress.

Wishing for prosperity next year? Why not plan on it? It is very easy to worry about all the things that might go wrong next year. Will we have a double-dip recession? What if sales fall off next year? What if we don’t have enough help, enough snow, enough visitors, enough clients, enough patience or enough money to make it through the slow times? What will you do?

It turns out, it’s just as easy to imagine what if you had enough snow, enough visitors, enough clients, enough patience and enough money – worrying takes exactly the same amount of imagining that it takes to speculate on your prosperity!  The part that is easier about worrying is it doesn’t require a plan or any real thinking. Some people don’t mind thinking – perhaps that’s you. Most people prefer not to have to think a lot. Finally, there are too many people who would rather die than be required to think. I expect that you are in one of the first two categories of practicing thinkers.

So thinking about your prosperity for 2012, let’s consider financial, personal, relationships, your home, family; the whole package. Let’s pretend it is December 2012. What would your life look like if all goes well next year? Specifically, how would you be getting along in that relationship you’re worried about? Exactly what will your home look and feel like? Precisely how much money will you have available to you? If you have debt, how much will be paid off? How much weight will you have lost? How much smoking will you have quit? How much time will you be spending with the people most important to you?  You can’t wish for these things – that only pushes them further away. You must work on these things. This work begins with written goals and a written plan on what it takes to reach those goals. Then, it takes a certain magic most people never find.

The missing magic link is follow-through. Some call it commitment, discipline, accountability or maybe rhythm. You must find a source for this critical element without which you’re back to hoping and wishing. You might find inspiration for the follow-through from a variety of sources such as motivational tapes, joining clubs or organizations, or hiring a private coach. For weight loss or fitness, you could join weight-watchers, commit to join a disciplined friend for daily walks, join a sports activity like weekly skiing to stay more active, or hire a personal trainer or coach. For personal issues as well as financial and business issues, there are clubs and organizations that can help, personal specialists, advisors, even an entreprenologist. The point is, without the commitment or accountability, your goals are back to being wishes. Start thinking about what you want 2012 to be like for you. Think about some resolutions/goals to make between now and January (resolutions made after three glasses of bubbly don’t count). Most importantly, find a source to support you with the follow-through to turn it into reality. Coincidentally, my goal for 2012 is to find one or two more business coaching clients; my wish for you is that your prosperity dreams come true in 2012.

Conway Daily Sun
Wed. Oct 26,2011
By Michael Kline

Customer service is too often measured in much the same way as humor or common sense is measured. Almost everyone thinks they, themselves are the very definition of common sense, and that they have the appropriate sense of humor.

Ironically, the person I know who complains most about other people not having any common sense, is himself, the person who in my opinion, has the least common sense of anyone I know.  I mean he doesn’t have the good sense to come in out of the rain. He’s the kind of person who would test the depth of the river with both feet.  Seriously, at work you probably know him (or maybe you are him); he laughs at constant stupid mistakes, as if a little laughter makes it go away (which it can if the mistakes aren’t costing the business money).  The point is this person likes to complain about everyone else in terms of their lack of common sense. It would be hysterical if it wasn’t so frustrating. So let me ask you - do you think that most people are the best judge of their own level of common sense?

Here’s the problem. When you look around your business, and you think you offer pretty good customer service, do you think you are the best and most accurate measure of the reality your customers actually experience?  Me either.

How do you measure customer service? It’s pretty easy, actually.  You create a system that produces results based on real customer information rather than your gut feeling. Depending on the business, it might make sense to survey customers online, in person or with comment cards. Some might need to mix deeper questions into their regular customer contact conversations.  The method can be whatever is appropriate for you, but you need do need to have some method. Then you simply record the responses.  Once you have this information, you can immediately learn about areas of improvement as well as new sales opportunities.  A number of other benefits can come out of this process, which will be valuable in strategic planning, but we’ll save that for another day. Once you have the data, you can watch for trends over time, between different locations, staff, during various promotions, etc.  Many variables may affect the customer experience without you knowing it unless you measure it. This works a lot like the way you measure your closing ratios (you do, don’t you?)  The story is usually told not by the responses, but by the change in responses.

So how is good customer service killing you?  No one complains about mediocre service. No one complains about general indifference.  If you’re not measuring it, you think a lack of complaints defines good service.  Meanwhile, your customer goes away thinking you really don’t appreciate them.  Indifference may not cause an immediate complaint, but it definitely does not build any sense of loyalty. It does not earn a referral or repeat visit. With only adequate customer service, even the slightest influence steers that customer to your competitors without thinking of you ever again.  It costs a lot of money to get the first- time customer. It costs nothing to keep them as a repeat customer. Some businesses spend so much money getting a customer in the door, it takes several purchases before they start to make a profit on that customer.  Does it make sense to measure the most important aspect of your operation that determines whether or not you keep them and ever make any money?

I am convinced that gross indifference – actively avoiding eye contact with a customer or pretending to be busy to avoid helping a customer is about the rudest behavior a retailer can have and it’s so common it practically epidemic.  I know you’re not okay with that. What are you going to do about it?

Perhaps even more telling, is that while larger companies hire me to teach customer service on site, I don’t even offer a public customer service seminar because so few people think they need it. Hmmmm.

Feel free to share your thoughts at facebook.com/klineseminars.

Michael Kline is a local retailer, success coach and trainer. He may be reached through his website, www.klineseminars.com, or e-mail, mike@klineseminars.com.

Conway Daily Sun
Wed. Oct. 19, 2011
By Michael Kline

Wouldn’t it be great if happiness could be found in a seminar?  Pay close attention to the workbook, note good notes, and go home to live happily ever-after?  Let’s face it, if there was such a seminar, unhappy people would not be inclined to attend because much of unhappiness comes from the attitude that things are bad and it’s going to stay that way.

It turns out there are many seminars on finding happiness; most may be a bit abstract for the mainstream market. Most also assign too much homework for the chronically unhappy to bother with.

Setting aside the complexities offered by some great gurus and philosophers, theologians and psychologists, I’m convinced this is a pretty simple subject. I’m not saying it is easy; I’m saying it is simple. Albert Ellis, PhD, developed Rational Emotive Therapy back in the 1950’s. The simplicity, with which this concept (now called Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy) helps us live more enjoyable lives, makes me wonder why this isn’t taught everywhere.

Much of the work surrounds the concept of taking control of our emotions and taking responsibility for how we feel and how we behave in response to those feelings. Too often, we blame others for our feelings. For example, have you ever said “He makes me mad.  She frustrates me. The boss got me upset this morning. or Tourists tick me off with their driving.”?

We blame others because we see them as the source of our feelings, when in fact, our own subconscious mind  has been programmed to interpret the meaning of events and how we feel as a result.

We then respond, or behave according to those feelings. In situations like this, STOP trusting your feelings! It’s time to stop acting in negative and counter-productive ways based on how we feel. We need to act differently than we feel in order to break the cycle and reprogram our minds with neutral thoughts. Notice I did not say positive thoughts; positive isn’t necessarily the solution to negative. To develop the skill of thinking before responding to an event is to put you in control. To be programmed to always respond positively might leave you at times, being too passive to protect yourself. The goal is to not rely on pre-programmed responses from our subconscious mind, but to spend our energy on actually thinking.

This sounds like a lot of work, but with practice, it becomes second nature. If you were shopping for any other item to enjoy, you might want the best, most custom made-just-for-you, guaranteed to fit solution. So when shopping for happiness, does it make sense that you would want the custom made, well thought-out behavior to every situation?

When we behave in reasonable ways for the situation, when we eliminate the negative talk to others, and especially to ourselves, we end up much happier. Do you get feeling down when you hear someone constantly complaining and putting you down? Are you sure those voices aren’t in your own head?

Michael Kline is a local retailer, success coach and trainer. He may be reached through his website, www.klineseminars.com, or e-mail, mike@klineseminars.com.