Month: September 2011

I think there is something more important than believing: Action! The world is full of dreamers, there aren’t enough who will move ahead and begin to take concrete steps to actualize their vision.

W. Clement Stone

Lost in Reality

Wake up, brush teeth, get a shower, get dressed, make breakfast, pray, eat, work/school, sports, tv, more work, sleep — repeat. “Round and round we go, where we stop, no body knows.”

It’s so easy to get caught up in the cycle of every day life. So much stuff to do, so that we can buy more stuff, and do more stuff.

Every now and then, something really sticks with me. This past Sunday, our pastor said “there is one thing for certain, 100% of us will die one day, no one is getting out of here alive.” It’s an obvious statement but maybe not something we think about enough.

It is so easy to spend so much time worrying about things that have no real value but in the moment can seem monumental.

One of my favorite passages in the Bible is this:

25 "Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? 28And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, 29yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33But seek firstthe kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. 34 "Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

– Matthew 6:25-34

We are on this earth for a limited time, the blink of an eye in the span of eternity, but why? Is it simply to accumulate stuff, worry about how we can get more stuff and not lose the stuff we have? Or could it be to glorify God and bring him praise?

Some say there is no God, but no one argues that we won’t make it out of this place alive. Do we just turn to dust or is the heaven (and hell) of the Bible real? I believe it is and need to be reminded regularly not to get too caught up in this life (both joys and sorrows).

Life is busy and it’s easy to get lost in reality. Maybe we all need to take a deep breath, step back, and ask God to show us a little more of his perfect plan.

Project Management and Waiting Tables

Waiting tables should be a requirement for life. Learning to serve others, quickly, with lots of details, and with a good attitude is not an easy job. It takes long hours on your feet, lots of focus, and lots of patients.

Great waters would make great project managers. Regardless of the business, a project manager is very similar to a waiter. They service a variety of customers at once, have a certain rotation, and often work from the time a custom sits down until the time they pay the bill.

Project management requires focus and discipline with task management. If a table has sat around too long and not given you their order (or feedback on a project), it can be easy to let them slip out of rotation and hard to keep track of. If you take sloppy notes, it can be easy to get the order wrong.

Project managers should study good waters and learn something.

Apple Support is How Customer Support Should Be

Apple’s customer support is incredible.

I have been having an issue with the home button on my iPhone not working correctly. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. Needless to say, it’s extremely annoying.

I went over to Apple’s Service & Repair website today and had a great experience with the repair process. Visited the site, entered my serial number and then clicked for Apple to “call me now”. Entered my phone number and appleid and password. A few moments later, my phone rang with a friendly customer support rep located just north of me in Savannah, GA (not India or anywhere else).

I explained the situation and in less than 10 minutes, she had setup an express repair order. According to the representative, I’ll have a new iPhone overnighted to me and in my hands tomorrow. (no cost to me… other than the AppleCare warranty I purchased over a year ago)

So in less than 30 minutes from the time I decided to contact them, I had spoken to a rep and have a new phone on the way. Thats how support should work everywhere.