Comfort Levels…Good or Bad?

by | Dec 23, 2015 | Really? The Personal ScLoHo

There’s the saying that you should step out of your comfort zone and see what else is out there.

There’s also another saying that once you have reached your destination, enjoy it.

Both are appropriate but in different circumstances.

In the business and marketing world I live in, I see businesses that stagnate because they are not keeping up with the times.   I also see them flounder because they are chasing all the bright and shiny new marketing platforms without a way to determine which they should consider.

I can help with that, and you are probably too close to your business to determine this solo.

Now step over to the comfort levels in your personal life.

Relationships are the heart of these comfort levels and we’d be foolish to pretend that our work relationships are not part of our personal life.  After all, we spend the majority of our awake hours working.  Or at least that is at the top of the list of activities we do each week. ScLoHo's Really

Are you working in a comfort level or is there an uncomfort level you need to change in the year ahead?

I can honestly say without hesitation that my position with Federated Media in Fort Wayne is one of the best fits ever for me.  I get to work with a guy who I helped get started in the radio business 10 years ago.  Ben Saurer is the WOWO Radio General Sales Manager and the reason I decided to join WOWO back in 2013.

For the previous 2 1/2 years, I was in 3 different positions with 3 different companies.  Something I had absolutely no intention of doing.  I walked away from Summit City Radio after 8 1/2 years to work for a website development company and by this time of the year in 2011, I knew I had to find something else.  That something else was a return to radio but again around Christmas time 2012, I began looking again.  When I left those stations for a full time position in Social Media, I was in it for the long haul, but the position changed and I decided to leave. Within a year, all of my coworkers left too.

I stayed for 10 months at each of those 3 companies and I could have stayed forever at any of them if I wanted to, but it comes back to comfort levels.

I’ll wrap this up with a little wisdom I learned:  No matter where you work, the one constant is you.  So take the time to discover you and what makes you comfortable.  The change you need may be internal or external but you should try and find out before you make any changes.

Don’t be afraid to prepare and make changes and may you one day discover a really good fit in your comfort zone like I have.

 

Alone in a Crowded Room

by | Apr 17, 2015 | Really? The Personal ScLoHo

A few nights ago I decided to write about a habit of mine that is probably more common than I realize, but someone mentioned to me that they didn’t understand it.

In Fort Wayne, there are a number of coffee shops and depending on what side of town I am in, I will spend time in one of them between 3 and 5 days each week.

It’s not for the coffee, even though I will buy a cup.  That cup of coffee is more like my ticket to sit down and pull out my laptop and get some work done.  That cup of coffee is my payment of rent for the chair I am using. 0411150933a

Some coffee shops, like most food places don’t want you there all day.  Eat, drink and get on with your life.  Let someone else have your seat.

But there are a couple that either don’t care if I stay longer, or they value what I bring.

80% of the time, I am alone. Thus the title of this piece, Alone In A Crowded Room.  The other 20% of the time, I meet with someone at these coffee shops.  I introduce people to these local businesses and the coffee shop gains another new customer.

But the real reason I am here is the comfort level.  There are times when I simply need to get work done and focus on the tasks before me.  I could work in my home office but it is sometimes too quiet.  I could work at a cubical at one of the radio station offices, but that is too distracting at times.

The coffee shop has it’s own comfort level of noise, activity and familiarity.

Over the weekend, I visited a new shop on my side of town.  I was searching for an old friend who I had not seen for a few months and we sat and talked for about 3 hours.  No laptops, no work, just face to face conversation between two old friends with two cups of coffee.

I like this concept of Alone In A Crowded Room for myself.  It works for me as part of the balance of life activities.  If it was all I did, it would not work.  How about you?  Are there any particular life activity habits that you do that are not traditional?

Bursts of Efficiency

Bursts of Efficiency

by | Jan 9, 2012 | Really? The Personal ScLoHo

Sunday afternoon my wife final told me to stop.

Our weekend was filled with a few projects along with some relaxing time.

It began Saturday with a trip to the bank, actually two banks, a hair cut, a trip to the store, stop at a gas station for a fill-up and a car wash in the morning.

The afternoon included a trip to the roof with my brother in law Tim where we checked out a hole in the roof and devised a temporary cover.

Sunday afternoon included buying smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, batteries, light bulbs, oil for the wife’s car and then installing, filling and what not.

While I was doing those tasks, Kathy was baking bread, preparing dinner and a variety of other household tasks.

Meanwhile Kathy’s other brother, Mike who is also staying with us volunteered to repair the roof, so while he did that, i set up his computer to watch movies with an extra cool sound system as a thank you.

We’re not always this efficient, but I recall as a young parent being out numbered 3 to 2 by our kids and the only way to get things done was to push forward.

If I only had a To Do List, it would have lines crossed off from everything that we accomplished.

Oh, I also changed the cat litter.  That alone gives me hero status in my wife’s eyes.