** NOTE ** – No STATUS QUOtes or other posts tomorrow, Christmas Day!
“A man can eat an elephant if need be, one bite at a time.” — Chinese Proverb
“You know, by the time you reach my age, you’ve made plenty of mistakes if you’ve lived your life properly.” — Ronald Reagan
“Everyone has an opinion, but no one has a guarantee.” — Seth Godin
“Why don’t they make the whole plane out of that black box stuff?” — Unknown
“Now is the moment we get to plant the seeds for later.” — Seth Godin
“My father was a statesman, I’m a political woman. My father was a saint. I’m not. — Indira Gandhi
“Sometimes you need to burn bridges to stop yourself from crossing them again.” — Unknown
“Don’t take the bull by the horns, take him by the tail then you can let go when you want to.” — Josh Billings
“This is a wonderful day. I’ve never seen this one before.” — Maya Angelou
“All the art of living lies in a fine mingling of letting go and holding on.” — Havelock Ellis
“People are often as motivated by the fear of loss as they are by the desire for gain.” — Seth Godin
“Cauliflower is nothing but cabbage with a college education.” — Mark Twain
“It’s all a mistake…until it works.” — Seth Godin
“Two people can have a middling day, but one rounds up and the other rounds down.” — Robert Brault
“Wishing to be friends is quick work, but friendship is a slow ripening fruit.” — Aristotle
“I wish I had an answer to that, because I’m tired of answering that question.” — Yogi Berra
“Faith makes things possible, not easy.” — Unknown
“It is possible to commit no mistakes and still lose. That is not a weakness. That is life.” — Jean-Luc Picard
“Fortune does not change people, it unmasks them [ed].” — Suzanne Necker
“It’s hard to imagine the next thing; until it’s here.” — Seth Godin
“Too many kings can ruin an army.” — Homer
“I have loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night.” — Sarah Williams
“If you work to minimize criticism, you have surrendered the beauty and greatness of what you’ve set out to build.” — Seth Godin
“I discovered I scream the same way whether I’m about to be devoured by a Great White or if a piece of seaweed touches my foot.” — Kevin James
We are creatures of habit and past experience. When we go to the market to purchase an item, we can anticipate that any given category of item will be packaged in a particular manner.
Eggs will most likely be in the familiar egg cartons made of styrofoam or cardboard. Milk will be in a plastic bottle or plasticized cardboard container. Bread will most likely be in a plastic bag, etc.
Every once in a while, though, someone breaks the mold and presents a “better idea.” They are “thinking outside the box” or in this case, outside of the package.
Seth Godin is an author known across the world for his innovative ideas, thinking outside the box on a regular basis and explaining to others how they can become better at whatever it is they are trying to do in life.
I read Seth’s Blog on a regular basis and, I encourage you to read it as well. I am sure you will find a number of things that are interesting.
On August 28, Mr. Godin posted “The strawberry conundrum” which caught my eye because it seems to hold lessons for us yet, at its core, it is a very simple idea.
Here is The Strawberry Conundrum as it appeared on Seth Godin’s blog:
“Every grocer has to decide: when packing a quart of strawberries, should your people put the best ones on top?
If you do, you’ll sell more and disappoint people when they get to the moldy ones on the bottom.
Or, perhaps you could put the moldy ones on top, and pleasantly surprise the few that buy.
Or, you could rationalize that everyone expects a little hype, and they’ll get over it.
A local grocer turned the problem upside down: He got rid of the boxes and just put out a pile of strawberries. People picked their own. He charged more, sold more and made everyone happier.
Hype might not be your best option.”
“You can waste a lot of time waiting for Superman to arrive.” — Michael Wade
“The problem with holding a grudge…is that your hands are then too full to hold onto anything else.” — Seth Godin
“If you want to be with someone you truly love, aren’t you already there?” — Richard Bach
“Hors d’oeuvres: A sandwich cut into 20 pieces.” — Anonymous
“Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated.” — Confucius
“Don’t be distracted by criticism. Remember…the only taste of success some people have is when they take a bite out of you.” — Zig Ziglar
“Ubiquitous doesn’t mean forever, and popular isn’t permanent. Someone is going to fade, and someone is going to be next to take their place.” — Seth Godin
“There is no thief like a bad book.” — Italian proverb
Factoid — “Lots of people think, well, we’re humans; we’re the most intelligent and accomplished species; we’re in charge. Bacteria may have a different outlook: more bacteria live and work in one linear centimeter of your lower colon than all the humans who have ever lived. That’s what’s going on in your digestive tract right now. Are we in charge, or are we simply hosts for bacteria? It all depends on your outlook.” – Neil DeGrasse Tyson
“Don’t be a bird in search of a cage.” — Seth Godin
“When you’re in a Slump,
you’re not in for much fun.
Un-slumping yourself
is not easily done.”
— Dr. Seuss, Oh, The Places You’ll Go!
“It’s not what you do once in a while; it’s what you do day in and day out that makes the difference.” — Jenny Craig
“Any philosophy that can be put in a nutshell belongs there.” — Sydney J. Harris