1. Chase pragmatic solutions, not theories. There are entirely too many theories out there on everything from ways to reduce debt to diets based on eating large amounts of bacon. We need to be able to quickly cut through the nonsense. A good way to do that is to analyze the credibility of the source (John Gray and Beverly DeAngelis were once married; now they both write about ways to understand the opposite sex and stay married forever...), and the objective statistics (what are the sample sizes? How long was the study?). Focus on solutions that work, from people that are successful.

2. When you find yourself banging your head against a wall in dealing with a particular problem, try to divorce yourself from your approach and start anew. Or, take time away from the problem and focus your energies elsewhere. Many times the solutions come when we stop trying harder and start trying “softer.”

3. When dealing with others, you can’t go wrong if you believe that most people are doing the best they can with what they have in any given instance. For instance, I try to assume that people want to improve their lives, are willing to work hard, and are not thinking of ways to sabotage me. Sometimes people disappoint me, but I try hard not to punish the next person that comes along...

4. Surround yourself with people of high quality. For me, that means people that are driven, competitive, loyal, empathic, and intelligent. I also enjoy spending time with people that don’t take themselves too seriously, given my own proclivity for such behavior. Are you consciously choosing the company you keep?

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Some great movies to rent this month and enjoy at your own pace:

• The Bucket List (2007) Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman.
• Field of Dreams (1989) Kevin Costner and James Earl Jones
• Stranger Than Fiction (2006) Will Ferrell and Dustin Hoffman
• Cinderella Man (2005) Russell Crowe and Renee Zellweger

Some varied, relaxing songs for you to download and enjoy:

• Ocean, by Hanna and McEuen
• Shepherd Moons, by Enya
• Why Worry, by Dire Straits
• Pictures at an Exhibition, by Mussorgsky
• Trois Gymnopedies, by Satie

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At my Dublin, Ohio office, I frequently utilize Wednesday evenings for my late appointments. Frequently, I am the last person in the building, though that is no big feat, as most of the small businesses in my building tend to get to work at noon and leave before four.

There is a janitor in our building that has a knack for greeting me on my way out of the building, as I lock up my office. He always seems to greet me with a hearty “Good evening, sir” and an ear-to-ear smile. What’s funny is that I never see this janitor prior to leaving, but I seldom fail to miss him immediately upon closing up shop. He seems to have some sort of timing mechanism, or perhaps he knows my schedule better than I do, even though it changes from week to week, depending on my mood and availability. Yet there he is, smiling, and exchanging pleasantries, delighting in his job, which is to clean up any mess I’ve left behind.

How many of us approach our jobs with this sort of unadulterated zeal? How many of us whistle while taking trash out to the parking lot? I’m guessing not many. However, I’m guessing that all of us can take a good lesson from this gentleman, who does his job so well that he only becomes conspicuous in his absence.

If we focus only on our job descriptions, we lose opportunities to add value in our own unique ways. When we focus only on input, we lose sight of the ultimate goal: output. In my own consulting work, I’m open to creative solutions, as long as they serve my clients’ best interests. In my therapy work, I’m open to using my own life experiences as examples of what not to do, particularly when clients are facing the exact same challenge.

In your life, are you focused more on input, on doing what is expected of you, or are you constantly looking for better ways, more productive ways, to improve processes? The janitor in my example seems clearly focused on making sure his clientele is happy, even if that means waiting late for one particular individual who seems to stay late on Wednesdays, with no regard for his schedule...

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