JUST ONE MORE ... pause for the holidays (December 2016)

JUST ONE MORE ... pause for the holidays.

Welcome to this month's new challenge -- because that's what we do now when we turn the calendar -- a challenge that somehow relates to my concept of embracing incremental change in order to empower folks (or just me) to stay positive and solution-focused in a day and age where problems often seem insurmountable, control often seems out of reach and apathy often seems to be running rampant.

Today kicks off a period of time traditionally all about the hustle and bustle, and amidst all the excitement and the hurry and the activity and the tasks to be completed and the decorating and the shopping and the gifting and the running and the visiting and ... well ... you get my point ... it may be all too easy to lose yourself in the holiday whirlwind.

Plan now to find a way to pause, so that you can truly enjoy what the season has to offer.  Maybe it's a quiet minute in the morning over a cup of glog,  Maybe it's stepping out of the moment to really see and appreciate your loved ones around you.  Maybe it's taking a break to truly listen to the lyrics of your favorite Christmas song.  For instance, as the one and only Amy Grant says in her classic 'I Need a Silent Night':

[I] need a midnight clear, a little peace right here
To end this crazy day with a silent night

So even though it may be a challenge, see if you can't find a way to end your crazy days by having JUST ONE MORE ... pause for the holidays!

JUST ONE MORE ... thank you (November 2016)

JUST ONE MORE ... thank you.

It's a new month ... so it's a new challenge, because that's what happens now when we turn the calendar -- a challenge that somehow relates to my concept of embracing incremental change in order to empower folks (or just me) to stay positive and solution-focused in a day and age where problems often seem insurmountable, control often seems out of reach and apathy often seems to be running rampant.

There's nothing more fitting for the month of November than to focus on an extra moment of gratitude for each of the next thirty days.  (Heck, if you really get into the spirit of things, feel free to do it for ten times that amount and continue it.  All.  Year.  Long.)

Along those lines, my sincere wish for you is that each day you consider whom to thank or for what you are grateful most you are overwhelmed with the amount of choices from which you pick.

After all, when it comes right down to it, it should be unbelievably easy to get each of you to provide JUST ONE MORE ... thank you!

JUST ONE MORE ... vote (October 2016)

JUST ONE MORE ... vote.

As has been the case all year ... there's a different challenge that changes out when we turn the calendar that somehow relates to my concept of embracing incremental change in order to empower folks (or just me) to stay positive and solution-focused in a day and age where problems often seem insurmountable, control often seems out of reach and apathy often seems to be running rampant.

This month, it's possibly predictable.  But let's face it ... this is an election season like none other.  And we need you to vote.  

I know that some people are so frustrated that they are thinking of sitting it out.  Others are exploring third party candidates for the first time.

But the bottom line is VOTE.  Participate.  Choose.  Time may be running out.  Check your local rules to see if there are registration deadlines.  Explore options for those places that provide alternate times to vote for your convenience.  

Just please don't join the apathetic crowd ... because apathy leads to anarchy.

After all, it should be easy to get each of you to provide JUST ONE MORE ... vote!

JUST ONE MORE ... itinerary item (September 2016)

JUST ONE MORE ... itinerary item.

As has been the case all year ... there's a different challenge that changes out when we turn the calendar that somehow relates to my concept of embracing incremental change in order to empower folks (or just me) to stay positive and solution-focused in a day and age where problems often seem insurmountable, control often seems out of reach and apathy often seems to be running rampant.

This month, it's personal. Well, maybe a little more personal, but still applicable to you so long as you also have a vacation right around the corner that will have you driving up the eastern seaboard to central PA (and then back down again).

Mind you, it's not until early October, but that means the time for planning is now.  And with that much driving to do ... it should be so easy to get organized and add JUST ONE MORE ... itinerary item.

JUST ONE MORE ... water (August 2016)

JUST ONE MORE ... water.

New this year on the first of the month ... a different challenge that changes out when we turn the calendar that somehow relates to my concept of embracing incremental change in order to empower folks (or just me) to stay positive and solution-focused in a day and age where problems often seem insurmountable, control often seems out of reach and apathy often seems to be running rampant.

Since starting this back in March, I never said that the challenges were going to be extra difficult ... and with the temperatures soaring now that the height of summer has arrived, this month's selection might just be the most straightforward one yet.

Chances are you're not drinking the full eight eight ounce glasses of water that are recommended ... or that you're trading out a few of them for some high calorie alternatives (I know ... I was a coke addict for years [coca-cola] and I'm now coke-free during the week, with only 0 calorie drinks in my life Monday-Friday).  It's time to make a change.

So that's it for this month.  Something simple ... something doable ... something for your own health.

After all ... it's so easy ... it's JUST ONE MORE ... water.

JUST ONE MORE ... tradition (July 2016)

JUST ONE MORE ... tradition.

New this year on the first of the month ... a different challenge that changes out when we turn the calendar that somehow relates to my concept of embracing incremental change in order to empower folks (or just me) to stay positive and solution-focused in a day and age where problems often seem insurmountable, control often seems out of reach and apathy often seems to be running rampant.

It seems to me that the middle of summer is the perfect time for folks to stop and take a moment to make a tradition.  Involve your community ... involve your family ... or even if it's just for yourself ... start something new and commit to continuing it long after the first annual whatever-it-is-you-choose is over.

Me? I'm upholding a tradition whereby July 1 as MidYear's Day ... bbq is the traditional meal, bacon and Guinness are the traditional accoutrements, and, on a more serious note, I'm using it as a chance to check in on my NewYear's resolutions to make adjustments as needed and to double-down where necessary to reach my goals.

Let your tradition be as serious or as silly as fits your mood.  But give yourself something to look forward to on an annual basis.  Celebrate something this month ... and then mark your calendars next year to do it again.

After all ... it's so easy ... it's JUST ONE MORE ... tradition.

JUST ONE MORE ... ten-count (June 2016)

JUST ONE MORE ... ten-count.

It's the first of the month ... so it's time to issue my new challenge as it relates to my concept of embracing incremental change with a specific monthly focus in order to empower folks (or just me) to stay positive and solution-focused in a day and age where problems often seem insurmountable, control often seems out of reach and apathy often seems to be running rampant.

Maybe it's the ubiquitousness of the social media, but it seems like everyone is soooo darn quick nowadays ... quick to judge, quick to comment, quick to share, quick to retweet, quick to be an armchair quarterback in all kinds of scenarios in which they have never found themselves (Harambe anyone?)

My thought in the month ahead ... let's all take JUST ONE MORE ... ten-count before commenting or weighing in or spewing hate.  Do what you need to as you count to ten.  I recommend deep breaths ... or deep thoughts.  And I also recommend that some of you count to one hundred and ten (you know who you are).  

But come on people, let's pause and reflect before we feel the need to engage.

After all ... it's so easy ... it's JUST ONE MORE ... ten-count.

JUST ONE MORE ... compliment (May 2016)

JUST ONE MORE ... compliment.

To bring you up to speed ... I'm embracing incremental change with a specific monthly focus in order to empower folks (or just me) to stay positive and solution-focused in a day and age where problems often seem insurmountable, control often seems out of reach and apathy often seems to be running rampant.

With it being the first of the month, it's time for a new challenge (although feel free to continue last month's call to action to smile more ad infinitum).  So for May, it's all about the compliments.  Now, to be clear, the challenge isn't for you to compliment me.  This isn't a fishing expedition.  I already know I'm a special kind of awesome.

Instead, as you go about your day each month, interacting with family and friends and strangers alike ... find a way to offer up JUST ONE MORE ... compliment.  Make it sincere -- this isn't a scenario where you're trying to impress the mean girls with any passive-aggressiveness prowess, and the mean boys don't need to see your skill at "backhanding" in this arena -- but find something nice to say about someone else at least once each day.  Look outward ... pay attention to others ... and bring delight into someone else's day.

After all ... it's so easy ... it's JUST ONE MORE ... compliment.

JUST ONE MORE ... smile (Apr 2016)

JUST ONE MORE ... smile.

So I'm starting out my latest concept small and doable ... in case you don't remember, I'm embracing incremental change with a specific monthly focus in order to empower folks (or just me) to stay positive and solution-focused in a day and age where problems often seem insurmountable, control often seems out of reach and apathy often seems to be running rampant.

The word after the ellipsis for the month ahead is admittedly inspired by the activities of the day, whether you celebrated or just saw it play out on the interwebs, in your workplace or in your homestead.  (For those of you still unclear ... I'm talking about the Day for Fools that is wrapping up.)

Hopefully, something today made you smile ... and in the thirty days ahead, I challenge you to find a reason to add (at least) one smile to every day.  Watch a cat video (or one with a baby if you aren't feline friendly).  Read the cartoons in the paper (you must be of a certain age to understand how one would do this).  Recall a loved one ... or a loved memory (or a loved memory of a loved one).  View a comedy (or a dramedy ... those count too).  Observe children playing (although, if they are strangers, do so from a distance).

There are two rules ... ONE, resist the urge to smile at the expense of someone else (snark is pervasive in this world) and TWO, once you establish the routine for yourself, commit to getting someone else to have JUST ONE MORE ... smile each day.

Don't want to do it just because I challenged you?  Then do it because ... science:

https://blog.bufferapp.com/the-science-of-smiling-a-guide-to-humans-most-powerful-gesture

After all ... it's JUST ONE MORE ... smile.

JUST ONE MORE ... concept (Mar 16)

JUST ONE MORE ... concept.

So I was going to wait until I won the lottery to launch my idea for a "foundation" ... but I can't ever seem to win more than a few dollars in those contests. Instead of postponing the sharing of my ideas, I've decided to seize the day (or, more accurately, to seize the Facebook) and to take action regardless.

Moving forward, on the first of every month, I'll fill in the blank after the ellipsis that follows the phrase "just one more" and present a challenge for the month ahead to work toward the overall goal of effectuating change incrementally.

I'm doing this to counteract the overwhelming feeling in these modern times that problems are SO big and solutions are SO out of reach that it's easiest to retreat and to withdrawal and to circle the wagons and to succumb to apathy. That the cult of individuality is now more important than the value of the community. That there's little one person can do.

The challenge for March 2016? Please think about the concept and make plans to join me on my crusade. I'll give you all month to consider ... and then you'll be able to comment and to participate beginning with the next post on April 1 (I'll make clear it's NOT an April Fool's joke), and on the 1st of every month thereafter.

After all ... it's JUST ONE MORE ... concept.