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You never know what people are going through.

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When I was in college, I was fortunate enough to work a semester at Walt Disney World.

It was great.  A few hundred students from around the country would come in and work for three months, while also taking classes to learn about a different aspect of the operation.

At our final orientation, the lady giving the class said, “Disney World is known as the happiest place on Earth, and you’re going to see so many people having the time of their lives.”

“But the truth is, too, that in surveys conducted in virtually every country around the world, this is the number one place that people say they would like to see before they die.”

“You will see a lot of people in wheelchairs and with obvious medical needs.  But many people want to come here while they are still well enough to enjoy the park fully.  They may not show any outward signs of illness or disability yet.”

“When you see a guest in a wheelchair or with a disability, we want you to be as helpful to them and make their experience as pleasant as you possibly can.  But we expect you to give the exact same level of treatment and care to every guest you encounter.  Because the truth is… you never know what people are going through.”

That little talk has remained with me from that day forward.  What profound advice.

In Business:

Never assume you know what your customers want.  Ask them.

Use online surveys, feedback cards, even the good old suggestion box.  Always make it easy for your customers to tell you what they want (and what they don’t want). 

Then, all you have to do is make it and sell it to them.  Everybody wins.

In Life:

Years ago, I made up this little quote based on the Disney World talk that I try to keep in mind when I encounter people who are being rude, angry or obnoxious:

“Never assume the worst in people, just assume they’re going through the worst right now.”

Easier said than done, I know, but it does work.  Give it a try next time.

So remember…

You never know what people are going through.

— Disney World Instructor

Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.

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It’s official: Mark Twain and Abraham Lincoln get credit for more quotes they didn’t actually originate than any other historical figures.

I saw a funny one online the other day:

“Don’t believe everything you read on the Internet.”  — Abraham Lincoln

In Business:

Want to be happy in business?  Choose your customers.  Don’t let your customers choose you.

You decide the type and caliber of customer you want to attract, then tailor your offerings and your marketing to not only attract your ideal customers, but also repel the undesirable ones.

If you ever watched The Sopranos, I’m sure you remember Artie Bucco, who owned the Italian restaurant, Vesuvio.

In one episode, Artie is having trouble keeping the restaurant afloat, so he resorts to coupons.

There’s a great scene where they open the doors to the restaurant in slow motion, and all the retirees in jogging suits come flooding in, waving their coupons.

Before, it was a respectable restaurant that repelled the bottom-feeders.  Now, he’ll take anybody.  Any customer is a good customer, right?  Wrong.

Tailor your business and your marketing to do double duty — attract the good, repel the bad — and you’ll be a happy business owner.

In Life:

For most people, happiness is like the horizon.  No matter how far you’ve come, it’s always out there in the distance.

You reveal your happiness horizon whenever you start a sentence with, “I’ll be happy when…”

Now you’ve successfully attached your happiness to some future event and, as an added bonus, you have a built-in excuse for not being happy right now.

Then, what happens when your happy event actually does occur?  You move that goalpost to another event in the future and the cycle starts all over again.

Gratitude is the key to all happiness.  It’s only natural to want and plan and strive for better things in the future, but be grateful for what you have now, as well. 

Make up your mind, and choose to be happy today.

So remember…

Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.

— Abraham Lincoln

Everybody knows that you can tame a wild horse and make the animal useful. But it is impossible to put life into a dead horse.

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Mr. Caples was an iconic advertising figure from the 1920s (pre-Mad Men) who pioneered many direct marketing methods.  Today, the highest honor you can garner in Direct Marketing is called The Caples Award.

His book, Scientific Advertising is as relevant today as it was when he published it.  Why?  Because people are the same. 

That’s why a Bible story is just an interesting or enlightening as it was two thousand years ago.  Our surroundings are certainly different, but our human nature is the same.  Just as it will be two thousand years from now.

In Business:

Your business marketing should be “wild horse” ideas, tamed to suit your market. 

Obviously, if you’re a dentist or accountant or anyone in a professional services field, you can’t be too outlandish and still maintain your credibility.  You can start with a wild, outrageous marketing idea, though; then polish and refine it to compliment your professional image.

Examples of “dead horse” marketing include variations on:

“Service, selection and savings all under one roof.”

“Our people make the difference.”

“You’ve tried the rest, now try the best.”

“For all your [whatever] needs.”

You’re never going to breathe life into those.  Rope yourself a wild horse instead, and then tame it to suit your market.

In Life:

When designing your ideal lifestyle, start with the “wild horse” ideas, and then tame them to fit your own personal comfort level.

For instance, you might love to have a house at the beach, right on the ocean.  But you really don’t want the hassle of the constant repair and upkeep, plus the enormous expense of owning oceanfront property, and the worry that goes along with it.

You could tame that wild horse by renting an oceanfront house in the off-season.  Rates are much lower, beaches are way less crowded, and if Mother Nature decides to level the place, you just hand in the keys and walk away.

Let your wild horse ideas run free in your mind, then figure out how you can tame them into reality.

So remember…

Everybody knows that you can tame a wild horse and make the animal useful. But it is impossible to put life into a dead horse.

— John Caples

It’s never too late to be who you might have been.

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Yes, tomorrow is promised to no one, so make today the day you begin to turn it all around. 

In Business:

“We can’t change,” business owners always say.  “Customers have grown to expect certain things from us.”

To which the reply is usually, “What customers?”

“You want us to alienate our core base of loyal customers?”

“Yes.  There aren’t enough of them to sustain your business.  The only reason they come here is because every other place refuses to put up with them.”

Often, you don’t have a bad business; you’ve just chosen to serve the wrong market.  It’s never too late to pick another one.

In Life:

Let’s get real.  If you had the potential to be an Olympic figure skater in your teens, but now you’re fifty; its definitely too late for that.

I don’t think Mr. Eliot was talking about fame and achievement as much as he was about contribution.

Yes, it’s too late to be a figure skater.  However, it’s not too late to be world-class figure skating coach.  You can still contribute to the sport in a way that touches lives and elevates people’s spirit.

As the saying goes, “The best time to plant an oak tree was forty years ago.  The second best time is now.”

So remember…

It’s never too late to be who you might have been.

— George Eliot

You become what you think about all day long.

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I’ve always enjoyed the Nightingale-Conant personal development courses.  I remember when you’d get the big binder with all the cassettes in it.  This quote is from The Strangest Secret, written and narrated by Earl Nightingale himself in 1956.

Emerson probably beat him to it, though, when he wrote, “A man is what he thinks about all day long.”  But I like the transformational optimism in Mr. Nightingale’s version best.

In Business:

Successful, thriving businesses got that way by a single-minded focus on serving the customer (the experience they provide), not how the customer was going to serve them (by giving them money).

Bottom-line thinkers are only concerned with what’s coming in.  Visionary business owners are obsessed with what’s going out.

Your success is merely a by-product of how well you serve your market.  You can’t attain it directly.  But if you focus on serving all day long, it will miraculously appear.

In Life:

Create a mental picture of what you want for yourself, and then start living into that picture.

Again, you’re not passively trying to attract things to you.  You’re actively altering who you are in order to be the person that’s congruent with your new mental picture.

I’m sure you’ve heard the old saying, “What got you here won’t get you there.”  Well, it’s a cliché because it’s true (most are — if you’ve ever led a horse to water, you know I’m right).

Remember, it’s “We become what we think about,” not “We get what we think about…”

Become the person who gets the things you want, and you’ll get them.

So remember…

You become what you think about all day long.

— Earl Nightingale

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