Looking Backwards: Sudden Thoughts and Second Thoughts About 2009

Happy New Year!

It has been an interesting, challenging, frustrating, rewarding, and memorable 2009!

Here are some “sudden thoughts on second thoughts” — reflections about my own experiences in 2009. I believe in giving credit where credit is due, by the way, and the title “Sudden Thoughts and Second Thoughts” belongs to legendary Philadelphia Inquirer sports writer Bill Lyon. Bill is now mainly retired from the Inquirer, although when something really special happens, they ask Bill to write about it.

So here, in no particular order, are a few things I’ve learned over the past year:

1. There is almost no device requiring electricity that can’t be repaired by simply unplugging it, leaving it unplugged for several days, and then plugging it back in.
2. The people who design the interiors of airplanes have never flown commercially.
3. You should generally respond to people using the same medium they use to contact you.
4. At the front of any traffic jam in Philadelphia, there’s usually nothing that would cause anyone to slow down.
5. People who love Starbucks don’t want to hear what you hate about Starbucks.
6. If you say things with enough authority, people believe it.
7. If you want to learn about real customer devotion, amazing products and a company that knows how to delight its clients, walk into an Apple store and stand there for one minute. That’s all it takes.
8. If you want to learn how to create angry customers, make up an excuse to call your cell phone carrier, the company that made your computer, the company that provides your Internet service, or most airlines. It will take more than a minute, but you’ll learn a lot.
9. What used to be bad for you is now good for you. What used to be good for you is now bad for you. The exceptions are cigarettes, which have always been bad for you, and chocolate, which is always good for you.
10. You can learn a lot from everybody if you take the time to listen.
11. You can learn a lot about yourself by writing in a journal every night.
12. There is no such thing as bad pizza.
13. When the toaster I inherited from my grandfather stopped working after 40 years, I bought a new toaster. When the new toaster stop working after a week, I went on eBay and bought a 40-year old toaster the same model as my grandfather’s. It still works.
14. No matter how fresh the battery you put in a watch you don’t wear that often, it will be dead the day you decide you want to wear it.
15. Regardless of your leanings, if all sides devoted their energy to working together, there’d be no stopping us. So, don’t wait for them — start looking for ways to cooperate with everyone. No matter where they get their coffee.

I hope that you have a phenomenal 2010 filled with great health, terrific happiness, and abundance beyond your wildest dreams.