The Most Delicious Year Ever

I received an email from Open Table.  For those not familiar, Open Table is a website where you can make dining reservations.  Not only can you make reservations, but they send information recommending restaurants for special occasions, holidays, and just because they want to help you to keep your dining experiences exciting.   When you reserve they send your reservation information to your guest with location and a message from you with any additional details you may want your guest to have.  There is a bonus that makes it very appealing to use the site, and that is you can accumulate points every time you make and honor the reservation.  These points can be redeemed for a dining check.  Open Table has the market covered.  However, they have not sat and rested on their laurels, they continue to explore where they can provide added value to their customers.  Today I received an email that said “Looks like you had a delicious 2014.  Hey Cynthia you’ve settled into the new year – time to focus on making 2015 delicious with so many menus left to explore why not outdo last year?”  They outlined what restaurants I enjoyed last year and concluded with the possibilities for 2015 and an invitation to find and book my next restaurant.

I reviewed the restaurants I had visited.  Some brought delight with memories of delicious food, great conversations and lots of laughter.  I got into my planning mode for dining options over the next month.  I was completely focused on who I wanted to dine with, when and where.  Kudos to Open Table for stimulating my taste buds, for provoking me to take action and for giving me the opportunity to reflect and appreciate some of my 2014 choices.

I ask you to take Open Tables strategy and look at what was delicious in all aspects of your life for 2014.  Take the time to reflect and express gratitude not only to yourself but whoever helped you fulfill something that was meaningful and rewarding.  Now take action for what you want to do to make 2015 “delicious”.  The conversation can go something like this Hey Cynthia you’ve settled into the new  year – time to focus on making 2015 delicious with so many opportunities available to you. Why not be bold and try something new.  Think about what you did in 2014.  You can do so much more in 2015.  Look at your options and begin to make a plan.  Every time you take action you get points.  You can redeem those points for a piece of your dream. Commit to making 2015 the most delicious year ever.

Don’t wait for Open Table to give you direction.  Go create a delicious 2015.

Recipe for The Best Christmas Ever

I have been traveling quite a bit and have missed attending my church and hearing my dynamic pastor’s thought provoking messages.  This past Sunday I was ecstatic to be back at my church.  My elation diminished when I saw that there was a guest speaking that day.  It’s like coming home and looking forward toward to your mother’s delicious cooking to find out that your mother stopped at a take out and brought food home.  That was how I felt until one minute into his sermon, he asked the question How satisfied are you with your Christmas?  He followed that question with the title of his sermon The Best Christmas Ever.  He now had my attention.  I realized that I was in for a treat and a treat that I could share. 

Dr. Allen Williams presented a simple but powerful 123 formula and if followed guaranteed to give you the best Christmas ever.   After hearing Dr. Williams I knew I had to share.  A big lesson here is that I almost tuned him out because he was not what I wanted or what I thought I wanted.  Does this sound familiar?

What you have been waiting for I know is the recipe

Allen Williams Recipe:

1. Seek the right thing.  If you want to have a great Christmas make certain the things you want are the right things. 

2. Give the right things.  He used the wise men as an example and the gifts they brought of gold, frankincense and myrrh-- Gold for Jesus’ kingship, Frankincense for his role as a high priest and Myrrh to anoint him as the savior.  Be more focused on what you are giving and make certain that it is meaningful to the recipient.  Take yourself out of the picture so that you can be on point for the person you are gifting. 

3. Do the right thing – Reach higher.  Enjoy the wonder of what Jesus brought to earth.  Be more loving.  Do not go back to your old ways but continue to grow.

I left committed to (1) seeking the right thing as I enter into not only the Holidays but the new year by  seeking and bringing the best of my gifts to my clients and my audience  (2)Giving the right thing – Listening attentively and thoroughly tune into what my clients really want so that I can shine the light in the right direction to guide them and (3) Doing the right thing – I can keep reaching higher in my spiritual, professional, and personal life so that the energy that surrounds me radiates.

Take a few minutes to answer how you are going to make this your best and how will you seek the right thing, give the right thing, and do the right thing.

Thank you Allen Williams for giving me the formula for making this the best Christmas ever.

A Thanksgiving Formula

Thanksgiving

My husband’s cousin called me many years ago and said since she wasn’t from America and did not grow up with Thanksgiving, could her family come to my house for Thanksgiving.  What she didn’t know was that I had not done Thanksgiving but had been going to a friend’s house each year with my sweet potato pies.  That call started a tradition and twenty years later I am still hosting Thanksgiving.

In preparing this year for all of the logistics (which you would think after 20 years I have a working formula), I am still trying to figure out when to do what.  I realize that Thanksgiving dinner is like a metaphor for life. (1)  Have I contacted everyone to find out if they are coming and how many family and friends they are bringing with them? (2) Contact my neighbor to use her kitchen, get her keys and get instructions again for her alarm system—she leaves town every Thanksgiving.  Yeah! I need her two ovens so she can never move as long as I have Thanksgiving at my house or she will have to put a clause in the contract that whoever buys her house has to let me use the kitchen on Thanksgiving.  (3) I have to create my menu and my shopping list.  Shopping use to be a nightmare all to itself.  Now it’s finding a parking space and remembering to take enough environmentally correct grocery bags with me.  Costco, Smart and Final, Trader Joe, and Ralphs are my first runs with many return visits to Trader Joes and Ralphs.  Today is the Tuesday before Thanksgiving and I have finished my first runs. Where I once had to muster up the energy to dice the onions and celery, I am now in a grove by playing my favorite music as I rhythmically dice and chop the onions and celery for the three different stuffings. I have a few vegetarians coming so I make a separate stuffing with vegetable stock (Oh I didn’t get vegetable stock so that is a Trader Joe visit); a good ole fashion stuffing with everything but the kitchen sink like my grandmother use to make and then I make a low carb stuffing for myself.  I have to laugh at that, but carbs are not my friends and so I have created a stuffing that is friendly to me.  My favorite music of Broadway hits, R & B, and Jazz keeps me in a mellow mood.  I don’t know if the onions are making me cry or the lyrics to some of my songs.  I begin to dance around my kitchen and no longer pity myself for the mess I am making because I am now celebrating the aroma of the food that is on my stove.  I have not figured out accurately what can be made several days in advance.  I have a friend whose table has been set for a week while I am still counting who is coming. 

I realize the preparation for the day is similar to preparing a wedding, a business deal, an Opening Night, or a big vacation.  A lot of time is spent on who should be involved in the planning and execution, what new and creative elements can be put into place, who will be there and what would be important for them to experience, and what do I want to experience as well.

In the beginning I realized that I spent a lot of time shopping, cooking, setting up and the meal would last 30 minutes.  I then added an activity before dinner which gave everyone the opportunity to reflect on all the things they had to be grateful for and the dinner became less of a marathon and more of a time of sharing thoughts, ideas, food, and joy.

How can you take the time to hear the melody and rhythm to whatever you are doing?  The beauty is in the doing and not the outcome.  If you think about it, it takes time to do something and when it is completed, it is fleeting.  Saying I do at your wedding takes second but the planning takes days, weeks, or months.  Preparing for hosting your Thanksgiving takes days or weeks and the actual meal may last 30 minutes.  It is significant to take the time to enjoy selecting the produce and all of the ingredients; enjoy finding and experimenting with a new recipe or creating your own; supporting a farmer’s market ( I just added that to my list) and talking to the merchants to find out about their products.  With that thought when I finish this blog, I am going to my local farmer’s market and find the items I need to complete my feast.

Have fun finding your rhythm, creating your day and Happy Thanksgiving!

Lessons Learned From Susan

Susan Janneck of TravelStore USA called me two days before my trip and in a calm soft voice gently announced that Air France was on strike and there was a chance that my flight might be cancelled.  She then said that she would do what was necessary to get my husband and me on a flight to Paris.  The next day Susan called to let me know our flight had been cancelled but she had secured two seats for us on an earlier flight.  After a joyful exhale, I asked how she made that magic happen.  She said she anticipated that if any cancellations were to take place on flights that were already completely booked, she should begin moving pieces early.  She started at 5:00 a.m. and was able to get us not only on a flight together but with even better seats.  She also recommended that we get to the airport early as it might be a zoo. Secondly, she told me exactly 24 hours before my departure to get my boarding pass and lock in my seat.  When we arrived at the airport, there were many travelers panicking not being told beforehand there was a strike and chances were they may not be traveling.

This ode is to Susan Janneck who provides ultimate service to her clients.  Her confidence and clear headed approach set the foundation for an amazing trip.

I am writing about Susan, not to market her service, but to highlight three skills that she demonstrated.  Try them the next time you are confronted with a problem.

(1). Mindset of service.   When you make one other person content, imagine how many others benefit. The attitude of taking extra steps if necessary so that you can be of service to your customer/client is key. Susan was committed to making certain there were no hitches to our long awaited vacation.

(2) Find a way to make it happen.  Susan did not just say “Okay Cynthia there is a strike.  The time you are traveling is a very busy time and it will be difficult to find anything that day.  Let’s see what happens.”  Instead Susan went into what pieces had to be moved and she made it happened. 

(3) Maintain a calm disposition during a crisis so that you can think clearly.  Susan was calm throughout.  Her calm manner soothed my fear so that I did not go into panic mode.

After making the best plans, there can be set backs, think about Susan Janneck and her mindset for service, her focus to find a way to make it happen, and her ability to stay calm.

By the way, I met several people on our cruise who did not have Susan and their travel to France was chaotic.

Thank you Susan.