Emergency Driving Reminders: New Year’s Goal by Madeline Frank, Ph.D., DTM

You are in your car and it suddenly dies on a highway. Do you know what button to push in your car in an emergency? Is your car ready for a winter snowstorm? Have you decided on your "one" goal for the New Year?

Recently my almost 13-year-old car, “Little Red” died in the middle of the highway in rush hour traffic in early evening while the sun was still out. When Little Red suddenly went from the speed limit to 0, I immediately put my finger on the emergency blinker lights.

Cars were zooming around me at top speeds. I quickly called the Automobile Club on my cell phone and looked up my location on my I-pad to tell them what roads I was near so they could send a tow truck. I explained where I was and that I needed immediate assistance because of “Little Red” being dead in the middle of the highway.

As I was speaking to the Auto Club, a policeman knocked on my window and asked, “Why did you stop your car in the middle of the highway?”

I explained, “My car’s died.” 

He said. “Put the car in neutral and try it again!”   I did and it was still dead.

 He said, “You can’t stay here. Let me push the car to the right side of the high way. And he did!

Shortly after that the tow truck from the Auto Club arrived to tow “Little Red” to the dealer.

Thank heavens I remembered to push the emergency blinker lights “button”. It saved my life and all the other drivers speeding around me. The policeman was a wonderful person for helping to move “Little Red” out of the center of the highway.

I was thinking, “What if my car had broken down in a snow storm? What should you always keep in your car for all emergencies?

Experts say in addition to a full tank of gas, you should include the following in your Emergency Road Pack:

·      *Charged Cell phone: Cell charger

·      *Scraper with small broom

·     * Flash light with extra batteries

·    *  First aid kit

·      *Necessary medicine 

·     * Extra clothes, blankets, extra socks, gloves, hats, scarves

·      *Bottled water, snack food including energy bars, raisins, candy bars

·      *Road salt, Sand or Cat litter, (for extra traction), shovel

·      *Emergency flares and reflectors,

·      *Whistle

·      *Wind up radio

·      *Booster cables

·      *Emergency tire sealant

Now you know what you must have in your Emergency Road Pack in case of a snowstorm. You also know what "button" to push if your vehicle dies on the highway.

Have you finally decided on that "one thing" you want to accomplish as your goal for this New Year?

It is never to late to set your "one" goal!

Write your goal down; write down your plan of how you are going to accomplish it, and a date by which you plan to reach that "one" goal. Place that sheet in front of your computer where you can see it every day so that you can reach for that one goal.

I've decided my goal is to buy a new car that will last more than 13 years. I've already started looking for it and saving for it. I should have it in 5 months by May 1st at the latest!

So what's your goal and what date do you plan on reaching it? Get started today!

Madeline Frank, Ph.D., DTM, John Maxwell Team Member, and Certified World Class Speaking Coach is an Amazon.com Best Selling Author, sought after speaker, business owner, teacher, researcher, and concert artist. She helps businesses and organizations "Tune Up their Businesses". Her innovative observations show you the blue prints necessary to improve and keep your businesses successful. She writes a monthly newsletter "Madeline's Monthly Article & Musical Tips Blog" and a monthly radio show "Madeline's One Minute Musical Radio Show". She has just published her new book "Leadership On A Shoestring Budget" available in print or as an e-book.

To contact Madeline for your speaking engagement at mfrankviola@gmail.com

www.madelinefrank.com

Who is Running Your office an Angel or a Dragon? by Madeline Frank, Ph.D., DTM

Who guards your office door? Is your employee an angel or a dragon? Will this person bring you more business or help you lose the business you have?

Near my home is a small department store that I enjoy shopping and purchasing from. Why do I like going in to this store? Because the sales clerks always greet me with a smile looking happy to see me, are dressed neatly and cleanly, making a nice appearance, and ask how I am. When I cannot find what I’m looking for, they are happy to show me where the product is located.

When I’m checking out a sales clerk will smile and ask, “Did you find everything you were looking for?” They always pack the items carefully in the bags as if they were their own. If I purchase a lot of heavy items and have several bags, one of the clerks will come over and hold the door for me to leave safely. These sales clerks care about their customers and have been well trained by the manager of the store.

I called a doctor’s office for an appointment and the receptionist answered the phone saying the doctor is all booked up. This doctor later told a friend of mine, “He did not have enough patients to cover his office expenses.”  His receptionist was sending patients away! Do you know if your gate keeper is sending your customers  away?

This gatekeeper was ruining this doctor’s business.  When I couldn’t get an appointment with this doctor I called another doctor’s office and the receptionist who made appointments answered the phone with a smile in her voice and said, “How about next Thursday at 10:30am?”  We booked the appointment.

So do you have a dragon guarding the door of your office or an angel?

What are the three things you should train your angels, your employees, to do at your business? 

         1)  Your employees should always wear a smile, dress neatly and cleanly      with their hair combed, be polite and be helpful to their customers. My grandmother, Belle Shapiro Frank, a buyer for a women's clothing store said it best, "Before you go out the door to work, look in your mirror. What do you see?"

2)   Your customer should feel like an honored guest in your business and your employees should speak to customers and their family members in a reliable and timely manner.

3)    If a customer calls your business to ask about a product or make an appointment your employee should smile into the phone, answer the question, or make the appointment and write it on your schedule.

To make sure you have your angel in place at the gate of your business have a friend call on the phone and visit in person to see if you have trained your employees, your angels, well!

If your friend calls your office during business hours and the answering machine is turned on saying, “ If this is an emergency call 911 otherwise your call will be returned in 24 to 48 hours”, make a note and tell your friend, the business owner, about the “dragon” at their door! It’s time for a change.

Remember it's all about first impressions, connecting with your customers, and having them come back to your business and bring their friends.

Madeline Frank, Ph.D., DTM, John Maxwell Team Member, and Certified World Class Speaking Coach is an Amazon.com Best Selling Author, sought after speaker, business owner, teacher, researcher, and concert artist. She helps businesses and organizations "Tune Up their Businesses". Her innovative observations show you the blue prints necessary to improve and keep your businesses successful. She writes a monthly newsletter "Madeline's Monthly Article & Musical Tips Blog" and a monthly radio show "Madeline's One Minute Musical Radio Show". She has just published her new book "Leadership On A Shoestring Budget" available in print or as an e-book.

To contact Madeline Frank for your speaking engagement at mfrankviola@gmail.com

Think of Others First by Madeline Frank, Ph.D., DTM

The world does not revolve around you! Have you ever had a conversation with another person and you could not get in a word as they were only interested in talking about themselves? Did you ever hear a speech that was supposed to be helping the audience learn to do something better and the speaker was stuck on talking about their problems?

Do you remember who Scrooge was?

Scrooge forgot about everyone else too! Charles Dickens wrote his classic story “A Christmas Carol” in 1843. Dickens describes Ebenezer Scrooge as "The cold within him froze his old features, nipped his pointed nose, made his eyes red, his thin lips blue, and he spoke out shrewdly in his grating voice." The “Ghosts of Christmas” visited Scrooge’s past, present, and future.  Over the course of the story Scrooge sees what he has become and decides to change.

Today Scrooge represents a “miserly” person who does not care about others. He or she is self -absorbed and selfish and is only concerned about him or her self. When this person decides to change and concentrated on helping others their life takes on one of hope and happiness!

How would you like to connect better with your family, friends, co-workers, and your schoolmates?

If you want to connect with others you have to listen to them, care about them, and be concerned about their welfare. Zig Zigler said it best; “You can have everything in life you want, if you will just help enough other people get what they want.”

Life is all about connecting with others.   A lady in the British aristocracy had dinner one night with Prime Minister Gladstone and on another night with Prime Minister Disraeli.

She was asked what she thought of these two gentlemen.

She said, “When I left the dining room after sitting next to Gladstone, I thought he was the cleverest man in England. But when I sat next to Disraeli I left feeling that I was the cleverest woman."

Prime Minister Disraeli was a good listener and was interested in knowing all about the person sitting beside him. He made everyone he came in contact with feel they were “the cleverest” and “most important person” in the room. Prime Minister Gladstone was only interested in himself.

Wouldn’t you like to connect with others just like Prime Minister Disraeli?

Dale Carnegie wrote “How to Win friends and Influence People”. He said, “You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you.” He also said, “Talk to someone about themselves and they'll listen for hours.”

What are the 3 keys for removing the “Me, Me, Me” from your vocabulary to be like Prime Minister Disraeli and Dale Carnegie in connecting with others?

     1)  As Dale Carnegie said, “Smile. Be a good listener. Encourage others to talk about themselves.”

     2)   Prime Minister Disraeli made everyone he came in contact with feel they were “the cleverest” and most important person in the room by being interested in them.

     3)   Dale Carnegie said, “Give honest, sincere appreciation. Appreciation builds our image faster than any other practice … the success of every job demands cooperation and effort from others … people contribute to our success as much as we contribute to theirs.”

     By following these three keys for connecting with others you too will become a happier, healthier, person full of hope, and you will be thinking of others first, removing the "Me, Me, Me" from your vocabulary!

     Madeline Frank, Ph.D., DTM, and Certified World Class Speaking Coach is an Amazon.com Best Selling Author, John Maxwell Team Member, sought after speaker, business owner, motivational teacher, researcher, and concert artist. She helps businesses and organizations "Tune Up their Businesses". Her innovative observations show you the blue prints necessary to improve and keep your business successful. www.madelinefrank.com

She writes a monthly newsletter "Madeline's Monthly article & Musical Tips Blog" and a monthly radio show "Madeline's One Minute Musical Radio Show".  www.madelinefrankviola.com

She has just published her new book "Leadership On A Shoestring Budget" available through Amazon /Kindle.

Contact Madeline Frank for your next speaking engagement at   mfrankviola@gmail.com