Wednesday Words
To Go Where Your VisionPoints, a few inspiration points for you and your business.
It is best to act with confidence, no matter how little right you have to it.
—Lillian Hellman
From a gracious, far-reaching woman who probably knew.
Grow and be well,
Kelly Erickson
P.S. Happy birthday, Dad. You’re the source of my confidence, and you’re pure grace.
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14 October 2009, 4:59 pm
Happy Birthday wishes for your dad.
You know Lillian lived on St. Charles Ave. for awhile right?
That has nothing to do with anything except, she’s another one of those strong Southern women who seem to put a magNOlia between their teeth by the stem and dance it on into magic … I greatly admire her. And can you imagine her and Dashiel Hammit? What a couple.
15 October 2009, 3:19 am
So true! It’s the whole fake-it-until-you-make-it thing. And I’ve noticed the people online who have experience “wild” success are the ones with confidence oozing out of their pores (or at least out of their blogs). And while sometimes the overflowing of “I’m great” gets on my British-Canadian nerves, I can’t argue with the success of the tactic.
Alex Fayle | Someday Syndrome´s latest blog… Measuring Success: The Lab Rats Review Their Progress
15 October 2009, 6:41 am
Inspiration = Confidence = End of Recession….was it all that hard to figure out?
As we entrepreneurs now look around and reflect on the turbulent economic times around us these last few months – make that a couple of years, there is one thing that I hope every American never lost sight of: WE JUST CAN’T, NO MATTER WHAT, LOSE FAITH in OUR ECONOMIC SYSTEM. Confidence that better times are not too far off in the future is key. Once people lost faith in THE SYSTEM due to banks failing, stocks tanking, real estate values falling, and greedy executives lining their own pockets – people started to hoard their cash and didn’t invest or spend which just made the spiral worse.
This my friends is probably THE WAKE-UP CALL in our country’s history that hopefully entrepreneurs of all ages needed to experience in their lifetime. HOPEFULLY – business owners will believe once and for all what their elders and prudent financial advisors have been saying for decades – Your business needs a written business plan and EVERYONE needs a life plan to enable them to fight and survive life’s everyday challenges.
15 October 2009, 7:12 am
Janice,
Thanks. Dad appreciated the well-wishes!
Oh, yes. I chose her for just that reason. I was thinking, based on this quotation, maybe she wasn’t reaching for a star, but simply reaching because that was in her nature. Another interesting way to go about it.
Alex,
LOL. True about online confidence being nice for their fans to bask next to, thought there are certainly plenty of arrogant sots like me who just get along at the normal pace of business, even online.
Gets on my New England-Irish nerves as well. Then I take ‘em apart and look for the lessons I would be willing to learn from. As I know you also do…
Regards,
Kelly
15 October 2009, 8:01 am
Earl,
Well, yes. It’s not a direct equation, but I certainly hope that no matter what country you’re reading this in, a dash of confidence helps lift the spirits (and when the time’s right, the wallet).
Thanks for your comment, and welcome to Maximum Customer Experience!
Regards,
Kelly
15 October 2009, 8:58 am
By the way, 150 years ago, in the Wild West, Snake-oil Salesmen were confident too. (That’s probably why they call them “Confidence Men”).
15 October 2009, 3:09 pm
its interesting the the orgins of the word confidence is trust, hence confide.
now it has changed its meaning to something that i don’t think it has earned. i still use the word confidence to mean i trust someone for example i have confidence in my bank, i trust they won’t lose my money.
bad example but i think the way we see confidence is more like arrogance.
bubba b
15 October 2009, 3:28 pm
Friar, Bubba,
Interesting. I’m going to have to make some time tonight to look up the origins of the word… con-men, confiding in a person and confidence as in trust, and definitely, too much confidence looks a lot like arrogance.
I’m a big fan of a little swagger, and I expect that’s exactly what Ms. Hellman was thinking of, too. I hadn’t quite thought about all these shades of meaning when I decided to do this post!
Thanks for the food for thought.
Until later,
Kelly
15 October 2009, 3:56 pm
Fake it ’til you make it.
Smoke if you’ve got ‘em.
15 October 2009, 4:19 pm
Then again, there’s something to be said about the strong silent type. If there’s too much swagger, I get suspicious.
I’ve read more than a few “Lookit-me-I’m-so-great” web sites. Where apparently the author and their accolytes will try to convince you that they’re better than the 2nd coming of Sliced Bread.
Where they claim the cost of just TALKING to them for an hour worth more than some people make in a whole week.
But when you read between the lines, some of these nimrods barely make enough money to cover their rent and groceries.
Sometimes not even.
In fact, I’ve even seen swaggerers appeal to their on-line friends, literally BEGGING for money to help cover their bills.
So sure, they’re confident.
But maybe it’s time to come down to earth, and eat a bit of humble pie.
Because otherwise, it’s just acheap dollar store disguised with glitzy false store-front.
Friar´s latest blog… My Post-Thanksgiving Ungrateful List
15 October 2009, 4:35 pm
Brett,
Indeed!
Friar,
That will never happen here. After all, MCE’s better than the 1st coming of Sliced Bread.
Erm, maybe I’d better go get a bit of that pie you mentioned. Humble? Is that Thanksgiving leftovers?
I like pie…
Until later,
Kelly
15 October 2009, 5:03 pm
@Kelly
Bet you I threw you for a loop….I actually left a comment that was somewhat ON-TOPIC !!!!
15 October 2009, 5:09 pm
That, dear Friar, is what I live for.
15 October 2009, 5:35 pm
Meh.
It’s been known to happen.
Just don’t count on it, though.
Friar´s latest blog… My Post-Thanksgiving Ungrateful List
15 October 2009, 6:24 pm
miss kelly, not sure i like being dumped in with mister friar. that boy has issues.
i think what you are all talking about is self-confidence. trust in yourself and your abilities. if you got that, you got everything. my manager has self confidence in spades and me and his boys would follow him anywhere.
bubba b
15 October 2009, 6:37 pm
@bubbabrother
Yeah, but at least I know how to start a sentence with capital letters.
Friar´s latest blog… My Post-Thanksgiving Ungrateful List
15 October 2009, 6:56 pm
Bubbabrother,
Please accept my apologies.
& I suspect you also have confidence in spades.
Friar,
Don’t mock the shift-challenged among us. You can do that at your blog.
hehehe <<—no caps, in solidarity with bubbabrother
Later,
Kelly
15 October 2009, 7:03 pm
when in rome….
Friar´s latest blog… My Post-Thanksgiving Ungrateful List
15 October 2009, 7:05 pm
i’m being efficient and saving key strokes.
bubba b
15 October 2009, 7:10 pm
maximum typing experience.
it’s exhausting not using the shift key.
15 October 2009, 7:33 pm
m bng vn mr ffcnt, nd svng vwls.
Friar´s latest blog… My Post-Thanksgiving Ungrateful List
15 October 2009, 11:33 pm
FYI (In case you didnt’ get it).
“I’m being even more efficient, and saving vowels”.
But of course, I wasted all these keystrokes right here, explaining my last comment.
Friar´s latest blog… My Post-Thanksgiving Ungrateful List
16 October 2009, 7:14 am
LOL. I was just being even more efficient, saving words.
Until now.
16 October 2009, 2:32 pm
like i said, that boy got issues.
he’s damned funny, but he got issues.
bubba b