Always have a toothpick handy!

Many of you have heard of the concept of Vacation Ownership or Timeshare.  One of the more prominent vacation home options is the idea generically termed “destination club.” Most of these programs enable Members to purchase access to a Club’s portfolio of vacation homes, located typically in “stand-alone” fashion at popular tourism destinations. With payment of an initiation fee and ongoing annual dues, Members are entitled to a fixed number of days in residence.

Meriwether Ranch offers something quite different. Instead of merely having access to a collection of vacation homes, Meriwether Ranch Owners actually purchase a deeded fractional part of a beautifully designed, elegantly furnished, two or four-bedroom luxury Home uniquely situated on the world renowned Big Hole river in the stunning outdoors of Big Sky Montana. While this interest may parallel outright ownership of a Second Home, it comes entirely free of the hassles and headaches so typical of year-round upkeep and maintenance.

Ownership Gives You Options

The Deeded Interest becomes a part of the Owner’s estate and Owners may bequeath it to their families.

Also unique to Meriwether, should an Owner choose to move full-time to Montana one day, he or she has the right to resell their Club Residence, as with any other real estate asset.

Revel in Singular Service

On a most welcome note, only those who choose Ownership in Meriwether Ranch are entitled to the five-star service for which Star Resort Group is renowned.  Whenever you and your family or friends are in residence, you can expect to receive precisely that special level of service in your Private Residence as you would expect from an upscale luxury resort.

In short, Meriwether Ranch owners appreciate the inherent virtues of a truly private environment; a location rich in amenities; quality and services comparable to their home country club; and one of the most respected names in the hospitality industry as trusted manager of their property.

The Meriwether Ranch experience is unlike any other, the rewards uncommonly rich.

I said in one of my previous posts that my current location in life is not where I had planned to go, but I now accept that it is where I needed to be.   I feel that I  can see my life’s path much clearer and will, as a result, be much stronger because of all that has happened to me in the last few years.  

My trauma is actually minor compared to others who have discovered their true potential (Telos) after going through much worse than I have experienced.   Telos incidentally is a Greek word that literally means  ”end,” or “purpose.”  Aristotle, the ancient Greek philosopher, believed that Telos was an object’s or individual’s greatest potential.  In a classic example, the Telos of an acorn is becoming a mighty oak tree. 

There are many examples of where a traumatic event has occurred in someone’s life and, instead of ruining ones life, has sparked them to previously unimagined success.   If you have a moment, (actually 8 minutes) watch this amazing video of how just one person discovered his Telos.

Pretty amazing, huh?  I am on the journey of discovering my Telos.  Have you discovered yours yet?

I have always said that people LOVE to learn but they HATE to be taught.   You would do well to remember that advice in all your communications with others.  Anytime you can get your point across using a story, anecdote or humorous event you will find that not only will your audience hang on your every word but they will LEARN at the same time.  

If you are in sales (and all of us are!), you can be taught that if you want to be successful you must first find out what is really important to your customer before you try to sell him your product.   That is great advice, but you could have learned it much more effectively if you were given the same advice wrapped up in a story.  Try this one on for size.

I first  read this story in Readers Digest about 30 years ago.  It took place during World War II around 1943. ( I verified it with my 88 year old Dad who was in the Army in Europe at the time.)   Uncle Sam, in an effort to raise more money for the war effort, started a war-bond program for the men in uniform.  The program was that all the soldiers, marines, airmen and sailors could buy war bonds.  The upside for the servicemen was that if they bought the war-bonds and were killed in action then the government would have to pay a $10,000 death benefit to the servicemen’s heirs back home.  Of course $10,000 was a lot of money in the early 40’s and was the big appeal and benefit of the program. 

The downside was that the war-bonds would cost the servicemen around $3.00 per month which was a hefty chunk of what the military men were making in 1943.  The bottom line was that the cost was too much and the servicemen weren’t buying the war-bonds because they were just too expensive.

The story goes on to tell of a young 2nd Lieutenant fresh out of West Point, standing on a stump, in front of his platoon in France.  He was trying to “Sell” them on the many reasons they should buy the war-bonds.  He talked passionately about why they should get involved, saying things like, “It’s the patriotic thing to do, it will help the war effort” and “The government needs the money.” All to no avail.  The men just stood there with blank faces and their arms folded. They were thinking, “It’s just too expensive.  I don’t care how many reasons you give me, I can’t afford them.”

A crusty old Sergeant standing off to the side said. “Sir, let me talk to the men.”  He got up on the stump and said in a loud voice, “Men, I have a statement to make and a question to ask.  The statement is this:  If you buy these war-bonds and are killed in action then Uncle Sam will have to write a check for $10,000 to your loved ones back home, Right?”  The men all answered, “Right.”   Now, on the other hand, if you don’t buy the war-bonds and are killed in action, then Uncle Sam doesn’t have to spend a dime, Right?” Again, the men responded, “Right”

“So, the question I have to ask is this:

“Who do you think they are going to send to the front-lines first to be killed? Those that are going to cost them $10,000 or those they get by with for free!?”

Needless to say, everyone bought the war-bonds!

You chuckle at the simple logic but you have to stand in awe of the message.  Rather than talk about features of the program, the Sergeant cut to the very basic premise of sales.

Sell your product based on what is important to your customer and not what is important to you.

The message to us is easier to understand because of the story.  The message is clear.  Be like that Sergeant.  Find out what is important to your customer and then share your product and service using a story.  Remember that your customer might just be that son you are trying to get to mow the lawn or to do their homework.  We are all in sales every day.  Be a sergeant and not a lieutenant!

Happy St. Patrick’s Day! Rick  

PS. I need your help!! What can I do to make my blog better and what more can I do to advertise it? I will cherish your comments and/or advice. Let me know. Thanks for stopping by and sharing some of your valuable time with me! Rick

I was letting the dog out this morning for his first “daily” and got to thinking what an easy life this mutt has. All he does is sleep, eat and eliminate. That’s it! To make it even worse, he was “fixed” years ago so he’s not even going to “get lucky” any time soon! What a life! It would be a pretty boring existence for you and me but ole Tom (his name) seems as happy as he can be. Why? There must be a lesson or two here for us two-legged animals.

We have too many desires!

We put too much pressure on ourselves trying to amass “things” to keep up with the neighbors and live up to the guidelines that “society” sets for us. We many times set our goals based on these false dogmas. Tom doesn’t do that. He doesn’t have a jealous bone in his body and he couldn’t care less if he is gaining weight or the dog across the street lives in a bigger house. Animals cannot select their goals. Their goals (self-preservation and procreation) are hard-wired in their brains. And their success mechanism is limited to these built-in goal images which we call “instincts.”

Man, on the other hand, has something animals haven’t - Creative Imagination. We can picture goals in our minds and also create them. That makes us not only creatures but also creators! We have the keys to our own happiness that we have total control over. We are the architects of our own success! We are what we think. Unfortunately, unlike Tom, we think about too many things. We overwhelm ourselves at times. Paralysis by analysis! We need to dial it back a little and simplify our aspirations a bit. We need to think good thoughts. Remember:

“If you always think what you’ve always thought…..you’ll always get what you’ve always got!”

Take a lesson from Tom and slow things down. Take a nap today.. have a great meal…wag your tail and don’t take life so doggone serious.

Have a great Sunday! Rick

PS. I need your help!! What can I do to make my blog better and what more can I do to advertise it? I will cherish your comments and/or advice. Let me know. Thanks for stopping by and sharing some of your valuable time with me! Rick

Are you all aware that today, March 15th,  marked the worst day of Julius Caeser’s life?  Sure was!  Seems that he got himself carved up by a bunch of his enemies in the Roman Senate in 44 B.C.   William Shakespeare thought it was important enough an event to write a play about and teach us all about the term “The Ides of March.” 

It went down this way.  Caeser was an arrogant old fart and he apparently summoned the Senate to meet in the Theater of Pompey on the Ides of March.  A certain seer (soothsayer)warned Caesar that he had better have his head on a swivel that day and to be on his guard because a great peril on the 15th of March had his name written all over it.  Caesar apparently blew the fortune teller off and didn’t pay him much mind.   So when the big day had come and Caesar was strolling on his way to the senate, he saw the seer again and greeted him with a jest and said: “The Ides of March has come,” basically telling him, “Shows how much you know!”  The seer then answered him softly and said: “Yes, the Ides of March has come, but it has not passed.” 

Caesar soon learned that you don’t dis the seer because as the Senate convened, Caesar was attacked and stabbed to death by a group of senators who called themselves the liberatores  (”Liberators”).  They justified their action on the grounds that they committed tryrannicide and were preserving the Republic from Caesar’s alleged monarchical ambitions.  Call it anything you like….they killed him!  The term “Ides of March”  has since come to be used as a metaphor for impending doom.   Big deal, huh?  Well, if you like trivia…the ides of March was a also a red letter day for George McFly in the movie ”Back to the Future II.”  He was killed on the 15th of March, 1973!

So whether you are superstitious or not, at least today you learned a new expression or term you might not have known before.  If you want to be really enlightened you should also know that in the Roman calendar, the term ides was used for the 15th day of the months of March, May, July and October, and the 13th day of the other 8 months.  Don’t ask me why.  It was a long time ago and my day-timer only goes back a few years.

I think we should all pull together today and spit in the face of all the doom-sayers and let’s make this March 15, 2008 our best day so far this year!

Regards, Rick

PS.  I need your help!!  What can I do to make my blog better and what more can I do to advertise it?  I will cherish  your comments and/or advice.  Let me know.  Thanks for stopping by and sharing some of your valuable time with me!  Rick