Category — Experience

The Problem:

My home was broken into two weeks ago to the day.

The Solution:

Call Chicago’s finest to file a police report.

It was that simple.

The second I notice that my TV was missing from the living room, as I walked into my house, I knew I had been robbed.  It was 8pm, my biggest fear was to find the rest of my house turned upside down (i.e.: broken picture frames, torn couches, graffiti on the wall) only because It was late in the evening and I didn’t want to clean up the mess, I was tired from running errands all day.  To my surprise, both of my flat screen TVs and my laptop were the only items that were missing.  What a relief! (I thought to myself)

I’m sure this might not seem normal to some but to me it wasn’t as bad as it seemed.  Sure the perps broke my window to get into the house, stoled my 56″ plasma TV, a 37″ plasma TV and a new laptop (hence the reason why it took me so long to post “Lose Yourself”) but on the bright side, my house was clean and I was still in one piece (not to say that I wouldn’t put up a good struggle).  I knew that the items they took were material possessions that were easily replaceable.  I wasn’t going to loose any sleep over it and that same night, I kid you not, I slept like a baby.  Why?  Because of my mind set, I take things as they come and I deal with them.

So you might ask yourself, why would “Lose Yourself” be posted before this article?  The answer:  I’m focused.  Up to now, if you’ve been following my blog you’ve noticed that I’ve been posting articles and videos on success and risk (Lose Yourself, What Makes People Great, Powerful Affirmations, Affirmations of The Day: Determination, Success and Risk) only because I’m working towards starting my own small business.  This is my dream, it is my goal and no one is going to rob me from accomplishing this.. I am determined.  And if I can do this so can you.

You can do anything you set your mind to.

We are all subject to having bad or unfortunate things happen to us.  It is how we handle the situation that will make a difference in our life.  And because of this, I realize the importance to share with you the “bad” experiences in my life to better help you deal with yours.  After all, I created this blog to help you live a better life. 

 ”You cannot always control what goes on outside.  But you can always control what goes on inside.”  -Wayne Dyer

Life will go on.

I’m an extremely busy person.. at least I think so.

Besides working as a manager at an up-and-coming hotel property, just one block off the beautiful Magnificent Mile, I also run my own business.  I’m trying to come up with a good work-life balance and I’m noticing that my life IS work!  I’m a workaholic, I like accomplishing things in life.. I love life.. Life’s good.  Is it because I love to work? OR, is it that I love what I do?  Are you doing what YOU want to do?  Are you doing what YOU want to do with YOUR life?.. makes you think right?  (Don’t let me interrupt… I’ll give you some time to think.)

So even with this ”depressed” economy, I still manage to stay up-beat.  The way I see it, we are now learning how to save money and how to budget.  Many families only buy the basics, what they NEED.  We’re revisiting our Values.  We are learning that money isn’t everything.  Money cannot buy happiness.  Keep in mind the definition of success (a state of accomplishment or achievement).  You CAN be successful in our current economic state.  People need to just SHUT their yapper and stop whining.

I woke up at six this morning (I hate oversleeping), jumped in the shower, had breakfast and went about my day (I did put clothes on before I ate).  I went to visit my mom (I love that woman).  I had to park on the next block, to avoid getting a parking ticket for zone parking (Chicago needs to make her money).  I guess I could have gotten a permit pass from her, but I enjoyed the walk (apparently I don’t do much of it).  During our conversation she asked, “How do you manage to stay positive?”  I told her, “When I wake up each morning, I decide how I want my day to be.  I always know it’s going to be a GREAT day.. I gave her an example.

Just this past Friday (the 17th), on my way to work, I broke a ti-rod.  My car was *Wobble-City.  I ended parking it on the middle of the street in between the yellow painted outline for an isle, on State Street off Van Buren view virtual map, just steps away from Harold Washington Library.  I called my old man (who’s always there when I need him).  He was going to get a tow-truck and I was about 1/2 mile away from work.  It was a beautiful day.  At 7:25 in the morning, the sun was out and I was enjoying the refreshing breeze.  It was that very moment when I realized that I needed to start exercising.  I mean, I use to run 5 miles, in boots, on the beach where the water met the sand, under the sweltering Sun. OOH-RAH! .. and now this 1/2 mile hike was taking a tole on me my legs (damn were they burning! - I guess I tend to walk fast).  The point was, I managed to get in to work on time’ish, it wasn’t raining, my legs didn’t melt off, the car stopped closer to work, the wheel didn’t come flying off on the Dan Ryan Expressway and I was still here to tell her the story.. Lucky for her.

Every day may not be good, but there’s something good in every day.

Each morning, keep in mind that if you decide to be miserable or happy, just know that it takes the same amount of energy.

*Wobble-City:  adj. -A term my 6th grade gym teacher, Mr. West, used when referring to a wobbly spiral football throw.

So about a week later from my last post and I still no comments.. Lol, The closest of people have this address and everyone is just “watching”.  In a way, (I guess) this is kinda cool… I’m on stage and I do love the attention.

This actually happened at work today.  It was the typical Monday morning, lots to cover to make up for my two days off and I kept getting bombarded with problems.  As a department head at a hotel, associates tend to come to me with problems needing solutions.  I was presented with an issue were I needed to do what I felt was right and at the same time hurt a team member I care about.  A first time customer called to explain that she had overpaid and wanted to see if we had a record of it, to assist her with her story, so that we can mail her the unused deposit.  Pretty simple right?..

I may not be superstitious but I am a STRONG believer in Karma, hence the reason for my positive outlook in life.  So I start thinking.. How will this affect our customer relationship?  From a manager’s point of view, this was the opportunity for us, as a business, to shine for possible repeat business.  As a person, I knew that the lady whom I was speaking with over the phone really thought she made a mistake once she realized she did, only after departing early to join her family and friends at a loved one’s funeral.  I figured she was being too persistent (having called multiple times wanting to get the issue resolved) for her to just lie.  Sometimes you just have to give people the benefit of the doubt.  We want to put ourselves in the other person’s shoes to really see what it feels like and understand their actions.  As a customer, what would you do if you called a hotel and you weren’t getting the help you expected?

And now the hard part, telling my team member, who took in the needed amount, that the customer was right (only because the customer did not know that she was wrong).  I pretty much summed it up by saying “It is our responsibility to ensure our guests are taken care of”.  After all, we can have the marble floors and the satin sheets but guests won’t return if we don’t provide great service.

After assisting the customer and letting her know what she wanted to hear, she thanked me, she thanked our team for being very friendly throughout her stay, she explained how she enjoyed her visit and how she will return to stay at our property on her next trip to the City.  If our conversation would of ended on a negative note, I would have ruined her day (let alone she had a funeral to go to), she would have told all of her friends and family and we would lose potential business.  Word of mouth is the least expensive form of advertising and at the same time has more of an impact on the business than any other form of advertising.  If someone you trust tells you to try a certain product or service, you are more inclined to try it simply because of the personal connection you have with that person.  Trust plays an important role here.

I want you to think of a time when you made a positive difference in someones life.  How did you make the other person feel?  How did that make YOU feel?