Cup of Joe

Success Strategy #14: At least 90% of everything you’ve ever worried about never even happened.

We waste so much energy worrying about things that we not only cannot control, but will never even happen. Think about it…even if they do happen, will worrying about it prevent it from happening or make things any better?

When we let our ‘fear fantasies’ win out against ‘raw realities’ we usually come out the loser. When we worry about what might happen, we put fear in the driver seat.  Remember that concern is valuable, worry is debilitating. Concern pulls our focus from the fear fantasy of future doom and instead puts it on what we can or should do in the current moment. Concern is a natural and important context for channeling our energy so we can appropriately confront and address the best course of action to deal with or mitigate our fears.

If this blog seems too simplistic for you, I urge you to try something. This week, raise your awareness about your distinction between worry and concern.  See if you find yourself worrying more than you thought you might have.  Then, think about taking the energy you waste on worry and channel it into better assessing what is real in the present moment, and what you should or could be doing in the present moment that would better serve you in the future.

Feeding fear fantasies negatively affects our present realities—sometimes in debilitating ways.  Do your best to shift worries into healthy concerns.  Life is short and full of enough important things to think about.  Why spend time on things that probably won’t even happen in your lifetime?

More everyday success strategies can be found on my website.

You may be tuning in to the Winter Olympics in the evenings, which of course are taking place in Canada this year. Living in Grosse Ile, my proximity to Canada gives me occasion to visit our lovely neighbors to the north from time to time.

On one such visit, I saw a sign as I came out of a car wash that said, “If you are not satisfied…we will rewash your vehicle. No questions asked.” 

No questions asked? That’s a great way to ensure that their service never improves. The only way to create great customer service is to ask great questions, often. Rewarding customers in some small way for their answers can also help create loyalty. Remember, satisfied customers are repeat customers.

If human behavior follows true to form at this car wash, I wonder how many dissatisfied customers have taken them up on their offer? My guess is very few. And if they did, I wonder if the car wash has been able to improve their service by not asking questions. I highly doubt it. 

Great questions can be the first step to creating great customer service.