We celebrate achievement in life from the time we first smile on cue until our will is read. We see it constantly - meeting billability goals, getting your degree, graduating from high school, your your first A in Algebra, hitting your first home run, first touchdown, using the potty on your own the first time - you get the point. Once you achieve a goal, you set another and strive to reach higher.

We should all strive to be better humans as well. We all have room for improvements in life - especially the little improvements, the seemingly simple. Often, it’s the little things that can make you, or those around you, happy on a daily basis. Strive on a daily basis to achieve happiness in those around you and you’ll enjoy happiness as well. Jay over at the Dumb Little Man - Tips for Life blog posted 60+ Improvements to Make to Your Life. Check em’ out.

• Smile at strangers
• Identify, admit and solve problems. Don’t ignore them.
• Exercise at least 2 times per week for 30 minutes
• Forgive people - no grudges allowed
• When you go to bed, reflect on things that made you happy each day
• Stop gossiping with neighbors or co-workers
• Don’t steal from your family (or at all)
• Volunteer at least 4 hours per month
• Don’t ever lie (Santa Clause for kids, etc. is OK)
• Save for retirement before you budget for the new car
• Talk and engage in conversation with the elderly as opposed to nodding and ignoring
• Listen more than you talk
• At work, ask 1 clarifying question each time someone tells you to do something
• Confront people in private
• Don’t buy something to impress someone else (if a car, buy what works)
• If the destination is less than a mile away, walk or bike
• Avoid sugar unless it’s from natural fruit
• Keep your promises like your life depends on it
• Play with your kids, intimately, for an hour each day
• Show your spouse you love them with actions everyday
• No matter who it is, help stranger having a hard time (someone stuck in the snow, etc.)
• Secure your house and protect your family
• Be involved in your children’s school (talk to teachers, get involved in events, etc.)
• Keep your friends’ secrets, except from your spouse
• Splurge and buy yourself something occasionally
• Weigh yourself every 2 weeks
• Check your cholesterol as often as you go to the dentist
• Get an annual physical
• Know where your money goes
• Learn to wake up without an alarm clock
• Take at least 7 days off from work each year
• Contribute to your 401K as much as your company matches (at a minimum)
• Put your money into an online, high interest account as opposed to a CD or money market
• Just like Blackjack, don’t spend money on equities that you cannot afford to lose
• Avoid home equity loans
• Start a college fund for your kids the day they are born
• Get your kids on a sleep schedule the day you come home with them from the hospital
• Don’t buy anything after midnight (infomercials)
• Treat all races equally and teach your kids to
• Help people in distress or pulled over with a flat tire on the highway
• Encourage education, not school
• Teach your kids something about business
• Clip and use coupons
• Reduce TV time to 2 hours per week
• Throw a punch when someone throws one first, never instigate a fist fight no matter what
• Defend your friends
• Treat each of your children equally
• Don’t smoke or drink in front of the kids
• Treat your girl/boy friends with respect. At some point, you will feel guilty - even 20 years later.
• Never betray a friend, they are hard to come by
• Apologize often
• Forget regret, move on to something better
• Losers are those that settle, don’t be afraid to try something new
• Speak your mind
• Don’t put all of your money into a single mutual fund
• Don’t buy anything hoping to impress someone
• Try not to buy into any adjustable rate mortgages unless you know what you’re doing
• Check your credit report every 6 months
• Never co-sign for anyone
• Don’t loan friends money unless your are willing to lose the money and possibly the friend

Pick one or two of these little things and just do it! Focus on doing it. When you get that one achieved, pick another and do it! You’ll be glad you did. And so will those around you.

Part 2 of 5 of Patrick Lencioni’s The Five Disfunctions of the Team:
DISFUNCTION - FEAR OF CONFLICT

Teams that fear conflict €¦

• Have boring meetings.
• Create environments where back-channel politics and personal attacks thrive.
• Ignore controversial topics that are critical to the team members.
• Waste time and energy with posturing and interpersonal risk management.

Teams that engage conflict €¦

• Have lively, interesting meetings.
• Extract and exploit the ideas of all team members.
• Solve real problems quickly.
• Minimize office politics.
• Put critical topics on the table for discussion.

One of my favorite bloggers, Seth Godin, has posted several times about the importance of the receptionist to a firm. Other business authors, including Harry Beckwith (What Clients Love), share the same feeling.  I couldn’t agree more.

The receptionist is usually the first voice a potential or existing client hears when they call or the first face they see when they walk in.  If that first voice, or first face, is frowning (and a frown can be heard across the phone, as can a smile), that sets the tone for their engagement with the firm. They’re also often the determining factor in whether the client gets served - especially if the staff professional is out of pocket. So, check out what Seth says about How to be a Great Receptionist.  As Seth says, “start by acting like Vice President, Reception.”

One of the books I read last year was The Five Disfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni. Vic has blogged several times about what has made us successful. I suggest that one of the things is our ability to work as a team. That’s not always easy, but, in general I think all our folks work really hard to be a team. Those teams vary from the task level to project level to office level to management. Mr. Lencioni’s book identifies five primary disfunctions of teams and describes what it takes to pull teamwork off. I’m going to post five posts on this topic - one on each of the five disfunctions.

Disfunction - ABSENCE OF TRUST

Members of teams with an absence of trust €¦

• Conceal their weaknesses and mistakes from one another.
• Hesitate to ask for help or provide constructive feedback.
• Hesitate to offer help outside their areas of responsibility.
• Jump to conclusions about the intentions and aptitude of others without attempting to clarify them.
• Fail to recognize and tap into one another’s skills and experiences.
• Waste time and energy managing their behaviors for effect.
• Hold grudges.
• Dread meetings and find ways to avoid spending time together.

Members of trusting teams €¦

• Admit weaknesses and mistakes.
• Ask for help.
• Accept questions and input about their area of responsibility.
• Give one another the benefit of the doubt before arriving at a negative conclusion.
• Take risks in offering feedback and assistance.
• Appreciate and tap into one another’s skills and experiences.
• Focus time and energy on important issues, not office politics.
• Offer and accept apologies without hesitation.
• Look forward to meetings and other opportunities to work together as a group.

Are you doing all you can to be a good teammate?

I’ve posted a lot of Jeffrey Gitomer’s material here on this blog. Maybe it’s because we share our first name, but more likely it’s because he preaches some good stuff. In his latest Sales Caffeine newsletter (if you don’t get it, go to gitomer.com and register), he has an excerpt from his new book The Little Green Book of Getting Your Way. This excerpt is about speaking, something we all have to do - at home, at work, and at play.

“Business owners, executives, managers, and salespeople fail to realize how much of their success is dependent on the way they speak. Poor speaking habits can destroy credibility,” says Ty Boyd, founder of the Excellence in Speaking Institute (Charlotte, North Carolina).

How many of you will take the challenge to raise your skills? Need a push? Below are some of the best methods of putting fire in your throat without being perceived as a dragon.

Here are 9.5 success tactics of how to get ready, get great at performing, and get your way:

1. Get a grip. Shake hands so firmly that the other person notices. A solid handshake sets a confident aura around you from the first moment of contact.

2. Set the mood. It’s your responsibility as a great communicator to create an atmosphere where information can flow comfortably and naturally.

Read more here.