Filed under: personalfinancenewsss.wordpress.com | Tags: Cash, Clunkers, steps
The government’s “cash for clunkers” program, officially called the Car Allowance Rebate System, or CARS for short, is in full swing, but only some consumers will be able to participate thanks to the eligibility requirements for potential buyers, their current vehicles and the vehicles they plan to buy or lease.
The program was designed to help consumers buy or lease a more environmentally friendly car, pickup or SUV when they trade in a less fuel-efficient one. Consumers can get a $3,500 or $4,500 credit toward the purchase of a new vehicle depending on the fuel economy improvement between the two vehicles, according to the government’s Web site cars.gov. This credit is considered the buyer’s trade-in value, and their clunker is sent off to be crushed. Here’s the lowdown on the process.
Step 1: Determine if you qualify.
The person trading in the clunker must have been the vehicle’s owner on the registration and the title for at least one year prior to the date of purchase, according to the program’s requirements. The title must be “clear,” so if there is a lien holder, you must first clear the lien before participating in the program. Consumers can only participate in the program once.
For a vehicle that has two names on one title, such as a married couple, only one person can take advantage of the program. If there are two cars with two names on each title, each person can receive a credit for each clunkers. ??
Step 2: Determine if your vehicle qualifies.
Vehicles that are traded must be no more than 25 years old and must get no more than 18 miles per gallon as a combined average fuel economy under the EPA’s new estimated mile-per-gallon calculations. There are different requirements for a cargo van or very large pickup, referred to as a work truck in the program. To find the combined mile-per-gallon rating for your car, pickup or SUV, go to the EPA’s FuelEconomy.gov site and select the model year, make, model and engine of your vehicle, and make sure the red number above the word “combined” is 18 or less.
Step 3: Determine if the new vehicle you want to purchase or lease qualifies.
The CARS program only applies to new, not used, vehicles that are being purchased or leased for a five-year term or longer, and have a manufacturer’s suggested retail price of $45,000 or less, the program’s requirements state.
If the new vehicle is a passenger car, it must get at least 22 miles per gallon in combined average fuel economy, while Category 1 trucks — light-duty pickups, some SUVs and minivans — must have a combined fuel economy rating of at least 18 miles per gallon. Category 2 trucks — large light-duty pickups and some vans — must get at least 15 miles per gallon combined, according to EPA estimates. The combined fuel economy ratings for all new vehicles ares listed on the vehicle’s window sticker or can be calculated at FuelEconomy.gov. Be sure you know the make, model, engine and transmission of the new vehicle to obtain the correct mile-per-gallon number.
Step 4: Decide if it makes financial sense to participate in the program.
Consumers will receive $3,500 toward the purchase or lease of a new vehicle if it gets at least four, but less than 10, miles per gallon more than the old vehicle. They will get $4,500 if the new vehicle gets a least 10 miles per gallon higher than the old vehicle. The manufacturers have excellent calculators on their Web sites to determine how much credit you can receive for your car. Once you know how much credit you’ll receive, calculate the value of your??clunker using one of the many popular auto information Web sites such as Edmunds.com, Kelley Blue Book or NADAguides.com.
If your vehicle is worth more than the amount of the credit, you may want to try to sell it yourself or trade it conventionally, without using the CARS program.
Remember, these credits are in addition to any rebates and incentives the manufacturer is offering, so this can amount to a five-digit savings or more off the new vehicle when you combine the credit with the manufacturer’s rebates.
Step 5: Decide on a dealer.
At the time of publication, about 16,000 of the 20,000 franchised new car dealers were registered to participate in the CARS program, but the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the government agency that is administering the program, says that consumers should use its searchable database to locate a dealer to ensure the dealer they choose is participating.
Consumers do not need to register for the program. To participate, they simply reach an agreement to buy or lease a new qualifying vehicle with any participating dealer and then tell the dealer they want to trade-in their old vehicle under the CARS program. Any third party who reaches out to a consumer to try to “match” them with a dealer for the program may be committing fraud, and consumers should be cautious, the NHTSA and attorneys general in Ohio and Illinois warn.
With the majority of dealers participating in the program, you have plenty of choices as to where to take your business. Some dealers may be more willing to negotiate the price of the new vehicle than others, so choose carefully. Keep in mind that you may get a better deal if you negotiate the new vehicle price first, and then mention your interest in using the CARS program to get rid of your old vehicle.
Step 6: Complete the transaction paperwork and drive home.
Consumers should make sure that the transaction paperwork clearly outlines the terms of the sale, the applicable credits (including the $3,500 or $4,500 CARS credit and any manufacturer’s rebates) and the applicable fees to ensure they are being charged appropriately. The CARS credit is deducted from the purchase price of the vehicle at the time of the sale or lease commencement. The dealer gets reimbursed via the program after it sends the old vehicle to be crushed.
The CARS program will end on Nov. 1, 2009 or when the $1 billion allocation runs out, whichever comes first. Updates on the program as well as more details can be found at cars.gov or by calling (866) CAR-7891.
Copyright 2009, Bankrate Inc.
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Filed under: personalfinancenewsss.wordpress.com | Tags: Address, Aims, better, Campaign, Conditions, Media, Need, Sanitation, social
When Todd Lieman says he wants to cut through the crap, it?s almost poignant. Or at least as poignant as talking about excrement can be.
I put aside my own squeamishness and made an effort not to scrunch up my face as I plunged into researching this campaign addressing the need for better sanitation conditions in much of the world. It?s called ?Twitter for Sh-tters? and it is not designed so much to shock as to grab your attention.
?We wanted to bring the sanitation discussion out of euphemisms,? Lieman said.
The grassroots campaign was conceived by Skadaddle Media ? Lieman is its founder and co-president with Jon Wank — for Wherever the Need, a United States-based non-profit that takes a holistic approach to the provision and use of eco-sanitation toilets and water. According to its Web site, the organization?s core aim is ?the building of eco-sanitation toilets, which we believe to be vital to the good health of both people and the planet. We combine this with the provision and conservation of clean drinking water for people and, where possible, livestock, crops and trees.?
While causes whose mission is to clean up water are rightfully gaining steam, the idea of the Twitter for Sh-tters movement is to go a step deeper.
?You get clean water by cleaning up sanitation,? Lieman said. ?As long as people keep relieving themselves outside, water will keep getting polluted.?
For anyone who has seen the Oscar-winning film Slumdog Millionaire , this is not a huge revelation. One of the most memorable scenes in the movie involved ? well, let?s just say the mere memory is turning my stomach.
?If the source is people having to crap outside, then we?re at the source,? Lieman said.
But there?s more than his word that this cause needs attention. According to author Rose George?s book titled The Big Necessity: The Unmentionable World of Human Waste and Why it Matters , 2.6 billion people (that?s over a third of the world?s population) live without toilets or proper sanitation and every dollar invested in sanitation brings an average $7 return in health costs averted and productivity gained.
So this is how Twitter for Sh-tters is helping to alleviate the problem. The Web site accepts donations and even has a counter with updates on how much has already been raised (every $400 buys another eco-san toilet). Or an interested party can become a Daily Dumper, which means as a Twitter user — whether they have five followers or 5,000 — they spend the day tweeting to try and get their followers to donate (@tw_tter4sh_tter and #T4S). As the Web site puts it, ?The point is to take this long-avoided topic and, pardon the expression, step right in it.?
Not only does this campaign distinguish itself in its innovative use of social media, unlike so many causes it also isn?t going out of its way to tug at heartstrings.
?We?re not trying to guilt anybody into anything,? Lieman said. ?If you have a bidet and a heated toilet seat, good for you. Read a novel in there. The way we see it, there?s a zillion important causes. Maybe this one is yours.?
The response has been mostly positive, but the crude ?tell it like it is? approach has its share of naysayers. What Lieman knows is that he has a happy client, one that came because of Skadaddle Media?s creative ?aha moments? campaign for Mutual of Omaha.
?The client loves it,? Lieman said. ?They?ve been trying to do this for a long time. The [old] conversation has not been effective. We said, ?Let?s try this out in social media.??
As for naysayers in general, Lieman recently had some thoughts about schadenfreude while competing in a few marathons.
?Even in a small race, there were people out there applauding the runners,? Lieman said. ?Then there are volunteers setting up tables of water and people handing you the water. Total strangers were offering me a high five. Communities were coming together. I thought, ?Every day should be like this.? We get caught up in applauding the demise of other people. Let?s remember what we?re doing out here.?
In some cases, giving people the most basic of things.
Poignant, right?
Nancy Colasurdo is a practicing life coach and freelance writer. Her Web site is www.nancola.com. Please direct all questions/comments to FOXGamePlan@gmail.com. (more…)
Filed under: personalfinancenewsss.wordpress.com | Tags: Feature, Film, made, Make, Statement, trying
When Ela Thier was very young, she promised herself that at age 27 she would take the time to stop what she?s doing and ask the following question: Did I give up anything that I really wanted to do?
Never mind that virtually every person on the planet could benefit from that kind of thinking. Let?s stick to Thier and what her answer to that question was over 10 years ago.
?I had gone to [New York University] film school, then got scared, and left the whole film world,? she said in our recent interview. ?I was going to be a rabbi.?
But on her 27th birthday she received a phone call from a college friend who had optioned a feature script she?d written — he had gotten the funding to make the film called The Wedding Cow . It was subsequently produced by SWR, a major German TV network, and it garnered 20 awards at international film festivals, including nine Best Feature and five Audience Choice awards
That?s what we call one of those “brick-to-the-head” signs from the universe, and Thier was smart enough to sit up and pay attention. Now this 38-year-old writer/director, who also teaches screenwriting workshops, is directing her first feature film called A Summer Rain. The ?short? version of the film has not only made its way through the international film festival circuit, but it has received some terrific attention.
This is where the story takes an interesting turn. Trying to get her film made and frustrated by rejections, in June Thier sent out an open email letter to every person she could think of in hopes of raising enough money to make her feature film this summer. I cannot do the letter justice in this space, but this is its compelling beginning:
It was twenty years ago that I used to sneak out of school in order to write my first screenplay. In lieu of a literary criticism paper, I handed in a 260-page epic screenplay about the childhood and adolescence of John Lennon … I received an “F” on my term paper, but my English teacher took me aside during lunch and said: “I had to fail you, but I know you’ll win no matter what we do to you in school.”
If this beautifully crafted, nuanced letter is any indication, that teacher was right. Thier addresses the challenges women face in the film-making industry by not only offering statistics and anecdotes, but taking it a step deeper and looking within herself. This is no ordinary starving artist type who?s whining about her plight.
?I think that any time you look at a group of people who have been marginalized, misinformation about us gets internalized,? Thier told me. ?There are a million ways we get the message every day. How can we not??
In the letter she points out that, ?of the 250 top-grossing films in any given year, 6% are directed by women; of the 50 top-grossing movies each year, roughly five star or focus on women.?
But then Thier goes on to confess that her own perspective lies at the heart of this as well. She writes, ?I teach screenwriting and consistently notice the different regard that I feel for my male and female students. No matter how ?enlightened? I think I am, I find myself having higher expectations of the guys.?
Is it possible to be more frank than that?
?The biggest beast is what we?ve internalized,? Thier said to me. ?If we could heal from the internalized part of oppression, we would be unstoppable.?
Indeed. So now what? The letter has made its way on to blogs and forums all over the Internet and it?s been extensively forwarded and quoted. A Google search on Thier also led me to a recent post by writer/actor Nia Vardalos of My Big Fat Greek Wedding fame and it struck a similar chord.
?A studio executive recently asked me to change a male lead in a script to female because ?women don?t go to movies,?? Vardalos wrote. ?He went on to explain some studios were no longer making female-lead movies because women don?t go to them.?
?It?s used as an excuse,? Thier said. ?We?re not a market.?
Hmmmmm. Chicken or the egg? Maybe women aren?t going to more movies because they don?t like the choices.
And while that debate rages on, Thier is shooting her feature film. Sponsors like B&H, Arri CSC, and Zabar’s among others have made it possible. She has raised about half of what she needs ($20,000-plus) and can still use donations to offset food and transportation costs.
?None of us likes to ask for help,? Thier said. ?But in some ways, if someone had just cut me a check from the get go, I would have missed out on seeing people?s generosity. More than a third of the contributions are my own students. It?s been very, very moving to me. They themselves are struggling artists. Countless people I didn?t even know about forwarded the letter. One woman is unemployed, but said she had to send me something. Another woman went to her change jar and sent the $100 to me. Poor people are very generous.?
The return on their investment will be seeing Thier continue churning out her art.
?I have over 10 professional feature scripts I really believe in,? she said ?I have a substantial body of work ready to shoot.?
A decade-plus after that pivotal 27th birthday.
?Great art reflects what?s possible,? Thier said. ?As a new female director, the fight here for me is perspective.?
Seems to me she?s already got that nailed.
Nancy Colasurdo is a practicing life coach and freelance writer. Her Web site is www.nancola.com. Please direct all questions/comments to FOXGamePlan@gmail.com. (more…)
Filed under: personalfinancenewsss.wordpress.com | Tags: Eavesdropping, Radio
We are sitting in a cozy round booth at Toloache, a gourmet Mexican restaurant in the heart of Manhattan?s Broadway area. I am observing Lisa Vinton and Darcy Jones, who are in New York to conduct interviews for their ever-growing Internet radio talk show called Only2Degrees . At times it feels more like I?m eavesdropping.
First up are Toloache?s chef, Julian Medina, and the restaurant?s partner, Chris Gilman. The interviewees are sandwiched between Vinton and Jones so the women can ?cuddle? them as they draw them out. As Medina describes his background and culinary viewpoint and Gilman explains the happy vibe in the restaurant (tourists and show-goers are generally in a good mood), Vinton and Jones lean in and continue to probe.
Next in the hot seat is James Edstrom, editor of TimesSquareGossip.com. Jones jokingly tells him to ?cuddle in? and he quips back that maybe she?ll turn him straight. The next thing you know, Edstrom is lamenting what Times Square has become (overrun with tourists with big umbrellas), explaining that a celebrity like Bob Hope would graciously pose and let photographers ?get the shot? (as opposed to today?s spoiled celeb set) and wondering about all the social media fuss.
When Edstrom says he created a Facebook profile a while ago but isn?t active with it, Vinton laughingly tells him it?s like joining the Chamber of Commerce and then not going to networking events.
?James, you have to show up,? she says.
Therein lies the charm and appeal of the show created by this duo. What at first sounds like a flip observation is actually a very cogent one. While their banter with their guests is very easy breezy, it is also clear that Vinton and Jones have done their homework. And the more you listen, you realize how well-rounded they are and how engaged they are with life. Their innate curiosity brings with it good listening skills. The portable mic sitting on the table seems like an after-thought.
?It?s fun,? Vinton says. ?It gives us a chance to be who we are.?
?Both of us have coaching and teaching souls,? Jones says. ?This [show] brings out the best in what we want to do. I always say I want people to listen, laugh and learn.?
Perhaps the first lesson comes with understanding the name of the show — Only2Degrees . Jones loves the idea that they?ve coined a buzzword that essentially means there are fewer degrees of separation between most people than you think. The case in point on this day was that Vinton and Jones were accompanied by their friend, Lee, who lives in Hamilton Square, N.J. Unremarkable to some, but I just happened to grow up there.
Random? Not in the world of these women. They embrace the idea of connecting people, especially because they are so often asked to do so in their professional and community work in Temecula Valley in Southern California. Jones is a financial advisor and financial planning specialist with Smith Barney and Vinton is president/CEO of Services for Success, Inc. and founder of the Southwest Pregnancy Counseling Center.
They are no slouches in business, so perhaps it is no surprise that their talk show — which launched in January 2008 and now has its own three-mic studio — is starting to turn a profit. The show got over 150,000 hits in February 2009 and has continued to grow each month; unique hits have doubled since February. The goal is to keep taking it on the road (they recently expanded to Sacramento) and become nationally syndicated. Interestingly, most of their current listeners are executive businessmen making over $75,000 a year.
?A lot of radio shows are about politics or sports,? Vinton said. ?Ours isn?t. They like the sound of our voice and our bantering.?
Their topics range from hard-core business to spiritual to everything in between, but a prevalent one is wine tasting since, according to their Web site, they live ?very close to about 30 wineries.? In order for the folks at those wineries to get on the show, all they need to do is bring a bottle and share a glass with the hosts.
It hasn?t hurt the exposure for Only2Degrees that Vinton is also on a CMT reality TV show called World?s Strictest Parents and is now starting to get recognized. She and her husband, Scott, have a blended family and on the show they welcome two struggling teens into their home for a week.
That part of Vinton?s life dominated the conversation when the pair was recently on Air America?s The Lionel Show on their swing through New York. The host grilled Vinton about her opinion on spanking and exposing kids to violence and porn. As Lionel offered his own strong opinions on the topic, Vinton just went with it and Jones was right there with her.
That?s the thing. They know how to let it be organic. They give as good as they get. They?re funny to the point of bawdy, spiritually grounded, and have business savvy. Everything flows from there.
Add in guacamole and fish tacos and you get a rollickin? afternoon, Only2Degrees style.
Nancy Colasurdo is a practicing life coach and freelance writer. Her Web site is www.nancola.com. Please direct all questions/comments to FOXGamePlan@gmail.com. (more…)
Filed under: personalfinancenewsss.wordpress.com | Tags: Clothes, First, Lady, makes
Last fall, I wrote a Game Plan column lamenting all the criticism of Gov. Sarah Palin for wearing high-end clothes while running for Vice President. It seems now I must turn my attention to fashion ?critics? of our First Lady, Michelle Obama.
A little backstory is in order for those who missed the recent fashion flap. According to the Daily News , Michelle Obama was photographed in Russia carrying a black clutch bag that Italian luxury goods manufacturer VBH was all too happy to claim as its own. It turns out that particular bag came with a $5,950 price tag. However, the White House quickly countered that it was instead an $875 VBH purse. The manufacturer has since backed off its initial claim that it was the more expensive version.
My question ? Does it really matter?
People, please, work with me here. What?s with all the squawking about a sleek clutch purse? Is it just me, or would it be a little embarrassing for the First Lady of the United States to show up for a trip abroad less than impeccable and fashion forward? Perhaps we should save our indignance for the day Mrs. Obama weeds her organic garden sporting Manolos.
It?s not like Laura Bush was strutting around in Jaclyn Smith wear for Kmart, nor should she have been. I came across a blog post last year criticizing Mrs. Bush and Cindy McCain for being too extravagantly dressed and it actually broke down their outfits item by item with price tags. How absurd.
News flash, people. We?ve graduated from high school. Economy or no economy, these women can afford to dress well. Why are so many folks snickering like girls around a lunch table?
The word hypocrisy keeps coming up, as if the only way the President and First Lady can show their devotion to fixing the economy is by never putting on display their own success. Can you imagine the comments this African-American couple would get if they didn?t dress the part? There goes the neighborhood on Pennsylvania Avenue. Yep, I said it.
For more perspective on this, I reached out to Milan-based Angie Katselianos, head of Platinum Performance International and a top executive coach and leadership development expert.
?The widespread controversy in the U.S. and Europe is primarily focused on what Michelle Obama spent for a branded bag and the appropriateness of that expenditure in a moment in which the U.S. and the rest of the world are afflicted by a terrible crisis,? Katselianos said. ?In my view, the issue fails to capture the essence of what we?re witnessing.
?Firstly, Michelle Obama, by virtue of her natural leadership, holds the power to transform a simple fashion accessory ? independently of its price — into a planetary event that stimulates thought leaders and media to voice their respective opinions. Secondly, the issue is not whether Michelle Obama is holding a $6,000 or $800 bag (much less who?s bag it is!) because it isn?t the brand that increases her worth, but rather she who adds status and value to the things she wears.?
Surely designer Jason Wu is aligned with that thinking, as his creations have been showing up on Mrs. Obama since she chose to wear his inaugural ball gown in January. Taking it away from clothes for a moment, the owners of Five Guys burger joints probably get this concept since the President raised their profile simply by ordering up a burger there. I think a term for this has been coined by all the top business schools ? it?s called the best possible kind of free advertising.
Image consultant Gretchen Neels of Neels & Company took things a step further, though.
?It?s always important for the First Lady to look confident and polished, but I?d so much rather see her wearing American, particularly when she?s abroad,? Neels said.
Whichever way Michelle Obama?s fashion mood swings, it?s fascinating to watch the ripple effect.
?By the streamlined power of being herself, Michelle alone is able to influence value around her,? Katselianos said. ?In short, she is the brand. When essence and substance becomes one, it?s a classic case of leadership from the inside out. What are we squabbling about? Isn?t it time we follow her example??
Yes, I think it is.
Nancy Colasurdo is a practicing life coach and freelance writer. Her Web site is www.nancola.com. Please direct all questions/comments to FOXGamePlan@gmail.com. (more…)
Filed under: personalfinancenewsss.wordpress.com | Tags: Broadway, Lesson, Persistence
It took over 1,500 Broadway performances of Jersey Boys for me to finally see it, an odd fact when you consider I am Italian-American and grew up in New Jersey. But see it I did recently and like so many others, found it wildly entertaining.
That?s the fan of Four Seasons music in me talking, the one who was in the moment with the acting, the unfolding story and the overall crackly atmosphere that is part of being at a Broadway show.
But then there is the life coach in me, the one who marvels at the persistence of those aspiring young men who eventually made it big. It brought to mind one of the intrinsic challenges of being a life coach. One day a prospective client comes to you with a goal — dream? — and it is your job to encourage him and help him create a plan to make it happen.
For me that encouraging part comes naturally. Someone recently called me a ?can-do? coach and that is an apt descriptor. The question then becomes, what is the timeframe on the goal? If there are glimmers of progress along the way, it is easier to instinctively keep encouraging the client to move in that direction. However, what if he is continually coming up against dead ends? Doors are slammed. Leads go nowhere. What do you do?
For the record, I don?t believe there?s just one answer. It?s a case-by-case situation. As a coach, you look at things like focus, commitment to the idea, the ability to weather disappointment, and belief it can happen. That part isn?t always black and white.
So I can?t help but ask myself what I would have done if I was coaching Tommy DeVito — one of the original Four Seasons — and, between carousing and crime, he was hell-bent and determined to be part of a successful singing group. Perhaps I would have been heartened by his unwavering persistence that produced a variety of group names, sounds and venues. According to Wikipedia, ?Frankie Tyler, Frankie Valley, Frankie Valley and the Travelers, Frankie Valle and the Romans, The Village Voices, and The Topics are some of the 18 ?stage names? used individually or collectively by the members of the group.?
From roughly 1953 to 1962, they were in a mode where they kept throwing things against the wall to see what sticks. For those keeping score at home, that?s nearly a decade! This was really driven home in the play, as there are 14 songs in the program before the ever-popular ?Sherry,? which is the first one performed by what came to be ? finally — known as the Four Seasons. Their popularity exploded from there, but that didn?t mean there weren?t plenty more challenges.
The bigger point is, how many of us know people who keep trying things because they think their ship is about to come in? Family members? Friends? Or is it once-but-now-former friends? How many of us sustain belief in these ambitious people and how many of us lose patience and faith? How do we know the difference between a ?dreamer? and one who is going to make that dream a reality at all costs?
The answer is we don?t. There may not be an actual formula, but I think it?s pretty safe to say that persistence is a running theme in success stories. Each time I?m with a client, I am gauging and nurturing that persistence. I don?t balk at slides backward in enthusiasm or energy because that comes with the territory. A sustained effort won?t be without its bumps.
One of the goose bump-raising moments in Jersey Boys is when, after much buildup, they perform ?Can?t Take My Eyes Off of You.? Guitarist/keyboardist/composer Bob Gaudio, pretty much the brains behind the operation, pushes and pushes for that song because he so believes it will be a hit. It?s a case of persistence breeding success, then increased confidence, then more persistence and, well, you get the idea. The cycle just continues.
The same sort of steadfastness is woven through the plot of Walk The Line , the 2005 film about the story of the life of Johnny Cash. The rough spots are very rough and the triumphs are oh so sweet, but the lure of money and fame and the challenges of being a married artist are illuminating. Imagine trying to nurture a loving relationship when your spouse is looking for something traditional, but as a creative you must constantly strive to crank out more and find the right sound and get it to the right people. It can be tenuous.
The message, I suppose, is this: If you believe in what you?re doing, persist and then persist some more. It?ll increase the chance that there?s a ship out there with your name on it. But be prepared for some roadblocks along the way.
Nancy Colasurdo is a practicing life coach and freelance writer. Her Web site is www.nancola.com. Please direct all questions/comments to FOXGamePlan@gmail.com. (more…)
Filed under: personalfinancenewsss.wordpress.com | Tags: Appreciation, forward, paying
You know how sometimes a tidbit of information is a fun conversation piece and other times it can tell you a whole lot about a person based on how they react? Always up for a positive story, I was telling an acquaintance in my local café about actor Johnny Depp recently leaving a $4,000 tip for a waiter in a Chicago steakhouse.
?Well, he can afford it,? my acquaintance said flippantly.
?Lots of people can afford it,? I said. ?But that doesn?t mean they do it.?
?I suppose,? my acquaintance said with a shrug.
From this brief exchange, I took away so much. It showed me a lack of appreciation for someone showing appreciation. It reinforced my annoyance at cynicism. And it validated my own decision to make my default disposition as positive and upbeat as possible without forcing it.
Let?s start with the appreciation part of this. With the job market so dismal and so many Americans fearing the pink slip every time they walk through their employers? doors, isn?t that extra incentive to let someone know they did their job well?
It doesn?t mean Joe Average needs to leave a $4,000 tip. There are other ways to show appreciation for someone?s efforts. For example, I have become much more vigilant about doing follow-up surveys when I?ve spoken to a customer service representative on the phone. It takes less than a minute and I have to believe if the company has any layoffs down the road, these reviews will be looked at and taken seriously. That?s powerful.
I recently bought my first BlackBerry and was utterly clueless about how to decide on what was the best fit for my needs. Matthew, the employee who helped me at the AT&T (T) store, was extremely informative, infinitely patient and, perhaps most importantly, didn?t lay the hard sell on me. Not only did I make a point of telling his supervisor in the store that I came back to buy the phone specifically because of Matthew?s service, I gave him kudos in a phone survey the company did that week.
Do I want a medal for it? Not at all. But I would love to encourage more people to think this way. Doesn?t it feel great when someone shows their appreciation to you? Pay it forward. You just don?t know the impact it could have.
In the Johnny Depp scenario, he and his fellow cast members from Public Enemies reportedly went to Gibsons Steakhouse at 11:30 p.m., so part of his generosity stemmed from knowing they had kept the staff there later than usual. He also had some history with the waiter and knew he was a consistently good server. It was a generous gesture.
As for my feelings about cynicism, maybe that?s part of why I became a life coach. I like to focus on the positive. Even as we speak, you can Google ?positive thinking study? and find conflicting information right at the top of the search results. But for my money, it?s more productive, feels healthier, and makes life more joyful to go with the glass-half-full approach. I just don?t get why more people aren?t aligned with that.
Here?s a case in point. I grabbed an exciting, cost-effective opportunity to visit Italy next month and already I have the naysayers telling me it?s too hot there in August, the Italians will all be on vacation, yada, yada, yada. What?s with the negativity? It makes me wonder what?s beneath the cynicism. I mean, I?m fairly confident the art will not be on vacation and that there will be some fabulous food available in the big boot.
?What?s up with people?? one dear friend said when we discussed this.
?I don?t know,? I said. ?I can?t live like that.?
It?s true.
Recently I stopped into Starbucks (SBUX) at 10 p.m. to get a cup of decaf to quell a craving. The young woman at the counter said they don?t brew decaf after noon. It?s company policy. After I grilled her and laughingly told her I?d be Twitter-ing this when I left there, I walked out sipping a satisfying decaf Americano (which is made with espresso instead of coffee). I get such interesting reactions when I tell this story, some insisting that I should have demanded they brew the decaf.
Seriously? I?m going to berate a 20-year-old barista who?s probably trying to put herself through school and is just following company policy?
I have a professional acquaintance who treated me to lunch at a nice restaurant, but she was so condescending to the wait staff that I decided it would be my last with her. I also dated a guy who, in my opinion, showed his true self when he raked a waitress over the coals at brunch. What a turn-off.
I?m not saying we should canonize Johnny Depp, but let?s not shrug off a nice gesture either. Showing appreciation is one of the most basic things we can do for each other.
That?s today?s tip.
Nancy Colasurdo is a practicing life coach and freelance writer. Her Web site is www.nancola.com. Please direct all questions/comments to FOXGamePlan@gmail.com. (more…)
Filed under: personalfinancenewsss.wordpress.com | Tags: Beating, Hearts, keep, thriving
While names like Zac Posen, Adrien Brody and Adrian Grenier serve as real-life examples of what the organization Gen Art has helped accomplish by showcasing emerging talent, perhaps nothing drives the point of its mission home better than the artwork design for its upcoming benefit.
It is a piece called Thriving Hearts by Anne Faith Nicholls and it shows a heart that goes from stark to blossoming in four progressive images. I could almost hear a voice-over as I studied it — ?This is a heart with no exposure to culture ? this is a heart on music ? with paintings all around ? watching an exquisite film ? as models float by wearing the latest fashions.?
It provokes this thought: Where does your heart fall on the spectrum of creative wasteland to joyful abundance?
If your ticker is feeling art deprived, the June 24 benefit in New York — titled ?I (Heart) Gen Art? — will be a 15th anniversary celebration of the company founded by brothers Ian and Stefan Gerard. On hand for viewing and purchase will be over 70 works of art donated by Gen Art members and supporters.
?This is coming full circle for us,? said Stefan Gerard, president of Gen Art, in our recent interview. ?We launched our organization with an art benefit.?
That was in 1994 and while Gen Art currently sponsors over 120 events a year in cities like New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Miami and Chicago, this one is different — it is for and about Gen Art. Typically the organization?s events are held to shine the spotlight on an up-and-coming talent in visual art, fashion design, film or music, but the nation?s recession has hit Gen Art in the pocketbook. Since its beginning, about 80% of the company?s revenues have come from corporate partners. That is no longer the case. Cutbacks have included staff.
?It started in October,? said Gerard, whose background is in marketing and advertising. ?The bottom fell out of the financial market and companies were scrambling. The marketing budget is the first to go. We were a big part of that.?
And so an appeal was made to the membership stating that Gen Art as they know it was in jeopardy. Among the many who responded in a heartbeat was designer Zac Posen, who calls his invitation to debut his work in Gen Art?s 2001 Fresh Faces in Fashion, back when he was just 21 years old, an ?enormous gift.?
?It was a vote of confidence for our new business,? Posen said. ?I was able to create a capsule collection which was put down the runway. It was pure excitement to have all the retailers and editors there — it was superb.?
It was a far cry from Gen Art?s first fashion event in 1995. CEO Ian Gerard swore that night he would never do another one.
?A million things went wrong,? he said. ?We had it in July. We didn?t even know what Fashion Week was back then.?
That was part of the charm. They didn?t even have a business plan. The impetus for Ian Gerard was hearing from his artist friends (fellow Vassar fine arts graduates) that they couldn?t get galleries to show their work. By then, he was at New York University Law School and the idea of working with people his own age appealed to him.
So the brothers, along with friend Melissa Neumann, essentially harnessed willful energy and stayed open to possibilities despite the fact that the cultural climate was skittish. At the time, the National Endowment for the Arts was under fire. With an air of youthful invincibility on their side, they began by distributing flyers downtown inviting artists to participate in a show of their peers, by their peers. There was a huge outpouring of interest. From there the company grew very quickly from just working with visual artists to adding fashion, film and music.
?It has always been our goal to help those with talent have the means to use it,? Ian Gerard said. ?The idea was, do your creations and show up with them. We?ll do everything else.?
Soon Gen Art had a culturally conscious and growing following in the 18-39 age range, an appealing demographic to corporate sponsors.
?The downside of our success became our reliance on the model of corporate marketing dollars,? said Ian Gerard, a former practicing corporate and real estate transactional attorney. ?None of us had been around a recession. We had weathered 9/11 and even grew from it. We have learned things from this that will make us even stronger down the road.?
Gen Art?s mission moving forward is boosted by the fact that there has been a growing appreciation of the arts in our society in the last decade or so and that shows like Project Runway are part of a trend in showcasing emerging talent.
As for Ian Gerard?s talent, he insisted he has none, but when pressed finally relented, ?I?m good at bringing people together.?
People with thriving hearts, that is.
Nancy Colasurdo is a practicing life coach and freelance writer. Her Web site is www.nancola.com. Please direct all questions/comments to FOXGamePlan@gmail.com.
Filed under: personalfinancenewsss.wordpress.com | Tags: Ambivalence, Jackson, Michael
I probably have about a million degrees of separation from Michael Jackson. I have no compelling story about meeting him or any inside information about his complex life. While I have seen Streisand, Minnelli, Madonna and Springsteen live, I never saw Jackson in concert. Like many others, I have spent hours and hours dancing to his music.
In trying to understand my own reaction to the death of Michael Jackson, I have been watching some of the coverage. I have gone into the Vanity Fair archives and read Maureen Orth?s painstakingly detailed reporting of the scandals. I even downloaded three of his songs to my iPod this week, resulting in the sweatiest and most emotional workout I?ve had in a long time.
What is it that?s haunting me?
Partly it?s a memory of a conversation about Jackson I had with a friend a few years ago. I recall making a flip comment about Jackson?s penchant for hanging out with young boys. My friend reacted strongly, essentially attempting to get me to shift the paradigm a little, to realize how socialized we?ve become to assume the worst when an adult and child exhibit physical closeness, and to consider the possibility that the jury was correct to acquit the superstar. At no point did my friend insist Jackson was innocent, but as was his way, he wanted to create a space that allowed for openness.
I remember being resistant at the time, just shaking my head. I never gave the exchange another thought, until last week. After hearing about Jackson?s death, I have replayed that conversation over and over. I have never been one who likes to glorify people when they die; in fact, it tries my patience when people erect shaky post-mortem pedestals. But there is lingering regret in my heart for not being open to another possibility.
As I watched Michael Jackson?s memorial at the Staples Center in Los Angeles and listened to people who had zero degrees of separation from this amazingly talented man, I gave myself over to celebrating the entertainer who shook racial barriers and pushed his talent to the electrifying edge.
Readers of this space know that my passion as a life coach is to help connect people to their creative core. I feel it at soul level when people honor their gifts, especially their artistic gifts. So it was extraordinary to be reminded at Jackson?s memorial service of Martin Luther King Jr.?s words by his son, Martin Luther King III:
?If it falls your lot to be a street sweeper, sweep streets like Michelangelo painted pictures, like Shakespeare wrote poetry, like Beethoven composed music; sweep streets so well that all the host of heaven and earth will have to pause and say, ?Here lived a great street sweeper, who swept his job well.??
Jackson dug in, created, perfected, performed. He lived with constant hangers-on, people trying to hitch their wagon to his. He both craved and shunned exposure. He was alternately fragile and radiant. The music ranges from tunes that can pack a dance floor to more haunting ones that ask you to take a look at yourself. There was magic in this man.
At the service, referring to Jackson?s unforgettable moon walking performance at the 25th anniversary of Motown, Berry Gordy said, ?Michael went into orbit and never came back.?
That feels about right.
A memorable moment in the service was when 12-year-old Shaheen Jafargholi sang the Jackson 5?s Who?s Lovin? You . It was a goose bump-raising performance, one that prompted me to Google the young singer. Apparently Jackson had seen his YouTube.com video of that same song from Britain?s Got Talent and was so impressed he invited him to perform in his upcoming concerts in London.
That, of course, was not to be. But here he was, bursting on the American scene at Michael Jackson?s memorial service at the request of the Jackson family. We will undoubtedly be hearing more from Jafargholi.
Even in death, there is a young boy at center stage in the story of Michael Jackson. And I say that with heart and mind wide open.
Nancy Colasurdo is a practicing life coach and freelance writer. Her Web site is www.nancola.com. Please direct all questions/comments to FOXGamePlan@gmail.com. (more…)
We could pretty much pick any week in the year and discuss what it tells us about legacy, but this last week or so has been a real kick in the pants in that regard. It has me thinking: If we looked at life as an exercise in building our legacy, what would that change? How would we live differently? Or would we?
Those of us in our mid- to late-40s are already in a place where we feel mortality more than we used to because just by virtue of math there are more of us losing parents and even partners to death. I have recently told some friends that because I am still blessed with both of my parents, sometimes I feel like I?m playing dodge ball and just haven?t been hit yet.
When you add in the fact that I am a life coach whose clients are often aware that their own lives are ticking away and there?s so much living they haven?t done, it?s easy to see why the needle on my mortality meter is going haywire lately.
I was on a shuttle bus from New York City to Long Beach Island when I heard that Michael Jackson had died. There were four 20-somethings, me and the driver and as we made our way out of the city, the ?kids? asked the driver if he could tune the radio to the Jackson tributes that were going strong.
?Everyone in the van may not agree,? the driver said.
A young woman in the group turned to me and said, ?Ma?am, do you not like Michael Jackson??
After I got over the initial ?ouch? of being referred to as ?ma?am? I found my voice, ?I?d love to listen to Michael Jackson,? I said.
And listen we did, not just to the music but to the fans calling in and crying as they voiced their shock.
If indeed we can see what?s happening in this life on Earth when we?ve moved on, I cannot imagine what Michael Jackson?s reaction is to seeing people across the globe celebrating him. Could he have imagined, after all he?d been through legally and emotionally, that the visceral reaction of much of the world would be dancing?
Having had prior plans to go to a 70s-80s themed dance club in Atlantic City the very next night, I could not in my wildest dreams have imagined that it would feel so poignant to dance to the electric pulses of Jackson?s music the day after he died. Being on a dance floor surrounded by large screens playing videos of Don?t Stop ?Til You Get Enough , Billie Jean and Thriller as people tried to imitate those unforgettable Thriller moves made me feel connected and alive, if a little teary.
On Facebook, an old and dear friend from high school recalled that we had played Off the Wall while working together in the stereo section of a department store. This was a whole other facet of Jackson?s death, bringing out not just our mortality but our pasts because his music is the soundtrack of so many of our lives. His legacy ? as with so many artists ? is tied to ours. For lots of men, the death of Farrah Fawcett conjured up an instant connection to their teen years via a memorable poster and her subsequent acting work touched countless others.
And while all that is fascinating to so many of us in the last week, so, too, are the legacies-in-the-making of South Carolina governor Mark Sanford and Ponzi schemer Bernard Madoff. Both have assured that the word ?scandal? will appear in their obituaries regardless of what else they do in this lifetime.
Doesn?t it all just make you think? What are you leaving behind? Accomplished, altruistic children, perhaps? A business or a foundation built out of your sweat and tears? Art produced from a place of creative necessity and passion?
When I mentioned the topic of legacy to my tech-savvy friend, Doug Carlson, he asked if I was aware of the Wayback Machine. I hadn?t heard of it, but I am now fascinated by this digital legacy site. My first Web site from 2002 is on there, as is the original www.foxsports.com site that employed me a decade ago. In addition, since these Game Plan columns are a part of my legacy, it?s great to know they?ll be preserved in digital infamy.
Given all that is possible and all that we know, I ask again: If we looked at life as an exercise in building our legacy, what would that change?
If your answer is ?nothing? you must be living fully. If your answer is ?everything? consider this your wakeup call.
Nancy Colasurdo is a practicing life coach and freelance writer. Her Web site is www.nancola.com. Please direct all questions/comments to FOXGamePlan@gmail.com. (more…)
