Be a "Jackie"!

I loved this video about "Jackie" the Krispy Kreme donut employee!  She is an excellent example of what I believe we do every day with the LIFE company-exceed the customer's expectation!  Really, the best part is the blogger's reaction.  The kind, service-first response of one person blew him away.  Let's go bring the LIFE company to the world and be a "Jackie" to someone today! 

Enjoy the video!

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/krispy-kreme-donut-order-rejection-video-153858341.html

A man's quest to overcome his fear of rejection by making at least one crazy request a day for 100 days was throttled last week when a Krispy Kreme employee accepted his order for five doughnuts linked together in the colors and shape of the Olympic symbol.

"It's only my third day and I have already failed," Jia Jiang wrote on his 100 Days of Rejection Therapy blog. "But I did so with such amazement and happiness."

When the 31-year-old approached the register to make his "specialized" doughnut order, Jackie Braun, a shift leader at an Austin, Texas, Krispy Kreme, asked him when he would need it.

"In the next 15 minutes," Jiang replied.

"I was honestly just hoping for a 'no' and to go home," Jiang told Yahoo News in an interview on Monday.

(Krispy Kreme)

Instead, Braun spent several minutes using the back of some receipt paper to diagram the unusual order.

"Let me see what I can do," she said.

Fifteen minutes later, she emerged with a Krispy Kreme box with the glazed Olympic ring arrangement inside—and, astonishingly, did not charge Jiang for it.

"It wasn't exactly what he wanted," Braun told Yahoo News. "To my eyes, it wasn't perfect, so I didn't think I should charge him for it. It was the best I could do in the time allotted."

"Wow, Jackie, I'm a fan," Jiang told her, on behalf of everyone in America.

"I was overwhelmed, I couldn't believe it," Jiang said. "I went home and tweeted to Krispy Kreme and blogged about it. I wanted the world to know about what she did."

A campaign to get Braun a raise and promotion was quickly launched in the YouTube comments section underneath Jiang's video.

"Jackie is awesome," more than one viewer wrote. "The world needs more people like her."

"Yo, if Krispy Kreme doesn't promote her to CEO I'm boycotting!" wrote another. "And I love doughnuts."

Jiang, who launched a Facebook page called "Give Jackie at Krispy Kreme a Raise," said he returned to Krispy Kreme on Sunday to thank Braun for going above and beyond the call of doughnut duty.

Braun, though, said she didn't do anything out of the ordinary.

"It was a simple thing," Braun, who's been with Krispy Kreme for five years, said. "The Olympic symbol was the only unusual part, because they're not on TV right now. But we do orders like that every day. We're here to make people happy."

Two Steps to Change Your Life

"You are the same today as you'll be in five years except for two things, the books you read and the people you meet."  -Charlie Tremendous Jones

I walked downstairs yesterday to find this mound of books in my dining room.  My first thought was, "wow, that's a lot of books".  My second thought was, "WOW"! I've read all those books!!!

I knew I had a lot of books; I just moved, I carried a lot of heavy boxes! I was also the one who put them on the bookshelves.  And now having them moved again for my office to be finished I got a chance to look at them, only this time it was different. It wasn't until I saw that mound of books on the floor that I realized how many books I've read over the last few years. 

I know I haven't just read this stack of books!  I've been a STUDENT of this stack of books!  So many of the corners are turned up (that'd be from Kristine, not me!) and the pages are worn.  There's highlighter and underlines and notes and tabs.  These books have been my education.  I wouldn't part with them.  

This stack of books is pure gold in my mind.  I can promise you what I say and do comes out of reading these books, and often, it isn't until I read the book again that I realize where some of my best lines are from!  

Why take the time to tell you about my stack of books?  The quote from Charlie Tremendous Jones says it all: 

"You are the same today as you'll be in five years except for two things, the books you read and the people you meet."  You want to change your finances?  Your relationships?  Your leadership?  Your results in life? NOTHING will change until you do something to change.  In the LIFE business we provide the two components that, according to Charlie Jones, will give you different results five years from now:  BOOKS and ASSOCIATION!

The ironic thing is, not only did I buy the books lying all over my dining room, I read them and then I got PAID!  I want to stand on my roof and yell:  "I GET PAID TO READ, LISTEN AND ASSOCIATE AND YOU CAN TOO!  I'm not sure I'll get any of my new neighbors interested with that approach, but that doesn't stop me from wanting to do it!  

If you are a LIfe business member or customer, every month a new book comes to your mailbox.  I challenge you to make the commitment TODAY to start changing your own life.  Don't just read the books, become a student of the books. But don't stop there! Remember the second part of the quote:  The people you meet.  

I could have sat in my house and read a bunch of books and I can guarantee you not a lot would have changed. That's only PART of it.  The second part:  The people you meet-association is key!  And guess what?  I could climb right back on my roof and holler over this part too! (can you even imagine me hollering on my roof?  makes  me laugh even thinking about it- but THAT'S HOW EXCITED I AM!)  Not only do I get paid for reading books, I get paid for associating with people who are teaching me how to be just as successful as they are.  There's nothing like the Life Company in the WORLD!

"You are the same today as you'll be in five years except for two things, the books you read and the people you meet."  -Charlie Tremendous Jones 

I know I have a long way to go, but I know if I keep reading books and associating with great people, I can get wherever I want to go.  And you can too. 

What will your life look like in five years?  It starts with taking two steps, and it starts TODAY! 

BE BRAVE!! GIVE IT YOUR ALL!

I think the most important lesson that Orrin Woodward has taught me is that success is largely based on work ethic and courage.

I know that when I look at my life and look at the things I am most proud of, it always starts with the things for which I put all the chips in the middle of the table and sold out by working as hard as I could.  I don't mean working hard to be busy, as so many people do on a daily basis, but working towards a worthwhile goal and/or dream. I remember Kristine and I running for financial freedom and never feeling more alive then knowing I was out there giving it everything I had. Maximum Effort=Complete Satisfaction.  I feel that same way now as we run towards a big goal.  The feeling that I have when I walk into a quiet house at night knowing that we are paying the price is literally priceless! The best thing about running with the LIFE community is that it is a community of men and women who strive for excellence.

Along with working hard, courage is the other component of success. When I was young I always looked at courage as the heroic event: Saving someone's life or some amazing act of courage.  I now know that real courage isn't only one huge act of greatness, but instead, small, daily steps towards greatness!  It's these small acts of courage that bring big results. Stepping out and doing things that are uncomfortable, having the crucial conversation to resolve a conflict, or just leading your family by example.  All of us have things in our lives right now that take our courage to move forward. Our ability to push through the paper thin wall to move on to the next "small act of courage" is the key to lasting success.

The real questions for you to answer are: Are you giving it your all? Are you addressing the next small act of courage needed to move toward success?  If you answer yes to both of these, then lasting success in that area is yours!  If you answered no, the good news is you can change that and you can begin TODAY!