Communication
When people do not understand what is said, the word that breaks relationships, marriages, business decisions and friendships, yet, that same word when understood builds a solid foundation for success, joy and happiness!
Scenario:
Gladys loves networking and entertaining. She is planning this huge event and thinks she can get at least one hundred people to attend. She spent at least 6 months planning. She found the location, had a great lineup of speakers, entertainers and was ready to spread the word about her well thought out event.
She used all the platforms available to advertise, text, flyers, social media and her church. She asked for payment online accepting Visa, Discover, MasterCard and PayPal. She gave a deadline date, saying no payment at the door! All that was in place and eight weeks ago she sent out the invitations.
Two weeks before the event, twenty-five people paid. Gladys is getting worried. She expected at least fifty paid guests before the end of four weeks! She got on the phone with her inner circle of friends and asked for support. Some supported her verbally, others gave her no hope! Gladys is stressed! She has to give the hotel a headcount for the food. She has to pay for whatever she orders. Whether her guest shows up or not she will have to pay for the amount she contracts for before the event.
Whatever function you plan to attend, you are being very helpful when you inform your hostess ahead of time, preferably two to four weeks if it is a large function, but certainly not the same day. That can be an unwanted stressor because the hostess does not know what to expect!
In this case, Gladys catered for forty people since twenty-five paid. She did not want to cancel! Two days before she checked online to see if there were more tickets bought, to her surprise there were some last minute who saved her day. Her count totaled ninety-four! Why do folks wait until the last minute? She was fortunate to get the hotel to work with her.
A response to R.S.V.P. is needed to relieve stress. It also prevents working at the last minute to make things happen and have a successful event!
Commitment
Let your “yes” mean “yes” and your “no” mean “no”.
Scenario:
Look at this Calendar!
8:00 am - 9 :00 am : Breakfast Meeting (prepaid)
10:00 am : Hairdresser
12:00 noon : Lunch date with Harry
6:30 pm: Wealth Building Strategies (free)
Workable schedule, however things happen!
It is now 10:45 am and the hairdresser’s client before you ran late and you are not sitting in her chair at 10:00 am as planned. What would you do? Some options might include:
a) explaining your plight to the hairdresser to see if you can get out of there as planned.
b) call the hot lunch date and request more time or another time as circumstances changed.
c) if the hairdresser could not help and you were on time, reschedule.
The ball is in your court, you have to decide what is best for you. Bottomline is you have to act! Weigh your priorities! Go with your gut feelings!
At 5: 30 pm you are on your way to that Wealth Building Free Seminar when your loyal friend Marie calls you wondering if you are on your way to the Winery! The problem is you did not write Marie’s event on your calendar. You wrote it on a napkin and totally forgot to put it on your calendar! You are now totally embarrassed. Marie spoke so highly of you to her friends. She wanted them to meet you, and now you are not going to be there. She had purchased tickets for herself and some of her inner circle friends. She included you, and you said “Yes” 3 weeks ago ! Now, Marie is reminding you that you said yes to her, that is why she went ahead and purchased a ticket for you. You have not heard from Marie for over 3 weeks and with her not following up, that event is not even on your back burner ! Who is to take the blame here?
So you told Marie an excuse of a family emergency knowing she would believe that! You did not want her to feel bad . She loves her family so she would understand. You also committed to Harry to be at his Seminar. You just had lunch with him and told him “See you later” so there is no way you can be at Marie’s function and his!
That night you had a good time with Harry, you posted on a social media site that you were at this fantastic Wealth Building function which you joined. There were pictures of you and Harry. Next morning you get a call from Marie. Wow! How do you get out of this mess? How do you respond? Difficult situation!
Marie was so disappointed! Credibility and friendship lost but Marie did not follow up with you for 3 weeks. Marie is a volunteer for “Good Wishes Society”. She wishes that this does not happen to you! She admits, she should have followed up but was disappointed because you, her good friend, lied to her.
So next time you commit, stay committed. When circumstances prevent you from your commitment, pick up the phone and make that known before the day of the event! Refer to the paragraph on “Communication” before to see how much work was done before you got the invitation! If you are not interested say “Oh, thank you for thinking of me, but I am already committed for that time. Let the donor know way ahead of time so that someone else can benefit. Don’t waste their time, effort & money!
Consequences : What if I don’t commit?
The choice is still yours, don’t resort to telling a lie. Building integrity, reputation and character is important. These traits define you. Wherever you go, there they are, fragile and intangible, in the blink of an eye they can be destroyed!
Do you know the favorite word of a 2 year old? They have no problem saying “No”. As we get older, we think about not hurting individuals by saying “No” to their requests! If you want permission to say the two letter word, look in the mirror and just practice saying “NO”. You will get good at it. You will be better respected for your honesty.
Getting connected and staying connected does not mean that you have to accept all the invitations that come across your desk. Be honest with yourself, don’t over commit your time! You are actually loving yourself, when you use your time wisely!
Follow up! Don’t lie! Remember who reads what you post on your social media platform!
Disclaimer:
The author hopes that you will be inspired by the article. Names and Scenarios are fictitious.
