The Ostrich Incident
By Kim Ades
June 14th, 2010
It's been just over a year now and people have been asking me what it's like to be remarried, especially now that I have a total of 5 kids.
Perhaps my recent journal entry is the best way to describe it...
June 6th, 2010
Over the last month or so I've been feeling really good. I have just been happy about life. About my husband, about all of our kids, about work, and about some of the personal initiatives I have begun to implement. But this weekend, it was different. I was tired, grumpy, and frustrated with 'stuff'. With each of the kids wanting a piece of me, I felt pulled in 3 million directions. The house was a mess, no one was helping, and I didn't have 5 minutes of my own time to even scratch my head.
The day before, my neighbour and I had decided to have a garage sale. Side by side garage sales meant a bigger crowd and more revenue. At about mid morning, I took my 14-year old son, Louis, over to my neighbor's house to see what they had for sale. Tucked away, he noticed a huge purple marionette and decided he had to have it. I tried to dissuade him; after all wasn't the purpose of a garage sale to get rid of our junk, not trade it in for more? He did not let it out of his sight and at the end of the day, with $4 in his hand, he went to make his purchase. The minute he got home, his 16-year old stepbrother, Jonathan, saw this puppet and had to have one too. Luckily there was one left. He scrounged up all his change and they accepted the deal for 3 dollars and 85 cents. It was an ostrich and Jonathan promptly called him Ollie.
2 grown boys - both taller than me walking around with marionettes. Fun.
Within seconds, Jonathan's brothers, Brian and Michael, were fighting for the puppet. They offered him progressively higher bids to purchase it from him. $5, $10, $12, $15, $20!!! It would have been a great return on his investment - but he refused. He made a concession, however and allowed them to play with it in his absence. That night he had a date with his girlfriend so the two boys were free to play with it for the evening.
In a battle over who gets to play with it first, the ostrich puppet strings broke. They attempted to fix it, but it just wasn't quite the same. The next day, Michael had about 4 friends over to study for exams. The ostrich had been left on Michael's bed in his room, and without any regard to what was on the bed, one of his friends plopped himself down on the bed and squashed the bird. Poor Ollie.
When Jonathan saw the state of his Ostrich the following day, he flipped out. "I can't believe you did this to Ollie! You don't take care of anything! You are both disrespectful and irresponsible! I will never lend you anything again! You owe me $3.85!"
He ranted for about 40 minutes, when at last, he pulled out a piece of paper and demanded that they sign a pledge that they would never touch his stuff again.
They refused.
He then proceeded to ask his dad to sign on their behalf. They were under legal signing age anyways and he figured he needed legal consent.
His dad refused.
At this point, Jonathan was straddling the line between being furious and being a stand-up comedian. He said, "Fine. I will sign it for you." and wrote the word 'Daddy' on the lines next to Brian and Michael's names.
"You can't sign my name," Allan protested, "That's forgery!"
As soon as Brian heard the term "forgery", he determined that it was a criminal offense and called 911.
Although he hung up a split-second after dialing, he was in shock to learn that a police officer had been dispatched to our home to investigate the "Ostrich Incident." The officer was hard put not to laugh when he heard the whole story, but he put on a stern face and educated the kids, all of whom were sitting in a row apprehensively, on the living room couch, about the proper use of the 9-1-1 emergency service.
Later that night, as we sat around the dinner table talking about how that episode would have made for good T.V., the kids were are rather contrite and agreed to pitch in more at home and focus just a little more on being considerate towards the people around them. They ALL helped in the kitchen afterwards - one clearing the table, one rinsing, one loading the dishwasher, one on Tupperware duty, etc...we functioned like a well oiled machine and it felt marvellous. Nobody left the kitchen until it was ALL done.
My grumpiness had evaporated, and all it took was an ostrich.
New Coaching Course Starting in June...
By Kim Ades
June 14th, 2010
If your sales aren't where you want them to be and you want them to improve... it's time to sign up for The Sales Pump!
Find out why you aren't performing up to your potential. Learn what it is that is stopping you from achieving your goals and acquire the knowledge that you need to rid yourself once and for all of the barrier that is standing in your way. Understand that the key to your success is not in the process, it's in your thinking.
Figure out the key to increasing your sales, the Frame of Mind Way!
The Sales Pump
Starting Thursday, June 24th, 2010
Coach: Dave Gorham
Send him an email to inquire and sign up - dave@frameofmindcoaching.com
Free Teleseminar on June 17th: What's Journaling Got to Do with Sales?
By Marc Manieri
June 14th, 2010
Last month we hosted a webinar dedicated to the topic of coaching with confidence and selling coaching with confidence. It was by far the most popular event we have ever done.
So, back by popular demand, on Thursday June 17th, at 1pm EST, we are hosting another one-hour event to specifically share how we sell A LOT of coaching. The event content will be similar to last month, but we are changing the format to make it more interactive giving you a more immediate impact.
Thursday's event will be by teleseminar only. My partner, Kim Ades, MBA, and I will be asking you tough questions and we will be opening the floor for you to ask us your toughest questions. We will share the history, successes and failures behind our coaching company, Frame of Mind Coaching. And most importantly, we will share how, exactly, we sell with confidence that results in hundreds of new coaching clients.
Sign up for this live teleseminar now by clicking here.
On Thursday, June 17th, at 1pm EST for one hour only, we are going to show you exactly how to be more confident and make more sales.
This is a no-nonsense, get-to-the-point presentation. We are going to specifically share:
- How to build your confidence, quickly.
- How to rapidly become a more effective coach.
- How to feel comfortable "asking for the order."
- How to leverage past clients for future, easier sales.
- How to generate more new leads.
- How to raise your coaching fees, with ease.
- How to create a group coaching product.
Sign up for this live teleseminar now by clicking here.
My partner, Kim Ades, MBA, and I have been selling coaching and training for over 25 years combined. We run a thriving coaching practice, Frame of Mind Coaching, which has generated over 100 clients per year.
Click here to listen to the last teleseminar...
By Kim Ades
June 14th, 2010
If you have ever been to our teleseminars, you already know how unique they are. This one was extra special.
Three people took the opportunity to be coached live with the use of their journals.
They allowed us to read their journals publically and work with them to explore what was holding them back from achieving remarkable sales.
Click here to listen
