The Corrigan Encore

Every Life should but doesn’t

May 18, 2022 John Corrigan

On Saturday 5/14/2022 a gunmen shot and killed 10 people at a grocery store in Buffalo NY. On the same day a gunmen opened fire at a church picnic in Laguna Woods CA and killed one person.

I am not trying to bum you out but the news is pretty depressing. It really makes you sad to think about the 11 people who will not be with their loved ones here on earth anymore.

There are 137 days that have passed so far this year and the police in the United States have shot and killed 358 people.

There have been multiple news stories and editorials detailing the violence in the United States this year last year and the year before. Violence is on the rise, deaths are too and some of the editorials are trying to find correlations among the senseless cowardly violence. One thing that is abundantly clear is the lack of concern for life by those that are committing the violence.

If you ask anyone if life is valuable that will almost always say yes of course it is but, when you become more pointed with your questions the value of lie seems to drop quickly and dramatically.

What matters most above anything else you do on earth is the relationships you take part in with other humans. The number one reason people quit and leave companies are toxic work places. Another way to describe it is bad relationships with coworkers and management.

Make a habit of to things: to help; or at least to do no harm
Hippocrates

We have to value everyone. Every person everywhere we have to value them. In July 2013 a unarmed young black man was shot to death. The killer was found not guilty and upon further investigations society realized that black Americans were being slaughtered at a much higher rate than any other race in the country and much of the murder ended the same way as the death of the young man without justice. This realization started the movement Black Lives Matter. Black Lives Matter works to bring social justice to the forefront and supports the black community in the United States with scholarships and community service projects.

Black lives do matter, however it does not seem like they do. There is almost no justice for the death of black men and women. There is little respect in the United States for life and less respect in the United States for the lives of minorities.

How can this be fixed? It has to start with me and you and then our families.

No death should ever be considered justified ( I will try my best to make sure that I never promote or believe this concept. Life is a precious gift and should never be taken from anyone that has been rewarded it)
Take an interest in everyone. (everyone matters and everyone is interesting. everyone has a story to tell and is doing something that matters if we learn about this we will place more value on this person)
Invest in others (I try to give regularly to charities that seem to make a difference and I want to give more. When I give I like to think of this as not just charity but an investment. I am investing in a better world for the next generation)
Make time for everyone. (It is easy to “be too busy” no one and everyone is “too busy” if someone or something really matters you and I will make time for them. I am going to strike the words too busy from my vocabulary it is always a lie and there is really truly no way to measure it)
Let people be great. (Sometimes getting out of the way and letting people impress you is one of the best and coolest things you can do. Letting people impress you requires trust and practice. Some one will tell you they will do something 10 times before they actually do it but you have to let them try and fail at least 10 times)

Let us all work together for a better future that will not include so much violence. I promise that it is possible but only if we value life, others as well as our own.

Why we…

May 17, 2022 John Corrigan

Last week while going about my life I came across a post online from Simon Sinek. the post was a plug for his book, “Start with Why“. The book addresses two forms of leadership one through inspiration and the other through manipulation. Of course the book believes that inspiration is better. To Inspire followers you yourself must believe and communicate why you are doing something. The book was published in 2009 so I thought it was odd that the book was making its rounds now in 2022. Later last week I was working at a site and on the wall I saw a motivational banner up and the banner read “Its not the How that matters as much as it is the Why.”

I think maybe the universe is trying to send me a signal and I need to do some soul searching. Why am I doing or not doing what I have or am doing? What is the goal I have for work and life and why am I doing the things I am doing? That’s the questions I am going to focus on this week. Summer is starting and what better time to take stock and get inspired?

Life is tough and will get tougher. Life can feel like you are in a fight sometimes and in fights you get punched and kicked. When you are punched or kicked it is shocking and you have to reach deep down and find inner strength. Inner strength comes from knowing why you are fighting to begin with.

Once you know your Why You can survive almost any How
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When there is a clear understanding of why you are doing something things that have to happen along the way will not change but they will seem smaller. There is almost nothing more impressive or powerful than inspired work. Do some soul searching and get inspired today.

Photo by Natasha Fernandez on Pexels.com

Change then change again then change again then …

May 16, 2022 John Corrigan

Ok, Last week I mentioned that I was changing the day that I published my podcast. The change was going to be from Wednesdays to Fridays. Well if you are paying attention you will notice that the change did not happen. Friday came and went with no podcast. Why did this happen or happen? Obviously, I’m a liar, well that’s part of it. I became a liar on accident though.

Last week the change to Friday made sense all the way up until Friday then it didn’t. Sometimes that happens with plans.

If the plan doesn’t work change the plan but never the goal
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Photo by RODNAE Productions on Pexels.com

My goal is and will be to create a weekly interview podcast about things that interest me when the podcast gets published seems to be in a fluid state right now. As I type Monday afternoons are looking good for various reason however I am going to see what happens before I lie again.

In life we make goals some are big ones like graduate, get promoted, write a novel, have kids, volunteer, see the world. The goals will only happen if we have a plan though.

A goal without a plan is just a wish
antoine de saint-exupéry

Google, PayPal, and Apple have all made history as very successful companies and their business plans have all been changed throughout their history. The goals did not change but the plan to accomplish them did. Life will always throw you curve balls. The thing about curveballs is that you will need to adjust your swing and stance a little to get a good hit. The goal never changes if a strike is thrown you want to hit the ball well however, the plan to hit a curveball looks much differently than the one used to hit the fast ball.

Plans, people and life changes what matters most is that we love each other and work to help others and ourselves achieve our goals.

Change is ….

May 13, 2022 John Corrigan

The Corrigan Encore podcast is moving its day of the week to Friday. I know what you are thinking. What the heck is the Corrigan Encore podcast? Well, since you thought it and I can read thoughts allow me to answer. The Corrigan Encore Podcast is a podcast starring me and Benjamin Palladino. Each week Ben and I talk about a subject and interview someone who is intimately familiar with and doing something interesting in this subject. Prior to this week Ben and I have “dropped” each podcast on Wednesday now that is changing to Friday. I have a list of boring reasons why but I just wanted to let you know about the change.

Change can be scary, exciting, and fun all at the same time. In business there are resources and people that are dedicated to change, because change is a process and people need leadership through the change.

Because change is so overwhelming often change is framed in ones mind as a negative thing. Many Psychologists suggest that we engage in Cognitive Reframing when we encounter things like change.

Cognitive Reframing is a technique in which one shifts their mindset to consider the positive results of every situation. Its a 5 dollar word group for “always look on the bright side”, and maybe a little more.

Cognitive Reframing is not just overt optimism it is a technique that changes ones point of view and allows us to see all sides of a situation more clearly. I know that the change from Wednesday to Friday is most likely not causing you much stress, especially since you have no idea what the Corrigan Encore Podcast is to begin with however some change maybe causing you some stress and I urge you to try out the cognitive reframing techniques and perhaps you will alleviate stress, gain insight, and grow.

That’s not a good thing

May 12, 2022 John Corrigan

Yesterday I emptied out my inbox. I had 1124 unread emails that I spent about 45 minutes looking through deleting or addressing. This is not good. According to the Inbox Zero Method. Inboxes that are not kept at 0 become distracting and eat into an employees productivity.

For me the unread emails loomed over me like a piano in a cartoon. I was sure that one of the emails would have been time sensitive and a career make or break issue (spoiler alert none of them were).

Keeping our inboxes at 0 is more than just something for email it is something to consider for our lives. I can and often do get involved in to many things and find that I am never just getting to unplug and enjoy accomplishments. As soon as one project is over I am being moved to the next one.

There is nothing wrong with being busy however we must make our best efforts to bring our projects at work and home to fruition. Are you involved in a home remodel that has been taking place since you bought the house? Are you going to get that grad degree as soon as work slows down?

When we do not actually accomplish things we run the risk of experiencing the Zeigarnik Effect, and we are literally haunted by the tasks that we cannot finish or forget. Lets work together in finishing projects today, starting with the inbox. Go ahead get that bad boy down to 0 and feel good!

What are we?

May 11, 2022 John Corrigan

As we get older we find ourselves dealing with people who seem to be getting younger. I have on more than one occasion worked with people that are the same age as my adult children. We navigate our social interactions at work differently when we work with the younger associates and at the end of the day we call our friends that our own age and commiserate about the surreal events.

One word that comes up in the commiseration is entitled. It is a buzz word and an easy excuse for why the younger generation, shows up late, does not complete projects, when they do complete projects they are not on time or of the correct quality and complain about the criticism given to them or the lack of job growth they are given. Originally I was able to get behind this buzz word and tried to give it some traction. However when I began to think, I mean really think about it, the power of the buzz word, like all the others, fell apart and lost steam.

Entitled means that we are deserving of privileges just because we are here and in certain cases this is correct. I truly believe that there are rights that living beings possess simply through being born. When beings have these rights taken away from them we are living in a society that is broken.

The more I live the more I think that people at all ages are truly products of the society they live in and if I want to see change. If I want to see progress I will have to work towards changing society so that at the very least all people get what they are entitled too.

What are we entitled to? At the very minimum we are all entitled to respect. Respect is and should be given even if we do not feel that someone has earned it. We should respect and care for everyone no matter how awful we believe they are. They idea that respect should be earned is toxic and is creating a society in which our coworkers cannot thrive and live their best lives.

At the end of the day we would do well to respect everyone.

So that is how that works

May 9, 2022May 10, 2022 John Corrigan

I have always been fascinated by how things work or don’t work. I loved flipping through the encyclopedia as a child and seeing complex machines and systems broken down. Everything in the book would be laid out in steps or processes in plain English. The more I learned the more I wanted to learn and do and build. I wanted to know everything and I felt like I had learned a lot.

As I grew and grow I have realized and am reminded every day that I know nothing.

I am the wisest man alive, for I know one thing, and that is that I know nothing.
Socrates

Wisdom and knowledge are often used in a fashion that seems like the two are interchangeable however I don’t think that is the case. Knowledge is storing of information and wisdom is more what is done with the knowledge. Wisdom deals with knowledge and insight.

KNOWLEDGE IS KNOWING that a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is knowing not to put it in a fruit salad
Brian O’Driscoll

No one should ever stop learning because, when faced with the infinite possibility of life we truly know what amounts to nothing. This lack of knowledge can be both frightening and exciting. Frightening because the unknown holds danger exciting because the unknown holds so much possibility. ~~The sky is the limit~~ When it comes to learning there truly is no limit.

A rocky start

May 9, 2022 John Corrigan

I like to get up early on work days and begin my routine. I was sick for a week and recovering last week so I was unable to do this morning routine. This morning I had every intention of waking up at my normal hour and engaging in my routine, alas this was not to be. I woke up late, had trouble finding my keys and cell phone. Arrived at work without my office keys and felt as though the whole day was shot.

In negotiating people who set the anchor almost always get more of what they want than those who react to the anchor being set. Setting the anchor is a term used for laying out negotiation terms first. In baseball swinging on the first pitch results in hits 40 % of the time all other count swings are 38 % except for a count with two strikes then it is 35 %. In Horse racing the fifth position results in the most wins for the Kentucky derby.

In sports and life it is good to start at the top or in a good position, however what matters the most is how we perform in sports and in life at every moment. The Kentucky Derby was won this weekend by a horse that was in the 20th position to start the race.

It helps to start from a good position or a great morning however, you can still have an amazing day or life when you have started poorly. Life and work is what Simon Sinek calls “an infinite Game“. In his book titled The Infinite Game, Simon details how life and business is perpetual and their is not a time clock or clear beginning or end like there are with sports and games. We never stop working even when we retire, we hopefully never stop being married and we never stop being a parent or a child or a care giver. Because life is an infinite game we should approach it a little different.

When we have a bad start in a race or a chess match we usually scratch that one off as loss and move on. When we start out a work day poorly we cannot do that. People need you to come in and do your job. We must have a short memory when it comes to poor performance. We learn from the loss and move on to make that day and moment great.

We can do this because we have to. Life and work are gonna stink and then it will get better how long it stinks is kind of up to you and how you let it affect you and others.

Who should I be

May 6, 2022 John Corrigan

Be somebody who makes everybody feel like a somebody.

I am waiting for a work associate in an office lobby with the words on the wall. I wonder how I can be this person in the idiom. I think about an Walt Whitman quote and the Apple + show Ted Lasso.

Be curious, not judge mental
Walt Whitman

I think about how most people have stories to tell and will speak with you but you have to ask and be interested. It’s a lot easier to judge than learn.

I wonder how much better will I feel and others if I took time to learn? I will find out and. Let you know starting now.

Yes that is this week

May 2, 2022 John Corrigan

In the United States the week between May 2 and May 6 of 2022 is Teacher Appreciation week. There are all kinds of ways that we can thank teachers. We can send the teachers gifts, have parades for them, donate money to their campaigns online just a thank you can go a very long way.

Teachers are a huge part of what shapes children into adults. Odds are high that children will spend more time with their teachers than their parents and yet teachers are not treated as well as their counter parts. Teachers are paid less and expected to do more than others with the same education and experience levels. On average teachers are paid 11% less than their counter parts, when benefits are factored in the average went down by 8% however with new legislation teachers benefits have seen substantial cuts and this 8% number is most likely not correct.

We can and should show our appreciation for our teachers this week and more importantly on election day. Vote for a person that will pay teachers fairly and values teachers and our children.

Teaching is the one profession that creates all the other professions.
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