Writing Coach Says Beat The Blahs By Scaring Yourself Straight!

By: Dr. Gary S. Goodman
Submitted: 2007-01-17 16:43:00
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There was a great documentary titled, “Scared Straight.”

As I recall, teenage gang-bangers were shuttled to grown-up penitentiaries on the East coast to get a dose of what big time prison life is about.

If inoculated with a little bit of the poison, the theory went, they’d get just sick enough of crime to quit.

Well, I have my own equivalent of “Scared Straight,” as a writer, speaker, and independent consultant. Whenever I grow tired of my practice I look at the want ads, the classifieds that are looking for “writers” or whatever I’m bellyaching about at the time.

Just today, suffering from what Zig Ziglar calls, “stinkin’ thinkin’” I spotted an ad for a “writer” posted by a prestigious mutual fund company. (If you want this post, contact the Capital Companies in Brea, California.)

I suppose, for the cub reporter or budding journalist it’s an okay position, offering health benefits from “Day 1,” as they put it.

But to me, it’s death.

I cannot imagine finding myself or losing myself, whichever is my purpose for putting fingers to keypads, by interviewing financial services drones who haven’t had an original idea in their lifetimes.

Keeping busy, crafting in-house newsletters, is more than mind-numbing. It’s sticking your head into an electric oven and leaving with a suntan instead of a ticket to the hereafter.

Anyway, if you’re an independent type that is slacking off, goofing around, loafing, or spinning one alibi after the next, scare yourself straight.

Take a long look at the infinite, at slow death.

Scan those want ads, and then give yourself a big hug.

They don’t have you yet!

Dr. Gary S. Goodman, President of http://www.Customersatisfaction.com, is a popular keynote speaker, management consultant, and seminar leader and the best-selling author of 12 books, including Reach Out & Sell Someone and Monitoring, Measuring & Managing Customer Service, and the audio program, "The Law of Large Numbers: How To Make Success Inevitable," published by Nightingale-Conant. He is a frequent guest on radio and television, worldwide. A Ph.D. from USC's Annenberg School, a Loyola lawyer, and an MBA from the Peter F. Drucker School at Claremont Graduate University, Gary offers programs through UCLA Extension and numerous universities, trade associations, and other organizations from Santa Monica to South Africa. He holds the rank of Shodan, 1st Degree Black Belt in Kenpo Karate. He is headquartered in Glendale, California, and he can be reached at (818) 243-7338 or at: gary@customersatisfaction.com

For information about coaching, consulting, training, books, videos and audios, please go to http://www.customersatisfaction.com

Article source: Expert Articles

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