A Perfect Halloween Strategy--The Value of a Plan

A Perfect Halloween Strategy – The Value of a Plan

 

She was way ahead of me on this one, as older sisters often are with their little brothers.

 

Halloween was, and is, a great time for children.  The best part for me was the stash of candy you collected.  For a period of time, your mom indulged you having some candy from your bag that normally you would never be allowed to eat.

 

My strategy on Halloween night was to go with my buddies (when kids without accompanying parents was safe) to the houses in the neighborhood.  The neighbors, of course, saw past our costumes but they never let on they knew us.

 

My sister, three and a half years older, had a different strategy.  She and her best friends would get one of the parents to take them to the richest neighborhood and they would work those houses pretty well.  Being cute little girls dressed up as gypsies didn’t hurt.  Who would not want to give some extra treats to a cute little gypsy girl? 

 

At the end of the evening, my sister and I would dump out our stashes on the bed to see how we did.  The vivid picture in my mind’s eye of the visible evidence of this more thoughtful strategy has stuck with me all of these years. 

 

But what really has stuck with me is that my stash ran out sooner than hers.  I had to endure what seemed like weeks of her still enjoying her candy after my candy had run out.  Sometimes even cute little gypsy girls will rub it in to their younger brothers. 

 

The humorist, Lewis Grizzard, told the story of the little boy who was accused of getting into his older sister’s Halloween candy.  He blamed it on their dog.  When confronted with the reality that the family had no dog, he replied “That’s my story and I’m sticking to it”.

 

The failure to have such an innovative long-term Halloween candy strategy makes for a good story, but it does not impact us as adults.  But the “that’s my story and I’m sticking to it” story line is very much with us.  And its impact can be very damaging to our careers. 

 

The reason most of us do not have a long-term strategy is because we do not have a short-term strategy either.  We do things pretty much as we have done so for a long time.  For many of us, that’s all we know.

 

But the challenge for every business and profession is dealing with not only change, but rapid change.  We better have a strategy that takes us beyond the narrowing confines of what we know and what we have always done.

 

If we do not build a solid, specific plan to deal with change, it is just a matter of time before that formless, no-plan shape will be pressed against the solid and unyielding angularity of the New Economy.

What I’ve learned about life on the way to the courthouse is this:  You better have a strategy and the discipline to see it through.  If you do not, the New Reality will come knocking on your door one day.  And it’s not going to be a cute little gypsy girl.

Candidates for judge are rated by the practicing attorneys

One of the most frequent questions I get as a practicing attorney and as President of the North Carolina Bar Association is from non-attorneys who want to know whom to select for judicial races this fall.

Over the last number of years, the North Carolina Bar Association has worked to set up a blind system by which practicing attorneys can rate trial court judges up for re-election, and to rate attorneys in the private practice who are running for that seat.

The result of that hard work is set forth below.  You can learn what attorneys in the know say about the trial court races in your district.  If you live in a district other than Forsyth County, you can go to the general website noted below, plug in the appropriate county, and it will take you to the available data.

At this juncture, appellate judge races, for the North Carolina Supreme Court and the North Carolina Court of Appeals, are not scored.

 

 

Making informed decisions in judicial races can be daunting--even for attorneys. For the District and Superior Court contested elections, the North Carolina Bar Association has gathered and compiled information about the candidates for trial court judge based on surveys of active lawyers in North Carolina. This information is available at our new website, www.electncjudges.org.

 

Click here to view or download the information for the contested race(s) in Forsyth County: http://jpe.ncbar.org/2012-judicial-race-information.aspx?county=Forsyth

 

Please share this important information and the public service announcement shown below with your friends, colleagues and interested organizations. 

 

I hope this helps you make a more informed decision in choosing the best candidates for these important judicial elections.  Do not hesitate to contact me if you have further questions. (mikew@wellsjenkins.com; 336-714-2566).

 

Mike Wells

On the Way to the Courthouse Wisdom—When you fall short, do you question the circumstances or question your skills and damage your self-esteem? Learn how to keep your self-esteem intact.

As most of you reading this know, I write a regular piece I call “What I’ve Learned about Life on the Way to the Courthouse”.  I send it to several   hundred friends and clients.  It is also published in North Carolina Lawyers Weekly, and I record them for WFDD FM radio station, Wake Forest University’s local National Public Radio affiliate.

I have been encouraged to send a weekly message, which is why you are receiving this.

The question of what it is, exactly, that makes people happy has been around since Man first told a story on the wall of a cave.  But science itself has learned to define it more precisely now.

Here is a brief conclusion of empirical data about an important moving part of this mystical thing we call happiness.  Hopefully, it will provide another sight line to this place where happiness resides.

TAKING OUR SELF-ESTEEM TO THE FAIR.  People who are happy with themselves take defeat and explain it away, treating it as an isolated incident that indicates nothing about their ability.  People who are unhappy take defeat, put it in front of the funny mirror at the fair in a very real way, and enlarge it.  They make it stand for who they are and they use it to predict the outcome of future life events. (J. Brown and K. Dutton, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 68:712. 1995).

We all need to make a clear assessment of what went wrong when events do not turn out as we wish.  But no assessment in front of the funny mirror is ever clear, is it?  That is one broken mirror which will lead to good luck, not bad luck

Why music in your life can sure make a difference

On the Way to the Courthouse Wisdom—Do you have music in your life?  Find out why it can sure make a difference.

 

As most of you reading this know, I write a regular piece I call “What I’ve Learned about Life on the Way to the Courthouse”.  I send it to several   hundred friends and clients.  It is also published in North Carolina Lawyers Weekly, and I record them for WFDD FM radio station, Wake Forest University’s local National Public Radio affiliate.

I have been encouraged to send a weekly message, which is why you are receiving this.

The question of what it is, exactly, that makes people happy has been around since Man first told a story on the wall of a cave.  But science itself has learned to define it more precisely now.

Here is a brief conclusion of empirical data about an important moving part of this mystical thing we call happiness.  Hopefully, it will provide another sight line to this place where happiness resides.

 

LIFE WITH A BEAT. 92% of individuals who listened to music of their choice experience a positive effect on their mood.  Typical reactions to the music were happiness and excitement. (E. Hakanen, Journal of Communications, 5:124.  1995). I Love Beach Music, sings the song in my heart.  What song does your heart sing?