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Since I don’t do Facebook I was unaware that November was the Month of Gratitude until I read Rachel’s blog post a couple of days ago.  I really liked Rachel’s blog and thought I would add to it.

I am thankful to have a job in which I love coming to work each day.  I am thankful to work with a great group of caring people who make my workday fun and exciting.  I am thankful to be on this team we call Montgomery Enterprises.

I hope everyone has a very special and safe Thanksgiving Holiday next week.  — Luke

“Some people are always grumbling because roses have thorns; I am thankful that thorns have roses.”  Alphonse Karr

As Luke mentioned last week, Sammy Stephens was on location in Aberdeen filming our next commercial for Approved Auto Sales.  Luke and I were able to see the first rough clip yesterday of “Super Sammy” in action.  While there is still of lot of editing that must take place before the piece is ready to air,  the footage exceeded our expectations.  This commercial will be the next step in continuing to build our brand at Approved Auto Sales.  Hopefully we will have a final version to share with you in a few weeks.

-Have a great day….Louis

If any of you are on Facebook, I am sure that you have seen all the daily posts  of thankfulness.  Although I do not participate in the daily postings on Facebook, the importance of being thankful cannot be emphasized enough.  So many of us are so blessed but yet so many of us take for granted those blessings.    For this blog, I wanted to thank the ladies in accounting for all of their hard work.  The last few weeks have been hard but all four of them have gone above and beyond to help me.  In just a short amount of time, each of them have become like family to me.  Jana, Dellynn, Jon, Jon & Kandi – I love all of you dearly and I cannot wait to see what an excellent department we can become!

Cultivate the habit of being grateful for every good thing that comes to you, and to give thanks continuously. And because all things have contributed to your advancement, you should include all things in your gratitude.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Zig Ziglar

“If the only prayer you said was thank you, that would be enough.”

Rachel

With about 43.8 million Americans smoking cigarettes – nearly 1 in 5 adults – tobacco use remains the single most preventable cause of disease and premature death in the U.S.  The American Cancer Society observes the 3^rd Thursday in November of each year as the Great American Smokeout.  This year, on November 21^st, smokers are encouraged to quit smoking.  Even one day without smoking can help reduce the risk of cancer and other life threatening diseases.  Below are some statistics on how your body recovers over a period of time after becoming smoke free.

• 20 minutes without smoking will cause your heart rate and blood pressure to drop.
• 12 hours without smoking will cause the carbon monoxide level in your blood to return to normal.
• 2 weeks – 3 months smoke free will improve your circulation and increase your lung function.
• 1 – 9 months without smoking will decrease coughing and shortness of breath; cilia start to regain normal function in the lungs, increasing the ability to handle mucus, clean the lungs, and reduce the risk of infection.
• 1 year without smoking will reduce the excess risk of coronary heart disease by half that of a continuing smoker.
• 5 years smoke free will result in the risk of cancer of the mouth, throat, esophagus, and bladder being cut in half.  Cervical cancer risk will fall to that of a non-smoker.  Stroke risk can fall to that of a non-smoker after 2 to 5 years.
• After 10 years of being smoke free the risk of dying from lung cancer is about half that of a person who is still smoking.  The risk of cancer of the larynx (voice box) and pancreas decreases.
• After 15 years of being smoke free, the risk of coronary heart disease is that of a non-smoker.

~Kandi

 The chains of habit are generally too small to be felt until they are too strong to be broken. 

~Samuel Johnson

Every week I receive an email from a professional career website that I am a member of. This week’s email was 10 Ways To Be More Professional at Work. I thought I would share these ten ways with you and I hope they will influence you to be more professional at work.

1. Competence. You’re good at what you do – and you have the skills and knowledge that enable you to do your job well.

2. Reliability. People can depend on you to show up on time, submit your work when it’s supposed to be ready, etc.

3. Honesty. You tell the truth and are upfront about where things stand.

4. Integrity. You are known for your consistent principles.

5. Respect For Others. Treating all people as if they mattered is part of your approach.

6. Self-Upgrading. Rather than letting your skills or knowledge become outdated, you seek out ways of staying current.

7. Being Positive. No one likes a constant pessimist. Having an upbeat attitude and trying to be a problem-solver makes a big difference.

8. Supporting Others. You share the spotlight with colleagues, take time to show others how to do things properly, and lend an ear when necessary.

9. Staying Work-Focused. Not letting your private life needlessly have an impact on your job, and not spending time at work attending to personal matters.

10. Listening Carefully. People want to be heard, so you give people a chance to explain their ideas properly.

Have a great Friday!! And a safe and fun weekend!

Meredith

“Super Sammy”, formerly known as legendary spokesman Sammy Stephens was on location yesterday at our Aberdeen Approved Auto Sales lot filming our upcoming commercial.  Sammy is now known as “Super Sammy” because he “saves people money”!  The green cape is actually a green screen which will allow the producers to put our logo and any other graphics on it so it will look totally different once the commercial is complete.  If you haven’t seen our first Approved Auto Sales commercial with Sammy you can do so by going to our company website homepage.

I hope everyone is having a busy week.  Good luck today and tomorrow in finishing this week out strong! — Luke

“A warm smile is the universal language for kindness.”  William Arthur Ward

We had a very successful Manager’s Meeting yesterday highlighted by John Thedford’s book reiew of his book Smart Moves Management.  I encourage you to view John’s book review as the beginning of a journey of learning as opposed to a two hour book review.  It would be a great practice to start each day out reviewing a couple of his “Smart Moves” in your store and discuss how we can implement them as a team each morning.  I believe this will not only create an environment of continuous learning, but will also be a great way to get us focused on the day ahead.

“The most important job of a leader is telling your people where they are going to go.”   John Thedford

Have a great day….Louis

Today is the day we honor the great men and women of our U.S. military.  I recently read that there are more than 23 million veterans living worldwide – that is 23 million people to which we owe gratitiude for all the liberties and freedoms we enjoy on a daily basis.  I have mentioned before on the blog that my husband served 10 years as an active duty officer in the Air Force so I know firsthand the sacrifices that are made by not only the men and women of the military but also their families.  All who have served have suffered in some way and will never be the same.  It may seem small but it is an important matter for us to simply say “thank you” to these courageous Americans.  I have included a favorite picture of mine – my oldest daughter seeing her dad for the first time in 6 months.  My youngest daughter was also born during that time.

Rachel

“Let us never forget the blank check each of them wrote to us, at the value of their lives, in service to our nation.”

Yesterday I had the pleasure of attending another class graduation of the Montgomery Enterprises’ Leadership Skills Program.  Having seen several classes go through the program  over the past few years its still just as much fun to witness the change in the participants over the course of the class.  Rubye Del has a special talent for bringing the best out in people.  Congratulations to yesterday’s graduates!

On another note, as many of you know one of my favorite hobbies is reading . . . often books about business.  It’s not often I get to meet and discuss one of my favorite books with the book’s author but that is exactly what we will be doing Monday morning when, at our companywide Manager Meeting, we do a book review of Smart Moves Management with its author John Thedford.  I have had the privilege of seeing John speak on a couple of occasions and am especially excited to have him sharing his knowledge of running a highly successful business with us on Monday. John’s presentation will be a great way to kick off our “busy season” as 2013 winds down to a close.

I look forward to seeing everyone Monday! — Luke

“Ultimately, business building is nothing more than people building.”  John Thedford

I was recently looking through Forbes magazine when a title of an article caught my attention, “5 Things Super Successful People Do Before 8 AM.”  I have always considered myself somewhat of a “morning person” and who isn’t trying to be super successful so I decided to read the article. The five ways are:

1. Exercise

2. Map Out Your Day

3. Eat a Healthy Breakfast

4. Visualization

5. Make Your Day Top Heavy

Out of these five things I realized I only do two or three on a regular basis. This past week I have made an effort to do as many of these as possible. I have found that the more of them I accomplish before 8 AM the smoother my day goes. I have gotten more work done and had more free time when I got home. This article really motivated me to wake up earlier and get a head start on the day, in return I feel much more successful at the end of the day. I hope you will start using these tips in order to become a super successful person.

“The best time to get ahead is while others are sleeping.”

http://www.forbes.com/sites/jennifercohen/2013/10/02/5-things-super-successful-people-do-before-8-am/
Meredith