My Alex Moment...

Several months ago, Alex came into work and layed 2 cigars on my desk. "These are for us to smoke the day that we reach our sales goal for the year", he said. I stuck the cigars in my pen holder and thought- "that day will never come".

Every day I noticed the cigars-- when I was stressed out I would focus on them and think that maybe I could make it happen. The actual cigars weren't a real incentive. A $1000 check in my pen holder might have motivated me a little more. But, still, the cigars were there and became the only thing to focus on. They weren't much, but they were a physical reminder to me every day that I couldn't give up.

Weeks and months passed by, and the day finally came. Moments after we had each delivered an order, we came back to the office and did the tally-- was this the day? It was!!!

We walked across the street (I might have even skipped a little) with a photographer in tow. We lit the cigars-- we each took about 2 puffs before we realized how stale and nasty they tasted. We each dropped our cigars and "smushed" them out-- they were so dry that they immediately turned into dust. You couldn't tell the difference between the former cigar and the dried leaf next to it that had recently been stepped on and crushed as well.

But I did learn a lesson-- having a physical item to look at really helps motivate, no matter how insignificant that item is. I had a goal set and a reward in store when the goal was met.

Thanks, Alex, for inspiring me-- let's see if you can come up with a better way to celebrate next year when we reach the $288,000 level!