It may actually be That-A-Boy, not sure.

Do you ever wake up in the wee hours of the morning with a ‘Work-mare’?  You know, that problem or project at work that has you stressed, has you tossing and turning, has you anxious about a To-Do, a project due, or something you forgot. I am a regular in this category.  I probably wake up around 2:30-3:00am with work on my mind 3 to 4 times a week. Today’s ‘Work-mare’ was…oh man, yesterday was Thursday and I didn’t post a blog like I committed I would a couple weeks ago.  DANG IT!

So then I tossed and turned and rolled and thought, what do I write?  Will anyone notice I failed on my commitment?  Will everyone notice I failed on my commitment?  Should I say how busy I was?   That I traveled this week, had family and friend in last night for a dinner sending my son off to school?  What if I wake up Margaret again at 3:00 in the morning, is she going to kill me this time?   And, this is not gonna get me one of those At-A-Boys my good friend Doug Reeves was talking about last week when we were meeting in Boston.  That’s it!!! At-A-Boys!!!!!  Back to sleep.

Doug challenged me to hand out 5 At-A-Boys a day.  Not necessarily to any one specific group, but just give ’em out.  Staff, friends, family, associates, or strangers…animals don’t count.  So I put it to practice.  I decided to leave my kids out of the count as my wife and I spend more time encouraging than correcting, they are really great kids and we tell them they are great regularly.  An At-A-Boy, which my mother-in-law would call a BRAVO,  takes only a few seconds but can have a long and huge impact on someone’s demeanor at that point in their day.  It validates the effort they have put into something, and Maslow concludes it is pretty darn important.  And that Mr. Abraham Maslow guy is way up there on my RSG List (Really Smart Guy).

I know I FAILED at my commitment of being on-time with this Thursday’s post, and I promise to do better, but I haven’t failed on my 5 At-A-Boys per day goal, and I don’t plan to stop at 5.  When sincere, they are really fun to hand out, they are greatly appreciated, and it makes me think about how hard the person I am At-A-Boying is really working to be successful.  My appreciation for others is truly increasing.

So go ahead, because it’s like that old Alka Seltzer TV commercial. “Try it, you’ll like it!”

Okay quote on Tuesday is one I coined, and Post on Thursday is about Solution Tree’s Mission Statement.  Until then, thanks for reading, and At-A-Boy Doug, great suggestion!