Establishing Your Personal Environment

Culture is defined as “The Way We Do Things Around Here”. This could apply to the workplace, to church, to your home, or other areas. You can just watch what goes on and you will be able to define the culture.

My grandchildren spent the night at some people’s home and when they returned, they had much to say about how different things were done and expected at the home they visited. It was very humorous. The culture of the home visited was significantly different than their own home.

Culture can be changed if desired. It just takes a little time. Some habits are hard to break. My mother was like a Drill Sargent. Our rooms had to be cleaned and the beds made up before we left for school. She was very organized to a fault, and expected us boys to be the same way.

As adults, we are still affected by her actions.

Culture can include the way decisions are made and problems are solved. It can include the way people talk and the words they use. In a fraternity house, the culture could be to have a drunken party every weekend. Today, many people are into the “drug” culture.

When a high school student gets their first job at a fast food restaurant, they find the expectations are clearly defined and they have to learn certain processes and be consistent. If they were not raised in a disciplined environment, they may have trouble with the new culture.

If you are wanting to be successful, what type of culture do you need to build around you? How will you look? How will you talk? How will you act? Before you go to work, how do you prepare for the day? These and other factors are necessary to approach in order to achieve your goals.

Two dimensions in success are consistency and discipline. Determine what culture is necessary and then apply the factors you determined are needed with strong consistency and be disciplined in your approach.

John Malloy wrote a book, “Dress for Success”. In the book, he related about teaching young people who were unsuccessfully finding a job, as to how to dress and act. Many had not been able to get a job but after going through John Malloy’s course, they were able to get a job on the next job interview. What was different? John Malloy knew the business culture and taught the young people how to relate and act to meet the culture of those hiring.

In many cases, some people are clueless about their presentation. And in some cases they are arrogant about changing to meet the employer’s expectation. In most cases, this is just immaturity and the inability to understand the business world. If their whole life has been spent playing video games, their ability to relate might be a problem.

Start your personal process by evaluating yourself and begin to be aware of how you speak, act, dress, write, and prepare. Then investigate the environment you will be addressing. Evaluate the gaps that come up and begin to change to be able to meet the expectation.

Get friends or family to help you understand yourself. Learn to go to bed at a decent time so you can awaken in time to be fresh for your job or interview.

I once had a coach who told me to only clean my desk after 5:00 in the afternoon. He said that prime times should not have interference from “cleaning or sorting and straightening”. It was extremely difficult, but I was able to perform according to the new culture and the results were extremely gratifying. I established a new component in my personal environment; being productive. I had to initiate other changes as well.

If you are a parent, recognize that your daily routine, mannerisms, and actions are being learned by your children. What they say at school will mirror what they have heard at home. You can help them by setting a good example. Monkey see, monkey do.

Good luck in creating your personal environment. You may find it will be far superior to what you have at this time. 

72 Hour Emergency Kit

NOTES:

• 72 Hour Kits are designed to give you enough time to get things figured out or to help you as you get to a different destination. Camping skills are very useful. Get a Boy Scout Handbook to learn some of these.

• Update your kit every six months (put a note in your calendar/planner) to make sure that: all food, water, and medication are fresh (not expired), clothing fits, personal documents and credit cards are up to date, and batteries are charged.

• Small toys/games are important too as they will provide some comfort and entertainment during a stressful time.

• Older children can be responsible for their own pack of items/clothes too.

• You can include any other items you feel are necessary for your family’s survival.

• Some items and/or flavors might leak, melt, “flavor” other items, or break open. Dividing groups of items into individual Ziploc bags might help prevent this.

FOOD AND WATER

(3 day supply of food & water per person when no refrigeration/cooking is available)

o Protein/Granola Bars
o Trail Mix/Dried Fruit
o Crackers/Cereals (for munching)
o Canned Tuna, Beans, Meat, Vienna Sausages, etc (“pop-top cans might leak/ explode & Jerky can “flavor” other items)
o Canned Juice
o Candy/Gum (Jolly Ranchers can melt & mint gum might “flavor” other items)
o Water (1 Gallon/4 Liters per person)
o Canteen

BEDDING AND CLOTHING

Change of Clothing (short and long sleeve shirts, pants, socks, jackets, etc.)

o Undergarments
o Rain Coat/ Poncho
o Blankets and Emergency Heat Blankets
o Cloth Sheet
o Plastic Sheet
o Knit Hat

FUEL AND LIGHT

o Battery Lighting (Flashlights, Lamps)
o Extra Batteries
o Flares
o Candles
o Lighter
o Water-Proof Matches
o Glow Sticks
o Fire Starter

EQUIPMENT

o Can Opener
o Dishes/Utensils
o Shovel
o Hand Cranked Radio
o Pen & Paper
o Pocket Knife
o Axe
o Rope
o Duct Tape
o Compass
o Fishing Lures & Line

PERSONAL SUPPLIES AND MEDICATION

o First Aid Supplies
o Toiletries (roll of toilet paper- remove center tube to easily flatten into a zip-lock bag, feminine hygiene, folding brush, etc)
o Cleaning Supplies (mini hand sanitizer, soap, shampoo, dish soap, etc. Warning: Scented soap might “flavor” food items.)
o Medication (Acetaminophen, Ibuprofen, children’s medication, etc.)
o Prescription Medication (for 3 days)

PERSONAL DOCUMENTS & MONEY 

(Place in a waterproof container)

o Bible (Pocket versions are lighter)
o Legal Documents( Birth/Marriage Certificates, Wills, Passports, Contracts)
o Insurance Policies
o Cash
o Credit Card
o Pre-Paid Phone Cards

MISCELLANEOUS

 Bag or Bags to put 72 hour kit items in (such as duffel bags or hiking back packs, which work great)

Goals Completed

A number of years ago I was able to work with ten high school students, five each from two local schools, helping them learn about leadership. As a part of the class, we took the students to interview an exceptional leader. A couple of past leaders that were interviewed were Tom Landry and Roger Staubach.

Another leader was Jim Sirbasku, President of Success Motivation, Inc. (SMI) located in Waco, Texas. In Jim’s younger life, he worked as a butcher in a meat packing plant in Minneapolis. The compensation for workers was very low.

Jim and his wife found that they could not have children so they decided to adopt a child. The adoption agency told them that they qualified for everything except income. They simply did not have enough income to support three people. Jim and his wife were devastated. What to do?

Jim knew a fellow who was marketing Goal Setting programs and Jim wanted one really bad. The fellow told him that if Jim would give him the names of some prospects and if they bought, he would give Jim 10% of the selling price. If the fellow sold ten programs to people from Jim’s referrals, Jim would get a program free. The fellow found that when he talked to the prospect that Jim provided, that they were already sold. He did not have to do any selling at all. So the fellow talked to Jim and convinced him to begin to sell as well and quit the meat packing plan.

Jim took that advice and to make a long story short, he quickly rose in the ranks and became the President of SMI.

I took the ten students to Waco to interview Jim and it was a great interview. The students had developed a set of questions that had been previously been sent to Jim. At one point in the interview, Jim got away from the questions and went over to a closet with bi-fold doors and opened them. Behind the doors was a large bookcase full of three ring notebooks. Jim told the students that all the notebooks were full of pages of goals accomplished. Jim said that he set goals in all areas of life and the six shelves were for the six areas of life. He related that anytime he is concerned about something, he looks at all the notebooks and reflects on all the goals accomplished. His thoughts are that if he has done all of this, what could he NOT do.

So the challenge for each of us is to think about our goals accomplished and do our own reflection. Begin to write each goal on a separate page and begin to collect those you complete. You might surprise yourself.

Jim died a multi-millionaire in 2010 at the age of 71. He and his wife Judy had two children, a boy and a girl. Their family had the largest Egyptian-Arabian horse farm in the world.

The six areas of life have now been expanded to eight: 

Physical, Mental, Social, Family, Financial, Spiritual, Hobby, and Career.