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| Newsletter "From the Heart" |
| Common Scents | I went through a three-day-training on leadership at work one time and it ended with a motivational speaker to get us fired up. He fired me up alright. He dissed my aftershave! No kidding! He used his father as an example of being stuck in a rut because he wouldn’t try new “modern” colognes or aftershaves. And what scent was his father stuck on? Old Spice! Can you believe it? He said it was passé and that his dad would be much better off with Tommy, whatever the hell THAT is. I may have made some disparaging sound or rolled my eyes in a loud manner. I don’t think I stood up and said, “Bull bleep!” - although some annals of the event allude to that.
He said, “What?” I said, “I use Old Spice!” He said, “Bull, no one uses Old Spice!” I said, “WANNA SMELL?” I think I make a much better speaker than I do an audience member. Especially when someone messes with my Old Spice.
To me, Old Spice is what a man smells like. My dad used Old Spice. All my friends’ dads used Old Spice. Augie Sorenson retired from the Red Cross Drug Store in Spooner on his profits from Old Spice. I have to admit in ’64 I was seduced by English Leather and a bottle of Brut – not at the same time. And there was that bottle of Hai Karate in ’67. But Big Bill Andrea said I smelled like a French whore, and he drove a tank in France in WWII so I figured he knew what he was talking about. Big Bill was one of my heroes and the dad of my best friend at the time, Little Bill.
Over the years I’ve probably bought enough Old Spice to float the boat on the bottle. Today I wanted to prove I wasn’t in a rut and I put on some Canoe Audrey bought me before we were married in ’68. It’s almost full. I just save it for special occasions. My son’s old girlfriend once bought me a bottle of cologne called “Dirt.” It really smelled like dirt. The only cool thing about that was that after I put it on, if I smelled my hands it was like I’d been digging in the dirt. But I don’t think that was the effect I was hoping to have on people. I’m glad she didn’t buy me something called, “Cess Pool.”
What was it that this motivational speaker sparked in me? Am I entrenched, or what? He wasn’t attacking a basic tenet of my belief system. He wasn’t telling me I was a dork because I believe in loyalty or charity. He WAS telling me I was a dork because I used Old Spice, but I’m not aware of any particular scent that led nations to war. So I started asking myself what other illogical or irrational beliefs do I have that could elicit such responses from me. I think this is something we need to do all the time to root out behaviors and thoughts that get in our way - or make us unruly at training seminars.
About a month ago I was getting training in Reike because the clinic I work in has several Reike practitioners and I wanted to learn more about it. At one point my practice partner said, as I had my hands above her eyes, “Your hands smell really good!” I said, “Thanks, it’s my Dad’s Old Spice.”
So tell me:
Have you had your “Old Spice” challenged recently?
How did you respond?
What was helpful about your response?
What do you wish you had done or said?
Get back to me and let me know your answers.
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This has been something "From the Heart" Vol. 8 # 5 © 2008
Dave Aardappel, Alpha Coach
920 451-0255
DaveAardappel@alpha-coach.com
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Challenge: Take a little time each day for the next week and write down the thoughts you have when something trips your trigger. What are you saying to yourself about it?
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Totally Useless Trivia Question of the Week: What town recently in the news is the Duct Tape Capital of the World?
Totally Useless Answer to last time's Useless Question: Fill in the blank:
It leaps, it creeps, it slides and glides across the floor,
I know that you will adore: The Blob! The 1958 debut of Steve McQueen. The song itself was written by Burt Bacharach and Mack David – must have been before he went by Hal David. It was performed by the Five Blobs. I think it’s what’s referred to as, “One-Hit Wonders.” Their second record, “Watch Out for That Stuff in Your Kleenix,” never caught on.
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Give a friend a free gift by having them sign up for my newsletter by clicking: www.alpha-coach.com/signup.asp.
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Coaching is helping you root out the irrational in your life.
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I am available as a professional speaker and can build seminars and workshops for you on many topics like, "What Ideas Are Worth Defending?” E-mail Barbara Elliott Eaves from the Sum People Agency to engage my speaking services at sumpeople@wi.rr.com and she will take good care of you.
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If you know of someone who may like getting these newsletters or may be curious about coaching, please forward this to them, or have them sign up at www.alpha-coach.com. Remember, the 1st session is free! No risk! Such a deal!
If you believe you've gotten this newsletter by mistake and would like to be removed from the mailing list, please let me know and I'll take care of it. Thanks!
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