{"id":2567,"date":"2013-01-05T22:38:07","date_gmt":"2013-01-06T02:38:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kerryhannon.com\/?p=2567"},"modified":"2013-01-05T22:50:44","modified_gmt":"2013-01-06T02:50:44","slug":"all-i-really-need-to-know-about-success-i-learned-from-my-labrador-retriever","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kerryhannon.com\/?p=2567","title":{"rendered":"All I Really Need to Know About Success I Learned From My Labrador Retriever"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Zena. Photo by Cliff Hackel<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

All I really need to know for the coming year I learned from my Labrador Retriever. My resolution: To try harder to follow her example. Check out these eight ways to make your life better.<\/p>\n

1. Start the day with gusto.<\/b> My Labrador retriever, Zena, arises with a mission. She\u2019s motivated. First, to motivate me. She stands beside my bed, rests her head on the mattress, eye-level to me and stares piercingly.<\/p>\n

She\u2019s always eager to face the outside world, in fact, she charges into it, and returns to dive into her nutritious breakfast with delight. Then she\u2019s ready for a workout to stay physically fit. That\u2019s either a 40-minute-plus walk around sidewalks of the city streets, or through the woods and fields, depending on where we are that day. Most times, it\u2019s a vigorous workout.<\/p>\n

(Read Post on Forbes here.)<\/a><\/p>\n

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2. Focus on a task without your mind wandering to something else<\/b>. Her singular ability to concentrate her mental and physical energy allows her to achieve a winning performance.<\/p>\n

She\u2019s a pro at what she does and gives each project her whole heart and abilities. She\u2019s absorbed with every sinew and nerve. She\u2019s vibrant and alive.<\/p>\n

Throw a Frisbee, ball or stick, and she\u2019s off, tearing down the field, knowing instinctively when to pivot, leap, and catch, or diving with abandon into a pond. She swims with the strength and the pure beauty of a canine athlete, as she makes a direct beeline to her goal in record time.<\/p>\n

And, as far as I can tell, she doesn\u2019t block out feeling that pure enjoyment these moments offer because other matters distract her. Admittedly, she does have a pre-paid card here since she\u2019s free from worrying or being driven by finances, fitness, and health\u2014she delegates that to me.<\/p>\n

3. Stay present.<\/b> She\u2019s wholly present in the moment with all her being. This comes naturally to her. Her clear attentiveness to what she\u2019s engaged in is not clouded by her future ambitions, or the need to return e-mails, Tweet, or juggle three jobs at once to keep her business prosperous.<\/p>\n

4. Value yourself and charge accordingly.<\/b> Zena doesn\u2019t do anything for free. It may be barter, of course. Nonetheless, she is paid well for her services. There are no pay cuts, layoffs or furloughs in her world. She commands benefits we can all dream of scoring.<\/p>\n

Her bosses adore her. She knows this, but doesn\u2019t take it for granted. She has a contract that includes all-expenses paid first-class accommodations wherever she roams, high-quality, nutritious meals,<\/a> vacations, spa treatments such as massages and pedicures, plus other enviable employer fringes.<\/p>\n

5. Look at what goes right.<\/b> She concentrates on the positive aspects of her job. She doesn\u2019t dwell on the negative, complain or whine about the long hours when she\u2019s parked under my desk while I work, and her talents are not being tapped, or being put to their best use. In a nutshell, she\u2019s optimistic.<\/p>\n

6. Push in fresh directions.<\/b> She always is on the look out for new opportunities. She takes advantage of every walk. Smells and sounds lead her from one new place to another with an openness and fresh sense of excitement. She never fails to gain from social gatherings and networking events with her dog pals. She rarely turns down an invitation to a dinner party at our friends\u2019 houses.<\/p>\n

She regularly keeps her skills sharp and adds new ones by attending training classes and workshops with seasoned pros Jack and Wendy Volhard<\/a>, or participating in an engaging rally class at Mahogany Ridge<\/a> in Culpeper, VA, with Theresa Richmond<\/a>.<\/p>\n

7. Never hesitate to network more. <\/b>Just because Zena has a comfy job running our homes and lives, doesn\u2019t mean she stops networking. She\u2019s proactive about her networking efforts \u2013attending events, reaching out to professionals in her field (the aforementioned Volhards and Theresa Richmond) whose work she respects. She continually invites longtime contacts\u2013even those she has known since puppy kindergarten out for walks to reconnect \u2013 anything she can do to keep old relationships solid and grab opportunities to build new ones.<\/p>\n

8. Go places.<\/b> Zena knows the importance of travel, of going new places and experiencing new cultures, sights and sounds. Her official job title: Road Manager. We log more than 25,000 miles each year rolling from Washington, DC to Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, PA, New Jersey, Warrenton and Boston, Virginia, Lake Keowee in the mountains of South Carolina, and far beyond.<\/p>\n

Each time out the door, out of the comfort zone of her fluffy dog bed and safety of her fenced yard, she learns valuable skills\u2013maybe even gets some insights into how to manage me better.<\/p>\n

She trots out to the car and pops in without looking back. No questions asked. She props her front feet on the console of my Subaru Outback and stares fixedly out the front windshield as if asking What\u2019s next? Let\u2019s go.<\/p>\n

And, \u201cby the way,\u201d she silently commands, \u201ccan you roll the window down? I want to pop my nose out, feel the wind on my face, soak up the smells\u2013and use all <\/i>my senses to enjoy the ride.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kerry Hannon<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n

SECOND VERSE<\/a><\/p>\n