The Curse of the Pre-Packaged Pitch

People sometimes have their favorite quips to throw out at a moment’s notice. This can happen in many different scenarios: casual conversations, pick up lines when meeting members of the opposite sex (men are usually the guilty ones here), sales pitches, political pitches, you name it. The problem with pre-packaged pitches is that they lack […]

The wife of a close friend of mine, JB (a close friend in her own right) is really disappointed in the recent presidential election results.  Thus, she asked me to address the question: Why is it that so many Christians voted for this loathsome, creepy, villainous character, Donald J. Trump?  (She didn’t word it quite that […]

To all you kitchen connoisseurs, listen up! You know the routine: You are in the kitchen whipping up several different dishes to feed your family or friends. Every so often, you need to quickly sample the various items you are working on – pasta, gravy, stew, vegetable dishes, casseroles, etc. So you grab a kitchen […]

By habit, we often greet each other with the question, “How are you doing?” or some variation thereof (“How are you?” “How are things going?” “What’s going on?” What’s been happening lately?”) We generally don’t ask such questions with absolute seriousness. We’re just being polite. In many instances, we don’t really care how the person […]

Building Your Power of Expression Effusive, adj. Pronunciation: əˈfyo͞osiv Meaning: Any time you are expressing feelings of gratitude, praise, approval, or offering compliments in a way that is unrestrained, deeply heartfelt, or over-the-top, you are being effusive. Usage: She received quite an effusive welcoming upon her return. I couldn’t help it; I gave them effusive praise […]

This issue of Uncommon Sense may be jarring for some. But. . . The Self-Development column will give you a very valuable piece of business wisdom. The Elephant in the Room column will consider a very horrifying possibility, that is, horrifying for patriotic Americans. The From Ara’s Journal column tackles a rather solemn topic. . […]

Running circles around the competition is not all that difficult, truth be told. And I can summarize it in one word: Service! If you create a dynamic, a culture, where service to customers is outlandish, you’ll clobber the competition. Nordstrom has done it. The Ritz Carlton has done it. And you can do it, too. […]

I don’t like being wrong. At least not habitually. Yet I still reflect on Einstein’s pithy saying that “I am not interested in being right; I am interested in knowing whether or not I am right.” But here is something I hope I am wrong about. Donald Trump wasn’t hated by a large portion of […]

In covering a topic this sensitive, I begin by offering a faith-based perspective which comes from my Latter-day Saint community and theology, and I do so to get it out of the way as a sort of preface, because this journal entry is not predominantly about that – not about religion or faith or theology […]

Building Your Power of Expression Compunction, n. [usually used in the negative] Pronunciation: kəmˈpəNG(k)SH(ə)n Meaning: A compunction is a feeling of guilt or moral scruple that prevents or follows the doing of something bad. Think of it as a feeling of anxiety arising from awareness of guilt. It could also be thought of as distress of […]