Which do you like better the blue or the red???
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Let's talk about food.
Well I've been thinking about how much I miss the caf food actually. Yes, it's true. I miss being able to get as much as I wanted and have so many different options.
Every morning I wake up, take a cold shower, do some push ups, then head to our breakfast spot called Dee's Kitchen. It's amazing. There are some old dudes that eat there every morning and have exact change counted out for their coffee and toast. They curse, laugh, and play Yahtzee and wonder why two young people would be in there so early in the morning. I proceed to greet my waitress of two weeks, Sandy, and order my 2 eggs scrambled with hash browns and wheat toast for $7.00 (tip included).
For lunch it's a simple kid's favorite, peanut butter and jelly with about 6 wheat saltines. Actually they are Krispy brand, which are reallllly good.
At night I have been eating a 2 fried egg sandwhich with spinach, cheese, and barbecue sauce haha. It's actually really good and cheap too! I also eat like baby carrots, applesauce, pretzel sticks, and sometimes tuna salad. I top it all off with a glass of gatorade and get ready for the next day.
I write all this because tonight, Betty, our land lady, brought home some donuts for us to eat. After my regular meal I had three of them and felt like they were the best I had ever had. It was incredible. It's so amazing how good food tastes when you eat eggs twice a day a some kind of meal with wheat bread three times a day. If you are reading this and you have the option of making your own food with your parents money, or simply going out to eat, enjoy yourself. I envy you. Soon enough though all of my saving will pay off! Anyway, I better go to bed.
Just a quick note, yesterday sucked hardcore. I had like 11 straight people tell me no at the door, most of which cut me off and closed the door while I was talking. I also didn't have any sales, but hey it's part of the job! Today was better, I had 2 sales and tomorrow will be my best day of the week, leading to my best week ever! I'll let you know how it goes. You guys are awesome for reading this, but you should seriously leave some comments. I'd like to know who's still reading this thing haha. peace out.
Every morning I wake up, take a cold shower, do some push ups, then head to our breakfast spot called Dee's Kitchen. It's amazing. There are some old dudes that eat there every morning and have exact change counted out for their coffee and toast. They curse, laugh, and play Yahtzee and wonder why two young people would be in there so early in the morning. I proceed to greet my waitress of two weeks, Sandy, and order my 2 eggs scrambled with hash browns and wheat toast for $7.00 (tip included).
For lunch it's a simple kid's favorite, peanut butter and jelly with about 6 wheat saltines. Actually they are Krispy brand, which are reallllly good.
At night I have been eating a 2 fried egg sandwhich with spinach, cheese, and barbecue sauce haha. It's actually really good and cheap too! I also eat like baby carrots, applesauce, pretzel sticks, and sometimes tuna salad. I top it all off with a glass of gatorade and get ready for the next day.
I write all this because tonight, Betty, our land lady, brought home some donuts for us to eat. After my regular meal I had three of them and felt like they were the best I had ever had. It was incredible. It's so amazing how good food tastes when you eat eggs twice a day a some kind of meal with wheat bread three times a day. If you are reading this and you have the option of making your own food with your parents money, or simply going out to eat, enjoy yourself. I envy you. Soon enough though all of my saving will pay off! Anyway, I better go to bed.
Just a quick note, yesterday sucked hardcore. I had like 11 straight people tell me no at the door, most of which cut me off and closed the door while I was talking. I also didn't have any sales, but hey it's part of the job! Today was better, I had 2 sales and tomorrow will be my best day of the week, leading to my best week ever! I'll let you know how it goes. You guys are awesome for reading this, but you should seriously leave some comments. I'd like to know who's still reading this thing haha. peace out.
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Slow to fast
So last week felt like forever, but this week is really flying by. I can't believe it's going to be Wednesday tomorrow!
After our Sunday meeting and talking with Matt Poole, he seemed positive, but a little worried. I reassured him that things would get better as long as he kept working and he agreed to work hard this week. As I went home that night I figured I would try walking so I could see how it was to be like Matt, Anna, and Jared. Well it turns out I picked Monday to walk and it rained. Oh well. It also turned out to be the day that Anna was assigned to follow me. We have follow days when we have a zero sale day. I've never had anyone follow me before, but it really changed me. It kept me accountable the whole day and made me actually work the way I was supposed to. I couldn't stop, I couldn't be lazy, I had to always work hard because she was right behind me recording my every move. It was awesome.
Well today I went out and had a customer, presentation, then a contact for both goal periods (we divide our day into 2 hour segments because it is much easier to work for 2 hours than it is for 14.) So from m7-9 I had a sale and from 9-11 I had a sale. Then things got slow and I just kind of coasted until about 4:30. Then I had a little pity party, bought myself a Dr. Pepper and a Snickers and went back to work. By pity party I mean I didn't feel like working so I moved slow and didn't have a good attitude. Well God is so good that he decided today would be a good day to show me that even though I slacked off, he was still going to bless me with have 5 total sales. I was a little mad because I felt like I totally didn't deserve any sales for slacking off.
I talked with Travis and I really need to fully commit to being here. It sucks being halfway committed to something. Especially when it involves going door-to-door for 14 hours. Anyway I need sleep. Hopefully I'll get to write more later. Peace.
After our Sunday meeting and talking with Matt Poole, he seemed positive, but a little worried. I reassured him that things would get better as long as he kept working and he agreed to work hard this week. As I went home that night I figured I would try walking so I could see how it was to be like Matt, Anna, and Jared. Well it turns out I picked Monday to walk and it rained. Oh well. It also turned out to be the day that Anna was assigned to follow me. We have follow days when we have a zero sale day. I've never had anyone follow me before, but it really changed me. It kept me accountable the whole day and made me actually work the way I was supposed to. I couldn't stop, I couldn't be lazy, I had to always work hard because she was right behind me recording my every move. It was awesome.
Well today I went out and had a customer, presentation, then a contact for both goal periods (we divide our day into 2 hour segments because it is much easier to work for 2 hours than it is for 14.) So from m7-9 I had a sale and from 9-11 I had a sale. Then things got slow and I just kind of coasted until about 4:30. Then I had a little pity party, bought myself a Dr. Pepper and a Snickers and went back to work. By pity party I mean I didn't feel like working so I moved slow and didn't have a good attitude. Well God is so good that he decided today would be a good day to show me that even though I slacked off, he was still going to bless me with have 5 total sales. I was a little mad because I felt like I totally didn't deserve any sales for slacking off.
I talked with Travis and I really need to fully commit to being here. It sucks being halfway committed to something. Especially when it involves going door-to-door for 14 hours. Anyway I need sleep. Hopefully I'll get to write more later. Peace.
Saturday, May 23, 2009
Week completed
Wow this week seems like it took forever. The good news is that next week will be faster and the next week even faster. This week will probably be one of the toughest of the summer just because I'm trying to nail down good habits like waking up at 6 and working until 9:15. I worked really good hours this week and saw a lot of people. Now I just have to work on listening to everyone so that I can better help them and sell more books. I really hope that Matt Poole is doing ok. We are in different HQ's so it's tough to know how he's doing.
Tonight we are having some awesome pizza and I am so excited about it. I'm also ready to get some good sleep and have a sweet day off tomorrow. This job is so strange. I don't really want to write anything else tonight. sorry. If you guys ever have questions about book stuff feel free to post questions in the comment box. peace.
Tonight we are having some awesome pizza and I am so excited about it. I'm also ready to get some good sleep and have a sweet day off tomorrow. This job is so strange. I don't really want to write anything else tonight. sorry. If you guys ever have questions about book stuff feel free to post questions in the comment box. peace.
It gets better!
Today was awesome. I was able to stay focused for most of the day. There were still times when I was frustrated and began to think about going home, but ultimately I could never do that. The shame and excuses that I would have to tell my friends and family would be unbearable. Gas is killing me right now because I was working country this whole week and driving like 150 miles everyday. Tomorrow and the next couple of weeks I'll be in the city so it won't be as bad. On a more positive note, I had 5 customers today and made about $160 today. I met some awesome families. In fact, one mom was my favorite mom of my career so far. I started talking to her at about 7:30 and then just kept talking until like 8:10. Usually demonstrations or presentations take about 20 minutes. Oops. I could have stayed there all night because she was just that type of person that made you laugh and was completely transparent. She was confident, loving, and funny. Three great things that I am striving for everyday. Gas is killing me right now because I was working country this whole week and driving like 150 miles everyday. Tomorrow and the next couple of weeks I'll be in the city so it won't be as bad.
I love what God is teaching me about being disciplined and finishing what I start. I want to be the type of person that learns to accept my situation and pushes through no matter what. I saw this today on someone's porch, "Want what you have and you'll always have what you want." It really made me think about my priorities and why I'm out here for the summer. While those things may seem cheesy in normal life, when you're working 14 hours a day and getting rejected 95% of the time, the little things in life stop bothering you and all you care about are the intangible aspects of life. I love it. I love this job, I love the people, and I love God. Goodnight.
I love what God is teaching me about being disciplined and finishing what I start. I want to be the type of person that learns to accept my situation and pushes through no matter what. I saw this today on someone's porch, "Want what you have and you'll always have what you want." It really made me think about my priorities and why I'm out here for the summer. While those things may seem cheesy in normal life, when you're working 14 hours a day and getting rejected 95% of the time, the little things in life stop bothering you and all you care about are the intangible aspects of life. I love it. I love this job, I love the people, and I love God. Goodnight.
Friday, May 22, 2009
Follow Day
Today I got to follow Simba and it really taught me a lot. The first day I had no sales, the second I had 3 pretty good ones, and then yesterday I had one weak sale which means they didn't put down less than half of the total cost. Today, I made one sale but followed most of the day. Simba worked the whole day except from 1-3 when I worked. The day was slow. That's an understatement. We talked and sold one mom first thing, then didn't see another prospect until 2:45. That's when I made my sale. I learned that no matter what we have to keep pushing ourselves and maintaing the positivity because it all pays off from 5-9. We had a ton of people to see and we ended up getting 4 more customers during the 5-9 (what we call gravy) period. We call it gravy because most of the buyers work during the day, so after they get off work at 5 is when we move in to make the majority of our sales. We use the day to figure who to talk to during the gravy period.
This job just gets better. Everyday is a new opportunity to learn and grow. I heard a really good quote during sales school, "The most frustrating times in our lives are signs that we are about to grow." Not matter how frustrating or lonely the day can be I'm going to keep that in mind and try to focus on others instead of own circumstances. Bedtime. Peace
This job just gets better. Everyday is a new opportunity to learn and grow. I heard a really good quote during sales school, "The most frustrating times in our lives are signs that we are about to grow." Not matter how frustrating or lonely the day can be I'm going to keep that in mind and try to focus on others instead of own circumstances. Bedtime. Peace
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Here's your learning day!
Well today is exactly what the title says. It's like God looked down and thought that I needed some tough love. I did! Today I really broke down at about 5 o'clock. Let me define breakdown.
My day started out with a sale which was way positive! Then I went through a huge dry spell and didn't really see anyone. I had to set up my bank account which took about 2 hours and then was so tired i was driving off the road. So I took like a 30 minute nap. You're not supposed to, but hey it's my summer right? I'd much rather be not tired and driving off the road than make like 30 bucks. Well then at about 5 I had only talked to 11 out of my goal of 30 people I was trying to see. Usually we have 30 contacts (people that we talk to that have kids aka prospects) and 15 presentations (people with kids who actually see the books). So a senior citizen we talk to wouldn't count as anything. We also break our day into what we call goal periods. These are two hour blocks that we use to keep our sanity. We view our job as like 9-11 getting 6 contacts, 4 presentations, and 2 customers each goal period. Those are our goals, but as soon as the goal period is over we start all over.Does that make sense? It helps us keep our accountability so that we can track how hard we are working to see people each day.
Anyway, I had 11 out of 30 at 5 o'clock which meant that I would need 19 in the next 4 hours. I was stressed out and had no motivation to continue. I started thinking about calling Nate and telling him that I was going home, but then I thought about all the people I would have to face when they heard that I was quitting. It was overwhelming and I just broke down and started crying. (Weird I know. Things get very emotional on the bookfield.) So I just prayed to God that I knew he wanted me to rely on him to be my happiness and joy, but I didn't know how. I needed him to show me how to continually talk to him and see things through his eyes in order to continue working. well like 5 minutes later I snapped out of it and just started thinking about selling books again. Turns out I got 31 contacts on the day and had 2 more customers tonight. The customers were big customers that I needed because I was running out of cash. Here's a funny thing. If the customers pay with a credit card I never see the money, but if they use cash or a check, then I get to use to deposit to live off of. Well I was getting a little worried about it last night and today, but God came through once again and I collected 522 dollars today. That should last me for a while. Haha. Anyway I have to go to bed now. I am going to be wiped if I don't. I hope you enjoyed this blog. It was written frantically and probably doesn't make a whole lot of sense, but I can try to explain more later. peace.
My day started out with a sale which was way positive! Then I went through a huge dry spell and didn't really see anyone. I had to set up my bank account which took about 2 hours and then was so tired i was driving off the road. So I took like a 30 minute nap. You're not supposed to, but hey it's my summer right? I'd much rather be not tired and driving off the road than make like 30 bucks. Well then at about 5 I had only talked to 11 out of my goal of 30 people I was trying to see. Usually we have 30 contacts (people that we talk to that have kids aka prospects) and 15 presentations (people with kids who actually see the books). So a senior citizen we talk to wouldn't count as anything. We also break our day into what we call goal periods. These are two hour blocks that we use to keep our sanity. We view our job as like 9-11 getting 6 contacts, 4 presentations, and 2 customers each goal period. Those are our goals, but as soon as the goal period is over we start all over.Does that make sense? It helps us keep our accountability so that we can track how hard we are working to see people each day.
Anyway, I had 11 out of 30 at 5 o'clock which meant that I would need 19 in the next 4 hours. I was stressed out and had no motivation to continue. I started thinking about calling Nate and telling him that I was going home, but then I thought about all the people I would have to face when they heard that I was quitting. It was overwhelming and I just broke down and started crying. (Weird I know. Things get very emotional on the bookfield.) So I just prayed to God that I knew he wanted me to rely on him to be my happiness and joy, but I didn't know how. I needed him to show me how to continually talk to him and see things through his eyes in order to continue working. well like 5 minutes later I snapped out of it and just started thinking about selling books again. Turns out I got 31 contacts on the day and had 2 more customers tonight. The customers were big customers that I needed because I was running out of cash. Here's a funny thing. If the customers pay with a credit card I never see the money, but if they use cash or a check, then I get to use to deposit to live off of. Well I was getting a little worried about it last night and today, but God came through once again and I collected 522 dollars today. That should last me for a while. Haha. Anyway I have to go to bed now. I am going to be wiped if I don't. I hope you enjoyed this blog. It was written frantically and probably doesn't make a whole lot of sense, but I can try to explain more later. peace.
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Recorded Journals
hey guys, as promised i have a few voice clips from sales school. OK I am having some technical difficulties so I'll just write for tonight. I am so excited for tomorrow. It doesn't matter to me if I have 1 customer or 10 customers because this week I am only working on hours this week. I really want to lead the way for Matt Poole to follow. I want him to see that I'm committed to working this job to the best of my ability to serve others. I know this is short, but I have to go to bed. Mrs. Jones is waiting for me...
Friday, May 15, 2009
Where the heck have I been?
So right after I types that title I realized that most of my readers already know the answer to that question haha. So...the end.
For those of you who don't k know, I just finished sales school in Nashville. Today I spent 11 hours in the car driving to Black river falls,WI, and tomorrow we'll finish our trip to Fargo, ND. After we drop off our first years Austin shrock and I will travel to Thief river falls where we'll move I to our new home for the summer. I have been recording little journal entries with this iPod app and I will hopefully post those tomorrow or Sunday. They are less than five minutes each and just share my feelings about the day. This summer my blog will turn into a journal that might include typing, videos, or the audio recordings depending on Which ones receive the most comments. Haha. For now, I need to go to bed. Also if I didn't ask you for your address and you would like me to write you a letter, just leave your address as a comment. Peace!
For those of you who don't k know, I just finished sales school in Nashville. Today I spent 11 hours in the car driving to Black river falls,WI, and tomorrow we'll finish our trip to Fargo, ND. After we drop off our first years Austin shrock and I will travel to Thief river falls where we'll move I to our new home for the summer. I have been recording little journal entries with this iPod app and I will hopefully post those tomorrow or Sunday. They are less than five minutes each and just share my feelings about the day. This summer my blog will turn into a journal that might include typing, videos, or the audio recordings depending on Which ones receive the most comments. Haha. For now, I need to go to bed. Also if I didn't ask you for your address and you would like me to write you a letter, just leave your address as a comment. Peace!
Friday, May 8, 2009
Home, briefly
So I found out today that I am actually supposed to go to Nashville on Saturday and be there by two. My mom wasn't too happy about me leaving Sunday so when she heard I had 24 hours less at home, she wasn't thrilled. I think she is beginning to understand that I am becoming independent. That I want to get out of here and I think she is slowly coming to grips with the fact that I need to get out of there. It's healthy, you know?
Leaving school yesterday really was not as bad as I though it would be. I mean sure it was tough to say goodbye, but for the first time, I really felt at peace about it. The last couple weeks of school I was beginning to get a bit frantic about the separation. With my senior friends leaving, and my new friends and I getting so close, the thought of departure really sucked. The more I prayed the more God sort of released me from those feelings and gave me a calm sense of acceptance to my summer situation. I know that I'm supposed to go to North, freaking, Dakota, but I am excited, genuinely excited to be going. Anyway, that's enough for now (a great song by the Fray), I should go pack and be productive while I have the spare time. Have a great summer!
Leaving school yesterday really was not as bad as I though it would be. I mean sure it was tough to say goodbye, but for the first time, I really felt at peace about it. The last couple weeks of school I was beginning to get a bit frantic about the separation. With my senior friends leaving, and my new friends and I getting so close, the thought of departure really sucked. The more I prayed the more God sort of released me from those feelings and gave me a calm sense of acceptance to my summer situation. I know that I'm supposed to go to North, freaking, Dakota, but I am excited, genuinely excited to be going. Anyway, that's enough for now (a great song by the Fray), I should go pack and be productive while I have the spare time. Have a great summer!
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Truth
Tell it, because doing so makes life easier. If you can openly communicate with someone, things just work. Life can be confusing and finals can really suck, but our time together goes quickly so why waste any time not being truthful. If we lie or deceive we have to go back and fix things, but if we just tell the truth, our lives go the way they should.
Monday, May 4, 2009
Grades suck
Ok I understand the need for a grading scale. School is such a funny thing. For most of my classes how much am I really learning and retaining? I get the good grades either because the content is really easy to memorize or because the teacher gives us a great study guide. An example of a great study guide is one where the teacher goes over the test question by question. If you write down each statement the prof says, you've got an A! Those classes are typically the ones that I don't care about, however.
The drive of this blog is to talk about the purpose of grades. I agree that it is a measurment of our effort in the class, discipline, and our overall knowledge of the subject. The funny thing is, it doesn't really matter if we learn some subjects. Some prove to be absolutely useless. So why do we go through these type of classes? I believe that it is a teaching method that goes beyond our knowledge skills. The grades give us something to work towards and even if we don't get the best grades. In the long run, it's not about how great our GPA is, but rather that we know how to strive for something we want. It's like doing the things we don't want to do. It's a practice that I want to adopt more often. It's good for us to be uncomfortable. This blog kind of morphed and kind of doesn't flow well, but I don't care. Time for more studying/creating good discipline...
The drive of this blog is to talk about the purpose of grades. I agree that it is a measurment of our effort in the class, discipline, and our overall knowledge of the subject. The funny thing is, it doesn't really matter if we learn some subjects. Some prove to be absolutely useless. So why do we go through these type of classes? I believe that it is a teaching method that goes beyond our knowledge skills. The grades give us something to work towards and even if we don't get the best grades. In the long run, it's not about how great our GPA is, but rather that we know how to strive for something we want. It's like doing the things we don't want to do. It's a practice that I want to adopt more often. It's good for us to be uncomfortable. This blog kind of morphed and kind of doesn't flow well, but I don't care. Time for more studying/creating good discipline...
Friday, May 1, 2009
I am addicted to blogging
Seriously this is getting a bit ridiculous. All of my thoughts just are jumping out throughout the day. Everyday I crave to get the words out and try not to leave anything out. I don't really know what I want to talk about today because life has really collapsed on me today. In chapel today it really hit me that we're coming to the end. For some people this will be the last weekend of their college career. Where the heck did our time go?! Granted we always say that time flies but this time it's not only flying but it is also coming to a close. It's scary in a way but refreshing as well. Why does life have to move forward like this? There aren't really any easy transitions. Think about it, this time next week I will be back home and preparing myself for the summer.
I came to my sister's graduation today. I was not too excited because it is also the last weekend I will have with all of my college friends before some of them move on to the real world. That is having a big effect on much of my mind right now. It's hard for me to focus on my family and enjoy this time because I'm being selfish and only thinking about how much fun I could be having back at Asbury. It sucks. Another feeling that I'm struggling with is if I'll ever really enjoy being around my family again. As of right now being at college is so much fun, I love it. Every time I go home to visit I just feel like I want to go back with my other friends and I honestly feel that I like spending time with them more than my family. Maybe it's because I'm the last kid and my other two sisters are out of the house and married. I just want to be independent now. I don't want to feel like I "should" come to my sister's graduation. I want to have that feeling because I want to, not because my parents "think" I should. How do I tell my parents these feelings without really hurting them? It's a tricky situation that I'm not ready to deal with yet.
After college I do NOT want to go anywhere near Mc Kenzie, TN. If at all possible I'll live near a city, preferrably a warm one and get a job. I want to be alone, with a new start. As for now, I should get back to studying for my finals next week.
I came to my sister's graduation today. I was not too excited because it is also the last weekend I will have with all of my college friends before some of them move on to the real world. That is having a big effect on much of my mind right now. It's hard for me to focus on my family and enjoy this time because I'm being selfish and only thinking about how much fun I could be having back at Asbury. It sucks. Another feeling that I'm struggling with is if I'll ever really enjoy being around my family again. As of right now being at college is so much fun, I love it. Every time I go home to visit I just feel like I want to go back with my other friends and I honestly feel that I like spending time with them more than my family. Maybe it's because I'm the last kid and my other two sisters are out of the house and married. I just want to be independent now. I don't want to feel like I "should" come to my sister's graduation. I want to have that feeling because I want to, not because my parents "think" I should. How do I tell my parents these feelings without really hurting them? It's a tricky situation that I'm not ready to deal with yet.
After college I do NOT want to go anywhere near Mc Kenzie, TN. If at all possible I'll live near a city, preferrably a warm one and get a job. I want to be alone, with a new start. As for now, I should get back to studying for my finals next week.
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