AchieveMax® Blog

We’ve added still another category to our growing list of Words of Wisdom subjects … bringing our current total to 18 categories.

Sense of Urgency is our new category, and it certainly seems very appropriate. As I write this article, the U.S. National Debt stands at:

$9 Trillion, 395 Billion, 785 Million, 222 Thousand, 922 Dollars and 81 cents!

The National Debt has continued to increase an average of $1.63 billion per day since September 29, 2006! Therefore, by the time you read this, the number above will have increased a great deal. If you’d like to see what the debt has grown to as of today, simply go to U.S. National Debt Clock at www.brillig.com/debt_clock/.

The estimated population of the United States is 303,701,043 so each citizen’s share of this debt is $30,937.62.

Our National Debt is just one of the myriad of issues discussed in the media, at conferences and in elevators across the country and around the globe that would indicate the need for an immediate Sense of Urgency … which seems to be lacking at the moment.

If you’re making a list of such issues you might want to add immigration, social security, energy, mortgages, veterans, inflation, recession, building starts, trade balance, education, jobs, health care, foreign policy, military, global competition, abortion, affirmative action, the budget deficit, tax reform, oil prices, campaign reform, crime, death penalty, drugs, foreign relations, war, gay rights, guns, labor unions, unemployment, the environment and our obvious lack of strong Presidential candidates as we approach November.

Now you can understand why we added quotes addressing Sense of Urgency to our growing list of “Words of Wisdom.” Feel free to check out our in-depth offering should you be in need of a refreshing thought, idea, slogan or profound nugget for an upcoming meeting, presentation, or lunch room bulletin board.

We offer interesting quotes on the subjects of leadership, teamwork, customer service, time management, goals, change, motivation, sales, potential, gender, creativity, repetition, enthusiasm, employees, attitude, networking, fear and sense of urgency.

Click on “Words of Wisdom” in order to review our entire offering.

Harry K. Jones is a professional speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of motivational speakers who provide custom-designed keynote presentations, seminars, and consulting services. Harry has appeared all over North America addressing topics such as change, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork and time management for a number of industries, including education, financial, government, healthcare, hospitality, and manufacturing. For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2MAX or fill out our contact form.

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Things start getting busy in April. Think, for a moment, about your psychic to-do list:

Be alert on day #1 … April Fool’s Day! It’s time to start refreshing your lawn and garden. Baseball season starts. The birds head north. Golfers are almost back to their regular schedule. Preparation begins for Passover observance. Hibernating animals seek the sun. April showers. Lawns need to be mowed. Spring cleaning looms inside and out. Tax pressures mount as the 15th nears. Spring break madness. Buckle your seat belt … here it comes!

April Monthly Celebrations and Observances:

• April is International Customer Loyalty Month.
• April is Stress Awareness Month.
• April is National Poetry Month.
• April is Autism Awareness Month.
• April is Cancer Control Month and Occupational Therapy Month.
• April is Animal Cruelty Prevention Month.
• April is National Grilled Cheese Sandwich Month.
• April is National Smile Month.
• April is Books to Brighten Young Minds Month.
• April is Community Spirit Month.
• April is Spring Break Month.
• April is Keep America Beautiful Month.
• April is Couple Appreciation Month.
• April is Keep America Beautiful Month.
• April is Lawn and Garden Month.
• April is Mathematics Education Month.
• April is School Library Month.
• April is Spring Break Month.
• Week 1 is Library Week.
• Week 2 is Garden Week.
• Week 3 is Organize Your Files Week.
• Week 4 is Medical Labs Week.
• Week 4 is Administrative Assistants Week.
• April 1st is April Fool’s Day.
• April 2nd is Children’s Book Day.
• April 2nd is National Peanut Butter and Jelly Day.
• April 7th is World Health Day.
• April 10th is Golfers’ Day.
• April 10th is National Siblings Day.
• April 15th is Titanic Remembrance Day.
• April 15th is Tax Day.
• April 16th is National Librarian Day.
• April 16th is National Stress Awareness Day.
• April 19th is Passover, which begins at sundown on the 19th and ends at nightfall on the 27th.
• April 21st is Patriot’s Day.
• April 22nd is Earth Day.
• April 22nd is National Jelly Bean Day.
• April 23rd is Administrative Professionals Day.
• April 23rd is Professional Secretaries Day.
• April 24th is Take Your Kids to Work Day.
• April 25th is Arbor Day.
• April 29th is Greenery Day.

Harry K. Jones is a professional speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of motivational speakers who provide custom-designed keynote presentations, seminars, and consulting services. Harry has appeared all over North America addressing topics such as change, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork and time management for a number of industries, including education, financial, government, healthcare, hospitality, and manufacturing. For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2MAX or fill out our contact form.

Easter is always the first Sunday after the first full moon after the Spring Equinox (the Spring Equinox occurs March 20). That means little or nothing to most of us. We just know that Easter comes every April − last year it was on the 8th.

However, this year Easter will fall on March 23rd. This is the earliest Easter any of us will ever see the rest of our lives! Only the most elderly of our population have ever seen it this early (95 years old or above!) Moreover, none of us has ever, or will ever, see it a day earlier! Kind of shocking, isn’t it? Even more so, it’s historic!

Here are the facts: 

• The next time Easter will be this early (March 23) will be the year 2228 (220 years from now). I’m going to miss that one.
• The last time it was this early was 1913. I missed that one as well. In fact, you’d have to be 95 years of age, or older, to have been around for that one.
• The next time it will be a day earlier, March 22, will be in the year 2285 (277 years from now). The last time it was on March 22 was 1818. Therefore, no one alive today has or will ever see it any earlier than this year!

Change seems to be impacting just about everything. I hate to say “nothing is sacred” because Easter certainly is … but change doesn’t seem to care.

Be sure to take time to enjoy your Easter Sunday with your loved ones. Time flies.

Harry K. Jones is a professional speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of motivational speakers who provide custom-designed keynote presentations, seminars, and consulting services. Harry has appeared all over North America addressing topics such as change, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork and time management for a number of industries, including education, financial, government, healthcare, hospitality, and manufacturing. For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2MAX or fill out our contact form.

For most of us, March marks the end of winter and offers hope for a pleasant Spring. However, blustery, windy days are as frequent as warm, sunny days. For hoop fans March Madness is also in the air as basketballs can be heard bouncing from coast to coast and Spring Training springs forth for baseball fans. The Easter holidays bring the family together early this year, and St. Patrick’s Day honors the Irish while giving everyone else a good reason to party in preparation of warmer days and summer fun.

• March is National Women’s History month.
• March is Optimism Month.
• March is International Ideas Month.
• March is Employee Spirit Month.
• March is American Red Cross Day.
• March 1st is St. David’s Day.
• March 2nd is National Reading Day.
• March 2nd is Dr. Suess’s birthday (born in 1904).
• March 3rd is Alexander Grahm Bell’s birthday (born in 1847).
• March 3rd is the anniversary of the Star-Spangled Banner, written by Francis Scott Key, as our National Anthem (1931).
• March 8th is International Women’s Day.
• March 9th is the beginning of Daylight Saving Time.
• March 10th is Employee Appreciation Day.
• March 12th is Girl Scout Day (1912).
• March 14th is Albert Einstein’s birthday (born 1879).
• March 15th is Ides of March.
• March 16th is Palm Sunday.
• March 17th is St. Patrick’s Day.
• March 18th is Anniversary of Campfire Boys and Girls Founded in 1910 — co-ed in 1975).
• March 20th is St. Joseph’s Day.
• March 20th is the first day of Spring.
• March 21st is Good Friday.
• March 23rd is Easter Sunday.

Harry K. Jones is a professional speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of motivational speakers who provide custom-designed keynote presentations, seminars, and consulting services. Harry has appeared all over North America addressing topics such as change, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork and time management for a number of industries, including education, financial, government, healthcare, hospitality, and manufacturing. For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2MAX or fill out our contact form.

For the first time, we’re adding to an existing category of our expanding list of “Words of Wisdom” on our web site. 

Due to the recent media focus on change in most every aspect of American life, we’ve added 21 additional quotes to that category.

Feel free to check out the “Words of Wisdom” should you be in need of a refreshing thought, idea, slogan or profound nugget for an upcoming meeting, presentation, or lunch room bulletin board.

We offer interesting quotes on the subjects of leadership, teamwork, customer service, time management, goals, change, motivation, sales, potential, gender, creativity, repetition, enthusiasm, employees, attitude, networking and fear.

Click on “Words of Wisdom” in order to review our entire offering. 

Harry K. Jones is a professional speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of motivational speakers who provide custom-designed keynote presentations, seminars, and consulting services. Harry has appeared all over North America addressing topics such as change, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork and time management for a number of industries, including education, financial, government, healthcare, hospitality, and manufacturing. For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2MAX or fill out our contact form.

• 110 million roses, the majority red, will be sold and delivered within a three-day time period.
• An estimated 25 percent of Valentine’s Day cards are humorous. More than 50 percent of cards are sold the week of the holiday, with the largest and most elaborate Valentine cards sold 48 hours before February 14.
• Chocolate manufacturers currently use 40 percent of the world’s almonds and 20 percent of the world’s peanuts.
• In 1866, candy manufacturer NECCO made the first “Conversation Hearts” — then called “Motto Hearts.” According to NECCO, eight billion of these little candies are sold between January 1 and February 14.
• More than 35 million heart-shaped boxes of chocolate will be sold for Valentine’s Day.
• Cupid, another symbol of Valentines Day, became associated with it because he was the son of Venus, the Roman god of love and beauty. Cupid often appears on Valentine cards holding a bow and arrows because he is believed to use magical arrows to inspire feelings of love.
• In the middle Ages, people believed that the first unmarried person of the opposite sex you met on the morning of St. Valentine’s Day would become your spouse.
• During the late 1800s, postage rates around the world dropped, and the obscene St. Valentine’s Day card became popular, despite the Victorian era being otherwise very prudish. As the numbers of racy valentines grew, several countries banned the practice of exchanging Valentine’s Days cards. During this period, Chicago’s post office rejected more than 25,000 cards on the grounds that they were so indecent, they were not fit to be carried through the U.S. mail.
• Only the U.S., Canada, Mexico, France, Australia and the U.K. celebrate Valentine’s Day.
• The Italian city of Verona, where Shakespeare’s lovers Romeo and Juliet lived, receives about 1,000 letters addressed to Juliet every Valentine’s Day.
• The most fantastic gift of love is the Taj Mahal in India. It was built by Mughal Emperor Shahjahan as a memorial to his wife, who died in childbirth. Work on the Taj began in 1634 and continued for almost 22 years, requiring the labor of 20,000 workers from all over India and Central Asia. 

Harry K. Jones is a professional speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of motivational speakers who provide custom-designed keynote presentations, seminars, and consulting services. Harry has appeared all over North America addressing topics such as change, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork and time management for a number of industries, including education, financial, government, healthcare, hospitality, and manufacturing. For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2MAX or fill out our contact form.

February has a little bit of something for everyone.

It’s the shortest month of the year and the only month with fewer than 30 days. The month has 29 days in “leap” years.

February often offers some of the coldest days of the entire year.

It’s unofficially “heart” month as it contains Valentine’s Day and American Heart Day.

It’s unofficially a very humanitarian month as it contains Random Act of Kindness Day as well as National Organ Donor’s Day.

February is a very patriotic month as it honors some of our greatest Americans via Presidents’ Day, Washington’s birthday, Lincoln’s birthday, Susan B. Anthony’s birthday, Thomas Edison’s birthday, Boy Scout Day, National Freedom Day, and is the official Black History Month.

February is somewhat of a party month as we celebrate Chinese New Year, the Super Bowl, and Mardi Gras.

February denotes the beginning of Lent with the celebration of Ash Wednesday.

February gets its name from the Roman purification feast at that time of year, “februa” meaning purification.

• February is American Heart Month.
• February is Black History Month.
• February is National Cherry Month.
• February is Library Lover’s Month.
• February 1st is National Freedom Day.
• February 2nd is Groundhog’s Day.
• February 3rd is Super Bowl Sunday (XLII).
• February 5th is Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday).
• February 6th is Ash Wednesday.
• February 7th is Chinese New Year (year 4706!).
• February 8th is Boy Scout Day.
• February 11th is Thomas Edison’s birthday.
• February 12th is Abraham Lincoln’s Birthday.
• February 14th is National Organ Donor Day.
• February 14th is Valentine’s Day.
• February 15th is Susan B. Anthony’s birthday.
• February 17th is Random Acts of Kindness Day.
• February 18th is Presidents’ Day.
• February 22nd is George Washington’s Birthday.
• February 29th is Leap Day (once every four years!)

Harry K. Jones is a professional speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of motivational speakers who provide custom-designed keynote presentations, seminars, and consulting services. Harry has appeared all over North America addressing topics such as change, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork and time management for a number of industries, including education, financial, government, healthcare, hospitality, and manufacturing. For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2MAX or fill out our contact form.

We’ve added our first new category of 2008 to our expanding list of ”Words of Wisdom” available on our web site.

Feel free to check out the “Words of Wisdom” should you be in need of a refreshing thought, idea, slogan or profound nugget for an upcoming meeting, presentation, or lunch room bulletin board.

We offer interesting quotes on the subjects of leadership, teamwork, customer service, time management, goals, change, motivation, sales, potential, gender, creativity, repetition, enthusiasm, employees, attitude, networking and now—FEAR.

Click on “Words of Wisdom” in order to review our entire offering. 

Harry K. Jones is a professional speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of motivational speakers who provide custom-designed keynote presentations, seminars, and consulting services. Harry has appeared all over North America addressing topics such as change, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork and time management for a number of industries, including education, financial, government, healthcare, hospitality, and manufacturing. For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2MAX or fill out our contact form.

Well, it’s that time of the year again. Following the exhaustion of the “Boo Day / Turkey Day / and Christmas B-L-U-R,” which began in the much warmer weeks of October and finally came to a close just days ago … we must now gear up for the new year and the annual opportunity for renewal, redemption, and a personal revival.

To maximize this opportunity, we’d like to invite you to revisit the “Resources” category of our blog where you’ll find 30 features that may be very helpful in assisting you as you face the many obvious challenges of the coming year.

You’ll find several web sites profiled here that will prove tremendously advantageous in your ongoing search for detailed, instantaneous information to assist you in your critical decision making. Web sites such as Lucky 7, So You Wanna, J.D. Power, and GetOrganizedNow will save you a great deal of time and energy, which can obviously be instrumental to your success during what promises to be a very challenging year.

Our “Resources” category will also offer you tips on creating successful meetings, banquets and luncheons; how to read 52 books in the coming year without turning a single page; and how to organize both your business and personal lives in ways you’ve never imagined!

You’ll also enjoy reading profiles on several magazines that continually provide you with cutting edge tips, tools, strategies, and insights that will keep you a step ahead of the competition. These magazines should definitely be on your reading list at a time when we seem to have less and less opportunity to read. This dilemma inspired us to develop our “Resources” category, and we certainly encourage you to take advantage of the many references listed there. Work smarter rather than harder to make the coming year the very best yet for you, your family, and your organization!

Harry K. Jones is a professional speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of motivational speakers who provide custom-designed keynote presentations, seminars, and consulting services. Harry has appeared all over North America addressing topics such as change, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork and time management for a number of industries, including education, financial, government, healthcare, hospitality, and manufacturing. For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2MAX or fill out our contact form.

The hectic but enjoyable holiday season has come to an end, and it’s time to start planning for the New Year. I hope the following information will be helpful in planning your monthly calendar in hopes of getting the new year off to a great start. Use this data in plotting some get-away time with your family, sales and marketing promotions for your  organizations, in-house celebrations or competition among your staff members or  simply expanding your knowledge base about the critical month that kicks off what will surely be a very successful year!

• January is National Blood Donor Month.
• January is National Braille Literacy Month.
• January is National Hobby Month.
• January is Hot Tea Month.
• January is National Oatmeal Month.
• January is National Soup Month.
• January 1st is New Year’s Day.
• January 2nd is National Festival of Sleep Day.
• January 3rd is National Fruitcake Toss Day.
• January 8th is All About Bubble Bath Day.
• January 15th is Martin Luther King Day.
• January 12th is National Pharmacist Day.
• January 18th is National Thesaurus Day.
• January 19th is National Popcorn Day.
• January 21st is National Hugging Day.
• January 24th is National Compliment Day.
• January 26th is National Spouses Day.
• January 27th is National Chocolate Cake Day.
• January 28th is National Fun at Work Day.
• January 31st is Inspire Your Heart with Art Day. 

Harry K. Jones is a professional speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of motivational speakers who provide custom-designed keynote presentations, seminars, and consulting services. Harry has appeared all over North America addressing topics such as change, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork and time management for a number of industries, including education, financial, government, healthcare, hospitality, and manufacturing. For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2MAX or fill out our contact form.