Suzan Colon shares in her great book, Cherries in Winter, the stories of how her family has weathered tough times, and how these responses are meaningful in helping us stay focused, healthy and confident in our period of uncertainty and change. Her grandmother used the phrase, “broke, but not poor.” Broke meaning times are tough now – but this is temporary. Poor refers to something more permanent. It was her way of saying “we’ll do what it takes to get by, then we’ll get better.” Realistic and optimistic. Wisdom for real life.

Tough times remind us that all things come and go, increase and diminish. So in the down times, what are your traditions or techniques to raise your spirits and keep you sane, healthy and appreciating life? What stories and wisdom do your older relatives share about how to weather tough times and retain your appreciation for what you have and who you are?

Here are tips from seniors who have learned how to be “broke, but not poor:”
1. Spend just a little on a treat every now and then. Make it a celebration.

2. Share what you have. It connects you at a deeper level and helps remind others to do the same.

3. Redefine value as experiences instead of things. Make a point of socializing more with friends and family. Share stories.

4. Say thank you more. It helps you see what you have instead of what you don’t have.

5. Get up and get moving each day. Start each day with a clear purpose and a personal sense of value.

History does seem to repeat itself. Some of its greatest lessons are still meaningful for us today. Many of our older relatives have weathered storms significantly more difficult than today’s. Their wisdom is timeless and guidance is priceless. Most times we don’t need to reinvent things – we just need to check in with those who have had experience with handling life on life’s terms.

Please pass this on to someone who can benefit from it.

I was meeting a colleague for coffee. While waiting at the coffee shop, I watched as person after person entered without holding the door for another person or greeting anyone.

At the checkout counter in a food store, I watched as a woman with two items and obviously pressed for time, asked to step ahead of a woman with a full cart. The woman with the full cart said “no” and reminder her it was important to wait her turn.

Watching these I was reminded of something I read recently in Krista Tippett’s new book, Einstein’s God. It was a quote from Philo “Be kind because everyone you meet is carrying a great burden.” Life is tough. All of us have difficult things going on and at times we can all be pretty fragile.

But notice our response when we hear a kind word, a respectful gesture or just a little bit of care. We respond in kind. We share the emotion. We feel better.

Check in on your words and actions. How kind are they? Try these to build back some kindness in your day:
1. Commit to random acts of kindness. Smile, hold a door open, buy the person behind you in line a coffee, send a card, make a call.
2. Listen to your self-talk. Redirect it to positive and supportive, instead of negative and critical. When you are kinder to yourself, you’ll be kinder to others.
3. Plan your time better to eliminate the need to rush. A less hurried day has time for kindness.

The power of kindness is extraordinary. In a world that seems to dwell on challenges and unhappiness, redirect your energy into being kind to yourself and to others. As Gandhi said, “Be the change you want to see in the world.” And it starts with kindness.

I have put together the ten rules for a great interview. Click here to see each in greater detail. And while on the site, check out the other great ideas to get hired in 2010.

My ten rules for a great interview:
1. Think “fit” – how you fit and how the company fits for you.
2. Impressions matter.
3. Be positive, upbeat, optimistic and congenial.
4. Have three great questions ready to ask.
5. Focus on your value.
6. Be confident, not arrogant.
7. Make sure you know all the facts.
8. Look for common ground.
9. Remember the power of body language.
10. Have fun.

Your interview is your time to connect with them, impress them, show your fit and indicate how you will add value to the organization. Follow these rules and the interview will be a success. The job offer generally comes down to how you do in the interview. Know yourself. Be confident. Be great.

Share these interview rules with those others looking for jobs.

We can complain about how difficult things are, or we can realize that complaining just reinforces negative feelings. Nothing good is accomplished that way – at work or at home. So imagine if work were a place where employees were fired up! – excited, passionate and interested in what they do. Imagine the change in performance and how energy created in the workplace could then work its way back home.

So if you never felt it was your responsibility to fire up! your employees, it is now. Your employees are still in front of your customers, creating your brand, making an impression and impacting your performance. Energized employees consistently out-perform all others. Energized employees bring their energy home.

Consider the following ways to fire up! your employees:
1. Catch your employees doing something great, and thank them. Don’t focus on the negative; focus on the positive.
2. Add one thing (your employees love to do) to their jobs; employees who are emotionally connected to their work perform better and are happier in the job.
3. Have one “Fired Up!” event each week. It may be coffee and donuts, a copy of a DVD the team can borrow each night, a daily power saying, a daily joke, a personal story from a team member, etc. Give this responsibility to one of the team who would find the role engaging and fun.
4. Share more information and solicit more feedback. Employees are more engaged when they feel included, trusted and respected.

How we feel at work affects home; how we feel at home affects work. For many, home lives are challenging. Make their work life engaging, high energy – fired up! Not only can this improve their work performance but it will likely flow over into their home life. Maybe this is the change they need – and it could all start with you.

Here’s what I mean. When we were an industrial (make things) economy, workplaces were very impersonal. Your personality, interests, emotions and attitudes were kept out of the workplace; you had your procedures to do over and over – and that was work.

Today, our workplace is an intellectual and service workplace (much of manufacturing has moved offshore). Business happens in the relationships and connections our employees make with customers; employees are face-to-face and phone-to-phone with customers. Relationships, feelings, emotions and connection matter – in fact, these are today’s profit drivers. The humanity of your employees is what attracts and retains customers.

Consider the following ways to make your workplace more personal:
1. Spend time with each employee to learn his/her talents, values and interests. This will allow you to customize jobs around particular interests and strengths.
2. Ask employees not only what they think, but what they feel about events. Much of business is conducted on feelings; workplaces that encourage employees to be emotionally connected to their work encourage stronger customer relationships.
3. Appreciate each employee’s diversity. Think of your employees as M&M’s – you hire them for their thinking (the filling) but you celebrate and appreciate their diversity and culture (the candy coating). See my article “A Sweet Diversity Lesson.” Openly appreciating and celebrating employees’ diversity personalizes the workplace – they feel included.

Remember, how you treat your employees is how your employees treat your customers. Make it personal with your employees and they will make it personal for your customers.

To catch up and personally connect your employees, see the tools, resources and articles on www.LiveFiredUp.com, click “For Managers.”

Great companies didn’t waste a minute complaining about the recession. They saw things had changed, regrouped and rebuilt a new strategy for a changed world. They said to their employees, “We need more ideas – keep the ideas coming.”

These companies have learned to be optimistic – they see challenge as a good thing – as an opportunity to improve and invent. They are not afraid of change. They know their strengths and play to them. They rely on their employees and customers to feed them meaningful information; they stay connected to their world to know the facts. They use this information to constantly create opportunities to be successful. It is how they run their businesses.

I have been traveling a lot lately working with trade associations and companies to help them relearn how to hunt for opportunities. In good times, you hunt less effectively – you hunt better when you are hungry. Today’s recession is a great time to relearn how to think more cleverly about your business.

So over the next couple of weeks, I’ll share some of my coaching and insights.

I have assembled recommendations in a new on-line download titled The Hunt for Opportunities Success Manual. You can find it in the products section of www.LiveFiredUp.com. Also, I have added the Hunt for Opportunities link to provide information, articles, an idea center and other resources to relearn how to find, create and implement high-value opportunities, regardless of the economy. Great for you and for your employees.

Next Tuesday, I’ll present one of the steps – how to assess your company strategically – so you can play to your strengths. This is the source of some of your greatest opportunities.

Until then, check out the Hunt for Opportunities link and help your employees focus on seeing opportunities to be successful instead of dwelling on the difficulty of a challenging economy. Happy Hunting.