Posted by Jennifer Maffeo on Tue, Feb 21, 2012
"We have to get off e-mail and pick up the phone, call our clients and walk down the hall and speak to our peers, because tone makes a gigantic difference in the way somebody receives information. It defines urgency. It defines intent. You need tone and mannerisms to build relationships. But if you mute all those things, you start to get people who are not necessarily aligned because they don’t get to know each other. Simple conversations around tasks and teamwork and how are we going to move forward get lost in translation if you’re not speaking to the person, and you’re just texting them or e-mailing." Steve Stoute- CEO of Translation LLC
(Source: Tumblr)
Steve Stoute hit the nail on the head with his quote above about speaking directly to people rather than communicating through email or text. These days, we are inundated with a steady stream, or make that tidal wave, of information through smart phones, email and social media. While many of us can no longer live without the ability to communicate electronically, it should not entirely replace face to face communication or hearing another person's voice. If something urgent needs to be said, it is best to just pick up the phone!
The most important aspect in building relationships is having the ability to communicate, show empathy and understand others. Because 77% of your message is delivered just by the tone of your voice, this simply can not be done through a computer or smart phone screen. Build rapport and deliver your message first by the tone of your voice.
Use email to confirm conversations, not to be the crux of them.
Speaking of communicating and customer service, this week we are launching our contest where you could win a set of Tiffany's Wine Glasses! As a toast to providing high quality customer service, we're giving away a set of the highest quality in stemware to two lucky winners.
Like our facebook page or follow our company on linked in to enter.
Posted by Jennifer Maffeo on Tue, Feb 14, 2012
First, we want to wish you a Happy Valentine's Day from Mackoul & Associates! We hope that you have a wonderful day celebrating the love you share with the special people in your lives.
We also want to let you know, that should you get a valuable or sentimental gift on this holiday we can help you insure it.
In order to insure jewelry, you may want to buy an extension on your renters' or homeowners' insurance policy, otherwise known as a Personal Articles Floater. Renters' or Homeowners Insurance Policies do cover the contents within your home, but only up to a certain limit. You would want to buy a Personal Articles Floater to be sure that certain items can be replaced at their full value.
A Personal Articles Floater is a separate endorsement (also known as a rider) that can be added to your homeowners policy for personal items that have a higher value than the limits imposed in your homeowners policy. If you are someone that has jewelry that has high material or sentimental value, like wedding or engagement rings or heirloom jewelry, a personal articles floater would be a good idea for you.
Click here if you would like to submit a request for a personal articles floater.
How to insure a valuable gift:
- Collect your receipts and any paperwork from the jewelry purchase.
- Have the value of your jewelry attested to by an expert appraiser.
- Take a photo of your jewelry to submit with your documents.
- Call us at (516) 431-9100 or submit a quote request online and we will walk you throught the process of insuring your jewelry.
What other valuable items can be insured using a Personal Articles Floater?
- Furs and related clothing
- Fine Art - paintings, lithographs
- Certain Musical Instruments
- Fine Silverware
- Golfer's equipment
- Cameras and related equipment
- Electronics
- Antiques
- Postage Stamps
- Rare and current coins
Call us at Mackoul & Associates, Inc. at (516) 431-9100 to discuss endorsements, amendments and credits that can be added to customize your Personal Articles Floater Policy.
Posted by Jennifer Maffeo on Thu, Feb 09, 2012
Water and gadgets just don't mix. With the sky-high price of high-tech phones these days, it's hard to imagine replacing your phone because you got it wet.
Everyday people have accidents: they drop their phones in the toilet, onto the floor and into a puddle, spill drinks onto their phones, and the list can go on. The only options (until now) have been to cover your phones in what can be compared to a bulky suit of armor that is anything but sleek. Even with many protective phone cases, the plug areas that expose the inside of the phone could still be damaged from water entry.
Well, today I got a "techtips" email from Steve Anderson, the guru on helping insurance agents increase revenue and reduce expenses by using the latest and greatest technologies (sign up for his techtips by clicking here). This tip can be applicable to everyone who uses a technological gadget so I felt compelled to pass it on. His email was about "Waterproofing Your Gadgets" with a new technology, called Liquipel. He summed up the technology and process they use beautifully. Watch the video from the Liquipel website at the bottom of this post (if not for anything else, it's pretty entertaining) or read an excerpt from Steve's email below:
"Liquipel is a company that will waterproof your iPhone and other gadgets. The process they use is a specialized coating in the form of a vapor. You mail your device to them and they put it into a chamber and fill it with they vapor, which then bonds at the molecular level to protect the phone. Since the vapor is so small, when the process is finished you can't see or detect the coating, which makes it perfect for phones. The coating gets into everything inside and out. This means not only is your phone waterproof on the outside, but also on the inside where all the vital components of your phone reside."
Signing up for blog subscriptions is a great way to have news delivered right to your email inbox. Sign up for the Mackoul & Associates blog subscription or for "Steve Anderson's Techtips" for more great tips to come.
Do you have any tech tips you'd like to share? Feel free to comment on our blog.
Posted by Jennifer Maffeo on Wed, Feb 08, 2012
How can you be sure your D&O Policy provides the appropriate coverage for your Board, Property Management Firm, or Homeowner's Association?
Boards, Property Managers and Homeowners Associations are vulnerable to the litigious society we live in today. To address the risk of being named in a lawsuit, it is important to obtain comprehensive coverage through a Directors and Officers Liability Insurance Policy. In fact, as many as 95% of Fortune 500 companies maintain Directors & Officers coverage today according to David Gishe of Troutman Sanders LLP.
However, not all D&O's are created equal and therefore the quality of your coverage is paramount. Since there are no "standard" Directors and Officers Liability Insurance policies, there can be great discrepancies in the amount of coverage provided. While some insurers handle Directors and Officers Liability Insurance as an add-on, or endorsement, to the association's package policy, we suggest going for a stand-alone policy to be sure that you have obtained comprehensive coverage. An endorsement, or add-on, may leave gaps in coverage that would otherwise be provided in a stand-alone policy.
*Visit our website for a list of Directors and Officers Liability Insurance coverage highlights
Mackoul & Associates, Inc. offers a way for Homeowners Associations, Board Members and Property Managers to obtain comprehensive coverage through a variety of outstanding insurance carriers to protect their interests. If you have questions about your Directors and Officers Liability Insurance, or any of your insurance policies, we'd love to be of service to you at Mackoul & Associates, Inc. Call (516) 431-9100 or email info@mackoul.com for more information.
Posted by Jennifer Maffeo on Fri, Feb 03, 2012
Here's the third article by guest blogger, Nicholas M. Logan! Mr. Logan will be joining us from time to time to weigh in on various issues including sports teams in the New York and surrounding areas. Agree or disagree with his views on the Nightmare Bowl? Leave a comment at the bottom of the blog article to discuss...
Nightmare Bowl II
by Nicholas M. Logan
The Super Bowl this weekend between the New England Patriots and the New York Giants is a complete nightmare for me as a guy who bleeds the green of the New York Jets. Jealous and petty? You bet! I’m not afraid to admit it either. I’m sick of the Patriots winning, I’m sick of the Giants winning, and now, with them playing each other in the Super Bowl for the second time in the past four years, one of them has to win. Again. I look forward to the Super Bowl every year. It’s fun, it’s a great time with friends and/or family – and these guys had to go and spoil it for me. Again.
Why couldn’t Kyle Williams hold onto the ball? Why did San Francisco’s defensive backs run into each other – twice – to ruin what could have been interceptions? Why couldn’t the officials get the Victor Cruz fumble call correct back in Week 4? Why couldn’t they get it right when Ahmad Bradshaw fumbled in the playoffs? Why couldn’t the Jets not let Victor Cruz score a gift 99-yard touchdown on Christmas Eve (which also spoiled my Christmas, by the way!!!) – any of those things happen, the Giants would not have made the playoffs and you wouldn’t have to listen to me whine.
I’m pretty sure I’m not the only Jets fan who feels this way. Sure, there are some guys out there that root for both NY teams because it’s New York. There are other Jets fans who hate New England so much that they will be rooting for the Giants. Still others, the camp in which I pitch my tent, will root for New England so we don’t have to be saddled with the bragging, obnoxious insults, and superior attitudes of the Giants fans. I am not going to make this only about how obnoxious Giants fans are – Pats fans are just as obnoxious and annoying as the fans of the Giants. Possibly worse, since I don’t like any of them and I have a lot of Giants fans as friends. At least most of the time. Maybe not this week. Nor after this blog. But I digress. The difference is that the Patriots’ fans are considerate enough to be 200 miles away. Therefore, I don’t have to listen to them, hear their jubilant calls into the local radio station, or see their shirts, hats, ties, shoes, socks, banners – anything they can print on – declaring them as Super Bowl champions.
Unfortunately, one of those teams will be holding the Vince Lombardi Trophy come Sunday night. Is there any way we can get a tie so that no one wins? I figure if they go into overtime (something that’s never happened in a Super Bowl) and they just punt back and forth over and over again, and go into like 6 overtimes – won’t they just give up and declare it a tie by that time? The players will have to be super, crazy, tired by then. With my luck, they’d declare them BOTH champions and things would get even worse for me.
It’s not fair. Someone please hand me a tissue.
You may be asking... What does this have to do with insurance and why is it on an insurance blog? While our main goal at Mackoul & Associates, Inc., is to advise our community on insurance related topics, we like to add some variety to our posts from time to time. Feel free to let us know how you think we are doing by commenting on our blog or by emailing jmaffeo@mackoul.com.
Posted by Jennifer Maffeo on Wed, Jan 25, 2012
The second article by guest blogger, Nicholas M. Logan! Mr. Logan will be joining us from time to time to weigh in on various issues including sports teams in the New York and surrounding areas. Agree or disagree with his NFL Recap? Leave a comment at the bottom of the blog article to discuss...
Anyone Know the Heimlich?
by Nicholas M. Logan
Sunday was a very exciting day of football for fans of the NFL, and those in the Northeast in particular. Two games were played to decide which teams would go to the Super Bowl. Both were great games, both came down to the wire, both were hotly contested throughout, and both had bad plays and questionable decisions by the losing teams which would ultimately swing the momentum the other way. In other words, some guys choked badly.
In the first game, the New England Patriots held on to beat the Baltimore Ravens 23-20 in a thriller after Baltimore’s kicker missed an easy field goal – a ‘chip shot’, in football parlance. However, prior to that fateful play, there were several questionable decisions made by Baltimore’s coach.
With less than three minutes to play Baltimore had a 4th down and 6 at the New England 33 yard line, trailing by 3 points. The coach, John Harbaugh, decided to go for it. In my opinion, that’s a terrible call. With only two minutes and change left in the game, a 50 yard field goal to tie the game is the way to go. If Harbaugh was willing to fail and give New England the ball at the 33 anyway, giving it to them at the 40 if the field goal was missed wouldn’t have made all that much difference.
Luckily for Harbaugh the defense held and Baltimore got the ball back. Several plays later, the Ravens faced a 4th down at the New England 11 yard line with time ticking down as their kicker ran onto the field to try a game-tying field goal. Harbaugh didn’t call a timeout, which doesn’t make a lot of sense to me in that situation. Why not call the final timeout here rather than rush? By my count that’s two poor strategic calls in the final three minutes of a championship game made by its head coach. Those calls ultimately were a big part of the reason that the Ravens are home for the Super Bowl and not headed to Indianapolis to participate.
In the late game, the New York Giants defeated the San Francisco 49ers 20-17 in overtime. This game was a true classic. It was close the entire way, and even for someone like me who didn’t care who won, it was edge-of-your-seat excitement for the entire game. There were hard hits, big plays, and just plain great defense on both sides. The Giants caught a couple of big breaks when the 49ers twice blew big opportunities for an interception when defensive backs collided trying to make the play, while the 49ers’ offense was rather bad with the exception of a few big plays. Unlike the first game, the choke was provided by a player - San Francisco wide receiver-turned-punt returner Kyle Williams. Ted Ginn, the usual returner, was injured and did not play. Two fumbled punts later, the 49ers surely wished Ginn had been healthy.
Even with all the misplays, the 49ers were leading 14-10 with the Giants set to punt the ball. A four point lead, and possession. Ask any team in the NFL if they would like a 4 point lead and possession of the ball in the 4th quarter, and they’ll sign on the dotted line. Except……the punt returner inexplicably decided to stand near a ball he had no intention of fielding. The ball glanced off of his knee and was recovered by the Giants, who went on to score a touchdown to take a 17-14 lead.
The Niners later tied the game, and between that point and the game winning field goal in overtime, both teams “D’d up” – an expression meaning that the defenses really stepped up and played great football. The teams traded possessions until……….Williams fumbled another punt. This time he caught it, started to run, and was stripped. Giants recovered, already in field goal range, and the rest is history.
Two games, two wins largely decided by “what was he thinking??!” type of situations. But a great football day nonetheless.
You may be asking... What does this have to do with insurance and why is it on an insurance blog? While our main goal at Mackoul & Associates, Inc., is to advise our community on insurance related topics, we like to add some variety to our posts from time to time. Feel free to let us know how you think we are doing by commenting on our blog or by emailing jmaffeo@mackoul.com.
Posted by Jennifer Maffeo on Mon, Jan 23, 2012
A worker sustains an injury on the job, now who will be held responsible?
Even if the worker is 100% at fault, property owners and contractors can be held liable.
While the best practice is to provide a safe work environment for workers, sometimes things don't always go as planned. In this way, New York State Labor Law, Section 240, was created to impose a non-delegable duty upon owners and contractors to provide and enforce a safe environment for workers. The statute was specifically intended to protect workers by attaching absolute liability to property owners and contractors who failed to provide any safety devices, or where the safety device proved inadequate for a worker engaged in a task entailing significant risk because of an elevation differential.
In this way, a property owner or contractor can be held responsible for compensating an injured worker in the event that they sustain an injury, even if the worker is 100% at fault. Depending on the severity of the case, these judgements can amount to values between $250,000 to $1,000,000 and sometimes even higher! Mackoul & Associates, Inc., President, Edward J. Mackoul, CIC, has been quoted in The Cooperator, "The Coop and Condo Monthly," saying that when you have people working in dangerous conditions, "it's prudent to dot all the i's and cross all the t's." To cover all areas, contractors should carry four forms of insurance: General Liability, Contractural Liability, Worker's Compensation and Disability Coverage.
5 Ways You Can Manage The Risk
- Never hire an uninsured contractor!
- Ensure that your contractor maintains certain coverage:
General Liability, Workers' Comp, and Commercial Umbrella Policies
- Follow specific guidelines when drafting the Certificate of Insurance and Contract
- Be sure that the building owner and/or property manager is named as an additional insured on the contractors insurance policy
- Maintain a Hold Harmless Agreement with the contractor in the property owners favor
For details on managing insurance and contractual risks, download the free article by Edward J. Mackoul, CIC, by clicking the orange button below:
We hope you've enjoyed today's blog post and if you have any questions about your insurance, feel free to call Mackoul & Associates, Inc. at (516) 431-9100 or email at info@mackoul.com.
Posted by Jennifer Maffeo on Wed, Jan 18, 2012
Introducing... our new guest blogger, Nicholas M. Logan! Nicholas will be joining us from time to time to weigh in on various issues including sports teams in the New York and surrounding areas. Agree or disagree with his review of the "Same Old Jets" in the 2011 NFL Season? Leave a comment at the bottom of the blog article to discuss...
Same Old Jets -
A Frustrated Fan's View
by Nicholas M. Logan
The New York Jets recently completed the 2011 NFL season with another patented collapse. For fans of this star-crossed franchise, it was just more of the “Same Old Jets”. For those not familiar with the term, “Same Old Jets” is the not-so-affectionate nickname given to the team for its mind-numbing ability to lose in similar fashion over and over again – over the course of 40+ years – in spite of changes in management, coaches, players, and coaching philosophies. The franchise has a history of poor finishes, bad decisions, and heart-breaking losses at the most inopportune and unexpected times. There are so many examples of this ineptitude that to try and list them here would take up all the space available for this article. Suffice to say that the players and the coaching staff alike seem to have the same decades- long affliction of having horrible mental and physical lapses in big spots.
Another important characteristic of “Same Old Jets” is the epic failures of the front office and/or coaching staff to maintain any semblance of professionalism in the face of adversity, either within itself or, more importantly, with its players. While the more successful organizations are the epitome of quiet class, the Jets always seem to be surrounded by drama. Coaching changes, media spats with other franchises, players who say and do stupid things – the list goes on.
The Jets as a laughingstock is nothing new; it seems to happen every few years like the 7-year itch. Only with these guys, it’s more like the 2-4 year itch. Those that follow the team religiously like myself (or even from a short distance) will know what I’m talking about. The general cycle is that of the hiring of a new coach (sometimes with a new GM), a new direction, and a year-to-two years of limited success– just enough to get the fan base excited. By year three or four, the team begins its usual round of disappointments, and inevitably it culminates in a horrific collapse of some sort that costs the coach his job, leaves the franchise in a public relations nightmare, fans disappointed…………..and the cycle begins anew.
While head coach Rex Ryan is safe for the time being, the latest collapse coupled with the in-fighting of players points to the likelihood of another organizational tailspin. Whether Ryan can regain control of the team remains to be seen. However, if history is indeed doomed to repeated itself, he’ll be fired in disgrace within the next two seasons and go on to become another footnote in the comical history of the Same Old Jets.
You may be asking... What does this have to do with insurance and why is it on an insurance blog? While our main goal at Mackoul & Associates, Inc., is to advise our community on insurance related topics, we like to add some variety to our posts from time to time. Feel free to let us know how you think we are doing by commenting on our blog or by emailing jmaffeo@mackoul.com.
Posted by Jennifer Maffeo on Mon, Jan 16, 2012
Please note that Mackoul & Associates, Inc. will be closed today, January 16th, 2012.
Martin Luther King Jr. was an inspiring man who stood up for his beliefs no matter what obstacles stood in his way. He spoke out and fought to end racial segregation and racial discrimination through nonviolent methods like civil disobedience and peaceful protesting. In 1963, he was named "Man of the Year" by TIME Magazine. He was also the youngest person to win the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964. Posthumously, he won the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1977 and the Congressional Gold Medal in 2004. In 1986, Martin Luther King Jr Day was established as a U.S. federal holiday.
When you think of Martin Luther King Jr. perhaps the first thought that comes to mind is his inspiring "I have a dream" speech that was made at the 1963 March on Washington. Let's honor Martin Luther King's memory by revisiting his speech below:
"I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.
Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.
But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languishing in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. So we have come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.
In a sense we have come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked "insufficient funds." But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. So we have come to cash this check -- a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice. We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quick sands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children.
It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. Those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. There will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.
But there is something that I must say to my people who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice. In the process of gaining our rightful place we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.
We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force. The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. They have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We cannot walk alone.
As we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead. We cannot turn back. There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, "When will you be satisfied?" We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied, as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the Negro's basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their selfhood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating "For Whites Only". We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.
I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. Some of you have come from areas where your quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive.
Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed. Let us not wallow in the valley of despair.
I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.
I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal."
I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.
I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.
I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.
I have a dream today.
I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification; one day right there in Alabama, little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.
I have a dream today.
I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.
This is our hope. This is the faith that I go back to the South with. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.
This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with a new meaning, "My country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring."
And if America is to be a great nation this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania!
Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado!
Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California!
But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia!
Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee!
Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.
And when this happens, when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"
(Sources: Wikipedia.org, Huffington Post)
We hope that you've enjoyed this blog post and that you enjoy your day as we honor Martin Luther King Jr.
Posted by Jennifer Maffeo on Fri, Jan 06, 2012
"Without goals and plans to reach them, you are like a ship that has set said with no destination."
Fitzhugh Dodson
Much like charting a course to reach a destination, in the beginning of each year at Mackoul & Associates, Inc., we create business goals. Then, we create a plan with the steps needed to achieve what is best for our organization, our colleagues, and most importantly, our clients.
Periodically, we look at how far we've come and we adjust our charted course appropriately. Having these goals to strive for helps us to reach for success and map out our way of getting there.
Have you made goals for yourself or your business for this coming year? If not, take a step back and look at yourself or your business objectively. Write down realistic, actionable and attainable goals you would like to achieve in 2012. How do you plan to make these dreams and aspirations become your reality? Write down a plan using manageable steps that will help you reach your ultimate goal.
While you may not always reach them, having goals gives you something to strive for and will influence you to try harder. After all, if you didn't have a finish line you wanted to cross, would you run as fast? In order to achieve something in this world, you have to work hard and seize every opportunity. If the world is your oyster in 2012, you go ahead and get yourself that shiny pearl.
P.S. Another way to help you achieve your goals is to surround yourself with information that will empower and inspire you, like our helpful blog posts (hint, hint- click this link and subscribe to our blog now!).
What are your goals for 2012? Feel free to share them by commenting on our blog.