Hixson & Stringham - January 2022

Hixson & Stringham - January 2022

JANUARY 2022

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THE COMMON SENSE OF GOAL-SETTING

How to Achieve Your Goals

There’s an interesting phenomenon among Super Bowl winners. They accomplish the pinnacle of success in their sport, grinding for years just to get to that very place, the preeminent moment of their career — becoming a Super Bowl champion. Yet, you hear stories of many who wake up the next morning and think, “Now what?” It’s human nature. Once you accomplish a big goal or celebrate a major win, it’s difficult to know just where to go from there. Starting a new year can be very similar. It always feels like a fresh start, but in many ways, it has a “Now what?” quality to it. How do we make the most out of this year? We perceive the new year as brimming with so much possibility and opportunity, but the reality is that it’s no different than the previous year. Today isn’t more important than yesterday, nor will tomorrow feel a whole lot different than today. It may sound bleak, but it should come as a welcome relief for those feeling the pressure of a new year. It means you don’t have to wait for tomorrow — or a new year — to take action. Possibilities are what you create. I’m not a believer in New Year’s resolutions. If you have to wait for the start of another year to finally begin your goals, you’re already behind. Why put off what you can start today? To paraphrase former Secretary of State Colin Powell, who died in October, once you have 60% of the information you need, go with your gut. To put it another way, start today, rather than waiting for some imaginary beginning point to tell you when. But starting is just half the battle. Far too often, people also dive head first into their goals without a game plan — something tangible

to guide them along the course to their end goal. It’s quite strange of us, really. Imagine if that was the approach football teams took when trying to win the Super Bowl. Do you think Super Bowl championship-caliber teams are birthed in the playoffs? Not so! Their seasons begin as early as spring with training and studying to perfect their skills and techniques. It takes dedication, and it doesn’t begin at the start of the season or playoffs. It starts with the small steps in the beginning, creating a foundation that can build into a playoff run and eventually land the team on the NFL’s largest stage. Goal-setting isn’t an exact science, but the habits we deploy to try to achieve them can fail or help us. Understanding that you don’t have to wait for the new year and how to build the proper foundation for success can help you achieve those goals once thought insurmountable. It can provide guidance after you achieve them, too, helping you find the next step once you reach those “Now what?” moments. As we begin this new year, I’d like to pass along a couple of reminders for us all. In many ways, these could be personal goals worth striving for, but ultimately, I believe they are powerful ideals to keep in mind in the spirit of founding father Thomas Paine’s “Common Sense,” which was published this month in 1776. The first is the Golden Rule. It’s a rule we’ve heard endlessly, but some seem to have forgotten it. Treating others the way you wish to be treated injects a little humility and common sense into everyday interactions. As we continue to navigate this politically divisive world, I would encourage us all to approach those with opposing and similar views with civility and respect. The second is to never lie. Dishonesty will always fail you. If we examine the course of history’s biggest scandals, it’s not so much the act that we remember; it’s the cover-up that is the most shameful mistake. Let’s keep our world honest and respectful this new year. As we all continue to work on ourselves and improve our well-being through the goals we set, let’s lift each other up.

After all, it’s just common sense.

—Lee Stringham

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How Much Are Your Favorite Pants Worth? One Man Estimated His at $54 Million

Everyone knows that the perfect pair of pants can be hard to come by, but are they worth $54 million? Administrative Judge Roy L. Pearson had a favorite pair of pants, but in 2007, he claimed that Custom Cleaners lost them and returned a completely different pair instead. It all began when Pearson took his pants to the Washington, D.C., dry cleaners for alterations worth $10.50. The pants were sent in error to the incorrect dry cleaner, so Pearson’s pickup was delayed by several

though, was the company’s failure to live up to their “Satisfaction Guaranteed” and “Same Day Service” signs in the window.

The media had a field day, joking about the case as a “pantsuit” and inspiring a “Law & Order” episode called “Bottomless.” Pearson seemed to relish the spectacle, calling his lawsuit “an awesome responsibility” in court and breaking down into tears on the stand. He also called a witness who compared the Chungs to Nazis. Even though the Chungs offered him a $12,000 settlement to make the case go away, Pearson persevered. He ultimately lost his case. At the end of the trial, the judge declared that no reasonable person would consider the signs at Custom Cleaners to be an unconditional promise — and also that Pearson had failed to prove the returned pants weren’t his. The Chungs ultimately recovered their court costs via a fundraiser, and Pearson lost his judicial appointment. Unsurprisingly, this prompted another lawsuit, which he also lost. In 2020, Pearson was suspended from practicing law for 90 days as a result of his actions in Pearson v. Chung. But for bringing new meaning to the phase “I’ll sue the pants off of you,” his place in legal history is secure.

a gift or a card to show you’re thinking about them. These gifts cost resources, but as Newswire reports, multiple studies show that customer gifts increase retention. Invest in retention tools. Staying in touch with your customers is the best way to keep them happy and remind them that you care. You can stay on top of this by doing the hard work of reaching out personally each month, but it’s easier and more efficient to invest in recurring communications like automated weekly emails and regularly printed newsletters. Make personalization possible. In order to retain customers, you must build quality relationships with them. This starts with knowing who they are, what they need, and how they interact with your company and your marketing. To figure out those key points, you should gather and interpret a lot of >Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4

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