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The dream of money - for millions that were hoping to win the lottery last night it only was a dream.
A shame, isn’t it? Did you ever try to imagine to put yourself in the situation of having unlimited money. Would it not be stressful to decide who to give some money to? You of course could not give it all away. Would you give up your job? Would you tell your friends? Buy nice cars?
The book I am reading suggests, that money is only something that we are longing for but it would never make us complete. Total completeness is coming from within, not from the outside. Money just makes it easier to pay for the craving, e.g. the new shoes, the new TV and all those short term “happiness” moments. But we would not be really happy with 18 million in our bank account - or at least that would not be the only reason why we would be happy.
Have a great (sunny!) Sunday.
Volker Ballueder
Dear All,
The title suggests that I will take a break.
This is due to several reasons. For once I do not have enough time in the next few weeks to actually provide enough high-quality content in order to entertain my ‘fans’ enough. On the site I want to change the strategic direction of cb consulting a little.
Requests coming my way for more management consulting work and therefore the website will get a revamp and I will add more services to it. Therefore, to be kept up to date, please feel free to register for the cb consulting newsletter.
With Volker Ballueder’s continuing interest in spirituality and business this will be a big part of cb consulting and the break will give me some time to focus more on my essay and do a little more research.
So watch this space, I will send updates through on a irregular basis and be back soon. I plan to be no longer than Easter, that is the very latest date, with updates in between.
Any questions, please email me to volker(at)cb-consulting.co.uk
Yours
Volker Ballueder
Hello,
Dorianne, http://phdconfidential.wordpress.com, has some very interesting articles on her blog and I keep writing some comments too.
I never used backlinks but wanted to try now if that works, lets see:
This is the comment I made on Dorianne’s site: http://phdconfidential.wordpress.com/2007/10/13/spirituality-in-business/#comment-60
I want to share some insights into my essay with you this morning:
Newton’s 3rd law of motions states that “For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.”
If that is true for all mechanical forces then it should be true for all spiritual forces as well, for all thoughts.
But, Newton’s law can also be applied to another thought, the thought of us giving to other people. “What comes around goes around” is an old saying. If in business I am good to my partner and my employees, they will be good to me.
As an example, if I deliver a bad service/product then people are not very happy about what I can offer them. They create negative energy towards my company. However, if I create a positive product and people like it, they will send me positive energy. This positive energy then continues throughout the company and results in the company getting stronger, whilst on the other hand negative energy will ultimately destroy the company.
However, one might argue that for sure any corporation that creates a bad product will ultimately be destroyed because people would not buy from it. There is a point but how often have you gone into a company or into a shop and noticed that you are not overly happy here and do not really feel like supporting this very business by buying here? Was there not “something in the air” that gave you a sign that something is not right.
So, assumption 10 clients produce positive energy towards a company, the company has to make up this positive energy with positive energy, to stay within the principles of all sums of the forces acting on one body, here the company, are zero. So, this strengthens the company and will ultimately go in circles until the company really prospers.
Would that not mean that the company grows and grows?
Yes, however nothing is perfect and therefore we cannot exclude minor mistakes that might create some negative energy that has be compensated for with positive energy. But yes, ultimately, the company should prosper.
Have a good Sunday.
Volker Ballueder
www.cb-consulting.co.uk
If you believe that I will actually read all books I get straight away, then think again. I keep building up a library of books and my wife is complaining already! Often I read chapters at a time.
So, my newest acquisition is “Mindfulness and Money - a Buddhist path of abundance” -I am so excited to dig into that book.
I hope it will help me to write a bit more on my essay as it picks up the link between Buddhism and making money in a good, spiritual way - perfect literature I thought. Also, it talks about everyone wants money making us feel complete but it does not. Nothing would make us feel complete they argue. The incompleteness is part of the path, part of life.
They say the path is formed of 5 precepts: kindness, generosity, contentment, honesty, and awareness. And, applying this, we earn and spend creatively, a key to living peacefully with money!
How exciting that is. Need to find time this weekend to read some of the book at least. What outcome would I expect. Just to see myself more complete, e.g. is not everyone seeking for happiness and thinking ‘if I had a billion pounds then I would be happy’ - wouldn’t life be too easy then.
Stay tuned!
I got a newsletter today where Choje Akong Tulku Rinpoche’s Book “Restoring the Balance” was cited:
“Happiness depends on balancing the mind. Balancing depends on avoiding extremes and learning to live in harmony with the way things are. One of the profoundest realities of our existence is that everything is in a state of change. Our emotions change, our bodies age and decay, our possessions are taken from us, friends can become enemies and enemies turn out to be friends. Nothing lasts. If we resist change we find ourselves overwhelmed and suffering follows. If we accept change and flow with it, we become flexible and wise. From this comes happiness.”
If we apply harmony and balance to our life and re-assure ourselves that we cope with every little change and give ourselves time for that, then we should be able to keep our balance at all times.
But, if we strive to get work done, would it not be necessary to at least sometimes get out of balance to create a momentum? I believe so.
Rinpoche seems to suggest that we accept change. Reflecting on my last month, it is not always easy but we adopt, change and get on with it, finding a new balance every now and then.
Mediation will surely help and understanding from and of neighbours would too ,-) But that is another topic.
Hope you all have a great, balanced weekend!
I am not sure if this entry really reflects cb consulting or if I am just having another one of my moments….
What happened this month?
Yes,
- the tour company reimbursed me two tours and called me to apologize! Happy days.
- my mobile phone company, although I told them to just take the money from my account for my new phone, decided to tell me off for not paying and I was not happy as you can imagine…still ongoing and to be honest…I am more than happy to escalate that too!
- the text message alert company does not respond and the ones where I signed up to do not take on any responsibility, e.g. I signed up with A which subcontracts to B. But A is not having any of the problems and tells me to talk to B - why cannot A just sort it for me, I never wanted to do business with B.
- someone made a copy of our debit card - not happy
- someone broke into our garage and stole a bike - we need a new garage door (3 months old) and a new bike.
Was that all? I think so, at least what I want you to tell about. Still waiting for 2 orders I placed online, one 1 month and one 1 week ago. Slow turn around these days - not that I had time to read a book at the moment but still. Where is the service!
On a positive note my new job is going well, I really like it.
So overall, things are positive, aren’t they?
It probably comes back to look at the bright side of things and not to bother. And, to be honest, I do not. It is more the hassle that annoys me and to sort things out. I said to my wife about 2 years ago that I am looking forward to the day when there is nothing to be sorted out. But, at the moment I do not think that will ever happen.
Have a great Thursday night - btw, I never noticed where the week went.
PS: Rabjor, if you read that. I have not forgotten, I will be in touch!
Hello,
Just had a night of hell with the neighbours keeping us awake between 2 and 5 am! Not funny, not nice. Went down but they still would not be quiet, instead started laughing and banging doors.
Anyhow, need to escalate things here too. Have the feeling that at the moment I have to take care of so much stuff that is a total useless exercise, e.g. things that should not happen. I try to make sense of it but somehow it does not.
So, where did my weekend go? Working a bit Saturday, feels like I am getting a cold, got an Indian take away and did not sleep. Did the ironing, watched a TV show about “whether children need a father or lesbians should have children” and “connecting to the spirit of dead people”. Where is society going?
It is now the last ‘quarter’ of my weekend really. Will go into town to do some shopping, take my wife for a nice bite to eat and enjoy a few quiet hours before going back to a busy work schedule tomorrow.
Friday night was the best so far. Caught up with a really good friend, went for Indian tapas, a few glasses of wine. That was such a ‘blokes‘ night but really good.
What does that all have to do with www.cb-consulting.co.uk? Nothing really. Maybe a little about meaning of life and whether useless things bring a reason to things or not. Do I learn from being kept up all night? Do I learn from threatening people to take them to court?
Not really I think. Life could be very smooth, easy - but then this would be far too easy, wouldn’t it?
I am trying hard seeing good things coming off it but we shall see.
Enjoy the weekend.
One down, one to go ,-)
I wrote about that holiday city tour company. Supposedly, after leaving a voicemail in their US office, their Paris office and writing another email, only then the person in charge was informed. Who then, of course, reimbursed me the tour and a 2nd one as well…..almost as if he got scared.
Why do we need to take drastic measures to ensure good customer service?
Dear Readers, it is getting quieter around here. My apologies for that.
I just have been busy.
Regarding customer service there are more examples to add:
1) There is this horoscope service I accidentally signed up to on facebook with the result of me now getting text alerts. However, you have to tell them about 1,000,000 times to stop it and then they will…hopefully anyway.
2) There is a company we booked our discovery tours in Thailand with and they first had confirmed a tour, then did not pick us up. After accepting a different tour, that tour then was delayed and the taxi driver of the company would not get us back to the hotel as he got lost. However, me complaining to them just resulted after 6 weeks in an apology and after over 2 months in me not qualifying for refund. I finally got a phone number and a name in an office but the person does not answer the phone…..
Why are people and companies not nicer? I heard from several people that a big mobile network does give clients free stuff if they stay with them - why can’t my company be like that…I am now bound until August 2009 - will we still have mobiles then?
Anyhow, just thought I sum up my week - have been busy with work.
cb consulting offers trainings in customer service. Why?
Quite frankly because ever since I started working, I noticed that there is a need for customer service and customer care. What I have sold I have sold in good confidence and wanted to make sure my client is happy. Sustainable business - if the client is not happy, why should I ask for money for the product I offer?
A nice or not so nice story is with my mobile phone provider. Without mentioning the name, I would like to use this as an example.
I went to the high street shop and the person there was just not knowledgeable about the phones at all. However, knowing a bit myself I was happy and go ahead with an upgrade. But she could not offer me the online deal, I would have to phone their team or order online, she said.
So I did, called them asked for an upgrade with more minutes and they said they would not be able to do it. Then I go to a different provider, I said. Wait, I put you through to our special deals department - who then, surprise, could offer me what I wanted but I had to pay a small amount for the new phone.
Why did I have to escalate things to get what I wanted?
They sent me the new phone and forgot to put on the delivery address the flat I am living in. Ergo the delivery person did not bother and did not deliver. As they cannot leave a note somewhere I only found out by checking online myself. After I called them I arranged delivery to my work address the next day which did not happen. I found out checking online again, called them and they said that the delivery man made a mistake but it would be delivered the next day before 12.
Guess, 12 pm the parcel was not there. So I called them and they said the parcel was lost. Why had no one called me? Oh someone would once they found the parcel. Ok, I called my provider asked for a new delivery and they should order the other one back from the delivery company - no problem, however, in the meantime they found my parcel! Hurray I said, what is going to happen?
Oh, they said, someone will call you before 3 pm and arrange delivery to your flat or a neighbours flat before 6 pm today. We are sorry. Ok, I said, can live with that.
10 minutes later I had my phone, delivered to my work address, no word since from neither the parcel delivery company nor the phone company. So, what to do?
Good customer service: give the client a courtesy call, ask if it all worked out, apologize and do not charge for the delivery cost. Make the client feel good and give them an additional 100 minutes to use for free?
Bad customer service: do not do anything, as the phone got delivered.
As I have not heard anything that is what I did:
a) I wrote an online review about the parcel service which showed I am not the only one being annoyed with them. Not sure if it helps but helps me to get it off my chest.
b) I wrote an email to my mobile phone provider, mentioning that I would not pay for the phone until they invoice me - sorry I forgot to mention that when I ordered the phone they said I should call them to pay for it? Why would I have to do that….
to be - hopefully not - continued.
Whilst I have this rant, I do not know why we put up with the following:
- the check-out person sneezing on my bread?
- the watch seller not making sure the watch works and I have to go back the next day?
Just a thought. Why are more and more companies so arrogant that they do not care anymore?
Maybe on a positive note. I ordered something online the other day and they promised next day delivery. However, with New Year it would be a day late. So they emailed me, apologizing that they had been closed for a few days and dispatch it first class today. It arrived the next day.
Not sure if they meant it or if they really care but I was happy. And happy customers buy again, non happy ones do not.
Have a stress-free weekend and thank you for listening to my rant.
“Holding onto anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned.” - Buddha.
Isn’t that a great metaphor in regards to anger?
What does it teach us? Not to hold on to bad and evil things and let go of things that bother us or that keep us at bay to connect to ourselves. Let go of anything that irritates you.
Happy New Year again!
May all your wishes come true….what about all the New Year Resolutions?
Sitting at a nice meal last night, my wife and I discussed that actually so many million people wish for a new start, e.g. to give up smoking today. Why is that?
Because it is a new year, a new start. From my point of view these new starts do not come from calendars. They come from within. Enhancing Performance from within! It is your yourself who decides when the new year/new life starts. So just because it is “fashionable” to do so because so many people try to give up smoking 2008, and because the number in the year adds ‘one’ to it, this is not “your point zero”.
I do not want to discourage you, just the opposite. But do not be disappointed if it does not work out to change your whole life today. Take it in little steps and coach yourself or be coached and find the right time for you - and when the time is right, celebrate your new year!
Lots of luck for that!
Volker Ballueder
ballueder
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