Posted by Dave Magrogan in Rhino Charging Motivation on October 5th, 2012 at 4:04 AM
Hello Rhino!
It has been a busy summer and an exciting early fall. We opened two new
restaurants in Philadelphia! The newest Doc Magrogan's Oyster House opened at
34th and Sansom Street on July 26th and our second Harvest Seasonal Grill and
Wine Bar opened at 40th and Walnut on September 27th. These big, expensive and
exciting projects tested our Rhino philosophy, Laws of the Jungle, and our
charging attitudes! I am proud to say that our team joined together and made
the impossible happen to get these two important restaurants built and opened!
I want to thank everyone for their well wishes and their emails and texts
asking for more Rhino emails! I took a few months off of writing Rhino emails
for several reasons:
1. I only write about topics I am passionate about. While I was involved in
these projects, I really wanted to test the principles I write about. I wanted
to test, observe, and study the results.
2. I turned 40 on July 26th, and I wanted to spend some time
reflecting without writing. It’s important to spend more time gathering knowledge
than sharing knowledge.
So what did I learn while turning 40 and opening two new large restaurants?
1. Habits- Daily habits make or break you.
They will build or destroy a company. We are all creatures of habit. The more
positive habits we have in our lives, the more positive results we will
experience in our future. The habits exhibited by our construction crews, our
managers, our trainers and our executive team involved in the opening these new
locations helped us and hurt us. The positive habits of the Rhinos on our
projects are the ones that helped create our success.
We all like to fall back to the path of least resistance. Our natural tendency
is to fall into the habits that make us feel comfortable, secure, and reinforce
our world viewpoint. If we can take the Rhino approach and break through our
old habits and create new positive habits, we will achieve a more successful
life.
“Motivation is what gets you
started. Habit is what keeps you going.” - Jim Rohn
In
charging forward in life, take the time to recognize your bad habits and begin
to replace them with better habits. When things get difficult and you fall back
into your old safety zone, push yourself back out of it and charge towards a
better life.
2. Attitude-If you don't push to make it happen, nobody else will.
It’s like the sayings: "If not now, when? If not you, who?" Attitude
and action is extremely important if you want to create your ideal life and be
successful. The energy you commit to a project, your career, your family, will
have a direct and immediate impact on your success in those areas. In watching
these two large projects unfold in the past few months, it was the burning
desire to succeed and a dedication to excellence that pushed these projects to
completion and allowed them to open with exceptional execution.
"Weakness of attitude becomes weakness of character." - Albert Einstein
By taking ownership and responsibility for your own work or success, you
automatically raise the performance of those around you. When you commit to
being the best and demand more from yourself the people around you become
better and you also attract better people into your life.
3. Positive Persistence- When things look their worse you can make it to the
other side.
These two projects were very expensive, there were union labor issues, banking
issues, construction issues, zoning, health, fire and dozens of other issues.
There were delays and setbacks, some of which would bring the projects to a
dead stop. The current banking system made financing a touch and go nightmare
right up to opening night. Basically, it would have been easy many times during
these projects to throw our hands up in the air and give up or accept delays
instead of charging through them.
"Patience, persistence and perspiration make an unbeatable combination for success." - Napoleon Hill
Every obstacle we faced, we met with Positive Persistence. Instead of embracing
a “sky is falling” attitude, we embraced it with a “charge through it”
attitude. Had we not embraced this attitude, I am very confident these projects
would still be incomplete. When you face obstacles in your own life, remember it’s
not as bad as you think and there is a solution. Think more, try harder, and be
creative. For every problem there is a solution.
4. Teamwork- Life is a team sport. The better your team the better your life.
I always talk about surrounding yourself with great people and "you become
the average of the ten people you spend the most time with." In the last
few months, the people we have hired, promoted, trained and surrounded our top
team with have become part of our future growth. We have surrounded ourselves
with better people which means our company will create better product.
“Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success.” - Henry Ford
In all aspects of your life, the people you surround yourself with shape your
ideas, your beliefs and your perceptions. How happy, successful and enjoyable
your life is can be dramatically influenced by the people you choose to spend
the most time with. I always advise people to find Rhinos to include in their
life and to ditch the cows. These projects reinforced that belief. There were
some great partners and teams that became good friends of ours and they are
people I would like to do business with in the future. Then there were a few cows
that I will make sure to never do business with again.
Life is short. Do business with people you respect, like, and admire. Don't
waste your time doing business with people that don't bring out the best in you
or your company. These projects made me appreciate the friends, family, and
business associates in my life that live with a Rhino attitude and make the
world a better place.
As you charge into the weekend, take a little time to reflect on your habits,
your attitude, your persistence and the people on your team. Make decisions
that will make next week, next month, and next year better then the past.
Want to hear me speak more about the steps to ensure success? Join me October
16, 2012, from 8-10am at the Radnor Valley Country Club. Both members and non-members of the Main Line
Chamber of Commerce are invited.
CLICK
HERE to register!
Charge!
Dave
Posted by Dave Magrogan in Rhino Charging Motivation on August 16th, 2012 at 4:20 AM
Great day, Rhino!
It has been a busy summer. I just recently opened a new restaurant in
Philadelphia and we are getting ready to open another! It was a long and
difficult process but every day we charged through the obstacles and
bureaucracy to make the impossible happen. Being a Rhino is all about
overcoming adversity and passionately persisting towards your goals.
As you hit difficult points in your life and the cows of the world try to slow
you down, it’s important to remember the Rhino principles of charging with a
positive attitude, focusing intensely on your goals, and getting back up when
you get knocked down!
"Once you make a decision, the universe conspires to make it happen."
-Ralph Waldo Emerson
Yesterday, I had the pleasure of being interviewed on a radio show by author
and speaker, Nancy Brooks. It was an exciting and informative interview and it
will help you get motivated to charge at your goals! If you are having a down
day, feeling a bit more like a cow then a Rhino, and having a hard time staying
motivated, then this radio interview is for you!
CLICK to listen to the 60 minute interview. I hope it helps to keep you
charging and making your dreams a reality! I look forward to your comments and
please feel free to share this link with others!
Keep Charging! Dave
Posted by Dave Magrogan in Rhino Charging Motivation on July 3rd, 2012 at 2:35 PM
"Anyone can give up. It's the easiest thing in the
world to do. But to hold it together when everyone else would understand if you
fell apart, that's true strength."
-Unknown
Good day, Rhino!
I thought this headline my catch your attention! Recently in some of my circles
I have heard people complain, curse their circumstances, and in general, just
bitch about their career. Then I watched an interview with a marathon runner. He
was explaining that at a certain point in the race his nipples wouldn't stop
bleeding. As marathon runners do, he taped them back up and kept running. He could
easily have stopped. He had a choice--lose focus and concentrate on the pain
and distraction or simply understand it’s a part of the game. If you want to
run 26 miles, you’re gonna have some pain and you’re gonna have to tape up your
nipples!
“We must embrace pain and burn it as fuel for our journey.” -Kenji Miyazawa
The lesson to take away is all difficult endeavors require persistence, focus,
and mental and physical pain. You have the option to complain, to bitch and
moan; to think the side effects don't outweigh the benefits and ultimately
quit. But the marathon runner that quits at mile 20 doesn't feel the endorphin
induced high that comes after mile 26. They don't feel the confidence and power
that comes from completing a difficult and grueling task. They don't go on to
accomplish a bigger challenge because they have stared a difficult failure in
the face and kept going till they finish. They don't get the Rhino feeling on
being unstoppable that comes with conquering a great obstacle.
"A little more persistence, a little more effort, and what seemed hopeless
failure may turn to glorious success." -Elbert Hubbard
In your life and in your career are you too focused on the bloody nipples and
forgetting why you took the challenge in the first place? Success is not
supposed to be easy! If it was, success could be a government entitlement
program! Success in your life and your career whether raising children,
starting a company, managing a business, or getting your master degree, will be
difficult. You will hit walls that seem impenetrable. You will fall and you will get beat up! As a
Rhino, you need to charge through the walls.
You need to get back up when you fall, and you need to put a little mud
on your wounds and keep charging! You could take the cow option and blame
everyone else when you hit the wall. You
could even sue the concrete company that made the wall. You could sue the
government that didn't inspect the wall. You could collect a big insurance
payment when you fall. You could decide you can't try again because the pain is
too much and spend the rest of your life being miserable!
"Ambition is the path to success. Persistence is the vehicle you arrive
in." -Bill Bradley
Life isn't easy! The challenges can be huge, and the pain can be unbearable at
times. If you have a positive Rhino philosophy, self confidence, and self-responsibility
you can and will make it to your goals. If you’re down on yourself right now;
if it seems too tough, it’s time to put some tape on your nipples and make it
over the finish line. Don't live your life filled with regret. Don't become a
miserable cow jealous of others that live successful lives and don't look for
handouts. It’s time to be the best you can be, to dedicate yourself to your
goals, and it’s time to remember you have three inch thick Rhino skin and a
giant horn so absolutely nothing can stop you!
"Pain is temporary. It may last a minute, or an hour, or a day, or a year,
but eventually it will subside and something else will take its place. If I
quit, however, it lasts forever." -Lance Armstrong
Three Rhino Action Steps to Taping Your Nipples:
1. Take Time to Re-frame.
Whatever is going on in your life or career, stop focusing on the problems and
pain. It’s time to re-frame. Look at the problems, remove the emotions, and
start to focus on all the possible solutions.
2. Look to the Past.
You have probably faced worse obstacles in your past. You have probably
achieved success in your past. Replay the success in your past and it will
encourage you to charge again.
3. Eliminate Toxic Thoughts and People.
Your dominant thoughts and the people you spend the most time will shape your
actions. Stop listening to your thoughts and people that are telling you to
blame others and to give up. Listen to positive thoughts, positive people, and
remember you will feel incredible when you achieve your goals.
Charge!
Dave
Posted by Dave Magrogan in Rhino Charging Motivation on June 21st, 2012 at 5:50 AM
"Most of the important things in the world have been
accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope
at all." -Dale Carnegie Hello Rhino!
I have received many emails and requests from Rhinos to write about building
better relationships with your friends, customers, staff, coworkers and
management. We recently promoted a great manager in our company to a new
location with new responsibilities. He is taking on new challenges and is
working with people that need to feel important, empowered and respected. I
recently shared this list with him to help his transition and I thought it
could help you too!
"The beauty of empowering others is your own power is not diminished in
the process." -Barbara Colorose
There is no better resource to help build better business relationships then
the Dale Carnegie principles. I share these with managers in my company,
I have used these principles with my kids to help them build relationships at
school and I have promoted these principles in my book "Do It Rhino
Style."
"You've done it before and you can do it now. See the positive
possibilities. Redirect the substantial energy of your frustration and turn it
into positive, effective, unstoppable determination." -Ralph Marston
Print out this list and share it with your kids, your
employees, your boss, and your coworkers. It will help you build better
and more positive relationships in your life! It will also help you eliminate
the negative cows!
1. If you want to gather honey, don’t kick the beehive. Don’t condemn or
complain. Be a Rhino and look for the positive!
2. The big secret in dealing with people – people want to be important and always
feel appreciated. Give honest and sincere appreciation! When the Rhinos
in your life reach a goal or do something good, celebrate their success!
3. Arouse in your staff an important want. What will motivate them and
make them feel good about themselves? Get
your Rhinos excited to charge with you!
4. Smile. Life is a stage and you are always on! Smile and exude
positive energy. Remember the Rhino law of the jungle, the Law of
Attraction. A smile and positive energy with attract other positive Rhinos!
5. Say their name every chance you get. This principle helped me build a
chiropractic practice of 800 patients a week! Make your Rhinos feel
important!
6. Listen first. Respond with care. Then listen more. People
want to be heard. Rhinos take in all the information before they act!
7. Talk in terms of what is important to them, not you. Every Rhino has a
passionate dream. Help them achieve their goals and they will be more motivated
to help you achieve yours.
8. Make the other person feel important and do it for real. Care about
them! Be authentic and genuine Rhino! People can sense it if your fake!
9. Don’t say people are wrong. Respect other people’s opinions. Remember
Rhinos, there are many ways to achieve a goal and many paths to get there!
10. If you are wrong admit it right away. Honestly see things from the
other person’s point of view.
A Rhino that masters this principle can build lifetime friends and
relationships in all age ranges, in all industries and can move past the small
arguments.
Use these principles for the next 30 days and you will have more Rhinos
charging with you and you will help inspire some cows to leave the pasture!
Charge!
Dave
Posted by Dave Magrogan in Rhino Charging Motivation on June 12th, 2012 at 8:56 PM
"For anything worth having one must pay the price; and the price is
always work, patience, love, self-sacrifice, no paper currency, no promises to
pay, but the gold of real service." -John Burroughs
Good Day, Rhino!
I recently received an email from a mother who said she loved the Rhino emails/blogs,
but now that she wasn't in the workforce anymore she was looking for more
general life guidance and less corporate guidance. The beauty of the
Rhino philosophy is that it applies to business and life. Being a Rhino really
is a way of life. It permeates into your career, your family, and it
encompasses your entire world and life viewpoint. You can't be a Rhino at
work and then go home and be a cow to your kids. You cannot embrace a positive
attitude with your family and then go to work and be miserable. You can't be
an audacious, charging, adventure seeker in your hobbies without bringing
that into your work and family life. Being a Rhino is to embrace a
positive, take charge, self reliable, self accountable, and persistent nature and
apply it to everything you do. This week’s Rhino email will focus on the three
P's of life and work. I hope you share it with your family and friends and we
convert the cows one at a time!
Every business I have ever owned, operated or consulted with has the three P's.
They will make or break a business. They will also make or break a home.
The First P: PEOPLE
Every business has two people in it that must be made a priority—the customer
and employee. You need to determine your customer's needs and exceed their
expectation. You also need to create systems to monitor your success. A happy
customer buys repeatedly and builds your business. The other people you
need to be concerned with are the employees. Well trained, well
compensated, and properly monitored employees, will be happy employees and
increase your sales. You need systems and procedures in place that ensure your
employees get the training and feedback they need to excel at their job, feel
appreciated, and feel important. It’s not complicated, the first P is
simple: Take care of the people you serve and the people that serve them. Put
people first.
"If you treat people right they will treat you right… ninety percent of
the time." -Franklin Roosevelt
How does this apply to life outside of work? If you are a stay at home parent,
it's the same rules. You take care of the people that depend on you, but you
must also nurture and provide for yourself. You cannot give to others if you
neglect yourself. This is the Rhino "Give, Love, Serve” mentality.
In life, the first P is the people you care about and yourself. You need to
love and take care of both.
"Beginning today, treat everyone you meet as if they were going to be dead
by midnight. Extend to them all the care, kindness, and understanding you can
muster, and do it with no thought of reward. Your life will never be the
same." -Og Mandino
The Second P: PROFITS
Every business needs profits in order to take care of its people. If you
don't take care of your people (your customers and employees), you will
not have profits; but you must also practice financial responsibility in your
day to day operations to have your profit exceed the cost of your people and
products. Many businesses make this more complicated than necessary.
Focus on hiring quality people, delivering quality products, and setting a fair
price. Monitor the daily, weekly, and monthly flow of each dollar and follow
your budgets. Set up basic systems to ensure you don't spend over your budget
and invest in your people and business to continue to grow. The second P is
simple: Monitor where the dollars go, generate profits, and invest in future
growth.
"I don't want to do business with those who don't make a profit, because
they can't give the best service." -Richard Bach
In your personal life, profits are essential as well. You have the personal
obligation to provide for your loved ones and for yourself. Once you have taken
care of the people in your life you need to take care of the profits. Whether
it is your household budget, a retirement account, a college fund, or saving
for a vacation home, you have a responsibility to manage the profits you have
realized in your life to achieve future success for the people you care about.
Remember, a Rhino doesn't look for entitlements or handouts. A Rhino looks to
achieve financial independence in their lifetime. Every person can
achieve financial independence for their family if they work hard, find the
right opportunities and save consistently. I have seen school teachers
become millionaires in real estate. I have seen hotel managers become hotel
owners. I have seen landscapers with one lawn mower grow to a fleet of 50
trucks. Everyone can find a path to financial freedom in their life. The second
P in life is about self responsibility and that life is a lot more fun with a
little spending money. Set up systems to save for the future and set the
goal to never need to depend on others for your financial future.
"Make a decision to be successful right now. Most people never decide to
be wealthy and that is why they retire poor." -Brian Tracy
The Third P: PROMISE
Every business makes a promise. They make a brand promise to their
customers and their employees. If you want to be a successful business, you
must consistently deliver on your brand promise. Your brand promise stems from
your mission statement and your core values. It is essential that every point
of contact your customer sees, hears, and touches resonate with your brand
promise. A brand promise is your unique offering to the world. It's what
makes you different and it’s why people should be loyal to your business.
You must also have your employees be ambassadors to your brand, and they must
live the mission statement and core values. Starbucks is a great example
of this. Starbucks promises to provide you excellent, high quality coffee
by well trained baristas and while be pro-active about the environment. The
brand promise shows in the people they hire, the way they train them, the music
they play, the decor they create, and the products they offer. Dunkin Donuts on
the other hand has a completely different brand promise. They promise speed and
value. It’s not the best but you get your money's worth in size and
value. In our Kildare's Pubs our brand promise is an "Authentic
Irish Experience," in our Doc's brand our promise is "Extensive Raw
Bar, Fresh Hand-selected Seafood, Superior Wines, and Premium Craft Beers,” and
our Harvest brand promise is "Seasonally Changing, Local Farm to Table, Under
500 Calorie Entrees and Organic Wines and Beer."
"A great brand taps into emotions. Emotions drive most, if not all, of our
decisions. A brand reaches out with a powerful connecting experience.
It's an emotional connecting point that transcends the product." -Scott
Bedbury, Nike/Starbucks
As a business, your brand promise sends a clear message to your consumer and it
attracts a customer that resonates with your brand. The Third P: Create a
"Brand Promise" that fits your company and exceed your customers’
expectation.
"You get treated in life the way you teach people to treat you." -Wayne
Dyer
In your personal life, you also have a "Brand Promise." It is
the person you are and the promises you have made to the people in your
life. Your first brand promise must be to yourself. You need to be
authentic, you need to be comfortable with who you are, and you need to accept
yourself. You need to determine what areas of your life you want to
improve and you must promise yourself to achieve them. Once you decided
who you are and how you want to live, you can now make promises to others. You
can now deliver on your "Brand Promise" to the world and the people
you care about. How you interact with your children, your spouse, your
significant other, your family and friends, is all about your brand promise.
Deliver on what makes you unique, impact the other people in your life for the
better, and be who you really are. You can't promise to do anything for
anyone until you know what you stand for. The kind of friend, father,
mother or spouse you are is a reflection of the brand promises you have made
with yourself. One of my brand promises is to be a caring and loving father
that always inspires my children to live their dreams and to dream big.
The third P - determine who you want to be and then deliver on your promise.
"Your brand is a gateway to your true work. You know you are here to do
something- to create something or help others in some way. The question is, how
can you set up your life and work so that you can do it? The answer lies in
your brand." -Dave Buck
As a Rhino, I am sure you figured out there is a 4th P, but it goes without
saying: PERSISTENCE! It’s not easy delivering on the three P's so you need to
be persistent!
I appreciate all of your feedback, your emails, comments, and support. I also appreciate
your help in creating more Rhinos around the world! Please share today's email on
Facebook, Twitter and by email to inspire your family, friends, and colleagues
to live a Rhino life!
Charge!
Dave
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