​By Moe Lastfogel
Director of Sales and Marketing for The Retail Observer

The weather, the economy, and our day-to-day lives are in constant change. If it weren’t for change, our lives might become mundane, boring, and gray. Change creates opportunities to craft the lives we want, and we can make changes to our personal and work habits to bring organization and harmony to our lives.

A few years ago, I announced the birth of a grandchild, and as of 3 months ago, another addition to our family arrived. Little Belle brings our family's grandchild count to 4. As I look at the changes in my life, grandchildren have been the most joyous and profound to-date. To make more room for them at Grandpa’s house, I am in the process of buying a larger house and property- another big change. In preparing for the move, I am evaluating my personal belongings— and what stays and what goes can be a daunting decision.

It’s the same in our businesses. We have the opportunity to choose what should stay and what should go in the product mix we sell or specify, where we run our business, and who we work with.

Have you ever asked, “Is this (product or process) working for me?” “What changes can I make to improve this?” or “What the heck am I doing?” I think most of us have, and frequently, those decisions are challenging.

Over the next few weeks, I will be asking (and hopefully answering) these questions, taking some time to enjoy what I already have, evaluating what I want/need changed in my life, and then implementing these changes.

It's a great time time for me to make some productive changes— is it time for you?

Happy Retailing,
Moe Lastfogel
moe@retailobserver.com

​By Eliana Barriga
Publisher and Managing Editor for The Retail Observer

Resilience is that enduring personal quality that enables some people to be knocked down by life, yet come back stronger than before. Instead of letting difficulties overwhelm them and rob them of their strength and determination, they find a way to rise from the ashes and face life's challenges once again, recharged and ready for the next round. Resilient people are blessed with a positive outlook, enabling them to change course midstream and to keep calm and carry on.

Resilience is how you recharge, not how you endure! It is the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties. We need to realize that the problem is not in our hectic schedules, but in our misinterpretation of what it means to be resilient. We often take a “tough it out” mindset to resilience; to reach for just a little bit more, like an athlete running just one more lap, a college student studying a few extra hours beyond midnight, or working a few more late night hours to wrap up a work project. We actually think that the longer we tough it out, the tougher we become and the more successful we will be.

However, this entire conception is completely inaccurate. Overworking to exhaustion is the polar opposite of resilience. Investing so much time and effort to work impairs other important areas of our lives. The resulting impact of pushing ourselves past the limit renders the brain unable to restore and sustain our well-being. Our brains need a rest as much as our bodies do.

In order to build resilience, first start by strategically pausing. Give yourself the resources to truly be tough by creating internal and external recovery periods. The very lack of a recovery period is crippling our ability to be resilient and successful. In the end, we will all be more productive and sustainable people if we take the time to pause. To REST. Allow yourself a reset in order to perform at your best level and increase your resilience.

Here's to recharging--
Eliana Barriga
​eliana@retailobserver.com