Local Ojai Resident Son/Father Team Up to Publish "The Promise Doctrine"

/

Craig Womack / Jason WomackJason Womack is a local Ojai resident known for traveling around the world training people how to master workplace performance (in fact, a previous employer of mine hired Jason to train our management team and to teach productivity at a large conference). Craig Womack has nearly 40 years of executive experience in the consumer product industry. This father and son team combined forces to publish "The Promise Doctrine," an easy to read guidebook help us keep our commitments!  I asked them 10 questions about the book and Craig provided me these answers.  For more information and to buy the book, check out www.thepromisedoctrine.com.

1. Tell me what The Promise Doctrine is about in 1 sentence.
The Promise Doctrine is a guidebook and system that readers can use to choose, manage, and accomplish what they are truly committed to, in life and at work.

2. Why did you decide to write The Promise Doctrine?
We came up with the idea for The Promise Doctrine as we listened to our peers, employees, friends, and family discuss how “hard it is, to do it all.”  

3. What prompted you to team up with your dad in writing the book?
When we took on this project, a writing collaboration between father and son, we knew that we wanted to explore the dynamics of promise keeping. Publishing our book was the best way we knew of to share the importance of promise keeping with the world. First, we see each other as equals, with distinct strengths to share and learn from. Together, we were able to merge our backgrounds in business and in education, and bridge a generational gap that drives most people crazy. We did this through honest communication, regular check ins and meaningful acknowledgment of milestones along the way. These are principles we share and have lived by in our executive and teaching lives.

4. Is the book geared towards certain people or ages in particular? In other words, who should read this book!?
Our enthusiastic answer is: “EVERYONE should read this book”. We geared the book towards four broad target audiences:

  • Results driven individuals and leaders who realize the power of a promise made and a promise kept
  • Executives who lead successful companies
  • Leaders and teachers who promote sustainable communities
Read More

Confessions of a Germaphobe: Ten Things I Like Least About All-You-Can-Eat Buffets and Salad Bars!

/

Don't get me wrong. I LOVE all-you-eat places! I'm a big fan of Souplantation and visit the Camarillo location at least 5 times a month (also in  in Simi Valley).  They have a huge salad bar, a wide variety of soups, breads and pastas and a dessert selection that includes frozen yogurt machine (mmmm!).

Recently Souplantation introduced an automated hand sanitizer at the salad bar line.  I applaud them for that. Most people don't seem to use it (I did and it squirted so much foam into my hand that I had to wipe the excess off on my pants), but is a nice gesture for those concerned with the spread of germs. 

I'm a bit on the germaphobic side myself and the sanitizer brought to mind...Ten Things I Like Least About All-You-Can-Eat Buffets and Salad Bars...based on my wealth of observations and experience at the local Souplantation.

  1. Tong Tosser:  The servers all wear gloves yet the 974 people visiting the salad bar all handle the tongs with their bare hands. So when pimply Joe Teenager flings the tongs completely into the rice pilaf, I generally move on to the next item.
  2. The Snacker: The snacker can't wait to eat. He's tossing olives, sprouts and garbanzo beans into his mouth, crunching, smacking his lips, talking and spewing little bits of food as your appetite shrivels. There goes my appetite.
  3. Kiddy Loiter: It's great bringing kids to the salad bar!  But yechh, please keep their icky (and I say that lovingly...I've got kids myself) hands outta the croutons!
  4. Boogie Man: Picking your news is OFF LIMITS at the salad bar. Yeah right, that was more than a
Read More

BOGOPOD: Buy One, Get One Free, Plus Other Discounts in the Conejo Valley!

/

UPDATE: BOGOPOD apparently is no longer in operation.

Happens all the time.  I get some coupons in the mail, tear a few out and place them on the desk or behind a magnet on the fridge.  But when I want to use the coupons, I can't find them, they have expired or I'm somewhere else.  Frustrating!

But there's BOGOPOD! www.BOGOPOD.com  provides online "Buy One, Get One Free, Plus Other Discounts" coupons for local Conejo Valley area businesses! 

Visit BOGOPOD.com for an extensive list of discount coupons for restaurants, shopping, kids, activities, home improvement, services and much more.  All you do it find the coupon, click it, print it and start saving money!  No signup, no cost!  I love the fact that you don't have to download special software to print the coupon.  There's also a search function on the BOGOPOD website that shortcuts the process of finding what you're looking for.

Now on a separate but related topic of saving money, check out "Places Where Kids Can Eat Free in Ventura County"  here on Conejo Valley Guide to find places where you can dine out and not pay for your kids' meals!

What Got You Here Won't Get You There; Marshall Goldsmith's 20 Behaviors That Get in the Way

/

">Marshall Goldsmith's 2007 book, "What Got You Here Won't Get You There" has a list of 20 behaviors and habits that prevent people from moving forward in their careers.  In fact, when I read and review this list, I realize that these apply to all aspects of life, not just work.  So review these, print them out, live them and read the book if you want to be more successful at work and life!

As I read these, I cringe a bit at how often many of these apply to me, both at work and at home. On the other hand, reviewing this list also reminds me that we are all human and most all friends, family and co-workers also display many of these behaviors.  It helps to review and internalize these for both personal improvement and dealing with others.

  1. Winning too much: The need to win at all costs and in all situations.
  2. Adding too much value: The overwhelming desire to add our 2 cents to every discussion.
  3. Passing judgment: The need to rate others and impose our standards on them.
  4. Making destructive comments: The needless sarcasm and cutting remarks that we think make us witty.
  5. Starting with "No," "But," or "However": The overuse of these negative qualifiers which secretly say to everyone that I'm right and you're wrong.
  6. Telling the world how smart we are: The need to show people we're smarter than they think we are.
  7. Speaking when angry: Using emotional volatility as a management tool.
  8. Negativity, or "Let me explain why that won't work": The need to share our negative thoughts even when we weren't asked.
  9. Withholding information: The refusal to share information in order to maintain an advantage over others.
  10. Failing to give proper recognition: The inability to give praise and reward.
  11. Claiming credit that we don't deserve: The most annoying way to overestimate our contributions to any success.
  12. Making excuses: The need to reposition our annoying behavior as a permanent fixture so people excuse us for it.
  13. Clinging to the past: The need to deflect blame away from ourselves and onto events and people from our past; a subset of blaming everyone else.
  14. Playing favorites: Failing to see that we are treating someone unfairly.
  15. Refusing to express regret: The inability to take responsibility for our actions, admit we're wrong or recognize how our actions affect others.
  16. Not listening: The most passive-aggressive form of disrespect for colleagues.
  17. Failing to express gratitude: The most basic form of bad manners.
  18. Punishing the messenger: The misguided need to attack the innocent who are usually only trying to help us.
  19. Passing the buck: The need to blame everyone but ourselves.
  20. An excessive need to be "me": Exalting our faults as virtues simply because they're who we are.

OUCH, now that I've typed this list I realize even more how I need to work on some things.  Hope this helps you too!

Looking for a local Ventura County job? Look here.

Original Conejo Valley Area Landscape Paintings by Karen Winters

/

Karen Winters gave us permission to display these original oil paintings here on Conejo Valley Guide. She is a published author, award-winning designer, Emmy award-winning producer and now first and foremost a talented artist based in La Canada (near Pasadena/Glendale).  Visit her website at www.KarenWinters.com and visit her blog at www.karensblog.com  Beautiful work, Karen! Thanks for sharing!

Boney Mountain as Viewed Near Circle X Ranch

"Sunset Spendor" Satwiwa Village Area of Sycamore Canyon

Read More

Outlawing Trans Fats and Fast Food

/

NOTE FROM CONEJO JOE:  THIS WAS ORIGINALLY POSTED ON JULY 31, 2008 BUT WILL TAKE EFFECT TOMORROW, 1/1/10.

Last week Arnold signed AB 97, the California Uniform Retail Food Facilities Law, which outlaws trans fats from restaurant foods by 1/1/10 (with the exception of baked goods, which get a year reprieve to 1/1/11).  This makes California the first state in the nation to enact such a ban and makes use of trans fats a misdemeanor punishable by fines ranging from $25 to $1000 per infraction.

This is not so bad given trans fats, mostly liquid oils made into solid fats like shortening and margarine by partially hydrogenating them, are bad for you!  Consumption of trans fats as we know is linked to heart disease and related ailments.  No doubt this will make it more costly to eat out.  But think of all the savings in medical expenses down the road!  Not to mention, maybe it will create more jobs...for Trans Fat Cops!

McDonalds has stopped using trans fats by switching to Canola Oil blends.  Hot Dog on a Stick uses soy

Read More

A Non-Traditional Thanksgiving Train Ride to Santa Barbara

/

This Thanksgiving my wife decided we would do something different with our young boys.  Forget about cooking and gorging ourselves in the comfort of our own home.  Forget about the relatives and the cleaning.  Forget about football games and carving.  We took the train to Santa Barbara!

Now taking the train from Camarillo to Santa Barbara is not exactly cheap.  For a family of 4, reserved coach seats put me out $108 round trip.  But this was about the experience of riding the train, not saving money.  (That said, it was definitely nice not worrying about parking and paying for parking in Santa Barbara!)

The Camarillo train station is at 30 Lewis Road. Parking was free. Taking the train was an adventure for us clueless suburbanite autobots used to our cars. We nearly missed the train because we didn't know which side of the train tracks to wait at.  Thinking our train would be on the east track, a more savvy individual informed us the other side was closed. So we literally ran up the path back to the other side with one gal who also had been waiting for the train. The train came a few minutes later and we hopped on.

We sat down near the gal who had run with us. Minutes later the ticket collector came by and it quickly became apparent she had no ticket for the train. My wife and I looked over and without discussion, we whipped out $20 to pay for her ticket. A small Thanksgiving good deed.

The train ride went by quickly. It was definitely a fun experience as we rode through Oxnard, Ventura, Carpinteria and took in sights of the Pacific Ocean.  In about an hour we were in Santa Barbara.

So this is what we did the rest of the day, leading up to a 7 pm return train ride:

  • Rented a quad bike at Wheel Fun Rentals on State Street

  • Rode the quad through Chase Palm Park up Cabrillo Boulevard past the lagoon to Stella Mare's Restaurant for a 1pm Thanksgiving feast.  Let me tell you, my wife and I were READY to eat after burning off calories on that bike!

  • Enjoyed a 3 course Thanksgiving meal.  The main course options were (of course) turkey, prime rib and salmon.  I had the salmon and it melted in my mouth.  The rest of the crew had turkey and it was delicious.

  • We burned some calories in the 70 degree weather by riding the quad back, stopping by Chase Palm Park, running around at the playground and visiting the carousel.

  • Hung out by the beach near the pier, dipped our toes in the water, walked onto the pier for ice cream and headed back up State Street.

  • Walked up State Street and had a snack at Baja Sharkeez, walked back to the train station, played Red Light, Green Light, Simon Says, Tag and other games until the train arrived.

What an unbelievably beautiful day it was!  There was not a cloud in the sky. The temperature was in the low 70s.  There were NO CROWDS in Santa Barbara!  I have to thank my wife for starting what may well be a new tradition for us!

And I ended the day tired...and HUNGRY! Yes, believe it or not, I think we actually burned off more calories than we consumed! What a great feeling!