No, this is not me. 

When I was fifteen, I worked for a full-service gas station and auto repair shop. I know what you're thinking (unless you're in New Jersey or Oregon), "what is a full-service gas station?" Yes, there was a time when a smiling gas jockey would greet your car and fill up your gas. You didn't even need to step out of your vehicle.

Most customers were nice, many even tipped me. One day, a guy in his early 30s pulled up in a Porche with more attitude than his car. He rudely told me to fill it up, check the tires, check the oil and levels, and "clean my windows, kid". I did all of the above and returned to his window when the gas stopped filling. 

I politely asked him for the total amount due. He glanced at his window shield and grunted, "You missed a spot." I sighed and grabbed the squeegee to do his entire window again. When I returned to the customer he told me to clean his headlights. It was obvious he was on a power trip, and I could do nothing but oblige him. I grabbed the squeegee and wiped down his headlights. 

He didn't say a word as he paid me for the gas. He didn't thank me, he didn't even look at me. Then he screeched off the lot into the night. 

I returned to the office and was clearly angry. My boss, Ed, noticed my sudden mood change. When he asked me what happened, I explained the guy was a jerk. He just smiled and sat me down.

Ed gave me some of the best customer service advice I have ever received. This is something I've used in many jobs over the years. When someone is clearly trying to antagonize you, act happy. The worse they get, the happier you get. 

I took Ed's advice on a future customer who was attempting to piss me off. Each time the customer was rude to me, I was friendlier to him. To the point that he was exasperated from trying to get a rise out of me. It was hilarious because I was completely over-the-top friendly - my smile was ridiculously wide.

The results will leave you laughing. 

When I returned to the office, I was laughing out loud. The jackass didn't get me in a bad mood, far from it. I was in an even better mood than before dealing with him, because I won. He couldn't have complained about me being too nice! 

Try this the next time someone is obviously trying to get you annoyed. Smile, act happy, agree with everything he says to you. The results will leave you laughing. 

I was listening to Marc Maron's WTF podcast. He was interviewing comedian and comedy writer, Brian Kiley. Kiley has been a writer for Conan O'Brien for more than 20 years. He is a tremendously successful comedy writer, but it wasn't always that way. 

He explained to Maron how he used to go out of his way to visit a local library to watch old footage of his favorite comedians. This was way before YouTube and this whole internet thing. In order to master his craft, he had to make a point to study the greats.

Kiley described how he once shared a small apartment. In order to stay up late writing jokes, he would go to the bathroom and sit on the toilet lid. It was the only source of light he could use without waking up his roommate. Sometimes his roomie would knock on the door to actually use the bathroom. 

It cracked me up how Kiley said he now does the same thing when he is with his family in a hotel room. He uses the toilet as his chair and the bathroom light for reading and writing, so he won't wake anybody up. 

Sometimes you need to take the extra steps to get the work done and to become the best at what you do. Even if it means working from a toilet in the middle of the night. 

Check out the full episode of the podcast. Maron also interviews Brian Posehn, who I love! 

Illustration by hikingartist.com.

I'm giving up.

We all feel like this some days. No business runs perfectly all of the time. We all have the down periods - I have definitely had some.

I remember working at a restaurant years ago. As a server, I relied on the tips I would earn from my customers. No customers meant no tips. Every so often, for no apparent reason, we would have a dead lunch or dinner. It sucked, but I did't quit. The next shift was always better. 

Since launching Futureforth, I have found the same to be true. If I have no clients, I have no money. That's a scary proposition. I have had good months and no-so-good months, but I didn't give up. 

"Before success comes in any man's life, he's sure to meet with much temporary defeat and, perhaps some failures. When defeat overtakes a man, the easiest and the most logical thing to do is to quit. That's exactly what the majority of men do." - Napoleon Hill

Understand that all businesses have good and bad periods. Sometimes you need to reevaluate and even pivot what you are doing. We all go through this. 

I absolutely love working on my own terms. Solopreneuriship gives me the ability to serve my clients and my family. Not every month is a good one, but I have found that giving up won't get me further ahead. 

What keeps you going when business is slow? What stops you from giving up?

Photo by Sean McGrath from Flickr.

I walked Max yesterday and froze my butt. When I checked the temperature, I noted it was colder in Nashville than Toronto. The weather app told me it was 28 in Nashville and 41 in Toronto. For the rest of the world that's 5 degrees Celcius in the T-Dot and -2 in Music City.

The cold weather reminded me of a long walk through Montreal one frigid February night. I was on my way to meet my friend, Julien Smith, for poutine and pints. It was -28 that night and I had about a 40-minute walk. I handled the cold way better than I do now. I guess I've been spoiled living in Nashville for eight years. 

When I arrived home from my walk with Max, I was ready to jump into a steamy shower. Then I thought about Julien's excellent book, The Flinch. Have you read it? It's a short, inspiring book about facing the things that make us flinch in our lives. 

You Should Take a Cold Shower

Julien Smith photo by Loic Lemeur from Flickr.

Julien encourages us to take a cold shower. He writes, "As the cold water hits you, you might shout or squirm. But the discomfort lasts only a second. You quickly get used to it. You get comfortable with the cold, instead of trying to avoid it. You put yourself in the path of the shower to speed up the adjustment process. Remember your reaction. You can use this method for everything."

Julien is one of the smartest people I know. I've enjoyed watching him face the cold water through his career. He's gone from renegade podcaster and blogger to a New York Times Best-Selling co-author. Did I mention his start-up, Breather, just received $20M in funding? 

I sucked it up and braced for the cold water this morning. Julien was right. It was shocking at first, I think my scream scared Max. My heart was racing after the cold shower and I felt more alert all day. There are scientific studies that prove taking cold showers can even help with depression and improve memory.

Download a copy.

Do yourself a favor and spend less than $3.00 for a copy of The Flinch. There is much more inspiration inside that will leave you ready to make some changes for the better. Leave a comment here if you read it, I'd love to know what you think.

How about you? Are you going to take a cold shower like I did this morning? Do you already take cold showers? 

I don’t care how big you (think you) are. Treat people the way you want to be treated.  

I wrote this and shared it on my social profiles the other day. It was retweeted, liked and commented on a fair amount. My message seemed to resonate with people.

What I didn’t share was the story that inspired it. As you probably know, I launched a new business a few weeks ago called Futureforth.com. 

I’ve been busy reaching out to my 1st Connections on LinkedIn who are CEOs of Nashville-area businesses. Most of these people are friends, some are people I’ve met at events or online.

Using LinkedIn’s advanced search is a powerful way to find the people you need to connect with. My message is brief. I’m asking for five minutes for a quick phone call, so I can tell them about Futureforth and ask how I can help with their businesses.

One person I contacted is a successful entrepreneur, let’s call him Bob. I won’t bore you with his accomplishments because they won’t seem that impressive when you hear what happened when I called him.

Bob’s reply to my message was curt. He wrote that I could call him. When I tried to set a time, he said setting a time was useless. Instead, I should call him mid-afternoon.

I called him at 1:40 pm.

Bob: “Hello?”
Me: “Hi, Bob. It’s Dave Delaney.”
Bob: “I told you mid-afternoon.”
CLICK.

He hung up on me. I was flabbergasted. What a jerk.

I called him back.

Bob: “Yes?”
Me: “Hi, Bob. I think we got cut off.”
Bob: “I told you mid-afternoon.”
Me: “Sorry, I thought 1:40 would be okay…”
CLICK.

He hung up on me again. Total jerk!

Thoughts raced through my head. I was tempted to share this and publicly shame him on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter. Who does that? Who hangs up on people? I realize he’s a successful guy who has done very well with his Nashville business, but that doesn’t give him the right.

I had to look back through emails and LinkedIn to see how we originally connected. He had asked me for my feedback on his business many years ago. We had met over coffee and I gave him plenty of free advice.

I decided I wanted nothing to do with Bob again and proceeded to remove him as a connection on LinkedIn. When you remove a connection you lose any private notes you made on the profile. So I decided to stay connected, because I never want to lose my note about Bob. My note is a little too colorful for me to reproduce for you here.

One day he’ll forget about this and ask me for a favor or an introduction. I’ll be sure to refer to my note and tell him to call me mid-afternoon NEVER. I'm all for forgiveness, but a jerk is a jerk. 

Instead of publicly shaming him, I shared a quick thought about what transpired. I have always tried to follow that one simple rule my mum taught me — Treat people the way you want to be treated.