How do you use food to build relationships?

Food is a necessity of life and can be used to build memories, traditions and close business deals. The memories of summer picnics filled with grilled burgers, watermelon and corn on the cob are essential to a proper summer get-together in the U.S. Food traditions are rooted in religious and cultural celebrations throughout the world, each bringing a rich history to each meal. Within many cultures, the business meeting is a formality leading to the food and drink at a restaurant where the real negotiations and decisions are made in the wee hours of the morning. 

You have developed your practices of family dinners, coffee with friends and dinner with the in-laws that reinforce the foundations of your relational networks. In what ways are you intentional about the particulars of meal food selection, location and how it will foster relationships? Too often, I use efficiency to drive my decisions and merely consume the meal and miss the opportunity to be present, taste the food and enjoy those at the table. 

We are a species of connection and have developed a buzzing world of activity where information is infinite and attention and connection are commodities. Three times a day an opportunity for connection is available if you choose to be intentional through the need to break bread. The good news is that no matter your history, you have the chance with your very next meal; make the most of it.

Going Further: What traditions do you celebrate that have food as a major component? How was food a part of your relationships while growing up? How can you take advantage of meals to make connections with others? Who can you share a meal with this week?

How do you deliver busy instead of production?

Busy is easy, production is hard.

We can address the urgent, the fires that nip at the sneakers or we can fight for the time to work on the important that will burn the building. Answering the bigger questions that require critical thinking, creativity, vulnerability and brain sweat is where your best work awaits. When my son was helping me with a handyman business, he would make his way down the checklist marking things off the list; install two light switch plates, check; install three light bulbs, check; tighten towel rack, check. By mid-day, he would point out that I was still not complete with my one thing; painting all the walls of the townhouse, guilty. My temptation is to clear the inbox of urgent and be rewarded with a quick dopamine rush vice invest in the hard work that requires the best of everything I have to deliver.

I have been working to rid my vocabulary of the term "busy". How am I doing? "Keeping busy". Yeah man, I am busy. Busy is what I am all about. Wrong, what am I producing? How am I making a direct impact on my family or customers? My performance metrics are off, I am measuring the wrong things. I mustn't cater to the fragility of the gossamer wings of my pride. Deep down, we know when we are really producing and when we just busy. The Internet will continue to expand, there is no need to reach the end, set busyness aside and invest in producing your best work.

Going Further: What is your process for combating busyness? What beliefs tempt you to busyness? How do you celebrate consistent production? What are the benefits of trading busyness for producing your best work? What hindrances may derail your efforts to pursue producing your best work?