"Everything in your life is a reflection of a choice you have made. If you want a different result, make a different choice."

-author unknown

Stop and think. If I were to ask you, "Who's got your back?" What would your answer be? Your spouse, your best friend, another friend, your dad, your mom, another family member, your manager, a colleague, or someone else?

Now answer the question, "Who's back do you have?" and what would your answer be? Your spouse, children, family, employee, co-worker, or someone else?

Knowing that someone has your back, no matter what is a great feeling. It helps build you up and builds trust and confidence in yourself and in that relationship. Who's back should you have that you don't have now? Who should you thank today for always having your back? Having someone's back comes from knowing their character, believing in them and allowing them to fail forward, and it all being okay. It's the right thing to do and it models the way for others.

No one likes being sold or told. Ask first saying please and then thank you. If that doesn't work and then you may have to tell them. If that doesn't work and perhaps you are their manager, you may have to give a direct order. Hopefully it doesn't get to that point. In order to learn and grow it goes back to the old sales saying, you have two ears and one mouth so you can listen twice as much as you talk. It's the right thing to do to model the way for others and improve communication.

"I'm not meant to do this alone. Kids never want the parent that's really there for them. No, kids want both parents. That's what they really want. It orders a kid's universe to have both of their parents there. It orders an adult's universe too."

V.E. Johnson (2/11/1925-7/24/2013)

"Be strong and of good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them; for the Lord thy God, He it is that doth go with thee; He will not fail thee, not forsake thee."

Deuteronomy 31:6

If you are told someone said something about you and you decide to go confront them about it, realize they may tell you what you want to hear, not what you need to hear. Many sales reps and employees are people pleasers and have not dealt with head on confrontations so you may hear what you want to hear, rather than the truth. Grow in confidence and tell others what they need to hear with love. Don't be mean, but be honest. If someone doesn't see they have an opportunity for growth, they'll never fix it. It's the right thing to do and it models the way for others.

According to the UrbanDictionary.com, "a crab bucket is what it is: crabs in a bucket. However what happens in the bucket full of crabs is what makes it a famous saying.

When a single crab is put into a lidless bucket, they surely can and will escape. However, when more than one share a bucket, none can get out. If one crab elevates them self above all, the others will grab this crab and drag them back down to share the mutual fate of the rest of the group.

Crab bucket syndrome is often used to describe social situations where one person is trying to better themself and others in the community attempt to pull them back down."

Don't be a crab in the bucket pulling others down.

Whenever you see an organization with issues, take a look at the organization's communication. Chances are there are issues with communication.

Make decisions and do the entire job. If you don't, your manager may have to step in and start doing parts of your job and then realize that if they're doing your job, then they don't need you.

Today is a tribute to my old friend Banana George Blair. When I worked on the U.S. Pro Tour, Banana George taught me how to barefoot waterski behind his yellow boat at his lake house in Winter Haven, Florida. He also taught me that you're never too old to learn something new and to push through no matter what. He made an impact on me and he will be missed. The world was a better place with him in it.

By Jeff Kunerth, Orlando Sentinel

5:55 pm, October 20, 2013

JoAnne Blair met her husband in the Yellow Pages. She tried water skiing once, but failed miserably. So she looked up water skiing instruction in the Manhattan Yellow Pages, and that's how she met Banana George.

Banana George Blair made a name for himself in Central Florida. He performed for years at Cypress Gardens, dressed in a yellow wetsuit, skiing barefoot and holding the tow rope in his teeth. He handed out bananas with abandon and owned a yellow house on Lake Florence in Winter Haven.

Blair would go from Winter Haven into the Guinness Book of Records for having skied on all seven continents. He was inducted in 1991 into the U.S. Water Ski Hall of Fame in Polk City and the Florida Sports Hall of Fame in 2003.

In New York, it was one of Blair's instructors who tried to teach JoAnne how to ski, but again she failed. She was dressed and ready to leave when Blair asked her how it went.

"Not well," she said. "I just don't have any ability with this sport."

Blair felt the same way once himself. He was 40 years old and recovering from back surgery when a ski instructor in Fort Lauderdale told him that if he would walk, he could water ski.

Banana George convinced JoAnne of the same thing.

"He talked me into trying it again. We went out on the river and he got me up on the skis, so I was very impressed with him," said JoAnne Blair, 80, his wife of 40 years.

George A. Blair, formerly of Winter Haven, died Oct. 17 in New York City after a long illness. He was 98.

Blair was a showman who made yellow his personal trademark: yellow cars, yellow boats, yellow bikes, yellow suits, yellow ties, yellow wallets.

But he was also a shrewd and successful businessman who became a millionaire with a business that took baby portraits at hospitals. He started a bank in New Jersey and attended board meetings dressed in yellow.

Blair had homes New York, Paris, Steamboat Springs, Colo., and, until a few years ago, Florida. He appeared in Sports Illustrated and on David Letterman. He starred in car wax commercials and became the personal ambassador for Chiquita bananas.

His wealth came from his business smarts, but his fame came from athleticism and strong teeth.

"My trademark is to barefoot with the rope in my teeth," Blair said in an interview with the Orlando Sentinel at age 88. "No one has ever done as many or for as long a time as I have."

In his 50 years of barefoot water skiing, he suffered four broken backs and 11 broken ribs. He broke his back at 72 slamming into a barefoot ski jump. He recovered and continued skiing, earning the record for being the oldest barefoot skier in America at 91.

He gave up water skiing in 2008 at the age of 92.

In business and sport, spotlight and shadow, Blair was consistently the same person, his wife said.

"He didn't hide his personality," she said. "He wanted to make people happy, so he did all these things and made everybody happy."

In addition to his wife, Blair is survived by his daughters, Donna Blair, of Forsyth, Ga., Carrie Blair, of Middleburg, Va., Georgia Blair and Robin Blair, both of Shrewsbury, N.J., four grandsons, two great-grandsons and two great-granddaughters.