I like many others watched the Oscar's last night.
Or, to be more accurate I kind of watched them as I dozed through the slow parts.
It wasn't the most entertaining Oscar ceremony, nor were there any great surprises.
The pageantry seemed overly staged and stiff in my opinion.
So what lessons could we learn from the Oscar's? I'm a firm believer that you can learn something from most everything.
It's just a matter of looking for the lesson.
The Oscar's are no different.
So I opened my mind for a minute and here's what I observed.
If you take risks it can pay off.
The young lady who starred in Precious didn't win an Oscar for her performance but her story gave us all hope.
She cut a college class to take a chance and audition for the part.
Totally unknown and not a trained actress she got the part and wowed the critics and the world.
She took a risk and it paid off.
How many of us are afraid to take a risk? How many times have we ignored success because we wouldn't take a risk? Excellence gets recognition, over and over again.
One of the big jokes during the Oscar's was that Meryl Streep had been nominated over and over again over the years.
Though she didn't win this year she still had numerous nominations under her belt and a couple of wins as well.
In other words her good work hasn't gone unnoticed.
It works for the common person as well.
Do work that is above the norm and it stands out.
People take notice when you go the extra mile and don't just phone in your performance.
Winners aren't always winners.
Unlike Meryl Streep, Sandra Bullock doesn't have a string of nominations to look upon.
In fact Sandra has several movies that were way less than stellar.
Did she quit? Did she dwell on the failures and let them get her down? No, instead she looked to the next project and gave it her all.
Guess what? She won this year for Best Actress.
Perseverance does pay off.
Everyone loses now and then, some of us more than others.
That doesn't mean we throw in the towel and give up.
Instead we have to reach deep down inside of us and find the courage to look ahead.
Eventually it pays off just like it did with Sandra.
We all like to win awards.
Last night the best of the best gathered to see if they or someone close to them won.
Even the rich and famous like to be recognized by their peers for a job well done.
Same goes for us.
We have our industry awards, our office performance awards, etc.
We all like to win something that recognizes us for our achievements and efforts.
However, in real life some never win or get recognized.
We can award ourselves though by taking satisfaction knowing that we did the best we could do and that we helped or served our customers to the best of our ability.
This can be the greatest award or all.
So you see, even if you couldn't relate to the rich and famous gathering in Hollywood last night you could learn from them.
Even the smallest business can shine like a Hollywood star if you put into practice these four lessons.
Just remember, you don't have to be in Hollywood at the Oscar's to be of worth.
You and who you are touches many people everyday.
How you touch them is what makes the difference.