Speaker 1: It was one of the greatest love stories of my life.
My nearly thirty four years with Ernie the Blue Crown Conyer.
We were both called to learn life by way of studying.
A collection of trees, the lyrics from Ernie's forest. You
can find them all on arrow dot net A r
oe dot net. You can find them on the podcast
four Stories, the Choice and View from the writing instrument.
Get to know Ernie while you're enjoying your exploration Aro
dot net A r r oe dot net. I'm always
asking questions. The reason why is because the fund begins
when you start researching for answers such as how far
into a brand new year do people go before giving
up on that new diet or workout plan? Plus, when
consumers return items to retail stores, isn't that a power
play they're trying to win? My name is Ero. I'm
a daily writer, is Wolf. I stand on the sidelines
and do nothing but watch, listen, study, then activate. I
happen to call it the daily Mess, a chronological walk
through an everyday world. Yeah, this is what I write
in the morning as a receiver of thoughts and ideas.
We as people tend to throw things to the side
because we think we're going to deal with it later on. Well,
when a subject arrives inside of me, I know it's
time to dig in. It's still keeping that daily journal,
but by doing the research, the picture becomes clearer. This
is the daily mess. How far into a brand new
year do most people go before giving up on a
new diet or workout plan. Well, research is not a fiber.
All too often the truth it hurts. But before you
hit Amazon buy a bunch of workout clothes or the
newest running store to get some shoes, know that your
resolution for the brand new year to eat better and
work out will probably last about seven to ten days.
If you're lucky. Motivation is high, gyms are packed, you've
got structure in your diet plan, and the scale is
showing ooh I lost one pound. Yes, this is it right.
Then comes week number two. Things change, especially your body.
It starts to ache, hunger, and time pressure. Nearly thirty
percent of those whose resolutions at the end of the
year and endo the beginning, that resolution of eating better
and working out has already faded out of sight. Now
get this, I didn't know this. The second Friday of
every month of January is looked upon as being quitter Friday.
At that point, fourteen days in, sixty percent of those
who wanted a healthier life have stopped. Gyms begin to
thin out by the thirty first day of January. In fact,
only twenty percent of those who wanted to change in
the new year have continue moving forward. So why is
it that we quit so early? Well, it's because the
majority of us it's all or nothing. If I don't
give it my all, you ain't getting nothing. Overly aggressive
will power, fatigue, and the uncomfortable truth when you look
at yourself in the mirror and you go, I forget it.
Forget it. So here's the thing. Don't buy into a system.
Your best investment is in motivation. Figure out how you're
going to motivate yourself on a daily basis. It's not
that big of a chore. It's something to walk into,
but you can get around it. In fact, you can
see through it. We just got to figure out how
to get through it. Coming up next, consumers who bring
things back to retail stores. Do you see it as
a power play on behalf of the consumer? Hey, welcome
back to the daily mess. When consumers return unused items
or lightly use problems to retail stores. Is that a
power player? Are they trying to get the one up
on Corporate America? Well, those in customer service might think so.
The customer is always right, right, I don't think so.
Only sometimes it's connected to the consumer trying to get
the upper hand. Most returns at a retail store are
practical but not psychological. Did you hear me on that
it's practical, not psychological. But it's pretty clear that it
can easily escalate to a power move. So when does
it turn into a power move when it now includes territory?
It's less about the product and more about the control,
the validation, and the status. We have become this wild
ass generation that buys all day on Amazon dot com,
Walmart dot com. We go to those websites and bye
bye bye bye bye bye bye, try it then send
it back. That shopping attitude has spilled over to grocery
stores and other retail outlets that feature tools and products
that we think we need in that moment of now.
Or we buy it, use it and think I'll never
use it again, so we take it back. Why because
we got the receipt. Consumers are really good at creating inconvenience.
Where did you buy this product at? I don't remember,
So when did you buy this product? I don't know,
maybe a month ago, two months ago, I don't have
my receipt. Demanding exceptions and failing to respect time really
does limit everything that's taking place at that retail store.
But most companies will say, that's okay, we'll take care
of you. I got your back. It's gotten so bad
at some stores that they're now charging extra fees to
put the stuff back up on the shelf. How do
you feel about that, knowing that you're probably one of
them that created this. I'm Errol, and that's the daily mess.