Dear business, industry and community friends, welcome to our February 2017 Valentine’s Day issue of BIC Magazine — your Business, Industry & Community Connection. As we enter 2017, many changes are on the horizon across North America and globally. Regardless of how each of us may feel about those who have been elected locally, statewide and nationally, let us all join forces in helping our country become stronger spiritually, morally and economically.
Let us also make 2017 our best year ever by setting personal goals to have and give others stronger faith, greater hope, happiness, health and peace in our families, businesses and communities. Since this is our first issue of 2017, I would like to begin with some tips (or Earl’s Pearls) on how to make 2017 our best year ever for our families, businesses and communities.
Before passing along these important lessons learned, I want to share a short story that can help set the stage for this topic. In addition to April 1 (April Fools’ Day) being our 34th year of publishing BIC Magazine, on Feb. 14 (Valentine’s Day), my wife Bodi and I will celebrate our 50th anniversary. Both our 50th wedding anniversary and our 34th publishing anniversary are very special to us, because in both cases we were starting over together. Our first marriage lasted 20 years from 1963 to 1983, and our first business venture, VideoScan, lasted from 1980 to 1983. Thankfully, I am blessed to have learned from my mistakes both personally and professionally, and both have been a tremendous success the second time around.
I’m sharing this with you at the beginning of 2017 because, if we are serious about wanting to make this our best year ever, it is vital to remember we must learn from our past and the pasts of others to truly make each year better than the last. As my mom, Margie Heard, used to say, “Don’t cry over spilled milk,” but don’t forget what caused it to spill and correct it. To have a great year in 2017, the first things we have to do are learn from our pasts and not carry any unnecessary baggage like anger, jealousy or especially addiction going into the coming year.
Among the top ways to have our best year ever is to have peace in our own lives and to treat others as we would like to be treated. I have found the best way to remember this is found in Matthew 1:1-3, which says: 1. Don’t criticize and you won’t be criticized, 2. For others will treat you as you treat them, and 3. Why worry about a speck in the eye of a brother when you have a board in your own?
My dear friends, I have many wonderful Bible verses and Earl’s Pearls I have gathered in the past 74 years, but these verses are where I keep the bookmark in my bible and the ones I read the most. Every time I am on the verge of anger, sadness or disappointment, I turn to this chapter and read it over and over and pray about these words and count my blessings until a sense of peace and happiness return.
As I tell my family, friends, loved ones, fellow BICsters, readers and those I speak to during my leadership presentations, “No matter who we are or how devout we may be, sinful and negative thoughts will enter our minds occasionally.” I have always said happiness is a choice. Through practice, we can master the art of changing a negative thought to something positive in an instant, and we can reduce the frequency of this negativity through our faith, who we choose as friends, and what we read, watch and hear. In addition to a positive attitude, I believe and know from personal experience we must have an undying faith, a willingness to work hard and perseverance.
I also believe those of us who have been blessed with peace, happiness and success have an obligation to share our blessings with others through kindness, empathy and benevolence. We have always been committed to running several articles about leadership and safety in every issue of BIC Magazine that are inspirational, educational and helpful not only on the job but more importantly in our families, companies, industries and our communities. This is also why we began publishing inspirational and educational books in 2005 and began producing inspirational and faith-/ family-friendly films in 2014 and expanded our speakers bureau in 2016.
Some of the excellent articles in this issue I encourage you to read and share include interviews with Kinder Morgan Terminals President John W. Schlosser, Eco Services Operations Corp.’s Houston Plant Manager William McConnell, Lichtgitter GmbH CEO/ Owner Dirk Schuchardt, ProAct Services Corp. President and CEO Frank Smiddy and Superheat FGH Chief Business Development Officer Doug Vail.
We also have topics to help you with your pursuit of excellence in the new year, including safety pillars and continuous training, maintenance best practices, improving refiners’ capital delivery, executing solid projects and more. There is a great article about the individuals appointed to energy-related positions in the Trump Administration.
In closing, a new year offers an opportunity to start over or to do things differently. Most of us have set both personal and business goals for 2017 by now. Hopefully, making God, family and helping others first; continuous learning; sharing ideas and lessons learned; and having an attitude of gratitude and a game plan for learning and training others are part of your plan. Goals allow us to measure our performance and growth and reflect on how we met our challenges and what we can do better. As for me, I always try to take the thing I did the weakest in the previous year and make it the most important in the new year. If we strive to make every year the greatest, even when we fall short each will still be among the greatest.
We look forward to another year of bringing you the latest and greatest across multiple sectors of industry, and we thank you once again for your continued friendships, partnerships and support.
We dedicate this issue to our friend, mentor and benefactor Sonny Anderson, founder of ANCO Insulation Inc. Our prayers and thoughts are with his family at this time.