Cigars As A Symbol Of Solution

AVO Robusto, my cigar of choice...

Some you may be aware of the fact that I am an avid cigar enthusiast.

For me, cigars have become a symbol of success both for myself and for my clients. I usually only smoke as a reward for implementing a solution for my clients whether it be a piece of hardware, a managed print services plan, software or so on and so forth.

While I am sure that I am not the only sales professional to use cigars in this fashion, I believe that I may be one of the few who approach the reward with the psychology that I do.

I don't give myself the pleasure of a cigar simply because I have made a big score financially. In fact the only element of my enjoyment of cigars as it relates to financial gain is in reference to the cost of the cigar itself.

As far as the ritual of smoking a cigar, for me it is a form of mediation and a time of relaxation. During these times I like to go over what I have achieved in reference to bettering my customers business through the solution I have provided them.

Often times each puff is accompanied by thoughts of how I have helped a client reduce their cost of printing, streamline their business processes and or provided them with useful equipment, software or content of which makes their professional and business lives better.

I like to go over the intricacies of the benefits I have given a client as the cigar burns closer to its finish. As the cigar burns, I reflect on elements such as the cost per click of a clients new machine, the ways in which our managed print services program is now saving them time and money and how I have been able to make a clients document management endeavors more profitable and efficient for their organization.

As I enjoy my cigar with wisps of smoke curling around my immediate space, I often ponder how to improve their business, the office or industrial culture around them, their company and or their organization.

In fact I try to use all of those things which I enjoy or find pleasurable (at least to some extent) as a catalyst to help others. Whether it be my clients, friends, family or even passerby's and strangers, I try to make consistent and focused conscious efforts in all that I do to help others.

It is in this kind of psycho-spiritual awareness that I attempt to keep my daily mindfulness, focused on the well being of other human beings.

In this way I would like to think that I am a living conduit of positive energy. So whether I am smoking a cigar, writing a blog post or doing virtually any other activity I try to do it with a spirit of love and service towards others.

In this way I believe that I am accomplishing what a human is meant to do. Indeed I hope that this very post has inspired you to do the same or in the very least has had some positive effect on you.

I suppose in some respects this is how I try to manifest the concept of "agape" in my own life and also in the lives of those people whom I meet during my existence on planet earth.