When you’re setting an appointment with someone, it’s important to be on time – perhaps even a little early. I got in such a habit of setting an approximate time, that I was setting up meetings I knew I couldn’t make by telling people I would be there at “6-ish,” for example. This meant that if I showed up between 6 and 6:30, I would still be on time. When I had this happen to me, with my heating and cooling company, I was aggravated. What gave them the right to put me off and make it sound like I would be there on time? They told me my technician would arrive between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. – a two-hour window! Why was it so hard for them to understand that I needed them to be punctual? Suddenly, it hit me, that I was doing the same thing. Whenever I put the ‘ish’ on my time of arrival, I was telling my clients that I wasn’t respectful of their time. I changed how I worked quickly. If I expected the HVAC contractor to be on time, I had to expect the same from myself. I made a mental note to never use ‘ish’ again, but I had to be patient with the HVAC tech who was coming to my house, and trying his best to be on time.