The Dog Days Of Summer Are Upon Us!
By Perry Rearick, Chief Editor, Follow Your Buyer
The “dog days of summer” is a time of year when the heat tends to slow us down, or at least convince us that laziness is ok in a seasonal kind of way. Do you know the origins of this canine intrusion?
They refer to celestial activity that occurs each year from about July 3rd to August 11th. It’s when Canis Major, the dog constellation, rises and sets with the sun. The dog star, Sirius, the most prominent member of the constellation is also the brightest star and the ancient Greek and Latin forms of the word Sirius mean both glowing and scorching.
The dog days have been viewed as both a bad and good omen by various cultures at different times in history. Agrarian cultures blamed Sirius’ alignment with the sun as the reason crops died and livestock acted peculiar. Today, when July rolls around, we think of vacations or that we can simply accept being lazy with a clear conscience.
The dog star has crept into our modern culture too. Satellite radio broadcasting company, SiriusXM, and their ever-present signal (except under overpasses) for many years used a dog and star in their logo. For those of you who are Harry Potter fans, you may recall Sirius Black, a human character who can turn himself into a large black dog who is both a good and bad character.
But I digress!
So, the dog days of summer are here! My advice is to embrace the dog star and follow Sirius’ lead this time of year by rising and setting with the sun each day. You can try it figuratively or literally.
I’m not suggesting you cancel those vacation plans. But when you’re at work, work!
- Rise early and work smart.
- Check in with those accounts you haven’t spoken to in a while.
- Contact those prospects that aren’t advancing but also haven’t said no.
- Develop some fresh valuable insights to share with them, information that is hard to get that they will find valuable.
When your competitors are taking it easy is the best time to grab market share!
I hope you have a great week!