Where Everybody Knows Your Name

 I used to watch the show, "Cheers" as a high-schooler. I didn't much care about the bar scene. I just loved the stories and the camaraderie and collection of people. They were all so different, yet they bonded every night after work.

 Sam the Bartender, Coach the Bartender, Woody the Bartender, Carla the Waitress, Diane the Academic, Norm the Accountant, Cliff the Mailman, Frasier the Psychiatrist, Lilith the Psychiatrist, Rebecca the Manager

The show aired from 1982 through 1993 and is regarded as one of the top 10 greatest TV shows of all time. Why was it so popular? I believe it's because Cheers appealed to a basic human need. Every one of us has an internal programmed need to belong. We find clubs, teams, companies, families that welcome us and make us feel like we belong. This is what Cheers was to that neighborhood in Boston. Just listen to the theme song lyrics.
 
"Making your way in the world today
Takes everything you've got
Taking a break from all your worries
Sure would help a lot
Wouldn't you like to get away?
 
All those nights when you've got no lights
The check is in the mail
And your little angel
Hung the cat up by it's tail
And your third fiance didn't show
Sometimes you wanna go
 
Where everybody knows your name
And they're always glad you came
You wanna be where you can see (ah-ah)
Our troubles are all the same (ah-ah)
You wanna be where everybody knows your name
 
Roll out of bed, Mr. Coffee's dead
The morning's looking bright (the morning's looking bright)
And your shrink ran off to Europe
And didn't even write
And your husband wants to be a girl
Be glad there's one place in the world
 
Where everybody knows your name
And they're always glad you came
You wanna go where people know
People are all the same
You wanna go where everybody knows your name
 
Where everybody    your name (where everybody knows your name)
And they're always glad you came
Where everybody knows your name (where everybody knows your name)
And they're always glad you came
Where everybody knows your name (where everybody knows your name)
And they're always glad you came
Where everybody knows your name (where everybody knows your name)"

The problems the writer talks about are common to the everyday working man and woman in that area and around the country. The characters felt safe leaving their problems at the door and having a place to escape with others dealing with the same stuff. The viewers of the show watched these characters for 30 minutes each episode to escape their problems too. They felt like they belonged sitting on a bar stool next to Cliff and Norm.

The Cheers model is a wonderful thing. Cheers gave outsiders a place to be an insider. We all need a place like that. Let's transition this Cheers model to a solo cleaning business that you just started. You begin by entering Boston not knowing anyone. No one knows your name. You carry your problems all by yourself. You struggle. This is what it's like in the beginning of the Initializer portion of the ISO Model. You have to start.

Once you figure out there is a place called Cheers and start showing up, you are not only welcomed but accepted. You become a part of the Cheers family. Similarly, you start putting yourself out there and showing up in the community. The community welcomes you and your cleaning service and then they accept you. Over time, the characters in Cheers became so known to each other that it became the bright spot in their day. They had a place where every body knows their name.


Read the rest of this article at the Smart Cleaning School website