May 02 2015
3 Comments
Inspirational

When I Write I Don’t Itch

Have you ever been infected by poison ivy?

Anyone who is allergic and has come into contact, surely remembers the experience 🙂

I’ve been infected a few times in my life, with only minor irritation.

This time, however, it would seem that I must have rolled around in it. The source is not entirely clear. I must have come into contact with it a couple weekends ago, as we were cleaning up our yard and putting down over 150 bags of mulch.

A few days later it began. And, over the course of the following week the rash continued to spread.

The itching is difficult to get your mind off, UNLESS you are fully engrossed in an activity you truly love.

That was the case several days ago, for me…

The day began with “the itch.” I then began writing, cranking out 3-4 blog posts over the course of a few hours. During that time there was no itch. Because, I wasn’t thinking about it. I was doing something I love! Imparting (hopefully) useful information.

This seems to be the case with many things in life, that represent a sort of thorn-in-our-side. That is, the more we focus on it the more we notice it. And, in some cases, actually make it grow and become worse!

2 stories to illustrate the power of the mind…

The first is about a hobo who jumped on a train, in the dark. Upon closing the door and “lighting up” he realized he was in the refrigerated box car. The door would not open from the inside. In the morning he was found dead of apparent hypothermia. However, the refrigeration unit was not on and the temperature never approached the point that would cause someone to freeze. The man “thought himself to death.”

The second is about a famous person (I cannot seem to remember his name or find it online) whose hands were crumpled and deformed from arthritis. As a result, he was in constant pain. However, when he sat down at the piano his fingers gently unfolded and he was able to effortlessly play beautiful music. Upon stopping, his fingers would return to the previously crumpled position.

The morale of the story is this: let’s focus on what we love doing – and do it! Upon doing so we soon realize that many of the minor (and sometimes major) nuisances of life quite simply “fall away”.

And, if there is something in our life that is “bugging” us, and we’ve done all we can (or need to) then it is time to let it go.

Life is too precious and short, and our time too valuable, to focus on what we don’t want or like…

Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Philippians 4:8

All the best!

Apr 29 2015
1 Comment
Personal Success

Mind the Career – With Zero Excuses!

This continues the series on achieving Mind Like Water, with the goal of creating a life of effortless abundance.

As a reminder, this does NOT suggest that ANYTHING will come to us free-of-charge. In fact, we must work our tails off. The reality is, however, many work their tails off going around in circles, without achieving the life that they’d REALLY like to experience.

We hear and read a LOT about income inequality. I’m kind of sick of it. I’m not suggesting that all labor practices and compensation plans are fair and equatable, or that nothing should be done about it.

My concern is that all this talk about income inequality creates an unnecessary obstacle in too many minds, as they come to “think” that they cannot achieve the income of their dreams.

I’d rather we reinforce the fact that, with few exceptions, EVERY individual has a choice with regards to how much they can “earn.”

We can setup obstacles to earning more (in our mind) and complain, or we can acknowledge that there are unlimited opportunities if we only reach for them.

Bottom-line: We are ONLY paid for the value we deliver to society.

If we decide to remain stagnant by not continuously learning, growing and improving, our income will remain the same. Worse, considering inflation, our actual buying power will be reduced over time. And, finally, the world will definitely leave us in the dust.

The government will not fix this. Your employer will not fix this. The only person who can set your income is the one you see while looking in the mirror.

And, a “mere” college education is NOT a guarantee to ongoing and increasing earning power. In fact, some of the wealthiest people on the planet didn’t attend college or dropped out before earning a degree.

We can increase our earning power by doing several things, most of which relates to increasing the quality and quantity of service we provide society, including:

  • Doing more than we are paid for
  • Constant and never-ending improvement
  • MOVING ON

Doing More Than We Are Paid For

I like a quote of Napoleon Hill’s (author of Think and Grow Rich), which goes something like:

If we only do what we are paid to do, then we are getting paid for all we are worth, aren’t we?

Want to earn more? Do more than asked. While you may not immediately realize the payoff, it will ultimately come, in one or more forms.

  1. You will be recognized for going the extra mile and your employer will adjust your compensation.
  2. You will learn new things along the way. It could be that you develop excellent time management or productivity habits that increases your output. And/or, you may pick up new job-related skills and duties that increase your worth to the company.

In any case, your compensation will catch up. If not where you are working now, then at the next place you decide to go.

Constant and Never-Ending Improvement

To reinforce, the primary approach to increasing our earning power is continuously (that means never-endingly) investing in the process of educating ourselves. Education does NOT stop after high-school or college. That was simply the foundation.

It is a bonus if our employer will send us to, and pay for, training. Whether they do or not, we have many hours every day (during our commute, after work, on weekends) to invest our time in self-development.

If we hone our skills and abilities every single day we make ourselves more valuable in the workplace. The result: we will find ourselves being elevated in our career as we are given increased responsibilities which comes with higher pay.

I know this, first hand.

I “only” acquired an Associates Degree from a community college, in northern Maine. This provided a foot in the door to my first “real” job. And, starting with pretty much NOTHING (other than some bad habits), I invested years in self-development and hard work (all of which has been described through-out this blog) to achieve some pretty outstanding results – did I mention, over time.

And, if I can do it, you can do it!

MOVE ON

Realizing that some organizations don’t have the wherewithal, in terms of funding or management practices, to pay us what we are truly worth, we must never forget that we have the ultimate choice as to whether we continue to work there, or not.

If we find ourselves in such a situation we need only explore the MANY other opportunities that exist in the marketplace to earn a living. It may be in the same, or different industry; the same, or different field; the same, or different geographic location. But, we do have the FINAL choice.

If you are in that position (contemplating moving on) and could use some guidance on how to land that next job, you may find some useful tips in a prior series: How To Land That Professional Job. Simply click here.

In closing, to ensure there is no misunderstanding…

I’ve hammered pretty hard on the fact that we, ultimately, set our own salary. It is realized that there are people who cannot work, or are limited in their ability to work, due to mental or physical handicaps. These are the “rare” cases (real people) that we must help. And, I’m more than happy to do my part!

For the rest of us…If we don’t like our paycheck, we can make a change (in ourself, the name of the company that employees us, or both)! It is our choice!

Apr 27 2015
Leave a comment
For Fun!, Personal Success

The Future is Here – Get Some!

With much anticipation related to the Apple Watch I visited our local Apple Store, with my eldest son and wife, on the first day it was possible to try one on and take it for a test ride.

To be honest, my key reservation was that I thought it was going to be a big, unsightly device on my wrist. Kind of like my Timex Expedition that has a number of features / functions (altimeter, barometer, chronometer, compass, stopwatch, etc.) in addition to telling the date and time (in multiple timezones). When I first put that one on my boys called me Buzz Lightyear. I certainly didn’t want to go through THAT again 🙂

To my delight, the Apple Watch comes in 2 very reasonable (non-gaudy) sizes! That was really all I needed to see. The rest of the tour, provided by the awesome Apple employee, was simply icing on the cake. I was hooked. He asked if I wanted to place my order now. I declined, because I wanted to think “at least a little while” about it.

My wife, son and I then went out to dinner. After just a little thought and conversation I decided to pull the trigger and ordered it from my iPhone. I chose the larger size in the blue sport model. Within 5 minutes my son had ordered his (the black sport model).

We were immediately notified that our watches would ship end-May, early-June. Not too bad, considering what we had read about the “possible” wait time.

Much to my surprise, I was notified by Apple on April 24, that my watch would be delivered on April 27. My son’s watch is still scheduled for end-May, early-June. Looks like I’m going to get a jumpstart on him 🙂

We aren’t sure why this happened. My guesses are that it is because the blue sport model isn’t in as high demand as the more conservative black model and/or because I have a business account with Apple and they prioritized me accordingly. Either way, works for me.

As I drove up to my house on the day of the scheduled arrival the UPS truck happened to be at the top of our driveway, and the driver was walking towards our neighbor’s house. I’m thinking – he must have already delivered my watch. Time to play (I mean learn how to use my new productivity tool). On entering the house I hollered to my wife, who I could hear doing something upstairs: “Hey there, did they deliver my Apple Watch?” Her response: “No.”

“Really!?!,” I exclaim: “The truck is at the top of the driveway!” She then responds: “Didn’t hear the doorbell ring.”

Man, I think…Don’t you even care about me? 🙂

I run outside…Did they leave a note on the kitchen door? Nope. How about the front door? Nope. At this point, I’m about to chase down the UPS truck – I’m here, I’m here!

Realizing this probably wasn’t a good idea, I reserved myself to the fact that either it will be delivered by another UPS truck or maybe my wife is playing a trick on me. Upon going upstairs I ask: “Come on, did they deliver my watch?” She cracked up. There it was!!!

As I’ve written before, unpacking a new Apple product is like opening a box of fine jewelry. Only in this case you get something truly functional!

Within just a few short minutes I had it lit-up, connected to my iPhone and integrated into my life.

IMG_3216

One of the things I had read about the Apple Watch, which some were complaining about, is that you now will receive numerous alerts on your wrist and it becomes a major distraction.

Like most things in life, it doesn’t have to be this way. People: take control of your Apple Watch!

There are very simple settings that you can use to control what, if any, alerts you receive on your wrist. So there!

Why, some might ask, do you feel you need one of these devices? A few reasons:

  1. Productivity – A primary area in which my consulting firm works with our clients (mid-to-large corporations) is on increasing operational efficiencies (productivity improvements). And, when we can show a client how to shave even a few seconds off an individual transaction it can literally save them thousands upon thousands of dollars. Time = money. The same holds true in our personal life. That is, I am ALWAYS looking for ways to shave even a few seconds off the things I do multiple times a day so that I can focus on the more fun and productive aspects of life. Examples, with the Apple Watch, which I’m aware of after having it in my life for a mere 4 hours:
    1. When my phone rings I must either pull it out of my pocket or find it on the counter to see who is calling. With the Apple Watch I just glance at my wrist and accept or decline the call. And, I can even take the call ON the Apple Watch if I choose, and talk to the caller through the watch.
    2. When I receive a text I can glance at my watch (vs. hunting down the phone) and respond via the watch. This includes custom responses I can set or I can provide my response via voice and hit send.
  2. I can see it!!! My “old” Citizens (solar-powered) watch is pretty nice but I can’t see the date. My contact lenses have been failing me recently 🙂 And, this makes me realize that “old” watches are now merely jewelry vs. the Apple Watch which adds productivity to my life.
  3. I plan on remaining technically savvy – I want to keep ahead of (or at least “up with”) my kids for as long as possible, when something “makes sense.” The Apple Watch truly makes sense to me. 15 +/- years ago Timex tried out a “semi-smart watch”, although it wasn’t called that in those days. It offered functionality (wasn’t called an app then either) that allowed you to create appointments on your computer. Then, you’d press a button and the computer screen would transmit an image (just snow to the human eye). You’d then hold the watch up to the computer screen and it would download your appointments to the watch. Within 5 minutes I decided to return that one. The technology was FAR from being ready…
  4. Health and fitness – I already use my iPhone to track mountain bike rides (distance, duration, top speed, etc.). With the Apple Watch I can now track my heart rate. In addition, I can set an activity monitor / prompter as a reminder to move about during the day (for those of us who happen to sit in an office for long periods of time). I’ll be turning that off soon, once I go on this year’s summer break 🙂
  5. iPhone = Server / Apple Watch = Client – While it may not be entirely there yet, it is coming! And, to be clear, it isn’t a watch issue. The apps need to catch-up. Said another way, there are MANY apps I can now run from my wrist with my iPhone in my pocket. The iPhone is doing the “heavy lifting” and the watch is the user interface. There is so much potential here it is unbelievable. And, I know I’ve not even scratched the surface yet with what the current possibilities are.
  6. And, finally…I own Apple stock and am doing my best to promote their products. Which, is not hard to do. If you are a “user” you know exactly why they are the largest company from a market capitalization perspective (currently at $772 billion). An article I read today on Yahoo! Finance (“Here’s how much Apple earns more than everyone else“) provides stats that clearly demonstrate Apple took in more revenue in recently reported quarters than Exxon-Mobil, Wal-Mart and Microsoft – COMBINED! People LOVE their products.

So, that’s it for now, based on the last few hours. I’m looking forward to day-1.

I’ll report back at some point in the future if/when there is anything material to report.

In the meantime, place your order. This is NOT a passing fad. The future is here!

← Older posts
Newer posts →