Monday through Friday, I post to this blog. The deadline is 8am CST.
Do I always make the deadline? No. Do I always hit a home run? No. Am I always looking forward to publishing something new? No.
But has this blog been the most consistent part of my life over the last year? Yes.
Rewarding, beneficial, recognized, fulfilling, fun, satisfying also work.
Free blogs at wordpress.com.
Thanksgiving is not about eating. It’s not about football. It’s not about family or health.
Most people don’t have those things.
It’s not about being home, or off work or at any other “ideal” Thanksgiving place.
No matter where you are or what you have, everyone around you has one thing.
Life!
I’m thankful. Are you?
Focus on the problem, not the people. Any scholar in negotiation will tell you that.
A vendor at the flea market is an unkind bastard. But if you need some art and he is trying to sell you his, you discuss the problem and try to make a deal. Another piece of perfectly fine art is available at the next booth.
Your boss is cheap. But if you need a raise and they are trying to keep you on their team, you discuss the problem and try to make a deal. Another perfectly fine, better paying position is available down the street.
A belligerent regime runs a powerhouse in the Middle East. But if you want their nuclear weapons program scaled back, you focus on the problem and try to make a deal. Weapons grade uranium is bad in the wrong hands.
If you want to negotiate to mutual interest, you focus on the problem, not the people.
For someone trying to defend the US’s recent nuclear deal with Iran, this would be their argument. They were not focused on the untrustworthy, Israel-hating, terrorist loving regime. They were focused on the problem.
Fabricating limited supply. Retailers do it to the extreme on Black Friday.
But the people who really need your money can’t do the same. Typhoon survivors and cancer patients and the working poor. They have unlimited supply of need and can’t pretend they don’t.
“Instead” isn’t realistic because people love getting their Black Friday deals. But how about “In addition to?” In addition to spending money on stuff that’s in limited supply, take some of those savings incurred and buy some stuff where supply is truly unlimited.
Pick a cause and spend some cash. It’s a great deal. Even on Black Friday.
The people who attempt to climb Mount Everest are all alike. Nuts. And one more thing. They all know the power of visualization.
These people visualize the entire journey. From planning in their living room to hanging on to life in a frigid, rocky, and oxygen-deprived base camp tent, they visualize themselves at the summit.
Because if these guys focused on the pains incurred during the climb, most wouldn’t even begin. And if they did, they’d be less likely to reach the top. And if they did reach the top, it would be a lot less sweet.
Visualize the summit.
This the 6-minute video made my day, woke me up and inspired me. It echoes stuff I write about. Stuff I talk about. Stuff I think about. It’s called The American’T Dream.
The American’T Dream is a poem about making an impact. Redefining success. Doing something with your life outside of the 9-5.
My favorite lines:
Of course, this isn’t for everyone. If you’re working your butt off at your job to pay your mortgage, your children’s’ student loans & weddings and your retirement fund, be proud. You’re appreciated more than you know (Dad).
But if escaping the 9-5 is or ever has been on your mind, check out The American’T Dream.
Right click any tab.
Yes, any of the vital tabs you have open.
Choose “Close other tabs.”
It’s like spring cleaning, but easier.
Like going for a long run, but easier.
Like shaving after you haven’t in two weeks.
You get the point.
Right click. “Close other tabs.”
So easy. So good.
To get opened? Your blog posts to get read? Your advertisements to get noticed?
Apply the “would you miss it” rule. To every paragraph. Every sentence. Every word.
If it will complicate, confuse or dilute your call-to-action, you audience probably won’t miss it.
Right?
On Sirius XM is hardly a radio station.
There’s no variety. No commercials. No zany DJ’s. It’s just the Grateful Dead.
There are other stations that play The Dead. But they also play Zeppelin, Allman Brothers, and U2. So if you want to hear some Grateful Dead, and you don’t want to risk having to flip away from, say, the Eagles, where do you go? Station 23. The Grateful Dead channel.
There, you’ll also find a great example of how to build loyalty, longevity and trust in your business and personal relationships. Better to be The Grateful Dead channel than Classic Rewind.
Work backwards. Figure out where the ball needs to be. And exactly when it needs to get there. Then, given the defense, the exact path for the ball is clear.
And so the last step is easy. Put the ball on the path. Because if it starts in the right place and stays on that precisely defined path, there’s only one place it can end up.
At the end of the path.