Category Archives: Life

Not really a struggle

Traveling for work can be a struggle.

  • Waiting in lines.
  • Crammed into planes.
  • Dealing with the people who have no clue.

When you’re not dreading your destination, those things don’t go away.

They’re just not really a struggle.

Baseball practice

In baseball, you practice hitting off the tee. You practice hitting whiffle balls. You practice hitting 50 MPH lobs in the cage.

You practice your mechanics until you croak.

Then the game comes and you can stop thinking so much.

You’ll crush the fastballs.

And you’ll even be ready to handle the curveballs.

 

Big swinging decks

“Let’s put together a deck.”

Heard that before?

That’s the go-to solution for Big 4 consulting firms.

Any decision, big or small, that’s the answer.

A PowerPoint deck.

The irony is that the decks are intended to make these consulting firms look like they have all the answers. Yet, they actually do the opposite.

Copious words and bullet points? Flow charts and meaningless jargon? Excessive company branding?

C’mon.

Might as well add a slide at the end of the deck showing what they charged to put it together. And, don’t forget to include all participants’ billable hour they’ll charge for the meeting that unveils the fancy deck.

How about a 10-minute phone call instead?

The whole story

Stats don’t lie.

In last night’s MLB Wildcard game, The Kansas City Royals came back to tie or go ahead three times. They stole seven bases. They won in the bottom of the 12th in a game that almost lasted 5 hours.

But stats don’t tell the whole story.

“That’s the most incredible game I’ve ever been a part of.”

“That will go down as the craziest game I’ve ever played.”

“It was absolutely epic. You don’t write a story like that.”

The guys on the field who have been playing elite-level baseball their entire lives don’t even tell the whole story.

To get the whole story, you have to see it.

Feel it.

Last night’s MLB Wildcard game was one of those stories.

You had to see it to believe it.

What a story.

Time to move on

Some of the best, most exclusive, most sought-after jobs inevitably end in an abrupt change.

  • Pro sports head coaches / managers are almost always fired.
  • On-air personalities eventually get replaced.
  • Politicians don’t get reelected.
  • Parents become empty nesters.

The abrupt change is not usually because of failure.

Rather, it simply became time to move on.

Sure, some people keep those jobs forever. But, then don’t we yearn for the abrupt change everyone else gets?

(The coach that should be fired. The on-air personality that is tired. The politician that is coasting. The parents with grown children who still live at home.)

The key is to not fear the abrupt change. Seek out the best, most exclusive, most sought-after jobs.

And when the abrupt change happens, take joy in the opportunity you had and the future that lies ahead.

Traumatic events

I know it isn’t making me any money.

In fact, it costs me.

It certainly doesn’t save me any time.

In fact, it requires lots.

So why do I do this blog thing? I write and publish every day about objective advice I’m giving to myself and others.

Well, according to a 2005 study, this blog is quite therapeutic. The study said that one can use expressive writing as a therapeutic tool after surviving trauma.

No, I don’t write about traumatic events, per se. It’s mostly just me coming to grips with stuff that drives me nuts.

But, if you’ve recently experienced a traumatic event, consider writing a bit. It helps.

Assuming I’ll continue to be traumatized by incompetence, ignorance, and hypocrisy, you can expect me to keep doing the same.

 

Present vs present

There are two ways to look at sleep.

  1. Opportunity cost. When you’re sleeping, you’re missing out on opportunities to live.
  2. Opportunity. Being well-rested affords you opportunities that your less alert, energized, and happy self would have missed.

Because of the former, I used to be very afraid of sleep. 4-5 hours was all I used to allow myself.

Now, I subscribe to the latter.

And while I still carry a you-sleep-when-you-die attitude, I think there’s more opportunity cost that comes from NOT being well rested.

Sure, 7 hours of solid sleep can be tough to come by sometimes.

But, being present at half speed isn’t really being present, ya know?

Politics, religion plus one

When you meet someone in a social setting, resist the temptation to ask what they do for work.

Why?

That person might:

  • Have a crappy job.
  • Be unemployed.
  • Be someone you should have known.
  • Make less money than you.
  • Make more money than you.
  • Be a student.
  • Be something you don’t understand.

Whatever it is, neither of you really want to talk about it.

Put work in the same category as politics and religion.

In social settings, there are MUCH better things about which to ask.

Rite purchase

So you just bought or were gifted:

  • An expensive computer bag.
  • A paper shredder.
  • A Kitchen Aid mixer.

Sure, you’ll get a lot of use out of it at your new job, and you need the security in your new small business, and you’ll be baking a lot in your new home together.

But none of these things are logical purchases.

They’re merely rites of passages.

Find one to sell and the audience who has “earned the rite,” and you’ve struck gold.