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?
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.
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.
Building your day is like building a house. Make a plan and build it around the foundation.
There are two options for the type of foundation which you’ll build your day around:
The foundation comes first. And it determines whether or not your house collapses.
What’s in your foundation?
If you closed up shop, would your customers miss you?
If you stopped being an elementary school teacher and became an administrator, would your students miss you?
If you left your sweet sales job, would your clients miss you?
If you stopped writing your daily blog, would your readers miss you?
If your TV show switched time slots, would your viewers miss you?
If a role-player on your team left, would she miss you?
Ask this of yourself. Will you be missed?
The answer maybe no despite your current success (material or otherwise).
But longevity and truly valuable impact require the answer to be yes. Will you be missed?
Do you have a Google problem? Bad reviews? Compromising pictures from Facebook? Or maybe your name is Rick Santorum? Now there are services to fix that. Reputation guards.
For a low monthly rate, you can have your reputation guarded by professionals. Never worry again about losing money, relationships or opportunity because Google is making you seem like a giant douche.
In related news, I’m also offering a reputation guarding service. It’s free. It’s called “Do good things you’d be proud of for when google publishes them to the world forever.” For more information, visit lifeisnoyoke.com.
A simple phrase to make you more productive, efficient and stress-free. Oh, and it will do the same for your family, friends and customers. The phrase is a question, actually. “Would you miss it?”
“Would you miss it?” is good for spring cleaning. Pick up a blouse and ask yourself.
“Would you miss it?” is good for small businesses. Just ask the question of your customers. It especially works when considering any business purchase. Will my customers come back to buy because they miss this lamp I’m considering purchasing? “Will they miss it?”
“Would you miss it?” is especially good for software developers and consultants. Clients of these folks, too. Will Windows users miss the Start Button? Or, will the extra piece of functionality be so good that it will be missed if left-out? Or, will it over-complicate the system as a whole resulting in nobody ever saying, “I miss that awesome software, or website or store.”
Ask yourself, “Would you miss it?” If the answer is yes, you’re on the right track. If the answer is no, chances are you have a cluttered closet, a staggering business, or healthcare.gov.