365QOD-Day332

"Why pay?"- a movie character living on $5 per day

I recently saw an OK movie called $5 per day in which Christopher Walken looked for ways to exist without paying.  He even went to the extreme of having 365 drivers licenses so he can get free birthday meals at participating restaurants.  Since he had 365 cards, everyday was his birthday.

This is not reality for the rest of us.  We must pay for things we use.  I marvel that some things like Youtube are free.  I can type in any music act and find music that I have enjoyed in the past.  Imagine doing that 10 years ago.  You couldn't do it without having a physical copy of the music.

However, the artists get screwed.  They created the work and now are not being compensated for it.  It is not fair but in this case free has won over fair.

Even with patents, copyrights, and trademarks they are not protected against free.

Today's question is:
"Do you believe you can protect the things you create?"

P.S. Happy New Year!

365QOD-Day331

"...after 20 years, the knees of distance runners were actually healthier than those of control group."-Stanford Medical School researcher finding

In another study, by the American College of Sports Medicine, it was found that "physical activity [including running] is beneficial, rather than detrimental, to joint health."

It is my conclusion that the human body is amazing.  We can abuse it BUT as long as we abuse moderately it will spring back and become stronger. I guess the key is moderation and not extreme abuse.

I find that as long as I run a few times a week I can abuse my body by eating a little more than I need and still not gain any weight.  If I control what I eat and still run, then my body responds with a modest weight loss.

If I drink more than one beer, I note that next day I do not feel as well as I usually do.  So for me the key is to stop at one beer.

Today's question is:
"How do you stop yourself from abusing yourself?"

365QOD-Day330

"Why would you want to be like someone else?  It's exhausting just trying to be yourself."- Cigna ad

I find inspiration in many things.  I saw this ad printed on a T-shirt in a magazine I was reading.  The words resonated with me.

Often we see someone do things we admire, dress the way we wish to, and we try to imitate.  However, we are never as good as the original. A clumsy imitation.

I guess it is simply human nature to try to improve ourselves by adapting portions of others.  Hell, that might be the secret to the survival of the human race.  If we were very different and broke away from the herd easily we would have gotten eaten.

However, we should understand what makes us cool.  What makes us original?  This should be our lifetime effort.  Copying portions of others gives us a glimpse of what we like but drilling inside is the key to being yourself most often.

Today's question is:
"What is the true you inside of you?"

365QOD-Day329

“Some people live X years, but most people live 1 year X  times.”-Anonymous

Practice does not make perfect.  

How do I know?  I used to watch little kids practice very hard before a rank test.  They would flare their arms vigorously BUT not with any precision or form.

So what makes perfect? Perfect practice makes perfect.

In order to understand why something works or does not work we must take it apart and examine why we succeeded or failed.  We must take ourselves apart and understand our thinking and beliefs that contributed to the result.

Doing something over and over and expecting better results without examining the reasons is not productive.  We can not improve by doing it more often.  We must do it after we have obtained some wisdom by examining our success and failures.


Today's question is:
"Do you question your successes as well as your failures?"

365QOD-Day328

"So what?"- words on a picture I have on my cell phone

Once in a while I put this picture on my phone that has a guy with his hands raised to the side with a puzzled look.  Next to him are the words so what. 

I have just shared 5 posts which I labeled successful intelligence.  So what?

The ideas behind the 5 posts were based on a study that found that company founders, disruptive innovators, typically have five discovery skills:
Questioning
Observing
Networking
Experimenting
Associating

Again, so what?  Well, unless you and I take a pause and really think about how to apply and improve these skills we will stay at the same level.  The pause is the key.

Maybe listing a couple of actions you can immediately adopt and track your success with them is the way to do it. I suspect that it is unique to each of us.  What might work for me will fail you.

Today's question is:
"So what will you do with this nugget of information?"

365QOD-Day327

"And your name is?"- a question we often pose after forgetting a person's name

Fifth discovery skill of disruptive innovators is Associating.

Rarely do we come up with a solution that solves a problem by itself.  In my opinion it often requires the combination of two or more techniques to come up with something unique.

In a past post I wrote about how I spent a few hours with a world class designer to come up with a solution on how to graph data uniquely.  His approach was one of beauty.  My approach was one of logic.  The ultimate solution married the two into a unique format.

I find it very interesting to speak with people of very different backgrounds than mine.  I learn the most from these people.  Their approaches intrigue me.  They are foreign to me.  It is like learning how to handle a new weapon.

So associating techniques and people can lead to unique approaches.  I often try to associate a person's name with another person by that name to remember the name.  Most of the times it works.

Today's question is:
"How do you freshen up your approaches?"

365QOD-Day326

"I did not fail 10,000 times.. Designing a light bulb is a 10,000 step process" - paraphrase of Tomas Edison's words

Fourth discovery skill of disruptive innovators is Experimenting.

I can not remember ever succeeding at anything on my first attempt.  Now I have done very well at a few things during my initial attempt but I would not call them success.

In order to allow oneself to fail it takes a belief that eventually the experiments will succeed.  But what if they do not? What if after many experiments the result is a failure?

You must completely re-think your strategy, your approach, your execution, etc.  Then be willing to start from scratch with a beginner's mind and try again.  How many times?  It depends on how important success is to you.

Today's question is:
"Do you give yourself  permission to fail?"

365QOD-Day325

"More business decisions occur over lunch and dinner than at any other time, yet no MBA courses are given on the subject."- Peter Drucker

The third discovery skill of disruptive innovators is Networking.  

I often design new systems. It is rare that I know enough to solve the many problems that come up by myself.  This is where networking comes to play for me.

I have to identify the right person(s) who have the knowledge to nudge my progress forward.  One problem though.  If you only knock on people's doors when you need help then they will initially help but eventually resist your request.

So even though it seems pointless to chat about nothing it is necessary for the maintenance of a relationship.  People want to know that you genuinely care before they will care to help you.

Today's question is:
"How do you show that you genuinely care about someone?"

365QOD-Day324

“You can observe a lot by watching.”-Yogi Berra

The second discovery skill of disruptive innovators is Observing.

By taking the time to carefully observe phenomenons one can learn a lot.  The trouble with observing is not to jump to conclusions too quickly.  To let the event play out and not interfere.

For example, suppose you notice that event B always occur after A.  You are convinced.  You have observed it.  That must be it.  But it could be premature.

What you might not notice is that B is made up of sub-events C and D.  Of which C plays a major part and D a very very minor part. 

You say so what B always occurs after A.  But a better observation is that C always occurs after A.  It is more specific of an observation. D plays a minor role and it can be ignored.

So don't fall for the easy conclusion based on an observation.  Dig a little deeper.  Maybe go back to asking the 5 Whys?

Today's question is:
"How do you slow yourself down to eliminate premature observations?

365QOD-Day323

"When all think alike, then no one is thinking."- Walter Lippman

While reading the November 7 issue  of Forbes I noticed an article about Innovating From Small to Big by Jeff Dyer and Hal Gregersen.  In the article they discuss a study they published in their new book The Innovator's DNA(have not read it yet).

The study found that company founders, disruptive innovators, typically have five discovery skills.  I will like to explore these five in detail over the next 5 days.

The first of these skills is Questioning.  One of the best techniques that I have learned for questioning is the 5 Why.  In this technique a person doing an investigation continues to ask why to establish the cause, effect, and evidence for each why. 

As parents, we often hate when kids continuously ask why.  Well, the 5 why(or more if needed) is the adult version of this game.  It tries not to assume that an event has a single cause but tries to drill into it more deeply.  It gets pretty close to the true cause fairly quickly.

Today's question is:
"Did you ask at least 5 Whys when presented with new information?"

365QOD-Day322

"It was the worst of times; it led to the best of times"- Chris Prentiss

I recently re-read the book Zen and the Art of Happiness by Chris Prentiss.  I had read the book about a year ago and figured while being stuck on a five hour flight to read something.  It took two hours.

After the flight I thought about how true this phrase has been in my life.  Going through the valleys always prepares me for the peaks.  I just have to make sure that I keep my feet moving forward by not getting stuck looking back.

Today's question is:
"Are you in a valley or on a peak?"

365QOD-Day321

"Who you allow into the circle of your life will make the difference in the quality of your life.  As the Buddha taught,'He who walks in the company of fools suffers a long way.  Company with fools..is always painful; company with the wise is pleasure."

Have you ever taken an inventory of the type of people you let into your circle?  Most of us would answer that we never do this.  We are not snobs and befriend everyone.  BUT maybe that is not the best strategy.

Maybe we should strive to befriend the wise?  I always want to meet quality people who care to discuss ideas and not people.  I want to learn about their thoughts and ideas.  Talking to people about other people is a waste of time.  All it does it brings me down.

Today's questions is:
"How and where do you find wise people?

365QOD-Day320

"Bird I hope you win it all"- my words of encouragement

The other night I was in a casino.  One of my co-workers, Robert, sat to my left on a lot machine.  Our machines payed off $4100 is a triple was hit.

After a few pulls I decided that the machine was a loser and moved to Robert's left. 

A couple of minutes later, Bird and Randy, a couple of co-workers showed up.  Randy was to sat down in front of the machine I lost a few bucks on and I told him about my experience.

Bird who was watching behind Robert and I and enjoying one of the many cranberry and vodka cocktails decided to sit down in the "unlucky chair".  I wished him luck and told him that I hoped he wins it all.

He played without paying attention.  We were playing penny slot machines and he did not care if he lost a few pennies.

Maybe it was the many drinks but all of sudden Bird started complaining about the loud ringing sound that his machine was making.  He had won the $4100 jackpot!  WOW!

Today's question is:
"Could some things you perceive as unlucky be very lucky?"

365QOD-Day319

"Brrrrrr"-my words at 6:16 on Saturday morning

One of my goals is to run in every state.  So far I have run in Indiana, Illinois, California, Georgia, Florida, and Texas.

The last few days I went to Lake Tahoe area in Nevada and wanted to run.  The first morning I got up and it was completely dark at 6.  So I ran on the treadmill(something I never do).

Next day the same so I worked out on the elliptical machine.

Third day I ran again on the treadmill.

On Saturday, just a couple of hours before I was to leave for the airport I woke up at 6 again.  I gave myself every reason in the book not to run.  It was a long list.  About 6:15 I simply put on my running clothes and shoes and went outside.

It was about 20 degrees. I ran a mile and came back... My ears were frozen.  But when I returned I felt great.  It was not the distance that I conquered.  It was me.  I made myself do something that I did not want to do. 

Next week I go to Virginia....

Today's question is:
"How do you make yourself do something that you do not want to do?"

365QOD-Day318

"What would you say about yourself"- Unknown

Often we let others describe us.  We let their words define us. 

Unfortunately, when we try to describe ourselves it is often based on our job(s).  But is that all we are?

I told a story of a gentlemen asking me the question, "So what do you do?" in an earlier post and having difficulty to answer it.  Eventually I concluded that the word creator(with a small c) describes me the best.

I create.  That is who I am.  I feel the best when I create something that did not exist before.  Something unique.  And if it is a product, I feel even better.

Today's question is:
"What one word would you use to describe yourself?"

365QOD-Day317

"I am loosing my eyesight, but I am getting insight"- unknown

Our bodies change as we get older.  Physically, unless we exercise we will age faster.  Our metabolisms will change and every little bite will turn into an extra pound that we carry.

These changes are inevitable.  But the quote brings up an interesting question, "Can we convert the inevitable into a positive?"

I like to believe that it is doable.  We must make an attempt to accept the changes and drive them toward positive results.  Noting the change and nudging oneself toward a better outcome must be done one nudge at a time.

When I say to myself that I do not feel like doing X, I force myself to do X.  Amazingly, X gets done and I love the feeling of self-control.  Every time the don't feel like it voice wins I feel terrible.

Today's question is:
"What are you loosing and what insight are you getting?"

365QOD-Day316

"If your life were a book, and you the author, how would you like your story to go?-Amy Purdy Ted speech

The other day I listened to a portion of her speech.  This question stood out. 

I am the author/artist of my life.  Everyday is a canvas on which I place colors that either stand out or are kind of mute.  The ones that stand out are the memorable events.  The mute ones are the day fillers.

Once in a while,  as the author/artist I have to once in a while step back in order to get the full affect of my actions and plan my future actions. 

Today's question is:
"What do you want your life to add up to in the end?"

365QOD-Day315

" If you don't use your head you will do a lot of walking."-my mother's advice.

"You seem to do a lot of walking?"- a statement put to me by another employee.  I had just returned from chasing other employees to resolve an issue.

I do walk a lot. It allows me to get to know a lot of people.  I believe that we too often communicate by sending an email and hoping  that the other person does what you wish them to do.

Like others I send a note BUT often I follow it up by walking over and talking with the person.

Today's question is:
"Do you do a lot of walking?"

365QOD-Day314

"11 seconds"- the amount of time it takes to dial a number on a rotary phone (from the book Crazy Busy)

I remember reading this line.  The author got frustrated when he had to use a rotary phone.  He questioned himself if he had become too busy in his life that 11 seconds drove him nuts when he had to dial a number on the rotary phone.

This leads me to believe that our patience is very limited and we are putting incredible amount of stress on ourselves.

Many years ago I attended a Handling Multiple Projects with Multiple Deadlines course.  The presenter asked how many people felt stressed.  After most people raised their hand he offered the following definition of stress:

Stress occurs when we are working on many items but we never seem to complete them- In other words a lack of closure.  

Today's question is:
"How do you assure that you finish the right things?"

365QOD-Day313

"Wow!"- my internal thought

After church I went to the cafeteria.  My wife and I sat down at an empty table.  After a while a burly gentlemen sat down next to us.

No wanting to be rude I introduced myself and spoke with the gentlemen.  His name is Dario.

To say that I was blown away would be an understatement.  Remember yesterday's quote?  Well it fit just as well today.   (The universe was sending me a message)

He is a truck driver.  That is not uncommon amongst my people BUT he was so much more.  The more was exceptionally intelligent, well read, and very thoughtful.

He loves philosophy and reads many books while traversing the country.  A man who took a car from Houston to come to service in Galveston(about 50 miles away).  I am often on the bleeding edge of using technology for learning BUT Dario was way ahead of me.  Wow!

I hate judging people but I could not resist and I asked him why is it that he driving a truck instead of using his mind.  He explained his plan to me.  Well thought out and it made sense.

One other thing about Dario.  He is a large man.  He is so full of energy that his energy fills the room when he speaks.   Most people suck the energy out of a room.

Today's question is:
"Does your energy add or take away from the room?"

365QOD-Day312

"Don't judge a book by its cover"- an old admonition

Today I went to a Serbian orthodox church in Galveston.  I have lived here for a three months but have always looked for an excuse not to make it to church.  Well, finally I made it.

The orthodox service has always been a disappointment to me.  I was born in the religion but consider myself more spiritual than religious.  I have never gotten a message to think about for the rest of the week.  Until today... The priest looked like he was in his late thirties with long hair and beard.  He looked as close to the image of  Jesus I often picture in my mind. 


The service was your typical service for an hour.  Lots of ritual and standing with most of the service being sung instead of spoken. 

However, after the priest has been preaching a story while singing he finished the service.  Last thing he did was take about 15-20 minutes to relate the story to everyday human failings and what we can do about them.

It was the best live sermon I have heard.  I thanked the priest afterwards and told him that I loved it.  I also told him that I would be back next week to hear his message.

Today's question is:
"Have you exceeded someone's expectations today?"

365QOD-Day311

"Can't be everything to everyone..you will be nothing to no one"-anonymous

I was reading the USA Today newspaper and came across an article that talked about one-dish eateries.  The example talked about a mac and cheese restaurant that focused on mac and cheese only.  Of course you can add topics but overall there were only 10 ways to get mac and cheese and most of the dishes were under $10.

Compare this business model vs. typical Greek owned restaurant that not only covers most Greek foods but also provides most American types of meals.  Why?  The Greeks realized that there weren't enough of them in most neighborhoods to make the restaurant success so they had to encourage other groups.

I personally love the first model.  Do only a small amount of things and do them exceptionally well.  I think these types of eateries will be a success.  You can produce quality instead of quality. 

Today's question is:
"What is the one thing that you do better than anyone you know of?"

365QOD-Day310

"I don't have a strategy.  Hell, I don't even have money!"- a response from a friend

Yesterday gave some interesting statistics on desired income.   So what about delayed gratification?

In another USA Today article I found this table
How delaying Social Security will increase size of your annual benefits.
Age                              Annual payment                 Increase over 62
62                                    17,772                              
63                                    19,044                                   7%
64                                    20,832                                   17%
65                                    22,644                                   27%
66                                    24,468                                   38%
67                                    26,664                                   50%
68                                    28,884                                   63%
69                                    31,128                                   75%
70                                    33,408                                   88%
assuming individuals are currently 62 and earning $100,000 a year until benefits begin.

I laughed at the earning 100,000 per year line.  Most Americans do not have a salary that comes close to that.  But assuming that the percent increases are proportional it looks like we better plan on working till 70 and not taking social security.

Today's question is:
"Do you plan to work till you are 70?"

365QOD-Day309

"I can't retire.  I will have to work till the day before I die"- what most people believe

I read a recent USA Today article.  In it the article there was a table:
Assuming a 5% initial withdrawal rate
To get this much income                         you need
25000                                                    500,000
35000                                                    700,000
45000                                                    900,000
55000                                                   1100,000
65000                                                   1300,000
75000                                                   1500,000

So a million will give you about 50k worth of income.  For every 25k above you need an extra 500k.

Today's question is:
"How close are you to your desired retirement salary?"

365QOD-Day308

"Q: Do you embrace change or fear it.  Why?  A I just sold my house, gave away most of my belongings and I am living around the world without  a plan for the next year or two.  I love the juicy ambiguity of change"  Mary LoVerde answer to Patricia Gras' question

The line "I love the juicy ambiguity of change" is a great line in my mind.  To embrace change as something positive is difficult for most of us.

We tend to want the world to return back to the way it used to be because we understand it and are comfortable with it.  However, change happens and often we are ill prepared to deal with it.  We definitely want to foolishly believe we can control it but eventually we realize that we can not.

Today's question is:
"Do you think you can ever love the juicy ambiguity of change?"

365QOD-Day307

"Q: If you could change one thing about the word, what would it be? A: The vibration of it."- Mary LoVerde answer to Patricia Gras' question

I read a short interview that these two ladies did and few statements stood out to me. The vibration of it.

There are times when I spend a whole day thinking about a statement.  Joel Osteen got me on September 12th 2010 with the statement ...Number your days.

So what does this lady mean with the vibration of the world?  Tesla was a genius who gave us many inventions.  One of the things that he s know to have said is that he knew the resonant frequency of the world and he could easily split the Earth.  WOW!

I believe that we all resonate at a frequency.  We could change our frequency consciously by thinking about a situation in front of us an adapting to it.  This is why I think we click with certain people.  Their vibration frequency is fairly close to ours.  They are in sync.

Today's question is:
"Can you control your vibration frequency?"

365QOD-Day306

"You must stop your running- at least not run 13.1 miles"-advise I received

As I mentioned yesterday I had a scare after a half-marathon.  It is easy for me to say I give up.  But I can not.

Call me stubborn. Call me stupid. But I have to keep running.

I have to have at least one mental goal and one physical goal towards which I am striving.  This makes my life purposeful.

Currently I am working on a book about Steve Jobs(mental) and would like to run the Chicago(and NY) marathons next year.

Today's question is:
"What are your mental and physical goals?"

365QOD-Day305

"Not dead, can't quit"-Richard Machowicz

I ran a half-marathon today(12/4/2011). It was over one long and tall bridge in LaPorte Tx.  I have been training for it and recently ran practice runs that were 13 miles but this race kicked my butt.

I did not sleep too well.  During the night I woke up 3-4 times and every time went back to sleep and had a bad dream.  Finally I woke up at 6 and started my day.  The race was at 8.  By 8:30 I am usually done running when practicing.

The day was miserable.  High humidity about 70 and raining.  I could not tell if my shirt was wet due to rain or sweat.After 2 miles I started not feeling good. By 8th mile I was sluggish and my pace was more than a minute slower than normal.  Last mile was a challenge... it seemed like it lasted forever.

After the race I passed out.  I have low sugar so I rushed to eat something.. a few pieces of pizza..so my sugar was ok.  The medic said that my blood pressure had dropped to 90 over 50..too low. So I passed out and scared the people around me... All day long I have been researching and thinking about why? I believe I lost too much salt and electrolytes.  I drank water and a bit of Gatorade but it was not enough.

I have a lot of time to think about it before my next half-marathon in February.  As the saying goes.. not dead can't quit. 

Today's question is:
"Have you ever been medically scared enough not to do something?

365QOD-Day304

"In summary, for children to develop the capacity to delay gratification, it is necessary for them to have self-disciplined role models, a sense a self worth, and a degree of trust in the safety of their experience"- M Scott Peck M.D.

In my humble opinion, these three things are also true for us as adults.  The instant gratification we often choose leads to many of our problems: overeating, drinking too much, etc...

It is not uncommon that the ills of the parents are passed on to the children.  If your parents smoke you are more likely to smoke.  If one's family overeats one has to fight the desire not to overeat.

These role models become us.  Their self-worth becomes our ceiling.  We become the role model for the next generation.  To raise the level of the next generation we must raise our own level.

The solution for failure in the first two lies in the third portion of the quote.  We must develop a safety net.  A degree of trust that the experience, if challenging, will still not harm us.

We often see life events as either failure of success.  As I point out in my book, The Result, there is a third way of thinking about experiences.  We always get a result.  If we are given an environment in which we are allowed to test ourselves(whether at home or at work) to achieve different results, we will eventually reach the success we are seeking.  Success might not be immediate.  Thus, the first portion of the quote- delayed gratification- is important.

Long time ago I saw a story of a lady who had lost a lot of weight by simply waiting for 20 minutes to eat once she decided that she was hungry.  During those 20 minutes she examined why she wanted to eat.  Was it because she was bored and needed something to do with her hands.  Or is it a legitimate need to replenish her energy source.  

Today's question is:
"Can you delay your desires by 20 minutes?"

365QOD-Day303

"What translates a desire into action?"- a question I often pose to myself

I am reading an old book called The Road Less Traveled by M. Scott Peck M.D.  In it he offers the following statements:

"Desire is not necessarily translated into action.  Will is desire of sufficient intensity that it is translated into action.
The difference between the two is equal to the difference between saying:
'I would like to go swimming tonight' and 'I will go swimming tonight'"

I believe that word choices often determine whether we will do something or just wish we will do something. 

Today's question is:
"What words do you use to turn desires into action?"

365QOD-Day302

"A man can only be beaten in two ways:  if he gives up or he dies"-Richard Machowitz

How easy is it to give up?  The answer for most people is very easy.

We all start endeavors with all of the energy from the universe.  We have hope and we have energy.  After a few days the hope has given way to despair and the energy has become a drain.

As I often run I get a pain I remind myself that pain comes into waves.  As the pain comes I remind myself that it will only last for a short duration.  Amazingly this holds true every single time.  So I have learned to just keep running through it and not to give up.

The second option is death.  Death is inescapable.  However, giving up is always an option. Unfortunately, it is often an option that is easy to choose.

Today's question is:
"What would happen if you took the option of quitting away from yourself?"