365QOD- Day1115

Three Questions

“Question 1: What do I actually do best of all?

 Question 2: What do I care about?

  Question 3: Who needs people like me?”- Andrea Kay, USA TODAY

I read  an article by Andrea Kay in which she poses these questions.  But whether you are looking for a job or not, these questions are important enough to pause and ask yourself.  So I am going to get personal and answer them.

So what do I do best of all?  I have worked in steel, academia, consulting, refining, and chemical plants.  What I have done best in all these arenas is to use my creativity to create products and solve problems for my employers.  I am energized when it involves using creativity to solve a problem.  Immediately I enter a state of flow.

What do I care about is a little tougher for me to answer.  If I say I care a lot about lots of things then in my world that is like saying I care about nothing.  The all answer is no answer.  I have noted that this answer changes for me at critical junctions in my life.  When I was leaving steel I asked myself this question and the answer was how people learn.  When I was leaving academia to go back to industry it was to apply my knowledge and presentation skills and see if the results would be different during my second stint in industry.  If I had to answer it now I would honestly have to say that what I care the most is to lead teams that create products and content that change people’s thinking, improve their lives, and solves their problems.

Who needs people like me? I believe that I can walk into a new setting, quickly understand the rules, improve the situation by removing hurdles, provide leadership, and coach the team to a better state.  A company which needs a great leader for a team that will strive to achieve groundbreaking results.  Yes!  That is the company who needs a leader like me.  Notice I did not specify industry or a specific company because my skills are transferable across industries. 

Today’s question is:

“Are you brave enough to pause and ask yourself the three questions?”

365QOD- Day1089

5 Million Dollar Loan

“What would I do with it?”-  my question to myself

Last night a friend of mine mentioned to me a process by which one can obtain a 5 million loan.  The repayment of the loan does not start for 18 months.  My ears perked up.

I have never in my life envisioned having a brick and mortar business.  My ideal business would not involve directly manufacturing anything.  Most likely it would involve a small team that does not have to be in a single office in order to produce products that can be supported by me.

So what his story did was made me question myself.  If money availability was taken off the table, what would I do?  Would I think differently and do a brick and mortar type of business?  Or would I stick with my current plans?

To me money has never been a limiting factor.  I have never felt that I needed more resources then what I have to fund the execution of an idea.  But I know for many people this is a big stumbling block.   With sites like KickStarter and others if you have a great idea then you will get the money to execute it.

I believe that the most precious resource for me is time.  I can never get enough of it.   So the answer for me is that I would do the same things I am doing now as side projects but only do them full time.  The money would simply replace be my income.

What about you?

Today’s question is:

“What business idea would you pursue if you were given a 5 million dollar loan?”

365QOD- Day963

Vacation Goals

"Vacation without a creative goal is a wasted vacation."-according to me

I have spent the last few weeks on vacation.  It was not as good as my vacation last year but it gave me some time to stop and pause.  This is something we have to do in order to appreciate the music notes of our lives.

But going on vacation does not mean just sitting there vegetating.  Ok, I confess that I did veg out a bit. But I was also productive creatively.

Last summer I taught myself how to write an Android app.  Later on in the year I developed an app and made it available for free at the Google Play store.

This years focus was to develop different products.  So mentioned in another recent post
I write 52 small ebooks.  I also read a little about marketing and LinkedIn.  I believe that marketing of self and products the trough LinkedIn will develop into a monster on the order of Amazon.

It was also a time to think about some life goals and strategies. Our lives tend to be too busy to have a lot of free time to think about those. So this time allowed me to sip a bit of coffee and to reflect.

Today's question is:
"Do you set vacation goals?"

365QOD- Day894

"Where is it that you do not want to be in five years?"- a great question

A few weeks ago I read an article on interviewing in Inc. magazine.  This is one of the suggested questions to ask a prospective hire.  Why? Most people do not have a canned answer for it.

I also feel it is a great question but maybe for a different reason.  I believe it is a great question to ask ourselves at least once a month.  Where do you want to be in five years and equally important where you do not want to be?

I believe that most people will answer quickly by saying not here.  But that is not really a good answer.  It is not specific enough for you to tell where you actually want to be. Usually the opposite of what you do not want is what you really  want.

You have to clearly identify it as something definite that you do not want.  Remember that God has a sense of humor, so if you are not clear you will get something that has elements of what you want with elements of what you do not want.

Today's question is:
"Where is it that you do not want to be in five years?"

365QOD- Day889

"It is my birthday..it is my birthday"- my first words today

Today is my birthday.  I turned 47.  Another 54 years to go.  Not even half way.

Did I do anything special?  I went to work and went out to dinner.  Not bad...

What made the day memorable was the yearly pause I do.  I pause to think about if the gap between where I am and where I want to be is getting smaller or larger.  The answer this year is that it is smaller.  What this means that the direction is correct but the speed might need to be increased.  In physics the combined term that is used for these two concepts is velocity.

Today's question is:
"Are your direction AND speed correct?"

365QOD- Day865

"Is it?" -my question to myself

On my wall is a sign that states,"The Year of The App".  Besides publishing an app a few months ago I have not been working on any new ones lately.

Because I often like to tackle many things I periodically have to ask myself, "Is it still important?" Or even better, "Why am I creating this product?"

Amazingly enough when I read article on 99u.com the founder of Jawbone Hosain Rahman he asks himself these same two questions.  It is his way of cutting though the noise and a way to revisit his core principles.

My answer about the apps is yes and that once I am done with my next two projects I will spend the last three months creating new apps.  I do need to change my sign to The Year of Some Apps.
Today's question is:
"How do you decide what is still important? "

365QOD- Day863

"1000 days out of 21000 "- my countdown

6/7/13 is the 1000th day since I awoke.  My countdown started on 9/12/10 in a bar while
on a solo vacation in Florida.  I decided that I wanted to live 21000 days- till 101.

Recently, I spent a day reflecting on the changes since that day.  As a matter of fact most are probably chronicled in previous posts.

In the last 1000 days I have:
Ran in several 5I, 10k, 20k(13.1mi) races
Changed jobs
Got promoted
Moved from Indiana to Texas
Continued writing my blog
Published a second book
(Finishing my third book)
Taught myself how to create apps
Published an app
Vacationed for a month overseas
Etc.

They have been busy 1000 days.  Maybe I could and should have done more?

I spent some time thinking about my next checkup.  Should I review my life every 1000, 500,250,200, or 100 days? Should it be at the end of a month or end of year only.

I concluded that yearly is too long. 500 or 1000 are also too long. Similarly, I also believe that for me it needs to be in terms of days and not months.

So, I have decided that every 200 days(a but longer than six months) to stop for a day and do a review of my life. During the review not only review the successes but also the failures. I will also review if I am on the path to achieving the big goals in my life.  The day will be spent reflecting.

Today's question is:
"How often do you reflect on your life? "

365QOD- Day612

"I am grateful for the journey I took" - Angela Rye on CSPAN

I love this statement.  How many of us could make it?  Often we focus on one area of our life that is currently going wrong instead of looking at all of the pieces in our lives that are going well. 

I believe that being able to stand back and look at the total journey is a very powerful thing to do.  Take a piece of paper and map our your life journey from the beginning till now.  There will be valleys and hills.  But one thing I can guarantee you is that often the biggest peaks came after the lowest points in your life. 

Why? I do not know but I do know that it does hold true for my life.  Have I enjoyed the journey?  Would I change anything?  Maybe a few tweeks along the way would have made the journey smoother. BUT the big question is would I be the person I am today if I had taken those?  For me the answer is no.

Today's question is:
"If you eliminated the large mistakes in your life, would you be a better than the person you are today?"

365QOD-Day489

"The dog got me out of bed this morning" - misunderstanding

The last and most important characteristic that people over 100 years of age is the ability to deal with death.   This was the main reason why I started telling that stranger the story

In the story they showed a lady who was over 100 and the day before the interview her 70 something daughter passed away.  When the interviewer asked the lady if she wanted to cancel the interview she said,
"Absolutely not!"

The interviewer was surprised and asked her how she can continue with the interview when she has suffered such a drastic loss.

She looked at them and said the following:
"Seventy some years ago God gave me a gift.  Yesterday God decided to take that gift back.  Who am I to challenge that?"

I was blown away by that statement.  If you think about it we can not control when people(spirits as I like to think of people) come into our lives and when they leave. We can only control our connection to them.

If you are to live to 100 years of age you will most likely deal with the death of spouse or two. Most if not all of your children, and possibly most if not all of your grandchildren's deaths.  If you can not put the deaths in their proper place, like the lady did, you will not live to 100.

When I told this story to my grandmother she agreed with all four points.  I  specifically emphasized that throughout she had not tasted death.  Her parents died before she knew them.  Her twin sister died at 12 and her brother died when she was 86.  Her husband died around 96.  All of her kids lived, all of 13 grandkids lived, all of her 14 grandkids(at that time) lived.

Today's question is:
"How do you react when God takes his gifts back?"

365QOD-Day488

"OK so I can pig our and stop exercising?" - a smart alec

The third characteristic of people who live over 100 years old is they have a reason to get up in the morning.  A reason bigger than them.  A reason bigger than a job.

In the story they showed a person who loved going to church.  He was a deacon in the church and he went to his church every morning before he went to work.  It was something that pulled him to go there every day.  There was never a decision made in the church without his input.

Call it a life mission.  Call it a quest.  It is something that gives you the extra push to keep moving towards it.

Today's question is:
"Did you have anything this morning that was pulling you out of bed?"

365QOD-Day487

"Now that you got off your diet..."- LOL

The second characteristic of people who live over 100  is that they do not follow a particular exercise program.  BUT they tend to be very active.

In the story they showed a lady who was 105 and sold tickets in a movie theater.  The theater closed and she went across the street and got a job in a museum as a tour guide.  She was older than the museum. 

My grandmother who lived to be 100 constantly walked around the compound we lived in.  She walked from home to home almost in a circle all day long.

She never let the phone ring more than three times before she answered even when she was in the next room.

Since the story, people have started to exercise more.  I even read a story about a 100 year old who ran a marathon.  Impressive!

Today's question is:
"Do you have an active life?"

365QOD-Day486

"I see the fingerprints of God all over this" - my thought

Sunday morning I decided to run 10 miles.  My normal path takes me through the downtown area of Galveston and back.  It was a very hot day in Texas but since I was running between 6:30 and 8:30 it was somewhat manageable.

Almost exactly halfway I came up to a man sitting on a bench.  It looked like he has just gotten off one of the cruise ships that docks a block away.  Next to him was a small bag.

As I approached him I said good morning and he asked me if he can ask me a question.  This started a conversation that lasted about 10 minutes. 

He recently lost his wife and decided to just get out of Florida.  By the looks of him he seemed depressed over loosing his wife.  I offered him the story I will tell over the next four posts.   It is a story about living to be 100 years old.

Twenty years I watched the show 20/20 on ABC and the story I saw was about research on what characteristics people hat lived over 100 shared. 

The first characteristic of people who live over 100  is that they do not follow a particular diet.  They tend to not overeat but they eat whatever they want. 

The research since then has shown four communities around the world where people tend to live longer.  One if in Japan, another one in Sardinia Italy, Chile, and California (Seventh Day community).  Their diets are very different but one thing that they have in common that families tend to eat meals together.

Today's question is:
"Do you follow a particular diet?"

365QOD-Day467

"The joke is, yeah you have prestige, but you can't eat prestige."- Tony Yang Ph.D. 

Tony Yang has a Ph.D. in History from University of California.  He is also unemployment and welfare recipient.

The recession has hurt many folks.  Unemployment is around 8-9 % but for white collar workers it was 4-5%.

So why is Tony Yang without a job?  Timing is everything.  If he would have come out when the economy was booming he would have walked out with multiple offers.  But he did not.

The same thing happened to me in Dec 1988.  I finished by bachelors in Electrical Engineering from Purdue and did not have a single offer.  So I decided to continue with my Masters while looking.  By May the situation changed and by August I landed my first full time job.

I feel bad for him.  He has invested a considerable time and money to achieve his goal.  However, in life there are no guarantees.  You have to play the hand that has been dealt to you.  And unlike a play, there are no rehearsals. 

Today's question is:
"What would you do if you were in Tony Yang's situation?"

The article can be found at
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/even-a-phd-couldn-t-keep-this-man-off-food-stamps.html

365QOD-Day460

"Dr. Shaq!" - my words

Yup.  The other day Shaq.. sorry Dr. O'Neil earned his doctorate.  Impressive.

I knew he had an MBA for University of Phoenix.  BUT I never knew he was pursuing a doctorate.  Impressive!

Why is it impressive?  Here is a person whose success has been in the sports arena.  He has made a ton of money playing basketball.  Yet he still kept on going to school.

My hat is off to him.  To have a goal, to be distracted by many opportunities that he has, and still complete the work needed can only be praised.

Education is important.  In his case even though he has been successful, he still craved the learning enough to continue his pursuit.  He must have a quest for his life.

My definition of quest is the pursuit of an ultimate goal for one's life.

Today's question is:
"What is your quest?"

365QOD-Dayy412

"I do not know what I want"- a common belief

I am reading Emotional Equations by Chip Conley.  Good book but I do not know if I will finish it.  I am short on time.

One of the equations that he presents is:
Life Mission=Pleasure/Pain

To maximize the likelihood that it is your life mission it must give you a lot of Pleasure BUT also minimize the Pain. Suppose you use 100 for pleasure and 1 for pain then the likelihood that it is your mission is 100/1=100. 

Note that if something causes you lots of pleasure but also causes a lot of Pain then the two cancel each other.  In this case the pleasure would be 100 but the pain might be a 50 then the Life mission score is only 2.

It seems simple enough.  Find something that you enjoy BUT also is not causing you any pain will be closer in line to your life mission.

Today's question is:
"What gives you maximum Pleasure and minimum Pain?"

365QOD-Day298

"Why would you want to do that?"- a question someone posed to me

A few years ago I read a story about a Microsoft scientist that walks around with a camera that records his life.
He records videos, takes pictures automatically, GPS location, etc...   He is able to reduce his day to a 15min record of it.

I recently read an article in August 2010 issue of Popular Science about a camera from viconrevue.co.  It is a wearable camera with 5 sensors:light detector, thermometer, compass, accelerometer and infrared
120 degree view
Any one triggers a per second
No trigger then 1 every 30 seconds

Today's question is:
"Why wouldn't you want to record your life if you could?"

365QOD-Day280

"10k is just a start"-my words to my running partner

Recently I ran a race over the Galveston bridge.  It was a 10k race and it was fun.  We finished in 1:04.
No bad for me... the goal was just to finish.


It is also a start. There is a half-marathon race on Dec 4th over the La-Porte Tx bridge.  My running partner, Reggie, and I are training to run that one.  Last weekend we ran 9+ miles.  This weekend we ran 11 miles.

The other day I read a story title "Behold the agelessness of these long-distance runners" in USA Today about people over 60 who are completing marathons and basking n the physical and spiritual benefits.  One example was 100 year old Fauja Singh who just finished a marathon within 8+ hours.  It became my goal to finish a marathon at 100.  I will keep his picture above my desk for inspiration. 

My grandmother lived to 100.  She walked briskly to answer a phone and did not look like a 100 year old.  I want that for me.  I want to be able to run at least one marathon each year until my 100 birthday.  Maybe then I will stop. I do not want to be in a wheelchair blowing out my candles.  I want to come to the finishing line and blow out the candles.

Today's question is:
"Do you have a goal for your 100th birthday?(maybe you should)?"

365QOD-Day279

"Wow.. last month was not very memorable!"- a conversation I had with myself in the last

The other day I sat down and did an inventory of my activities for the last month.  It does not take a very long time.  I write in my notebook what I eat, do, and read everyday.  So to review the last month all I have to do is open my notebook and read what I did last month.

In the month of September I had to move from Chicago area to Galveston TX.  This makes it memorable by itself.  It is not like I move every day.   Starting a new job with a new company and that also makes it memorable.

This is uncommon.  Most of our days are not memorable.  They look and feel like the day before and transition into the day after very smoothly.  If you sit down a week later and try to mentally reconstruct your day it becomes a challenge.  This is why I write a lot of details down.

At the end of the year I sit down and do a yearly audit and highlight the daily activities that make that day memorable.  In the end I have to strive to do something each day to make it memorable.  It is not always as easy as moving across the country.

Today's question is:
"What will you do today to make it a memorable day? Hint: do not go to sleep until it is"

365QOD-Day98

"But senor, I have that life now"- a better ending

The other night I was teaching an MBA class when we started discussing life goals.  I offered a story of life planning that I had heard many years ago.  The story appears at
http://www.livelearninvest.com/the-businessman-and-the-fisherman-story/

The animated version is on YouTube at:

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7JlI959slY&feature=player_embedded

 and a text version is shown below(I have make the original story bold to differentiate it from my work):

The businessman and the fisherman story
November 8th, 2006 by Kenric  

"A few years ago, a very rich businessman decides to take a vacation to a small tropical island in the South Pacific. He has worked hard all his life and has decided that now is the time to enjoy the fruits of his labor. He is excited about visiting the island because he’s heard that there is incredible fishing there. He loved fishing as a young boy, but hasn’t gone in years because he has been so busy working to save for his retirement.

So on the first day, he has his breakfast and heads to the beach. It’s around 9:30 am. There he spots a fisherman coming in with a large bucket full of fish!
How long did you fish for?� he asks. The fisherman looks at the businessman with a wide grin across his face and explains that the fishes for about three hours every day. The businessman then asks him why he returned so quickly.
Don’t worry�, says the fisherman, There’s still plenty of fish out there.�

Dumbfounded, the businessman asks the fisherman why he didn’t continue catching more fish. The fisherman patiently explains that what he caught is all he needs. I’ll spend the rest of the day playing with my family, talking with my friends and maybe drinking a little wine. After that I’ll relax on the beach.”

Now the rich businessman figures he needs to teach this peasant fisherman a thing or two. So he explains to him that he should stay out all day and catch more fish. Then he could save up the extra money he makes and buy and even bigger boats to catch even more fish. The he could keep reinvesting his profits in even more boats and hire many other fisherman to work for him. If he works really hard, in 20 or 30 years he’ll be a very rich man indeed.

The businessman feels pleased that he’s helped teach this simple fellow how to become rich. Then the fisherman looks at the businessman with a puzzled look on his face and asks what he’ll do after he becomes very rich.

The businessman responds quickly You can spend time with your family, talk with your friends, and maybe drink a little wine. Or you could just relax on the beach."

 The author debates from both perspective..
"This is an interesting story to me because I see myself on both sides of this story.  I can see myself as the businessman.  Invest, build a business, donate your time now and make as much money today so you can do the things you want when you are older.


I can also see myself as the fisherman.  Work only as much as you need to and spend the remaining time doing things you want to do now.


What I find ironic is that when I was reading this I was agreeing with the businessman about buying bigger boats, starting a company and generating passive income.  But then, reading from the fisherman’s perspective he is currently enjoying his afternoons. He only works three hours a day and makes enough to enjoy his life.  It’s obvious that the enjoyment of his life is not money dependent.


For every investor there needs to be a balance.  I think that reading this story is very timely for me because in a few weeks I will begin working part time only, 2-4 hours a day, just like the fisherman.  I am pretty sure I can survive indefinitely working part time.  Now I will have half a day free, everyday.  Should I spend it working on real estate and business? or should I spend it like the fisherman, doing this I want to do for fun? Obviously, I’m going to do both, I just have to balance it out properly."

I like the author can see both sides also BUT I tend to lean towards the fisherman's side.  It is important to enjoy what you are given because future rewards are not guaranteed.  The end of this post is a wonderful question:

Today's question is:
"How many of you would take 50% of your current salary if you could work 8am-12pm everyday?"-Mark Albion

365QOD-Day45

One of my favorite people to read is Roy S. Johnson.  He used to be the Editor in Chief for Men's Health.  One of his last articles is posted below:

Who would you be if you lost everything tomorrow?

by Roy S. Johnson

Most of us treat life as if it's a scavenger hunt. We scurry about
madly trying to gather things. Jobs. Money. Cars. Clothes. Homes. Women. (Or men.) We travel. We hang out. We eat, eat, eat. The more stuff, the more fun, the more more, the better. We're all guilty of it at some juncture—many of us are even Hall of Famers at it.

On the flip side, "hustle" is one of the keys to success. Many of the folks we admire for their accomplishments didn't achieve them by standing at the curb, waiting for success to drive by and offer them a ride. And often the spoils of success are, simply, All of the Above.

Unfortunately, we often define ourselves by the spoils. We become what we wear, what we drive, where we dine. We are where we live or vacation. It happens easily, comfortably. We become more proud of our "stuff" than of what it took for us to obtain it—intelligence, work ethic, integrity, passion, skill, and more. And, yes, sometimes luck.

In so doing, we diminish who we are, we dismiss our values. We ignore our core.

Today, ask yourself: "Who would I be if I had nothing?"

Not what would I be? (The probable answer: screwed!) But who . . .

Who would you be if the stuff you've obtained suddenly disappeared—poof, as if a magician had waved his wand?

Who then would you be? At your core.
Too many Americans are learning the answer these days. With unemployment hovering at around 9%, people are going months without work or income, without that which made them who they were. A catastrophic illness can strip away the stuff, too. A lost love can rip away your heart.
Who are you then?

I hope you never find yourself with nothing, with whatever stuff you've accumulated hauled off and gone.
But we should all act as if it just might happen, and ponder what—and who—we'd have left.
Would you still like you? Would you be proud of you? Would others love and respect you?
If your answers (honest answers) don't exactly thrill you, there's good news: You can work on it. Work on it as you do on your job, your relationship, your body. Work on it every day—push through plateaus and achieve new growth. In time, you'll not only like the answers, but you'll also find that the you you've created is more important than the stuff you've accumulated. Way more.

Ultimately, who we are is what we leave behind. Sure, you might have a will crammed with all kinds of stuff to leave your family and loved ones. But even if your estate is worth millions, it won't be as valuable as you and how you touched those around you, how you taught those around you—by your actions and words.
So make sure you like you when there's nothing else around.

Onward,
Roy S. Johnson




I aspire to write like him.

Today's question is:
"Who are you?"