365QOD-Day501

“Well done is better than well said.” - Benjamin Franklin

I recently read the article
14 Lessons From Benjamin Franklin About Getting What You Want In Life

from the website
http://www.dumblittleman.com/

I want to take each of the 14 points apart over the next couple of weeks.  In my opinion Ben is worth having his own label.   There is so much to be learned from studying his life.

From the article, the first of the 14 action-inducing lessons from him:  Less Talk, More Action

"Talk is cheap. Talking about a project won't get it completed. We all know people who constantly talk about the things they are going to do but rarely ever take that first step. Eventually people begin to question their credibility. Taking action and seeing the task through to completion is the only way to get the job done."

As I have mentioned before, I believe the 80/20 rule.  It comes up all of the time.  As a Project Manager, I believe that it is relevant in this case.  20% of your time should be spent communicating what you need to do and what is the status of your project.  You have to communicate but it can not be all about what you will do.  It must be preceeded and followed by action:
Communicate what you will do
Act
Act
Act
Act
Act
Act
Act
Act
Communicate what you did

Talk does not nudge the ball forward.  The only thing that nudges it forward is action. 

Today's question is:
"Do you want to talk about it or just do it?"

365QOD-Day500

"THANKS for your support" - RT

I keep writing.  I keep creating.  Hopefully I am getting to be a better writer and a higher level thinker.   

Recently I actually started to listen to the CDs that come with my Success magazines.  The magazine costs a little over 30 dollars per year for a monthly magazine.  The quality of the magazine is excellent. 

BUT the CD makes the price of the magazine irrelevant.  By itself the CD is worth the price of the magazine.  It I spend the month listening and re-listening to the CD while driving I would get so much more information than what I paid for.  If I pick up just one new idea that I implement, the cost is minimal.

The CD makes the package extra-ordinary. 

Today's question is:
"What makes you extra-ordinary?"

365QOD-Day499

"You become what you focus on" - Anonymous

I believe this to be true.  If you believe that you will succeed you will most likely succeed.  If you focus on why you will fail, you will most likely fail. 

I am a firm believer that it is not how you start BUT how you finish that is most important.  It does not matter if you are placed in situations where the opportunity can be found, if you never fully take advantage of it.

Most people are great starters.  I am one.  BUT most people are terrible finishers.  I am working on being a a better finisher. 

This blog is one of the tools I am using to become a better finisher.  It was tough to write a daily post for 365 days.  It would have been easy to stop writing after the 365th day and to say been there done that now it is over.  To continue writing it when I no longer have to is helping me develop a finisher attitude.

Currently I am editing my second book that is based on this blog.  The easy thing would have been to just dump all of the posts into a document and push it out to kindle.  I did not do so.  I felt that I owed my readers a great product.  I felt that to take the time to finish it properly would teach me to be a better finisher.

Today's question is:
"Are you a starter or a finisher?" 

365QOD-Day498

"Look Dad I did not fall"- Darren Hardy

I have been listening to a CD from Success magazine.  In it Darren tells a story about growing up with a father who was a coach. 

When Darren said this to his Dad, his father responded with "then you did not try hard enough?" Wow!

Most parents are supportive.  I remember running next to my kids, with my hand under their arm, for a mile or so until they could ride without falling.  Why?  Because I did not want them to fall like I did when riding for a first time. Man my arm, head, and leg were all scrapped up. 

So why did his dad take this approach?  I do not know but I believe there is wisdom in those words.  My thinking is that he wanted his son to stretch and not get too comfortable by not failing.  Maybe it is worse to fail at something tough than to succeed in something easy. 

Today's question is:
"Would you rather fail at something tough than to succeed in something easy?"

365QOD-Day497

"Quit Your Job and Get Big Raises" a book by Gordon Miller

My latest guilty pleasure is reading ebooks on my Galaxy Note phone.  With the rubber jacket on it the device is perfect for holding and reading.  I just love it.

The title of the book caught my eye and I read the book.  While reading it I kept thinking how loyalty has changed.  I wondered if companies or individuals have loyalty towards one another.

My conclusion is that they should not.  What!   It should be no surprise that loyalty has given way to skill building in the last decade.  The current recession has slowed the job changing but as soon as it recovers the flood will begin.

To me it boils down to expecting from others what you do not give.  A small company begins with trust and loyalty but as it grows the distance between the top and bottom grows and pretty soon can not be bridged. 

I do believe that cultures can be changed and if a company starts to act positively it will be rewarded with trust and loyalty.  Until then people are going to pick up new skills and sell them elsewhere.  This is a vicious cycle.

Today's question is:
"Do you feel loyal to your company or are you building your skill set?"

365QOD-Day496

"..that is different" - my reaction

For years I have designed logos.  I have several that I claim for myself. 

Over the years I have even thought about getting a line of good quality polo shirts that I would wear with my logo.  At one time I even wanted caps with it.

The other day I was watching something on TV and I noticed a guy with a logo on his hat.  What made it interesting is that the logo was not centered.  It was placed to the right of center.  If caught my eye and it stood out as being different. 

I immediately thought about the brand and how it made it noticeable.  It was off-beat.  It stood out.

Today's question is:
"What do you do that is off-beat that makes you stand out?"

365QOD-Day495

"The girl with a dragon tattoo"- tittle of a book

If one sits on the beach or by the pool for a while it is hard to not notice that almost all of the women and your girls sometimes have a tattoo.  Sometimes majority of their bodies is covered in ink.  Amazing!

IMHO, I always thought that on some women that a single tattoo looked fine but never cared for the tramp stamps. So why am I writing this post? 

I believe that uniqueness is important.  If everyone has them then one is no longer unique.  You are no longer you but are mimicking someone else.  I believe that we all fall to cultural pulls.  In and outside of companies there are norms which we adapt to in order to get along and fit in. 

BUT we should always understand what makes us unique.  What is truly you and what part is just the you that fits in.

Today's question is:
"What is unique about you?"

365QOD-Day494

"I got to blog about that" - a line from a McD commercial

There is a new commercial where two ladies, one young and white and another black and older, sitting next to each other at McDonald's.  The older lady asks what is that that you are eating.  The younger one says oatmeal with walnuts, blueberries, etc. 

The older lady says that in her days oatmeal was just oak and meal. Not this fancy stuff.
She then says that she has to blog about this.  A second later the young woman notices that the blog post goes viral. 

I love that commercial. 

To me the commercial brings up an important issue. What is worth talking about?  Or even better, what is worth writing a post?  I write on a lot of topics but it all boils down to my simple rule for me that is the QOD. 

Today's question is:
"Could you tell this as a story to someone, get them to learn something, pause to think about it, and inspire them to do something?"

365QOD-Day493

"A magazine and a CD...brilliant" - my thought

I love Success magazine.  My scurrent ubscription expired and I need to renew. 

Why do I love it?  Because the magazine focuses on improving oneself and provides a CD with interview or segments from different author's work. 

Every month you get a magazine and a CD.  You can pop the CD in the car and listen to it a bunch of times.  Listen to it to the point that the information sticks and makes a difference.

The CD by itself is worth more than the magazine.

Today's question is:
"What could you add to your product that would make you more desirable?"

365QOD-Day492

"Look day I did not fail"- Darren Hardy's words to his father

Imagine the pride on a child's face when the child can say those words to a parent.  You would think that pride would fill the parent's heart.  In Darren's world this did not happen.

His father told him that if he did not fail at least one time that day that he must not be stretching and trying hard enough.

Ouch.  It might sound painful but his father was correct.  If have reached a level at which you do not fail then you are not longer needing to try harder to get great results.  You must work hard to reach a higher level.

Today's question is:
"Did you fail while stretching today?" 

365QOD-Day491

"MVP" - most valuable priority

Not quite what you thought?  Why is that we can spot a player during the game that is the most valuable player but yet we constantly work on oririoties that are not our most valueable priority?

Start your day off slowly and ask yourself, "what are my top three MVPs?"  Then spend most of your day working towards accomplishing these.  If something else takes first place then do not frown and it will come in when it is ready.

Today's question is:
"What are your top three MVPs?"

365QOD-Day490

"If a butterfly flaps its wings, a tsunami occurs across the world" - common belief known as the butterfly effect

I think this is an example of a ridiculous belief.  How can it be?  Just think about the number of tsunamis there would exist in the world and the number of butterflies in the world.  We should be seeing a constant tsunami.

Since there are not that many tsunamis it must conclude that a single butterfly can not cause the effect. 
BUT it still remains a common belief.  So was that the Earth is flat.

Today's question is:
"How do you conclude when a common belief if completely false?"

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-Day485

"That is creating" - my response

I watched a story on NBC evening news last night about Sam Klein.  He is a 11 year old CEO.  Started a company when he was 6.

Most kids that age start a lemonade stand.  What a bad idea.  The costs and time exceed the profits.

Sam started a business where he collects old cartridges from business and trash and re-cycles them.  How much does he make?  In the segment he showed a UPS box and said 100-200 dollars.

That is a lot of lemonade!  This is a kid that is thinking outside that box that other kids put themselves in.  Good for him.  He created a job for himself that he can do even when he is in college.

Today's question is:
'How can you make additional money?" 

365QOD-Day484

"..creare globally recognized tests that define mastery, which ignores whether the student has come upon that knowledge at Oxford or by sitting in his basement watching videos"- Salman Kan

The world is changing.  Ability to access data is so great.  If a person makes it a goal to learn a subject and can pass a test at a reasonable level then they have mastered the material.

All a particular school provides to a person is credibility.  They grant a diploma that states taht the person attended courses and passed exams required to reach a certain level of learning.

The biggest hurdle to doing the above is that schools  provide a system that is recognized.  Employees look to that system as an input.  If the employers are willing to accept the results from a recognized tests, then the world opens up and anyone from anywhere can reach for any job.

In my opinion this could be a very interesting business opportunity.

Today's question is:
"Would you hire a person who self- taught themselves for a job?"

365QOD-Day483

"Khan Academy..A place where teachers make what an engineer would make, where the ideas we have can be on display"- Salman Khan

This pisses me off.  It is income envy.  If someone wants to study to get an education degree, God bless them.  But for them to bitch and moan that they do not get paid enough is wrong.

Judging by the folks who went into education, it was not the best of the best.  As a matter of fact some of the biggest party animals in school were education majors. 

I am yet to meet a person who graduated with an education degree that would have been successful as an engineer.  The skill set is just not there.  Most education majors are general and could not teach an advanced math course if their life depended on it.  Put a Calculus book in front of one and see the smoke coming out of their ears.

The line often given is that they teach the future generation and that is important.  The market, even though people do not want to believe it, is not cruel.  It evaluates your contribution and it sets a price for the business to make a profit off of your activities.  If it looses money then it eventually goes out of business and someone figures out how to do it better and more economically.

Everyone has a purpose and a place.  You can not elevate yourself by putting someone else down.  You can not raise yourself by simply wanting it.  It must be followed by meaningful work.

I bet most engineers would take the pay cut to reduce their level of stress or hours they work.

Today's question is:
"How would you like a two month vacation?"

365QOD-Day482

"How?" - my reaction

While reading a story on home prices I noticed an interesting twist.  The title of the USA Today story was "Home prices gain in most major cities".

In it there was a table of the top 20 cities and percentage change vs. a year ago.  Some cities had positive rates and some were negative.  The bottom of the table was a 20 city composite -2.6%.

When I read this I wondered if the author of the piece has any idea what they are stating in the title.  How could you title a story that there is a gain when the composite is a loss.

I know that as people we often have reactions to new people.  Using our insights we sometimes miss label people as being one way and over time we might correct ourselves.  Recently I worked with a gentlemen who rubbed me the wrong way the first time we met. Man was I wrong.  He was just being sarcastic but I took him as being serious.  I now enjoy his sense of humor and the quality of his work.  I was wrong.

Today's question is:
"Have you completely labeled something as being one thing when it is completely another?

365QOD-Day481

"Consistent is better than once in a while"- advice given to me

The other day I had a conversation with an electrical designer working with me.  He told me a story how when he was young electrician he was asked to provide a source for a system.  In order to do that he had to run conduit along a wall.

Since he was new to his position he went out of his way to do a great job.  He wanted to make sure that the conduit was level so he used his tools to make sure it was so.

Next day one of his bosses took him out to the job site and told him to pull back and look at his job in respect to the other conduits in the area.  His looked perfect but it did not match existing.  Since all of the other conduits were slightly off his stood out as being wrong.  Even though his was the only one that was perfectly level it looked like a mistake.

The moral of that story is that the new has to match existing otherwise it looks wrong.

Today's question is:
"Do you always match existing or do you want to be different?" 

365QOD-Day480

"The Opposite of Loneliness" - an article title by Marina Keegan

Today I read the article below.  It broke my heart.  A 22 year old woman who wrote it passed away in a car accident shortly after writing it. What a waste.

I believe that we are all given a certain amount of time to fulfill our quest.  We meet people along the way that touch our hearts and move us.  The rest just slide off of us. 

The sad part is that we never know when or if our quest will get completed.  All we can do is to work towards it.  We can however chose how we gently touch the people along the way.  I believe that this article and her story urges us to believe in a future but realize that the future is not guaranteed and it can be cut short rather quickly.

Today's question is:
"Will your quest be complete if it was interrupted today?"

The article can be found at:
http://www.yaledailynews.com/news/2012/may/27/keegan-opposite-loneliness/

KEEGAN: The Opposite of Loneliness

Marina Keegan '12. Photo by Facebook.

The piece below was written by Marina Keegan '12 for a special edition of the News distributed at the class of 2012's commencement exercises last week. Keegan died in a car accident on Saturday. She was 22.

We don’t have a word for the opposite of loneliness, but if we did, I could say that’s what I want in life. What I’m grateful and thankful to have found at Yale, and what I’m scared of losing when we wake up tomorrow and leave this place.

It’s not quite love and it’s not quite community; it’s just this feeling that there are people, an abundance of people, who are in this together. Who are on your team. When the check is paid and you stay at the table. When it’s four a.m. and no one goes to bed. That night with the guitar. That night we can’t remember. That time we did, we went, we saw, we laughed, we felt. The hats.

Yale is full of tiny circles we pull around ourselves. A cappella groups, sports teams, houses, societies, clubs. These tiny groups that make us feel loved and safe and part of something even on our loneliest nights when we stumble home to our computers — partner-less, tired, awake. We won’t have those next year. We won’t live on the same block as all our friends. We won’t have a bunch of group-texts.

This scares me. More than finding the right job or city or spouse – I’m scared of losing this web we’re in. This elusive, indefinable, opposite of loneliness. This feeling I feel right now.

But let us get one thing straight: the best years of our lives are not behind us. They’re part of us and they are set for repetition as we grow up and move to New York and away from New York and wish we did or didn’t live in New York. I plan on having parties when I’m 30. I plan on having fun when I’m old. Any notion of THE BEST years comes from clichéd “should haves...” “if I’d...” “wish I’d...”

Of course, there are things we wished we did: our readings, that boy across the hall. We’re our own hardest critics and it’s easy to let ourselves down. Sleeping too late. Procrastinating. Cutting corners. More than once I’ve looked back on my High School self and thought: how did I do that? How did I work so hard? Our private insecurities follow us and will always follow us.

But the thing is, we’re all like that. Nobody wakes up when they want to. Nobody did all of their reading (except maybe the crazy people who win the prizes…) We have these impossibly high standards and we’ll probably never live up to our perfect fantasies of our future selves. But I feel like that’s okay.
We’re so young. We’re so young. We’re twenty-two years old. We have so much time. There’s this sentiment I sometimes sense, creeping in our collective conscious as we lay alone after a party, or pack up our books when we give in and go out – that it is somehow too late. That others are somehow ahead. More accomplished, more specialized. More on the path to somehow saving the world, somehow creating or inventing or improving. That it’s too late now to BEGIN a beginning and we must settle for continuance, for commencement.

When we came to Yale, there was this sense of possibility. This immense and indefinable potential energy – and it’s easy to feel like that’s slipped away. We never had to choose and suddenly we’ve had to. Some of us have focused ourselves. Some of us know exactly what we want and are on the path to get it; already going to med school, working at the perfect NGO, doing research. To you I say both congratulations and you suck.

For most of us, however, we’re somewhat lost in this sea of liberal arts. Not quite sure what road we’re on and whether we should have taken it. If only I had majored in biology…if only I’d gotten involved in journalism as a freshman…if only I’d thought to apply for this or for that…

What we have to remember is that we can still do anything. We can change our minds. We can start over. Get a post-bac or try writing for the first time. The notion that it’s too late to do anything is comical. It’s hilarious. We’re graduating college. We’re so young. We can’t, we MUST not lose this sense of possibility because in the end, it’s all we have.

In the heart of a winter Friday night my freshman year, I was dazed and confused when I got a call from my friends to meet them at EST EST EST. Dazedly and confusedly, I began trudging to SSS, probably the point on campus farthest away. Remarkably, it wasn’t until I arrived at the door that I questioned how and why exactly my friends were partying in Yale’s administrative building. Of course, they weren’t. But it was cold and my ID somehow worked so I went inside SSS to pull out my phone. It was quiet, the old wood creaking and the snow barely visible outside the stained glass. And I sat down. And I looked up. At this giant room I was in. At this place where thousands of people had sat before me. And alone, at night, in the middle of a New Haven storm, I felt so remarkably, unbelievably safe.

We don’t have a word for the opposite of loneliness, but if we did, I’d say that’s how I feel at Yale. How I feel right now. Here. With all of you. In love, impressed, humbled, scared. And we don’t have to lose that.
We’re in this together, 2012. Let’s make something happen to this world.

365QOD-Day479

"A EE to lead McD!" - my reaction

The other day I read a story that Don Thompson will be the new CEO for McDonald.  His predecessor Jim Skinner is about to retire.

Two thoughts flew through my mind.  I have a EE degree and am not surprised that another Electrical Engineer leads an organization.  EE degree is pretty challenging and one has to obtain a pretty good level of problem solving.  BUT being an engineering degree it lacks the people portion to make one a great CEO.

The second thought was about following after a person who was great at his job and made McD very profitable and change embracing periods.  He will need both problems solving and communication skills to raise his leadership level and continue the success of the organization.


Today's question is:
"How do you raise your level of thinking above your training?"

365QOD-Day478

"I am just waiting for an opportunity" - a belief

It is better to be prepared for an opportunity even if an opportunity does not come than to have an opportunity and wasting it by not being prepared.  So how do you prepare?

I love the word hustle.  Not in the sense of hustling others but in the sense of doing something.

It is not uncommon for people to wait for things to come to them.  They know they want something and are hoping for that to fall into their lap without any work.

I believe that you must hustle while waiting for an opportunity.  Keep moving and adjusting.  The opportunity might come or it might not but by moving you will be on your toes ready and not on your heals resting.

You have to fight for what you want.  If you want something then hustle towards it.  Keep confident that your motion will eventually lead to an opening to strike.  A moving target is also harder to hit.  It makes you less attack prone. 

Today's question is:
"Are you hustling or resting?"

365QOD- Day477

"Life sucks" - a post on my daughter's page

Recently I sent a Skype invite to talk to my daughter Stefani.  When she did not respond, I instant messaged her a question, "Why does life suck?"

Her response was "A particular person and math."  I can not help her with the person BUT I offered to help her with math.

Has she taken me up on it? No!

Maybe I suck at math.  I do not think that is true.

How good am I in math?   Well, I have had 5 math courses (Calculus and above) as an undergraduate, 4 for my Masters, and 2 for my doctoral work.  In addition, I have instructed college courses up to advanced Calculus.  I probably know more math than 99.99999% of the people on the planet.  That is not an exaggeration.

So why doesn't my daughter call and get help?  A very good question.  It could be just being prideful.  It could be just "too busy".  You know how busy teenagers get.  LOL

Today's question is:
"What keeps you from seeking qualified help when it is available?"

365QOD-Day476

"I quit." - a co-worker's last words

Recently a very highly qualified co-worker quit.  He was a recently hired for an outage I am working on and he left before it was completed. 

The final straw that broke the camel's back will never be known.  I knew that he was under a lot of pressure and seemed to manage it well.  On surface at times things can be very misleading.  He only knew the stress he was under. 


Today's question is:
"What will make you quit your job?"

365QOD-Day475

"I create my own reality"- my belief

If you believe that other people shape your destiny, you are right.  If you believe you shape your destiny, you are right.

However, when we believe it is others then we give away any control we have to change the direction.  We might not be able to drastically change our destiny BUT we can instantaneously change our current direction.

For example, I recently have been working very long hours and not been able to exercise like I normally do.  This has resulted in a five pound weight gain. 

So my eventual destiny, if I continue, will be lead to a heavier me.  I can however take small directional changes by eating less and trying to squeeze some exercise in when I can get it done.  These small changes might lead to a better destination. 

For example, I stared packing myself a small zip bad full of nuts and dried fruits.  If I feel hungry I grab a few.  It helps me from getting into the starving mode.  It is a small directional change.

Today's question is:

 "Can you make a small directional change?"
 

365QOD-Day474

"Smart or lucky?" - a choice

Several years ago I read a short book by that tittle.  The successful author concludes this wonderful book by answering the question that many had asked him, "Are you smart or lucky?" by saying that he was smart enough to know when he was getting lucky.

I believe that this is a wonderful response.    Why look at the world as simply black or white.  Why do things have to be this OR that?  Why can't they be both?

Today's question is:
"Do you use the AND word often?"

365QOD-Day473

"Get off your assets!"- an expression I heard on the radio

Last weekend while driving home and listening to talk radio I heard the MBA abbreviation and this phrase.  They were from Laural Lengemier commercial.

She specializes in taking folks from desperate to the millionaire track by simply taking account of what they are enjoying for hobbies and converting that into cash machine generators.

Most people do not think creatively and sell themselves short when it comes to their talents. 

Today's question is:
"What hobby can you convert into a cash machine?"

365QOD-Day472

"FU Diploma and FU Money"- from an earlier post

Early on when I started writing this blog I did a post on the importance of having both FU money and FU diploma.   I showed examples where having only one was not enough.

In yesterday's post I talked about how the importance of an MBA has been reduced.  Many folks do not benefit from getting it because they are not ready for the knowledge.

Last week I was listening to a show and heard the expression
MBA- Massive Bank Account

I love that abbreviation.  It would be nice to have an MBA degree and have an MBA account.

Today's question is:
"Do you have an MBA account?"

365QOD-Day471

"MBA..everyone's got one" - my thought

I have instructed MBA courses since summer of 2004.  Many of the students in my courses did not benefit from the degree. 

Yes, they were presented knowledge.  BUT they did not have business experience to make the information relevant.  I tried to make it relevant by putting them in situations where they had to think and apply.

I believe that for most people it is just a degree and they never reach the learning level.

Today's question is:
"What do you have that certifies your level but you still feel that you lack?"

365QOD-Day470

"It fits" - the relief expressed when the last piece solves the puzzle

The other day I read an April 23rd issue of Forbes.  In the issue there was a story about Golan Leven.
He is a professor at Carnegie Mellon.

Mr. Leven has constructed a 45 piece free universal construction kit that allows people to connect pieces from different games such as Lego and wooden blocks together to create a new bigger final results.

These missing pieces extend the possibilities for each type of game.  They allow one to print them out on a 3D printer and use them.  He has not been sued because he is not replacing any one of the game pieces but providing an extension to the set.

Today's question is:
"What pieces are missing in your toolkit that if they existed could make you a more complete?"

365QOD-Day469

"You do not have to be great but you have to be consistent"- Anonymous

I believe this quote.  In my book the routines we set up can get us through most of life's challenges.  They have to be good routines.  They can's just be routines of bad choices.

There is a reason why people brush their teeth every day.  The routine helps reduce cavities and improves general dental health. 

Most of us don't floss.  Even though that routine has been shown to further improve our health.  One amazing fact about flossing is that people that floss often times look up to 8 years younger than their same age counterparts that don't floss.  WOW!

Even though I know this fact, I only floss when needed( something is stuck and can not get out).  Why?  It is not a part of a routine.  I need to make it.  Not for vanity sake but for health sake.

It is strange why I know better but not to do better.  I need to make a commitment to do it for a while until the routine becomes a habit. Starting today...

Today's question is:
"Do you floss?"

365QOD-Day468

"Man that is too close" - my thought

A while back I wrote a post that talked about how 58% of folks could not come up with $2000 if it was an emergency.  25% of people making 75k-100k also could not come up with the $2000 (2k).  The lesson in those two facts is that most Americans do not have much savings. 

Recently I read a USA Today article that presented the following facts:
                     2009        2011
No savings     18.5%     23.4%
1-1.5k           21.6%     18.2%
1.6-10k         29.4%     25.4%
10k-50k        18.7%     18.4%
>50k             11.8%     14.6%

So more people have no savings today compared to two years ago.  Of the ones that have up to 10k it is even less today than two years ago. Even up to 50k it is less people that have it available.  The only group that is getting larger is the group that has more than 50k.

Additionally 10% of families owe more than 30k in unsecured dept.  This is up from 8.5% in 2009.

2k is a minor emergency.  I believe that even 10k would not cover a major emergency such as a medical problem for which one has to come up with out of pocket funds.  Or if a job is lost and no income is coming in, how long can one live off of 10k?

The realy great news is that nearly  50%  of families have no debt at all from credit cards and other unsecured loans.  So there is a large group that is trying to not get in a hole.

Today's question is:
"How close are you to the no savings edge, and what is your plan to get out of the hole?"

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-Day466

"Got to think global" - my conclusion

Third suggestion is: "How can I find these people?"

Last year when I was looking for a job I interviewed in Russia, England, Azerbaijan, Angola, California, and Texas.  I eventually moved to Texas.  But it taught me to look globally because some of the job were very interesting.  From finance to instrumentation to project management to engineering, etc..

Why Texas?  Well, the opportunities were here.  When I look out of my window to the north of me is Texas City.  There are so many refineries and chemical plants that at night it looks like a Christmas show.

God bless the smell of money.  Texas by far has the most stable job situation of any state.

I could have stayed in Indiana.  BUT there were no offers that matched what I was making or what I wanted to make so move I had to.  Believe me it was not easy.  A lot of soul searching.  

Today's question is:
"Where can you make what you want to make?"

365QOD-Day465

"I got skills." - a common belief

Second suggestion is:
"Which of them will people pay me to use?"

If you think you know how to do something, then try to get paid for it.  If no one will pay, you are an amateur.  You need to get better or get an opportunity to get started.

Someone has to believe in you.  That person is you.  If you can not sell yourself on it then you will not be able to sell other people in it.  This is why preparing for interviews is kind of easy for me.  I either can do the job and can sell myself on it or simply tell the interviewer that I am not the right person.

Today's question is:
"Who(or what company) will pay you to use your skill?"

365QOD-Day464

"Train yourself to think like an entrepreneur." - advice from Laura Vanderkam

First suggestion is:
"What skills do I have or can I learn that I enjoy using?"

In business there are generalists and specialists.  Which one are you?

A specialist has a particular skill.  They either went to school for it or picked it up on the job.   They are very knowledgeable.  They might not be the most knowledgeable person on the topic in the world BUT for a particular group or company they are it.  These folks are paid well.

A generalist is someone who might have started of as a specialist i.e. Henry Ford,  and later on evolved to be the founder, owner, and CEO of the company.  He prided himself on being a generalist.  Once during a trial he was belittled because he was ignorant (not a specialist).  His response was that if he needs a lawyer, he hires a lawyer.  If he needs an engineer, he hires an engineer.  As a generalist he was paid very very well.

So pick up some skill, get good at it, and eventually transition into a generalist.  Simple?  No. Worthwhile? Yes!

Today's question is:
"What skill do you have or can you learn that you would enjoy using?"

365QOD-Day463

"I don't have to know everything, if you can figure out everything" - advice

Laura Vanderkam, All the Money in the World, author's third premise is that
"Every dollar is a choice.  How I earn it and spend it If I want more than I have now to achieve big goals, I can figure a way to get it."

A few years ago I wrote out what I wanted to make next year and within the next two years.  Everyone of my desires was in writing and it came true within the period of time.  Amazing!

Note that I had not just set my mind to a goal BUT followed it with actions to get to the next level.  I had to raise my level in order to reach the next level.

One of the reasons why I did not become a doctor is because they memorize a lot of facts.  As an engineer I have to believe in myself that I can figure it out.  As a cREATOR(with a small c) I can create what I need to get to the goal.

Today's question is:
"Do you believe in yourself enough that you can figure out a way to get what you want?"

365QOD-Day462

"I don't have to know everything, if you can figure out everything" - advice

Laura Vanderkam, All the Money in the World, author's second premise is that
"If I want more than I have now to achieve big goals, I can figure a way to get it."

A few years ago I wrote out what I wanted to make next year and within the next two years.  Everyone of my desires was in writing and it came true within the period of time.  Amazing!

Note that I had not just set my mind to a goal BUT followed it with actions to get to the next level.  I had to raise my level in order to reach the next level.

One of the reasons why I did not become a doctor is because they memorize a lot of facts.  As an engineer I have to believe in myself that I can figure it out.  As a cREATOR(with a small c) I can create what I need to get to the goal.

Today's question is:
"Do you believe in yourself enough that you can figure out a way to get what you want?"

365QOD-Day461

"People are happiest about money operate under three premises of wealth, a word that has less to do with quantity than with outlook"- Laura Vanderkam, All the Money in the World

The first premise is
"I have enough.  There are some people in this world who have more, but also plenty with less"

To me it is easy to believe this statement.  I live in a studio apartment.  I have plenty of space.  When I lived in a two bedroom apartment I had more space BUT I am now content with my studio apartment.

I realize that there are people that have homes that measure several thousand square feet.  God bless them.  I wish them a bigger house and more stuff.  No I am not being funny. 

There are also people who would look at my small studio and consider it large.  Maybe even a large family would be able to occupy the same space.  I also wish them a bigger house and more stuff.

I have enough.

Today's question is:
"Do you have enough?"

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-Day459

"I can not stop watching this" - my thought

I have a new addiction.  It is hardcore pawn.  This show is nuts!  Full of crazy characters.

Why is it that I can not get enough?  It shows what people do when they are desperate.

Typically, the person comes in happy go lucky.  Politely tells the store person what they want to sell.  The person asks how much they want for it.  The person quickly tells them.  The store person asks them why they want to sell it(it establishes how desperate they are).  The store person then asks them what is the lowest they would take.

Sometimes the person cuts their price in half.  Eventually the store person offers them a lot lower amount.  The person either accepts or gets belligerent.  They are so upset that they did not get their way.

Today's question is:
"What have you learned from your guilty pleasure?"

365QOD-Day458

"The positive effect of self-help is temporary BUT so is daily bathing" - my version of Jim Rohn's classic

Nothing lasts forever.  You hear that phrase all of the time.

Temporarily we can tell ourselves that we are something or can do something .  We might actually believe it.  In a study by Polivy and Herman found that 87% people believed their declarations of self change BUT in a few weeks their self-image was worse than before declaration.

The declarations have to be believed and have to be followed with action that supports the belief.

Suppose you want to change X and you decide for it to be Y.  Now you must set out the action steps Y1, Y2, Y3, and so on that would lead you to a permanent change. 

Just saying the positive thing you want to be is delusional but with action it can become reality.

Today's question is:
"Are you repeating affirmations or are you taking actions?"

 

365QOD-Day457

"I am not a self help guy, I am a strategist" - Tony Robbins (not exact words but pretty close)

Last night I was watching Piers Morgan's show on which Tony was a guest for a half hour on .  He uttered words that he did not just see himself as a rah rah kind of guy but that he is a strategist.

The interviewer even mentioned that Tony has a client that pays him 1M+ every year to meet with him a few times a year and work on strategy.  Wow!

Being familiar with Tony's work it did not surprise me that he speaks and motivates but he considered his brand to be more of a strategist.  It makes sense but I would have never thought that would be his one word that he uses to describe himself.

In a past post I mentioned that I use cREATOR (with a small c) to describe myself.  This took me about eight hours of thinking to come up withthe word. 

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

365QOD-Day456

"Give it to me one more time" - my thought when I feel that I had missed something

Often times we are given pieces of a puzzle.  The last eight days gave the individual pieces of flow.
In case you missed them:
1. working toward a clear goal with a dell defined process
2. cultivating deep concentration
3 lack of sense of self-consciousness
4 altered state of time
5. ongoing, direct feedback
6. task is highly challenging but doable
7. control over means
8. activity is meaningful or intrinsically rewarding

In my opinion the greater the number the deeper the state.  I think it is possible that you could have all eight elements but six would definitely feel great. 

My advice is to sit down and on a piece of paper create a column with the eight pieces and across the top create a row of different activities you are involved.  Once you have created this matrix, ask yourself whether the element is present in the activity.  Again, six or greater, IMHO, would make it easy to enter that state.

Today's question is:
"How many activities had at least 6 for you?"

365QOD-Day455

"I don't care about that" - a belief 

The last element of flow is that the activity is meaningful or intrinsically rewarding.

How would I explain this?  Well, I run because I enjoy running.  It is  fun.

Most artist don't paint for paycheck.  Painting is who they are.  It is their oxygen

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

365QOD-Day454

"Nope can't do that" - a belief

The seventh element of flow is to have control over means.

If I am asked to manage a group but I have no ability to reward or punish that group then I do not have control.  I would be a puppet.

If I am asked to do a job but I do not have enough funds then I do not have control.

If I need any resource and do not have it BUT I need it to accomplish a job, I have no control.

Today's question is:
"How do you identify when you have control over means?"

365QOD-Day453

"Man, I can do it" - self-talk

Sixth element of flow is that the task is highly challenging but doable.

Human beings are complex.  Just as we like some things to be easy, we also like for some things to be challaneging.

We need the challenge to stretch.  Without stretching we die.  But we also need to stretch without breaking.
If we are given an impossible task then we just give up.

So the task must be doable and challenging BUT not impossible that we would give up.

Today's question is:
"What are you working on that is highly challenging but doable?"

365QOD-Day452

"That doesn't seem right." - self-talk

The fifth element of flow is  ongoing, direct feedback

I used to teach programming to new engineering students.  Many of them had never done programming so trying to get them to understand the programming process was a challenge.

When writing programs, these days, one begins by opening an IDE- integrated developmental environment such as Microsoft Visual Studio.  The student then enters a small snippet of a program.  The program is the compiled.  After the student cleans up any errors, the student compiles it again.

Once the compiling comes back without any errors, the program is linked with needed libraries.  If there are any issues with the libraries the IDE lets the student know.  Lastly, an execution file is created.  Once that execution file is executed the student gets a result.  If the result is not what the student intended, the student begins the process again by changing the code.

It is a wonderful process.  It provides for ongoing, direct feedback.  The computer does not care who you are but it will evaluate your logic and give you the result you deserve.

Today's question is:
"How do you get ongoing, direct feedback?"

365QOD-Day451

"Where did the time go?" - my thinking out loud

The fourth element of flow is an altered state of time

Many times I have worked on class notes while listening to music.  The music provided the rhythm.  The flow provided a momentum. 

The combination of flow and rhythm allowed me to enter an altered state of time.  I would look up and the day was over.  Time felt like it stood still but yet flew by as if in the blink of an eye.  Both still and fast in teh same time.

Today's question is:
"Have you ever lost time while being in the flow?"

365QOD-Day450

"Archimedes was contemplating a mathematical diagram when the city was captured. A Roman soldier commanded him to come and meet General Marcellus but he declined, saying that he had to finish working on the problem. The soldier was enraged by this, and killed Archimedes with his sword."- Wikipedia

Third element of flow is  the lack of sense of self-consciousness.

The quote above is the ultimate example of  losing yourself in the flow.  Archimedes was rumored to have been working on an idea when soldiers entered his place.  They tried to get his attention but he ignored them  He was most likely not even aware of them  It lead to his death. 

Typical everyday example would be when you were working on a task and people walk into the room, you simply do not notice them, and are startled by being touched on the shoulder.  At that moment you have lost the sense of self-consciousness.

Today's question is:
"Have you ever been startled while doing something?(What were you working on?)"

365QOD-Day449

"If I could only concentrate, I could get this done"- my frustrated thought

The second element of flow is cultivating deep concentration.

Most of our lives are spent on walking through life.  We are seldom in the present.  We think about the past
or the future and believe that we multitask through the present.

So what does cultivating deep concentration look like?  In the book Career Renegade the author gives the example of playing ping pong. 

Ping pong action comes so fast towards you that you must focus on the ball.  You could not let your thoughts wonder away even for a a micro micro second.  You must be in the flow to return the ball across the net.

Is this only sports related?  Nope.  I have experienced the same feeling deriving a proof in my graduate courses.  I was so involved and moving through the steps that I felt like smoke was going to come out of my ears.

Today's question is:
"What were you doing when you entered flow through deep concentration?"

365QOD-Day448

"Flow with it...." - 70s advice

In many previous posts I discussed the idea of flow.  Flow is a concept that was introduced by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi( pronounced cheeks-sent-me high). 

Even though I know what it is, I could not accurately describe the elements that are critical in importance to be able to enter flow.  The book Career Renegade discusses some of these.  Over next several posts I will discuss each one.

First element of flow is Working toward a clear goal with a well defined process.

When working on large projects it is very easy to become discouraged.  It can be overwhelming.  But the task, whether it is bog or small, must be defined very clearly.  In other words you must know all of the major objectives that need to be hit in order to reach the goal. (refer to an earlier post on GOSPAL technique for more detailed discussion)

You need to be able to clearly state the objectives and visualizing them would be very helpful.  If you can not state them and visualize your objectives, then you are not going to get there efficiently.

Today's question is:
"Can you clearly state and visualize your Objectives?"

365QOD-DAy447

"Imagine you woke up this morning to a phone call saying you had won the state lottery.  It was all yours, but there was a condition:
1. You had to continue to work for the rest of your life
and
2. you could use the money to live on,
but
3. NOT to fund any professional endeavor. 

Now, what would you do?" - Jonathan Fields, Career Renegade book
(I added the numbers and the spacing for emphasis)

Often times you hear people saying  "I don't have passion. I just got work to do."  Most people have a job and do not work on their passion.

This is why I found this quote in a book, Career Renegade, that I am reading useful.  If this scenario could be true then wouldn't you want it to happen after you started your dream job.  I suspect that dream job is where your passion would be.  Maybe you would fund the "professional endeavor" before you got the money.

Why wait?

Today's question is:
"If money was no issue, what work would you do?"

365QOD-Day446

"Shazam!"- app name

I can't stop saying that out loud.  I downloaded this app a couple of weeks ago and have just fallen in love with it.

Man it used to bug me that when a song was playing and I had no clue what it was that I could not figure it out.  No more!  Now I just tag it.

It allows me to immediately know what the song is.  In a second or two.

I can not help but think that anytime we are bugged by something that there is a business idea behind it.  What other information do I crave instantly?  Name of a person in front of me that I have met but can not remember.  I can see the meeting time and place but their name escapes me.   Is there an app for that?  Hummm...

Today's question is:
"What is bugging you that an app could fix?"

365QOD-Day445

"Can't be everything to everyone"- advice I often hear

It is hard not to want to please people.  I have a hard time saying no.  Even though I know I should say more no more often than yes, it is usually the other way around.

The other day I had approved overtime for  a group that was working for me.  This was after I had turned it down.  I was swayed my their second request and I changed my mind.

However, by my supervisors in the field I was told that the work did not get done.  I went to inspect and it sure did not.

Not only was I paying for OT but the work did not get completed.  So I went back and pulled back my approval.

I had to do that.  Just because I approved after being presented with a plea did not mean that I approved no work to be done and for me to pay for it.  This was not acceptable.

Today's question is:
"Have you ever cancelled your approval?"

365QOD-Day444

"You do not know anything until you have actually done it"- a comment made to me

A few years ago I wrote a book on ETF trading.  I never published it but simply used portions of it to teach MBA courses on how to invest.  It was fun to see the students apply the knowledge I was passing on to trade ETFs.

I wrote about it, taught it, so I must know it? Well, there is a difference between theory and practice.  In theory I know everything that is to ETFs.  Well maybe most things I I needed to know.

However, when I actively started to trade I quickly learned that I knew what to do but my execution sucked.  Of course I thought it was the brokerage company.  Maybe it was lack of real time data.

Nope it was me.  Until I started to actually do it a lot, I did not know the many little steps that I failed to absorb and apply. 

Today's question is:
"What do you know in theory BUT would have a difficult time applying?"

365QOD-Day443

"If we just close a few clients and just buy some search campaign, then we'll be generating revenue in no time!  Of course, we didn't understand until six months in, when each of our 'just' took twice as we expected and were four times more challenging.  Today, it's a mantra we live by internally: There is no such thing as 'just' "- Jesse Pujji, founder of Ampush Social

When trying to execute an idea we often become very hopeful.  Our plans become grandiose and as the article said 'just' is one of the most dangerous 4-letter words in the dictionary.  The quote is from Best Advice I ever Got column in Inc. magazine

It is good to be positive.  The other extreme, total negativity, does not serve to move us forward at all. 

But how much is enough?  Just enough to nudge us forward while questioning the validity of the move.  Do something that you believe is the best move that will nudge you forward but expect to have to sidestep and recover from an unforeseen.

Most of all believe in the move.  Without the belief the move forward will only be a half a step and not a full step.  Landing a full step provides stability when landing.  You can still be going in the wrong direction.  But once landed, you can quickly change.  In my experience changing in the middle of a half step causes an imbalance and a fall.  Your brain is processing the 'wrongness' of the step and trying to correct.  I believe that we need to finish the step, pause to evaluate, and then take another step forward.

Today's question is:
'Have you ever recovered your footing when interrupted while stepping forward a half a step?"

365QOD-Day442

"It is a thin line between being committed and getting committed"- Runner's world 

Each day presents us with choices.  Do we do what we say we are going to do or do we slip?

In my opinion the quote above teaches us that we need to be committed to our goals without obsessing.
How do you decide?

I believe a goal has to provide a pull forward.  You see the goal as naturally fitting you.  However, if that goal is pushing you forward then you are going to get committed. Being pushed to do anything involves pressure from others or work.

Today's question is:
"Are you being pushed or pulled?"

365QOD-Day441

"Do place you your fate in people"- advice given to me

By nature I have fate in people.  I hope for the best.  Often people will ride high and will have my fate.

However, eventually people let me down. Maybe this is simply human nature.

I need to be clear.  I am not looking for perfection.  People are people.  If they were perfect they would be god like.  Since we are not god, I am looking for consistancy.  If you say you are going to do X then simply do X.  Don't overpromise and underdeliver.

This is something I have recently been dealing with on vendor side and on people side.  Many companies while dating will promise you the world that they can do X but sometimes even before they start will pull back from X.  So do you continue the dance?  Sometimes you do not have a choice.  Unfortunately, with vendors you might not have the flexibility to stop dating because the job needs to be done and contracts have been signed.
 
But what do you do when people disappoint you?  Do you just simply give them another chance or do you drop them out of your life?  I have done both.  In my opinion the smartest thing to do is to over time limit the access to inconsistant people.

Today's question is:
"How do you deal with people that can not keep their word?"

365QOD-Day440

"So did you waste your first 16060 days?"- Ron Wheeler

Today I had a conversation with Ron.  During the conversation I told him my vacation story from 2010 when I heard Joel Osteen tell his audience to number their days. For me the number of my remaining days rounded up to 21000.

His question, 44 years times 365 days, made me pause during the conversation.  Were the first 44 years of my life a waste?  The obvious answer is no.  Maybe not as productive as they could have been. 

Consider the math. If you live to be a 100 years old, you wil live 36500 days.  I am not even at the half-way point.  Since I am not where I want to be, I need to come up with a plan.

Today's question is:
"What is your plan for your second act?"

365QOD-Day439

"Don't underestimate what you know" - advice to a fellow passenger

Lately, I usually download a movie on my phone/tablet before traveling.  Before takeoff I fall asleep and later on I watch the movie.

That is the plan BUT yesterday that plan changed.  I sat next to a very nice flight attendant, Carrie, with whom I had a two hour conversation.  We talked about travel, life, and taking action.

During our conversation I spoke about my book, blog, and the second book I was working on.  Then I made a suggestion to her to start a blog that would focus on the issues in her line of work.  I recommended that she later on take the blogs and put them in a book.  Sounds familiar?

I even challenged her to do something because as the words from yesterday's post "Never start your sentences with I should have" advise we regret not doing something more than doing it.

Will she?  I hope so.  I think she has a very large audience- all flight attendants.  It is specific to what she does every day and she loved what she does.  I belive that her passion would translate and make the blog successful.

Today's question is:
"Can you convert what you do into a daily blog?"

365QOD-Day438

"Never start your sentences with I should have.."- an ad caption

As I was walking through an airport I spotted this ad.  It made me stop and take the time to write it down even though I was late to get to my plane.

Why did I feel it was important to stop and capture it?  Because I knew that I would have forgotten it by the time I would have gotten on the plane and tried to remember it.  We have to know our limitations and mine is short term memory.

The words spoke to me because I do believe that in the end we will regret the things we did not do more than the things we did and whose result we did not like.    We must live a life of action.  Your world will not change by wishful inaction. 

Today's question is:
"What will you regret not doing today?"

365QOD-Day437

"I can do it myself"- sometimes a costly mistake

I have always done my own taxes.  Having an engineering background enables me to work on complicated tasks without panicking or being overwhelmed.

The math for taxes is actually very easy so I do not understand what the freaking out it.  BUT even I had to draw the line this year and get some help.

Last year was a transition year in many ways.  Having lived in Indiana, worked several places, and then moved to Texas, created challenges.  Getting professional help was worth gold.  Someone that is an expert in a subject that can provide guidance can be very helpful.  It is not shameful to ask for help.  As a matter of fact, we should welcome and at times seek help.

As a professor, I always look forward to training sessions.  Most things I can teach myself BUT going somewhere and making that committment saves me a lot of time trying to "figure" it out.  I easily cut my learning time to one forth of what it would take me to learn it on my own.

Today's question is:
"How do you know when you need help?"

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"Much better..." - my reaction at the end of my run

In a post I wrote last week I talked about how my mind got the best of me.  When confronted with a challenge that asked me to stretch a little bit in the running arena, it let me down.

This Sunday morning I had a choice to make: believe my mind that my knee was hurt or simply go our and run a shorter more manageable distance.

My choice was the second one.  So on a very windy, sand blasting your face, humid day I went out and ran 3-4 miles.  I did not measure it since all I wanted was to go to my first turn.

Next weekend the plan is to extend it to 7 miles.  Following week get it back to 10 miles. 

Moral of this story is that at times we have to take a big step back and rebuild our abilities over time. 

Today's question is:
"Have you ever gotten ahead by taking a step back?"

365QOD-Day435

"Turn up the silence"- Tommy Henderson

I was having a conversation with Tommy when he used this line.  I thought... Wow!It is rare that we are ever alone.  With people comes noise.  With people comes a need to address their needs.  Often times these take away from our needs.

How rare is to sit in silence without noise and people?  Think about the last time you were truly alone.  No people, no TV, no radio, no Internet, no games, ... just you.

Today's question is:
"Can you handle the silence?"

365QOD-Day434

"So what. A case of the envy?" - my initial reaction

A friend of mine sent me an article about a former University of Chicago dean making 700k per year.  I thought that the article would be negative.  This is why I thought envy.

It actually was surprisingly positive.  It highlighted the achievements that the dean had lead and the school accomplished during his tenure.  Impressive results- 800M in funding over his time.

So if we are to reward performance, why shouldn't a dean make the money he deserves.  I never fault anyone for what they earn.  It is their business to get the most for their labor. 

In my opinion we should focus on what we earn, how to maximize that, and think of additional sources of income.  Thinking about someone else's deal is just a waste of time.  It shouldn't matter to us what they are getting paid and whether they are worth it.  It is rare that the two are equal.

Today's question is:
"What are you getting paid vs. what are you worth?"

The article is shown below:
http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20120412/NEWS07/120419934/was-booth-schools-snyder-worth-700k-a-year

365QOD-Day433

"Dr. Doodle"- a name I got called during a meeting

Fourth creativity characteristic is to Sketch Out the Idea

Sometimes it is very to stay awake during meetings.  It seems that people are talking but they are not really saying anything worthwhile to listen to.

It is at times like these that I start sketching.  It could be something I am thinking about or I might just sketch a person in the meeting.  You know it is a long meeting when you have time to sketch all of the participants.

You do not have to be an artist BUT all of us can sketch an idea.  As a matter of fact, a few years ago I read a book called The Back of the Napkin that teaches how to sketch your ideas.

Today's question is:
"Can you sketch basic shapes in 3D?"

365QOD-Day432

"An essential aspect of creativity is not being afraid to fail.  Scientists made a great invention by calling their activities hypotheses and experiments.  They made it permissible to fail repeatedly until in the end they got results they wanted"- Edwin Land Polaroid co-founder

Fourth rogue trait is to Embrace Failure.

Pretty wise those scientists.  Allow your guess to be called a hypothesis.  Pretty fancy.  To prove you are wrong then you create a hypotheses, an alternate hypotheses, run an experiment, collect data, analyze the data,  and test your conclusion.

If you hypotheses fails then you accept the alternate hypotheses or start again with a new hypotheses.  Eventually you get a hypotheses that fits your data perfectly.  You have failed until you get the results that you want.

Cool!

Today's question is:
"What hypotheses did you test today?"

365QOD-Day431

"When I was doing my vacuum cl"We're taught to do things the right way.  But if you want to discover something that other people haven't, you need to do things the wrong way... When I was doing my vacuum cleaner, I started out trying a conventionally shaped cyclone, the kind you see in textbooks.  But we couldn't separate the carpet fluff and dog hairs and strands of cotton in those cyclones.  It formed a ball inside the cleaner or shot out the exit and got into the motor.  I tried all sorts of shapes.  Nothing worked.  So then I thought I'd try the wrong shape, the opposite of conical.  And it worked"- Sir James Dyson

Second rogue characteristic from the article is Wrong-Thinking

I love the line.. you need to do things the wrong way.  It is permission to turn your thinking upside down and produce an unconventional result.  If everyone is doing A, followed by B, followed by C, maybe that is the way they have been instructed to do.  Maybe they are doing it without thinking? 

As Dyson illustrates, he understood the right way to think through his problem BUT it was not producing a satisfying result.  Only when he turned to something that intuitively seemed wrong that he found the answer.  He has to disagree with his own belief(s).

As the old saying goes, "When no one disagrees, then no one is thinking"

Today's question is:
"Do you allow yourself to do things the wrong way to discover the new way"

365QOD-Day430

"That is stinking thinking"- anonymous

While reading an article on What It Takes To Innovate: Wrong-Thinking, Tinkering, and Intuiting I learned the characteristics of  some past creators.

The first one was to Produce and Test More Ideas.

In a recent post I talked about a boss demanding new ideas that had been implemented in three different fields.  Unreasonable?  I think it is more eye opening.

According to the article, the researcher Michael Michalko discovered that"
"Edison guaranteed productivity by giving himself and his assistants idea quotas.  His own personal invention quota was one minor invention every 10 days and a major invention every six months"

Wow!

If you set the bar high enough you will have to work harder to reach it BUT if you do you will be rewarded greatly.

Today's question is:
"What quotas do you set for yourself?"

365QOD-Day429

"Cute"- my evaluation

The other night I watched the movie Midnight In Paris.  It is a movie in which the main character, on a trip to Paris, leaves his fiance every night and at midnight get transported back in time to the 1920s.

While there he falls in love with a lady who is also being charmed by Hemingway, Picasso, and others.  Very interesting concept.

He eventually decides that there is no perfect time in the past and decides to live in the present.  The present creates many challenges.  Often we remember the "good old past" and think that there were no difficulties like the present.  Maybe we are fooling ourselves?

Today's question is:
"Would you chose a different time to live if you had a choice?"

365QOD-Day428

"I know Dad...I read about it in your blog"- Stefani's answer

I was catching up with my daughter yesterday.  Since she is away at school it seems that catching her to have a conversation is often a task.

Our conversation was about a hand injury that she thought she might have.  I started telling her about my own when she stopped me.  I know Dad... I read about it in your blog.

This was the highest compliment that my daughter could pay me.  For her to read my posts and remember them is the ultimate high.

In the past, when my kids and I were in my car I used to tell them stories.  Now since the three of us are in three different places it is hard to do.  BUT Stefani's statement opened my eyes.  If my kids were willing to read my posts it is as good as telling them stories face to face.  It might even be better.  They can always read them and share them with their friends.  Wow!

Today's question is:
"Have you ever underestimated your influence?(I did)"

365QOD-Day427

"My mind got the best of me today"- my thought this morning

Today is Saturday and I decided to go for a 10 mile run.  I decided to keep things fresh so I chose a slightly different path.  I ran about 4 miles and instead of my normal turn I kept straight. 

In my mind the path forward was about equal to the my normal turn.  But as the time kept ticking I realized that it was most likely closer to 13+ miles. 

With a couple of stops I made it back to my normal turn spot and stopped.  All of a sudden my back started being stiff.  My right knee kept feeling funny.  After a couple of attempts to resume I just gave up.

What was suppose to be a fun distance run turned into a grueling 4 mile walk back to home.  It was frustrating to know that I should resume but my mind decided otherwise.  I don't know if my mind just simply decided I was not ready for 13 or it just didn't feel like it.

As the old saying goes, " A mind is a terrible master".  Today it got the best of me.

Today's question is:
"How do you do something else then what your mind tells you to do?"

365QOD-Day426

"While walking along a each, a young gentlemen saw someone in the distance leaning down and picking up something and throwing it back into the ocean.  As he got closer he noticed that the figure was that of an elderly man, picking up starfish one by one and tossing each one gently back into the water.  The young man smiled and asked, "Why are you throwing starfish into the ocean?"  To this the elderly man replied, "The sun is up and the tide is going out.  If I don't throw them in, they'll die.

Upon hearing this the young observer commented, 'But Sir do you realize that there are miles and miles of beach and there are starfish along each mile?  You can not possibly make a difference!'

The elderly man listened politely.  Then he bent down, picked up another starfish and threw it into the ocean past the breaking waves and said, 'It made a difference for that one.'"

This story was on the back of a RE/MAX index card.  I changed the young man and elderly gentlemen positions in the story.  It made more sense to me that an elderly person would be wise enough to be concerned with the affect on one starfish.

In our youth we are almost most often concerned with ourselves.  It takes time to realize that the effect we have on others helps to create or destroy relationships.  Like the story above, we have to realize that every interaction is like a starfish with at least five legs:
1. how we see that person (now)
2. how that person sees us (now)
3. how we want that person to see us (future)
4. how we want to influence that person in this situation (near future)
5. how we want the relationship to unfold in the far future (future)
(I am sure you can come up with your own version)

It seems that majority of the interaction should be future focused.  Maybe with a long term view the interactions would be more nurturing.

Today's question is:
"Did you nurture someone today?"

365QOD-Day425

"Mistakes are simply data" - Josh Linkner blog

I read this post  The Dirty Little Secret of Overnight success today.  In it Josh makes the statement above. 

As I have said before when talking about my book The Result you always get a result.  This quote game me another way to phrase it.  The result is simply data.  Don't read too much into it and try to get a better result.

Never be afraid of a result- good or bad.  It is simply data...

Another quote I got from his post is:
"the ubiquitous WD-40 lubricant got its name because the first 39 experiments failed.  WD-40 literally stands for 'Water Displacement- 40th attempt" 

Maybe we should number our results in order to keep track of how many times we have made an attempt?  Maybe this will clue us in not believing that we have tried something a million times.

Today's question is:
"Do you number your results?"

365QOD-Day424

"My boss likes to say , 'I want a totally new idea - and three examples of where that idea has worked before"- boss' request in the article Are you Learning as Fast as the World is Changing

From yesterday's post(habit 2) and the article this quote was memorable.  The author initially dismissed it as silly but later on saw the wisdom.  Just because your field does not have the solution it does not mean that it does not exist in another field. 

Why three examples?  The more I thought about it the only reason I came up with is that by finding three you definatively convince yourself that the solution will work for you in your field.   I also believe that finding only one might not provide enough insight into the solution.

Today's question is:
"Which one of your problems has a solution in another field?"

365QOD-Day423

"The real act of discovery consists of not in finding new lands but in seeing with new eyes."-Marcel Proust

I read an article today in Harvard Business Review titled, "Are you learning as fast as the world is changing?"  The title caught my eye and it made me pause to ponder the answer. 

In past posts I have talked about reading many different magazines and books. But is that enough?

Maybe exposing oneself to different types of people is the answer?

The author of the post, Bill Taylor, offers three habits of the mind that would help:
1. First, the best leaders (and learners) have the widest field of vision.
2. The best source of new ideas can be old ideas from unrelated fields
3. Successful learners work hard not to be loners

I believe that the last two habits lead to the first.  If one goes out of their way to meet new people, from different fields, and connect ideas from their field into their own they will learning as fast as the world is changing.

For me this was very easy to do in Chicago.  It has been a lot harder in Texas.

Today's question is:
"How do you expose yourself to new people in different fields?" 

365QOD-Day422

"No way!"- my initial thought

I watched a Yahoo story video of a 86 year old woman on parallel bars
http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/olympics-fourth-place-medal/86-old-performs-parallel-bars-routine-164528695.html

Impressive to say the least. For a 86 year old to have that level of flexibility is admirable.  It made me feel good for her and inspired me to do better.  I do a little bit of running and weights BUT I have not done yoga in years.  Maybe I need to start again?

Today's question is:
"How flexible are you?"