Category: Uncategorized

Giving of What You Have

In the days past, if you wanted something done for you, made or constructed, you went into the local village or town where maybe there might be one person who could do so. If there was nobody in the local city and if you were lucky there would be a traveling professional who would come through your Hamlet every now and again, and you could hire them to make you whatever you needed while they were in town.

The good and bad news is that we live in a time when waiting for somebody to show up or having only one source to make something we need is no longer a real problem. Today we can go to the Internet, ask about something and get 100 million responses on our browser in milliseconds. That is great for customers. It does become a little bit harder for those building and developing the product to get noticed. Today it seems it’s more how you market rather than what you actually make.

So, how do you get people to notice you? And this is a fair question. Build it better, cheaper, faster? Most places do this, and those who do it best do get some notoriety from it.  Some preach about waiting and only building something after you’ve talked to the customers. Yet what type of lag time would that actually cause? Read the demands of the crowd and create for what they’re asking? You have to consider how fast you can build it, and how quickly the product will go from a must-have to a discounted has-been?

Even if you are waiting for a customer, you probably already have your niche. And, you should have your professional plan in place. And if you’re watching the crowd, you might be able to anticipate where they’re looking next. There is no guarantee the customers will really go there, yet if you pay attention, you may become well-versed at reading their tides.

You want to ensure that you have deliverables that are viable to the needs of the public. To have less relegates you to the world of discounts and passive sales. You just need to realize that even the best deliverable is often modified to the needs of a particular user. 

You are smart, bright, and you are ready to make a positive mark within your profession. Stretch forth and make your star shine.

Thank you for being with me today. I hope to be with you again tomorrow.

All Hallows Eve

This week we have discussed the emotions of fear. Tonight is All Hallows Eve. How All Hallows Eve is celebrated and when varies from country to country.  Some countries celebrate the day of the dead on the 1st of November. Some countries celebrate Halloween the evening before. Where I live we celebrate in the evening, and we call it Halloween.

Halloween is a time we take to change fear into fun.  Our children dress up in various costumes, everything from action heroes to scary costumes, to funny costumes, and go to neighbors’ houses to get candy in what is called trick or treat. Adults also dress in a variety of ensembles.

One of the biggest thrills around Halloween is going to a staged haunted house. This is where actors and scenery scare you even though you know it will be okay. The participants go through the haunted house being scared and then laugh as they come out because they made it through. This is where fear turns into fun, and again endorphins are released into the brain.

These are the traditions we have. Is it a little scary? Not really, but we do like to let our imaginations go wild every once in a while, and this seems a good night to do so. Is it fun? Absolutely. The kids love it because of all the free candy they get. Does it help to add cohesiveness to our communities? You bet. On Halloween, we see more of our neighbors and their kids then I think we do any other time in the year.

Even when it’s cold out, snow or not, people enjoy having the fun this particular holiday brings us. Halloween allows us to dress up and play. It is fun for the kids and even better for the adults. If you’ve never tried at some point dressing up as something else and having fun with your friends, this would be an excellent opportunity to do so.

Thank you for being with me today. I hope to be with you again tomorrow.

Your Relationship With Fear

Fear is an emotional reaction to an overwhelming concern or danger which we’re afraid is going to hurt us. Fear can work as long as we believe the danger is real. Fear actually doesn’t have to be real, we just have to think that it is. People like to get fearful, I believe in part, because of the endorphin rush our brain receives when we realize we are OK and there was nothing to be afraid of to start with. Yet, for some people, a fear which is not resolved can become a genuine concern.

In the Gulf War, I was stationed on an island in the middle of the Atlantic. I had my family with me, and we had a maid that would come out and clean the house twice a week. There was a report on the local country’s news about our foes having a submarine. Our maid was very fearful that the submarine would land troops on our little island and cause havoc. I explained to her that the people fighting the war had a lot of concerns in their own country and would not have time lore reason to try to invade our island.

Our maid’s fears were caused by reports put out on the news by the local government. After talking with her and having her sit down and think things out logically, her anxiety was relieved, and she felt better. Many of us have a tendency to hear something and become fearful of something that is not real. Instead, they are afraid of an image that is hastily and often uncorroborated,  developed within our mind.

We need to counter our hastily derived thoughts by taking the time to find out the facts and think the dilemma out logically. On average, 65% of the things we fear are either untrue or never come to pass. You should take the time to consider the premise and figure out the answers.

Thank you for being with me today. I hope to be with you again tomorrow.

Understanding Personal Fear

Fear is relative. Fear is dependant on the context which surrounds it, the immediacy of danger, and any interactions you have had in the past with what you are now fearful of happening. Yet please remember, the feelings and emotions that fear induces are genuine to the person affected by them.

When my wife and I were youngsters, There where scary movies about monsters and werewolves and mummies. The films were designed to bring fear to the forefront of those who watch them. And they did scare us.  Last year I watched a show with Svengoolie.  Every week he shows one of those old scary shows, and he tells jokes throughout it.

My wife did not want to watch at first, and then she tried one night just to make me happy. She loved it, and now every Saturday night, we have a date night to watch the movie and get the laughs from Svengoolie. And some of the best times we have.

Fear can sometimes also be severe. When I was young, I was scared to death of snakes. And in the fourth grade when they sent around the jar with the petrified snake in it, I could not pick it up, I was too scared.

I did nothing about it as a kid.  As an adult, I finally started to ask myself why.  I did not live in areas that were densely populated by snakes.  I was never bitten by one, and I thought the fear was ridiculous.  Then I started exploring my past.  When I was 6, there was a party one day in my back yard.  My dad was in Korea, so it was me, my brother, and my mom and the next-door neighbors. The kid next door and I were sitting just across the street, he was showing me his snakes. 

After a while, I wanted to go back to the party.  The kid threatened me with the snakes and told me that if I tried to leave, he would throw the snakes at me, and they would bite me.  I was held there against my will for about an hour.  I did not want to get bitten and die.  I also did not know anything about snakes.  I finally got away.  I found out a week or so later that one of the snakes was poisonous and that the kid and his father had taken it out to the woods and let it go back to nature.  Understanding this about my past was important.

I still am not a fan of snakes, yet understanding my history helps me not to be so unreasonable about the fear of them.  It is something good to know and understand.

Thank you for being with me today.  I hope to be with you again tomorrow.

Be Aware

I am a rational person, and I believe you are one also.  We like to know things.  We enjoy knowledge and always seem to look for ways to use learning and discovery to make our world and our lives a little better. Although we are knowledgeable and rational, as humans, we find ourselves guided and controlled quite often by our emotions. We are also very emotional beings.

Life would be easy without emotion. Unfortunately, it would not mean nearly as much to us. Sometimes it seems as though our feelings are the spice that actually gives our life it’s zest. And we find that zest is often crucial to our happiness, and unfortunately, sometimes our destruction.

There are many fantastic emotions, among them are love, caring, hopefulness, belief in something better, being ecstatic, happiness, and many others. Yet emotions are shiny crystals with two sides. The other side might be hate, anxiety, jealousy, depression, anger, sadness, suspiciousness, and the worst, fear.   Fear, whether real or not, will lead to many of the other negative emotions.

It seems as though we, being people, crave emotion to appoint where if it is not present, we will make it up and believe it. How many young gentlemen or ladies have had an infatuation with someone else? Many have. They pretend that the other person is their boyfriend or girlfriend. They write the other person love notes and design beliefs in their minds that never really were.

How many have had something not quite go right, or the way they expected. This is not a perfect world; it happens every day. Unfortunately, some people will take the most innocent of concerns and blow them out of proportion in their minds. They feel ashamed and fearful about what others may think. What could have happened to them? They are anxious that others may find out or take their actions the wrong way.

Sometimes it’s hard to understand in our own mind if the emotions we feel are correct or not. It is always good to have someone such as a friend, a mentor, or a life coach with which you can talk. Most of the time, just getting the words out allows you to look at them and find things to consider. Having another person to speak with not only gives you a second opinion it also possibly gives you some detached wisdom.

We will talk more about emotions and fear during this week leading towards All Hallows Eve. Until tomorrow, please remember you are a wonderful rational person, and you should not let your emotions push you around. So learn and grow, and find the bright side out there.

Thank you for being with me today. I hope to be with you again tomorrow.

Dreams

They say there are a hundred ways to get something done.  Yet, when it comes to getting what you really want to be done correctly, there is only one way to do it.  Your way.  You are the one that must put your ideas together and make them happen.  If, after reading my blogs, you are not sure how, please write to me, and I will see how I can help you make something good happen.

You are the one who has to work for your goals.  Others can help you, although, if I or anyone else does it for you, you will end up with our ideas and not your own.  We are not bad people. It is just one of those laws that require, if your particular desires are to be prominent, you are the one who needs to be in charge and working the project. 

Guard against those who will take what is yours from you. In the current era of electronics, others will give you a false sense of completing great sagas and epic adventures.  They are really stealing your time in exchange for showing you ads and having you purchase upgrades.  They are making a situation where only they win.  Don’t you have better things you could do to better your standing and make your dreams come true?  I, for one, believe that you and I both do.

I think it is time for us to go to work, each making our dreams come true.

Thank you for being with me today. I hope to be with you again soon.

Renovating on The Road

You do not want to hold on to an idea to the point that it is perfect.  What is ideal for you could easily be seen as problematic to the rest of the world.  Also, if you are holding on to something new, waiting until a perceived perfection is obtained, you run the risk of rot. 

New items have a shelf life.  They can quickly be overtaken by another product being introduced to the market by another company.  It can also happen that the perceived problem the new item was to cure is no longer a concern.  The public can be very picky over a new idea or technology.

You do not want to put a less than acceptable product on the market, so what do you do?  On Broadway, people producing plays and musicals desire not to offer their entertainment until they have a fair amount of certainty that the product is right.  They test their theatrical offerings in smaller markets that will give them an acceptable idea of how it will play in the highest of demands.

By beta testing in small markets or limited offerings, you can receive feedback and make corrections and adjustments before mass marketing your wares. This makes it easier to get data and suggestions on what you have built and make corrections or improvements before mass marketing the product.

The savings you will reap in time and money are a decisive factor in the limited testing.  It is easier to change the product on the fly with limited orders, and the better operations and sustainability given by the beta testing will help the product to sell better.  This is an idea you should absolutely consider.

Like everything else, remember to test and try new things a little at a time.  If it works, you can always do more.  If it falters, you can change the product or do something else.

Thank you for being with me today. I hope to be with you again tomorrow.

Offer Your Best

We all would like to see our best foot forward. What that action actually looks like will be different for different people. And, ‘the best’ from each of us will depend on how long we have worked in the field, what situations we have been exposed to in our work, and how much flexibility we have to do our job our way.

Everybody starts somewhere. And none of us were born knowing everything about our professions. Even if we have intuitiveness for the job, which helps us, we have to learn, and that knowledge actually comes from doing. Reading books may help, yet, we only fully understand when we are actually immersed in the subject matter by working in the field.

Wherever you are in pursuing your professional standing right now, You are probably doing better than you did when you started. Also, the more you work in your profession, the more you will want to learn and know. Anything worth doing is worth exploring to make better.

You cannot wait until you are perfect to go out and do your work. Nothing will be absolutely perfect for everyone.  Yet the more we get out and work at our goal, the more we will learn and understand. It is this sweat equity that allows us to grow as professionals. We should never be ashamed because we don’t know everything. And we should always do the best we can, knowing that because of today, tomorrow will be better.

Most of us think we know it all until we really go out and try for ourselves. It is incredible how much we learn and grow when we admit how far we have to go.

Thank you for being with me today. I hope to be with you again

tomorrow.

Plan for Action

If you really want to do something, it is going to take action on your part. Therefore, the question becomes, “What are you going to do?” If you’re going to go anywhere or accomplish anything you have to start by putting a proverbial step forward.

How are you going to do it?  Your step forward could be writing for an hour a day, researching ideas, or finding others who share your interests and coming up with plans. However, how you start your trek towards your future self is up to you. It should be something that you can do regularly, something that you like to do, and something that could put you closer to where you would like to be going.

One of the crucial questions is, “Who are you working with?” It might be friends in the neighborhood, or it could be some mentors who are professionals in the area you are looking to excel in. Or, it might be other business people who are helping you to find sound business footing and possibly some funding.

One of the biggest questions you’re probably going to ask yourself and consider carefully is, “Why is this going to work?” Considering the number of businesses that never make it out of the starting gate and the number of companies that failed to last 5 years, what is it that you are doing or others need, which will keep your business going for the long run? If you believe that it will work that is a good start. What you want to add is some data to back up your hunches. What are you going to look at?

So that leaves us with one question. Where do you Market? Is this a brick and mortar store item? Something for eBay or Amazon?  Do they buy from your website, and if so then how do you spread the word and advertise?  Who will buy this, and why? And, How do they even know you are out there?

Today, rather than giving you answers, I gave you questions to think about.  I know this looks hard.  The truth is the more you get into it, the more firm your entrepreneurship becomes.  And, if you work for the right answers during this exercise, the work you do can have positive results.

Thank you for being with me today.  I hope to be with you again tomorrow.

Only When You Do

You can build an one-person entrepreneurship. You can then take that start and make a small company. Working with the company and improving, along with putting perceived earnings back into the company, you can end up with a viable corporation. If you work hard and are lucky you might end up with a business empire. Unfortunately, if all this was done merely in your brain you really don’t have anything, do you?

To make your thoughts reality, to see them grow and bear fruit, you need to move the ideas from your thoughts into action. Making this action vital is essential to begin your forward movement to wherever your ideas are going to take you. We have a saying around the co-working office that says your dreams do not work unless you do. I do not know where this saying came from (it was not an original of mine,) yet I know it to be true.

When you have a dream that you want to see in the marketplace, helping others, and leading everyone, including yourself, to prosper, you will need to put it into action. Until you do, it is only a dream. When you do, the effects can be breathtaking.

You need to include others in your work. They can bring with them great ideas to help with improvements, marketing, investing, and understanding. Everyone needs someone to turn to and gain shared experience.  Mentors and subject matter experts are always willing to talk to someone and give a little advice. Thanking them in writing gives them a little notoriety and helps them in their pursuits.

As the week goes on, we will continue this train of thought in discuss possibilities for your best actions, aiming your ideas towards those who require your products and setting up plans for positive activities and renovation on the road.

Whatever you do we know you always want to offer your best. We will discuss the difference between holding up something forever as you continuously try to improve the offering. We will also talk about putting everything together as best you can and then put it out for testing in the marketplace or with those who it may help the most.

Thank you for being with me today. I hope to be with you again tomorrow.