Don't Waste Your Effort...Really, Don't!

   Once upon a time I swam for the Miami-Dade Community College swim team. Perhaps a better way to phrase it, they didn't prevent me from practicing with them. That said, I was decent enough, and was fast enough to stay out of their way. It was a point of pride with me that I was there, and I trained HARD!

   You might think I would have developed a bit of insight after having to learn how to swim properly at the age of 23. Previously, I couldn't even get my face in the water. But a few sessions with a friend that had a swimming background put me on the path to swimming quasi-normally.

   One week we "hosted" the University of Miami swim team, as their pool was being renovated. This was a great opportunity as UM had some potential Olympians on their team. Swimming next to them was going to be a treat. A chance to measure oneself against greatness. Well, after a brief comparison I was ready to drop the idea of measuring anything.

   The first time I set off next to one of the team, I was dumbfounded. Was the guy being pulled by a jet ski? I redoubled my effort. This made me marginally faster, and massively exhausted. He, on the other hand, appeared to be having a nice leisurely dip. ARRGGGHH. My only hope was to be less embarrassed over a short distance. So much for training HARD.

   Had I been wasting my time? No, I had gotten much better than before, and the training had made a difference. But, if my goal was to diminish the gap between myself and the UM swimmers, I knew pretty much instantly that MORE TRAINING was NOT the answer.

   This leads me to my point. Effort is great. But effort without great technique can be wasteful, and potentially damaging. Too often the standard motivational cry is to TAKE IT TO THE LIMIT. Good luck with that. My experience is that while clearly motivation is important, as you approach higher levels of competition, how you try is likely more important than how hard you try.

   When you want approach the top of a sport or field of endeavor, pretty much everybody is motivated. In a swim competition you need only look around the pool to see that everyone is very fit. Past that point the biggest differences are down to technique.

   To improve myself I solicited a member of the UM team to train me. While I never got anything close to good enough to compete with them, I made amazing progress in improving my own times. To do this, I had to take a step back and evaluate my approach. By being objective, I knew I was in very good condition, had an excellent diet, and was putting forth an tremendous effort. Trying harder would have been pointless.

   Thus, when I say "Don't Waste Your Effort" I mean it literally. Put forth an effort, absolutely. But be sure you are putting forth the right effort. In a race, nobody cares about your horsepower, they care about your speed. By putting your effort to translating horsepower to output, you won't waste your effort. You'll get more out of doing less.

   That's the right way to apply effort.

Reflections on the "The Show Me State" by Seth Godin

   As always, an interesting post from Seth. Thanks!

   Thinking about the post, and relating it to my own experience I came away with an example which reinforces his message, and to some degree expands on part of it.

   The major point or critique is a reflection about people's desire to sample rather than savor things, so they can race off to the next thing. Or conversely, having gathered some information about it, flutter away without really trying it at all. There is a lot of misplaced risk aversion encased in this phenomena.

   With deference to people's need to maximize their "time", I think it is pretty good to have some experiences that suck. If you are really out there living every now and then you're going to have a bad experience. Awesome!

   What? Crap experiences. Delete, Esc, Ctrl-Alt-Del. Help!

   Yep, you need to have some sub par experiences, or if you are massively anal about your time, settle for something distinctly average. These are the palate cleansers that allow you to discern the flavor of your next course, of that next grand experience. And usually, bad experiences end up being great memories. 

   My wife and I were traveling with my three kids (11 year old triplets at the time) through Jordan. We flew into Amman, and then headed south through the desert toward the Dead Sea and a small city called Kerak. Being guilty myself of trying to endlessly hedge my bets with research, I had found recommended accommodation in the Lonely Planet Guide at the Cairwan Hotel. When we arrived, it didn't look too promising, but I thought, let's do it! My enthusiasm was short-lived.

   Wow! There was an apparent rat infestation, as evidenced by some amatuer scatology. The beds were probably comfortable when the three wise men stopped by a few years back. The decor was other worldly. In an effort to ensure we would get the full effect, there was a wedding going on in the hotel bar during the night of our stay. Mayhem ensued. In short, it was really really BAD. 

   My kids were nearly as aghast as I, having stayed in their share of comfortable surroundings. But this place ended up being the ice water to before our return to the sauna. Our next stop was a two-story, three bedroom suite at the Movenpick Hotel in Aqaba on the Red Sea. 

  The contrast was to be savored. Every detail was richly magnified. I'm sure I would have enjoyed it without the "bad experience", but the bad hotel served as a framing experience for the good one. 

  We have repeated this experience somewhat by having deliberately reduced our travels to allow for some breathing, for some normal life. Without that, the experiences fold together like food in a blender. I might know it's there, and I can taste it, but the flavors overwhelm each other. Thus, the experiences are diminished.

   There is no short cut to enhancing experience. When you have a bad experience, or a bland one to give it context, you come away with much more. Whether it is a lesson, a book, a course, a hotel stay or a meal.  

   So, don't try to live life as a series of straight lines always seeking the shortest route. Meander, let some things go wrong. Give yourself the benefit of context. It will sharpen your mind, and separate events into discrete, more pleasing occurrences. 

   In short, context gives you the ability to see just how incredible life is. Enjoy it.

   

They're liars! Yeah, but you believed them. A political education.

  Marge, "I can't believe it Homer, you lied to me"
  
  Homer, "It's not just me Marge. It takes two to lie, one to lie and one to listen.". 

  The Simpsons sure are funny. But maybe Homer has a point. Duh! Yep, I think Homer is on to something. If we get lied to all the time, maybe we have a gullibility problem.

  If we have politicians who are full of excrement, how did they get elected? More importantly, how do they get re-elected?

   To illustrate a point, I love quotes. One of my favorite sources for quotes is Will Rogers. One of my favorite of Will Roger's quotes is:, "Everything is changing. People are taking the comedians seriously and the politicians as a joke." When you consider that Rogers died in 1935, and wasn't familiar with the "Daily Show" it becomes a bit apparent that our "new problem" isn't new at all.

  Politicians have been bending and shaping the truth for as long as there have been politicians. For an equally long period of time, people have been frustrated by this phenomena. But, as Plato, an even older source of information said, "One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors."

   So, if you have had enough of this truth void, getting involved can be a simple matter of paying attention at a critical level. Stop listening to quick pitches, or being lulled into complacency by your short-term good fortune. Spend time actually learning the facts. Build a BS detector in your brain. Stop being governed by your inferiors.

  It may not be in the ten commandments, but believing nonsense is almost as bad as concocting it. Listen to Homer. Lies are only effective when they are believed. You can't stop them being told, but you can develop the critical thinking to recognize them as they are being spoken.

   Good luck.

An interview with DRUNK HULK aka "The Most Interesting (DRUNK) Man in the World"

  As a fledgling author and newbie to the ether of the internet social marketing, today I have the opportunity to interview a MAN WHO IS ALL CAPS, ALL THE TIME. LIKE A KEYBOARD COATED WITH VIAGRA.

For the record, DRUNK HULK is an absolute Twitter phenomena. He is rapidly approaching 200,000 followers, and I know that his family is not that large (pre-interview background check).

That MAN, who is far better known that I ever will be (unless I get a Booz Allen job and then do a bit of hacking) is DRUNK HULK. A ROUND OF APPLAUSE... (CLAPPING IN THE BACKGROUND) FOR OUR GUEST DRUNK HULK.

WELCOME MR. DRUNK, OR SHOULD I CALL YOU HULK? 

WHATEVER!

DO I HAVE TO CONDUCT THE INTERVIEW IN CAPS OR CAN I REVERT TO NORMAL TYPING? WHATEVER YOU ARE COMFORTABLE WITH REALLY?  

WEAR WHATEVER HAT YOU LIKE! DRUNK HULK NO CARE!

Wow, thanks. I was getting slightly dizzy. Not sure how you maintain that all caps pace. Is it mostly training or natural ability? Or, may I ask, are there performance enhancing drugs involved?

DRUNK HULK NEVER TAKE PERFORMANCE ENHANCING DRUGS! THIS BODY IS WORK OF ART! DRUNK HULK HAVE BELLY LIKE SALVADOR DALI MELTING CLOCK! ALL THANKS TO STEADY REGIME OF ALCOHOL! AND TACOS!

Now, the legend is that you started DRUNK HULK as a bit of a lark. Is that true, or had you received some special PSYCH OPS training prior to gaining mental control of your audience?

DRUNK HULK NEVER WANTED TO BE DRUNK HULK! BUT THEN ONE DAY DRUNK HULK WENT TO COLLEGE! DRUNK HULK PASS COLLEGE WITH 5.0! UNFORTUNATELY! THAT BAC! NOT GPA!

DRUNK HULK WANTED BE LAWYER! BUT NEVER COULD PASS BAR! WITHOUT STOPPING IN AND ORDERING BEERS!

AND DRUNK HULK NEVER HAD PSY CHOPS! DRUNK HULK PRETTY SURE PSY STILL ALIVE! AND EVEN IF HE DEAD! DRUNK HULK HAVE NO INTENTION OF RESORTING TO CANNIBALISM!

So, for the record, you claim no prior history in PSYCH OPS, or Special Forces training. How then, have you managed to amass such a loyal following?

DRUNK HULK MADE MISTAKE OF FEEDING 194,000 PEOPLE! AND THEN THEY FOLLOW DRUNK HULK HOME! NOW DRUNK HULK GOT TO TAKE CARE OF THEM ALL! LIKE GREMLINS! OR BALDWINS!

Wouldn't you agree that using ALL CAPS IS CHEATING?

YOUR OBSESSION WITH HATS IS WEIRD! ANYWAY! HOW COME EVERYONE ONLY FREAK OUT ABOUT ALL CAPS!? BUT NOT ALL FEDORAS!? OR ALL KIPPAHS!? IT NOT SEEM FAIR!

Moving on, I am sure all the women reading want to know, is there a DRUNK HULKETTE?

DRUNK HULK HAVE MANY GIRLFRIENDS! BUT IT NEVER WORK OUT!

DRUNK HULK DATE BARTENDER ONCE! BUT SHE REFUSE TO TAKE HER WORK HOME WITH HER!

DRUNK HULK DATE ANOTHER BARTENDER FROM TGIF! BUT SHE GOT CAUGHT SWITCHING TOP SHELF ALCOHOL WITH CHEAP STUFF! THAT WHAT DRUNK HULK GET TRUSTING SOMEONE WHO ALREADY LIE SIX DAYS OUT OF EVERY WEEK!

DRUNK HULK DATE NINJA ONCE! BUT SHE BREAK UP WITH DRUNK HULK! SHE SAY DRUNK HULK NEVER NOTICE HER!

LAST GIRLFRIEND DRIVE DRUNK HULK TO DRINK! THEN SHE DRIVE DRUNK HULK HOME! SHE WAS KEEPER! BUT HER HUSBAND DISAGREED!

Does your unofficial title of "Most Interesting (DRUNK) Man in the World" put pressure on you to use ALL CAPS, even when you're just trying to enjoy a dozen beers like an ordinary guy? 

DRUNK HULK JUST LIKE YOU! DRUNK HULK RIP PANTS ONE LEG AT TIME!

Just personal curiosity, do you like Hello Kitty?

DRUNK HULK PREFER GOODBYE PUPPY! LESSER KNOWN CHEAPER VERSION THAT YOU CAN BUY IN RETIREMENT HOME GIFT SHOPS!

So would you say you are essentially a GREEN ALL CAPS DRUNK BUDDHA with a more obvious sense of humor?   

NO! DRUNK HULK NOT SAY THAT AT ALL! THIS IS WHY!

FIRST OFF! DRUNK IS CONDITION! SO THAT ADJECTIVE GO BEFORE COLOR! ALL CAPS SHOULD GO FIRST! SO IT WOULD BE ALL CAPS DRUNK GREEN BUDDHA!

TWO THINGS IN LIFE TO REMEMBER! RESPECT YOURSELF! AND RESPECT YOUR ADJECTIVES! HEMINGWAY RESPECTED NEITHER! AND LOOK WHAT HAPPEN TO HIM!

A little plug, um, did you know my book, Alphabet Success is free on Amazon's Kindle site today? 

DRUNK HULK DID KNOW THAT! YOU TWEET ABOUT IT SO MUCH! DRUNK HULK THOUGHT ALPHABET SUCCESS WAS EITHER NEW BATMAN! OR WAS ABOUT TO INVADE SYRIA!

I know you are tremendously busy, generally wasted, and unaccustomed to a world without CAPS but have you happened to read Alphabet Success?  If so, any thoughts for my readers or potential readers?

INITIALLY DRUNK HULK NOT WANT TO READ YOUR BOOK! DRUNK HULK ALREADY KNOW ALL 29 LETTERS IN STUPID ALPHABET!

BUT YOUR BOOK REALLY ABOUT BEING SUCCESSFUL AND MEETING YOUR GOALS! TWO THINGS DRUNK HULK ALREADY HAVE! BUT THINK IT GREAT BOOK FOR PEOPLE WHO NOT PERFECT LIKE DRUNK HULK! GOOD READ!

Thank you on behalf of all our readers as well as myself. It is a honor to meet you. I THINK I SPEAK FOR EVERYONE IN SAYING, KEEP IT ALL CAPS, ALL THE TIME. KEEP US ON THE ONE TRUE WANDERING PATH THROUGH THE WOODS AND ALLEYS. Man, that ALL CAP stuff makes my fingers hurt. Thanks again.

DRUNK HULK PLEASURE!

That concludes our interview. Thanks for stopping by. Click here for your free copy of Alphabet Success. 

Let's Party Like its 1999!!! Be sure to invite the right people...

   "...Party over, oops, out of time." That was my 1999.  Omega, my company, was about to grow well over 100% in revenue, coming in around $1.2M for the year. We'd only started in October of 1996 with a credit card and an idea. It was a bit like running fast downhill, sort of a controlled fall. Or, at least you try to maintain that illusion of control so you don't crash and burn.

   As the year had begun I found out my family (spouse and I) was also about to grow by over 100%! Triplets were on the way. Certainly exciting news. Something that required some thinking considering the demands of the business, trying to occasionally exercise, and have some semblance of a personal life.

   So I did what any business school, professionally-trained accounting and finance graduate would do when faced with a multidimensional complex problem. I pretended it wasn't actually happening.

   On August 3, any hope of maintaining my "bubble" was burst. Three very small and noisy creatures emerged from my wife. They were tougher than any client. Terrible communication skills. Either quiet, or screaming. Unable to form consensus, one would want food at midnight, another at 2am, then - (why not) 4:15am as well. Home became a nightmarish parody of a B&B with 24-hour room service, and some extraordinarily demanding celebrity clientele.

   Meanwhile the company kept pumping along. Growing in leaps and bounds, though much more civilized than home. People that were selected for their ability, and their ability to work together. It was an essential element of keeping the place together. There were so many people squeezed into the office that one person had to accept that the coffee machine would be on their desk. The head of IT shared an office with me. When I say we were "in it together" it is quite literal.

   You may be asking, "Why didn't you get more space?". A great question. We were trying. Boy were we trying. But it was "dot-com" days. Everyone was partying like it was 1999. Except the dot-com people often had VC money and a bank line. We had a credit card, a factoring company, and a balance sheet that would have embarrassed the Zimbabwe. Thus, the reception from potential landlords was less than welcoming.

   We finally did get more space. We finally found a landlord that would take us in. The kids finally started sleeping through the night. We got rid of our factor and found a bank that would lend to us. We even had a break room. Sometimes I'd just splash out like that. Even had free coffee. That's just how I roll.

   We partied like 1999 all right. It was non-stop insanity. By the end of the year we were less than four years away from being sold. It wasn't on anyone's mind. There was no time for big "end game" thinking, we were in triage mode. Not to mention we'd begun development of some cutting edge technology for the investigative world which we'd launch around the kids first birthday. (see link at bottom of page)

   Looking back, that was a defining time for me, and most of the people at Omega Insurance Services. Many of whom I still maintain contact with. We had a fantastic team, and we did amazing things. It was inspiration, adrenaline, camaraderie, and some organization tossed in where needed to fill the gaps.

   Many of those people have gone on to pretty awesome things. There were quite a few entrepreneurs in the pack, with several people starting firms within the insurance industry, and others going off into unrelated fields. It was, as I mentioned, an extraordinary group of people. I'd love to tell you I did it. That it was my incredible genius that made it all possible. But that, my friends, would be a lie.

   Like all successful parties, it takes a great group of people, with the right chemistry to make for a memorable evening. We did party like it was 1999, for about seven years.

   Luckily I sent the invitations to the right people.

   The kids are soon 14. That project is ongoing.

    Alphabet Success, your personal step-ladder to success.  To buy, click here. 

In Defense of Antivation, and a way to profit from it. Yoo-hoo Microsoft...

   You don't have to be a technophobe to experience some dismay at the seemingly constant barrage of changes and alterations to technologies and programs that have become part of our daily discourse with the world. Let me tell you a secret...I want my antivation!

  Just when you feel the initial joy of mastery, the technology is re-engineered to be more user-friendly. Gasp! This puts us in the unenviable position of having to discard some hard earned work and begin anew. While I am hardly opposed to personal growth, having companies with whom I have formed a relationship kick dirt into the hole I was digging is a little annoying. Antivation please.

   This got me thinking. There must be an emerging market for some technological stabilization. With the baby boomer generation growing older, and in many cases already a bit impervious to change, this is a major opportunity. Microsoft could hang onto the code for Windows 7, for instance. Have a team tightening the code, making the software faster, more reliable and secure, and clawing away at consumer feedback on ways to simplify the whole experience. Then charge annually for licensing (fixed)  and support (a la carte), which I think will be a huge profitable growth area, with boomers aging. Um, antivation?

   The underlying technology need not suffer. As we inevitably move to 128-bit tech and onward, there would be plenty of room to make the program optimized for the new environment. Innoantivation?

   Frankly, I could apply this logic to phones as well. My Samsung Galaxy 3 is a joy. Love it. But I am curious what else of true value can be offered that would make me want to migrate to a new phone. Using the camera as an example, I only need 8 megapixels. The photos I shoot with the phone are capturing moments. Issues of pixelization etc, are not likely to factor in to me moving to a "new model." It handles e-mail, texting, web interaction, and a host of things I am only now unearthing. "Waiter, I ordered ANTIVATION, not innovation. May I please have the old version?"

   My central point is that with a large generation cohort getting to the "get off my lawn" stage of life, perhaps a new market is upon us. Antivation. Companies make the technology we're already used to better, (much cheaper development than "new and improved") and more reliable. If they want to expand the memory of the hardware model and increase the processor speed, great. Just don't fiddle with the basic design and interface. And, by all means, send me an annual bill to allow me the privilege of locking in my comfort zone.

   While I have not done any formal market research on this, frequent lunch and dinner chats with folks lead me to believe this is not some fanciful idea. It is a new bona-fide market. (In fact, at a recent dinner in Stockholm I listened to a smart, young university student questioning the same issue.) And I think it is growing, with a group of people who will pay the annual fee NOT to learn a new technology. 

   Before you (if you haven't already) dismiss me as being against progress. Think again. Innovation is NOT just what happens in the Silicon Valley, it is also how we use that technology in our life. Users frequently find novel, unexpected uses for technologies. But like everything, these need time to emerge, Burying the user side of the equation under your well intention, but unneeded, upgrade, is frustrating and actually counterproductive. I'm asking the large companies to engage in ANTIVATION both to accommodate what I think is a growing market of "what the hell is this" consumers, and an existing group of tech savvy people who would happily tweek the heck out of your existing app. Both of whom I guess would pay an annual "tick" not to be forced into re-engineering the technological ecosystem they've built for themselves.

   It certainly merits some thought. 

   Now get off my lawn!



    Alphabet Success, your personal step-ladder to success.  To buy, click here. 

Social Media Maladies...

   We have a problem. Or rather, there are some folks with a problem. They have latched onto the social media universe without first addressing their existing condition. A complete disconnect between their marketing and their operations.

   As an example: Nobody expects velvet glove treatment from Ryanair (an European budget carrier). They don't promise it, and they don't deliver it. You get: a seat, take off, and landing. Everything else is pretty much an add-on. While sometimes people moan about it, they haven't really broken their promise. We might find their handling a bit akin to that of an aggressive shepard, but that is us just not being used to their model. Once you accept the model, as promised, you understand it. And as they would like tell you, "take it, or leave it." They do take off and land, and they make money. Pretty simple. 

   I use Ryanair. I am never disappointed. The conditions are known to me in advance, and I accept them in exchange for a great airfare, and often, the avoidance of a connecting flight. In relationship terms: We have an understanding.

   It is much, much worse to splash out money on all this touchy feely social media blather being concocted without the people writing it having an in-depth understanding of the service or product they are writing about. As an "Elite" member of a couple of  "conventional" airline programs, and a very frequent traveler, there is ripe territory here for examples.

  This fresh off the press at Lufthansa's Twitter feed:  "It's a new dawn, it's a new day, it's a new life... And I'm feeling good" Really? Well, I am a customer and I am not. Where are my missing air miles? The one's I wrote you about in April. Did they go missing with the "new dawn"?

There has been plenty of communication with the Lufthansa Miles and More program. I have had a few problems with flights where I doubled checked that my number was on file and still did not get credit for the flight. OK, stuff happens. One example: On April 20th of this year I contacted them with information about miles missing from one flight segment, on a two segment ticket. The e-mail promised: "We received your feedback with the number COM-1187086 and will start the processing immediately." I hate to be predictable, but you might already gather it did not happen, even though I sent them a copy of the boarding pass. 

Subsequently I wrote them again, and was promised an answer in 30 days. When I responded (with a bit of anger) that it had already been requested before, I got this automaton response:

"Thank you for your enquiry.

The processing of your request could take up to 30 working days (excluding weekends and holidays) and we trust that we can count on your patience. 

Kind regards,

Miles & More Service Centre

   The main point is the cavernous disconnect with their positively chirpy Tweet and the reality of dealing with them after using their service and simply asking them to credit an account as promised. With reference to the above mail - "Um, maybe you cannot count on my patience, it left the building." Sadly, and they likely know this, I have limited other options, but I have left them for protracted period before even though it is a massive hassle to do so. 

  Obviously I am angry. Why? Because they didn't do what they promised. If there was no Miles and More program, I wouldn't have a single thing to complain about. The flights were fine, I got where I needed to, the Lufthansa personnel on board were pretty good. But execution extends to every promise made. If you doubt this, try it out in a personal relationship.

   That needs to be thought about in every communication. Social media or otherwise. You are telling us who you are, and what you are going to do for us. Frankly, the ability to fix areas of disconnect is an opportunity to really shine. All companies, like people, make mistakes. Fixing them quickly is what can make you look great. But when you resort to auto-feed response, that's a broken promise. Especially problematic when dealing with someone who is using your service often enough to worry about your loyalty program. 

  It's not rocket science. Communication follows execution, and they MUST be connected.

  Still no miles.  :-(...

  Mack Morrison sings it best in "Return of the Mack" 

   "all this time you said that i love you 
   you lied to me 
   yes you did yes you di-i-id 
   you lied to me 
   all this time you said that i loved you 
   you lied to me 
   yes you di-i-id..."

     Actually a good song, to finish this up, the video actually has a jet in the opening sequence...LOL....anyhow, here's the video. http://tinyurl.com/4yb3lg

The Secret Sexy Life of Plankton....

   Well, that is my take on the sensation of being a new author on the market. I'm a lonely plankton, floating in the ether of the internet, hoping to somehow get noticed, to be the sexy plankton, a plankton hottie. But most likely I am  "looking for love in all the wrong places..." The world of search engine optimization, and trying to get noticed on here, or Amazon, or anywhere is frankly a little daunting. Probably because I have never "ridden this bike" before.

   In a room of people or one on one, I am ready to rock and roll. That matters not one iota online. The e-world is impervious to charm. It is a world of key words, algorithms and getting the right placement that taps into those same formulas. There are some similarities to "normal" life, but the way to the goal line isn't clear. Frankly, a lot of people say they know the way but I'm not so sure that they really know. Because if they really knew how to stay in a top ranking and maintain visibility, why give the formula away?

   It is like stock trading. The advice is pretty worthless. Because anybody who really knows how to run the market printing press isn't going to tell you. They'll use it to make a few billion, buy an island and say bye-bye. Or in the instance of Buffett, most folks don't have the testicular resolve to sit out the ups and downs of Mr. Market.

  But just like a small kid (or plankton), I have as good a chance as any other plankton. So if I try to be smart, and have a plan that works, and adjust it as I go along, I should end up with a book that more than my immediate circle of family and friends has heard about. Otherwise I may get to do some whale watching.

  From the inside.

  Have a great weekend.

  Best,

  The Sexy Plankton aka Tim Fargo....author of the future bestseller "Alphabet Success"

  ps - available today....for the cost of a Starbucks latte. http://amzn.to/188eQvj

The Drums Have Stopped and the Journey has Begun....

This just in! The moment I have been waiting and working for quite a long time now.

This is the opening sentence of an e-mail I just got from Amazon.com.

"Congratulations, your book "Alphabet Success" is live in the Kindle Store and has been enrolled in KDP Select. It is available* for readers to purchase here. "

The beginning of this book began over ten years ago. I was driving across the Howard Franklin bridge and thought it would be kind of cool to create a book that used the alphabet to convey some simple, yet powerful insights into success. 

After a variety of events, including the sale of a business, the usual personal things that happen, and the distraction of having suddenly had my dream come true, I finally got around to finishing the idea.

Today is the day. 

Needless to say, I am one very very happy guy.

ABC - Always Be Committed. I knew I would finally finish this book, and now it is finally out for the world to see. Will it succeed as a "book"? That is my next application of the principles in the book.

After all, if a guy who promotes success can't get people to buy his book, well, that'd be pretty lame.

But that isn't going to happen...


    Alphabet Success, your personal step-ladder to success.  To buy, click here. 

Success is Not Laying Next to the Road...JKL - Just Keep Looking!

   The title of this post should state the obvious. But often people seem to equate success with having made a left turn onto the proper street. That would have saved me several years of experience.

   Want to get what you want? How hard are you willing to look for it? The road to success, in whatever form it may take for you, generally has a number of potholes and obstacles. If it were a straight smooth road,  the road would be much busier.

   So, what can you do to make ensure your arrival at your destination? Keep moving. Even when you don't feel like it. Keep moving.

   This is the whole point of the chapter "Just Keep Looking".

   A quick example: I wanted to get a US Bank - Club Carlson Premier Card. As a frequent traveler, the card has some significant benefits that I wanted. But alas they refused my application. I then tried calling and making a fuss, speaking to supervisors etc. Still, no change, the answer was NO. In the spirit of my entry, and in keeping with my personality, I opted to contact their Private Banking group.

   Now I do realize, that not everyone is a potential Private Banking client. However, I am, and I know enough of the jargon to essentially get across that if they ever wanted a shot at my business, they might want to reconsider their position on my application.

   Mission accomplished!

   While it might seem like a lot of effort, it wasn't more than a couple hours of total work. By getting the card I qualified for some special privileges that saved me about $3,000 on hotel rooms I'll be staying in over the next couple of months. While I do value my time pretty highly, getting a quick $1,500 a hour seemed reasonable enough as compensation.

   If you want something, you need to be willing to JLK - Just Keep Looking. Bags of money are not going to be laid outside your door for you. You need to have an idea of what you want, when you want it, and how you might get it. But you better be willing to be flexible if you want to succeed. The road is also rarely straight.

   But JLK! Just Keep Looking! You'll get there, if you persevere and are creative.

   Go to it!