Just A Personal Note On Looking Back…

I’ve always believed that in order to look to the future, we have to look back and fully grasp the past (and the present).

If a mistake is made I feel it’s best to get it out on the table; to figure out what happened; to learn from it and make sure it doesn’t happen again.

So, to me, all the common catch phrases about “never looking back” are just an excuse to be able to make the same mistakes over and over again without accountability. And that’s just no good

Life’s Bait And Switch … and UK

I’m in hoops mode right now with the NCAA tourney nearing. I’m concerned about what UK stands for versus the whole point of earning an education. The NCAA for that matter, but UK is the epitome. What’s masked or unaccounted for as success, with an emphasis on ‘one and done’ athletes, is a lack of character & longer term value lost!

Low character actions & behavior get passed along to kids, in general. A lack of character and value hurts everyone in the longer term. Bait us with hype [e.g. maybe what *appears* to be a success story] and stick us with what greed leaves in its’ wake. ”Why value education, the guys that go to college are only there to showcase themselves for the NBA. My get rich quick scheme is out there too.” For 99.9% of us, it’s hard work or a hard life.

Gosh, I sound liberal… conservative actually. Regardless of the subject or area of life, be aware of what’s being sold and then what’s truly at stake!

Time Management … and Fear

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Neat from xkcd.com

‘Only the paranoid survive is [in business] something I have always understood.

So I fear for those who embrace the above …

and I ALSO fear [working with] those who embrace it.

Get It Out On The Table!

We don’t have an inexhaustible amount of time on this planet, so its’ important we maximize it’s value. Being happy and fulfilled must be a priority. Assuming everyone wants a fair outcome, relationships and / or business can only go forward in the most productive manner when there is no potential confusion.

Rather than leave anything to doubt with people for whom we care OR may be doing business with – “get it all out on the table!” And by the way, the other parties reaction qualifies everything!

When we DO NOT communicate our position or reasons for making certain decisions, we allow folks to draw their own conclusions and possibly dwell upon the wrong things. It’s a recipe for disaster! When folks don’t communicate their position, for whatever reason, we have to assume expectations are grey and potentially problematic.

Avoid this at all costs… or be willing to accept a disappointing outcome.

Most People Don’t Filter Their Ambitions = Unhappiness

I saw this by Leo Babauta ZenHabits.net and felt compelled to write thsi post,

“I’ve notice that in the past, like many people, I was always wishing I was doing something different, thinking about what I would do in the future, making plans for my life to come, reading (with jealousy) about cool things other people were doing. – It’s a fool’s game. Will you ever be happy with what you’re doing if you always compare it with something you like more?”

In life, you have to be motivated; however, in my view and based upon all my life’s experiences, a lot of people don’t know how to filter their ambitions … they don’t know how to just be happy. They spend hours thinking about how to get ahead to the degree they’re never happy or fulfilled. Worse, they’re unpleasant to be around.

I’m certainly not perfect and I’m sure some people would say I’ve a competitive edge, but I’m learning. I’m age 45, friends & acquaintances all over the globe and a life rich with experiences; I’m learning to enjoy what I have & what’s happening in the moment. It’s something I think about every day – a productive balance between ambition & happiness.

Do you? If not, you’re likely annoyed, aggravated or stressed [over things likely out of your control and maybe even unattainable]. And that’s not a, but THE!, recipe for unhappiness.

We Need To Focus On What’s Right & True: Resist Disinformation!

Agnotology - is “the study of culturally constructed ignorance.”

“When society doesn’t know something, it’s often because special interests work hard to create confusion. Anti-Obama groups likely spent millions insisting he’s a Muslim; church groups have shelled out even more pushing creationism. The oil and auto industries carefully seed doubt about the causes of global warming. And when the dust settles, society knows less than it did before. Ignorance also comes from people literally suppressing truth—or drowning it out—or trying to make it so confusing that people stop caring about what’s true and what’s not. We need to focus on the countervailing force: The disinformation revolution.” - Clive Thompson, Wired

‘Cloud Nine of Cool’

I think happiness is simplicity: hard work, caring for and enjoying other people.

I think a lot of people are striving to reach this ‘cloud nine of cool’ these days… and it doesn’t exist. Short term fixes or material things can be a trap, certainly never a solution for happiness.

Came Across this: Refresher course for investors… Not Really Funny Is It?

I was the recipient of this in a mass email and had to share it… not really funny is it?

Refresher course for investors…
An understandable Explanation of Derivative Markets

Heidi is the proprietor of a bar in Detroit . She realizes that virtually all of her customers are unemployed alcoholics and, as such, can no longer afford to patronize her bar. To solve this problem, she comes up with a new marketing plan that allows her customers to drink now, but pay later. She keeps track of the drinks consumed in a ledger (thereby granting the customers loans). 

Word gets around about Heidi’s “drink now, pay later” marketing strategy and, as a result, increasing numbers of customers flood into Heidi’s bar.  Soon she has the largest sales volume for any bar in Detroit ..

By providing her customers freedom from immediate payment demands, Heidi gets no resistance when, at regular intervals, she substantially increases her prices for wine and beer, the most consumed beverages. Consequently, Heidi’s gross sales volume increases massively.

A young and dynamic Vice President at the local bank recognizes that these customer debts constitute valuable future assets, and increases Heidi’s borrowing limit. He sees no reason for any undue concern, since he has the debts of the unemployed alcoholics as collateral.

At the bank’s corporate headquarters, expert traders transform these customer loans into DRINKBONDS, ALKIBONDS and PUKEBONDS.  These Securities are then bundled and traded on international security markets.

Naive investors don’t really understand that the securities being sold to them as AAA secured bonds are really the debts of unemployed alcoholics.

Nevertheless, the bond prices continuously climb, and the securities soon become the hottest-selling items for some of the nation’s leading brokerage houses.

One day, even though the bond prices are still climbing, a risk manager at the original local bank decides that the time has come to demand payment on the debts incurred by the drinkers at Heidi’s bar. He so informs Heidi.

Heidi then demands payment from her alcoholic patrons, but being unemployed alcoholics they cannot pay back their drinking debts. Since Heidi cannot fulfill her loan obligations, she is forced into bankruptcy. The bar closes and the eleven employees lose their jobs.

Overnight, DRINKBONDS, ALKIBONDS and PUKEBONDS drop in price by 90%. The collapsed bond asset value destroys the banks liquidity and prevents it from issuing new loans, thus freezing credit and economic activity in the community.

The suppliers of Heidi’s bar had granted her generous payment extensions and had invested their firms’ pension funds in the various BOND securities. They find they are now faced with not only having to write off her bad debt but also with losing over 90% of the presumed value of the bonds. Her wine supplier claims bankruptcy, closing the doors on a family business that has endured for three generations, and her beer supplier is taken over by a competitor, who immediately closes the local plant and lays off 150 workers.

Fortunately though, the bank, the brokerage houses and their respective executives are saved and bailed out by a multi-billion dollar, no-strings attached cash infusion from their cronies in Government.  The funds required for this bailout are obtained by new taxes levied on employed, middle-class, non-drinkers who have never been in Heidi’s bar.

Do you get it now?

Wasn’t It Americans That Confidently Say, “You Can Bank On It”?

Funny Turn of Events:

I asked a bank that provides my company with a line of credit today,

“Is my money safe in your bank?”

I had previously collateralized the loan with my home. Now, I am looking to sell the home, so they want another form of collateral.

Reality is, that’s a damb good question!

Don’t know about you, but our banks terrify me what with the current state of our economy and the lack of responsibility they seem to take for it. 

Rather these banks question my reliability? Would you believe I’ve never missed a payment on anything ever? You should, it’s accurate!

Rather these banks fuel media propaganda about how Obama is screwing things up so they can duck accountability for the safety of our weakened financial system. Has anybody considered how close we were to a run on the banks? Can you imagine where America would be had it happened?

Wasn’t it Americans that used to confidently say, “you can bank on it”… ?

Big Day – 01*20*09

I want to believe this guy is going to do what’s best for our country, rather than himself.

Right now, I’m buying into Obama …

Must admit I’m frustrated, if not angry, with what’s gone on. Our Gov’ and our Financial Power Houses, who I once held in such high regard, are not necesarily better than those of other countries. I thought they were in touch with the people, that they had honor and that there were controls in place to protect our standard of life. Clearly, even the US is not safe from bad eggs; however, I choose to hold out hope.

I believe in the US!

Biz Thoughts

Never be so clever to outsmart your target client… it’s equal to not speaking with them at all!

Frek

Quotes To Remember – Matt Furey

When you stop complaining, what is left is gratitude – and gratitude is your connection to POWER.

Matt Furey
President of Psycho-Cybernetics Foundation, Inc.

Great Quotes

“All Truth passes through Three Stages: First, it is Ridiculed… Second, it is Violently Opposed… Third, it is Accepted as being Self-Evident.”

- Arthur Schopenhauer (1778-1860)

Quotes to Remember

“We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give.”

~Winston Churchill

US Politics and Sales 2008

I grew up in a Republican household; however, I suspect my dad will agree.

This country has problems.

Bad sales people sell quick fix at the expense of sustainability. No sensitivity for the best outcome.

Good sales people sell with sensitivity for the best and most sustainable outcome.

Right now, the good sales people are the Democrats.