They say that Thanksgiving is a time for ... well ... giving thanks. The Mrs. and I went to Florida to spend Thanksgiving with our sunshine state family. Prior to arriving in Al Gore's favorite state, we already had lots to be thankful for. Having left just yesterday, we received a gift that will go a long way towards realizing and fulfilling our dreams. Of course it is always wonderful to spend time with loved ones who you see at most once or twice a year. When these loved ones are living their entrepreneurial dreams and fulfilling their life's passions, then you tend to cherish the experience even more.
My sister is ... in a word or 2 ... an entrepreneurial genius. She has a business mind that won't quit. You name the idea and she can outline a path for how to take that idea from the conceptual stage to a successful business. The same can be said about her husband. To top it off, the both have the work ethic to put many of these ideas into motion. My brother who lives in Florida is also on the cusp of entrepreneurial greatness following the recent release of his motivational book of poetry and other ideas that have been recently set in motion. I give thanks for being in the proximity of all of these great ideas being set in motion. Though I certainly had no doubts about my ability to do the same, it is very motivational to see those that you know and love and have been around your whole life, step out on faith and watch their steps be guided according to the entrepreneurial roadmap that God has laid out for them. Give Thanks ... soon others will say the same about me.
Wednesday, November 29, 2006
Friday, November 17, 2006
My Cup Runneth Over ...
Today, I had to fill a cup !! It seems to me that most people take the miracle of conception and birth for granted. It's miraculously easy when you're not trying; ask any teenager who "experimentally" got pregnant while just having some fun. It's a whole different story when you are at a point in your life when you are ready to have children and you are ACTUALLY trying. Me and the Mrs. decided to give it the "good ole college try" after our years of "experimentation" wasn't planting the seed. It is at the point when you are sitting in the doctor's office and he/she is explaining in great detail the different steps that we have to go through to eliminate possible reasons for lack of conception, that you realize what a tremendous miracle it is that each one of us is in this world today. Millions of sperm embark on a journey through the female body but only 1 lucky guy makes it to the finish line and gets to live happily ever after with the egg produced by the female, IF she has produced an egg. The tremendous number of biological steps that have to fall in order crosses no one's mind when you meet that special someone or ,more simplistically, meet that someone with that special body and you are in the midst of enjoying the physical pleasure brought about laying in bed, or on couch, or on carpet, or on kitchen counter, ... with that person. In those situations when you are not trying and it is not on your mind, it just seems to happen whether you want it to or not. However, every minute detail of this process becomes abundantly clear when you have reached that point in your life when you must try.
So today, I had to fill a cup... As me and the Mrs. embark on this journey towards parenthood, the doctors not only have to check out all of her parts and biological processes, they have to make sure that ... ahem, ahem, ... all of my soldiers are marching and marching in an orderly upright fashion. So how do I prove this to the doctor you ask ? Well, let's say it involves a small gin & tonic-sized cup, a mouse, and Al Gore. Well he did invent the Internet didn't he ? Yep, I had about 30 minutes on a lunch break to go home and navigate to any website of my choice looking for images and video clips that could help me to "fill the cup". Considering I wasn't really in the mood, it took a while. The pressure was on, the clock was running out, I had 10 minutes to go and still ... EMPTY CUP. As it got down to 5 minutes, 4 minutes, 3 minutes, .... I focused and concentrated and came through in the clutch like all great athletes do. I filled the cup and "my cup runneth over". Now we just ask for that the blessings of the Lord runneth over in our journey towards parenthood. One overflowing cup deserves another, right ?
So today, I had to fill a cup... As me and the Mrs. embark on this journey towards parenthood, the doctors not only have to check out all of her parts and biological processes, they have to make sure that ... ahem, ahem, ... all of my soldiers are marching and marching in an orderly upright fashion. So how do I prove this to the doctor you ask ? Well, let's say it involves a small gin & tonic-sized cup, a mouse, and Al Gore. Well he did invent the Internet didn't he ? Yep, I had about 30 minutes on a lunch break to go home and navigate to any website of my choice looking for images and video clips that could help me to "fill the cup". Considering I wasn't really in the mood, it took a while. The pressure was on, the clock was running out, I had 10 minutes to go and still ... EMPTY CUP. As it got down to 5 minutes, 4 minutes, 3 minutes, .... I focused and concentrated and came through in the clutch like all great athletes do. I filled the cup and "my cup runneth over". Now we just ask for that the blessings of the Lord runneth over in our journey towards parenthood. One overflowing cup deserves another, right ?
Thursday, November 16, 2006
Quite a Conundrum
Should I stay or should I go ? Regarding my present job situation and the way that I was blatantly devalued and disrespected , then OBVIOUSLY the answer is "I should go". So the better questions are "when should I go ?" and "how long can I grin and bare it ?" and "how long can I get up each day and dread having to interact with the same people that treated me as Judas did Jesus and Brutus did Julius Caesar ?" So why is there any dilemma at all ? I was screwed, THAT'S IT !! Find another job and get on your merry way, right ? While that is certainly an appropriate reaction and I have no doubts about being able to find another J.O.B. within weeks, my present job offers me a lot of added benefits that makes it ideal to sew seeds in other business ventures and set me up for my 2nd act as a full time entrepreneur.
You see, I presently drive about 10 minutes to work, I'm able to go home for lunch, I'm able to go to lunch for 2-3 hours if need be, I don't work long hours, I leave mostly at 5pm, etc. I have a situation that is conducive to not putting all my eggs in one basket in being dependent on a single source of income. I am able to disappear for an hour or 2 to go meet with a prospective client for my media business. I am able to disappear for a while to evaluate properties for my real estate interests. I am able to take some time away to pitch a business plan at potential investors so they can bank roll one of my ideas so that we can put it into action. In a nutshell, my present situation affords me a lot of conveniences that enable me to lay the foundation for building successful business endeavors and not have to depend on an employer for my financial needs. Putting in the effort to go and find another J.O.B. will only take away from time that could be spent on building successful businesses. Also, the expectation levels when starting a new job are different and my work hours would naturally be longer as I try and establish myself in the new environment.
So therein lies the conundrum my friends. Should I leave now because the feeling of staying is just unbareable ? Do I grin and bare it and milk this situation for all its conveniences ? I will continue to pray and to ask for guidance because I waiver back and forth as to what is direction I should go now that I am at this proverbial fork in the road of life. Quoting the ever-quotable Yogi Berra, "when you get to that fork in the road, TAKE IT ...". Now, which way Yogi ? which way ?
You see, I presently drive about 10 minutes to work, I'm able to go home for lunch, I'm able to go to lunch for 2-3 hours if need be, I don't work long hours, I leave mostly at 5pm, etc. I have a situation that is conducive to not putting all my eggs in one basket in being dependent on a single source of income. I am able to disappear for an hour or 2 to go meet with a prospective client for my media business. I am able to disappear for a while to evaluate properties for my real estate interests. I am able to take some time away to pitch a business plan at potential investors so they can bank roll one of my ideas so that we can put it into action. In a nutshell, my present situation affords me a lot of conveniences that enable me to lay the foundation for building successful business endeavors and not have to depend on an employer for my financial needs. Putting in the effort to go and find another J.O.B. will only take away from time that could be spent on building successful businesses. Also, the expectation levels when starting a new job are different and my work hours would naturally be longer as I try and establish myself in the new environment.
So therein lies the conundrum my friends. Should I leave now because the feeling of staying is just unbareable ? Do I grin and bare it and milk this situation for all its conveniences ? I will continue to pray and to ask for guidance because I waiver back and forth as to what is direction I should go now that I am at this proverbial fork in the road of life. Quoting the ever-quotable Yogi Berra, "when you get to that fork in the road, TAKE IT ...". Now, which way Yogi ? which way ?
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
September 11th Changed Everything
How many times have you heard the phrase "September 11th changed everything" ? Most times you hear that statement, it is in reference to the horrendous attack on the World Trade Center and Pentagon on September 11, 2001. If someone mentioned September 11, 2006, can you think of any life altering event that happened on that day ? Well forgive my self-absorbed thought process but on this day, an event happened in my life that will HOPEFULLY change me for life and all for the better. This event involves no tragedy or loss of life but instead involves an awakening and renewed thought process that came in the form of a BIG OLE F.U. from Corporate America.
So here is the scene, I arrived at work on Monday, September 11, 2006 and went to our routine 10am staff meeting. As is normally the case, I was cheerful and outgoing as that is my normal demeanor. The meeting concludes and my boss asks me and only me to stick around for a chat. An immediate "OH SH*T" look and feel comes over me. The next 10 minutes could have easily been replaced by any scene from "Office Space" or "The Office" which featured a boss feeding a steaming pile of bullsh*t to an employee over some "strategic corporate direction" that was going to result in that employee being bent over. More fortunate than most, I was not dismissed but more so DISRESPECTED by placing a junior level employee who I was previously managing in a management role who would now be ... DRUM ROLE PLEASE .... be managing me !! LOVELY !! Forgot to mention that I was also responsible for aggressively recruiting and pursuading this employee to come and join me at this new company because the environment is great and the work was challenging. Forgot to mention that the executives will look you in the eye, smile and laugh in your face, make you think all is well, and then drop the hammer on you as if they never knew you ... but of course I didn't know that yet. On September 11th, 2006, everything changed for me as far as my outlook on Corporate America and the perils of being a pawn in someone else's organization.
Most of us put in 8,9, 10, 11, 12 ... hours each day working our tails off for the benefit of corporations who give not a rat's rear about us as individuals. Of course that is not their job to care about us as individuals but when events such as what happened to me take place, you realize that the only person you can trust in the workplace is the one you see in the mirror. Most of us have dreams and passions that often involve something not related to what presently pays our bills. Because we must pay our bills, we do not sufficiently channel the energy of our passions to build what could potentially be a world changing business, service, invention, or idea. Therefore, we spend our lives working, paying bills, putting in overtime, working weekends, getting up early, ... while the brilliance of our ideas wallow away into a sea of hopelessness. How badly would it then sting to turn on the TV and see someone on TV raking in millions for the very idea that you have had for years but didn't channel your energy sufficiently because you were putting in all of these hours for a company that ultimately didn't care one iota about you ?
That is the change that September 11, 2006 brought about in me. My company disregarded the fact that I had put in so many long hours for their benefit that they will reap the rewards of for as long as the company exists. They didn't care about me enough as a person to handle the situation differently. No sweat, I will still be a professional and do my job but I will not be going the extra mile (or even 10 yards for that matter) for your benefit because I am ultimately an employee # and a line in an expense budget. The time that I would normally put into going the extra mile for your benefit will now instead be used to sufficiently channel my energy for all these ideas I have had forever but for no good reason, have refused to act upon. The change brought about by my own personal September 11th, will be one that will soon impact all of our lives in a positive way.
- Dub-Wise-Er
So here is the scene, I arrived at work on Monday, September 11, 2006 and went to our routine 10am staff meeting. As is normally the case, I was cheerful and outgoing as that is my normal demeanor. The meeting concludes and my boss asks me and only me to stick around for a chat. An immediate "OH SH*T" look and feel comes over me. The next 10 minutes could have easily been replaced by any scene from "Office Space" or "The Office" which featured a boss feeding a steaming pile of bullsh*t to an employee over some "strategic corporate direction" that was going to result in that employee being bent over. More fortunate than most, I was not dismissed but more so DISRESPECTED by placing a junior level employee who I was previously managing in a management role who would now be ... DRUM ROLE PLEASE .... be managing me !! LOVELY !! Forgot to mention that I was also responsible for aggressively recruiting and pursuading this employee to come and join me at this new company because the environment is great and the work was challenging. Forgot to mention that the executives will look you in the eye, smile and laugh in your face, make you think all is well, and then drop the hammer on you as if they never knew you ... but of course I didn't know that yet. On September 11th, 2006, everything changed for me as far as my outlook on Corporate America and the perils of being a pawn in someone else's organization.
Most of us put in 8,9, 10, 11, 12 ... hours each day working our tails off for the benefit of corporations who give not a rat's rear about us as individuals. Of course that is not their job to care about us as individuals but when events such as what happened to me take place, you realize that the only person you can trust in the workplace is the one you see in the mirror. Most of us have dreams and passions that often involve something not related to what presently pays our bills. Because we must pay our bills, we do not sufficiently channel the energy of our passions to build what could potentially be a world changing business, service, invention, or idea. Therefore, we spend our lives working, paying bills, putting in overtime, working weekends, getting up early, ... while the brilliance of our ideas wallow away into a sea of hopelessness. How badly would it then sting to turn on the TV and see someone on TV raking in millions for the very idea that you have had for years but didn't channel your energy sufficiently because you were putting in all of these hours for a company that ultimately didn't care one iota about you ?
That is the change that September 11, 2006 brought about in me. My company disregarded the fact that I had put in so many long hours for their benefit that they will reap the rewards of for as long as the company exists. They didn't care about me enough as a person to handle the situation differently. No sweat, I will still be a professional and do my job but I will not be going the extra mile (or even 10 yards for that matter) for your benefit because I am ultimately an employee # and a line in an expense budget. The time that I would normally put into going the extra mile for your benefit will now instead be used to sufficiently channel my energy for all these ideas I have had forever but for no good reason, have refused to act upon. The change brought about by my own personal September 11th, will be one that will soon impact all of our lives in a positive way.
- Dub-Wise-Er
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