jungle jeff

jungle jeff MBA.  Who woulda thought, after all these years, I’d be returning to school to get an MBA?

Why do people return to school after decades of real-world leadership experience?  Many reasons to be sure.

The main reason is the pursuit of a better way of life.  Can you imagine, “Nope, heading back to school because I have all this extra time and money.  Plus, I’m bored stiff just sitting around”?.

Dude, seriously, we need to talk.  It don’t happen like this.  In fact, my story is almost a fairy tale of a completely different sort.

My professor is crazy.  He’s cool, but tough.  On the first day, he told me everyone who attends his class has three years to do something that no other MBA requires….

“Money, Money, Money….Money“.  The O’Jays, 1974, For The Love of Money.

I want to make a ton of money.  Seriously.  Enough to buy whatever I want.

First on my list:

1. A Cure for Crohn’s disease

To take action, – to “put my money where my mouth is” – I’ve returned to school to earn my MBA.

Maybe that’ll be second on the list – pay off school loans.

Money.  Can’t live with it, can’t live without it.  Money has always been my biggest stressor.

Eventually, I learned a very simple and very profound rule.  It is the first rule that should be learned.

• Spend less than you earn

What made this most basic of rules so elusive for me, is that I did not subscribe to common sense.  A million reasons for that, which I’ll not even attempt to address.

The second rule I learned is have a business.  After reading “Rich Dad Poor Dad” last Christmas, my whole mindset about money was changed forever….

Ted.com

Ideas worth sharing.

David Hoffman talks on Losing Everything.

I often wonder who I’d be if I lost everything.  Just yesterday, I was tempted (for a very brief moment) to think I actually had.

It was one of the best, and briefest, moments of my career.

Carpe diem, jungle jeff

September 11, 2001.

911,  9-11, 9/11.  What has 911 taught you?

It has taught (or maybe re-taught)  me the power of a hug.  That there is never a better time than right now to give someone a hug.  I hug more people, more often, even at work.

Remember how crowded (assuming you went) Church was that first Sunday?

Funny thing, I remember a lot of Christians sort of complaining about “all those people”.

And I quietly thought to myself, “This is the way Church ought to be every Sunday”.

Facebook thread today said, “You get what you give”.

In business and in life, you get what you give.  We all know this yet sometimes we forget.

One of the reasons we forget is that as humans we are easily distracted, because we are so busy doing all the things humans do.

And occasionally, like now, we get on with surviving an economic tsunami.

Meanwhile, life passes by.  I take solace in the fact that for 35 years, I have never faltered from trying to make my professional contribution exceptional.

Even if people are too busy too notice.

Einstein.  Genius, right?

So you might be asking yourself, “What the heck does this jungle jeff guy know about life’s four big decisions”?

“A ton”! This doesn’t make me a genius, but not being a genius doesn’t make me not an expert.

So, however you found jungle jeff and for whatever reason(s) you stay, just want you to know that I am addicted to excellence.

This blog, written by me for me (and my son), may also benefit you.

A word of caution.  I do not slow down so that people can keep up.  If you are truly interested in excellence, you have to pay attention, a lot.

Ya with me?  Carpe diem, jungle jeff  :)

Money Quadrant.  It’s one of the big four.

Big four?  Yep.

Life has four quadrants.  Money is one of them.

Teaching our son to be mindful of the choices he makes because choices frame our contribution to society.

Our contribution to society frames our paycheck.

Our paycheck frames up a lot of other things.  Money quadrant.  Ya with me?

Carpe diem, jungle jeff

This blog is for my son. Since it’s inception, it has always been for my son.  Period.

People who know me well, are crystal clear that I do things purposefully.

And when it looks like the path I’m walking is leading away from where we’re headed, it’s only because heading away is the best path at the moment.

jungle jeff’s focus has always been on what I call the “money quadrant“.

Money is one of life’s big choices.  There are only four big life choices.

More tomorrow.  Meanwhile, carpe diem, jungle jeff :)

Why daily?  “Seriously, you mean this doesn’t make immediate sense to you”?

Commonly known as a habit, doing something over and over eventually makes it routine.  You knew that right?

So did I.  And yet, the temptation, subconscious and conscious, to forget this fact is astronomical.

Which brings us back to doing daily feats of courage.  “Yeah, jungle jeff, but do you practice what you preach”?

What I did yesterday consumed nearly the entire day.

I invested that time in pursuit of excellence and peace of mind.  But it took courage. And I had a lot of it yesterday.

Huh? Exactly.  Carpe diem, jeff noel