jungle jeff

My friend is a small business owner.  He’s been in business for over 30 years.  Yesterday he told me, “This is the worst I’ve seen it”.

No one is coming into his store.  He has gotten creative and started, for the first time ever, going out looking for business. If business won’t come to him, he’s going to go to it.

I congratulated him on being successful for so long, and mentioned I started an LLC in January, and the odds are (overwhelmingly) stacked against me. In fact the odds are stacked against anyone starting a (small) business.

History and statistics don’t lie.

What to do?

Figure it out.  Failure is not an option.

History and statistics do not lie.

Top 10 WordPress Tips For SEO.  Twitter can be very overwhelming and very helpful. Here’s a helpful WordPress Blog Post with 10 tips for using WordPress for Website SEO, Search Engine Optimization.  Click here to read the top 10 WordPress Tips.

If you don’t have a blog, that’s OK, the article probably won’t mean much to you or your business.

Blogging is much easier and much more impactful than you think.

There are early adopters, laggards, and the people in between (the mass consumption). To be world class in business, you have to out work your competition.  Anyone think that’s possible without the Internet?  Without Social Media?

If so, there’s a place reserved for you in the museum, not far from the T-Rex exhibit.

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  :)

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 :)