Posts Tagged ‘Money’

Are The Long Hours Worth It?

Thursday, February 18th, 2010
Heads Or Tails?

Heads Or Tails?

Age-old question.

What do you think?  What’s your opinion?

“It depends,” is the first thing that comes to mind.  Mostly the long hours are worth it.  If.

If?

Yes, if.

If it drives your ego, your title, your salary, your corner office, your feeling of self-worth – then no.

If it drives your ability to make a difference: to expand your reach, your relevance, your impact – then yes.

The challenge, when you’re insanely busy, is to not confuse the two.

Any one need a quarter?

What’s Your Big Dream?

Tuesday, February 16th, 2010
Where Do You Stand?

Where Do You Stand?

Do you feel like quitting, giving up, or at the very least, backing down from reaching high?

Two of our most common feelings are:

  1. Dreaming Big Dreams
  2. Quitting because of the obstacles

So today’s thought for you to ponder, “What’s your big dream?”

And, “Are you still passionate about it or have you given up?”

jungle jeff Rant

Thursday, February 11th, 2010
Lane 8.org

Lane 8.org

Are you satisfied?

When you wake up every day, what are some of the first things you do or think about?  Did you start thinking about today last night?

The workday begins the night before.

So last night, in thinking about yesterday’s post and the reference to the Fast Company article, I’m good with it ending the way it did.

Do you start blaming others and thinking about all the things “they” need to do? Or do you look in the mirror and analyze what you need to fix?

This will determine, in large part, your success or failure.

What was interesting was that just yesterday, these jeff noel blogs set a single day record for daily visits. It’s taken years to get “here”.

And I got here by doing stuff, not by anything else.

Be more:

  • Creative than you ever have
  • Focused than you ever have
  • Willing to fix yourself than you ever have
  • Determined than you ever have

And find your purpose.  That’s the key.  You know it and I know it. We all read about it, and listen to others talk about it.

Talk is cheap. And so is lying to ourselves.

jungle jeff Isn’t It Obvious

Wednesday, February 10th, 2010
Does Anyone Even Notice?

Does Anyone Even Notice?

Continuous improvement and ongoing professional education are crucial for staying competitive and thriving in a down economy.

Rubbish.

We should be doing all we can to do stuff, not read and study stuff.

We should be doing stuff. Stuff that our gut tells us is right. Stuff that our gut tells us needs to be started yesterday.

We can read articles and attend seminars, but at some point, in my humble opinion, we need to start doing something, something more.

At the end of this post, you’ll have a link to a recent  Fast Company article about finding creative, untraditional ways to solve unsolvable problems challenges.

It’s four pages long.  I “got it” after the first page, but read the second page as well, out of guilt – for fear of looking obnoxious or boastful.  Whatever, right?

Listen, I’m so annoyed and fired up, that I need to end this post now. After some cool down time, will try again tomorrow to finish this. Well, maybe. Maybe my point has already been made.

Click here if you want to read the Fast Company thing.

PS. Just for the record, I read a ton, in between doing stuff and getting uncommon results.

Finding Our Passion

Saturday, February 6th, 2010
Fortune What?

Fortune What?

Finding our passion and pursuing our dreams with sheer determination is something we all dream about.

When is the best time to ease off the dreaming and ramp up the doing? It really depends. There’s so much to consider. So much to take into account.

Have you given up?

Eventually, most people give up. I almost did too. Then a small child was born. He changed my life and my purpose. He was and is the catalyst that inspires me to work tirelessly.

Over time, my five daily blogs have slowly, but surely been getting better. It’s funny sometimes, to think that many readers have no idea how hard I work in my professional position with a Fortune 100 company.

All this blogging is extra. Ya with me? Extra. What are you doing that’s extra? That’s hard?  That’s difficult? That you love so much you can’t stop?

My blogs are so basic and simple it’s almost embarrassing.  When there’s some “spare” time, I’ll be looking to take another step to jazz up the blogs.  I’ll be clicking here for more Wordpress Theme tips.

Do you let what you can’t do stop you from what you can?

Bet You Have It Too

Friday, January 22nd, 2010
Far Away?

Far Away?

Passion.  Bet you have a ton of passion.

Maybe you’re in a job where your passion thrives. Maybe you’re not.

Does passion make for a better worker?

Do you do your best work around something you’re passionate about?

How many leaders are in positions that got them a better title, a better paycheck, better meetings, and better perks, but took them further from their passion?

And then there are people who have found their passion, their dream job, but over the years they have allowed things beyond their control to poison themselves.

Imagine your own situation.

Naggers Are Lovers

Thursday, January 21st, 2010

Randy Pausch in his book, The last Lecture, proposes that nagging people are really lovers. He didn’t say that, I’m just rephrasing what he wrote to make a point.

People nag others because they care, although it doesn’t seem so.

Stop what you’re doing and watch this.

When people stop nagging you, it means they’ve given up on you.

It’s an educated guess that you’ve never considered this angle before. Nagging seems so negative.

Nagging is actually positive.

Are you going to find ten minutes in your life to watch Will Smith’s passion and wisdom?

It will be the best ten minutes you invest this year.

We’ll there’s better stuff out there, but you’ll most likely never find it. I probably will. And then nag you to pay attention. Maybe.

Are you willing to take that chance?

Ten minutes.

Only a fool would pass on this.

I guess.

Pants On The Ground

Wednesday, January 20th, 2010

It’s time for a complete 180 degree turn from the jungle jeff “seriousness”. It’s time for complete nonsense and a laugh or two. You good with that?

Who doesn’t like to laugh?  Humans were born with certain predispositions. Laughing is near the top of everyone’s list.

Love or hate American Idol, it doesn’t matter to me.  I love it for a few compelling reasons, which aren’t listed here. And what started my loyalty to the show was Simon Cowell’s “brutal honesty”.

If for no other reason, we tuned in week after week to watch him be honest.  It was a time when I really needed a role model for “brutal honesty”.  Was desperate for it myself and didn’t know how to get it.

So, by watching Simon, we got to see the power – the magic – of brutal honesty.

I actually saw watching American Idol as leadership training. Most others saw it as entertainment.

Brutal honest is essential for world-class results.  You could see in the contestant’s eyes, and their body language that Simon’s feedback was the most important of all.

Even if it hurt.

These people were trying to be the best in the world.  The next common person to sell millions of songs. Millions. Can you comprehend that?

Simon would say what everyone else was thinking but no one had the guts to say. This intrigued me. This motivated me. It also made me laugh.

Are You A Rat, Racing?

Tuesday, January 19th, 2010
Frozen Asset?

Frozen Asset?

Rich Dad Poor Dad defined a term, and helped put perspective on the Rat Race cliche.

Basically, human nature teaches us to buy more or bigger (more expensive) things when we receive a promotion or a monetary raise from our job.

So, our expenses are never less than our earnings.  We fail to save money, let alone invest money.

This cycle repeats itself until we die.

What really woke me up to this whole rat race thing was when Robert Kiyosaki said, “If you think your home is your biggest asset, you’re in trouble.”

Wait, that’s exactly what I’ve always thought. And now you’re telling me that it’s wrong?

I Have A Dream

Monday, January 18th, 2010
He Thinks I'm God

He Thinks I'm God

Do you have a dream?  Of course you do.  Who doesn’t?

Do you know the question behind the question?

No seriously, do you?

I mean, “Do you have a dream so big, everyone considers it impossible?”

Maybe you should.

Last year, after reading Robert Kiyosaki’s bestselling book, Rich Dad Poor Dad, dreams of a different kind began to form.

And this week, I’ll share a few more highlights.  Meanwhile, there is a fairly comprehensive Rich Dad Poor Dad summary over on the right hand column. It’s been there for a year.

You can see a lot when you look around.