Archive for the ‘My Life on the MPv2 List’ Category

“OK” is not the new “Great”

Wednesday, September 9th, 2009

great“Each of us is great insofar as we perceive and act on the infinite possibilities which lie undiscovered and unrecognized about us.” James Harvey Robinson

I was having lunch with a colleague yesterday when a business acquaintance approached our table and some small chit chat ensued.  It went as it invariably does:

Acquaintance:  Well how’s business?

Me:  Business is OK.

Acquaintance:  Just OK?

Me:  Yes, just OK, but it will get better.

Acquaintance:  Well you know Robbie, with the economy the way it is and with people out of work they are, OK is the new GREAT!

Ummm…no, not in my world.  In my world, OK is now and always will be… just OK.  It is not the new GREAT.

Consider– if OK was the new GREAT:

  • I’d work out at the gym everyday with a 33RPM record player strapped to my back because Sony would have never invented the Walkman which let you “wear your music” and eventually led to the iPod.
  • I still wouldn’t be able to get either of my children outside to scythe the yard.
  • My laptop computer would in fact be my bungalow sized computer and would in fact be very unwieldy in my chair right now.
  • I’d spend twice as long in the restroom as I do now fiddling with those doggone button-fly jeans because I’d have no zipper.
  • I’d have to actually talk to all these people I communicate with on a daily basis because I wouldn’t be able to text them.
  • I’d probably still be sitting in traffic with a folding map on my last trip out of town because I wouldn’t have my GPS to get me outta there.
  • I would be reading at night by candlelight (more…)

What I Learned in Therapy Last Week

Monday, March 9th, 2009

“However mean your life is, meet it and live it; do not shun it and call it hard names. It is not so bad as your are. It looks poorest when you are richest. The fault-finder will find faults even in paradise. Love your life.” -Henry David Thoreau

Being the outcome driven person that I am doesn’t leave me lots of time for contemplation of my navel. However, yes to answer the question, I do have a therapist that I see weekly. While I am not unique or alone in this, it’s funny how some people smile or roll their eyes when I mentioned something that I learned “in therapy.” Besides, it’s great to have someone that can look at me dispassionately for who I am and help me make decisions based on that viewpoint; a lot like I do on behalf of my clients. Rarely have I ever had a client in 12 years of business who can step back and see their business or product the way an “outsider” can. It’s a “forest and trees” kind of mentality. (more…)

Change is Inevitable. Growth Optional.

Sunday, February 1st, 2009

Close to thirty years ago I cast my very first vote. It was the 1980 presidential election and I, like so much of America, voted for Ronald Reagan. If you can’t remember that time, let me refresh your memory. Jimmy Carter was President. Americans had been held hostage for 444 days in our own embassy in Iran. Just a few years before, mortgage rates were at 18%, jobs were scarce and if you saw a line at a gas station, you’d better get in it. (more…)

Tough Times? Toughen Up.

Sunday, January 11th, 2009

I grew up hearing the phrase, “The tougher you are on yourself, the easier life will be on you.” I never really understood it until I was an adult. To me, it means that the harder you are on yourself– in your education, your work ethic, personal values, commitments to friends and family– the easier all these things will treat you in return. Apply this principal anywhere in your life and remember it because it’s more true than you will ever know.

Two things in my life have prompted this article today and it carries a dual message. First, a message for young people who are just embarking on their careers or might even still be in school getting ready to graduate. Second, a message for business leaders and owners who are suffering like everyone else. (more…)

The Chosen Path

Sunday, January 4th, 2009

The Spanish poet Antonio Machado wrote, “There is no road, the road is made by walking. By walking one makes the road, and upon glancing behind one sees the path that never will be trod again.”

So today– the question is “What’s your story?”  Do you remember the exact and life changing moment when your foot first felt the path upon which you walk?
(more…)