Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff – Attitude Matters
Yesterday could have been a bad day.
An Apple A Day
I lost all of the contacts on my iPhone. I got distracted while connecting the phone to my computer to restore from backup and missed cancelling the automatic Sync and backup process.
I went to restore the contacts and the only options were backups from a few minutes ago with the corrupted data.
Not good.
Brief Rant: Seriously Apple, you should allow me to set how long I want to keep backups for (at least a week); I have lots of hard drive space. People don't always notice the problem right away and aren't technically […]
The Flood of Knowledge Workers…
I work in Calgary. On the evening of June 20th, 2013 and into the weekend, Calgary flooded. Many low lying areas along the Elbow and Bow rivers received a lot of damage. 10's of thousands of people were evacuated in less than 24 hours.
On the 25th of June I decided to take the shuttle bus downtown to our office building (which fortunately was undamaged and had power). The Calgary Transit light rail tracks were damaged on the south line.
As […]
Entrepreneurial Time Estimating Learned From My Father
With Father's Day just past I was reflecting on what I learned from my own father. Actually, I learned it from observation because I am pretty sure he was not intentionally passing on his wisdom.
If fact, like most entrepreneurs of the visionary bent, he was extremely optimistic in estimating effort for new ventures.
It usually went something like this.
"Doug, I am replacing the stairs on the deck and could use some help for an hour or so."
Now if he said […]
Using Your Super-Powers for Market Feedback
I was looking for wording on a new motto for myself the other day. So I asked some people on social media (Twitter) for feedback on:
"If you can't be funny, at least be odd."
After listening to feedback from my friends around the world on Twitter, I changed it to:
"If you can't be funny, at least be different."
After thinking about it, even the Monty Python crew used to say "and now for something completely different", even […]
12 Success Attributes for an Ideal Coaching Client
Are you a business coach wanting to find better clients or working with a coach and want to get more from the deal?
I was thinking about what an ideal coaching client would look like. Then I realized that the attributes of the ideal coaching client are that exact same attributes for:
- Personal Success
- Career Success
- Sales Success
- Leadership Success
- Business Success
Yes, coaches want to work with clients who REALLY want to win, take action and apply what […]
Suffering For Your Art (or Work or Business)
I know quite a few artists.
Musicians. Dancers. Writers. Painters. Creative types.
In the broader sense of art that Seth Godin uses I know far
more artists. People making a big difference in the world by pouring themselves
wholeheartedly into what they do. Creating art.
Some artists suffer from pain (ranging from clinical, sensitivity,
to heartbreak) and practice their art as a release. It brings them respite, joy
and gives meaning to their world.
Some artists are struggling through the hard work of both
mastering their craft and finding enough people […]
Embrace Optimistic Pessimism for Business Greatness
For a while I thought I was a bit of a pessimist. When I am
presented with new things or risk I immediately think of all the things that can
go wrong.
But then I realized that I also dream fairly big. I always have.
And continue to do things despite the fear or risk. Try to figure
out how to get past all the things that can go wrong. Rewrite the rules if required.
Because I understand the risk, and choose to do it anyways,
I don’t tend to quit when things go a bit sideways. I knew what I was getting
into.
[…]
Don’t Grow, Only to Pop Your Business
I recently heard about yet another local business that seemed to be doing really well a few years ago but recently shut its doors.
It wasn’t the economy. It wasn’t incompetence in their craft.
The service they offered is still in demand. In fact, they were riding a big wave created by other big fish.
They didn’t have to invent a market.
What Happened?
Ultimately, the owner could not figure out how to successfully grow or scale their business.
Burn out.
Or the realization they could make […]
Hats Off To Randy Gage And Mystique
Randy Gage recently announced he is disappearing from public life.
"Effective today, I’ll stop posting to my Facebook page, Twitter feed, YouTube channel and blog, and am going to disappear from the public stage."
I have recently been thinking about Sally Hogshead's book "Fascinate" and how I could apply it to my message.
My primary trigger happens to be Mystique. So the rest of his message was fascinating to read.
Now back to Randy…
He […]
I Think You Have An Attitude Problem
Your attitude is the most powerful force in your arsenal to give you the life you want. The good news is that for most people, attitude can be influenced and even controlled by… you.
"Your attitude, not your aptitude, will determine your altitude." Zig Ziglar
Chances Are
If you are not happy in your job or role chances are your attitude is the cause.
If you are waiting around for someone to motivate you, chances are your […]