Success – The Heart Of The Matter
It’s 12 days from Christmas, most are hanging tough, waiting for the Christmas break to come, and some can’t wait for it to pass already. This time of year can be stressful, it’s the desire for more, and not having the means to acquire the more. The push and pull of wanting more, but it doesn’t just happen at Christmas, we always want more, all year long. It’s human nature.
Contentment is seriously misunderstood, it’s measured mostly by how we feel rather than reason. This year the Greaves household is holding fast, we don’t want more, we actually need to purge! The cars are parked in the driveway instead of the garage, the garage is full of the more. To clarify, most of it belongs to other family members, because we have the space to store it, no…because there is a place to put it. I’m not complaining about family, I wish they were here to take what’s theirs, but they have passed away to leave what they had behind, and we had to store the belongings somewhere.
The aspect of Christmas I miss the most, is being a kid. My Mother & Father made Christmas a very special time, they spoiled us, and we liked it, we got more stuff! I actually miss how I felt, and being around my family more than getting more stuff, but that was fun too. I think we all feel this way as Christmas approaches, we tend to reflect rather than look ahead. It’s not right or wrong to look back, but we spend far too much time there, we should “do more” instead of reliving the past. We should practice foresight.
My Father used to say success was having more stuff, he who has the most toys wins thinking, I didn’t buy that for second, success is different for each one of us, but we don’t tend to understand success when we have it. I’m generalizing of course, but we often think success is a destination, when most of the time it’s the results of an endeavor, a journey. We forget to enjoy the process, we think we have to wait to until we get to success before we can stop and enjoy what’s happened and what has been done to get there.
Success is more about failing, more about doing, and the willingness to lose what you have, otherwise we couldn’t measure success. For every equal good, there is an equal bad. The same is true of the decisions we make, the goal of course is to make more good decision than bad, more right decisions than wrong. All these decisions happen along the way, the journey, that lead to what you would define as success. I recommend you stop and enjoy the journey, that in itself is success, in that you are on a journey.
The journey you are on was meant for you and only you, those around you are spectators, and in some cases we are players in and on your journey. We all have a roll to play, a voice to be shared, and more importantly, gifts to be used to make the world a better place, and that’s why Christmas makes us reflect, we have a deep need to cherish family, and the things that make us unique. Everyone can bring something to the table, you have to choose to, if you don’t bring it, there most likely is no success. Success rarely happens by itself, it almost always happens because people are involved, you will never really be successful without the love and help of other people. Even Snoopy need help to decorate his tree. (above)
Websters Dictionary defines success in this manner:
– That which comes after; hence, consequence, issue, or result, of an endeavor or undertaking, whether good or bad; the outcome of effort.
Funny how there is no mention of people, but you and I know most things in life that define success, tend to be based in relationship, the people in our lives, not stuff. It’s really a matter of perspective. However, success is the heart of the matter, we all strive to be in the moment of that word.
On that note, I want to take this opportunity to say thank you for a fabulous 2012, you made it awesome, and I’m grateful that you even take the time to come here and read what I have to share. Most of us think it, but rarely actually show it, but we do say it often, we always say we care. I’m not the brightest bulb on the tree, but I love to help people, and I can only hope what I share here helps you some how.
I pray you have an awesome Christmas, that you get to reflect and look ahead with hope, but mostly you should cherish those in your life, because we all will shall pass and become a memory. You are valued here, I am grateful to have the opportunity to speak into your heart, it’s where we all life.
Merry Christmas my friends.
The Future Of Business – Office Sharing With SwitchCube
There’s a new business in my community, a first of it’s kind, it’s motto, “working alone sucks…”. I paid them a visit this past week and was pleasantly surprised, it’s a very clean environment, brand new in fact, with great foresight on how and where we will work in the future.
Matt Farley is one of the principles, co-founder, and he loves to tell the story of how they came to be, but more importantly, he is excited about where this company is going.
In the past I have considered opening an office, you know a bricks & mortar location, but could never bring myself to do it, the overhead was too much. With SwitchCube, it not only saves me money, I don’t have to own it or build it. I can have an office when I want, a board room, a small office, or I can do a class room environment, great for workshops. On top of that, I can serve coffee if I need it, that’s right, they even have a small kitchen facility should you need it.
Private Office with a door
Coffee Station
Board Room
Class Room
Matt says, this is just the beginning, we will offer bigger and better office space should the need present itself. Who would use this great facility, Real Estate Agents, Financial Advisers, Independent Contractors of all sorts, pretty much any self-employed individual who has a need for an office, whether it be for just a few hours, all day, and or longer. It’s a great place to have an off-site meeting with staff, no distractions. Telecommuting has been around a while, but office sharing is a new concept for this community.
I suggest you drop in and have a chat with Matt and his crew to discover how you might use this great new service.
I highly recommend them, here is their contact information:
Switchcube
1B – 33820 S. Fraser Way,
Abbotsford, B.C.
Ph: 778 – 809 – 4577
Website: http://switchcube.ca
Matt’s E-Mail: matt@switchcube.ca
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The Future Of Business – Jonathan Fields – The Good Life Project
Seth Godin
It’s no secret I’m a Seth Godin Fan, I admit it, but how could you not be? So many try to be like him, but he doesn’t want you to be like him, he wants you to be you, to tell your story, to pick yourself. He wants you to win! His message strikes fear in each and everyone of us, because he calls you on your fear, he reveals it in a kind and loving way, he cares, and that’s how he builds trust in my humble opinion. He claims in this video, that’s all he is trying to scale.
Much of what you read here and almost everything Seth Godin talks about is, a paradigm shift. Listen carefully to what Seth explains how almost all of us worked with our hands, or on a farm, we didn’t work for someone else as an employee.
Take the time to watch Seth Godin in this interview and change your life, the Good Life Project with Jonathan Fields.
The Future Of Business – The Staple Of The Internet & Business
You’ve heard the saying, “the more things change, the more they stay the same”. It even sounds weird when you say it out loud. But the truth is, that statement is true, no matter how much we try, we always default to what we know. It comes down to one of the “Gravities” of Human Behavior, we just can’t help ourselves.
Maybe you’ve said this before, I don’t ever want to be just like my Mother, or my Father, depending on what gender you happen to be. I’ve said it, and no matter how hard I try, people always tell me I’m just like my Father, that is those who knew my Father. I even find myself saying the same things he said, it’s so annoying! Yep, my kids get that benefit. My Father never used the Internet, not once, he couldn’t spell the word when he was alive. But he knew how to reach people, he knew how to contact them, and he knew how to get their blood to boil, all without the Internet. In his day, the phone, a letter, and he got in your face, those were his tools, his mode of communicating. I wonder how he would do with FaceBook and all the other Social Networks, probably tick a lot of people off with his style. But he probably would use one tool, one that will remain the staple of the Internet, and business, from today to eternity.
I’m not talking about websites and blogs, I’m talking about E-Mail. The Future of Business will continue to rely on E-Mail, it will remain one of the more effective ways to communicate. Although I expect email won’t improve much, it will stay just like it is, it would be nice if we could hear and discern tone of voice, determine body language, but we will continue to use it regardless of it’s flaws. There are other tools that can fill those needs, but email will be the simplest form, and the fastest way to get a message out.
Email systems like Aweber, MailChimp and the like will always have a place on the Internet, and in your business, we won’t be able to function without it. No matter how advanced mobile gets, Social Media, and VOIP systems, we will always default to Email, because we know it, and we trust it more than FaceBook.
No matter how much we try to use the latest technology, we always fall back on Email messaging, it’s our default way of writing a letter these days. Business owners, Internet Marketers, and Bloggers all find ways to capture your email address, why? To send you an email, to send you a new offer, keep you informed, and promote products and services. Collecting Email addresses is big business, and that’s why it will be here till long after I’m gone, it’s the tool of the future, it will continue to be a revenue generator. As long Email list make money, email will survive, it will be the way to get inside your world.
Don’t believe me? Try doing business without email, for just one day. Try not using it for any length of time, you’ll find yourself struggling to communicate, text messaging, Twitter & FaceBook won’t be private enough for you, and you will always default to email as the solution.
Knowing that Email isn’t going away, all business owners should find ways to leverage the communication tool, otherwise, you’re leaving money on the table.
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A Tribute To The Loss Of A Dear Friend – Tucker Nelson
Tucker & Sandi Nelson
Many years ago, around 1997, I met a man, I mean a real man. His name is Tucker Nelson. Tucker was a real man for many reason’s, but mostly for his courage, strength, and zest for life. You see, back in 1981, Tucker was in a trucking accident, yep, he was a truck driver. Tucker was seriously injured, and was confined to a wheel chair for the rest of his life. But Tucker was the most able person I know, he wouldn’t let the accident and the chair beat him. Sure he had times of frustration and depression, that made him normal to me, but he lived regardless of his situation.
When I met Tucker, he was a broker for the company I worked for, I would call him and he would provide trucking / transportation for our products being shipped all over North America. After many years of calling him, he hired me to help him build his business, business development. A few short years later, Tucker sold the business, and we stayed close friends, and I continued to support his technology needs. I used to drive into Burnaby to fix his computer problems, it made for long days, but he was worth it, and I enjoyed being with Tucker.
Yesterday (Nov 30th, 2012), I got the news from one of his daughter’s, that he had died from a massive heart attack. I have to admit, I am devastated, I have lost my Father, I have lost my Father-In-Law, I’ve lost other close friends, but today I find myself struggling with losing Tucker. I’m not looking for sympathy, that’s not why I write this tribute. I want you to know about Tucker, he was my friend, he was an over comer, a warrior, and he also was very compassionate. I will miss him, I feel bad that I didn’t spend more time with him, but I do have the comfort of knowing one thing. When he called, I always went to him, I never said no…I always said, I’ll be there as quickly as I can, and that was usually immediately. I am truly sad right now.
The picture above was taken a few years ago, around 2002. His wife Sandi passed away to cancer just few short years ago, she looked after and loved Tucker like no one else could, or has in the past. We talked of her often, he was grateful for the years he had with Sandi, and that she no longer suffers.
Thank you for indulging me as I pay tribute to a dear friend, I will miss him.
We are not promised tomorrow, please spend time with those you love and care for, make the world a better place with your kindness and love.
Many Blessings to you all.