Encouraging Greatness

Learn About Money - The Sooner The Better

I grew up in a family where we didn't talk about personal finance. I didn't know how much money my parents made or how much anything cost. I had part time jobs throughout high-school and into college and used it to buy things that didn't really matter, movies, CD's, gas for the car, etc. Part way through college I was estranged from my parents for a while and I was forced to figure things out on my own. I, like most Americans, began accumulating a mountain of debt. Starting with student loans, mortgage, new car payments and the dreaded credit card debt. I look back on it now and I really have no idea what we spent all of our money on, because there wasn't really a lot to show for it. I knew it was time for a change.

Starting in 2006, my wife and I got serious. I started tracking our spending every month and set a budget based on how much income we had. It took some time to get under control, but eventually we did. I then worked on getting rid of debt. Within a year and a half we had eliminated my student loan, one car loan and purchased a lot with which we planned to build a house someday. The amazing thing was, when looking back we didn't notice that we had greatly sacrificed in our lifestyle. 

Today I just kick myself thinking about all the time I wasted, not talking about, thinking about or planning our families finances better. We built a new house, so yeah, we still have debt, but we are finding ways to save money and still do the things we enjoy.

I would encourage you to take a look at a great sight I found after I had figured a lot of this out the hard way. J.D. Roth at Get Rich Slowly writes a fantastic blog about personal finance, covering topics from debt reduction, emergency savings, retirement savings, cost reduction and income improvement. His common sense approach and average Joe style makes the concepts easy to understand and easy to implement. Personal finance isn't really as hard of a subject as many feel it is. The thing that has really hit home to me is to start, no matter how small the start is. The longer you wait the less impact you can make. 

One of the most important things I hope to be able to teach my children is how to manage their personal finances as they get older. I plan to open up to my children exactly what our income and expenses are every month so they can see and understand what it takes. I plan to share all of the mistakes that I made and hope that they don't make the same ones. If they do make mistakes though, I hope that I can help them figure it out sooner than I did on my own.

I would encourage you to develop your own personal finance plan. Having a goal and working towards it, even if it means years of work, is well worth the effort. Having the peace of mind to be constantly aware of your personal financial situation and yet not worried about it all of the time is a place you will enjoy. It isn't as far away as you think either.

Try To Matter, Otherwise You Don't

Seth Godin had another of his great thought provoking posts, this time about doing things that show you matter. The thing I loved the most about many of his ideas are they aren't grandious things that make you famous or irreplaceable. They are the little things you can do. Being gracious, raising the bar, teaching and forgiving. Mattering isn't about being a superstar at something, it sounds to me like mattering is about doing the little things in life, helping out those around you and being hesitant to judge others or be condescending. 

This is so much what I've talked about before, doing the little things, one day at a time, better than you did in the past. Working to matter in the hundreds if not thousands of interactions with others we have every day. I encourage you to read through the list. Pay close attention to the first 5, because if you aren't doing those things you are just going through the motions and you don't matter. 

Inspiration From Disney - The Company And The Man

I'm not sure where it started or why, but I love Disney. Maybe not in the way the rest of my family does, but it facinates me to no end. Don't get me wrong, we have been to Walt Disney World twice, planning our third trip for later this year, and have been on a Disney cruise. I can certainly be a kid at heart when I'm there, you can't help but be happy when you are there. But what really is fascinating is Disney as a business. Yes, I think about business and Disney, kind of lame, but I can't help it. 

After my first trip I read Inside the Magic Kingdom which really got me thinking about Disney as a business. Some of the anecdouts I still remember to this day. Like how every night they strip down and repaint every one of the horse-head hitching posts aligning Main Street USA. Or that the gold paint on Cinderella's Carousel is actually 14 karet gold leaf paint. How you won't see any gum sold within the parks (so you don't stick it to anything) and every single employee, make that every cast member is responsible for keeping the park picked up. The success of the brand they built was intriguing to me and I was drawn to the great lengths they go to for the customer. The entire organization is built around what the customer wants. It started with the beliefs of Walt Disney himself. You see it in the attractions at the park. Beyond just a great ride, they make the whole experience of waiting in line part of the attraction itself.

 

Since then I continue to read about Disney often to get a glimpse of what Mickey and the gang are up to next. I just finished a great book, Walt Disney: An American Original that gives an in depth look at Walt Disney's life and the start of the company. The perseverence he had was amazing and the ability to branch out to new things, from animation shorts, to animation features, to live action movies, to television, to theme parks and more, and continue to be successful in each new venture is astounding to me. Rarely can a company achieve such success in almost everything they do. That is why Walt is a tremendous roll-model, he never decided that they had reached the peak.

One of his earliests successes was The Three Little Pigs, after there was a great demand for more cartoons featuring the three little pigs, to which he replied, "You can't top pigs with pigs." That was a theme for Walt Disney's entire life, always working on the next big thing. However, Disney isn't perfect, far from it. In the Disney War you can read how Walt's son-in-law, Ron Miller was forced out as the head of Disney and replaced by Michael Eisner. It gives an interesting look at the success Eisner had in the early years and the decline that ultimately led to his being forced out.

All of the history and stories around Disney serve as a reminder and inspiration to me. Be it work or your own life, Disney has lessons that we can learn from:

• Never assume that what you are doing today is good enough.
• Treat customers like they are the most important thing to your organization, because they are.
• Walt Disney was so passionate about what he believed in he was willing to risk everything that he owned to make it work. How much do you believe in what you do?
• Make your entire experience that customers have working with your company enjoyable. Everything they come into contact with connected with your company should be a positive experience.
• Push the limits, beyond what others think is practical or realistic, that is where true success comes from.

Hopefully each of you have a little more of the Disney spirit in your life.

Give Away Your Talents

Given the economy and the number of people that unfortunately are searching for a new job, many out there are looking for ways to hang on to their job. I believe one of the best ways to make yourself more valuable to your company is to give your talents away at work as often as possible. Each of us has certain talents that make us shine. I'm not talking about the things you do well or the tasks at work that you can get done as needed. I'm talking about those one or two things that you are best in the world at. If you think you don't have them you are wrong. We all have them and I believe every one of us needs to be doing more of that and less of everything else. You might think that you are really good at something, but hardly the best in the world. The thing to realize is your world is what is important, not the entire world. Sometimes it can mean being the absolute best in the company at something.

If you know what that is, do it, and do it often. If you are the best salesperson at your company at getting in the door at new prospects, I believe it is your job to help every other salesperson get in the door with their prospects. If you are the best at closing, help everyone else close. I know you are busy, you have a ton of your own work to do, there are barely enough hours to get your own work done let alone help everyone else. That is the point, companies are cutting back, you are stressed, as is everyone else. If we all pool our greatest strengths together as a team, be it a department, a company, a family, a nation or a world, how much further could we go compared to doing everything on our own?

The Last Lecture And Your Legacy

I’m sure I’m behind a bit in reading this as much has been written about Randy Pausch and The Last Lecture. For those that haven’t heard about it, it is the book that was written by a professor at Carnegie Mellon University that was diagnosed with terminal cancer. Before he died he gave a “last lecture” that was a common practice for departing professors. Normally this was for retiring or transferring to another position, but Randy’s was indeed going to be his last lecture. He used it as his final statement, and they recorded it to someday show his three children, the oldest which was 5. This video was released on the internet and became a phenomenon. I highly encourage you to watch the video or read the book. 

Randy tells the story of his life and shares stories from his childhood and the dreams he had for his life. He talked about how he was able to realize many of his dreams and encourages each of us to do the same. To live each day to the fullest. I guarantee his story will make you look at what is important in your life and to not take any day you have for granted.

It made me think about what my legacy will be and how much I want to be able to look at my life and see that I have made a difference in peoples lives, like Randy was able to do. He gave something back that his children, and people that knew him, will be able to look at and be proud of the man he was. That is what I hope for my life. It isn’t a goal to be famous, it is about my wife and my children being able to look at what I do in this world and being proud of what I accomplish. My ambitions are around wanting to make a positive difference in the lives of the people I interact with, to make the world a better place. What other purpose is there in life? What other purpose should there be?

How do you want to be remembered when you are gone?

Eliminating Criticism

I heard something recently about a man that seemed to be happy all the time. It was an infectious happiness too, it seemed to cheer up the people around them without realizing why they were happier. When asked what his secret was he said that he strived to never say anything negative about another person. To take that a step further, he would try not to listen to others being critical either. This really struck me as I realized how I feel when I am complaining about someone or a situation. I feel stressed, exhausted, tired, frustrated and angry. How amazing is that. All this time you are told to be nice to others because of what it does to that person. The true benefits are for you though. I think this is just another instance in life about how it is never about the situations you are in, but how you react in those situations that is important.

When I remind myself that my happiness is impacted by my attitude and reaction to other people and circumstances in life it changes how I react. So don’t be critical of others, it is for your own good. 

What Is Your Goal In Life?

I was asked the question recently “What is your goal in life?” It was from one of those books of questions to learn about another person.  There were 4 multiple choice answers and my wife of course knew the one that fit me, “To make the world a better place.” Of all the answers that was the obvious choice for me as well. Even if it was an open answer questions, that is probably what I would have put. For some reason that has stuck with me and I’ve been reflecting on it a lot lately. I tell myself that it is a great goal, who wants to make the world worse? But, in my life do I really make the world better?

I do know that I try, at work I try and help my co-workers. If I have information that will help them, even if it isn’t my job, I will share it. Not because I want to be a no-it-all, but because I truly like the feeling of helping someone and making their life easier or better. But then I beat myself up because I’m not perfect. I wish I was a better husband and be the romantic thoughtful person that is always there for my wife. Why do I get grumpy some times and bite her head off over nothing? I wish I was a better father and didn’t lose my patience and yell at my children when they frustrate me. How do I make the world a better place when I hurt the people I love the most?

I realize that I’m not perfect, and I’m only human, all of us are. All we can do is continue to work better at it each day. I’m sure I will still lose my patience in the future, get mad at the wrong things and beat myself up over something I should let go. My goal is for it to be less than it was before, to get better every day, and I think that I’m achieving that goal. When I think about the best way I can make the world a better place, it is to make myself be a better person, to everyone I interact with. What if you strived to be better every day as well? What kind of impact could we have in the world? What if everyone was a better person tomorrow then they are today? Imagine a world where 6 billion people are better than they were yesterday? Give that a year, or 10 years, and you can only imagine the possibilities.

So what is your goal in life?

Sometimes You Have to be Knocked Down to Rise Up

I learned this the hard way recently as I like to think I was a product of the much discussed economic downturn. I lost my job recently, over 10 years with the corporation to be called into the office one day and told they were letting me go because I wasn’t performing. It has got to be hard to be fired, but a friend of mine recently was fired but she knew it was coming, hard but not that hard. Getting laid off has got to be awful as well, you are doing fine and just out of the job because your company is having problems. Both would be bad but to be told with no warning that you aren’t good at your job makes you take a hard look at things. I was lucky enough to be given 6 weeks to find a new job, something many people don’t do, I guess 10 years got me something. But given how bad the economy is and having just built a new house, to say we were a little scared was an understatement.

But, I was smart enough to have an emergency fund saved (If you don’t put some of your money aside every pay period I highly encourage you to start. Saving is something you should make a necessity above anything else. It took me longer than it should of to figure that out.) that I felt could buy me a little extra time, and I kept telling myself that it was a blessing in disguise, because I wasn’t really happy for the last couple of years at work.

How it worked out so well in the end still amazes me, I was able to find a new job, that 2 months in seems to be a great move for me. Plus leaving my old job forced us to find new daycare for our children since the old one was tied to the company. They are doing remarkably well and adjusting to the changes. In the end, I believe it was better for me and my family that this happened. Could have done without the stress, but the stress can force you to make harder decisions and take more risks than you normally would. I’m even thankful that I was blindsided about my not having the skills to do the job I was in. If they had given me warning, would I have tried harder and improved? Made it better where I hung on another 6 months? I’m glad I didn’t, because my new job is better suited for me, and life is better for our family. I tolerated my job and we tolerated our old daycare, but we weren’t happy. I encourage you to find the things in your life that you tolerate and work to make them better. That little voice inside your head that tells you things just aren’t quite right is so often correct, yet we mostly ignore it. I hope you and I both can see the things that should be changed and do something about it before it forces your hand. But if you don’t and you do have to take a step backwards, stay positive about it because I truly believe it is meant to teach you something, if you learn from it you will be better off in the end for going through it.

Balancing Life Doesn’t Mean You Can’t Be Great

I’ve always wanted to be successful at work, but I also want to be a good husband and father. It always seemed like to be great at one you have to sacrifice the other. At least that is what things certainly look like. You see the executives in your company working long hours, trying to survive and get ahead. To accomplish that more often than not their family comes in second. Unfortunately I struggled with a similar situation the past few months, we were going through the process of building a new house. For anyone that hasn’t gone through it there are thousands of decisions to be made, every day we had to talk about the house. To make things worse I took on the insane task of trying to save ourselves some money by doing some of the work myself. I added it up and in a 3 month span, I worked the equivalent of 2 full time jobs, my regular job, and working on the house. Needless to say that is one of the reasons I didn’t write hear for a while. It also meant giving up time with my family. It was hard on us, especially my wife practically having to be a single mother for some time, but we knew it was short term and would get us the house of our dreams. Being moved in and settled now, it feels like it was worth it, to see life return to normal. I achieved something great but it did involve a sacrifice.

During all those hours, mostly alone, I was able to do a lot of thinking, about people that work 70, 80 or more hours every week. How fulfilling could that possibly be? If you find success in that, more power to you, but why can’t you be great at finding balance. Be an incredibly talented worker, that does a great job and helps your company succeed, but goes home at the end of the day to spend time with your family? Every day that goes by is another day that you can never get back. I look at being great at something could be anything, from being great at work, to being great with your family, to being great at finding a balance with both. Whatever you want to be great at is what is important, not what others say should be important to you or what is important to them. Understanding that about yourself is the hard part, once you figure it out I think greatness becomes easy. Here’s to you and I figuring that out.

Return From My "Vacation"

I apologize for the long delay and want to thank everyone that has stayed with me during the past few months while I've had a lot of changes going on that forced me to put this site on the back burner. Changes still happen and life goes on, but I enjoy writing and plan to share some of what I've encountered over the past few months. I also hope that you will share with me your experiences as everyone that reads will be better off for it.