Are you a Dreamer or a Realist?

A realist thinks about problems and applies conventional thought to determine if it is solvable or not.

A dreamer thinks about solutions and creates problems for conventional thought.
Dreamers are troublemakers.

They want to see change.
Status quo bores them.
To get a dreamer to keep his head out of the clouds is like keeping a cat from meowing at the bird on the front lawn.

Dreamers change the world.
Without them, the world remains in sameness.

Dreamers are unrealistic.
They see a world that does not exist, yet.
They imagine there is no heaven.
They build schools, companies, and countries.
They solve problems with man made flight, space travel, and nuclear physics.
They harness waves for sound, heat, and light.

Dreamers are ridiculed.
Each and every day, outside of their circle of dreamers, people point and snicker and don't understand why someone could be so unrealistic.
One day, the dreamer will be either poor and destitute OR rich and famous.
The dreamer doesn't do it for fame. Fame is a by-product of following the path of insanity toward achievement.
The person who does it for money or fame is not a dreamer. He is a realist disguised as a poser.
Posers and dreamers don't speak the same language.

Posers quit when someone achieves first.
Dreamers don't.
Dreamers want the world to be better for all dreamers and realists.

Are you a dreamer or a realist?

Do you work for money OR are you passionate about your craft no matter the pay?
Do you think about your craft WHEN you're not at work?
Do you take vacations to get away from your craft OR do you get away to get a new perspective of it?
Are you working on your dream OR simply dreaming while you work?

The Dreamer creates a new reality, while the realist lives in an old one.

I know which one I am. Do you?

You want growth, you need new friends

You opened a business and need customers.
Everything you own is put into this risky adventure.
You have decided this is where your opportunity in life lies.
So you risk money, ego, time, relationships, future opportunities and your own sanity to take it on.

You hear people telling you to put things on sale.
Sales drive traffic, right?
You know it works with your own purchase decisions, so it must be good advice.

Someone tells you to put a big red sign in the front window with 50% off.
Big discounts drives big traffic, right?
You've responded to those signs before so it must be a good thing to do.

Someone else tells you to mail out a flyer with discounts on them.
You've responded to flyers with discounts before.
So it must be good for business, right?

When a sale is made, business makes money, right?

Your business is in trouble.
You're focussing on the wrong customer.
Sales, discounts, flyers all work.
They drive traffic from a group of people who want to save money.

This type of sales traffic is not loyal.
They switch when you're not cheap.
They cheat on you when your competitor is cheaper.

You need customers who love your products for the same reasons that you love them.
There are people who behave the same way you do when it comes to your products.
They don't know about you, yet.
You have a marketing problem which is causing your sales problem.

The marketing tactic that focuses on discounts are "easy fixes" to your marketing problem. They are temporary, inconsistent drivers of sales traffic.

The job of marketing is to get into the customers head so that when the time is right, they walk through the door, click a button or pick up the phone.

HOW DO YOU GET INTO THEIR HEAD?

The answer is simple but never easy.
There are two ways to do it:

1. Be extremely clever. This takes creative genius but it doesn't last. The world gets bored of the cleverness and your ads are only as good as the last ones you created. Most major brands apply this technique and proceed to fire their creative geniuses every 3 to 4 years.
2. Say something that matters. This takes a lot of digging. It is an authentic voice, a true perspective and an accurate feeling of what your company is. Few brands apply this strategy but those that do ride it for decades as they climb to market leader in their categories.

Speak from the heart and you will find customers who want the same things you want. Speak to the right brain to get at a customer's emotional self. When you pull out an emotion, you will find your customers, who will become your business friends.

Here's why: Customers who believe in what you're saying are EXACTLY like you. Relationships are built on that premise. 

Go make some new friends.

Rick Nicholson is a partner of Wizard of Ads. He helps customers find their unique, authentic voice so they can grow their business. You can reach him at ricknicholson@wizardofads.com to see how he can help you.

The profitable customer is a relational one.

Imagine you're in the supermarket aisle and you have to choose a product among a mountain of choices that all do the same thing.

Two are highly recognizable brands.

The same two are perceived equal in their ability to get the job done.

They are not the same price.

Which one do you buy?

The simple answer is, it depends on the buyer and your motivations.

Yes, you read that right, I didn't say it depended on the product.

The product is relatively unimportant. 

It's the buyer that business needs to focus on.

There are two types of buyers: Transactional and Relational.

Transactional buyers will sacrifice their own young for a deal. They chase the cheapest price and will drive by 5 gas stations to save one cent per litre. They are proud of their buying bravado and brag to their friends about the beans they've saved.

Relational buyers do not price shop. When they need a product, price plays a role but it's a low factor on their decision to buy.

Relationships aren't held with commodities. 

Walmart visits aren't exciting shopping experiences. 

We run in, get what we need at a cheap price and get the heck out.  

Commodities are bought and sold based on price. 

That's what makes Walmart successful. 

Price is the only thing that matters in the decision process.

The cheapest product wins.

The transactional shopper gets excited.

Everyone is happy.

Except the relational shopper.

Walmart closed 236 stores in 2016. 

Transactional shoppers are cheating on Walmart in search for cheaper options online.

Walmart doesn't have relational buyers.

Relationships are harder to break. 

The relational shopper accepts the devil she knows. 

The fear of changing brands is greater than a perceived benefit elsewhere. 

One of the reasons it's so hard to launch a start up business is relational customers already have their place.

Convincing them to try your product is easy. Most people are curious enough to try anything once.

Convincing them to switch their buying habits is like tearing off a finger.

They don't quit their current relationship unless they aren't getting what they want from them.

I know a business that guarantees to save its business customers upwards of $50,000 per year. 

Surprisingly, they don't have that many customers.

The transactional customers spend all day saving money and don't think anyone can do a better job than they are already doing.

The relational customers are happy with the level of service, the camaraderie of the sales rep and the value proposition currently being provided. Going golfing with their sales rep and getting a free trip to Mexico in March has more value to them than $50,000 per year. 

The relational customer won't switch until the current provider pisses them off. 

The relational customer doesn't believe the claims about the amount of money on the table.
The relational customer is married to other suppliers and does not accept a simple claim of money saving.
Remember it's not about the money for relational customers.

The relational customer is the best customer to have.

To get them, stop talking to them about savings.
Go after their heart.
Don't talk to them about savings.
Take them out for a date.
Get to know them.
Show them a good time.
Get them to like you.
Get them to feel what a relationship with you COULD be.

Create a feeling and you have a half chance to pull in the relational buyer.
And get ready for the angry divorced supplier to try to pull them back, with prices, incentives, and eye candy.

Reach a transactional buyer with prices.
Connect with a relational buyer with belief.

Conventional thought

You want to do something different than what you've been doing.
It's a bit risky.
Your first thought is to see what others have done.
What others have tried.
Where others have failed.
So you won't.

We've been taught that failure is a bad word.
No one should strive for failure.
It means you have to repeat the lesson.
It means you have to start from scratch.
It means you're not moving forward in a world that is whizzing you by.

Failure is NOT a bad word.
It's a reset.
It's a lesson.
It's a teaching opportunity.
If you pay attention.

Your homework in learning what others have done, succeeded or failed is only part of an answer still uncovered.

Where others have succeeded becomes conventional thought.
It becomes common.
It becomes what you believe to be the "KNOWN".

If you've had a baby, you remember the minute you understood your baby's whimpers and whines is the day the baby changes his routine. When you get used to waking up for 3am feedings is the night the baby sleeps through the night.

Robin Williams character is Dead Poet's Society says it best.

"Just when you think you know something, you have to look at it in another way. Even though it may seem silly or wrong, you must try."

Conventional thought has been proven wrong many times.

Conventional thought says there is no one dependable in the workforce who wants to work for minimum wage so you have to inport labour from others countries.
Not true, if you can't find the right people, check your job ad and your management style. People is not the problem, you and your ad are. You're attracting the wrong people.

Conventional thought says you need money to make money.
Not true. You need customers to make money. You need a great product to make customers. You need hard work, persistence and innovative thinking to make a great product. And you need to be a bit insane to even start.

Conventional thought says money doesn't grow on trees.
Isn't money really paper, made from ummm trees?

Conventional thought says you need to go to school, get good grades, get a job so you can retire.
Zuckerberg, Jobs, and Gates are just a few smart people who never finished university. I know kids making millions with barely a high school diploma.

Conventional thought isn't all bad.
It's the safe route.
It's the one with the fewest obstacles.
If you don't have the guts, conventional thought is your best bet.
But don't expect too much from it.
When a path has been beaten down to the dirt, the greatest riches are removed by previous travellers.
The greater the safety, the lesser the opportunity.

The road less travelled is not safe.
It may lead to a dead end.
It will be interesting, exciting and dangerous.
However, if you can come out the other end, still in tact, you will find your riches.

Jump on a desk.
Look at things from a different perspective.
Ask a child what he thinks. They will surprise you with their innocent view of the world.
Talk to a homeless man.
Don't do what everyone else has done before you.
It's been done. The garden has been picked.
There's not much left for you.

The wild pastures are waiting for you to discover them.
If you're willing to get past some of your conventional thoughts.

Insane in the brain

I watched a community of ants scream as I guided three simultaneous blades of tornado terror over their city. 

I wonder if their gods predicted my devastation.

It's fairly predictable from my perspective. 10 times per year, the tornado rolls in and kills countless citizens of three neighboring towns of Anthill, Antville and Antopolis. And every time, the town is rebuilt and ready for the next "natural" disaster.

The definition of crazy is "mentally deranged, especially as manifested in a wild, aggressive way".

Insanity is defined as "extremely foolish; irrational or illogical".

By definition, I'm not crazy, but it looks like I'm insane.

Illogical is a series of steps that no one has yet defined as being real.

But someone has to be first.

Someone has to be illogical in thought before logic can be accepted.

Most un-normal behaviours start out as unacceptable until there's a tipping point.

That tipping point is about 16%.

Once 16% of a population accept a behaviour as being acceptable, then it is no longer considered wrong, illogical or insane.

But if you're alone in thought, opinion or theory, without 16% of the people in agreement, then you're insane.

Just like me.

Tattoos were taboo until 15 year old girls started inking cute butterflies on their ankles and 40 year old men started getting sleeves to show how bad-ass they were.

Nose rings, thongs, mohawks, thoughts, opinions are now readily accepted as you celebrate individualism, self expression, and personal freedom.

Everything is illogical until it is proven to be.

Everything is weird until is accepted to be normal.

Everything is off, until 16% of the population accepts it to be ok.

Time might not be linear.

Life might not be what you think it is.

What if your world does not end in death?

What if your life is nothing more than death, while you wait to live?

Perspective is as magical for us as it is for the dirt building colonists in our backyards.

I'm insane in the membrane...

Are Brain Orgasms real or part of a dream?

Is a dream a deluge from reality?  That question came to me in meditation.

I've never written the word “deluge” before. I didn't know what it meant. It sounded right in my head so I looked it up.

It’s a perfect word. It means to wash away. 
How did I know that? 

And why did I put those random words to thought in a soulful journey?

As most irreconcilable questions, the answer is, “I don’t know”.

Meditation is an interesting voyage going to nowhere and everywhere in the same moment. With each passing second, while quieting the mind, there is lots of traffic. 
Thought traffic!!!
Traffic sucks. You never seem to get where you need to when there’s so much whizzing around.

In my meditations, I have experiences embraced with clues. 

The first time, it was weird, but I allowed it to enter my vortex. 
Before I could get to where I wanted to go, It ended. 
I couldn’t get it back.

The harder I tried to search, the less luck I had. 
I've learned you can't chase the clues in mediation.
They have to come to you.

It doesn't come when I force it.
It shows up when I don't expect it.
The experience is magical. It's a tingle that starts at the head and works its way down my spine and takes over my whole body.
This tingle happens outside of mediation too, but it's more pronounced when I'm completely relaxed.

If I think about my grandma, the tingle can appear.
As I write this line, the "spider senses" are activating again. 

I believe, clues can come from the simplest of places, when we are open to receive them.

I identify my clues when my "tingly" senses act up.

It’s more exhilarating than sex, more fulfilling than love and more rewarding than a mother’s kind word. 
It’s addictive. 
I search for it to puncture my skin each time I journey into the black hole of meditation. 

Sometimes I wonder if there are real clues in mediation or if my mind is racing in the morning traffic to get to work.

The sensation is so incredible, I've whispered “Wow” out loud a few times. 
There is no fear, no worry. 
I feel love in the moment and at the same time I feel nothing. 

It’s a comfortable numb. 
It's a shot of rum.
It's a pat on the head.
It's a cuddled embrace.
It's a kind word.
It's a rush of adrenaline.
Yet, it's not real.
Except in my mind.

When the feeling comes, 
My worries exit stage left. 
My fears skydive away. 
The feeling is like a current of electricity pulsating through my body. 

"Tingle" is the best way to describe the feeling. It's the same feeling that makes the hair on your arms stick up but in a good way. 

I've noticed this phenomena in my body for the last 3 years. As I was writing about my experience, I googled it and found that I'm not the only one with this sensation.

It's called AMSR: Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response. It's been referred to as a brain orgasm.

I feel better for having experienced it.
And crave it more, just like an addiction.

I wonder if my life is a dream or my dream is a life.

I wonder if my reality is a theme park for spirits to enjoy bad things like fear, overindulgence, and death.
I wonder why these feelings come to me at very specific times, as if to carry a clue to the mystery of my life.

There is a connection in meditation land. Although some senses like hearing can't pick up the drone of the air conditioner, it picks up my own voice saying, "wow". 

And when I'm done searching for my clues and the feeling has passed, I open my eyes, feeling like I've been transported from a place where Time has no meaning to where Time is a thief.

Time is like a race.

You treat Time like it's a race.
You live and then you die.
And while you live, you try to survive.
And while you survive, you try to strive.
And while you try to strive, you try to thrive.
And while you try to thrive, you're wishing to die.
Death comes to you when no one is looking.
And the race against Time becomes the race
to nowhere...

I am out of time.
I don't have enough time.
If I only had more time.
Time cannot be owned.
It is a figment of our imagination.
We invented Time to give life context.

The porcupine does not have a clock.
The squirrel does not invest for retirement.
The shark does not need an alarm to get ready for his day.

Humans treat Time like it's linear.
It's 2017, in 365 Earth rotations, it will be 2018.
Time is not linear. It's cyclical.
Just like a NASCAR race.

Oh Look! Another left turn.
Four turns and you're back to where we started.
Four turns takes a lifetime.
Four turns and you're dead.
While you pass the baton to the next driver.

It's been proven by generational theorists that it takes 4 generations to return to the same position as their great grandparents.
A generation is considered to be about 20 years.
Average life expectancy for humans is a bit more than 80 years.
4 turns, 4 generations, 1 life.

You race your life living for tomorrow, next week, next month, next year.
But Tomorrow does not exist.
In 24 hours, Tomorrow will be Today.
And Tomorrow will always be 24 hours a way.
Around the next turn.
Never to be seen, but wished upon continuously.
There's only Today.

You have one life.
You have no Tomorrows.
Only Today.

So while you race your life around the track, what turn are you in?
You only have 4.
Don't wish for the next turn, it could be your home stretch.
Once you cross the finish line, there's no do-over.

Love actually...

You were loved the moment I saw you.
Immediate, instantaneous, cosmic.
You touched my finger.
I touched back.
Magic in one moment when our eyes hurried to the same place.

Years have past,
It seems like a breath ago.

I take you for granted,
Although I've always said I loved you.
I didn't know its meaning,
Until I almost lost you.

Tears clouded my vision,
Fear crowded my thoughts,
Worry about what was, could never be again.
All the things I never thought of,
Made me realize how fragile we really are,

You ain't superhuman,
No matter how strong you look.
You ain't invincible,
No matter how healthy you eat.
You ain't unbeatable,
No matter how fit you be.
You are human,
So am I.
We are mortal.
We must die.

But until that time, when our fingers will not touch,
I hold dear the moment that we loved, lived, and laughed.
And hope that our fingers will touch forever,
Even though I know that it cannot be.

But I will love you for ever,
As I promised the day I first touched your finger,
Forever being a day, a week, a month, a year.
I will love you for what ever it shall be.
And what ever shall come.

For you are my child, my friend, my son.
And I am your child, your friend, your son.

You and your problems

You are strong.
You don't always need people to lean on.
People let us down.
All of the time.

When you need a shoulder to cry on,
The person takes it away.
You don't know why.

They've had enough of your drama,
they have their own problems,
they don't know how to help,
they don't want to help.

In any case, the problem isn't theirs.
It's yours.
And no one can fix it but you.
You want someone else to fix it for you.
But they won't, can't, and don't.
It's up to you.

You've learned that when shit hits the fan,
There is one person you can depend on.
Whether you like her or not.
She stares at you through the mirror.

You want to be cuddled
Mom will try but you're too big for that now.
Dad won't try because he never did that.
No one else is there but the girl in the mirror.

You're not certain who can help
Who will help.
You want someone who should help.
And they don't help.
They can't.

You feel alone.
Paralyzed by a decision
Sickened by choice.
Mangled by options.
Disabled by confusion.

All the answers sit with the girl in the mirror.
If you get out of her way.
You are perfect.
Praise the girl in the mirror.
It's the best way you will get past this.