Do we treat life like an answering machine

"I'm sorry we can't come to the phone right now. Leave your name, number and message and we'll get back to you".

Does anyone not know what to do when the voice mail clicks on? Do we really have to be told to leave a message? It's not dangerous to leave the same message. It's un-offensive. It's non-remarkable.

In the pasture of sameness, it is the different ones that stand out and get noticed - even praised.

I used to live with my sister before I met my queen. When my sister wasn't looking, I changed the voice mail to "Hey cool cats, you know the drill".

In the settings of your cellular phone, the manufacturer places a tag at the end of every email that gets sent. It usually says something boring like, "sent from iPhone". I changed mine to "sent by intergalactic space's new carrier pigeon."

In both cases, I was scared what others would think of me. The feedback was positive. I was no longer boring. I peaked interest for a brief second. And in the world of sales sameness, my messages stood out. Those who don't like it are the same fuddy duddies I don't like to play with. My messages are filters. I don't have to be all things to all people. I just have to be the right things to enough people who value me, my ideas and abilities.

Everyone else can grip their tea cups properly by extending their pinky finger straight out. I don't care about high tea, the monarchy or any of the prissy people who can't feign a smile at a tasteless joke.

Messages aren't the only things that have become automated. So have our conversations. Digital conversations from Facebook and Instagram have become too predictable.

Predictable is boring. Boring is not living. Boring is safe. Boring is unremarkable. Boring is a slow death.

We're trained not to stand out. Our mom's taught us not be obnoxious. There's a huge difference between standing out and being obnoxious.

Standing out risks ridicule or worse criticism. It is safer to blend in than it is to offend.

Are you treating your life like an answering machine?
When no one is looking, I dare you to do something unconventional.
Anything...
Change your answering machine message, or your cellular phone settings, or your hair colour or car to a wild pink. Decide to wear shorts all the time, even in the middle of winter.  It doesn't matter what you decide, a simple change will make you more vibrant, more memorable, more alive.

Find courage and act on something that scares you a little.  Life wasn't meant to be recorded and replayed a hundred times. It was meant to be lived every day with all the nuance, and variables that each day can offer.

Boring doesn't garner attention. Boring doesn't elicit salesmanship.
Boring is like whispering.
Take mom's advice, whispering in front of others isn't polite.

Ta ta for now!

PS. Harland Sanders was given the title of honourary Kentucky colonel by a politician. He created the character, the wardrobe and his iconic facial hair to create a personality that belonged to him, outlived his life and will continue to sell fried chicken for the next hundred years. #anythingbutboring

The game of Risk

I've never played RISK, the board game.

The risk I play with is business risk.

I am not afraid of risk. But I don't like it.

Risk is a girlfriend's nagging mother. Wanting to marry the girl, you have to accept the mother even though she could a deal breaker. The benefit of a wife has to outweigh the cost of her mother to move forward.

In business, we can't measure the benefit when decisions have to be made. So we make best guess estimates. If the estimates are accurate, our decisions will prove to be good. If they are not, our decisions will be poor.

When I was a teenager, kids used to dive off a train bridge into the river. Regardless of the tide and the level of the water, some kids would plunge into the water headfirst with no regard to life. For me the benefit was nothing more than a thrill. Plummeting into water gives the same refreshing feeling regardless of which body part enters first. To me, diving into low tidal waters was reckless.  For me the risk of paralysis or death wasn't worth the thrill, so I never dove.

Some say getting into business is risky.

Poor decisions result in poor results and wise decisions may result in positive results.

But we don't know which one we are making at the decision point. Time is the only teller.

Not doing something has an element of risk as well. And we can't measure that risk until time has also passed.

If a person wants to open a business, the logical people weigh the costs and potential losses of going into business and losing the game.

They consider staying in a job as winning.
We don't measure the costs of staying in a job and losing.
We assume there will always be jobs for us.
We assume things will work out, when we are employed.

We don't make those same assumptions in business.

Keeping a job is perceived as safe, even secure. Only time gives us 20/20 vision. But we can't go backwards. Time only goes forward.

Risk is not the problem. Neither is fear the problem.

An entrepreneur does not love risk. She hates it like everyone else.
She knows how to evaluate it, limit it and act courageously in the face of it.

We have a courage problem.

The fishing line of life

Life is but a fishing line cast out onto the ocean of being.
In search for the riches of the sea, only to be slowly reeled in one day at a time.

Some lines get cast far from shore. Some are cast close.
The distance is not known until the reel stops with the hook only seconds from the pole.
The distance doesn't matter. The ability to enjoy our time in the sea is what is important.

Whether the riches are caught or not, the fisherman decides if the pole will cast the life again.
If the fisherman stops, so does the hope to catch another fish.
If the fisherman casts, life will rise again.

-In memory of my friend Marc Allain

House of Common Animals...

Once upon an election, I used to get excited. It was a time to voice my displeasure or pleasure with the current administration. I felt important. I felt like I was making a difference with my vote.

Then I realized politics is dirty. Politicians are mostly lawyers who know how to debate the finer points of language. They know how to use words against an opponent to uphold their own agenda.

I read today the name of the lawyer representing parents against school closures. There was no mention that five years ago he was the minister of education.

New candidates represent hope and change. Promises are made that cannot be kept. The public accepts the bullshit because each time it believes this person is going to be different.

But he never is. And it's not his fault.

The system is the same. Parties get elected. Leaders rise to supreme power when a majority of their colleagues of the same colour get voted in. The public doesn't vote for leaders. The public votes for a representative. If the public doesn't like the leader that an elite group votes in, the local representative has to be removed as a show of displeasure for leadership. Yet if other parts of the country don't display the same displeasure, the leader can remain in power.

Absolute power corrupts absolutely.

Only time breeds displeasure. The removal of the leader takes time. The best leaders eventually piss off enough people to get removed.

And that's where our system is flawed. Voting doesn't change anything. As long as a leader remains popular, it doesn't matter how a person votes.  It's easy to be popular. Don't make tough decisions. Don't be polarizing and don't say anything to offend.

That makes me sad. For years I thought the ability to vote was an important display of freedom.

When laws get changed to allow for attack ads, I feel dirty.
When politicians lie and cheat the taxpayers, I feel raped.
When bureaucrats spin the truth because they don't believe there is absolute truth, I get angry.

Politics is a good business for dirty, and cut throat politicians. Change will not happen because the system will not allow it to happen.

Nothing changes with new leadership. For there to be change, processes and systems have to be re-invented. To have change, conventional thought and constructs need to be put aside.

If war is good for anything, it's the removal of conventional thought.

Re-invention can happen without war. But not without courage, humility, and a desire to not quit until success is achieved.

For politics to get back to being about representing the people, there is only one solution. Take away the one evil thing that drives people to get into politics: Greed. Remove pensions from elected officials. Remove expense claims and office stipends. Regulate salaries to the average of the region in which the candidate is elected. Flights and accommodations are paid for by the crown. Any extra expenses are paid for by the elected official.

The greedy will not run. The business of politics will not be appealing. Regular people will start to run for office. People who are honest. People who want to make a difference. Regular people who will not trade their integrity for their vote. Regular people serving regular people. And if they become dirty, another regular person will win the next election.

For things to change, the system needs to change. For the system to change, it's gonna take a maverick, to have enough balls and strength of character to put these ball-less elected officials in their place.

It's going to hurt for that maverick. It always does for the person who insists on change. He will face ridicule, threats, and possible death. That special person needs fortitude of character, the peace of mind and the ability to not quit.

That is the only way I believe change will ever happen. Otherwise the new boss will just be like the old boss. And the cycle will continue with disappointment, heartache and anger.

                                            "Won't Get Fooled Again" - The Who

We'll be fighting in the streets
With our children at our feet
And the morals that they worship will be gone
And the men who spurred us on
Sit in judgement of all wrong
They decide and the shotgun sings the song

The change, it had to come
We knew it all along
We were liberated from the fold, that's all
And the world looks just the same
And history ain't changed
'Cause the banners, they are flown in the next war

I'll move myself and my family aside
If we happen to be left half alive
I'll get all my papers and smile at the sky
Though I know that the hypnotized never lie
Do ya?

There's nothing in the streets
Looks any different to me
And the slogans are replaced, by-the-bye
And the parting on the left
Are now parting on the right
And the beards have all grown longer overnight

I'll tip my hat to the new constitution
Take a bow for the new revolution
Smile and grin at the change all around
Pick up my guitar and play
Just like yesterday
Then I'll get on my knees and pray
We don't get fooled again
Don't get fooled again
No, no!

Yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!

Meet the new boss
Same as the old boss

Towering inferno

Leaving a safe secure job is as exciting as opening the door to your closet when you were four year's old.

It's frightening. There are monsters who lurk and want to eat little girl's tongues. Immobilized by fear, we don't open the door of darkness. We choose to remain on the other side of the room with the lights turned on.

For years I thought fear was the biggest thing holding us back from our dreams. I was wrong. It's something worse.

Humans are born with two fears: falling and loud noises. All the other fears we have are learned. Fear of loss, recognition, failure, what others think, public speaking, and many others are learned over time with our experiences.

I once had a young man working with me who was an amazing technician. He could do the job with little to no supervision. He was the perfect employee with one exception. He didn't like to deal with issues. He would avoid confrontation for any price. And that price hurt his team and my relationship with him. He was gutless. He was a coward.

A coward isn't someone who is fearful.  A coward is someone who lacks courage. If you remember, the Cowardly Lion in The Wizard of Oz, desired courage.

Courage is defined by acting despite fears.

Fear is not the problem. We all have them. Courage is the real issue.

For the young man who worked with me, he lacked courage. He didn't want to hurt anyone's feelings so he instead lived in a mire of conflict as he chose not to confront any of it.

For me, courage is someone who enters a burning building risking their own safety to save a life. The risk is much different if the life inside is a loved one.

Without courage, a person cannot move forward. Forget about fears. Acting despite fear is courage. Action is the most important step to realizing your dreams.

Courage
We lack to offend.
We desire to unhurt.
We avoid conflict.
So we sweep the issues,
Under the floating floors.
And in the end,
The one we hurt, 
Is ourselves.
We lack the courage to save a life 
Inside the burning building, 
Not realizing the smouldering life inside 
Is our own.

Care Bear countdown

Finding employees is easy. Finding great employees is hard.

Talking to other entrepreneurs, I hear how tough the labour market is. Employees aren't good like they used to be.

How do you know when you have a great employee in an interview?

There are thousands of assessments that can help predict hiring successes. However I don't believe in most of them because of one reason. My world is in retail. Retail is like a war. The employees are like soldiers fighting. They are here today and gone tomorrow.

No time for fancy costly personality assessments.

I believe in hiring on one criteria. "Does the potential hire care enough to act positively in someone else's life?"

Most people will answer positively if you asked if they cared.  To demonstrate that they care is difficult because the answer is just words. They could be lying.

The real assessment is to see if they have done any volunteer work.  Find out if they do things on a regular basis for other people, even when they don't feel like they HAVE to.

The person who served me tea this morning told me how crappy his job was. The person I called at Kawasaki sent me on a wild goose chase. The person at the hotel yesterday barely smiled as she took my money. The person at the gas bar  didn't look at me when I asked her a question. The person at the grocery store saw me as another number in a line of numbers.

Customer service in the retail industry is almost dead because the owners of those businesses aren't hiring caring people. The caring soldiers who are hired get noticed by bigger industry and get poached for higher paying jobs.

You can teach someone to care about as much as you teach them to fly. If they don't have the proper stuff, they only fake it.

In retail, it is the job of the bosses to find and select the next batch of carers.

In the passing of Wayne Dyer, I heard a great story. He was on stage with an orange and asked someone in the audience what he had. Obviously the person answered it was an orange. He then asked what would come out if he applied a bit of pressure. The same person answered that orange juice would come out. Wayne Dyer then preached that people were exactly like oranges. Whatever is inside someone has to come out when you apply a bit of pressure.

Going to work will at times present different pressures or stresses. If a person does not have the "Caring" gene inside of them, they can fake it until too much stress is applied. Then what they really have will come out. If they are caring, pressure will bring out more caring.

Look out for the Care Bears. They can make any business a resounding success.


Who's that comin' from somewhere up in the sky?
Moving fast and bright as a firefly
Just when you think the trouble's gonna pounce
Who's gonna be there when it really counts?
Do the Care Bear Countdown
And send a wish out through the air
Just do the Care Bear Countdown
When you need them they'll be there
Don't be afraid when clouds are brewin' in your heart
If you can dream just send a wish out in the dark
And do the Care Bear's Countdown
5, 4, 3, 2, 1

lyrics from Care Bear Countdown

It's not totally your fault you are afraid.

Fear loves excuses. 

We use excuses to rationalize why we can't do something. 

As long as it's rationalized, we understand it. 

We accept it. 

Fear hates freedom.

Fear is a survival technique. It is formed in pre-frontal cortex. It's been with us since the beginnings of humanity.  Presented with a dangerous situation, our surviving ancestors figured out when to fight or flee. 

Those who couldn't figure out when it was best, died. And their genes died with them.

Our genes come from the ancestors who made the right choices.

Humans are not the strongest beast on the planet. Nor are they the fastest. We weren't born to fly or to remain under water for long periods of time. 

These basic weaknesses should have killed us all. Advancements were made by those who chose to fight at the right time. Fighting evolved the species's ability to solve problems. Technology is the result of someone's fight to find solutions to problems.

Fleeing saves a life, but doesn't advance it. Those who flee are genetically predisposed to flee. It's in their genes. 

If you're a lover not a fighter, realize you'll have to fight for something. If not for yourself, for your future generations. The "flee" genes will be passed down to your future generations if you continue to run.

You can take charge of your life and fight the fear.  To look at fear and act defines courage.

What's the worst that could happen? 

Death? Probably not. But if so, we all gotta go sometime.

Financial loss?  Find a way to make more money.

Loss of love? Find someone better.

Loss of house? Get an apartment.

Loss of friends? Get new and better friends.

There's nothing to fear but fear itself! 

Fear IS the worst thing that can happen to you. 

Remember fear comes from a time when our ancestors were worried about sabre tooth tigers lurking in the forest. 

I know you'd fight for your future generations, so why don't you start now. Be courageous. Act despite your fear.  It's the only way to be free.

Some people just want to be comfortable. They want to be safe and secure.

Freedom is the opposite of Security.

The more security you seek, the less freedom you'll have.

The more freedom you seek, the less security you'll have.

Which do you want for your future generations, more security or more freedom?

Your decisions today will affect your children's children's children.  Do you want your great grand children to think of you as a hero? Or not at all.

The chances they don't think or know anything about you is greater if all you ever do is flee.