The latest by Martin Scorcese, "The Wolf of Wall Street" is an instant classic. It's got a great leading actor in Leo DiCaprio. Everything he touches seemingly turns to gold. It's got a blue blood director. It's got all of the big three: money, drugs, and sex. Most importantly it's a got a title character that you want to hate but you idolize and sympathize him at the same time.
The story is based on true life events of Jordan Belfort. Belfort a stock broker, who takes from everyone to line his own pockets reinforces my own opinions of financial advisors. A wolf looking to get paid on the backs of the innocent chickens.
The movie shows a lot of good, motivational material too. There's a scene where the lead character does a soliloquy in which he shows his complete focus, non compromising attitude, in which everyone gets engulfed by his passion, his magnetism and his energy. His sales meetings looked more like a cult than a business function.
Belfort is a wolf salesman. Unlike Robin Hood, he robbed from everyone and gave to himself. He sells people stocks that only benefits himself.
My favourite part in the movie is when he demonstrates the art of the sale. He simply asks people to sell him a pen. Everyone describes the pen. Everyone focuses on the features and benefits of the pen and not the application. One smart guy then asks Belfort to write his name on a piece of paper. Not having a pen, Belfort says he can't. The salesman asks why, knowing that he's holding Belfort's personal pen. The point was don't sell the buyer a product. Let the buyer sell themselves.
Despite the gratuitous scenes of sex, drugs and money, the movie is full of inspiring material.
You don't have to be a wolf to good at sales. Know why your customers buy, then show them that you have what they need.
This movie has many similarities to one of Scorcese's other classics, Goodfellas.
Monday, April 7, 2014
Sunday, April 6, 2014
Hatred of apathy
Isn't it great being around passionate, energetic, hopeful people? There's something magical about these people. They have so much life inside of them. They are magnetic. They attract awesome results. They make things happen for themselves and those around them. These people are on a quest. You can smell it on them.
Then there's the alternative. The apathetic individual who goes bumbling through life wishing for something good to happen, but not really caring about making anything happen. You can smell them too, but it's not as fresh.
Every time I hear the words "I don't care", I get a huge shiver up my spine. It disgusts me and scares me at the same time. Not caring says a lot about an individual.
These words have made it into modern lexicon as a way of acting cool. Probably around 13, coolness became an important character trait for some odd reason. To be cool meant conformity and hopeful procreation. Putting coolness aside, not caring is the opposite of love.
My kids have started using those dreaded words. Yesterday I scolded them for saying them. They were confused. My daughter asked me if they were bad words. Although individually they are not bad words, I responded that the words were more about an attitude that was unacceptable.
I don't care is like whining. It's a stink filled attitude that brings down both the speaker and the listener.
I care! If you don't, stay away from me. I WILL give you a timeout for saying these words. Ask my daughter. I'm serious.
Then there's the alternative. The apathetic individual who goes bumbling through life wishing for something good to happen, but not really caring about making anything happen. You can smell them too, but it's not as fresh.
Every time I hear the words "I don't care", I get a huge shiver up my spine. It disgusts me and scares me at the same time. Not caring says a lot about an individual.
These words have made it into modern lexicon as a way of acting cool. Probably around 13, coolness became an important character trait for some odd reason. To be cool meant conformity and hopeful procreation. Putting coolness aside, not caring is the opposite of love.
My kids have started using those dreaded words. Yesterday I scolded them for saying them. They were confused. My daughter asked me if they were bad words. Although individually they are not bad words, I responded that the words were more about an attitude that was unacceptable.
I don't care is like whining. It's a stink filled attitude that brings down both the speaker and the listener.
I care! If you don't, stay away from me. I WILL give you a timeout for saying these words. Ask my daughter. I'm serious.
Saturday, April 5, 2014
Winners never quit, quitters never win
Many believe to build good character in our children, we shouldn't let them lose. My kids started playing soccer two years ago. Rightfully, no one but the kids keep score. There are no standings. Most importantly, there isn't a championship game. Everyone gets a medal and all the kids feel great.
At school, winning isn't promoted either. It's all about participation.
The best character is developed is through losing. Learning to lose with dignity is way more important than simple participation.
Last Fall, I was playing ball hockey with my son. He was losing. Then he proceeded to whine and mope. Seeing an opportunity to teach, I refused to let him win. It would have built his self confidence, but it would also give him a false sense of accomplishment.
Over the Winter, he's been practicing in the basement. His net is smaller but his stick handling, his shooting and his defence has improved tremendously. I'm proud of him. He's legitimately beating me. When I hear him bragging to his mom, I feel good for him.
Today, on his request, we brought the basketball net in the basement. At only six feet, the shots are really easy for an adult, and tough for a child. His competitive spirit wanted to keep score. So we agreed the first person to make 10 shots would win.
After 5 shots, my son was losing 4 to 1. He started complaining. He sat on the floor, whining and sobbing. He responded that the game wasn't fair.
As another parenting moment emerged, I philosophized to him, "You only lose when you quit. If you don't quit, you can never lose." To prove my point, I tried a little less. He came back and won the game. He ran upstairs and proudly confirmed his accomplishment to his mother.
He felt great. I feel great. This is a life lesson I hope he remembers.
At school, winning isn't promoted either. It's all about participation.
The best character is developed is through losing. Learning to lose with dignity is way more important than simple participation.
Last Fall, I was playing ball hockey with my son. He was losing. Then he proceeded to whine and mope. Seeing an opportunity to teach, I refused to let him win. It would have built his self confidence, but it would also give him a false sense of accomplishment.
Over the Winter, he's been practicing in the basement. His net is smaller but his stick handling, his shooting and his defence has improved tremendously. I'm proud of him. He's legitimately beating me. When I hear him bragging to his mom, I feel good for him.
Today, on his request, we brought the basketball net in the basement. At only six feet, the shots are really easy for an adult, and tough for a child. His competitive spirit wanted to keep score. So we agreed the first person to make 10 shots would win.
After 5 shots, my son was losing 4 to 1. He started complaining. He sat on the floor, whining and sobbing. He responded that the game wasn't fair.
As another parenting moment emerged, I philosophized to him, "You only lose when you quit. If you don't quit, you can never lose." To prove my point, I tried a little less. He came back and won the game. He ran upstairs and proudly confirmed his accomplishment to his mother.
He felt great. I feel great. This is a life lesson I hope he remembers.
Friday, April 4, 2014
Egomania
In talking to a friend recently, it was noticed that the word "I" is the number one pronoun used in everyday conversation. It dominates most conversations. The friend admitted that his usage of the word was so extensive that others noticed it. He had been critically informed that he always wanted to be the centre of attention.
Can a person with a healthy ego go an entire day without using an ego driven pronoun like "I"?
Egomania is a serious disease in our society. With sugar addiction, it may be the next big thing that needs to be cured. Everyone has ego. How is it kept in check?
Awareness of the ego is the first step to recovery.
In Roy William's book, "Pendulum", he writes about society going through great changes every forty year cycle. The pendulum goes from a "we" society to a "me" society. In 2003, there were echos of the "we" society emerging. It's basic principle is that we will transition from a selfish society to a selfless society.
The greed of the 1980's is no longer acceptable. Neutron Jack Welch isn't praised as much for his management style anymore. He was considered the epitome of management during his time at General Electric. Part of Jack's strategy was to fire the bottom 33% of his staff every year. His reasoning was the fear tactic drove employees to new performance heights and created great wealth for stockholders. General Electric stock rose 600% during Welch's tenure at General Electric. Costco's grew 1200%. Forget about shareholder value for a minute, which between the two have a stronger brand?
It's no longer enough to just take care of oneself and one's family. There is a need to take care of others like most have never seen before. Companies like Costco treat their employees and subsequently their customers very well. The average wage across Costco employees is $23 per hour, while at Walmart, it's $13. Ever have to return something at Costco? It's one of the best return policies in the industry.
In this world of egomania, those who help others get what they want will ultimately achieve great success.
Can a person with a healthy ego go an entire day without using an ego driven pronoun like "I"?
Egomania is a serious disease in our society. With sugar addiction, it may be the next big thing that needs to be cured. Everyone has ego. How is it kept in check?
Awareness of the ego is the first step to recovery.
In Roy William's book, "Pendulum", he writes about society going through great changes every forty year cycle. The pendulum goes from a "we" society to a "me" society. In 2003, there were echos of the "we" society emerging. It's basic principle is that we will transition from a selfish society to a selfless society.
The greed of the 1980's is no longer acceptable. Neutron Jack Welch isn't praised as much for his management style anymore. He was considered the epitome of management during his time at General Electric. Part of Jack's strategy was to fire the bottom 33% of his staff every year. His reasoning was the fear tactic drove employees to new performance heights and created great wealth for stockholders. General Electric stock rose 600% during Welch's tenure at General Electric. Costco's grew 1200%. Forget about shareholder value for a minute, which between the two have a stronger brand?
It's no longer enough to just take care of oneself and one's family. There is a need to take care of others like most have never seen before. Companies like Costco treat their employees and subsequently their customers very well. The average wage across Costco employees is $23 per hour, while at Walmart, it's $13. Ever have to return something at Costco? It's one of the best return policies in the industry.
In this world of egomania, those who help others get what they want will ultimately achieve great success.
Thursday, April 3, 2014
Introduction to a great philosopher
At five years old, my parents main form of musical entertainment was a large chest record player. The thing was huge. It was about 4 feet long and about 2 feet wide. It held all of their LP's and 8 tracks. I recall that vinyl sounded different. I'm no expert in the field like my friend BL, but I have to admit there is something nostalgic and authentic about it. It's not supposed to be perfect. Nothing is... Yet, in an industry that promotes plastic posers, it makes sense that perfect digitized recordings are required.
In their LP collection, my parents had a Kenny Rogers 45. Singles as they were called in my youth, was the release of one popular song with a lesser known song on the opposite side. I would play that song everyday. I can't remember the song on the reverse, but the single is forever engrained in my brain. "The Gambler" was my favourite song. There was something about it that was addictive. I guess it spoke to me. I would play it and sing the words as I pretended to be Kenny. Kenny Rogers wasn't the type of role model that you would tell your friends about. He wasn't cool. He wasn't a rock 'n roller. He didn't have the star power of the Beatles or the Rolling Stones. But I liked him.
Ever sing karaoke? I refused to be drunk enough to sing karaoke through my university daze. It was when I got into the workforce, that my colleagues forced me on stage. I can't carry a tune. I know that much about myself. I don't know the words to many songs, so I did what any scared shitless new employee would do. I chose the song I had practiced 1000 times. I knew the idiosyncrasies in every line. I knew the background voices. The pauses were as normal as breathing. Despite the fear of making a fool of myself in public, I publicly became Kenny Rogers for 3 minutes and 38 seconds.
Although it's been years since I sung the words to "The Gambler", I heard it yesterday and thought about some of the messages at the heart of the song.
The song starts off with the philosophical line,
"On a warm summer's evenin', on a train bound for nowhere"
Then further into the song:
"If you're gonna play the game, boy, ya gotta learn to play it right.
You got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em,
Know when to walk away and know when to run.
You never count your money when you're sittin' at the table.
There'll be time enough for countin' when the dealin's done.
Now Ev'ry gambler knows that the secret to survivin'
Is knowin' what to throw away and knowing what to keep.
'Cause ev'ry hand's a winner and ev'ry hand's a loser,
And the best that you can hope for is to die in your sleep."
After 36 years, it just hit me the song has nothing to do with cards and every thing to do with life. Life is the ultimate gamble. Despite the hand you're dealt, anyone can win by choosing how to play the hand.
You can win, or you can lose: your choice. But if you don't think about where you're going, you'll stay on the train bound for nowhere.
It took me 36 years to realize that this song explained the secrets to life. I've been working hard at finding the answers and this song, that's been with me for more than 3 decades, was telling me how to win the game of life.
Another thing this epiphany has taught me: The answers to all our problems are right in front of our faces. We don't see them because we are not ready to receive them.
My favourite song as a child has become my favourite song again. Thanks goes to my parents for introducing me to the great philosopher, Kenny Rogers.
In their LP collection, my parents had a Kenny Rogers 45. Singles as they were called in my youth, was the release of one popular song with a lesser known song on the opposite side. I would play that song everyday. I can't remember the song on the reverse, but the single is forever engrained in my brain. "The Gambler" was my favourite song. There was something about it that was addictive. I guess it spoke to me. I would play it and sing the words as I pretended to be Kenny. Kenny Rogers wasn't the type of role model that you would tell your friends about. He wasn't cool. He wasn't a rock 'n roller. He didn't have the star power of the Beatles or the Rolling Stones. But I liked him.
Ever sing karaoke? I refused to be drunk enough to sing karaoke through my university daze. It was when I got into the workforce, that my colleagues forced me on stage. I can't carry a tune. I know that much about myself. I don't know the words to many songs, so I did what any scared shitless new employee would do. I chose the song I had practiced 1000 times. I knew the idiosyncrasies in every line. I knew the background voices. The pauses were as normal as breathing. Despite the fear of making a fool of myself in public, I publicly became Kenny Rogers for 3 minutes and 38 seconds.
Although it's been years since I sung the words to "The Gambler", I heard it yesterday and thought about some of the messages at the heart of the song.
The song starts off with the philosophical line,
"On a warm summer's evenin', on a train bound for nowhere"
Then further into the song:
"If you're gonna play the game, boy, ya gotta learn to play it right.
You got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em,
Know when to walk away and know when to run.
You never count your money when you're sittin' at the table.
There'll be time enough for countin' when the dealin's done.
Now Ev'ry gambler knows that the secret to survivin'
Is knowin' what to throw away and knowing what to keep.
'Cause ev'ry hand's a winner and ev'ry hand's a loser,
And the best that you can hope for is to die in your sleep."
After 36 years, it just hit me the song has nothing to do with cards and every thing to do with life. Life is the ultimate gamble. Despite the hand you're dealt, anyone can win by choosing how to play the hand.
You can win, or you can lose: your choice. But if you don't think about where you're going, you'll stay on the train bound for nowhere.
It took me 36 years to realize that this song explained the secrets to life. I've been working hard at finding the answers and this song, that's been with me for more than 3 decades, was telling me how to win the game of life.
Another thing this epiphany has taught me: The answers to all our problems are right in front of our faces. We don't see them because we are not ready to receive them.
My favourite song as a child has become my favourite song again. Thanks goes to my parents for introducing me to the great philosopher, Kenny Rogers.
Wednesday, April 2, 2014
Everything is back to normal
Over the past two blogs, I shared insights about our personal experiences without the luxury of electricity. For two days, we survived in less than normal conditions.
Compared to those less fortunate, it wasn't that hard. It was an inconvenience at best. The power came back while we were gone to the liquor store. I guess I should have hit the liquor store earlier.
It was a nice feeling to be back to normalcy again. Yet, there was a fleeing image of a wonderful two days together. So much so, we turned off all of the lights and played hide and seek one last time before bedtime. We left the beds together one more night and let the kids fall asleep playing flashlight tag in the dark. Admittedly, we had a lot of fun.
Enjoying a soothing beverage, we discussed what we lost over the past two days.
It wasn't heat - the fireplace kept us warm.
It wasn't food.
It wasn't money. No damage to our house or loss of income due to the outage.
It wasn't even time, because we spent it together.
So what did we lose over two days? We lost our comfort. It wasn't as comfortable as we're used to. Things were different. We had to adjust. Getting uncomfortable in life is where growth happens.
You can choose to be upset about it or accept it. We chose to accept it. We thrived and grew as a family.
Based on these family changing events, my wife plans to force us to disconnect every Saturday night and have family night. Not sure she's thinking clearly right now. Too many distractions to get everyone to agree to family time.
To support her, I promised to do my part by flipping the main power switch. That'll get rid of the distractions.
Compared to those less fortunate, it wasn't that hard. It was an inconvenience at best. The power came back while we were gone to the liquor store. I guess I should have hit the liquor store earlier.
It was a nice feeling to be back to normalcy again. Yet, there was a fleeing image of a wonderful two days together. So much so, we turned off all of the lights and played hide and seek one last time before bedtime. We left the beds together one more night and let the kids fall asleep playing flashlight tag in the dark. Admittedly, we had a lot of fun.
Enjoying a soothing beverage, we discussed what we lost over the past two days.
It wasn't heat - the fireplace kept us warm.
It wasn't food.
It wasn't money. No damage to our house or loss of income due to the outage.
It wasn't even time, because we spent it together.
So what did we lose over two days? We lost our comfort. It wasn't as comfortable as we're used to. Things were different. We had to adjust. Getting uncomfortable in life is where growth happens.
You can choose to be upset about it or accept it. We chose to accept it. We thrived and grew as a family.
Based on these family changing events, my wife plans to force us to disconnect every Saturday night and have family night. Not sure she's thinking clearly right now. Too many distractions to get everyone to agree to family time.
To support her, I promised to do my part by flipping the main power switch. That'll get rid of the distractions.
Tuesday, April 1, 2014
Power to choose
We all slept in the same room last night. I awoke this morning to a driveway full of snow. Although I swore my snow blowing days were over for this winter, I've had to eat my words. My 4x4 would struggle with three feet of snow at the end of the driveway. I cleaned it out nice and wide. Maybe the last I need to do that this winter.
The propane fireplace throws enough heat to keep us warm. My son runs around the house without a shirt on. Each time we order him to put a shirt on, he complains of being too hot.
Bottled water is coming in handy. Thanks DB for your survival tips last summer. With 90 litres of water, we will not dehydrate.
Today, my Boy Scout days came back to me. I pulled out the propane stove which was used for camping once upon a time. Set up a makeshift kitchen in the garage. There's more ventilation to protect us from carbon monoxide poisoning. Boiled some tea. Then we had hamburgers for lunch. The fridge is warming up so we took all the dairy, and protein and put it in a cooler outside. It's only 1 degree outside but it's still colder than in my fridge. Checked the freezer. Everything is holding temp.
New problem is that we've drained the holding tank for our toilets. It's getting kind of gross in there. Aline filled up the buckets with snow last night, only to have an inch of water this morning. not enough for one flush. I warned her but she wanted to try. There's been a bit of a thaw this afternoon. Water started rolling off the roof. Perfect water for our toilets. I have four buckets collecting water as I write this blog. I initially suggested using the buckets for our dirty business. I was outvoted three to one.
The kids played together again this morning, but they are getting agitated. The first big fight happened a few minutes ago. Poor kids probably have cabin fever. We gotta get out and go for a drive.
We have numerous offers to stay with loved ones. For now we're comfortable. I'm really regretting Sunday. I had a lazy day and didn't shower. For a guy who usually showers every day, this three day binge is borderline disgusting. We are told that people are going to the local community centre as a refuge.
Got home from supper to find our driveway full of hard packed icy snow. And I thought this morning was my last run. Couldn't plow through it so we had to park the car on the side of the road.
Power company says no power until tomorrow night. There's power at the school. It looks like school might be on tomorrow. A friend recharged our phones. As an added bonus, we found a place to have a shower. We are all clean again.
The damn dog decided that peeing in our bed was a better decision than going outside.
Time to go to the liquor store!
The propane fireplace throws enough heat to keep us warm. My son runs around the house without a shirt on. Each time we order him to put a shirt on, he complains of being too hot.
Bottled water is coming in handy. Thanks DB for your survival tips last summer. With 90 litres of water, we will not dehydrate.
Today, my Boy Scout days came back to me. I pulled out the propane stove which was used for camping once upon a time. Set up a makeshift kitchen in the garage. There's more ventilation to protect us from carbon monoxide poisoning. Boiled some tea. Then we had hamburgers for lunch. The fridge is warming up so we took all the dairy, and protein and put it in a cooler outside. It's only 1 degree outside but it's still colder than in my fridge. Checked the freezer. Everything is holding temp.
New problem is that we've drained the holding tank for our toilets. It's getting kind of gross in there. Aline filled up the buckets with snow last night, only to have an inch of water this morning. not enough for one flush. I warned her but she wanted to try. There's been a bit of a thaw this afternoon. Water started rolling off the roof. Perfect water for our toilets. I have four buckets collecting water as I write this blog. I initially suggested using the buckets for our dirty business. I was outvoted three to one.
The kids played together again this morning, but they are getting agitated. The first big fight happened a few minutes ago. Poor kids probably have cabin fever. We gotta get out and go for a drive.
We have numerous offers to stay with loved ones. For now we're comfortable. I'm really regretting Sunday. I had a lazy day and didn't shower. For a guy who usually showers every day, this three day binge is borderline disgusting. We are told that people are going to the local community centre as a refuge.
Got home from supper to find our driveway full of hard packed icy snow. And I thought this morning was my last run. Couldn't plow through it so we had to park the car on the side of the road.
Power company says no power until tomorrow night. There's power at the school. It looks like school might be on tomorrow. A friend recharged our phones. As an added bonus, we found a place to have a shower. We are all clean again.
The damn dog decided that peeing in our bed was a better decision than going outside.
Time to go to the liquor store!
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