The fat lady does not stop and we do not pay attention.
For there are better things to do.
Than exit stage right.
Time is like the fat lady.
Singing to remind us that although we think we have just began, we are wrong.
Time is not measurable, even though we measure it.
Time cannot be bottled up into a jar and preserved like a common beetle.
We try to account for our time so we live fuller, deeper, more meaningful lives.
Inventions save us time from the tediousness of our lives.
But time spins out of control, going faster and faster until our allotment of it ends.
An wise old lady once told me, "What we focus on, expands."
It made sense, until I relate it to time.
When I focus on time, it does not expand. It races away.
As a child, time was irrelevant and stood still.
As an adult, everything has a deadline. Time is accounted for, and it speeds up.
Time does not exist, except in our own minds.
I have no time.
I wish I had time.
If I could only find the time.
It's time to get up.
Time-out,
What time is it?
Where did the time go?
We put so much emphasis on time, that we do not live. Trying to accomplish all the shit we set out to do before we go to sleep. Trying to meet deadlines measured by a unit of time, we cram it all in trying to make our lives more complete.
Accounting for time wastes our lives away, not enjoying the life we've been given.
Have you ever gone on vacation and came home exhausted? Of course, your routine was changed. You didn't have to be at work. But you added deadlines to your playtime.
You wanted to see, do, experience things. Even the simple pleasures of drinking poolside, was declared as relaxing, when in fact it was on your imaginary "To-do" list.
Time cannot be harnessed. It is not a wild horse waiting for its rider to tame it. It is you who is the wild horse.
Time owns your ass. You are here for a moment in time's infinacy.
If you want time to slow down, you may be too late. It will depend on how far you are up your own ass.
If there's anything we learn from children, time slows down for those who play.
Go find your play and play more.
Wednesday, March 30, 2016
Friday, March 18, 2016
The greatest inventions save us time
Time is not a renewable resource.
When it's gone, so are we.
All the greatest inventions have one thing in common - they saved us time.
Social media was accepted because it saved us on our most valuable resource.
We're human. We take advantage. We push the limits. We spoil ourselves and get sick by eating too much too fast. We are with time like we are with most good things: prone to addiction.
Social media and smart phones were created to help people connect, faster than ever before. The inventions allowed little snips of conversations to happen at light speed allowing us to deliver and consume little snips of conversations faster than we had ever done before with more people than ever thought possible.
What happened is what always happens with good things.
Overuse,
Followed by addiction,
Followed by social consequence.
These new inventions are exposing issues with productivity, anger, self righteousness and show-offery.
Social media is supposed to save us time. We're supposed to communicate faster online so we can get back to living our lives offline. Instead we're living our lives faster online, so we can live less offline.
I saw a "Facebook" friend last summer in person. It had been 20 years since I saw him last. Not 100% certain, I chose not to speak up. The next day, I talked with him online.
Am I the only fucked up introvert who has ever done this?
As the lines of personal and keyboard interactions continue to blur, our lives are more connected, but less interesting.
And in the process the dark truth of humanity gets exposed.
When it's gone, so are we.
All the greatest inventions have one thing in common - they saved us time.
Social media was accepted because it saved us on our most valuable resource.
We're human. We take advantage. We push the limits. We spoil ourselves and get sick by eating too much too fast. We are with time like we are with most good things: prone to addiction.
Social media and smart phones were created to help people connect, faster than ever before. The inventions allowed little snips of conversations to happen at light speed allowing us to deliver and consume little snips of conversations faster than we had ever done before with more people than ever thought possible.
What happened is what always happens with good things.
Overuse,
Followed by addiction,
Followed by social consequence.
These new inventions are exposing issues with productivity, anger, self righteousness and show-offery.
Social media is supposed to save us time. We're supposed to communicate faster online so we can get back to living our lives offline. Instead we're living our lives faster online, so we can live less offline.
I saw a "Facebook" friend last summer in person. It had been 20 years since I saw him last. Not 100% certain, I chose not to speak up. The next day, I talked with him online.
Am I the only fucked up introvert who has ever done this?
As the lines of personal and keyboard interactions continue to blur, our lives are more connected, but less interesting.
And in the process the dark truth of humanity gets exposed.
Tuesday, March 15, 2016
The Donald
A year ago, I nervously predicted that Donald Trump would be one of the republican finalists. Friends said he didn't have a chance. Friends explained how the nominations worked and how he would eventually flicker away.
Knowing very little about American politics, I felt a little safer in their justifications. But one thing worried me. Donald was marketing himself better than anyone had ever done before him. He had "real" brand recognition. He was saying things that no one ever dared say before. He was "different". And that had to be worth something in the popularity contest called an election.
Donald Trump is a joke. His ability to convince a growing group of people that he should be the next president of the United States is not. He gains popularity even though he doesn't say anything of value.
I have a theory why this joker is encouraged to continue down the electoral path. People have been yearning for someone to say something different. No more political rhetoric. No more boring conversations about jobs, economy and healthcare.
Let's talk about walls, making America Great again, and deporting immigrants.
Trump doesn't act like a politician. He acts like a marketer. He says things in ways that gets emotion riled up in people. He stirs up the water to get the sediment in the bottom to float to the top. He wants people to be afraid. He wants them to get angry. He wants them to be politically incorrect.
He is zigging when everyone else zags. And that's why he is winning.
The fears, racism and anger have always been there, buried deep in the political correct world the public has been forced to live in. Donald Trump gives people permission to exercise those emotions. And they feel good about themselves when they do.
A good marketer makes you feel good about your decisions.
We all know, The Donald doesn't have the goods to lead the country. And cooler heads may prevail when the final ballots are counted. He can't win. Can he?
Trump has opened the gates to Arkham Asylum. The crazies are being granted permission to run next time.
The fearful, angry voters will turn up another radical politician. A politician who presents well and sells to both the uninformed and informed voter is going to emerge.
It is not Trump I am afraid of. It is his successor.
The next nut job won't look like a joke. He won't talk like a joke. He will be well respected until it's too late. The Donald has laid the foundation for future radical politicians.
We should be worried.
Knowing very little about American politics, I felt a little safer in their justifications. But one thing worried me. Donald was marketing himself better than anyone had ever done before him. He had "real" brand recognition. He was saying things that no one ever dared say before. He was "different". And that had to be worth something in the popularity contest called an election.
Donald Trump is a joke. His ability to convince a growing group of people that he should be the next president of the United States is not. He gains popularity even though he doesn't say anything of value.
I have a theory why this joker is encouraged to continue down the electoral path. People have been yearning for someone to say something different. No more political rhetoric. No more boring conversations about jobs, economy and healthcare.
Let's talk about walls, making America Great again, and deporting immigrants.
Trump doesn't act like a politician. He acts like a marketer. He says things in ways that gets emotion riled up in people. He stirs up the water to get the sediment in the bottom to float to the top. He wants people to be afraid. He wants them to get angry. He wants them to be politically incorrect.
He is zigging when everyone else zags. And that's why he is winning.
The fears, racism and anger have always been there, buried deep in the political correct world the public has been forced to live in. Donald Trump gives people permission to exercise those emotions. And they feel good about themselves when they do.
A good marketer makes you feel good about your decisions.
We all know, The Donald doesn't have the goods to lead the country. And cooler heads may prevail when the final ballots are counted. He can't win. Can he?
Trump has opened the gates to Arkham Asylum. The crazies are being granted permission to run next time.
The fearful, angry voters will turn up another radical politician. A politician who presents well and sells to both the uninformed and informed voter is going to emerge.
It is not Trump I am afraid of. It is his successor.
The next nut job won't look like a joke. He won't talk like a joke. He will be well respected until it's too late. The Donald has laid the foundation for future radical politicians.
We should be worried.
Wednesday, February 24, 2016
You are Legend.
Let's imagine the landscape of North America 400 years ago. Europeans have started to infiltrate the land and explore the territory of the continent.
There were two types of pioneers. Those that settled the land and those who wanted to explore and discover new territory.
The settlers escaped from their past. They wanted a new beginning.
The explorers sought out adventure. They wanted to be legends.
The settlers escaped from their past. They wanted a new beginning.
The explorers sought out adventure. They wanted to be legends.
Not all settlers realized a better life in their new environment. Dangers came to them. And some died before their time from these threats.
Not all explorers became legends. Some of them died in their search for adventure. Their knowledge died with them.
It is only the explorers that succeeded in their quest that we learn about in history books.
The same is true in today's world.
The adventurers are called by a higher purpose. Not all will succeed. Some will fail miserably never to be heard of again. Some will achieve such fame and fortune that songs will be written about them.
The settler will die, just like the adventurer. Dangers still come to them. And some die before their time should be up. The person who settles for a simple life ends up in the same position as the adventurer.
He lives a life not lived. Engraved with a fear for adventure, the settler works hard at surviving, providing and protecting his family, not realizing that a bear is about to tear down his door, rip out his throat before he cocks the gun.
There are more dangers to the adventurer. There is a greater chance of death. But his life will be lived while he is alive. And if he finds super success, not only will he live a luxurious life, his legend will live for generations through our children's stories.
Not all explorers became legends. Some of them died in their search for adventure. Their knowledge died with them.
It is only the explorers that succeeded in their quest that we learn about in history books.
The same is true in today's world.
The adventurers are called by a higher purpose. Not all will succeed. Some will fail miserably never to be heard of again. Some will achieve such fame and fortune that songs will be written about them.
The settler will die, just like the adventurer. Dangers still come to them. And some die before their time should be up. The person who settles for a simple life ends up in the same position as the adventurer.
He lives a life not lived. Engraved with a fear for adventure, the settler works hard at surviving, providing and protecting his family, not realizing that a bear is about to tear down his door, rip out his throat before he cocks the gun.
There are more dangers to the adventurer. There is a greater chance of death. But his life will be lived while he is alive. And if he finds super success, not only will he live a luxurious life, his legend will live for generations through our children's stories.
Tuesday, February 23, 2016
Overcoming the Monster
I remember my 10th grade history teacher, Mr. Olscamp, shrieking in a high pitch fitting for a role in MacBeth, "Those who do not know their history are bound to repeat it".
He was referring to the similar errors in judgement of Adolf Hitler and Napoleon Bonaparte.
The english word "history", is lent from latin with origins from the Greek word historia, which meant finding out or narrative.
The word story is a derivative of the word history or its predecessor historia.
The word story also comes from historia.
A story is a narrative on a sequence of events, whether real or fantasy.
History supposedly recounts only actual events.
Yet when we break it right down, history is nothing more than a series of stories. Are they factual or fantasy? Unless you were there, you can't be entirely sure.
Napoleon is credited with saying, "History is written by the winners of war".
What I have witnessed is that stories repeat.
They are told with different characters, different events, different locations. But there are only seven basic plots to any story. Everything else is a derivative of the seven plots.
Imagine a character who is utter evil. One who takes no prisoners. A killer. No love interests. No emotion. The evil mission is the only thing that drives him. There is no internal struggle. He kills. He's mechanical, not maniacal. He will terrorize until he is destroyed or he completes his mission.
Who is the character?
Terminator (the first movie)
Darth Vader (Star Wars)
Drago (Rocky IV)
The shark (Jaws)
Voldemort (Harry Potter)
Jason (Friday the 13th)
Michael Myers (Halloween)
Bane (Batman)
Grendel and Grendel's mother (Beowulf)
These movies all recount the same plot. It's called "Overcoming the Monster".
Each story starts with a menacing introduction to the villain. The reader is afraid of him/her. He is introduced to the hero and the rest of the storyline details how the hero fights an epic battle until he defeats the villain.
History repeats. The stories change based on the narrator. But in reality, they are all similar in plot.
The stories are simply repeating. They tell the same story with a super villian and someone who is challenged to defeat the super villain.
In real life, we see real life monsters in "characters" like Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, Saddam Hussein, Osama Bin Laden.
Has anything really ever changed? Or do we just like a good Monster story.
He was referring to the similar errors in judgement of Adolf Hitler and Napoleon Bonaparte.
The english word "history", is lent from latin with origins from the Greek word historia, which meant finding out or narrative.
The word story is a derivative of the word history or its predecessor historia.
The word story also comes from historia.
A story is a narrative on a sequence of events, whether real or fantasy.
History supposedly recounts only actual events.
Yet when we break it right down, history is nothing more than a series of stories. Are they factual or fantasy? Unless you were there, you can't be entirely sure.
Napoleon is credited with saying, "History is written by the winners of war".
What I have witnessed is that stories repeat.
They are told with different characters, different events, different locations. But there are only seven basic plots to any story. Everything else is a derivative of the seven plots.
Imagine a character who is utter evil. One who takes no prisoners. A killer. No love interests. No emotion. The evil mission is the only thing that drives him. There is no internal struggle. He kills. He's mechanical, not maniacal. He will terrorize until he is destroyed or he completes his mission.
Who is the character?
Terminator (the first movie)
Darth Vader (Star Wars)
Drago (Rocky IV)
The shark (Jaws)
Voldemort (Harry Potter)
Jason (Friday the 13th)
Michael Myers (Halloween)
Bane (Batman)
Grendel and Grendel's mother (Beowulf)
These movies all recount the same plot. It's called "Overcoming the Monster".
Each story starts with a menacing introduction to the villain. The reader is afraid of him/her. He is introduced to the hero and the rest of the storyline details how the hero fights an epic battle until he defeats the villain.
History repeats. The stories change based on the narrator. But in reality, they are all similar in plot.
The stories are simply repeating. They tell the same story with a super villian and someone who is challenged to defeat the super villain.
In real life, we see real life monsters in "characters" like Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, Saddam Hussein, Osama Bin Laden.
Has anything really ever changed? Or do we just like a good Monster story.
Wednesday, January 27, 2016
Darth Vader was bipolar
The greatest of all film franchises, Star Wars, is a battle between good and evil. The evil side of the force is called "The Dark Side". I always thought the dark side was absolute evil.
From the first time we see Darth Vader, we know him to be a mechanical, maniacal evil being. We are afraid of him. Until we realize he used to be human. He used to have a wife and mother. He used to be good.
He had a couple of kids. He was a family man. His love drove him to his evil. His view of the world changed.
He was empty.
He was lost.
He was a dog.
He obeyed his master.
And he submitted it to him until his master tried to hurt his child. That's when the dog turned on his master and killed him.
The child's love for him removed the dark side.
The dark side is not unequivocal evilness.
The dark side is a kind of depression.
The dark side does not care about the future because the past is so painful.
It is the removal of hope.
It is the pain from the loss of love.
It is anger.
It is seeing things in absolutes: Always and Never.
According to Yoda, emotion is the path to the dark side.
We see that Anakin's emotion of love drives him to his darkness.
We saw the disintegration of Anakin Skywalker with the loss of his mother.
Jedi's didn't marry because the path of love lead to darkness. Anakin disobeyed that order and married anyways, which again led him to his darkness.
The opposite of love is indifference.
If the Jedi do not love and are not passionate, then they are indifferent.
Who's the good guy: those who love too much or those who don't love at all?
Here's my take:
Darth Vader was an evil dude. That evilness grew because Anakin was passionate. He was full of life and emotion. Love led him to his dark side. He became depressed. Anakin was bipolar. When he felt the loss of love from his mother and wife, he withdrew from the world into a great depression. He didn't care what happened to him anymore...until he found out he had a son. And then he was redeemed.
With a background in finance and marketing, Rick Nicholson owned two highly successful restaurants before selling them to start a consulting business. His current company The Restaurant Ninjas provides tools to the foodservice industry to become more profitable. His book, "The Art of Restaurant Theft" can be downloaded for free at www.therestaurantninjas.com
You can subscribe to Rick's weekly email newsletter and his thoughts on business, life and everything in between at:
http://forms.aweber.com/form/
From the first time we see Darth Vader, we know him to be a mechanical, maniacal evil being. We are afraid of him. Until we realize he used to be human. He used to have a wife and mother. He used to be good.
He had a couple of kids. He was a family man. His love drove him to his evil. His view of the world changed.
He was empty.
He was lost.
He was a dog.
He obeyed his master.
And he submitted it to him until his master tried to hurt his child. That's when the dog turned on his master and killed him.
The child's love for him removed the dark side.
The dark side is not unequivocal evilness.
The dark side is a kind of depression.
The dark side does not care about the future because the past is so painful.
It is the removal of hope.
It is the pain from the loss of love.
It is anger.
It is seeing things in absolutes: Always and Never.
According to Yoda, emotion is the path to the dark side.
We see that Anakin's emotion of love drives him to his darkness.
We saw the disintegration of Anakin Skywalker with the loss of his mother.
Jedi's didn't marry because the path of love lead to darkness. Anakin disobeyed that order and married anyways, which again led him to his darkness.
The opposite of love is indifference.
If the Jedi do not love and are not passionate, then they are indifferent.
Who's the good guy: those who love too much or those who don't love at all?
Here's my take:
Darth Vader was an evil dude. That evilness grew because Anakin was passionate. He was full of life and emotion. Love led him to his dark side. He became depressed. Anakin was bipolar. When he felt the loss of love from his mother and wife, he withdrew from the world into a great depression. He didn't care what happened to him anymore...until he found out he had a son. And then he was redeemed.
With a background in finance and marketing, Rick Nicholson owned two highly successful restaurants before selling them to start a consulting business. His current company The Restaurant Ninjas provides tools to the foodservice industry to become more profitable. His book, "The Art of Restaurant Theft" can be downloaded for free at www.therestaurantninjas.com
You can subscribe to Rick's weekly email newsletter and his thoughts on business, life and everything in between at:
http://forms.aweber.com/form/
Cost and benefit
In a perfect world, what would you be doing if time and money were no object?
Why aren't you doing it?
This is a hypothetical question to get to the root of where you want to be. Time and money are usually the two reasons why we don't do what we want.
Maybe you want to be your own boss. You'd like to work for yourself but you're scared.
Everyone tells you owning a business is risky.
It is.
The cost of failure is easy to measure.
Look at all the money you are going to invest in your project. Consider the income you won't receive while doing this. Understand the payment you are currently making on your mortgage, car and credit cards won't be made if you aren't earning a weekly wage.
The cost can be catastrophic.
The bank could take the house and the car.
Your name could be ruined for future loans.
Everything you worked so hard for will be gone in a flash.
Because you wanted to follow your dream.
You're scared of the cost because the potential loss can be calculated.
Here's what can't be calculated: The benefit.
You won't know how much money you can make until you make the decision to do it.
You won't know how big your opportunity will be until you knock down some doors.
You won't know what life you could have until money starts coming in.
There's the known cost and the unknown benefit.
I believe that's why most of us fail to go for the dream.
We want to talk the risk out of doing something remarkable.
That's impossible.
So we run and hide, using the cost as our excuse.
With a background in finance and marketing, Rick Nicholson owned two highly successful restaurants before selling them to start a consulting business. His current company The Restaurant Ninjas provides tools to the foodservice industry to become more profitable. His book, "The Art of Restaurant Theft" can be downloaded for free at www.therestaurantninjas.com
You can subscribe to Rick's weekly email newsletter and his thoughts on business, life and everything in between at:
http://forms.aweber.com/form/
Why aren't you doing it?
This is a hypothetical question to get to the root of where you want to be. Time and money are usually the two reasons why we don't do what we want.
Maybe you want to be your own boss. You'd like to work for yourself but you're scared.
Everyone tells you owning a business is risky.
It is.
The cost of failure is easy to measure.
Look at all the money you are going to invest in your project. Consider the income you won't receive while doing this. Understand the payment you are currently making on your mortgage, car and credit cards won't be made if you aren't earning a weekly wage.
The cost can be catastrophic.
The bank could take the house and the car.
Your name could be ruined for future loans.
Everything you worked so hard for will be gone in a flash.
Because you wanted to follow your dream.
You're scared of the cost because the potential loss can be calculated.
Here's what can't be calculated: The benefit.
You won't know how much money you can make until you make the decision to do it.
You won't know how big your opportunity will be until you knock down some doors.
You won't know what life you could have until money starts coming in.
There's the known cost and the unknown benefit.
I believe that's why most of us fail to go for the dream.
We want to talk the risk out of doing something remarkable.
That's impossible.
So we run and hide, using the cost as our excuse.
With a background in finance and marketing, Rick Nicholson owned two highly successful restaurants before selling them to start a consulting business. His current company The Restaurant Ninjas provides tools to the foodservice industry to become more profitable. His book, "The Art of Restaurant Theft" can be downloaded for free at www.therestaurantninjas.com
You can subscribe to Rick's weekly email newsletter and his thoughts on business, life and everything in between at:
http://forms.aweber.com/form/
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