Create Passion

You may hate your job. You may wish to find a new one, start a business, change careers, go back to school, move to a remote island, or just take a few weeks off.

Maybe your job is just boring. Or maybe you’re boring.

Maybe you’re blind to some of the areas where you can find passion.

Passion starts with you. If you don’t enjoy filling out and submitting your TPS reports, maybe you can find some other parts of your job that you do care more about. You can create passion; a little bit goes a long way.

Passion starts with you. Your job is to create it.

Not Synonyms: Wedding & Event

At what point in history did the terms wedding and event become synonymous?

I’m getting married next weekend (the 18th), and Michelle and I are just now addressing the core pieces of the wedding ceremony. We’ve spent the last several months planning the event (the food, guests, venue, equipment, etc.), but today we finally started fleshing out our vows, the ceremony process, ceremony music, and the rest of that kind of stuff.

But I’m confused. Isn’t the wedding day supposed to be about a union of two hearts, a marriage, an actual wedding? Since when does wedding equal event? Shouldn’t the actual marriage be more important than the event? Or is it just me?

The Loud One

The Loud One is that guy in the classroom that says too much, too often. Others get annoyed with him easily, but he challenges the instructor, goes against the grain, intimidates and enhances good thought.

The Loud One is the cheerleader who quits cheerleading not because she doesn’t enjoy it or because she’s not good enough, but because her peers are petty and superficial and far too judgmental. Her intrinsic motivation is strong, but the rewards just aren’t worth putting up with means.

The Loud One is the guy that challenges the norm, pushes it, pisses it off, and insults its requests for conformity.

The Loud One isn’t necessarily The Quiet One.

The Loud One causes change, instigates better thinking, creates and pursues grit.

Nobody remembers the quiet ones from the classroom. Nobody remembers the conformist.

Be remembered. Be The Loud One.

Client Relationships are the Greatest Assets

I’ve developed many great relationships with my clients over the years. I’ve always known how important client relationships are, but these days, this fact smacks me in the face, every single day. In a good way, that is.

When running a service-based business, your skills and talents are critical: you must be able to deliver what you promise, deliver what you sell.

But more importantly you must be willing to go the extra mile (or hundred miles) for your clients. Take the time to truly understand their needs, their motivations, what makes them tick, why they think they need what the ask for. Spend the extra 20 minutes on the phone, or squeeze in that brief meeting at the coffee shop down the road.

Your clients will love you for it. You will love you for it, even though rewards may not be immediate. And you’ll be far better prepared for the unpredictable future.

I’ve grown to enjoy spending time speaking with clients and exceeding their expectations, even more than I enjoy writing code or solving web-related problems.

Glancing at my temperament, I’d have never expected that I’d enjoy spending so much time speaking with clients, thoroughly exploring and truly understanding problems and identifying potential solutions. Life’s just full of surprises, isn’t it?

A great book on topic: The Go Giver by Bob Burg (thanks John!)

Commanding Respect Begins with You

One of my best friends recently decided to command some more respect with his work/job situation. For years this guy blindly accepted whatever came his way, as if he had no control over the outcome.

After giving him a few pep talks and showing him the cold, hard truth, he decided to speak up and ask for more money, for what he wanted out of the situation.

And guess what: it worked!

He received the pay and position he sought. His requests for the future were granted.

And his confidence significantly grew; he felt valued and capable and worthy. Just like that.

Respect is a two-way process. Command it, and you’ll receive it. It starts with you.

Fear of Singing your Heart Out

I’m a huge advocate of believing in yourself. I believe each of us has one or more superpowers.

As a musician I often hear people tell me “I can’t play any instruments” or “I can’t hold a tune” or “I have no musical talent whatsoever” or something to that extent.

At this point I typically ask “Do you sing when you’re alone, maybe while in the car or the shower?”

“Oh yeah, I sing my ass off in there!!! It’s quite embarrassing!” they say.

If you can sing in the car or the shower, then you’ve obviously got some musicality in you. Surely you could practice and get better, like the rest of us do. Surely you could commit yourself to it and actually make some measurable progress. Even if you never leave the shower.

You’re probably just afraid.

Hello World!

You may have reached this post unexpectedly. Well, I’ve decided to blow away all the old blog posts I’ve had on this site. Sometimes a fresh start is much-needed. Not for you, but for me.

So this is a fresh, obligatory hello world to you.

Going forward this blog will be a lot different than my former model; well, there was never really much of a model. I’m not saying that I’ve got a much better model now, but I do have a much clearer vision as to what this blog should be and what I’m going to write about.