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No New Ideas

June 10, 2010 in Fun Stuff, Life with 6 Comments

Do you ever feel like you’re drawing a blank or not able to come up with any new ideas?

Here’s a tip:

Change your daily routine.

Today, I changed my own routine. I noticed I was falling into a trap. I used to have a lot of great ideas in the morning. Sometimes they would come to me in the shower or while I was having my morning coffee. Then the ideas became fewer and farther between.

For the past few weeks, I’ve made a point to pay special attention to my morning routine.

I paid close attention to the small details like, the way I got out of bed. The way I made the bed. The way I walked from one side to the other making the pillows look nice. (brownie points)

I observed and made a mental note of the way I got into the shower. The way I hung my towel over the shower door. The way I opened the door. The process I followed in the shower.

The way I made coffee. How I opened the cupboard and grabbed the coffee bag. The way I filled the coffee machine with water.

It’s a fascinating process! I was able to actually learn from the way I’d been conditioning myself to do certain things. It takes a little bit of trickery to allow yourself to continue with your daily routine, but pay attention and make a note of the process at the same time.

Today I changed my routine. I deliberately did things differently today.

I showered differently.
I rode my bike to the office today.
I listened to a new radio station.
I put a little extra cream in my coffee. Then I drank an extra cup.
I wore some clothes I don’t usually wear.

Riding my bike to the office was probably the biggest mixup so far and it’s only noon. That, in itself,  was a fascinating experience.

During my ride, my brain suddenly kicked into gear. I started paying attention to and observing my surroundings. I became aware of things I’d passed every day on a daily basis without even noticing. I came up with new ideas for future blog posts. Things made me laugh. I ran into a client on my way. Interesting.

Look at your own life and pay attention to your daily routine and, without warning, blatantly switch it up. You might be surprised by the results.

Visions of Ice Cream

June 8, 2010 in Business, Fun Stuff with 4 Comments

On Saturday night, my wife and I were visiting Toronto. My wife went out to a bachelorette party for her cousin who’s getting married shortly. I was left on my own to enjoy a night in the city. I made my way out and had a little sushi for dinner, and then I decided I’d splurge and enjoy a glass of wine at my favorite wine bar and perhaps even indulge in a little dessert (which I did by the way).

My wine was poured by the bartender, Monty.

Monty and I got to talking. Monty told me about his daughter, and I told him that we were expecting. Monty told me about growing up in Toronto, and I told him about growing up in a small town.

We started talking about business, and Monty told me that he and his wife had recently opened up an ice cream shop. He told me that he was both thrilled and amazed at how well their shop was doing.

This was interesting! I wanted to know more. I wanted to know how a bartender, working at an up-scale restaurant in Toronto, came to own and operate a small ice cream shop. I wanted to know how they got into ice cream, of all things.

He told me how it happened:

Both Monty and his wife, Tammy, had worked in the service industry. They often talked about opening a restaurant, but they weren’t too sure they wanted to take on the associated risks of opening up and owning a restaurant. I don’t blame him.

One day, Monty and his wife, Tammy, were walking down the street when Tammy noticed a vacant storefront. She peaked in the window and blurted out, “This would be a great place for an ice cream shop.”

I asked Monty if they had ever talked about owning an ice cream shop before and he wasn’t sure. He said that it might have come up before, but the idea really seemed to just drop out of the sky.

And that was that. Three months later, they were scooping ice cream.

It was as if his wife, Tammy, looked inside the store and could already see the two of them scooping away. It reminded me a lot of Michelangelo and the way he had approached a piece of marble. He would say that the sculpture was already there and he just had to chip away the stone around it.

OK, I know, maybe it’s a stretch comparing ice cream to Michelangelo… but maybe not as big a stretch as we’d like to think. As Monty said, the shop has been an absolute success and they simply love doing it.

The story of Tammy looking into the window and envisioning the ice cream shop really got me to thinking about the times I’ve had similar types of visions. I’m sure you’ve had them too.

For years, while growing up and traveling to our cottage with my parents, we’d pass this one spot. And every time we passed it, my father would make a comment and say “that spot is a great location for a little french fry shack.” A funny vision that we’d razz and give him a hard time about year after year. We’d say things like “did you remember your potato peeler.” We knew what he was going to say before he said it. One year, as we passed that spot – guess what was there? A truck serving all kinds of different snacks, including french fries. It wasn’t my father who had opened it, but obviously someone else also shared a similar vision.

Was it there all along and certain people could see it?

Tammy, sharing her vision was one thing, but the next part was the hard part, the follow-through.

Monty said there were plenty of  concerns during the planning. He said “I’d constantly be doing the math in my head….. OK – if we serve 200 ice cream cones one day, and only a hundred the next, is it enough?”

Eventually, Monty said they just had to trust it would work out and go for it.

Have you ever had a similar vision?

Did you follow through?

If it happens again, is it really worth just letting the vision pass you by?

What’s the worst that could happen, if you decided to actually follow through?

I did a little web searching and found a picture of Monty in his shop.

Next time I’m in Toronto, I know where I’m going for ice cream.

monty.jpg

Carter’s ice cream (named after their daughter)

Passing the Gringo

June 2, 2010 in Fun Stuff, Misc, Success with 4 Comments

My friend Shawn passed this link on to me, and I think it makes for a great rainy day post. It’s pouring outside today.

Here’s the story:

After reading the passage, please take a moment to read my questions below.

Throughout the Tour de France, a Colombian rider on the Kelme – Costa Blanca Team, Santiago Botero, has been keeping a diary in a newspaper. Each day the newspaper published his diary from the previous day. Unfortunately, the only diary entry I have seen appeared in this past Sunday’s edition, however, it was worth the read.

“There I am all alone with my bike. I know of only two riders ahead of me as I near the end of the second climb on, what most riders consider, the third worst mountain stage on the tour. I say ‘most riders’ because I do not fear mountains.

After all, our country has nothing but mountains. I train year-round in the mountains. I am the national champion from a country that has nothing but mountains. I trail only my teammate, Fernando Escartin, and a Swiss rider. Pantani, one of my rival climbers, and the Gringo Armstrong are in the Peleton about five minutes behind me. I am climbing on such a steep portion of the mountain that if I were to stop pedaling, I would fall backward. Even for a world-class climber, this is a painful and slow process. I am in my upright position pedaling at a steady pace. I’m willing myself to finish this climb so I can conserve my energy for the final climb of the day. The Kelme team leader radios to me that the Gringo has left the Peleton by himself and that they can no longer see him.

I recall thinking ‘the Gringo cannot catch me by himself‘. A short time later, I hear the gears on another bicycle. Within seconds, the Gringo is next to me – riding in the seated position, smiling at me. He was only next to me for a few seconds and he said nothing – he only smiled and then proceeded up the mountain as if he were pedaling downhill. For the next several minutes, I could only think of one thing – his smile. His smile told me everything. I kept thinking that surely he is in as much agony as I am. Hopefully he is struggling up the mountain as much as I am, and he only sat down to pass me to discourage me. He can’t be playing games with me. Not possible. The truth is that his smile said everything that his lips did not. His smile said to me, “I was training while you were sleeping, Santiago”. It also said, “I won this tour four months ago, while you were deciding what bike frame to use in the tour. I trained harder than you did, Santiago. I don’t know if I am better than you, but I have outworked you and right now, you cannot do anything about it. Enjoy your ride, Santiago. See you in Paris.”

Obviously, the Gringo did not state any of this, but his smile did dispel a bad rumor among the riders on the tour. The rumor that surfaced as we began the Prologue several days ago told us that the Gringo had gotten soft. His wife had given birth to his first child, and he had won the most difficult race in the world.  He had no desire to race or to win. I imagine that his smile turned to laughter once he was far enough away not to embarrass me. The Gringo has class, but if he heard the rumors, he probably laughed all the way to Paris. He is a great champion. I must train harder. I am not content to be just a great climber. I want to be the best.

I learned much from the Gringo while climbing the mountains. I will never forget the helpless feeling I had yesterday. If I ever become an international champion, I will always remember the lesson the Gringo taught me.

The original post and story can be found here.

Here are some questions for you to think about:

How are you training in your life?

Are you training hard enough?

Are you focusing on the right areas of self-improvement? Is it sufficient to be really good at one skill, but lacking in others?

As a business owner, do you believe you’re unbeatable in certain areas of your business? Are you working to improve the weaker areas?

And if you’re not, are you prepared to let the Gringo pass you?

Of course, there’s always a flip-side to these posts….

Instead of training to avoid being passed, you could train to be the smiling Gringo.

You’re not even in the game.

May 19, 2010 in Fun Stuff, Life, Linchpin, Success with 3 Comments

“It’s not whether you win or lose, it’s how you play the game.” ~ Grantland Rice

Remember that quote? I hate it. It’s not about winning or losing, it’s how we play the game. Hmm….

The reason I don’t like the quote is that most of the time we’re not even in the game to begin with.

When we skip a workout or we have the extra pizza, even though we’re trying to lose weight or get healthier, we’re not in the game.

When we say we want to start a blog, but don’t make the effort to write a few words, we’re not in the game.

When we talk about being unhappy in our current situation and make statements like “someday, I’m going to do things my way,” we’re not really in the game.

The list goes on and on…. We might say we’re in a lull. Perhaps we’d compare it to the seventh inning stretch. Wrong. You’re still outside the stadium looking for a ticket.

SO here’s how you play the game.

You jump right in and play to win. You put on your best equipment and give it all you’ve got.

Even if you’re writing a blog post about the game, at least you’re competing. :-)

When you start the workout, even though it hurts like hell and there’s an extreme amount of short term pain, congrats – we’ve got a game.

Sticking to your diet and fighting the temptations, or avoiding the smoke when you’re trying to quit; howdy, glad you showed up to the game.

I’m fascinated by the idea of the resistance and the lizard brain, because that’s the competition. They know that half the time you won’t even show up, but when you do, it’s game time!

And now what? Half the time the resistance wins! For some of us, the resistance is kicking our asses every single game. But you know what, we never just throw the game and let them win. It’s all about how we play it.

Get in the game.

Edit:

“It’s not whether you win or lose, it’s if you show up and play.” ~ Noah Fleming

In The Zone

April 12, 2010 in Fun Stuff with 4 Comments

I grew up a basketball fanatic. I played most of my pre-adult life on various teams until around the time I finished high school.

One of the things you’ve probably heard before is the phrase that someone is “in the zone!”

After Michael Jordan hit his third or fourth three pointer, the announcers would often exclaim, “he’s in the zone!”

I remember the zone. It was an odd feeling that happened only every so often. I’m sure for pro athletes and superstars, it happens far more often.

This is what the zone feels like (if I can explain it…even though I’m sure you’ve all been there at least once in your life)

You launch a three pointer, and just as the ball leaves your hands, you know it’s in basket. There was no way it was going to miss. I remember the feeling clearly.

Many times after the ball left your hands, you’d start to turn around and make your way back to play defense.

Yesterday, we saw Phil Mickleson in the zone. He knew as soon as he hit certain shots or tapped certain putts, they were going in. There was no question about it.

Tiger couldn’t find the zone yesterday. And if he could have found it, he might have won.

I’ve started to notice, after playing basketball for close to 18 years, that the zone isn’t just a sports’ thing.

Often, we’ll find ourselves in the zone in our personal lives, or our careers, or with whatever we’re doing.

The key to the zone is knowing when you’re there and capitalizing on the moment. It’s at times like these you need to take more shots and more risks.

It’s the job interview you knew you nailed – you knew you had the job before you shook hands to leave.

It’s the business call you knew was a success before hanging up the phone.

It’s those moments when you don’t just feel like everything is going your way, you know it is.

Of course, the zone can also trick us.

Back during basketball games, I remember the times when we wanted to force the zone. We would take bad shots while in a false sense of the zone. We can easily fool ourselves into believing we’re in the zone, or, we attempt to rush it and try to force ourselves into that special place.

The zone can’t be faked.

It’s a natural phenomenon that happens by itself. You need to recognize the moments you’re TRULY there and it’s at those moments you pounce! The zone doesn’t last forever. It’s short and sweet and powerful.

You can’t force the zone. The only way to get there is by taking a risk to begin with.

Jordan would often find the zone by first missing a handful of shots and then nailing the next six. Suddenly he was there. Nobody could stop Jordan when he found the zone.

Notice Jordan never gave up after missing the first bunch. He kept going and then the magic happened.

The same goes for you. Find the zone and you’ll be unstoppable.

Washroom for Customers Only

March 3, 2010 in Fun Stuff, Ideas, Life with 1 Comment

So I was walking the streets of Toronto the other day and something happened which got me to  thinking…

Here’s the story:

I had just finished off my second Venti Bold Sumatra from Starbucks and was in desperate need of a washroom. I had to go bad.

I found another coffee shop, which I won’t name, but it rhymes with “Jim Morton’s”

I rushed to the washroom, only to find it locked. I looked up to see that all too familiar sign.

The sign read, “Washroom for Customers Only – Key Required”

As I approached the counter, eager to get the “required key” to gain entry into the Men’s washroom, the girl at the counter did her best to totally ignore me. Why -because I wasn’t buying anything? In her eyes I was not a customer and, therefore, wouldn’t be allowed to use the washroom.

The washroom was for customers only.

I used the washroom anyway.  While I was waiting for a few nanoseconds of attention from the girl at the counter, someone was exiting the washroom and I seized the opportunity. I was able to catch my foot in the door before it shut. No key required.

Here’s the problem…

I felt a lot better after relieving myself, but something really bothered me about the situation.

I’m a Jim Morton’s customer. I’ve given Jim thousands and thousands of dollars during my 29  years on this planet. I simply wasn’t a customer on that specific day.

I’m a Subway customer too, but on various occasions, I don’t need another $5 dollar footlong (meatball), I just need the washroom.

Does the lack of purchase at this specific moment disqualify me as a customer?

If so, why should I ever return? You expect my patronage and I expect you to be there for me when my bladder might explode.

But you weren’t there for me. The deal is broken or maybe it never existed to begin with.

My proposal – The Customer Loyalty Washroom Pass

Each time I’m a customer, I get a point, which gets automatically updated in an on-line database.

You give me a  little gadget, which I attach  to my keychain, and it allows me to access any washroom at any Jim Morton’s anywhere, at any time,  no questions asked. Provided of course, I have enough points. If not, tough luck for me, I need to buy something.

On any specific  day,  if I  buy a coffee, and  use the washroom during that visit, we’re even. If I come in and purchase a coffee, but don’t use the washroom, I get a point for a future visit to the washroom.

If I use the drive-thru, I’m owed one trip to the washroom without purchase.

I think this could work…

Leadership Lessons – Creating a Movement

February 11, 2010 in Business, Fun Stuff, Success with 5 Comments

Have you seen the video of the guy at the outdoor festival who’s dancing like a nut and within minutes has hundreds of people dancing with him?

It’s an awesome video that made the viral rounds a while back. I’m sure you saw it.

Derek Sivers explains that there is more here than meets the eye. He says that what we’re actually seeing is a lesson in leadership. We’re witnessing the creation of a movement from start to finish. And we’re witnessing the Tipping Point in action.

Not to mention it’s a really fun video.

Make sure to watch and listen to the whole thing as the most important part of Derek’s message comes at the end.

(Derek’s original post can be found here)

“When you find a lone nut doing something great, have the guts to be the first person to stand up and join in.” ~ Derek Sivers

Do you know a nut doing something great?

How To Win Contests, Sweepstakes and a TON of Free Stuff.

February 4, 2010 in Fun Stuff, Life Hacking, Misc with 26 Comments

Many of my friends and family are constantly amazed at the number of cool things I’ve won over the past couple of years.

Here’s a small list of some of the prizes I won in a two-year period:

  • An all-expenses paid trip to the Switzerland, spending money, airfare, music festival tickets, transportation
  • 20” Apple iMac Computer
  • Apple iPod
  • 46” LCD TV
  • Home Theater System
  • Sydney Crosby Autographed Hockey Jersey
  • Two Microsoft Xbox 360s  + a handfuls of games
  • Concert Tickets
  • Japanese Action Figures?
  • DVD Box Sets
  • Nintendo Wii
  • Two Dell Laptops
  • Flip Mino HD Camera

Some make the mistake of saying I’m very lucky. I think luck had nothing to do with it and you can do the exact same thing.

Here’s how I did it:

Every morning when I  arrived at my office I did three things:

1) Made coffee

2) Caught up on reading hundreds of blogs

3) Entered 20-30 online contests

That was it. Some people can’t imagine the time I must have spent to enter that many contests each day but it really only took me about 15 minutes. I was able to do this at the same time I was catching up on blogs and sipping on my morning coffee.

Tools Required:

The two pieces of software are tools that allow you to store your identity and contact information. Once stored the software will allow you to press a single button and auto-fill various forms…like……..contest entry forms!

Ta-da!

They are also very handy for password management and even if you don’t plan on entering contests I’d recommend getting one of these programs.

This automates the process of having to enter your name and contact details by hand and cuts down the time required by about 98%. Occasionally you’ll need to fill out a security code or correct some details that the software entered incorrectly, but overall these are the best tools out there for this.

Next you’ll need to go somewhere and get a list of current contests.

There are various websites that get updated  daily with lists of the newest online contests and giveaways.

For Canadians:  Use this site – www.contestcanada.net (this is the website I used 99% of the time but there are others)

For Americans: try this site: www.contestgirl.com

Very quickly I’d  go down the list and open all the new daily contests in Firefox tabs. (skipping anything that didn’t really interest me like a years supply of poodle shampoo)

Then it was simply a matter of jumping from one tab to the next and hitting a single button to input all of my contact information.

That’s it. That was the method I used to win all of the prizes listed above.

As I already mentioned above some would say I’m extremely lucky. My brother watched in awe as I won all the time so he started following my exact same routine.

You know what happened? A few months later the phone started to ring. Then FedEx would show up with boxes.

His list is equally impressive.

Surely there must be hundreds of thousands of people entering all those contests right?

In some cases I’m sure the odds of winning are very  low, but in others I’m willing to bet the odds are very good.

I spoke to a friend this past summer who actually worked with a contest management company for many years.  He explained that the employees would get used to seeing the same winners names over and over again. He was not shocked at all that I’d been winning so much stuff.

He said that most people would be surprised at just how good their odds are for winning various prizes. He continued to explain that many times the response rate for contest entries was extremely low even for the biggest companies with the most expensive and lavish prizes.

I’m not sure why I stopped entering contests but after making this blog and looking back at what I won in two years I think I’m getting back into it.

Strolling through the Swiss Alps

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