I heard a great quote the other day: Failure is succeeding at something that doesn’t matter.
Good stuff to think about. It raises two questions in my mind:
- What are you succeeding at?
- And does it matter?
Monthly Archives: May 2008
Failure VS Success
Filed under Thinking Out Loud...
Post a comment
Book Update #4
It’s been a few weeks since I’ve done any writing on the book because of all the travel I’ve had lately. But this week I’ve been working on the project more and we are getting closer and closer to wrapping up. I’m on track to be completely finished on the writing side of things by the middle to end of next week!
Right now, I’ve got 40 chapters completed and about 13 more to go. I’ve also got 35,246 words which seems like a lot. I feel the need to save the file on my computer every 2 seconds for fear that I would somehow lose it…that would suck.
My sister, who is a graphic designer, is doing some of the interior layout for me and we’ve also started playing with that. I think the book itself will look really sharp and will have real cool layout. On a side note, if you’re looking for some graphic design work, I would highly recommend checking her stuff out. And not just because she’s my sister but because she’s really good (I should get paid for this ad). Check out some of her portfolio here or you can email her
I’m really pumped about this book and can’t wait to have it done. In case you’re interested, here are the rest of book updates so far…
Living In The Moment…
Filed under Thinking Out Loud...
As I mentioned earlier in the week, my wife and I went to the St. Louis Cardinals game on Saturday and had an awesome time. And while I was at the game, it was one of moments where you just stop and think about how good life is.
Unfortunately, this doesn’t happen too often for most of us, does it? We get so consumed with the busyness of life that it becomes very difficult to slow down long enough to enjoy a moment. Every day you are experiencing moments all around you but the bigger question is, are you living in those moments? Or are they passing you by?
Throughout your life, you can make a lot of money, climb the corporate ladder, and have lots of nice gadgets and gizmos. But at the end of your life, what will matter are the moments that you truly lived.
Moments happen every day but you have to be aware of them. So shut down the computer, turn off your cell phone, and go live in the moment.
That moment will pass before you know it.
An Open Apology Letter To The Economy
Filed under Money & Finances, Thinking Out Loud...
Well, we received our economic stimulus check/direct deposit last week. But unfortunately we won’t be using it for what the economy/government had hoped for. So I wanted to share with you my apology letter to the economy:
Dear Economy (and your buddy, the Government),
How you been lately? Not real good according to all the news. You were doing so well for a while there so I guess your luck was bound to change wasn’t it? Oh well…
I wanted to thank you for sending me some money. That was really generous of you, especially considering you don’t really have much money to be passing around right now. And I guess it was my money in the first place, so there’s no harm in returning it.
But I guess you wanted to give it back to me so that I would spend it on something frivolous (on a side note, how do you like my use of the word frivolous?). Something like an exotic vacation, an upgrade in car or house, or some other unnecessary luxury item that I can live without. Again, that was really nice of you but I guess I’m a little confused why you would ask for my money in the form of taxes and then give it back to me as this “stimulus” deal and then you want me to give it back to you again, but just in a different form. Sounds a little redundant doesn’t it?
Tell you what…to prevent all these unnecessary exchanges in the future, how about I just keep all my money in the first place?! I’m just kidding, I knew you wouldn’t go for that! I’ve learned that you like my money thus you give me my own money back to give back to you. Confusing isn’t it?
The real reason I wanted to write to you was to apologize. I wanted to say I’m sorry in advance for not doing what you want me to do with my money. You see I’m going to keep it. When you think about it, I’m actually doing both of us a favor. Because in the future, if you’re ever having another down day, month, year, lengthy period of time, then I’ll have plenty of money to help you out. But if I just spend what you give me, then I’ll be back to square one and eventually so will you.
So while I know it may be hard for you to understand, I hope you don’t take it personally. It’s not you, it’s me. I still want to be friends though.
Thanks for being understanding.
Sincerely,
Grant
St. Louis Cardinals Game
So Saturday afternoon my wife and I went to the St. Louis Cardinals game and had just a killer time! A couple of factors contributed to the “awesomeness” of the day…
- Perfect Weather – it was 70 degrees the whole afternoon with a little breeze…nice
- Great Game – it was a very offensive game with 17 total runs and 31 total hits. My boy Albert Pujols hit a home run and the game ended in the 10th inning with a walk off homer!
- Best Seats in the House – we were in a private section on the 4th row right next to the Cardinal’s dugout. The seats even had built in TVs…easily the best seats I’ve ever had for a game.
- Plenty of Food – our ticket included a pregame buffet (which was amazing) plus all-you-can-eat food during the game with a server to take your order. We figured we ordered around $75 worth of food! The key word my wife wanted me to emphasize was “ordered”…we didn’t eat every bite of everything we ordered! We’re not that big of pigs.
- Hot Wife – yeah, my wife is really hot, so that’s a bonus.
Here are some pictures from the game:
The 80/20 Rule
Filed under Thinking Out Loud...
If you can grasp the 80/20 rule, it will change how you approach a variety of different aspects of your life. If you’re unfamiliar with the 80/20 rule, it is very simple. The 80/20 rule basically says this:
20% of your activities will produce 80% of your results.
Think of other ways the 80/20 rule is true:
20% of your friends take up 80% of your time.
20% of your clothes get worn 80% of the time.
20% of the people at your job do 80% of the work.
20% of the world’s population uses 80% of the world’s resources.
20% of your clients produce 80% of your revenue.
20% of your school work accounts for 80% of your grades.
So if this 80/20 rule is true, then you have to ask yourself, what is that 20% in your world? If 20% of your activities produce 80% of your results, what do you need to do to spend as much time as possible on that 20%?
Why I Blog…
I was talking with some friends the other day and we started discussing why people blog. A few of us in the group blog fairly regularly and a few others hadn’t ever really messed with it. So I started thinking through why I blog. Here are a couple of thoughts I came up with:
- I think blogging provides some degree of intrinsic value. It’s a daily discipline that I do to stay consistent.
- Blogging helps me to pay attention more to what is going on around me. So often because of our busy lives, we miss what is going on around us but if I want to have something of substance to blog about, I have to be aware of the world around me.
- Sometimes if I’m personally thinking something through or kicking something around, blogging is an outlet to help me process that.
- I like to think that maybe, just maybe, my writings will help/encourage/challenge/inspire others in their own lives. Hopefully I give you something to think about and chew on…
- In a sense, I’m also creating a diary, a “man journal” of my life. To think that my kids and maybe even grandkids could come back someday and read some of this is a cool thought…
- It is a good way to update family/friends on what is going on in my life. Things such as snakes that I kill or what time zone I’m in this week…
- I like the networking aspect of having a blog. I meet other people who have read my blog or come across it and don’t think it is a complete waste!
- Hopefully each time I write something, my writing is getting better. I’m working on a book right now and hope to write more books in the future and blogging is a good opportunity to hone your skills, or lack thereof.
- My mom reads it.
Part of the reason it’s important to answer this question, not just about blogging, but for anything you do, is so that you continue to evaluate why do you what you do. Isn’t it true how you may start doing something but then 6 months later, you’re not really sure why you started doing it in the first place? Or maybe you’ve been doing something the same way for years and you’re convinced you can’t change it because “you’ve always done it that.”
Think through your average day, week, month, whatever, and ask yourself if there are things you’re doing that maybe you should reevaluate the value of…
Unbelievable Volcano Pictures
Filed under Random
Check out these pictures from the recent volcano in Chile. It looks like something out of a movie. Crazy…
Thanks to Josh and National Geographic
From Downtown Chicago…
I’m in Chicago for a few days speaking at some seminars and have had a great time hanging out in the city. Here are some pics from what I’ve been up to:
From my hotel room on the 22nd floor…Hancock Building in the back there…
From the Cubs game last night at Wrigley Field…
I walked a few miles around the city this afternoon so here are a few pictures from that tour…
The Power of Nice
Filed under Thinking Out Loud..., Travels
It never ceases to amaze me what being nice to others will do for you. I’ve had three different occasions in the last week at three different hotels where just by being nice brought some type of “reward” to me.
Last week, I got a free dessert from the hotel restaurant; yesterday I got a room upgrade; and today as I checked into my hotel in Chicago, I got upgraded to an awesome room with an amazing view of the city.
How?
Just by being nice! It’s not that I’m anything special or did anything unique. I just went out of my way to be polite and nice to people and apparently, it paid off well. Now of course there is no sense in doing something nice just for a “reward” but it makes for a nice cherry on top of the sundae.
Who could you go out of your way to be nice to this week?
