Category: Lessons

First off, happy new year to everyone.

I usually enjoy visiting with everyone young and old. I was reminded yesterday of the monstrous benefits (and fun) you can get by visiting with older people (in particular retired people). I just spent yesterday with one of my older uncles (and I’m pushing the “old” category myself now). I wanted to get a piece of equipment that this uncle had a lot of experience in, so I asked him to go shopping with me.

He jumped at the chance and we had wonderful conversations and I could tell that he was thrilled to have something else to do (and of course spending someone else’s money is always nice too). It is amazing how many life lessons that he had learned were shared – and they just popped up in conversation which I accept much better than getting preached at. The best part was the fun that I could see on his face the entire time and the big hug at the end of the day.

I have learned so much from retired people during my career as a business person. I love that they share so much of themselves with no expectations and no concern that someone will overtake them on the career ladder. I would recommend that you add a monthly goal call to an older person for an hour long visit (or better yet, see them personally). You wont even notice your own growth, but you will notice their smiles!

Happy Hew Year!

Last night I gave the commencement speech for the Fall 2009 graduates at Chippewa Valley Technical College. The thoughts I shared with them are applicable to everyone. It revolved around a quote from Claude Bissel.

RISK – More than others think is safe
CARE – More than others think is wise
DREAM – More than others think is practical
EXPECT – More than others think is possible

Risk
By getting out of your comfort zone a little bit, it helps you grow personally and professionally. Each time you do that, it does two things for your life.

• First, it helps you notice your life more as you “feel” the discomfort (last night it was the butterflies in my stomach).
• Second, it helps you realize that the task can be done – which help you to expand your comfort zone and grow your abilities. You will probably do fine. You may mess up. In either case, it expands what you have learned before.

If you risk more than others think is safe, you experience growth, you will become more valuable to your employer, may get bigger raises and promotions and may even choose to do like me and become your own boss. Remember that it is also a risk to ask for help when you need it – and critical to a successful future.

Care – more than others think is wise
More than anything else, the time spent with people that you care about that will matter to you when you are sitting in your retirement easy chair. It is not the day-to-day successes that matter in the end, but rather the quality of the relationships you share with family, friends, neighbors and co-workers that will define how happy you are with your life. As you take your life journey, take the time to nurture the relationships in your life.

Dream – More than others think is practical
When I started my first company, I dreamed of selling our product around the world with millions in sales. I turned those dreams into goals for my business plan. The experts who reviewed the plan figured the goals were “pie in the sky”, and unattainable. The reality was that all of my goals were surpassed with partners around the world, and I believe it was by having a big goal to reach for that I found success.
Life will consistently offer you small opportunities to take if you want to. Each opportunity that you take builds on your previous experiences. Having big dreams helps you to see the opportunities that may fit with your goals. Remember to take a risk when you see them come along.

Expect – more than others think is possible
In my case, my dreams became expectations by writing them down as goals, both professional and personal.
If you take a few minutes to write down some things that you expect to see in 5, 10 and 20 years and look at it once a month, you will be amazed at how fast you will get there.

Life seems to be getting faster paced than ever before. Technology is advancing at an amazing rate which is pulling each of us to do the same. The economy is unsettling which causes us to work even harder. Breaks are shorter, days are longer and weekends are full. For those around the younger generation, technology has shaped them to multi-task and their social network is largely online.

Amidst all of this chaos, I was reminded again to take time to smell the roses (except I prefer to watch clouds as they evolve from shape to shape). Yesterday I was at a funeral of my wife’s aunt. At first it was difficult for me to take time off during the middle of the week. Although it was a somber occasion, it was great to be reminded to live life to the fullest, rekindle relationships, and that life is fragile.

Now that I am back, I am more productive than I have been in a week. It is good to be reminded to take a break now and again.

I was asked by someone who believes “in not reinventing the wheel if someone has already done so”. I normally agree with this statement too, Except in the case of business plans. I know from experience that business plans take huge amounts of time, and they must be written by the owner and not contracted out. What I have found is that the business plan is the place and time where the business “lives and grows” in the owners head. As the words are put onto the paper, the entire business is developed and problems with the business appear and are corrected with no cost, no liability, and no damage to the company name to customers. Problems occur with many aspects, and the common denominator is always the business owner, what bugs them, what motivates them and what they are expecting. Anyone else doing a plan would be fixing problems that they see which are unlikely to be the problems that the business owner would see. That being said, having help from someone who has done a business plan to give advice or review the plan is very beneficial.

One thing that I have noticed is that it takes a unique person to be a programmer. One of the biggest challenges is that programmers need to be able to self reward on simple things. Most people have no clue what programmers do, so the recognition from anyone are few and far between. Just something to keep in mind for anyone thinking of going into the profession.

I have a wonderful uncle Bob that I decided to ask questions of. He is retired and has a wealth of knowledge. He has a background in lots of things, and one of them was antiques. Being a pack rat myself and enjoying antiques, I asked him for his thoughts on antiques. This is an edited dialogue that we had so that I have a place to keep it, and also it may help others on the web.

I always wished that I had a crystal ball, but I’m glad I didnt. When I first started StrandWare, i often wished for a vision of the future. After about 5 years into the company, I realized that I was so blessed that I didnt have one. Had I been able to “see” the success that the future held 5 years into the future, I would have figured that there was no way I could manage that.

It is a lot like having kids. For those of you reading this without kids – you will live what I’m talking about in a few years. When you first get think about having kids (or usually you dont think about it 🙂 ), you know that your life will change, but you’re not sure exactly how. When the new bundle of joy comes into your life, you are so in awe of this tiny little creation. The baby barely moves and is just so amazing to see. They quickly find their lungs and cry quite loudly for such a small creature, but you figure it is because they need something – which is pretty much true at this age. Right away, the nurses are there to help you with bathing, changing and feeding. You leave the hospital with some basic understandings and a strong sense of connection. Then comes the times where the needs of the child come at all kinds of times through the day. Eventually, the child sleeps through the night for the first time, and you think all is great. Soon comes the first words followed by first words and all the fun of birthdays, Christmas, etc. Of course with the good times comes the stress of having them in and on all the cabinets, them testing their limits (and reflecting what they have learned with how we deal with others). School comes with the stress ofletting them go to school on their own. Then comes the “I dont want to get up” on the weekday mornings and the getting up at 6:00 am on weekend mornings when we could sleep in. You put yourself out driving them everywhere, for parties, for laundry, shopping and all kinds of things. Eventually you realize that you no longer go party anymore because there isnt time (and really, it is not as interesting anymore either). If you had a crystal ball to see everything that goes on 5 or 10 years into the future, you would not appreciate all the small things that are positive, and would be frightened at all the things that dont seem very positive.

I suspect that if people knew the future, there would be far fewer businesses operating, and a much smaller population. So, I am happy that I dont know the future.

I have the habit of underestimating my abilities and also underestimating the value of the things that I do for others. I recently have been in a very sticky situation with a group of angel investors who want to invest in a business that I’m running. Two years ago, a friend of mine gave me a really basic idea that I have evolved into a totally different product that is no longer related. He said that he wanted a piece of it, and thinking it would go nowhere, we came up with a gentleman’s agreement including a piece of gross sales. Now I need him out to get angel investment. Had I valued what I might do with the idea, I would never have agreed to the terms. I did so thinking that it would never become anything. So, I have lived another life lesson to value what I do.