Tyler Jorgenson

Ever since watching Back To The Future in the 80’s and learning about the space/time continuum I’ve had an awareness of time.  There is a lot of discussion in business on how one spends their time, eg if they  are productive, but this video helped me think about time in a different manner.

What is your attitude about time?  Are you future oriented?

The interview had gone really well up to this point and the USC admissions director, closing the interview, said “Is there anything else that you feel the admissions committee should know about you?”

“I think you should see my socks.” I replied.

Most days I now wear socks like this.  They’re great quality and very comfortable and they serve two additional purposes.

1. They remind me to never take myself too seriously.  Life is to be enjoyed and is far too short to be lived in an uptight manner.  For me, these socks remind me to laugh, to live and to savor every moment of it all as my unique life experience.

2. They remind me that anything is possible.  Jonah Staw and a few friends started a company back in 2004 with the idea of answering the problem of the missing sock by selling 3 mis matched pairs to a pack.  Their target market usually doesn’t even have their own money, 8-12 year old girls.  Seth Godin mentioned that their annual sales are now over 40 Million USD.  Check out Little Miss Matched.

The interview went really well and the socks were just the extra touch I was hoping they would be.  I got my acceptance letter to the USC MBA program last week.  Time to come up with some $$ to pay for tuition.

Earlier this year I read ‘The 4-Hour Workweek’ by Timothy Ferriss and it’s been making ripples in my life ever since.  I’ve listened to the book on tape, read the 2nd edition and read the author’s blog.  I bought the book about a year and a half ago when a friend blogged about it, but it just got stacked on the pile of books to read.

Of the many bits of wisdom I got from the book one was to eliminate clutter and excess from our lives.  I talked about the concept of choice paralysis a while back.  I started in my closet and eliminated these 10 pairs of shoes.  Why did I have an extra 10 pairs of shoes?  Anybody wear a size 12 and need some gently worn kicks?

I like quotes that inspire and make me want to do and be better.  Today started with a few golden quotes.  I’ve compiled them here for me to remember them and hopefully they can touch at least one other person.

1. You stand up for your teammates. Your loyalty is to them. You protect them through good and bad, because they’d do the same for you. Yogi Berra

2. joshbladh@tylerjorgenson #Yogi also said “If you don’t know where you are going, you might wind up someplace else” #quote

3.  Eddie Torbati Your behavior & your beliefs are in your control. If you’re negative, you’re choosing negativity. That’s fine, just stay away from me. 🙂

4. It’s never a bad time to start a business unless you’re starting a mediocre business. #crushit

5. Alice: Oh, no, no. I was just wondering if you could help me find my way.
Cheshire Cat: Well that depends on where you want to get to.
Alice: Oh, it really doesn’t matter, as long as…
Cheshire Cat: Then it really doesn’t matter which way you go.

In summary: Be loyal, be positive, be remarkable and begin with the end in mind.

Seriously, how am I supposed to get any work done with this little guy around?  He’s too awesome to not hold.  With his older sister and his Mom taking their ‘turns’ holding him I have actually had some pretty productive days recently but who would blame me for stepping away from the office just to get my fix?

I’ve been working from home recently.  Usually I have work stuff out of the house at least a few times per week but I’ve been staying close recently since my wife is nearly 9 months pregnant with our fourth child.  People often ask if working from home ‘works’.  Usually it does.  I can close the office door when needed and have been getting a lot done.  The real problem is the proximity to food.

I’m sure I’ve put on some sympathy weight this pregnancy!  I’m going to have to start using that gym membership soon.  I wonder if I can find the card.

Yesterday’s post reminded me of a great quote.

Realize that true happiness lies within you. Waste no time and effort searching for peace and contentment and joy in the world outside. Remember that there is no happiness in having or in getting, but only in giving. Reach out. Share. Smile. Hug. Happiness is a perfume you cannot pour on others without getting a few drops on yourself.

Og Mandino

When I find that it’s hard to reach out and help somebody I find it’s usually because something isn’t right with me and not the other person.  When we seek to happy, which is a choice and not a result of our environment, we put ourselves in a position to positively impact the world around us.

Choose to be happy, then spread it.

I read an article recently that talked about the primary reason, in the authors opinion, that some people are successful and others not despite having apparent similar talents and looks.   The answer didn’t surprise me too much but did seem to be worth sharing.  The key distinguishing point is this:

Those who fail want other people to make him feel good about himself.

Those who succeed makes other people feel good about themselves.

The author was specifically talking about being successful in dating, but I think it’s on point no matter what the relationship.  Whether you’re wanting to make a connection with the cute Barista at your local Starbucks or make a memorable connection with a sales prospect the same thing applies.  I once wrote about the Rules for a Perfect Day and this part stands out:

I will treat everyone I meet today the way I would like to be treated. I will strive to have them like themselves better when they’re with me.

It’s not always easy to focus on other people and their needs, especially when we may feel needy, but it’s much more rewarding.  It’s the small and simple things that touch people’s lives.

Yesterday I was visited by door to door art peddlers.  A young man and a young woman rang my doorbell to see if I was interested in purchasing a hand painted, oil on canvas, genuine imitation.

They weren’t convincing salespeople, but maybe that was part of the ‘proof’ that they were artists.  A couple of the paintings were of nice settings, but I didn’t feel like I could trust them that these were original works and didn’t want to drop $100 for something so unoriginal.

I’m not an artist.  I can hardly draw stick people and I’m pretty sure my 5 year old daughter can draw a better landscape than me.  I’m not criticizing art, but I just don’t think this was art.  To me art is more than just being able to draw, it’s being able to make connections.  The art peddlers could have delivered a compelling story about how they were immigrants whose love for freedom of expression led them from their Eastern European home to the New World and that they sold their art door to door to reach people and touch their lives.  They didn’t.  They said, in a hushed voice, ‘we’re selling some oil paintings.’  Thanks.

Sometimes if you create something amazing just the fact that it exists will ensure success, but usually you need to be able to tell a story and explain why it’s amazing before people will let down their guard and embrace the new item/piece of art/software, etc.

If Justin Timberlake were to write a sequal to his ‘hit’ song I’m bringing sexy back it would have to be I’m bringing awesome back.  Awesome seems to be a word from the 90’s that just won’t go away.  For a while it was being used to describe things that weren’t all that great, it had just become a standard description.

I use google voice, and love it.  Google had a post called “Google Voice, Explained” and at the end of the first video they declared that Google voice provided ‘less annoyance, more awesomeness’ to telephony.

I agree Google Voice is awesome.

Google Voice became awesome by looking at a system that had evolved but hadn’t changed much much of it’s core in 20 years.  As cell phones went from science fair project, to rich man’s toy, to a must have for 4 year old children voicemail stayed the same.  Google voice changed that, and made it better.

When considering starting, or continuing even, a business are you going to copy another companies business model?  If so, is that model current and progressive.  I don’t think the market needs another video rental chain, or fake starbucks.

The market is begging for innovation.

The market wants awesomeness.

Right now the tagline on this blog reads: One Entrepreneurs Journey To Find Greatness.  Although I often share my thoughts, opinions and insights the whole purpose of this blog is to chronicle my journey to discover greatness in myself and others.

I believe that within each of us lies the extraordinary and the remarkable.  We have a responsibility to discover what it is that we can do better than anybody else in our world.

Why do I care do discover this within myself.  Because of this woman:

My wife and I just had our 7 year wedding anniversary.  This picture was taken while we were dating and is one of my favorites.  To be loved by this woman is an extreme honor.

Have you ever stood at (or in many cases IN) your closet staring at your clothes unable to decide on what to wear?  Recently I was standing in front of my dress shirts trying to decide which one to wear.  I realized that I had a lot of choice so picking a nice one should be easy.  I counted and realized that at that moment I had over 50 clean dress shirts to chose from.  I was stuck there for a while, not able to decide on which one to wear.

In the video below Barry Schwartz explains two negative effects of having so much choice.

1. Paralysis instead of liberation
2. Lower satisfaction once a choice is made

We’ve all experienced the first effect. The closet question outlines how often this may happen every day. Standing there in front of my rack of 50 dress shirts I waste 5-10 minutes in the morning just trying to make a simple choice. Finally, I chose the blue shirt. The light blue shirt, french cuff, 100% cotton, classic straight point collar with custom monogramming. I insert my collar stays, that choice was easy. I reach for my cuff links and freeze another moment as I chose between the fancy ones or conservative ones. Finally, I’ dressed.

The second effect follows about a few minutes later. Walking out of the room I give myself a quick once over in the mirror and it hits me. What if I wore the white shirt. The white shirt, cotton/poly blend, designer texture, medium spread collar and normal cuffs without the monogram. Who doesn’t look good in white, I think to myself, but then a sound jogs me back to the reality that the 10 minutes I burned picking out a shirt have set me behind schedule and I must go as there are more choices to be unhappy about awaiting me.

“Opportunity costs subtract from the satisfaction of what we chose even when what we chose is terrific.” – Schwartz

Why this topic?

Think about whatever it is you’re working on.  When Henry Ford started selling the Model T he offered the car buyers a choice.  Said Ford, “Any customer can have a car painted any color that he wants so long as it is black.”  Sometimes, less is more.  I remember seeing a picture of a small coffee house that had added, over the years, a host of other services.  Soon it was Coffee, ATM, Lottery, Toys, Taxidermy and Nails.  I don’t think those were the actual services but the point is they were shooting for too big of a market, everybody.

Don’t sell to everybody.  Sell to somebody.  Pick a market and be ok with occasionally letting a customer pass by.  The same goes for my closet.  I’m getting rid of over 30 dress shirts this weekend, and the idea of fewer options already makes me smile.

At night I read Fiction books to clear my mind and escape a little.  Recently I finished my first ebook by reading Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen on my iPhone.  Although it is the favorite book of a large percentage of women I found it to be enjoyable to somebody such as myself, who is a man.  One quote struck me early on.  It was said by the female protagonist, Elizabeth Bennett, who had a sharper eye and keener wit that the other women in the book.  Speaking about a man that was handsome, bright and wealthy some of the ladies commented that he was vain.  Elizabeth Bennett commented that:

“Vanity and pride are different things, though the words are often used synonymously. A person may be proud without being vain. Pride relates more to our opinion of ourselves, vanity to what we would have others think of us.”

I am not a supporter of unfounded pride, or the type of pride that causes one to look down upon others.  This is more of a post on the vice of vanity.  I’ve spoken with a lot of people that have had a hard time at work, or some other interpersonal situation, where they felt criticized and discouraged by the opinion of others.  If you are doing your best work and you are proud of what you’ve accomplished do not let others take that away from you.  Most likely they’re being critical because they aren’t doing their best and they don’t like seeing you do yours.

The rub to all of this is that if you aren’t doing your best, if you are doing the average and the ordinary, then you deserve to be the recipient of all the fiery darts of criticism.  Allow yourself to feel the pain of doing something mediocre, then resolve never to do so again.

What could you do with $750?

This photo was taken by affixing a pocket camera to a helium balloon.  The photographer, Robert Harrison, attached a Canon Sure Shot camera to a high altitude helium balloon.  The contraption made it 22 miles up before the balloon burst and deployed the parachute.  Harrison then recovered the camera using a GPS device he’d installed.

See more photos here.

This may not change the world for most of us but I still think it’s meaningful work.  Harrison made a choice to do something remarkable and although it was simple in design it took some skill and diligence to execute.  His photographs are now circulating around the world and reaching people that they may inspire.  They’ve inspired me.  Next time I go to spend anywhere near $750 I’ll remember that some guy in the UK spent that much to fly higher than a spy plane.

He who never leaves his country is full of prejudices.
– Carlo Goldoni

Living in South Africa for two years changed me in many ways. One major lasting effect that it had on me was the knowledge that material goods have very little connection to ones happiness.

During my time in Africa I worked in a variety of locations, each with their own sub cultures and sometimes different languages. At one point I was in a wealthy suburb with guard gated communities, fancy cars, maids and even milk and bread delivery services. I remember sitting down as a dinner guest at one particular house and being taken back that each course of dinner was brought out at the ringing of a bell which the lady of the house kept next to her plate. A week later I was in a remote area outside of Bloemfontein and was working with the people that would have been grateful to answer the bell and have a job.

More surprisingly was that, after my initial callousness wore off, I realized that the people in the new area appeared to have greater happiness than many of the people I had known in the rich suburb.

I share this story and the above quote because I think some prejudices are only removed through experience. It is for this reason that I want to travel the world with my children and let them see and learn first hand how people live outside of Southern California.

Have you ever traveled somewhere that has changed you?

One of the songs that I sing to my kids at bedtime is ‘Up On The Roof’ by The Drifters.  I don’t know how it started, but it’s one they choose quite often.  I was singing the first verse to myself today and thought that although I don’t actually go up on the roof to escape each of us must have somewhere we go to just escape.

Where do you go to escape?

What is your ‘roof’?

This is me on a roof in Sandton, South Africa

	James Taylor – Up On the Roof .mp3
	Found at bee mp3 search engine