but I can’t help but think that the hands of fate were involved with this beautiful lady married me.

Follow her makeover journey with the fabulous Mama Kat as photographed by the uber talented Kamee June.  A very big thank you to Kitch by Kat for sharing your gift with my wife. You’re a rock star and don’t even know it.

Originally posted at http://www.tylerjorgenson.com/2010/10/make-your-own-luck/

Tim Ferriss shared a post from the blog Free Pursuits.  It was simply 50 photos from around the world designed to inspire the viewer to become a Digital Nomad.  I’ve been longing to travel more with my family.  If my wife would get on board I’d pack up the whole clan and travel the world for the next year or so.  But after 7 years of wedded bliss I’ve learned to pick my battles and settled on a two week road trip around the Western United States.  We had a blast… but now I want more.

I turned the pics from the blog into a video with some music.  It’s nothing fancy, I’m not a video editor by any means, but it’s a nice way to enjoy the pictures and let your mind run free wandering about the world without that pesky interruption of having to scroll down on a web page.

Here’s my hypothetical for today’s post.

You’ve just been granted 45 days paid leave from work and you have to leave the country since the local Cheese Makers Union is about to riot the Gouda factory.  You’ve got the money to travel, so budget isn’t an issue and your passport is up to date.  What country(ies) would you visit?

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.

When I was on WIPEOUT I made a couple of political comments. Apparently, they’ve leaked out quite a bit and it’s created quite a buzz. I first heard about some online forums that were talking about the forward thinking ideas I shared and their positive impact, but then I heard about some serious talk. Anyways, a friend forwarded me this video and I was stunned.

Gone skydiving? Traveled to Hong Kong? Been on Safari? Helped a stranger for the better?
My beautiful wife rented The Bucket List for us to watch. I’m not much for writing movie reviews, but all in all it was a good flick. It made me think a little bit about my life’s goals and aspirations. In the movie Morgan Freeman’s character has a nice family life (but a stale marriage), a modest job and a traditional home. Somehow he ends up sharing a hospital room with Jack Nicholson’s character (sorry about the Lakers in Game 4 Jack) who is an extremely wealthy man, but with no family ties to speak of. Both characters get to impart a bit of their views to the other through the movie and end up better people in the end.

The first thing I thought of was my amazing family. I have three ridiculously amazing children and a super star wife. If I were left desolate in a shack in Tulsa (the Paris of Oklahoma) but I had my family then life would be alright. The next thing I thought about is that I want to see some stuff while I’m on this earth. I’ve been lucky to chase giraffe in Africa and I am very grateful for my time there… but I want to see Machu Picchu, sing to my wife in Italy, tour the Holy Land and climb Kilimanjaro.

While I was in South Africa I read some words in Afrikaans that have stuck with me.

Many of you know it’s Latin counterpart, Carpe Diem. Both say the same thing so both are obviously good but Gryp Die Dag, said in a gluteral and milataristic voice full denotes expedient and forceful action. Carpe Diem is so much more poetic and light.

That being said, two questions to think about?

1. What is one thing you feel you MUST do before you kick the bucket?

2. What is the most rewarding thing you can do TODAY?

My thoughts after watching the movie are in line with Baird’s poem:

Time flies on wings of lightning;
We cannot call it back;
It comes, then passes forward
Along its onward track;
And if we are not mindful,
The chance will fade away;
For life is quick in passing.
‘Tis as a single day.

Life your life with a sense of determined urgency. Reap while the sun shines.

Entertain me and leave a comment with your answer to question #1. Maybe there’s a prize for whoever leaves a comment with the most original answer.

And here I thought Eastvale wasn’t as affluent as other cities. I never saw one of these in Chino.

*sorry, it’s not mine.

My wife and I celebrated our 5 year wedding anniversary with a little jaunt down to Newport Beach for a stay in our favorite hotel. After sleeping in with no children waking us up we drove up and down the coast checking out the gorgeous views and homes. For lunch we enjoyed The Cheesecake Factory. I tried the Miso Salmon that looked so good last time I was there and it was great. Upon the recommendation of one of my wife’s friends we had a little sweet fix at Sprinkles. (Entrepreneur side note: They are doing this right! They have one product and are delivering phenomenally. They currently have 5 stores and are opening 16 more! I hope they don’t lose sight of their foundation and start offering cakes and pastry’s, only to become just another bakery. Great cupcakes Sprinkles, good work!)

We somehow worked our way up to Long Beach around dinner time and walked around Shoreline Village to see what restaurant would tease our taste buds. It wasn’t hard to miss this:Meet Paraffin, a 197 foot yacht that had all who gazed upon her beautiful hull drooling in awe and a little envy. My curiosity was peeked, what type of person owns such a yacht? Google gave me the answer and a great story or two.

Like many teenage boys, 17-year-old Mike Kittredge couldn’t aford a Christmas present for his mother. His solution was to melt a bunch of crayons and make the into a candle. His neighbour liked it so much that she asked to buy it, and so the first candle of the Yankee Candle Company was sold. Mike made another for his mother and one to sell, and the company found its wings.

Nice work Mr. Kittredge, but I hope you’re not still making make-shift candles for your Mother’s Christmas present anymore.

Here are a couple more photos:

Pain or Pleasure?

A friend of mine has a great post about motivation. His friend is building a mansion in Santa Barbara as a speculative investment and is considering moving in rather than selling, even though the market is hot enough to sell, so that the mansion will motivate him to achieve greater goals. Deyl asked: Do you think there is anything wrong with a material thing like a house being a motivator to work hard and smart? He has received some great responses so far.

What I find interesting about choice is that all of our choices in life come down to our desire to gain pleasure and our need to avoid pain. Think about it. From the very simple decisions in our lives to the most complex those two factors are at the root of our the choice we make.

Example

Ask a woman why she spends hour(s) every morning applying makeup and doing her hair. The answers are likely to be either because doing so makes her feel pretty (pleasure) or because not doing so may garnish some ridicule (pain).

You can go through any choice and break it down to these two factors. When the light turns red you stop to avoid pain. Even if you are certain no cars are coming you don’t want the pain of having to pay for a ticket and the serious agony of sitting in traffic school. If you give to charity, what is your motivating factor? Is it because you want the pleasure of helping somebody? Do you not want the pain of higher taxes and want the pleasure of a nice write off?

Understanding these two principals is helping me understand what drives me and what influence the decisions I make. I am currently in the middle of a few real estate deals that are generating a bit of stress, but the idea of the payout and the pleasure it will bring motivates me to make the deals work.

Just because we are driven by pleasure and pain doesn’t make us bad people. If the things that we associate pleasure to are being able to contribute back to society then that’s a good thing. If you get pleasure from knowing that you are providing for your family, creating employment, promoting commerce, etc then building a nice house for you and your (6) kids is a great thing. Especially if it’s going to motivate you to take on more ventures that are likely to continue the cycle even more. So, Deyls’ friend, build on and love your home. Enjoy the pleasure that comes from the sense of accomplishment and knowing that you are living in something that you envisioned from a bare lot and a bunch of sticks.

I hope to one day be able to have the sort of influence upon people that Garth Brooks has. I don’t mean that I want to be a music star, as if that was an option anyway. I feel richly blessed in my life and want to help people live a life full of passion. I want to inspire people. To have people that need a little kick in the pants, a little motivation, some reframing or a new perspective come to me and I want to lead them on a journey to greater personal strength. What Garth did, in taking a little time out to share his experience with Alva the concession worker, was amazing. In those few moments Alva’s entire life may have shifted course. I may be hallucinating this but I see a girl that had poor self esteem that now has something she can hang on to as a reminder that she is of infinite value. I see a girl who will now take charge of the life that she may have been drifting through. How can I make this sort of impact in the lives of people I am lucky enough to be a part of?