Yesterday morning I had a conversation with a group of young men about the power of our thoughts.  As an exercise I gave them the ‘homework’ assignment to pay attention to how they felt when they listened to different types of music.  They were supposed to pay attention to emotions and physical changes more than just whether or not they liked the music.

Later that afternoon my wife thought it would be a good idea to pile all the kids on the couch for quiet time.  She turned on a movie… Hannah Montana.  I wasn’t overly excited.  My wife was out cold pretty quickly with our 3 month old so I was left to maintain quiet time order with the other 3.  It worked out ok, and I had a chance to do my homework.

Most of the music in the movie is pretty bubble gum country pop but not as bad as I like to pretend.  One song affected me in a motivating and uplifting manner.  The Climb.  Video and lyrics are below but it’s about the general concept that life is a journey and not a destination.  Sometimes we’re so focused on where we want to be that we lose focus on the beauty all around us.  We just returned from a long drive (Southern California – Las Vegas, NV – Provo, UT – Capitola, CA – Southern California) and I was pretty worried about the longest leg of our journey from Utah through the Nevada high desert back into California as I heard it was a barren wasteland.  I did the drive once as a kid but slept the whole way.  I ended up really loving the drive and found great beauty in the different climates we drove through.  The song and the drive combined to remind me that a lot of life is about perspective.

The Climb lyrics
Songwriters: Alexander, J; Mabe, J;

I can almost see it
That dream I am dreaming
But there’s a voice inside my head saying
“You’ll never reach it”

Every step I’m taking
Every move I make feels
Lost with no direction
My faith is shaking

But I gotta keep trying
Gotta keep my head held high

There’s always gonna be another mountain
I’m always gonna wanna make it move
Always gonna be a uphill battle
Sometimes I’m gonna have to lose

Ain’t about how fast I get there
Ain’t about what’s waiting on the other side
It’s the climb

The struggles I’m facing
The chances I’m taking
Sometimes might knock me down
But no, I’m not breaking

I may not know it
But these are the moments that
I’m gonna remember most, yeah
Just gotta keep going

And I, I got to be strong
Just keep pushing on

‘Cause there’s always gonna be another mountain
I’m always gonna wanna make it move
Always gonna be a uphill battle
Sometimes I’m gonna have to lose

Ain’t about how fast I get there
Ain’t about what’s waiting on the other side
It’s the climb, yeah!

There’s always gonna be another mountain
I’m always gonna wanna make it move
Always gonna be an uphill battle
Somebody’s gonna have to lose

Ain’t about how fast I get there
Ain’t about what’s waiting on the other side
It’s the climb, yeah!

Keep on moving, keep climbing
Keep the faith, baby
It’s all about, it’s all about the climb
Keep the faith, keep your faith, whoa

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.

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.

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.

While discussing business plans and ideas with a friend today the concept of causing a market disruption was introduced.  Reference was made to Clayton Christensen, a Harvard professor and author of whom I had not yet been acquainted.  Upon visiting Christensen’s site I found this key concept:

Disruptive innovation, a term of art coined by Clayton Christensen, describes a process by which a product or service takes root initially in simple applications at the bottom of a market and then relentlessly moves ‘up market’, eventually displacing established competitors. 

As readers of this blog know, I am a big fan of Seth Godin.  Seth often quotes a banner he saw in Wal-Mart that says,

“You can’t out Amazon, Amazon”

What that means is that you can’t beat them at their game, their model or their business plan.  To become a major player in that marketplace you have to disrupt the market and cause a shift.  If you think of companies that have made it big in the last 5 years I doubt you will think of any that are following an old business model or operating under and aged paradigm.  To make it big a company must shift the market through innovative ideas and brilliant execution.  It certainly isn’t easier, but it’s certain to be a short cut.

Consider this concept in your job or in a relationship.  If you truly want to get things to the next level can you really expect to get there by doing the same old thing?  ‘If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got’.

During his amazing presentation at LinkedOC Seth Godin shared this bit of inspiration with the crowd.

“Just because the tide is out doesn’t mean there is any less water in the ocean.” – Seth Godin

If Twitter is a good indicator, it hit a chord with a lot of people.

Consider this quote in relation to today’s economy or job market.  Sometimes it’s a matter of changing where you are looking rather than giving up.  It wouldn’t make much sense to cast your lines from the side of a boat that was beached.  Get the boat back in the water, then go fishing.

Here’s to your success!  Happy fishing!

I’m a fan of Seth Godin. To me he is a lot more than a marketer and businessman, he is a thought leader and ‘agent of change’. I had the privilege of meeting him a couple of weeks ago when he spoke here in Southern California. There are a few major points that stuck with me and I’ll post about them separately.

Seth’s new book, Linchpin is about being indispensable. It’s a great read so far and I highly recommend picking up a copy. One thing he covered that stuck with me was a hierarchy of work skills. I’ve outlined them in the hierarchy below.
Taking a look at this hierarchy, where do you fit in? The lower down the list you get the easier it is to be dispensable. Just after returning from Africa I worked at UPS for 2 months. I lifted stuff, and I was easily replaced. If you are on the bottom 4-5 levels of the hierarchy you must take great strides within your company or market to become that one individual that can not be lost. I challenge you to find something that you can do in your work today that will set you apart from the partially cognizant cogs working around you.

Tyler Jorgenson and Seth Godin at the LinkedOC event at the St. Regis in Monarch Beach February 11th 2010

“Man radiates what he is, and that radiation affects to a greater or less[er] degree every person who comes within that radiation” – David O. McKay

This has long been one of my favorite quotes and is the thought that comes to mind whenever I consider personal development. We’ve all seen the fruits of this concept in our lives, the smiling waitress that cheers up a gloomy table in an instant, the charismatic friend who can change a rooms mood just by being present, and even the ‘Debby Downer’ who can suck the wind out of the fullest of sails in the bat of an eye.

Yesterday I visited the Newport Beach LDS Temple because I felt my own radiation lessening. I needed to reflect, repent and recharge. I had a wonderful experience and felt a renewed focus to live my life in a way where others benefit from being around me. As a mortal man I make mistakes and the past couple of years seem to have had an extra load of trials and tough experiences. I know, however, that these can be a source of growth and learning and that the choice is mine.

A good friend reminded me through his example the proper level of priority Temple worship should be to an LDS businessman. That same friend then shared this video on his blog today.

What a great example of elevating your influence in the world around you!

I am in the middle of reading The Richest Man in Babylon by George S. Clason. I have heard this book spoken of and recommended for years and recently came across a copy. I am deeply enjoying the simple yet sound principles of financial success.

The following two paragraphs are from freewld.

The Richest Man in Babylon is a book by George Samuel Clason which dispenses financial advice through a collection of parables set in ancient Babylon. Through their experiences in business and managing household finance, the characters in the parables learn simple lessons in financial wisdom. By basing these parables in ancient times, but involving situations that modern people can understand and identify with, the author presents these lessons as timeless wisdom that is as relevant today as it was back then.

The book began in 1926 as a series of informational pamphlets. Banks and insurance companies began to distribute these pamphlets, and the most famous ones were eventually compiled into this book.

Over the next few days I will share my notes and thoughts from each chapter. I am hoping that by writing out my thoughts and sharing the principles the book teaches that not only will I become more committed to the tenants but that others may learn of them also.