When they discover the center of the universe, a lot of people will be disappointed to discover they are not it.  ~   - Bernard Bailey

~ I often find myself not wanting to wait for the discovery, and just let people know that they are not it in my own way.   :)    - Kirk

Think twice before you speak, and then you may be able to say something more insulting than if you spoke right out at once.  ~Evan Esar

Kirk Out

When traveling I find myself most frequently reading USA Today.  I often will take out sections or articles and use them in my culture building workshops.

A couple years ago I pulled one out of the “Life Section”.  I was drawn to it  because of my interest in a feature on the “Lord of the Rings” movies…based on the books which I read and loved as a youth.  This piece is an interview with Viggo Mortenson… the actor who plays the character Aragorn in the films. The interview is just so much drivel, until it comes to this wonderful little piece which I shall type in here.  I think it’s so good - I am very excited to share it. 

Commenting on his character Aragorn, Viggo says… “The fellowship is sort of a microcosm of what the world ought to be or could be. You know different races, cultures, coming together. And Aragorn represents the unifying aspect in a big way. (Leaders unify) Grabbing one of the journals he kept during filming Viggo reads aloud a note he had recorded about the nature of evil in the Lord of the Rings: Robert Louis Stevenson said, “To travel hopefully is better than to arrive. And true success is in the labor.” The ring comes to each of us, resides in each of us as potential for making selfish choices, as potential for attempting to control the wills of others. To do that is to separate oneself, to invalidate the right of others to choose their own way.”

I loved that…

I love leaders who don’t feel the need to control and who encourage and inspire me to choose my own way.  Three cheers for those leaders - may there be more of them…and may I be counted among them.

Make it a great day, It’s Your Choice

Kirk Out

If there is nothing very special about your work, no matter how hard you apply yourself, you won’t get noticed and that increasingly means you won’t get paid much, either. ~ Michael Goldhaber, Wired Magazine

You must realize that how you invest your human capital matters as much as how you invest your financial capital. Its rate of return determines your future options. Take a job for what it teaches you, not for what it pays. Instead of a potential employer asking, ‘Where do you see yourself in 5 years?’ you’ll ask, ‘If I invest my mental assets with you for 5 years, how much will they appreciate? How much will my portfolio of career options grow?’ ~  Stan Davis & Christopher Meyer, futureWEALTH

“The most important question to ask on the job is not “What am I getting?” The most important question to ask on the job is “What am I becoming?” 

 Kirk Out

I occasionally get a fun & wonderful story or motivation piece from a gentleman by the name of Mike Litman. I’ve included one he sent me in today’s T4D about McDonalds…and a guy by the name of Ray Kroc. I think the story is as Golden as the Arches were to me as a kid….ENJOY !!   ~ Kirk

There’s so much you and I can learn from reading biographies and I’m about to share with you a success insight in a moment that you’re going to enjoy.

I love reading, especially biographies, I devour them.

In the last 2 weeks, I’ve re-read 2 great books about Ray Kroc, the founder of McDonalds. Ray Kroc was an incredible entrepreneur and his entrepreneurial story is one we all can learn from.

At 51 years of age, Kroc wasn’t making much money, but he wasn’t letting go of his dreams. Kroc had ambitions, dreams, and while others were thinking of retirement, Kroc was thinking of making it big.

It would take us to long to go into Kroc’s failures, challenges, but a quote I read from him says VOLUMES about becoming successful as an entrepreneur.

“When I met the McDonalds brothers, I was ready for the opportunity. By then, I had enough experience in the food and beverage business that I could tell a real idea from a counterfeit.”

I want you to look at the line - ‘I was ready for the opportunity”. So much in life is about being ‘ready for an opportunity”.

For 25 years Kroc had some success, many failures in the food service business, but he loved it and kept persevering.

Kroc was well known for going the extra mile for his clients and trying to help them add revenue to their business by using his milkshake maker and other products.

So in 1954, when Ray Kroc saw what the McDonald brothers were doing, his eyes lit up. The tough times, the failures, the years of struggle all started to pay off in that moment.

Remember Ray Kroc didn’t ‘invent’ McDonalds, but when he saw what they were doing he instantly saw a VISION in his mind of what the potential was.

Ray Kroc saw thousands of McDonalds around the world.

What’s so important to realize is that Ray Kroc could not have built McDonalds without the prior years of struggle.

The years of paying the price. We always go through periods of insignificance before we become ’significant’.

Too few are willing to pay that price.

Listen.

You must find something you love to do and start. Work for free.

Ray Kroc knew that whatever age he was, he wasn’t giving up on his dreams.

He knew that if he was ‘ready for an opportunity’ that there was a good chance it would show up.

There are opportunities everywhere, but if we can’t SEE THEM, if our mindset isn’t ready for them, then the opportunities are invisible.

Like Ray Kroc, put yourself in a position to win.

It’s not always going to be easy, but it’s going to be worth it.

Mike Litman

Some days at work I just need a little levity and brevity.  Today’s T4D attempts to give you at least one of the two.  Enjoy ~ Kirk Out

A day without sunshine is like, night.

On the other hand, you have different fingers.

I wonder how much deeper the ocean would be without sponges.

Honk if you love peace and quiet.

Nothing is fool proof to a sufficiently talented fool.

Despite the cost of living, have you noticed how it remains so popular?

Early bird gets the worm but the second mouse gets the cheese.

I almost had a psychic girlfriend but she left me before we met.

I drive way too fast to worry about cholesterol.

I intend to live forever - so far so good.

If Barbie is so popular, why do you have to buy her friends?

When everything’s coming your way, you’re in the wrong lane.

How do I set my laser printer on stun?

How is it possible to have a civil war?

If all the world is a stage, where is the audience sitting?

If love is blind, why is lingerie so popular?

If one synchronized swimmer drowns, do the rest have to drown too?

If the #2 pencil is so popular, why is it still #2?

If work is so terrific, how come they have to pay you to do it?

If you ate pasta and antipasta, would you still be hungry?

Why is the alphabet in that order? Is it because of that song?

If a mute swears, does his mother wash his hands with soap?

Why is there an expiration date on sour cream?

Atheism is a nonprophet organization.

If all those psychics know the winning lottery numbers, why are they still working?

Kirk Out

Surprising fact:  The new, brain based economy is really the Old Economy.  It asks us–Davy Crockett style–to live by our wits. To improvise.

The answer: An attitude transplant!  I.e.: Begin to think and act like an Independent Contractor.  Even if you plan, for the foreseeable future, to stay on someone’s payroll.  An Independent Contractor is self-reliant.  Dependant on his-her skills … and the constant upgrading thereof.  An Independent Contractor has …in the end…”only” her-his Track Record. I.e.:his-her Projects.

Ben Franklin(Poor Richards Almanac).  Napoleon Hill(Think and Grow Rich).  Dale Carnegie(How to Win Friends and Influence People).  Norman Vincent Peale(The Power of Positive Thinking).  And: Stephen Covey. Werner Erhard. Tony Robbins.  Some sober as pastors.  Some raving stage hounds. But the message … quintessentially American.

America has always been the self-help Nation.  Bootstrap Nation. Pioneer Nation…..

“If it is to be….it is UP TO ME!”

The Brand You 50 Book has long been one of my favorites - it is filled with 50 stand along ideas offered to the reader in hopes that they might help us to better understand the importance of creating our own unique brand! 

Kirk Out

I grabbed this article out of the “Business Trends” section of a local paper a while back.  It just seemed to call out to me, “Send me out as a T4D!”  So here you go….enjoy!

It takes a lot to discourage Don Watkins. In fact, it has only happened one time in his life.

“We were just launching our business,” Watkins said of the early days of ACI Computer Accessories, the Utah County-based company he owns along with his long-time partner, Gary Deaton. “We had our share of ups and downs getting the business started, but finally, after all our hard work and effort, it looked like things were really ready to take off. We had a big contract with a chain of computer supply stores in the Midwest, and we were feeling solid — established.”

About a half-hour after Deaton left, the president of that big Midwestern chain called to inform them that his company was going

bankrupt. “They owed us $100,000, and now, suddenly, it was gone,” Watkins said.

“I don’t remember ever being so discouraged,” he continued. “I wondered if I was just a loser, if maybe things would never work out for me. I just sat there and did something I rarely do: I enjoyed what I call stinkin’ thinkin’. I felt sorry for myself. I felt picked on.”

That was unusual for Watkins, who says, “I’ve always been an optimist.” So after about 30 minutes of what he calls “stinkin’ thinkin’,” he naturally started thinking more positively. The $100,000 loss wasn’t really a $100,000 loss, he reasoned, since about half of it was profit, and you can’t lose money you never really had, can you? Of the balance, they probably would have had to pay $20,000 in taxes, so only the government was out anything there. That meant it was only a $30,000 loss, and since he and Deaton were partners, it worked out to only a $15,000 loss each.

Still, their small, struggling company was facing a cash-flow crisis, regardless of the size of the loss. So Watkins stayed up all night,

focusing his entire energy on the problem. By the time Deaton arrived for work the next morning, Watkins was worn out — and prepared.

“One look at me and he could see that we had a problem, “Watkins said. “But I also had a plan. We didn’t have to waste a lot of valuable time wringing our hands and wondering why fate had dealt us such a cruel blow. I had already done that — it was time for us to move ahead.”

They did, and within a week they landed the national Toys ‘R’ Us account, and ACI Computer Accessories was well on its way to

becoming a $10 million business. For them, as for most entrepreneurs, success came only after fighting their way through periods of discouragement and frustration. And at least one full night of “stinkin’ thinkin’.”   ~ By JOSEPH WALKER

LEADERSHIP - Leadership is probably the most misunderstood word in our vocabulary today. Leadership is not personality. Leadership is not a position, nor is leadership endowed to a certain few.

Leadership is that certain something that is “bought with a price.” Bought with a price that can be paid by anyone, anytime, anywhere and YOU are as much a leader today as you are going to be, because the price you are paying today is determining the leader you will be tomorrow. Everyone has an obligation as well as the privilege of leading in something. Leadership begins with a simple decision to pay the price and ends the moment you cease to pay it.

The price:     Loneliness   ~  Weariness    ~   Abandonment   ~   Vision

The reward is the opportunity to help bring lasting change to both yourself and those you lead.

~ Charles ‘T’ Jones

Charlie ‘Tremendous’ Jones, in addition to breaking many sales records in the insurance industry throughout his career, is the founder and CEO of Executive Books.  He is also author of the best-selling book “Life is Tremendous” and four separate editions of “The Books Your Read”.  

He says that throughout his life he feels that he has never given anything - rather he has only given back.  There is a great message in the spirit of what he means by this.  He inspires me -  ~ Kirk Weisler

Chief Morale Officer Kirk Anthony Weisler is engaged in a mission to Make Work Matter, to Increase the Sense of Community, to Strengthen Connections and to Create Outrageously Cool Culture.  Experience his Motivational Message and Let his Contagious Enthusiasm for Culture inspire your group to become more fully engaged in “Making Your Culture Count” Schedule Kirk today at www.kirkweisler.com

Watching the movie “Astronaut Farmer” with the family the other day and found myself quickly letting go of the some of films weaknesses and focusing instead on it’s core message of “pursuing your passion” or “following your dream”.  Now that might seem like an old theme - and it is - but the dimension of the film that I was focused on was the affect of this Farmers dream of being an Astronaut had on his family.  The adversity and derision he faced for building a rocket in his barn was pretty intense.

But instead of the family being a part of the adversity they were united in their support of his dream and involved in every aspect of it’s pursuit.

At one point where it was especially hard for them to move forward the father-in-law gave the Astronaut Farmer a compliment that I thought was especially profound. He said,

“You’re a good man and a great father. Look what you have accomplished (not with the rocket) I couldn’t even get my family to sit down to dinner together … and you have your whole family dreaming together.”

Great leaders - and good parents work to get their people connected and engaged through having a shared vision - or at the very least through connecting with peoples dreams and connecting the accomplishment of those dreams in a meaningful way with the accomplishment of the tasks close at hand.

Another good line from the film happened when he was getting close to his first launch attempt when he pulled his kids out of school and one of the teachers was telling him he couldn’t do that.  I loved his response  ”Your teaching the kids about history - I am going to them how to make history.”

So let’s keep our dreams alive - seek to discover, treasure and nurture the dreams of others…and let’s not just learn history, but let ourselves be inspired by it - inspired so much in fact, that we make a little history of our own.

~Kirk Out