Strike the Match

Find Your Own Drummer

Check out my buddy Judson Laipply.  Jud has the most watched YouTube video of all time which has landed him on the cover of USA Today (May 30 hard copy) and in the new Weezer video, among numerous other awesome places.  Jud is a perfect example of someone living an extraordinary life. 

To be extraordinary, by definition, you can't be ordinary.  Don't be afraid to march to the beat of a different drum. Jud has found his own drummer and it has served him well.

Your Choice

What follows is a short story from my life that pays the bills, the one where I manage an IT consulting company...

A potential client needed a specific resource.  They spent several months searching for a candidate with no luck.  We were contacted to help and as always, we did our job well.  We found the perfect candidate and the client loved him.  They wanted him to start immediately.

Then, the client demanded terms we couldn't agree too.  We suggested some alternatives but they refused.  Their response was disappointing but I could accept it, everyone knows you don't win them all.   What shocked me is what they did next.

They provided the name of our perfect candidate to one of our competitors, and then they hired our perfect candidate through that competitor.  We spent over a month finding, interviewing, and selling that perfect candidate on their company and they rewarded us by giving him to our competition. 

I don't care which way you slice it, that hurts. 

Before I reacted to the news I took time to think about the situation and realized I had two options.  I could choose to get upset or I could choose to accept the situation and move forward.  While Option 1 was enticing, I picked Option 2.

With option 2, I got to choose happiness.  Plus, I get to focus my efforts on winning new business instead of wasting my time being angry.  Who knows, maybe I'll still get theirs! 

Why would I want their business?  Because I like to think they are good people who just made a poor decision.  But that's a topic for another post.

Choose to be Happy!

"Strike the Match."  Take Action, Be Extraordinary. 

Presence

Think about your favorite vacation. Can you remember it? Can you picture it in vivid detail? Can you hear those unique sounds? Can you taste the food? Can you smell all the smells? No matter how long ago it was, I bet you can.

Now, think about your drive into work last Thursday. Can you remember it? Can you picture it in vivid detail? Can you hear the unique sounds? Can you smell all the smells? Even though it was less then a week ago, I bet you can't.

The difference is presence. Most people are only present and fully engaged in life when we do something new or extraordinary. As we go through our daily routine we turn on the cruise the control and disengage. Consequently, we miss much of life.

Whether I'm in South Beach by the ocean or in Columbus driving to work, my goal is to always be present. It's a lofty goal but broken down into chunks it's manageable. The best part is that since my goal is to be present, I get to ignore my past performance. All I do is focus on the current moment and I'm a success.

As you go through today, challenge yourself to be present. Whether you are in a familiar conversation, solving a familiar problem, or a stuck in the familiar rush hour traffic; instead of falling into your familiar pattern of thinking, try a new approach. Challenge yourself to look at things from a different angle and see what new opportunities arise.

If you find yourself disengaged don't beat yourself up, just bring your attention back to the present and you're a success.

"Strike the Match." Take Action, Live Extraordinary.

Getting Real

I just finished a great book about building web applications. I know that opening probably doesn't spike your interest but humor me and read on.

The book is titled Getting Real: The smarter, faster, easier way to build a successful web applications and is written by 37signals, an innovative web application company. With that title you would expect them to dive deep into programming language and technical specifications but thankfully they refrain almost 100% from tech talk.

Instead it's a frank conversation about the importance of open communication, having a clear vision that allows you to avoid excess, and execution through manageable chunks.Their approach can be applied to life, to business, probably even to dance choreography so don't be limited by the fact they reference web applications in their examples

If you read it with an open mind and think about other applications I guarantee you'll come away with some great insights and motivation to "Strike the Match."

"Strike the Match."  Take Action, Be Extraordinary.

New Email...New Life?

Over the next couple of weeks I will transition to a new email address that will become the hub of my non-Techmate related email.   (Click the "email me" link on the left side of the page to see the address.  If I typed it here I would guarantee myself the prize of 500 spam messages within the next 60 seconds.)

Yes, one reason I'm announcing this is so you can update my contact information.  More importantly, I am announcing this change because I'm attempting to make it bigger then just an address change... I'm attempting to make it a life change.

My current email addiction includes Outlook being open anytime my computer is on.  Considering my computer is on 100% of the time I'm at work and 75% of the time I'm at home, it's easy to see why I call it an addiction. 

I've been taking small steps to cure this addiction.  Five months ago I canceled my wireless data service plan, no more email on my phone.  I thought it would be hard to live without, I was wrong.  I enjoyed the peace immediately.

Now it's time to take another small step.  Instead of adding this new email address to my Outlook account, I am going to keep it web based.  That means Outlook is for Techmate, web mail is for Nathan.  The plan is to limit the number of times I sign-in to web mail each day and to only start Outlook when I'm working.

I'm hoping this step will give me more uninterrupted time to accomplish the tasks I've deemed important.  Your emails will still be extremely important but they will be extremely important 2 times a day instead of being sort of important all day. 

That means you may have to wait a bit longer for a response, but hopefully the quality of the response will make it worth the wait.  Of course, if you ever need to get in touch immediately, feel free to call my cell since that's an addiction I'm not quite ready to tackle!

Thanks for your support and keep the comments coming, they are very motivating!

"Strike the Match."  Take Action, Live Extraordinary.

Lions for Lambs

Need some motivation to "Strike the Match"? 

The movie "Lions for Lambs" is Robert Redford's call to action, much like "Strike the Match" is mine.  If you're looking for a thought provoking movie that will challenge you to act now, I highly recommend it.  Here is is my favorite scene.

"Strike the Match."  Take Action, Be Extraordinary.

Less Money = More Money

When I ask people about their perfect life, one of the first topics that comes up is money.  Most often, it's how they need more of it. 

I always want to say.. . "Why don't you work on needing less money?  What if you moved into a smaller place?  What if you kept your car for another year or two?  What if you stopped buying the designer clothes and designer coffee on your credit card?  How would that change your life?"

If you want to live your extraordinary life then start eliminating unnecessary expenditures.  You'll enjoy your new financial freedom much more than you ever enjoyed your possessions.  Plus, you'll be surprised how quickly money will come into your life once you're free to pursue the work you love instead of suffering with the work that pays the bills.

Strike the Match.  Take Action, Live Extraordinary.

Zappo's Takes Action

Seth Godin highlighted this great post by Bill Taylor on Zappo's commitment to being extraordinary.

Simple Strike- Investing 101

A Simple Strike investing plan involves three basic components:

1.)  Regular Contributions- Doesn't matter if it's weekly, monthly, quarterly... you choose the time period but treat it just like a bill.  Each time that bill comes due, you pay it.

2.)  Standard Contributions-  Pick a minimum contribution amount and stick with it.  It could be a set dollar amount, a percentage of your pay, etc.  Again with the bill, pay your bill in full.

3.)  Investments that don't require your active management-  Pick companies, mutual funds, or ETF's that you are comfortable holding for at least 3 years.

There you go, simple as can be.  If you need help further defining things, talk to an expert.  If they recommend a plan that doesn't have these three basic components, find a different expert.

The idea is to fire and forget so you can focus on living your extraordinary life.

Strike the Match.  Take Action, Be Extraordinary. 

Simple Strike - A new recurring series

Simple Strike is a series I'm launching within Strike the Match.  The goal is to provide ways to simplify life so you can focus on what matters.  All posts will be based on the KISS principle.... Keep It Simple, stupid!