Simplicity is happiness

You can live well and not be rich. It's a simple statement of complete common sense.  Yet a lot of people get caught up in the idea that it's wealth accumulation that makes you rich.

I have great job, as does my wife. We're not rich, far from it, yet we live a rich life. I have a comfortable home in  a stable middle-class neighborhood. When we want to go out to dinner, we go out to dinner.  We take multiple vacations a year. We live a rich life, not in terms of wealth but in terms of happiness. 

According to the National Academy of Sciences the magic number for day-to-day happiness is $75,000 per year, a number of lot of people probably think would be a lot higher.  Happiness increases up to that number but once you get above 75K day-to-day happiness doesn't really increase.  Granted, 75K is a lot of money for many people, but it barely qualifies someone as "rich". 

It all goes back to perspective.  I live better than my one-hundred-years-ago ancestors could have ever dreamed of. I don't drive a fancy automobile or live in an exclusive neighborhood. I suppose I could afford a Lexus but drive a Camry.  I need a car to get to point B.  As long as its reliable why the need for luxury? 

It may seem like a paradox, but simplifying your life may be the key to happiness. Living within your means doesn't mean you have to forgo things that will make you happy.  You simply have to figure out how to pursue what interests you within your budget. Most importantly eliminate the clutter. One easy step is to take an inventory of the material things around you.  The things you just had to go to Best Buy to pick up. How many of these things do you really need?  I often tell my wife that if our house was robbed the only things I would really miss are the mementos, pictures, etc. Insurance can replace the Blu-Ray and the big screen television. So many of us take value and are driven by the accumulation of material things, whether it's clothes or electronics. Unfortunately you can only watch one TV and wear one pair of shoes at a time. 

Eliminate the chaos.  Reduce your life, don't super-size your life.  You'd be amazed how simplicity can drive increased happiness. Prioritize what IS important.  Set your sights on a dream vacation-- it's still achievable with simplicity, provided you make it a priority. If you have a limited budget but still want to try that great new restaurant in town, try it--- even if you have to skip that morning latte for a a month. 

Expedition Impossible

How often can you say you've truly been inspired by summer network television?  In my case not that often. This summer there's an exception in the ABC reality show Expedition Impossible.  As reality shows go it's pretty standard fare, a mix of Survivor and the Amazing Race. The show takes place in Morocco and consists of teams of three competing an overland and water race that mixes problem solving, teamwork and physical endurance.  Over the past couple of weeks it's gone from great summer entertainment to true inspirational entertainment with the continued survival of the Colorado based "No Limits" team of Jeff, Ike and Erik against incredible odds.

For the past three weeks No Limits has persisted against incredible odds and avoided elimination.  What makes their story incredible is the fact that one member, Erik, is blind and another, Ike, is competing on a broken ankle.  I can't say I've been truly moved by a reality show that often, but seeing Jeff and Ike guide Erik for the entire length of the show, up mountains, down mountains on white water rapids, is a true lesson in friendship, perseverance and overcoming obstacles. Here's a link to Erik's website and amazing story.  Follow the link to a great short video on Erik speaking about the subject of adversity and getting out of your comfort zone.

In the past couple of weeks the story of No Limits has gone beyond Erik's story. For the past three weeks Ike, who's done three tours of duty in Afghanistan, has been competing on what is essentially a broken ankle-- traversing difficult mountain terrain. Against all odds, a due to teamwork and overcoming physical and mental obstacles No Limits continues on.  

If you have time to catch up the episodes are available on line.  The final is this coming Thursday.  Even if you missed all nine previous episodes I encourage you to watch the final and to cheer for the fellas from No Limits. 

Neighborhood Kids (Part 2 of 2)

I'm relatively certain he didn't recognize the kid who shot his cat with a BB gun some 30 years prior (don't worry, the cat was fine). There was nothing memorable about that glance but for a fleeting moment I felt that I owed an apology. That was just before I remembered a time when he blasted me with a garden hose for cutting through his yard on my bike. Then it dawned on me, that's just how neighborhoods are.


The basic right of land ownership has created a unique relationship between people living alongside one another. These relations have been highlighted in novels, television shows and movies for years. With that being said, who are some great, or not so great, Hollywood "neighbors" you remember?


Here's my Top 5 Neighbor List...


5. Barney Rubble: Generally a great guy; willing to help stop your car at high speeds with his bare feet.


4. Cockroach from The Cosby Show: Seemed like the kind of guy I'd want to be around. Cool dressing, smooth talking...


3. Larry from Threes Company: A great wingman, especially if you like to hang out at the Regal Beagle.


2. Cosmo Kramer: Never a dull moment, he might even sleep in your cupboard now and then.


1. Wilson: Whenever you need sage advice this guy will be on the other side of the fence tinkering in his backyard.

Neighborhood Kids (Part 1 of 2)

Most of us grew up with a neighbor who, for whatever reason, just didn't seem to like kids. Or, maybe he did like kids, but he just didn't like you. I had such a neighbor growing up. His house was an automatic target for snowballs, and his car attracted apples like none other. At some point however, youthful foolishness gave way to more mature behaviors like driving up and down the same street for hours in search of no one in particular.

I saw this neighbor just the other day, back in the neighborhood I grew up in. My best guess is that he's in his 80's now. We walked parallel to one another only on opposite sides of the street for about one block. His gait was slow, but steady. My own kids walked along the sidewalk, their short legs made for a similar pace. I wonder if their chilldlike noises caused this to happen or not, but at one point he looked over and our eyes met for the first time in 20 years.

Titletown Memories

We took a trip to Green Bay this past weekend for Packers training camp. For anyone who's soured on professional sports a trip to the NFL's smallest market may change that perception. The Packers do training camp right. One of the oldest traditions is when the kids line up outside the Lambeau Field dressing room with their bikes.  The players then ride the bikes across the parking lot and Oneida Street to the Don Hutson Center for practice. This year we transported our son's bike on the five-hour journey with the hope he would get picked by one of the players.

We drove to Green Bay on Friday and hustled over to Lambeau, getting in line outside the locker room exit. Some of the stars starting coming out of the tunnel, from Clay Matthews to BJ Raji to Josh Sitton.  They chose some deserving kids but unfortunately no one had picked our son yet.  Then it happened, rookie tight end Ryan Taylor came out and chose our son and created one of the happiest moments of his life. Number 82 happened to be wearing the same number that our son wore last year in football.  He couldn't have been more accomdating, stopping for pictures and even letting his little sister run aside. The Packers have a deep group of tight ends lead by Jermichael Finley so Ryan Taylor may not even make the team.  It doesn't matter to my son, #82 will forever be one of his favorite Packers, right up there with #12. As the weekend went on we had fun but the experience was never topped and he still hasn't stopped talking about meeting a real, live NFL Player. It's a memory he'll never forget. When Ted Thompson and Mike McCarthy settle on the roster for the defending champions here's hoping there's room for a rookie tight end from North Carolina. 



The Happy Packer Fan



Slow down to speed up (Sales)

There are two running jokes in my family.  One is an admitted clumsiness ala Chevy Chase playing Gerald Ford on SNL.  The other is an absolute inability, according to my wife, to multitask. I often disagree but then tend to give in. We all want to be better at multitasking. Unfortunately some of us just aren't that good at it.  In fact, science has proven that women are better multitaskers.

My wife's frustration aside, is multitasking really that important? Or is it more important to focus on, and master, individual tasks throughout the day?  The professional sales world is an area where multitasking is counter-productive. The effective sales professional needs a unique ability to intensely focus on one task at a time.

A professional sales rep is task oriented with a singularity of purpose around specific activities that he or she is working on at that particular time. If I'm a sales manager the last thing I want is to stop by the desk of one of my reps during prospecting time and see eight different windows open on their computer as they're "multitasking" in between prospecting calls.

Naturally there's much more to the process than simply focusing on one singular activity. Once you focus on the activity and make it a priority to not multitask the next step is deep and systematic analysis of how effective you're managing your time. Schedule your day, collect data and break down your performance.  If things need to be tweaked, tweak them. This type of personal process management can be done for any step of the sales process but works particularly well with prospecting. The framework you develop will help you master your game and make you infinitely more effective in the long-run.

The process of performance analysis can be translated to other facets of your daily life and workday. Driving efficiency will not only help you peak performance but will allow you master time management and will lead to better life balance.  So stop the multitasking.  Focus and master individual tasks.

Once individual tasks are mastered you'll become an effective multitasker.  And you're wife will be happy.

The Scrum

My six-year-old daughter is in her second year of soccer. At her age the game is comprised of twelve first-graders in a giant scrum around the ball.  Eventually a few kids figure it out and realize that if they leave the scrum they'll find open space and a goal-scoring opportunity.

As I was watching the game last night it dawned on me that the six-year-old soccer scrum is a lot like life. For many life is one big scrum as we carry-on day after day as part of the pack. Too many people never leave the scrum.  For many it's not that their unwilling they just don't realize that in many cases there's a better or different way to do things.  For others there's an unwillingness to go a different direction due to numerous reasons that seem completely legitimate while we're in the scrum. Whether its in business, athletics or life in general real happiness often doesn't come until you break away from the "scrum".

The hard part is breaking away.