When I was 21 I thought everyone was an idiot. Not much has changed. I still murmur to myself regularly, "They're all idiots..." while I shake my head at what goes on in this world. The difference now is that I know that I'm one, too. 2o years of mistakes will do that to you. 20 years of mistakes will also make you wiser. I'd rather be a wiser idiot than whatever I was before. Related articles Top 3 Reasons Your Product Description Sucks (inc.com) Why Every Company … [Read more...]
Two Simple Steps to Move Closer to your goals
February 12, 2012 by
An object that's a rest tends to stay at rest. An object in motion will continue along the same course unless another force redirects it. It's a law of physics. It's also a law of life. Change your words, change your mind I've been at rest for several months. I've talked about how I need to exercise. And I need to write. I haven't done either. I realized last night that I was speaking in 'Need to'. I immediately changed my language. I moved to 'want to'. We put the … [Read more...]
How are you preparing for the parade?
December 28, 2011 by
We looked at each other. The babies crying in the background. "Should we respond?" We created a routine to help the babies learn to sleep. Sometimes that meant letting them cry for a few minutes. It was hard. Very hard. On Christmas Eve, we woke up. The babies slept through the night. 9 weeks old (5 weeks based on full term). Mission accomplished! I'd mention we wanted the babies to sleep through the night as our Christmas present. People would scoff at me. They told me I … [Read more...]
All I want for Christmas is…
December 25, 2011 by
Jen's whispered, "C'mon. It's time to feed the babies." All I want for Christmas is for my babies to sleep through the night. I've told so many people that my Christmas present would be the twins sleeping through the night. These were typical responses: "Keep dreaming...." "My babies are a year old. They still don't sleep through the night." "That's not going to happen." "Good luck with that..." Not encouraging words. They're actually the complete opposite. The people … [Read more...]
Are you choking on an elephant?
December 23, 2011 by
I want to change the world. That's a problem. "Change the world" is one big elephant. It doesn't give many good places to start. In fact, it's haltingly paralyzing. As a goal it is insurmountably overwhelming. Have you ever looked up to a role model and said to yourself, "I want to be like him (or her)."? Maybe you want to be the next Seth Godin, Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg, John Lennon, Martin Luther King, Sarah Palin, etc. There's just one problem. You can't. They already … [Read more...]
What do you NOT have to do?
December 19, 2011 by
I was buzzing around the house completing one task after another. My goal? Order. The arrival of the twins was met by an intense need for order. Some could call it OCD. I was working in double time. And I am doing things I don't want to do. I like order. I don't like doing the things that create it. So these are things I have to do. I need the order to have my mind clear to produce. I'd rather watch the Colbert Report. Steve Colbert will take me further from what I need. I get … [Read more...]
Winning the War
October 31, 2011 by
The final piece of paper left my hand. My signature in place. The condo was sold. It was on the market over two years. We got beaten on price and concessions. I played this hand poorly. We did not win this battle. I bought the condo for the wrong reasons. It was what I thought I was supposed to do. I bought into the dogma that renting is bad, owning is good. Owning would make me an adult, I thought. I bought. My decade of ambition had begun. The ambition was to be good enough. … [Read more...]
Double the trouble
October 25, 2011 by
The Warheit Twins joined us last week. Today they are 1 week old. Sleep has been at a premium. Jen and I are adapting. We talked with another mom in the waiting room for the babies 48 hour doctor visit. We talked about when it gets better. Her observation, "I'm not sure that it gets better. I think we get better." Shortly after her comment, we realized we were in the wrong doctors office. It's easy to get caught up in waiting for "It" to get better. When we do that, … [Read more...]
Conceiving the inconceivable
October 17, 2011 by
In 10 minutes, I'll be driving my wife to deliver our twins. I don't have any kids yet. I can't imagine what it will be like ... other than sleepless for a couple of months. I don't know what the experience of deliver will be like. I don't know what it will be like to hold them for the first time. I don't know the sense of responsibility I will feel when I meet my children. Jen and I launched this baby business around 12 months ago. We decided to see a doctor to make this happen. We … [Read more...]
Paint yourself into a corner
October 13, 2011 by
Sam has a really cool product. He plans on selling it via the Internet. He has one big problem. He keeps pushing his launch date. The Internet is virtual. As much as we want it to be real, it is not. We can't touch it. We can't feel it. We can't walk inside it's doors. The virtuality of the Internet (and other technology related products) poses a problem. Our brains don't respond to problems that they believe are imaginary. This is why arbitrary deadlines can blow up in our faces. … [Read more...]
