Excellence Resort
I just got back from my honeymoon! Amber and I were married Saturday, May 1st. We had such a perfect weekend, and a fantastic time with it all. So many friends and family there to celebrate really made it a perfect wedding. Amber and I simply floated through all of it. I am with the perfect woman. I could not ask for a better wife. (I love that I have a wife!)
Look Before You Leap!
I have been working at First National Bank for over two years now. It has been a great job because I get to do everything in regards to marketing and advertising for a company. The experience has been very educational.
What I wanted to talk about was my changing perspective. A little over a year ago I started pushing to incorporate social media into our marketing mix. Social media is anything where people can talk back: blogs, Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and Yelp are just some examples. And I was heavily pushing for a Facebook and Twitter presence.
Get it going!
Amber and I are spending most of our free time recently working on our wedding. I thought this was a perfect example of focusing on something that you want.
If you had asked me even just a few months ago what I hoped for out of my wedding I would have given you a cheesy line like “I don’t care as long as Amber is there.” But now that Amber and I have sat down and discussed what we both want out of our wedding, it is amazing to see it all coming together.
This is the key!
I would say the most important trait to build in any endeavor is the ability to be persistent. Sticking with something, no matter what obstacles present themselves virtually guarantees that you will succeed in your mission. Not only that, but it will make getting over the tough spots easier, because you know where you are going and you know that the good things are never easy.
Stick with it.
This weekend I got some bad news. I was working on my next business when I came to the realization that my top competitors were giving away their products online for free. They are not doing the exact same thing as me, but they are doing things very similar to me. However, both of their business models are to give everything away for free online in order to sell tickets to seminars later.
Aaaahhahhhaaahhhhhh!
I just got done giving tours to 90 forth graders around the bank, and it was incredibly fun to see how amazed they were by EVERYTHING! I remember when I was younger and the area where the tellers were was the magical land where money came from, and the people behind the counter were obviously entrusted with all of the cash in the world.
Watching their eyes light up as they were shown a thousand dollar bill just made me think about how much wonder there can be in the world. When we were younger everything was so new and interesting that anything was possible. As we grew older we got so used to saying “been there, done that” that we don’t take the time to wonder anymore.
Absolutely!
I don’t know if you have heard the new Snow Patrol song “Just Say Yes” but it is fantastic advice. We all get offers and opportunities throughout our life, and my recommendation would be that if you can, just say yes. The amount of amazing things that I have gotten to do just because I have said yes to people have been some of the best parts of my life.
Ring-a-ling!
Over the weekend, my fiance went to her parents. I stayed home since most of the things she was doing did not involve me. I had a friend come over and we ended up imbibing a wee bit of alcohol.
What amazed me was how incredibly negative I felt for the rest of the weekend. I sat there in my hungover stupor and decided that I was failing at life, that I was never going to make a business that worked, and that I suck in general. Great way to spend the weekend.
Do you have a why? As in, why do you want X. X could be anything from that girl in school, to a certain job, to a Quarter Pounder from McDonald’s. If you don’t have a ‘why’ you are not going to be very motivated to get it.
As an example, in my life I wanted a girl. Most any girl would do, and I wanted a whole lot of them. I fell in love with every single girl I saw who was my version of attractive. I created elaborate fantasies of the fantastic life I would have with the random girl I saw at the bus stop. Needless to say, I did not have many girlfriends.
I went to see Avatar over the Holiday week, twice. First I went by myself at a regular sized theater in 3D and then again with Amber and her brother at the Imax up in Minnesota. Needless to say, it was amazing.
But what I wanted to talk about was the thoughts that went through my head after I had watched it the first time. I just had to wander around the mall for about 20 minutes afterward thinking about all that I had taken in. What my thoughts revolved around were how proud I was of James Cameron for taking such a big gamble, and for putting so much effort into what HE WANTED to do.