My kids, my wife, and my dogs and cats #

My kids, my wife, and my dogs and cats #HootSuite http://hootsuite.com

Hmmm… let’s do that again:)

It seems I have failed at my last attempt… so here goes again… Before the end of March, 2010… I will have secured my team for My Secret Project. I’m hoping to add a PhD in psychology; that would be great.

A few things happening in my life today… 26 years ago my daughter Noelle came into my life. I have enjoyed her ever since!

I think I finally settled on a CRM called Landslide… that is if it stops crashing on me. Thus far I have tried Highrise, BatchBlue, eSalesTrak, Relenta, InfusionSoft, BigContacts, SalesForce, ACT!, Goldmine, SalesNexus, Sales Playbook, Zoho, HEAP… and a bunch of others. I will post a summary of my findings in a future blog post. I have found one thing to be true… CRMs are full of ambushes and landmines.

Day #1 of 7,300

So here’s what I’m thinking. I’m 55 years old and so I plan on writing for the next 20 years which is seven thousand three hundred days. On February 14th, 2030 I will stop posting to this blog.

Why, one may ask? No specific reason. Except for my projects.

You see I have several projects going that will need some external content, so if any of this upcoming stuff is interesting please let me know.

See you tomorrow

I Am Fine.

We are so strange, the human species. Or is it the human race? I really don’t know.

And I was born into this reality. This life. This existence. This crossroad of time.

And I love it.

And why not? I won the lottery. And in spite of the doom and gloom, I am fine.

Really.

OK. I have had credit cards cut off, I have fallen behind on my mortgage. I lost the use of my business credit card and my cell phone guy threatens to cut me off. But you know what the worst insult was?

I didn’t have one bottle of wine left in this house.

I am certain that if I had to board a boat to some deserted island for ten years, I would have to have thousands of cases of wine. Even if we had to throw the children overboard to do this, I would give the order. Lest you think I am heartless, I would think about those children everyday. Oh well, I’d say. And then I’d propose a toast to the unlucky offspring.

But the reason for blogging today is not for my own selfish purposes, no. It is for the gentle and pure spirit of it all. I think we are so far gone in our society that we forget how to laugh.

So, laugh.

October 10th, 2008

Hi… just wanted to say that I have really enjoyed this life… thanks to my wonderful family… amazing people… some who I wish I could have spent more time with… but most important, to my wonderful mother, Madeleine, who was there. She provided the net… and although I am certain that she feels the net was faulty, she has no idea how much I appreciated it. I remember one morning when she sat next to me and told me that nothing was in my way. To greatness. I remember that. Against all odds, she maintained the home.

My children. I have dedicated my life to my kids; they are the reason d’etre… they are just so fucking great. I totally lucked out.

Day #3 of 21… Building The Runway

There are only so many runways to build when trying to accomplish something. I have developed an expertise at runway building. I know how to design and build one; in fact I have built several at one time. I’m that fucking good at runways. If you asked 100 people if they knew about my runway expertise, very few would yield.

I am an expert in nothing. Well, maybe except runways. That’s not a bad thing really. It’s just a place where there is lots of company. Good company.

Life isn’t about what knowledge you have mastered or accumulated, but how many children you have inspired. It’s not about how well your financial portfolio is doing, but if you still smile when a puppy does something funny.

It goes so fucking fast, life does.

So let’s take a look at my day #3 of this 21 day session. It was an okay day. I think I could have done better. This means I left money on the table, meat of the bones, clothing on the hooker and some very good wine in the glass. But I think the real acid test is this: if day #3 was my September 10th, would I be okay with that? The answer is an absolute yes.

If I was an accountant however, I would want to know if I met my analytical objectives for today. To that I would have to say no. But sometimes the experiment is the experiment. You learn from your everyday gambles. I don’t think I can work toward some analyitcal objective. I think it needs to be a human goal. I need to think more about that.

Isn’t life an absolute thrill? A mystery novel that leaves goose bumps on your arms? If not, find some real good Bink-Chai weed (average will even do the trick) and think it over. It really is that good. Both.

So off to day #4. A Sunday. It’s funny how for most of the last several millenia Sunday was a day of worship. How fast is that changing I wonder?

Enjoy today. I mean it!

Smile.

Ciao.

Day #2 of 21… Taking It Easy Today

Day #2 went exactly as planned… I took it easy, and did that very well.

Today I wrote a post to my CoolProteomics blog; something I haven’t done in months. Although it took me several hours to write, I was re-energized with the knowledge that putting more effort into this would be worthwhile for my business.

Outside of that, I didn’t get anything done.

But a good day overall and looking forward to day #3. Now that will be a different story! Much more planned, so little time.

Ciao!

Day #1 of 21… Living Life To The Fullest

You couldn’t get through today without thinking about the attacks. It’s amazing to think it really happened. A bunch of religious extremists flying airplanes into buildings. I hope the virgins they met in heaven are ugly and have syphilis.

So let me ask me this question: Did I live life to the fullest today? A resounding YES. I had a great morning cleaning the house, and getting ready for the day ahead. I sat in the sun for 30 minutes taking in the rays; good for my vitamin D production they say. And just fucking relaxing. Then, I fed the dogs and cats, did some laundry and got ready for my day.

My business day.

The next important question to ask is this: What did I do that was so different today?

So I made two important phone calls I was afraid to make (and has been on my to-do list for months), I called home-based business leads that I haven’t called in years and I made my quota of speaking with 5 scientists today. That is quite an accomplishment. Now, this is only one day, so the real test will come tomorrow and the next day and the next. But every journey starts with one step, and today, was the first one.

I am now pleasantly buzzed thanks to Thursday nights; anyone who read my blog the first 21 days understands the significance to this, and I feel great.

Tomorrow is Friday. A very important day in people relations. Fridays, people are happy the week is near an end, and they are open to suggestion. There are more deals made on a Friday than any other day, so this is the day to close deals, start relationships, make suggestions and pave new directions. I plan to take advantage of that, since I only have 3 of them in this 21 day flight path.

If a totally objective person was watching me today, they may have thought I got nothing done. After all, most of my time was spent doing some pretty basic things. However, what I am trying to do is execute powerful, high impact, far-reaching tasks. Each task will multiply like a ripple in a lake; each wave larger than the next.

I think most can trade time for money, but the real game is to leverage on possibilities, knowledge, talent and timing. That’s what creates opportunities and moments of sheer joy.

So off to another day, day #2. Let’s see where it goes.

And one last time… I tip my hat to those who never got to live their September 12th.

May we all enjoy that day.

9-11… We Must Walk Consciously Only Part Way Toward Our Goal, And Then Leap In The Dark To Our Success – Henry David Thoreau

September 11th is one of those days you can’t possibly forget. You remember where you were and what you were doing when it happened.

And all those loving people.

Young, fat, old, men, atheists, catholics, children, gays, women, pessimists, jews, straight, skinny, muslim, optimists. People with wonderful years ahead of them.

So I got to thinking. I bet every one of those 2,998 people would step into our shoes in a second if they could. You see, if they knew that September 11th was it, they may have treated September 10th with much more reverence and priority.

I know I’m that way with many of my days… hell, I waste more time each day worrying about stupid things, not making a tough phone call, not trying hard enough, or feeling sorry for myself because I may not have reached the pinnacle of civilization yet. What if I took all that emotional, physical, spiritual and mental energy and put it to better use?

Hmmm.

And this is where my new journey begins. A 21 day voyage, beginning on September 11th, 2008 that raises the performance bar every day for the next 3 weeks. Every day will bring another opportunity to mine for gold in all my pursuits, whether they be business, love, health and laughter. The most important part of each day will be to ask myself one question… did I live this day to the fullest? Each day will have its normal twists and turns, and ups and downs, but I will know if I lived it, or not.

So, how do we best respect the memory of those lost that lovely September day? By taking each day we have and making it the only day we have. Because, when you give it some thought, it truly is the only day. Each of us will eventually have our own September 10th, so that’s a pretty good justification for enjoying life today. Don’t you think?

Here we go, another 21 day mission. I know this will be more difficult than my last expedition, but it will also be more gratifying if I succeed.

Another day. At least we have one. Dead people don’t. So let’s do something with it. I know I will.

Laugh… Love… Live.

Day #21 of 21… Mission Accomplished!

I am proud to say that I have accomplished my 21 day mission. My goal was to go without any brain candy or soul slurry for 21 days, and I made it. When compared to all accomplishments by humans across the ages, it meant absolutely nothing. However, compared to what the average fly does in a lifetime, it was really something. I think.

That said, here are a few thoughts as I celebrate the occasion.

A great man once said, ‘If a man does his best, what else is there?’. And that’s what I am celebrating tonight. I did my best. I could not have done it better. So that’s my new theme… doing my best. I think it may be easy to forget that doing our best is very hard work. It’s being in the top 5%. It’s having a fucking blast.

Wow; what a great 21 days. The most amazing thing about this adventure was all the unexpected realizations I experienced. My reason for doing this was initially for my health. The real surprise. However, was how it impacted my state-of-mind.

This pause has been very healthy. I recommend it to everyone. Really.

Okay, all my cards on the table. Tonight, after midnight (in fact, at precisely 12:00:01AM EST) I flew to Amsterdam, Holland and smoked some Indonesian Bink-Chai grass, drank a few glasses of Wolf Blass wine and had a beer. For a night-cap I smuggled down a shot of Black Velvet.

I actually had a great time during my 21 days; probably one of the most important times of my life. That’s just a feeling I have; I can’t explain it yet.

I also thank all those who have read my posts, commented, and spit at me in disgust. I appreciate you more than you know. And love you.

I’m going away for a few days and then I’ll announce the next 21 day mission. I’m looking forward to it. I’d write more but my brain is shutting down; it’s 4:00AM.

Another wise man said, ‘And in the end it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years.’ Abraham Lincoln said that. General Patton said the first quote.

See you at the next mission.