The Great Life Challenge

Life… It’s something we all have in common. How we choose to live our lives is often quite different and perplexing to some. For example, people who complain about life or how crappy people are… they just don’t make sense to me. People who are oblivious to the events of the world around them don’t make sense to me. And I’m sure that I don’t make sense to many people around me.

Actually, I know I don’t make sense to some people around me. For example, this week I paid a visit to the doctor. Turns out I have a kidney stone. A rather large one, but it is something that can be treated without me ending up in the hospital (the first kidney stone I had 9 years ago put me in the emergency room). My doctor wanted a better look at my insides as a whole (32 year olds with kidney stones isn’t the norm).

I got my first CT Scan, and I was pretty excited about it! Just think about it… Have you gotten a CT Scan? How many people do you know who have gotten a CT Scan? I can cross that one off my bucket list (and I did). A friend of mine didn’t that it was all that cool or funny that I (1) had to get a CT Scan and (2) had a bucket list at my age.

All this really got me to thinking… How complete is my bucket list? And do just happy things need to be on my bucket list?

This mental search left me with one conclusion: I have a great life!

Not everything has been strawberry shortcake along the way, but does any of that really make my life bad or less enjoyable? Had my family not grown up on food stamps and welfare, would my life have been any less enjoyable? I know people who were born with silver spoons in their mouths and have been miserable their entire lives. Still there are others who have been happy their entire lives.

Then it got me to thinking about how to have fun with how great life really is. Now, I love competition! I love sports in particular, but I also qualify Hungry Hungry Hippos as a sport. Anything that is a challenge, I consider a sport. Life is a challenge, so I’m up for playing that sport at a professional level. I don’t want to be an amateur life! Of course, every sport must have an opponent. But this game of living isn’t about making someone else’s life less enjoyable. In fact, I’ll say this life sport has not defense at all. This is an all offense game!

So, I challenge anyone to have a better life than me!

All two people who ready my blog (LOL), I challenge you! Make your life better than mine. Smile more than me. Enjoy your family and friends more than me. Enjoy the world more than me. I challenge you to enjoy your life more than me!

Of course, this means you are going to have to post blogs, images, social network posts, etc. about how great your life is. This way, I can one-up you and we can continue going until one of us wins in about 80+ years!!!

What Would My Clone Do?

I had a lot on my mind today. Between the myriad ideas at work (new products, new advertising opportunities, improving customer service, etc.) and the questions I face in my personal life, I found myself in a state of self discovery. So, I asked myself a very simple question: What Would My Clone Do?

Not hampered by the events of every day life: cold shower water in the morning, burning toast, traffic, and waiting in line at lunch… My clone would have a much clearer head than I during times of stress. He would be able to make sold decisions during times of crisis, like choosing between watching two equally great prime-time television shows. So, I find peace knowing that my clone is always there for me, calm and ready to take on whatever pressures may come my way (like when I’m running late to a massage appointment).

Why Things Happen the Way They Do

I don’t suppose I’ll ever know exactly why events unfold the way they do. Most of the time, everything seems to make perfect sense. There are clear and obvious explanations for why people say, do, feel what they do. However, every once in a while things happen that don’t really make any sense. Often times I’ll look back on certain events, and they make complete sense in retrospect. Ultimately, it is my perspective that has changed.

If Everyone Watched The Big Idea…

What would happen if everyone in America watches The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch on CNBC? First, there would be a run on the cable companies because you can only get CNBC on cable. Second, fellow blogger Tony Iovino would take his $600 check he’ll receive from the Federal government in May and actually cash it to invest it into a new invention (and he would start using the vastly superior WordPress blogging system). Third, the US economy would flourish.

Today, Bush signed his stimulus package, creating checks for millions of people in our economy. Lots of people love to complain about the symantics of the deal. Call it welfare. Call it a rebate. Call it what you want, it is our Federal government giving money to people that live in America.

Using some of the people I’ve seen on The Big Idea as an example, what those $600 checks have the potential to do is generate billions (yes, you read that correctly, BILLIONS) of dollars in revenue/income for Americans. How? Well, you should watch The Big Idea. The show has featured scores of people who have started their business for little more (sometimes even less) than $600. These people has created jobs, used resources that support other businesses, and made people a lot of money.

Sure, if everyone who receives a check goes a spends it on a toy at Walmart, it won’t do much for boosting the economy. However, let’s have a little fun with the math here. 130,000,000 Americans are going to receive a check. If even 0.1% of the people who receive checks become Donny Deutsch success stories, we are talking about generating $130,000,000,000 of revenue for the US economy over the next year! That’s correct, just one-tenth of one percent of the people who receive the checks need to become Donny Deutsch success stories for the checks to pay for themselves in just two year. One-tenth of one percent. That is about the same as a run-of-network banner advertisement on ValueClick!

Think You Are Not Entitled to Overtime?

Think again! Gotovertime.com has compiled a list of common reasons we think we are exempt from overtime:

• Paid on a Salary
• Paid more than $95K
• Supervise two people
• Comp time given for overtime
• Only clocking 40 hours
• Not clocking in and out
• Not paying for travel time

Chances are you’ve fallen into one of these traps. I know plenty of people who have. Most of which are computer programmers. For some reason people in IT seem to really be disgruntled by the amount of work they provide, the amount of value they provide to the company, and how little they are compensated and valued by their employer.

Guess what IT folks? You’re rights to overtime are changing and not for the better. Here’s a bit of news to help you feel even more upset about your unfair treatment at work. Of course, you’ll probably just sit there and complain rather than do something about your unfair treatment. Good luck with that.

oooooooor… Do yourself a favor and be the first guy at your company to must up enough guts to make a difference for all the people in IT who have been taken advantage of before you’re rights to overtime are whittled away to nothing.