Don Alm
October 2, 2001, 09:42 PM
Hey Gordo.....thanks for bringing up this topic because it INSTANTLY brought me back to my first job out of college...."many" yrs ago.
I got a FREE education at one of the finest education facilities in the world....Northwestern Univ in Evanston, IL (I was a "football jock")
My first job was with a giant corp. and the first thing I noticed my first week in my new office was...at approx 4:45 every day...the people in my office looked up at the clock and began to lace up their shoes.
The clock in our office was one of those giant hand thingees that made an audible CLICK at each minute....and a chime at each hour....and it was eery (to me) how IMPORTANT the minute hand of THIS clock was...as the minute hand moved around the face of this BIG clock with it's highly audible "CLICK"....when it came to a certain "line of demarcation" (8:30am for start of business.....10am for coffee break...12am for lunch...3pm for afternoon break...and 5pm for end of day....how important the "CLICKS" of this clock had become to the LIVES of the people within earshot of it's majestic "CLICKS".
This clock and it's "CLICKS" controlled the thought processes of all who were under it's influence.
As a young, skull full of mush...and a person fresh out of an environment where "FREEDOM" was the controlling influence and "assertiveness was embedded into my psyche due to my gladiator-like behavior on the "field-of-battle"....to be tossed into an environment where the "CLICK" of a minute hand on a BIG wall clock...was the "CONTROLLING FACTOR" in the lives within earshot....was a MIND BLOWER for ME!
ME...the "gladiator"...now subjected to the "control" of an object on a wall of my environment.
It was something I KNEW....my first day...I would have a PROBLEM WITH. And...sure enough...as my fellow office workers began to lace up their shoes at the stroke of 4:45 (my office was on the 6th floor)...then as EVERY EYE was on the minute hand at 4:59....waiting for that LAST, FINAL "CLICK" indicating the END of the work day when they could AT LAST make a dash for the elevator to be one of the first in that box that would carry them to"freedom"....I KNEW I would NOT last long in THIS "CLICK" environment.
And...as I got to meet and know the others in my office...some who had been there for 30 yrs and longer....I realized how much they really despised their jobs. Their jobs were only the "means to an end"...the end being their retirement with a handsome monthly income where they could do what they wanted to do WHEN they wanted to do it.
And...in the next few months I became saddened as I watched each of the 6 men over 50 be "invited" into the bosses office and told they would be "laid off" for an indeterminate length of time at a fraction of their regular pay (This was before corps could play games with employees retirements)
This action DEVASTATED these men...and there I was...a young whipper-snapper of 22...ready to carry the flag for this giant company...being exposed to the REALITY of what happens in large corps.
So...within 3 months of my being hired I was planning ways on how I would find what I REALLY WANTED TO DO in my life and how I could control MY OWN LIFESTYLE.
I figured I would HAVE TO be in a situation where no one could tell me when to "sign in"...when to "take a break"...when to "eat lunch"...when to "leave"...when to "take a vacation"...etc!
So...the ONLY way I knew this could be done was to own my own business.
So...for the nest year...I did NOT spend time thinking about how I could help the company or how I could "climb the corporate ladder"... nosirree Bob....I spent the mext year looking for a business I could start, from my home!
And...6 months later...I saw an ad in the Wall St Journal for a "Distributor of a new type of burglar alarm system".
So...I calle dthe company.... had them send me the info and I found that for $495 I could be a distributor of a unique, new kind of home burglar alarm system.
I ordered the "Starter Kit" with a sample Demo.
Put together a letterhead, opened a bank account...made up some flyers and proceeded to fall flat on my ass.
I didn't know HOW to sell my product.
So...I found out that the company I bought the product from didn't know how to sell it either. So, I spent the next 6 months studying everything I could get my hands on to learn "How To Sell"!
Finally...when my patient wife was about to kick me out with the trash...I told her I would give this thing ONE MORE WEEK.
Now...as luck would have it (or whatever) I happened to get an appointment with a Dentist who had built an expensive new home. I was to meet him at 7pm in the eve on a Thursday eve...in a suburb 50 miles from my home.
This was my LAST CHANCE at "freedom"!
I HAD to get an order tonight or that was it...my wife was going to be "highly disappointed" in me!
So...I drove the 50 miles....got there on time and the dentist was NOT there. His wife said he got tied up in a meeting and would not be home till "late".
Well...I thanked his wife for her time and left.
The next morning at 7am my phone rang.
It was the dentist. He said he would be home until 10am and that if I wanted, I could come up to see him now.
So...because I WANTED THIS SO MUCH...I decided to "call in sick" to my office. The Dentist was 50 mi in the opposite direction from my downtown Chicago office and no way could I get there in time.
So...I got to the dentist's home around 9:30. And, as luck would have it...he had TWO neighbors with him who were looking at his new home AND...as I demonstrated the features and benefits of my alarm system....I noticed BOTH of his neighbors also taking an interest.
So...as luck would have it...i not only sold the dentist but his 2 neighbors as well and this was the launch of my burglar alarm business.
THEN...after building my business (Securitronics Corp)into the 3rd largest burglar alarm biz in the North Shore of Chicago....I realized that THIS was NOT a "lifestyle" for me.
So...I put the biz up for sale...sold it and "semi-retired" to the mountain town of Aspen, Co (BEFORE it turned into a decadent, money-grubing piece of cowdung)
Then...after 12 yrs in THAT lifestyle I decided THIS lifestyle was NOT for ME. (If you ever get a chance to be around people who do NOT have a concern or worry about MONEY...who have all the money they will ever want...I think you will find the same thing I found. They turn to what I call, "Pleasures of the Flesh"!)
I'd go to parties in some of the most beautiful, huge, magnificent estates in the world with million dollar views out every window...and there on the coffee tables would be LINES OF COKE...the potato chips were laced with LSD...outside on the deck was "Maui Wowi" the best hashish money could buy...rolled into cigs with FILTERS no less.
So...my wife and I realized the "Hollywood" lifestyle was NOT for us. We sold our home and moved to Roseburg, Oregon (pop 20,000) where the average wind temp is...the Umpqua River flows thru it with HUGE Salmon and Steelhead fishing...2 min from my back door...the ocean beaches 1 hour west...crater lake and SNOW...1 hour east....Eugene, OR (University Town of 137,000) 1 hour north.
Plus...a mild climate.
And...what I really enjoy...is going to a great place to eat lunch where most of the people are RURAL...they own ranches...with cattle or horses or sheep or pigs or emus...etc.
Anyway...because I sell my stuff via mail order and the internet...I can CHOOSE where "I" want to live...anywhere on the planet as long as I can get mail and phone service.
So...yes...you can decided WHAT type of life YOU want...and the internet and mail order and having your own business can give it to you in this wonderful concept of living called the "Good Ole U S of A".
Don Alm
> Did you choose your lifestyle ?
> Or did you settle on it?
> Big difference. Like it or not, you've got a
> LIFESTYLE. You've either realized your
> dreams or begrudginly accepted your
> circumstances, or you're still fighting the
> good fight to fulfill your potential.
> Whatever, you own your current LIFESTYLE.
> You own your day, good or bad.
> We may think of the "lifestyles of the
> rich and famous" as Robin Leach used to
> show us on TV and that conjures up images of
> huge houses filled with lots of luxurious
> things.
> But the "affluent" lifestyle takes
> many shapes, it has many forms. As does the
> lifestyle of poverty. As does the lifestyle
> of loneliness and isolation. Or the
> lifestyle of hating your job.
> Do we live in an abundant world, or are we
> limited by the resources?
> What I've learned from my Internet
> experiences is that most people haven't
> expended the mental energy to IDENTIFY and
> then SELECT the lifestyle that would make
> them prosperous, happy and fulfilled. And
> fewer still have exerted the physical energy
> to making that selection happen.
> They don't know what they want.
> Napoleon Hill called it a "burning
> desire".
> Mark O. Haroldson in his little book
> FINANCIAL GENIUS said this; "A man's
> only passion should be his main objective.
> The man cannot succeed who allows chores,
> hobbies, politics, art, philanthropy and
> other distractions or sidelines to steal
> atention and energy away from him."
> Local mogul Burt Morgan told me it was
> "the fire in the gut" that made
> the difference between success and failure.
> That fire could burn for a quality family
> life, for a simple righteous life, for a
> life of contribution. Success isn't measured
> in dollars and cents, it is however known in
> your heart whether or not you have TRIED,
> given it your best shot, or succumbed to the
> daily pressures. Which has it been for you?
> Your lifestyle is one of those things that
> you do have some say about, a great deal of
> say, if you choose to.
> You can choose where you live. How you live.
> With whom you live (or don't)...
> And you can attain any lifestyle you desire.
> It is simple, do whatever it takes . NOT
> easy, of course, but it is a pretty simple
> matter after all.
> Right now, a pick-up truck with a little
> camper on back and some mutt named Charley
> looks like a pretty decent lifestyle to me.
> It is there if I choose it.
> I've watched in amazement as some people
> have achieved remarkable success in the last
> five years, while others floundered, and
> kept on with their harried and hassled
> lifestyle...probably a very comfortable
> lifestyle for them.
> It begins by knowing what you want.
> So, what do you want?
> Gordon Alexander
> PS. This is where I came in. I'll grab my
> jacket and popcorn and mosey on out to the
> camper now. Have a great life. I have, I am,
> and I'll continue to. See you around.
22 Ways To Make $50,000 Starting with $50 (http://www.pjbux.com)
I got a FREE education at one of the finest education facilities in the world....Northwestern Univ in Evanston, IL (I was a "football jock")
My first job was with a giant corp. and the first thing I noticed my first week in my new office was...at approx 4:45 every day...the people in my office looked up at the clock and began to lace up their shoes.
The clock in our office was one of those giant hand thingees that made an audible CLICK at each minute....and a chime at each hour....and it was eery (to me) how IMPORTANT the minute hand of THIS clock was...as the minute hand moved around the face of this BIG clock with it's highly audible "CLICK"....when it came to a certain "line of demarcation" (8:30am for start of business.....10am for coffee break...12am for lunch...3pm for afternoon break...and 5pm for end of day....how important the "CLICKS" of this clock had become to the LIVES of the people within earshot of it's majestic "CLICKS".
This clock and it's "CLICKS" controlled the thought processes of all who were under it's influence.
As a young, skull full of mush...and a person fresh out of an environment where "FREEDOM" was the controlling influence and "assertiveness was embedded into my psyche due to my gladiator-like behavior on the "field-of-battle"....to be tossed into an environment where the "CLICK" of a minute hand on a BIG wall clock...was the "CONTROLLING FACTOR" in the lives within earshot....was a MIND BLOWER for ME!
ME...the "gladiator"...now subjected to the "control" of an object on a wall of my environment.
It was something I KNEW....my first day...I would have a PROBLEM WITH. And...sure enough...as my fellow office workers began to lace up their shoes at the stroke of 4:45 (my office was on the 6th floor)...then as EVERY EYE was on the minute hand at 4:59....waiting for that LAST, FINAL "CLICK" indicating the END of the work day when they could AT LAST make a dash for the elevator to be one of the first in that box that would carry them to"freedom"....I KNEW I would NOT last long in THIS "CLICK" environment.
And...as I got to meet and know the others in my office...some who had been there for 30 yrs and longer....I realized how much they really despised their jobs. Their jobs were only the "means to an end"...the end being their retirement with a handsome monthly income where they could do what they wanted to do WHEN they wanted to do it.
And...in the next few months I became saddened as I watched each of the 6 men over 50 be "invited" into the bosses office and told they would be "laid off" for an indeterminate length of time at a fraction of their regular pay (This was before corps could play games with employees retirements)
This action DEVASTATED these men...and there I was...a young whipper-snapper of 22...ready to carry the flag for this giant company...being exposed to the REALITY of what happens in large corps.
So...within 3 months of my being hired I was planning ways on how I would find what I REALLY WANTED TO DO in my life and how I could control MY OWN LIFESTYLE.
I figured I would HAVE TO be in a situation where no one could tell me when to "sign in"...when to "take a break"...when to "eat lunch"...when to "leave"...when to "take a vacation"...etc!
So...the ONLY way I knew this could be done was to own my own business.
So...for the nest year...I did NOT spend time thinking about how I could help the company or how I could "climb the corporate ladder"... nosirree Bob....I spent the mext year looking for a business I could start, from my home!
And...6 months later...I saw an ad in the Wall St Journal for a "Distributor of a new type of burglar alarm system".
So...I calle dthe company.... had them send me the info and I found that for $495 I could be a distributor of a unique, new kind of home burglar alarm system.
I ordered the "Starter Kit" with a sample Demo.
Put together a letterhead, opened a bank account...made up some flyers and proceeded to fall flat on my ass.
I didn't know HOW to sell my product.
So...I found out that the company I bought the product from didn't know how to sell it either. So, I spent the next 6 months studying everything I could get my hands on to learn "How To Sell"!
Finally...when my patient wife was about to kick me out with the trash...I told her I would give this thing ONE MORE WEEK.
Now...as luck would have it (or whatever) I happened to get an appointment with a Dentist who had built an expensive new home. I was to meet him at 7pm in the eve on a Thursday eve...in a suburb 50 miles from my home.
This was my LAST CHANCE at "freedom"!
I HAD to get an order tonight or that was it...my wife was going to be "highly disappointed" in me!
So...I drove the 50 miles....got there on time and the dentist was NOT there. His wife said he got tied up in a meeting and would not be home till "late".
Well...I thanked his wife for her time and left.
The next morning at 7am my phone rang.
It was the dentist. He said he would be home until 10am and that if I wanted, I could come up to see him now.
So...because I WANTED THIS SO MUCH...I decided to "call in sick" to my office. The Dentist was 50 mi in the opposite direction from my downtown Chicago office and no way could I get there in time.
So...I got to the dentist's home around 9:30. And, as luck would have it...he had TWO neighbors with him who were looking at his new home AND...as I demonstrated the features and benefits of my alarm system....I noticed BOTH of his neighbors also taking an interest.
So...as luck would have it...i not only sold the dentist but his 2 neighbors as well and this was the launch of my burglar alarm business.
THEN...after building my business (Securitronics Corp)into the 3rd largest burglar alarm biz in the North Shore of Chicago....I realized that THIS was NOT a "lifestyle" for me.
So...I put the biz up for sale...sold it and "semi-retired" to the mountain town of Aspen, Co (BEFORE it turned into a decadent, money-grubing piece of cowdung)
Then...after 12 yrs in THAT lifestyle I decided THIS lifestyle was NOT for ME. (If you ever get a chance to be around people who do NOT have a concern or worry about MONEY...who have all the money they will ever want...I think you will find the same thing I found. They turn to what I call, "Pleasures of the Flesh"!)
I'd go to parties in some of the most beautiful, huge, magnificent estates in the world with million dollar views out every window...and there on the coffee tables would be LINES OF COKE...the potato chips were laced with LSD...outside on the deck was "Maui Wowi" the best hashish money could buy...rolled into cigs with FILTERS no less.
So...my wife and I realized the "Hollywood" lifestyle was NOT for us. We sold our home and moved to Roseburg, Oregon (pop 20,000) where the average wind temp is...the Umpqua River flows thru it with HUGE Salmon and Steelhead fishing...2 min from my back door...the ocean beaches 1 hour west...crater lake and SNOW...1 hour east....Eugene, OR (University Town of 137,000) 1 hour north.
Plus...a mild climate.
And...what I really enjoy...is going to a great place to eat lunch where most of the people are RURAL...they own ranches...with cattle or horses or sheep or pigs or emus...etc.
Anyway...because I sell my stuff via mail order and the internet...I can CHOOSE where "I" want to live...anywhere on the planet as long as I can get mail and phone service.
So...yes...you can decided WHAT type of life YOU want...and the internet and mail order and having your own business can give it to you in this wonderful concept of living called the "Good Ole U S of A".
Don Alm
> Did you choose your lifestyle ?
> Or did you settle on it?
> Big difference. Like it or not, you've got a
> LIFESTYLE. You've either realized your
> dreams or begrudginly accepted your
> circumstances, or you're still fighting the
> good fight to fulfill your potential.
> Whatever, you own your current LIFESTYLE.
> You own your day, good or bad.
> We may think of the "lifestyles of the
> rich and famous" as Robin Leach used to
> show us on TV and that conjures up images of
> huge houses filled with lots of luxurious
> things.
> But the "affluent" lifestyle takes
> many shapes, it has many forms. As does the
> lifestyle of poverty. As does the lifestyle
> of loneliness and isolation. Or the
> lifestyle of hating your job.
> Do we live in an abundant world, or are we
> limited by the resources?
> What I've learned from my Internet
> experiences is that most people haven't
> expended the mental energy to IDENTIFY and
> then SELECT the lifestyle that would make
> them prosperous, happy and fulfilled. And
> fewer still have exerted the physical energy
> to making that selection happen.
> They don't know what they want.
> Napoleon Hill called it a "burning
> desire".
> Mark O. Haroldson in his little book
> FINANCIAL GENIUS said this; "A man's
> only passion should be his main objective.
> The man cannot succeed who allows chores,
> hobbies, politics, art, philanthropy and
> other distractions or sidelines to steal
> atention and energy away from him."
> Local mogul Burt Morgan told me it was
> "the fire in the gut" that made
> the difference between success and failure.
> That fire could burn for a quality family
> life, for a simple righteous life, for a
> life of contribution. Success isn't measured
> in dollars and cents, it is however known in
> your heart whether or not you have TRIED,
> given it your best shot, or succumbed to the
> daily pressures. Which has it been for you?
> Your lifestyle is one of those things that
> you do have some say about, a great deal of
> say, if you choose to.
> You can choose where you live. How you live.
> With whom you live (or don't)...
> And you can attain any lifestyle you desire.
> It is simple, do whatever it takes . NOT
> easy, of course, but it is a pretty simple
> matter after all.
> Right now, a pick-up truck with a little
> camper on back and some mutt named Charley
> looks like a pretty decent lifestyle to me.
> It is there if I choose it.
> I've watched in amazement as some people
> have achieved remarkable success in the last
> five years, while others floundered, and
> kept on with their harried and hassled
> lifestyle...probably a very comfortable
> lifestyle for them.
> It begins by knowing what you want.
> So, what do you want?
> Gordon Alexander
> PS. This is where I came in. I'll grab my
> jacket and popcorn and mosey on out to the
> camper now. Have a great life. I have, I am,
> and I'll continue to. See you around.
22 Ways To Make $50,000 Starting with $50 (http://www.pjbux.com)
