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SOWPub Business Forum Seeds of Wisdom Forum |
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#1
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![]() So, do YOU want to roar like a lion?
Be as fast and furious as a movie star on the silver screen? Let the world know how fierce you are and make them shudder with fear? What or who is stopping you? Good luck with that. I'm going to remain as gentle as a lamb. So, what do you want? The tired, old saw of GJA, who has been asking that question for the last 3 decades. He calls it Square One. And since when do I talk about myself in the third person? (silly boy) Yea, knowing what you want is often the only motivation you need, and gives you the energy to get it. It is a desire, a burning desire said Napoleon Hill in Think And Grow Rich. He called it the starting point of riches. But maybe riches are not what you want, at least not the monetary kind. Maybe you desire richness of experience, of friendship, of fellowship. Of family and friends. Maybe you want to be fierce, ferocious or furious, or just fabulous. Only you get to decide what your desires are and what they mean to you. But, it has been Gordon's experience, Oops, here I go again... it has been MY experience that too many people want too much, they want it all. Like a kid in a candy store wants to eat every piece he can, we want to have it ALL. Whatever that means, it means something to you. Because so many want so much, they end up getting so little. They lack focus. They can't sustain their interests, their energies, their pursuits and do the daily grind which takes them closer to their desires. But who or what is stopping you? Me? Anyone from doing what we want to do? The criminal side, the psychopath side, the totally selfish side and the ignorant and hatred filled side...does what it wants. It feels cheated, that it is owed something, that others have wronged them and they are getting their revenge. It goes gets a military weapon, (legal), loads it with flesh tearing bullets (legal) and goes to a venue; a concert in Las Vegas, a school, a movie theater, a meeting, a church, synagogue or mosque and opens fire. Fulfilling his desire to destroy. To decimate those whom he doesn't even know, but hates all the same. HATES because he is injured, ineffective and ignored in this world. There is NOTHING stopping him, is there? But hopefully, we SowPubbers have different desires. Different wants. Hopefully, we want to share our success, our appreciations and our kindness. Maybe we do want a nice car, house, boat and money in the bank, and hopefully we are NOT willing to rob, cheat or steal to get it. But hopefully, we are willing to work hard for what we want, doing no harm along the way to anyone else, and fulfilling our best natures in the process. Maybe most of us still prefer to fly low and collect the dough. No need to see our name in lights. IT wants to be seen and known. John Hinckley shot a president. Others, whose names should not even get any press are daily getting what they want, some publicity, some coverage, some revenge and fulfilling their agendas. So, you, what do you want? Are you like Meatloaf in the song, LOUDER THAN ANYTHING, which seems to be what IT wants, to be louder than the good. And what is stopping you from getting it? I hope and believe most of you (we) want a better life given to us by effort and mutual benefit, and do not want the instant gratification of fulfilling some hate filled manifesto, or need to be seen as fierce, ferocious or furious. I'd rather be the quiet and innocuous jelly fish, the oldest multi-organ animal in the world. It has survived but you wouldn't want one for a pet. But be as ferocious as you want. Good for you for at least making a decision about what you want. GordonJ |
#2
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I've been reading through some of Harvey Brody's old courses, and I thought I'd "riff" a little on a part of what he wrote, that most people don't talk about... It's Harvey's "Better World Plan"... which also boils down to motivation... To go in a little different direction... You can ask, what do you want? But also... what do you want for your family? Sometimes, working for the betterment of your family (wife/husband, kids if any, even brothers and sisters, nephews and nieces, parents, etc.) can be more motivational... When you have the intention, not only to better your own situation, but to better their situation too... I don't have any kids of my own - but I do care a lot about my wife, my brothers, and my nephews and niece... And I think, making sure they have a good life too is also my responsibility. (And I find it motivational!) Then, expanding a little further... the "Better World Plan". This is the plan to leave the world a better place than you found it, to the maximum extent possible. This usually requires money... How you want to improve the world is up to you. I've focused on donating to homeless charities in the past (because I think being homeless would be extremely rough)! And I like to remember the phrase, "there but for the grace of God go I"... But it doesn't matter which way is your preferred way. Wanting to leave a better world behind, to the maximum extent possible, can also be very motivational... I just thought I'd add these recent goings on in my mind to your excellent post... ![]() Best wishes, Dien
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#3
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That part was always special to me, love the Better World, safe harbor stuff. But. Are Harvey's grandchildren inheriting a better world than the one he came into? Maybe THEY are, because of his success and the opportunities it has provided them. It is great to be born into a family where hard work and dedication has provided a good life for the "kids". Can we leave a better world behind? Well, my raff is this: Last year I had my 50th class reunion. The high school class of 1968. We came of age about the time Kennedy was killed. We saw the civil rights riots, Vietnam, man on the moon, Berlin Wall, Cold War. Most of our parents had jobs, at least Dad did, although many of our mothers worked too. The black smoked filled skies of Akron, OH have disappeared, along with the thousands of jobs provided by the rubber companies. Our county population has shrunk, the income level, the standard of living, the number of unemployed, the addicts, the homeless. Well, different than what we had as kids. I do have children. I worry about their future. MY generation, the boomers are leaving a mess behind us. We had Vietnam, they have Afghanistan, Iran, hot spots all over the world and more nuclear destructive capacity than we ever dreamed of as we hid under our school desks during the drills. WE, the Boomers, were the first "entitled" generation. Our parents fought in WWII, survived the Great Depression, Hitler, Communisim, and civil disobedience. WE, were either hippies, or straight laced or something else. WE as a generation filled the colleges up, became the most educated generation in history. We were the pig in the python. And that Python has left a steaming pile of excrement on our Grandchildren's door step, set ablaze as we escape into oblivion. Have we left them a better world? In 1968 we believed we were on THE EVE OF DESTRUCTION, as outlined in Barry McGuire's anthem: https://youtu.be/qfZVu0alU0I AS much as I may have thought we were on that eve in 1968, I have to admit my children are much closer to it. Every time one of my kids goes to a concert, or shopping, I worry. We may have been assaulted by scantily dressed butt cracks in Walmart, but now they wear full body armor and have military grade killing weapons. Whereas my sensibilities may have been assaulted at the Walmart, today, the assault takes on a life and death proposal. And for many years, Walmart has sold guns, bullets, ammo of all kinds. All perfectly legal. Old Sam is turning in his grave. 0 WE have polluted the oceans to beyond repair, changed the weather with dramatic results, and instead of being the generation of change, the ones who were REALLY going to make the world a better place to live.., Well, like Barry sings: "take a look around boy." As an individual, we all should want to leave the world better, and the idea that making more money, is one way to contribute... As a 15 plus year social worker, in the trenches, working in group homes for barely minimum wage, for being paid next to nothing for actually going onto the streets to help homeless veterans, to give in THAT WAY. Truthfully, it is irritating. We have BILLIONS, nay, TRILLIONS of dollars since 1968 funded by the wealthy, the well off, those that focused on making theirs, and untold number of foundations, and not for profits with their CEO's earning a quarter of a million dollars a year...while someone like me, A guy who worked one to one, was "in the field", on the front lines of social work, who actually did the work which would make things better for people, and barely scraped by financially...I find that tune (of wealthy contribution) to be a little off-key. Now all of this "negative skepticism" doesn't keep me from a positive attitude and hope for my children. I taught them to find things they love to do, to help people in need, and that giving of one's time is every bit as important as giving money. Giving money is the easiest thing in the world to do.* But when you take a hard look at how so much wealth was "earned", and at the cost to the masses of workers...well, it gives one a slightly different perspective. I am starting to think, not about leaving the world a better place, but whether or not we'll be leaving a world at all. But I do like the safe harbor, and thinking that if I make it there, THEN, I can do the world some good. Gordon * Big pharm, who gave us opioids and made billions, have given a few million here and there. Last edited by GordonJ : August 9, 2019 at 11:19 AM. |
#4
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Of course, what you say has a lot of merit... There are a lot of things here to "unpack!" The saying, "leave the world a better place than you found it"... Those are Harvey's words... I actually use a slightly modified version, which is "leave the world a better place than it would have been if you had never lived." So, the meaning there is a little different... The world could be going to hell in a handbasket, but it still might be a better place than it would have been if you had never lived. The reality is we live among - what is it, 8 billion people now? I can't control what the other 7.999 billion people will do. I can only control what I can do... Now, when it comes to money, money can be a multiplier. So you can have more power and influence with money. Money can be used for good, or it can be used for evil. So, if we now add something Harvey does add - he adds: "...leave the world a better place (than it would have been if you had never lived) ... to the maximum extent possible." The idea is one person can do a lot of good... but, by (for example) hiring 100 people to do the same thing... Johnny Appleseed can go around the USA planting apple trees, so people would have food to eat. But if he had employed 100 people to do the same thing as well... anyway, that's the gist of it. The last thing I think was the actual means of earning the money - it has to be by doing good too. That's something I strongly believe in... So, yeah, you can make money being a hit man. Or a shoplifter. Or a pimp. But, I don't believe any of those things are doing good in the world... Or by raising the price of insulin so it's multiple times higher than anywhere else in the world, and people die, but you get a few more dollars in your bank account. (For example.) Not good. But, on the other hand... You can make money educating people (as we do here on Sowpub), or by creating a tool that probably over a million people or more find useful (like Harvey has done), or even by building fences, fixing people's plumbing, helping them get well if they're sick, and so on... So, I think it all needs to be in harmony... How you make the money, as well as what you do with it... For me, this essentially boils down to motivation. It may sound strange, but I'm not really motivated by money... It just doesn't excite me in itself. Or even material things. My Dad was an economist, and he never bought a new car in his life. The only time in his life he had a new car was when he married my Mom, because his Dad (my grandfather) gave him a new car as a wedding gift. (In contrast, I heard that my grandfather, who was a farmer, would buy a new car every few years...) However, my Dad - being an economist - always said that cars greatly depreciate. For example, you might buy a new car today, in 2 years time, it might be worth half as much! You just lost half the value of your car... But, if you buy a second-hand car, the depreciation is not as much as a new car... So you save money buying second hand cars instead - both on what you spend initially, and on "depreciation" (which is how much the car goes down in value every year). As I said - he was an economist... Anyway, the point... I believe there was one... Oh yeah, motivation. I'm not really motivated by money... (Sacrilege!) BUT... I am motivated by trying to do good for my loved ones. And in trying to make the world a better place - or, at least trying to make it a better place than it would have been if I had never lived... I think, so far, my contribution is net positive! (That's my feeling, anyway...) Best wishes, Dien
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Last edited by Dien Rice : August 9, 2019 at 11:19 PM. |
#5
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Fly with me back in time, to when you came to beautiful Cuyahoga Falls to "pitch" me the idea of SowPub. If memory serves, I was somewhat reluctant to get involved in another forum, because, at that time, I felt my "voice" had been censored by those with other forums. You assured me, I would be heard. And along with you NOT being motivated by money, if you remember back then, almost 20 years ago, some of the forum and bulletin boards were generating early GURUS, and more than one had the "fake it to you make it" attitude. Remember the guy who used to use different names to post on his own threads at his own forum? Those type of shenanigans gave me interest in your idea. It would be hard to find those early videos (thank Goodness for old hard drives which still work) of a few of those guys revealing the TRUTH, about telling fibs to get followers. HA! Anyhow, here at SowPub, we focus on business, but even from day one, and before that we were in agreement that MONEY wasn't to be only focus, and that wealth of wisdom, riches of experience, depth of knowledge and respect for humanity weigh as much on our scales as would the gold. We agree, money is necessary. And there are 1001 ways to go about making it, earning it, and keeping it that do not involve any questionable, moral or legal line crossing or even skirting it. The fact you were never about just the MOOLAH, and had that helpful nature is the reason there is a SowPub at all. And, with a few chest thumping, egotistical exceptions, all have been welcome here to share their wealth, in whatever form it takes and others have been welcome to partake of the shared wisdom. We've been fortunate to attract some pretty decent people, who happen to be successful marketers, and to extract some gold from their lives too. Hope it continues. SowPub is unique in the world of forums, nothing else like it out there. Glad you were such a good salesman on that warm Summer day on the veranda of the Sheraton Suites. Thanks. Gordon |
#6
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![]() Have you found that the same types of business folks are taking part in this forum as they did in the beginning?
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#7
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I have more interaction via email than I do at the forum. And I think today's visitors, or most recent "members" are NOT as Entrepreneurial as they were 20 years ago. Just MY opinion, today, the younger people are either looking for something quick and easy and don't want to work or they are more technical. Just me speaking, but I find other forums to be more engaging, or actually, Facebook groups. Few forums hold my attention and fewer still offer solid, real-life advice from tested and proven ideas. Too much blind leading the blind, and what I see in forums, blogs and YouTube and Facebook...all social media is people want a voice. Yet most have nothing to say. Gordon |
#8
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![]() Sounds like there could be an opportunity.
If all the young folks are doing the online thing or just hoping their deal will work electronically without physical work, then the "old" ways of doing things will become "new" again. Might be interesting to find out. |
#9
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At times I wonder if this could be due to the sort of get-rich-without-thinking "business opportunities" being peddled these days While I feel social media has its place in helping with research and monitoring trends, I also feel many people online are still looking for some "secret key" to the vault. With so much time devoted to seeking the "secret", who has time for "boring" stuff like testing and one-on-one conversations?
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#10
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These have always been out there. Maybe, not as saturated as today. If you spend any time at all online, you will be bombarded with them. They have always looked for the secret key, and many a now old GURU, revered and bowed to, gladly sold it to them. I put the blame, not on the marketer or even LIAR in many cases, but on the ignorance of those who are easily duped. I was 10 or younger when I learned a few lessons: Money doesn't grow on trees. You don't get paid for doing nothing. If it sounds too good to be true, measure thrice before you cut. And even Marlon Brando, said to Frank Sinatra Re: An ear full of cider. https://youtu.be/vtBwoinDS18 |
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