The Educated Emotion

RECAP FROM LAST WEEK'S POST ON REFLECTION: The important thing is to incorporate what we see going on behind us into our decision making, while maintaining our focus and speed moving ahead. That is the beauty of taking time to reflect on your business performance even when you are doing okay --you can focus on your strengths and build up your weaknesses. Get over it, people. Monday morning, with all its tricks and detours, comes each and every week. And, as an entrepreneur, I can attest to how Mondays never get better. Even with an alternative schedule, Monday morning still finds me. All Who Wander Are Not Lost I am a wanderer. I don't even expect my to do list to be touched Monday morning. Not that it doesn't; I just don't beat myself up about spending a couple hours reading and "listening" online. In my parallel universe, where I live as a writer, it is important to wander to find future readers and build community. Performance and Change Facilita...

For the past few weeks, the topic is sharks and quite possibly the most popular "B-Movie" buzz on social media to date is Sharknado. The SyFy channel movie, which aired for the first time in July, has been a social media mega-success, making it more successful online than the ratings. Sharknado Proves People Want to Be a Part of the Conversation Studies have shown repeatedly that people like to be a part of a community. However, Sharknado proves it. People don't have even have to watch the movie to know what it's about. A tornado casts mean and hungry sharks out into the land. A trailer shot shows a hero defending himself against an air-borne shark with a chain-saw. It's so predictable that you almost know what the movie will look like ahead of time. What content marketers didn't see coming was the social tornado that Sharknado would create online. On Facebook, 85% of the modest 13,000 fans were "talking about" Sharknado on July 24. Toda...

You reap what you sow....eventually. This, in a nutshell, is what keeps me motivated and dedicated to success. I believe that I will be rewarded proportional to the amount of work I do. Unfortunately in today's society we've started to glorify instant gratification like overnight celebrities, 'get rich quick' schemes, and 6 Minute Abs. We've engrained these ideas into our heads and now, if we don't see results instantly, we're not doing it 'right'. As sole founder and developer of Hooopla, I was immediately successful with the 1st release of Hooopla for Android , but what is success ? Success is progress. “Success is the progressive realization of a worthy ideal,” Earl Nightingale said. If I have a worthwhile dream and I'm progressing toward this dream, I am successful. My goal is to make fun spontaneous and, even with Hooopla 1.0, I was one step closer to making that a reality. Excellence is a journey, not a destination...

How can the success of someone who won 415 awards, including 6 Grammy's, be in question?  In a hundred years, someone can listen to a song from Whitney and be encouraged, find enjoyment, and learn from one of her performances. Life, love, and details of the human experience are in each note. As fans and loved ones mourn the life and voice of Whitney Houston , thousands of gossip pieces are being published each hour. Whether someone derives energy and motivation from her life and victories or  condemns and laments her slow-motion death and struggles is clearly a choice. Although it is difficult to fathom why anyone would choose the former, we see people make that choice everyday. Outcomes-Based Assessments Don't (Always) Reflect Loyalty and Consistency In business, assessments are primarily outcomes-based. E specially in technology, interest and activity is heavily centered on staying ahead, being first, knowing what's new. It is easy to get caught...

Do you remember when you knew it all? When you had an answer for everything and everyone? If so, you probably recall that you were somewhere between the ages of 13 and 25. By the time you hit your 30's you realize that you know almost nothing - that this universe is much bigger than the human brain. As an adult, each day you are faced with more to learn, to know. As marketing professionals, it is important to make sure that you have knowledge and skill but wisdom to use them effectively. You may be "all tech" but that doesn't mean your customers are. Understanding your audience is as important as understanding your product or service.