What are these dumb hash marks over my words and text on my P-Touch Label? I didn’t know either and I couldn’t find it on google, so I posted these two photos to help folks out. Check it out here.
http://www.drewandtracey.com/~stuff/PTouch/ – End of Tape Indicator
I was watching the news tonight and they showed a holiday tree lighting somewhere in Boston, Massachusetts. This was the most pitiful Christmas tree lighting job I have ever seen. Charlie Brown’s tree looked better than this. They took a number of strings, starting at the top of the tree and dropped them straight down the side of the tree. Each string was about 18 inches from the next. It had no shape, it had an uninteresting color scheme that almost clashed with itself. The bulbs appeared to be all different sizes. more »
I was in Barnes and Noble this week with my wife. She was hunting for Christmas presents, so I occupied my times checking out the management, real estate, and investment sections. I picked up a copy of “The Four Hour Work Week” and decided to skim through it while Tracey dug through the teenage literature racks. I came across a story that struck me as very pertinent
Timothy Ferriss was communicating how he ruthlessly eliminated all distractions from his life. He apparently spent hours each week dealing with people on his supply chain, answering questions about how to hand complaints and problems from customers. Since time is money, these distractions were costing him a lot of both. He opted for the following solution. Ferriss instructed each person in his supply chain that he was no longer their customer, but rather, his customers were their customers. more »
In the 29th chapter of King Solomon’s book of Proverbs, he writes,
“Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.”
You cannot cast vision like one casts a fishing net: simply fling it out into the water, wait a few minutes, and then pull it up to see what you caught. You must cast vision more like a fly fisherman throws his lures. Each lure is hand tied and specific to the type of fish he wants to catch. The fisherman dresses in the proper gear, has a very specific rod, weight & color of line, size hook and is intentional about every aspect of his sport down to final detail of where he casts his bait. And once out there, he doesn’t simply allow his bait to sit on the water. Unlike a child’s fishing rod with bobber, sinker, hook and worm, one doesn’t just wait for a bite. A fly fisherman works his lure like an artist, painting a picture on the surface of the water, working the fish he is after into a frenzy where they don’t simply just desire food, but genetically, their DNA & inborn instinct forces them to inhale it.
Regardless of what line of work you are in, if you want to cast vision with excellence, you need to follow the example of the fly fishermen rather than the net chucker. more »
Yesterday we talked about the power of your name and reputation. It’s more valuable to you than a 740 credit score. If your word doesn’t mean anything, how can anyone trust you? You need a certain Trust Quotient, a certain amount of trust in the bank, gas in the tank, in order to get anything done. Much like the system of credit and debt on which the world financial system is currently based (I know, you thought it was based on money… it’s not, it’s based on debt. Nearly every business that’s ever started in recent years started after taking a loan from investors.). Anyway
In our discussion yesterday, I made this statement, “There is a difference between productive failure and unproductive failure.” I think this is worthy of breaking down and discussing a little further.
What is failure. Is it the opposite of success? Is it simply not achieving the desired outcome? Is it merely the point at which one gives up? more »
Your name & reputation are your most valuable assets
Dad always talked about the importance of having a good name and a solid reputation. If you lost your job, your money, your car, your house, etc… if you had a good name, there was nothing that would stop you from rebuilding. Your name, your reputation, people’s perception of your work ethic, honesty and integrity is more important than your credit rating. If his boss ever had to let him go, dad wanted to be sure that he’d write the best letter of recommendation that dad would ever receive.
Lee Greenwood wrote a song in 1996… more »
You might be an excellence bug if…
The thing that ticks me off is that no-one truly cares anymore. And what makes me want to jump off a cliff is the appearance that it doesn’t seem to bother anyone either. We are perfectly content with half-ass work.
It doesn’t bother anyone when the plumber has to come back three times to fix a leak. It doesn’t bother anyone that the drywaller left ruts and dimples and dents and airpockets or that you can see all of his seams through the paint. It doesn’t bother anyone that the mason who installed the tiles on the floor or your new bathroom wall, didn’t bother to make them all level, preferring instead to leave the corners high. Contractors who don’t erase or paint over pencil marks. Installers who believe that fast and good enough is more important than a job done right. more »
There are only 4 approved methods for coiling an extension cord, microphone cable, speaker or video wire, or a garden hose. There is 1 method, which if used, is punishable by death or torture. And every one of our Master’s Commission students are extremely familiar with these methods.
Master’s Commission is a 9 month, leadership training program for young adults ages 18-25. We have students show up at our door every August who are eager to learn everything that we have to teach them about life, service, personal growth, and more. But the first two things we teach them more »
The secret to your own success lies not in pursuing that success yourself, but rather in helping the faithful stewards around you in their pursuit of their success. By planting seeds of success in others, you will harvest a reward of success far bigger than you ever possibly could have by working your own field.
Please remember this… No-one owes you a job. My father was always one to be at the office before his boss, and he always left after his boss. And he made sure to make his presence conspicuous. He often repeated a few phrases when he explained this practice. more »
Before this blog will benefit you, you need to examine your attitude about life, and work, and your purpose here, and decide what your mission in life is. As you work that out, I would encourage your determine which role you most often play. Are you an owner, a steward, a hired hand or a Beggar?
Many business professionals find great pride in their title as owner. If you are the owner, that means more »