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As Robert Frost said in the last sentence of his poem The Road Not Taken: “Two roads diverged in a wood, and I — I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.”

Every day we are greeted with issues, decisions, challenges, and options. Each of these is a prime opportunity to face the divergence in the road and decide: Good or Bad. In truth, the decision in front of you is simply two moves on the chess board of Life. Each leads to another move from your opponent (Unhappiness), and then another move, and another, and so on. If you are not 99 years old, deaf, dumb, and blind…there is good news: you have a CHOICE.

Should I be happy or should i be ____(something else)_____?

Buddhists say that everything is void of Good or Bad. That it depends on your perception of the situation; and your situation as it relates to the actual occurrence.

That doesn’t mean that your life is a random event; like some macabre carnival game, pitching our fate with a random roll of the wheel. It means that the determination of Good or Bad is in the hands of the Beholder.

Because no matter what you Perceive to be obvious, you have a choice to behave un-obviously.

This is called Faith.

Faith is choosing to Believe in something you do not see at present. There is no factual data to support the Belief. As you deal with the vagaries and uncertainty of life, Faith gives you the option to Choose. Which path shall I take?

The common path, which is usually that of the flotsam and jetsam of humanity, or the less common path: The Road Not Taken.

The Road Not Taken is Faith & Optimism. Deciding to see the choice you made, whatever it may be, as Happiness. Then taking action, taking that first step down the road, which is: Strength, Empowerment, Life’s Journey, Intuition, Clarity, Power, Subconscious Victory, Will Power… all of which lead to Self-Mastery.

There are two alternatives to this Decision to Accept Happiness. One is that you see the step taken as something that chooses you; an Action you were not in Control of making: Destiny, Fate, Self-Defeat, DNA, Spiritual Forces, The Will of God, Familial Obligation, Race, Gender, Situational Economics. The other is to choose to do the same thing you have Always Done. This has the false appearance of being empowering for some people. If it’s the same thing you always say or do, then it is not empowering you.

Anything that dis-empowers you, that takes Control out of your Hands, and puts it into the hands of anyone or anything else (including your own habits), is dis-empowering. It is the Actions Leading to Self Mastery that Empowers you, and leads to Happiness.

For example:

* I drink too much. I will choose to slow down. (ding: a decision). * I will act upon this decision (ding: action). * I recognize failure is human (ding: reality). *I forgive myself before failure happens, if it happens; although not avoiding responsibility (ding: self-acceptance). * And I am taking this journey, this Step…because I BELIEVE I can Win (ding: Happiness through Self-Empowerment).

Try choosing to walk the Road Not Taken: not even necessarily the one not taken by others; but the road not taken by you, the last time you faced this very same issue. I know when I am finding problems in front of me and behind me, I go left or right. And if yesterday I stepped on dog-shit on the left, my decision is pretty easy.

Try Different-ness.

“If you don’t like something change it. If you can’t change it, change your attitude.” – Maya Angelou

Some related links:

The Road Not Taken – Robert Frost

Meaning behind Shinedown’s Sound of Madness

Shinedown – Save Me video

Shinedown – acoustic version of Simple Man

DC Talk – Consume Me

It Ain’t About How Hard You Hit – Rocky Balboa

Ok, ok… I admit it. Despite having made fun of the ‘weak’ people who see or have seen a therapist of some sort… I have been to one on and off for the last couple years. He says I am crazy. I already knew that; can I get a refund?

I will admit it’s nice to be able to just gab, blab, and blubber in someone else’s paid and professional care. Men who habitually pay for female companionship know exactly what I am talking about…a lesser known skill taught at pole-dancing school is listening to the client B&M (Bitch & Moan) about their often self-perpetuated self-abuse.

That said – let me sum up professional therapy, and the Champagne Room counseling session, and save you thousands or even tens of thousands of Benjamins: Read more

Rules to Follow When Making Decisions

In the last ten days, I’ve taken on the job roles previously assigned to four people (including me). When you have an almost insurmountable amount of work in front of you, you get very good at making decisions and delegating.

Making decisions – this is crucial for leadership. Most people are scared to make decisions, captured by the fear of risk. What if…? And their mind fills in fears, the weight of the decision looms- even grows- and they then use some personalized delay tactic.

Thing is… Leaders lead. If the journey of 1,000 miles begins with a single step, then we see that nowhere more exemplified in the ability to make decisions.

I have some underlying rules, related to my own behavior, that I almost religiously follow when faced with decisions (weighing the risks of two partial unknowns)… to the extent that they are habitual. Read more

I haven’t posted on this blog for over a year.  Lots of reasons why; but it starts with my life was “messy.”  Someday I’ll have the guts to put it all out here, but for now, I don’t.  Let’s let it suffice to say that I have had some major life changes and been through many humbling life learning experiences.  Those that are applicable to business or personal development, I promise to someday share. In the interim, I have decided to start re-posting on this blog, and to re-focus the intent of my postings. So first, let’s assess WHY I am posting and to WHOM I am focusing my message.  These messages are not for the nameless sea of faces we call the “internet,” but for the people I refer to as friends, employees (current, past, and future), and family.  I want them to learn from my experiences and my viewpoints.  Right or wrong, I hope they can benefit from the learning opportunities I have had, resulting from the decisions I made and actions I took when difficult problems presented themselves in my business at Pop Labs.

Read more

I love people sometimes; they come up with every possible excuse and self justification for their own actions. Usually focused on how somebody else’s actions or thoughts are the REAL reason they turned into a sloppy, irresponsible, broke jerk wad. So…I decided to sum up some of the more effective methods of thinking and acting like a loser. The next ten steps are not in any particular order, you can choose any combination of the ten below in order to prove to the world how awesome at NOT being awesome you really are:

Read more

I’ve taken way too long to list out ten simple rules…but here are the last two. I’m currently at the San Jose Search Engine Strategies Conference and about to attend the Google Dance…so I gotta type fast…Mecca calls (at least for my industry). Remember, these were in order of task completion or at least as you will become aware of the issue they address as your business evolves from wild-ass idea to something you can pass on to your kids (or dog if you are a loner):

Read more

Your people…that’s who!!! What people? Employees, vendors, investors, and customers. Note: I did not put the customer first. The customer does not ALWAYS come first…because some customers are better off being sent to your competitors. Great post on that right here…I’ll write more on my vehement belief that customer service is crucial but clients do not always come first. Back to that later; on with the countdown: Read more

Continuing the list, Number 4: If it is good enough for Rudyard Kipling, it’s good enough for me -

The Five W’s (and one H) of SALES. Many a great idea has died a slow and painful death due to no cash to buy food and drink for the human beingswho are building this new enterprise, many an army has lost the war before ever entering battle from a lack of supplies. Business is no different. Cash is oxygen. Cash flow is created through the production of sales. I must admit, this is a subjectI can wax poetic about for a while. Sales can be one of theleast appreciated, albeit oftentimes highestpaid, career paths in existence. Bottom-line though is this, new businesses need to generate cash. Cash can be easily generated from sales. Sales don’t happen by accident though, and they rarely happen virally. They happen through a planned target for customer acquisition and servicing. Thus…Rudyard Kipling’s poem:

I keep six honest serving-men
(They taught me all I knew);
Their names are What and Why and When
And How and Where and Who.

Read more

This guy rocks!

If you’ve seen Entourage you either love Ari or hate him. Even if you hate him, you probably admire his bulldog tenacity, his superbly quick wit and his insanely funny sharp tongue. Played by Jeremy Piven, the character is a cartoonish version of an all-sales-all-the-time-super-performer.

Here is why I love Ari Gold…. he is the physical representation of capitalism at it’s best. Supreme confidence. Awe inspiring. Ari is all business all the time: “Playboy mansion, strip clubs, whore houses, I go where the meetings are…its my job.” – Ari Gold Hear more Ari one-liners here (not for the feint of heart).

In real life, we cant all be like Ari …but we can duplicate his work ethic, his aggressiveness, his tenacity and his drive to win. In Ari’s case, he is already rich. Its not about the money, it is about the will to win. The desire to prove who is the BEST agent in town. Read more