Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Painting Circles

The holidays went pretty good this year despite not going to Florida.  I have taken the family to Florida for the past several years and it was a bummer not to see the beach.  Not looking for pity here, but we decided not to go for many reasons, the first because I didn't want to spend three days in the car.  The rest has to do with peace of mind stuff that wouldn't interest you in the least.

I stayed around the neighborhood mostly, got to spend a lot of time working on next years plan of attack.  And attack it will be.  I seek to stay busy and focused;  putting forth energy in the right areas, a more narrowed focus on business, a lazerlike, stealthy, mysterious, cat, wolf and eagle demeanor all mixed into one. Like Rocky Balboa running to the top of the stairs in a beaten up old sweatsuit, it's gonna be a good year Apollo.  Check, New Years resolution.

I thought we would start of with a quote from the pontificator...

...I have learned a thing or two about the biggest cliche in American entrepreneurial culture--think outside of the box.  It costs money.  And to be quite honest, while people take a lot of interest in collaborating with an "out-of-the-box thinker", some end up on the shirtsleeve of the doer, incapable of fortuning the costs and mindset of a "start up" or "start out"...    

I don't mean this to be disrespectful to anyone seeking to emulate the secret of getting noticed, executing an idea, a plan, a vision, or capitalizing on any opportunity at any given moment.  But there is certainly a line drawn between creative endeavor and the safety circle.  Where do you reside?  Inside of the circle are most of the things necessary to get things off to a good start; stuff that parallel the basics of success; like start up cash flow, adaptability, knowledge from others, experience from varying degrees of success, the basic understanding of how to balance without a safety net, intuition and the ability to use it. 

To me, its those who fail to go into the circle who risk the most--those only interested in feeling how warm the water is in order to keep from jumping head first.  You get nothing from this and the longer you sit on the edge of the water, clinging to somebody else, the less you get, the closer you get to drying out.  The journey starts when crossing the line, diving in.  Without doing so, the journey remains on the bevnap of beer blather.  Not a bad thing in all cases. There are exceptions too. Just don't expect something for nothing if you are glued to somebody else as your only strategy to moving forward. 

I could give a ton of examples of how I have shaken people off when they needed to go.  Indeed there have been a lot of folks coming and going in my world, and I have disappointed  more than I have inspired.  Perhaps I did them a favor.  The jury is still out on how "things" will "end up" for all of us.

What things will be acknowledged? What are these things that we seek to get out of accomplishment?  Is it a time and place?  Is it tangible?  Or is it an overall perception of others towards our accomplishments?-- is it the material possessions that we have accumulated?--or is it the story telling from the journey, the legacy?

Ending up?  Is it like a huge banquet announced with a full page editorial in the business journal?  A reception, an acknowledgment where I am seated at the head table and my list of paid guests file in to give respect for me being the greatest inspirator?  What happens after that reception, after the meet and greet, after the roasting, the parting words, the afterparty.  What the hell is left after ending up? 

Screw ending up.

Like I told a friend of my the other day. Paint your canvass the way it outta be, you are the artist and the one capable of providing the imagery.  You will always need to express yourself, you will always be painting.  What part of the circle are you on in your masterpiece?--ifyouknowhatimtalkinbout.