How do you know when someone is into your products/services?

A little late, but I’m calling out my biggest inspiration of ‘09!

It was time for solitude this weekend! Here is a little video about why and how I do it. Remember, “you don’t have time for anything, you have to make time for everything!”

In my opinion, financial weight is 3 or more times heavier than any other kind of weight.

It is heavier than relational weight. It is heavier than “what should i do?” weight. It is heavier than “I shouldn’t have done that” weight. When I worry about it, I can feel the worry in my bones. In fact, it is so heavy that it sometimes drives people to kill themselves.

On BusinessPundit.com I read an interesting, and very sad, story of a billionaire with no hope:

Consider German industrial tycoon Adolf Merckle, who threw himself in front of a train after investment losses broke him of his will to live.  In a statement, family members said that Merckle’s companies’ financial losses, coupled with losing speculative bets on VW stock, were what caused the 74-year-old to take the dramatic action he did.

According to Reuters:

Merckle was ranked as the world’s 94th richest person in 2008 according to Forbes magazine and his family controls a number of German companies including cement maker HeidelbergCement (HEIG.DE) and generic drug company Ratiopharm, but its empire was rocked last year by wrong-way bets made on shares in carmaker Volkswagen (VOWG.DE).

Banking sources had told Reuters the family lost hundreds of millions of euros on investments, with losses of about 400 million euros ($539.4 million) on Volkswagen shares alone.

It has been in talks for weeks with banks to renegotiate loans.

I don’t propose an answer beyond this: Money does not define you. It is not who you are or what gives you value. It is valuable for basic necessities and beyond that, it has little value. Only one of excess and comfort.

Money, empires, and power all die with you. And you don’t live very long.

I would suggest being passionate about your family, your spiritual/physical/mental health, and your integrity. In doing so, you will be free to use money as a tool, not your source of hope.

Lately, I’ve been pondering why anticipation seems to be much more fulfilling than the object of my anticipation itself.

Did that even make sense?

Look at it this way:

• Did looking forward to what you’d be getting for Christmas bring much more joy than receiving the actual gift on Christmas?
• Was the expectation of the Ben Harper show more gratifying than the two hours you actually spent at the show?
• Was the anticipation of your new Coach purse better than the purse itself?
• Was your delight at the thought of a new season of “The Office” more intriguing than the episodes themselves? (ok, maybe not in this case.)

You get the point.

Why do you think this is? The obvious factors to me are the length of anticipation compared with the length of the event itself. It makes sense because as I look forward to a concert that is still 3 months away, I have plenty of time to dream, and salivate, and wonder what new songs they’ll pull out. As I am at the concert, two hours can pass very quickly….and flash! It’s over and people are filing out…

When looking from a business perspective this phenomenon should hold true also.

• Was the anticipation of starting your business more electrifying than the humdrum of daily operations.
• Was the anticipation of getting rich more fulfilling than actually being rich?
• Did the thought of your new building stimulate you more than actually being in the building?
• Was hiring a new employee much more fun in theory?

I don’t presume to hold the answer to this question. I am very much seeking it.

Do you think the answer will be more rewarding than asking the questions?

Always questioning—
Jared Lyda