I went to a Toastmasters meeting organized around business and technology people.
I love both, especially the 1st, and the 2nd to the degree technology can solve people’s problems and allow them to profit personally, professionally, or financially.
For example this blog is technology. I first puzzled out my life-and-attitude-altering written statement on a word processor, and I’m listening to free streaming trance music as I type.
Never was there a century with more opportunity, more change, more chances to love at a distance (Jacqui) and to bridge that distance spiritually and in person.
The young entrepreneur- business owner- president of the Toastmasters club paid me a huge compliment at the end by saying he thought I would fit in there. He referred me to an experienced Toastmaster who is a member of a club which meets once a month for a meeting about humour!
(Just awesome — now I can join 2 clubs and still have time to complete education I want at my own pace, work passionately for the right company when I find it, driving their profitable client acquisition growth, and… this is where it gets truly exciting… asking me if I might want to talk over some business ideas with him.)
Of course, I was honoured and I’d love to. I think this might be one of the 2 clubs I’ll join. I’m waiting to hear back from an email I sent.
The other Toastmasters clubs are awesome. Unfortunately, I only have so much time and must be forthright with myself about that. Some of my biggest interests are business and humour… and I want improvement in both.
Speaking of which, I spoke again today, near the beginning of the meeting! My 1:30 second table topic speech, with 20 seconds over, was on the question, “Does money motivate people?”
I gave a speech and since it was impromptu, I wouldn’t be entirely right in saying I remember what I said.
The gist of it was yes, it does motivate, but it’s only one of many things and for most people, is not the main motivator. Family, expressiveness, pleasure, companionship, moral values, immoral values, ideas… these are the things that motivate people and only a small percentage of the population is motivated to earn big money, anyway.
You have to have a reason to want the money for the effort required to earn more than your immediate needs. This inspires more than a desire for fancy paper printed with the faces of assorted deceased notables.
Hence all the above plus money, yes.
If money was the main motivator, well… there wouldn’t be a lot of use for bridge clubs. Or for that matter (completely different motivations at stake)… night clubs.
On the subject of motivation, my thought is this.
It’s a 2-edged sword.
Everyone says they want more motivation, but do they? Should they?
Here’s the thing.
If a person without thinking it through properly possesses unhealthy goals and a negative attitude as their dominating thoughts whatever their stated thoughts, and they become more motivated… you can see what problems that can lead to.
The reverse of that is you have a positive, clear vision of something really worthwhile… whether that’s your wealth or better yet what you intend to do with your wealth, a change you want to make in the world, an example you want to set (think Amelia Earhardt who wanted to have adventures and prove women can be as brave as men), or some other aspect of people’s noble motives combined with a positive mental attitude…
… well, motivation fueled into that purpose is what blazes a trail forward in any person’s life. We all feel it from time to time. The hidden key I only recently discovered to my delight and benefit is how to persistently reflect on your purpose. There is a way. Some people do it naturally and it can also be learned.
Persistently.
I’m not talking about being persistent in pursuit of your goal. You won’t be if you let other lesser things take its place as the cares of the world or the distractions of pleasure take over your thoughts.
I mean persistently reinforcing your most important thought, your purpose, your desire, until it’s a burning obsession… then keeping the oxygen on it.
If you care about this, I suggest you read my business website carefully… carefully… because I outline it there and reveal resources you can use to learn more and understand it fully. However, I plan on pulling the plug on that business site once it has helped me accomplish my next major business goal.
So if you get there and it’s either not working or it redirects to another site (where I’m now working), and you’re really wanting to understand how to persistently stoke your purpose in life to the point where you find yourself clouding out all your old self-doubts and replacing them with the finest parts of your nature… the parts you’re only used to seeing once in a while “by chance”… if you’re serious about that… then you can write to me at my contact link at the top of this page above the website header and I’ll point you toward some people smarter than myself who, in a very nuts and bolts almost scientific way (backed up by actual science!) know how you can do it.
Top athletes do it. Matthew McConaughey does it. You can too.
Today was a good day.
I woke up and started on my 10 daily next actions, including exercise, eating healthy, saying aloud my statement of purpose, visualizing it, and both reading and listening to specialized useful material.
It got better.
Because I had prepared for it, I went into my first sales opportunity job interview of the day and it went well. Hands down. It was a wonderful conversation for both of us and I’ll say no more at this point.
Walking back to my car, I saw a B2B technology company’s office, rang the buzzer, and made a cold call. The VP of Business Development was not in, but I did leave a note on the back of my business card. I will follow through on my promise to contact him on Friday. I’ll do it by letter because he works from home.
Driving to my 2nd appointment, I was listening to Dale Carnegie’s classic book How to Win Friends and Influence People.
It’s such an amazing book. I have violated every principle in it more than any man who has ever lived, except perhaps for Benjamin Franklin. He used to be very argumentative and undiplomatic with people, and went on to be one of the most persuasive, effective communicators in history. This despite the fact he was not a gifted speaker.
I’ve been learning.
For example, I was writing down names of people in my journal shortly after meeting them because a person’s name is important. People are important and worth remembering.
My 2nd interview was for a more junior position. The person interviewing me said it usually lasts 5 minutes and then, “Why don’t you try it out?”
In my case, it was 90 minutes of back and forth ideas, brainstorming, stories, and we both walked out of the office and out the parking lot together in total rapport. The manager is thinking about creating a new position for me because he sees some of the big picture possibilities of our thinking — in my case, new thinking, frankly — and yet my nuts and bolts methods for actioning them.
I’ve had skills for a while, but I didn’t have a great ability to control my mind and emotions in a lasting way. Now I do since I found a set of education and training I learned for which I’m eternally grateful. What a difference.
I have total calmness because I fully understand if one opportunity doesn’t pan out for me, I will uncover 3 others.
In fact, people who’ve seen my website, email, brochure, etc… haven’t seen my marketing plan. They think they have maybe. But not really, not fully. The most powerful part of it hasn’t been unleashed yet because I simply don’t have time.
I’ve been making great contacts with the lower levels of the plan, and the admittedly higher touch networking. For example, and I really do want to serve my community… I decided to be a better person, I would join a service club.
So I recently sent emails to 3 service clubs, and the President of one and his Membership VP both want to talk with me about selling opportunities.And I haven’t even met them in person yet.
The club President in particular represents a well-known company whose top representatives earn in the half million range, I am sure.
But… the company I met with this morning looks so exciting, with such growth potential, I wouldn’t jump on such an opportunity as above without deep thought.
In fact, tomorrow I have another interview with an agent sales department of a Fortune 100 company. Average earnings are about $50k/year with the top 25% of sales reps earning $80k an up.
And that’s awesome. It could be a long term career and I intend that it will be if I start. I’m incredibly excited by the thought.
So I have options and I will explore them carefully. And when I act, I will act with lightning speed. “Ready, Fire, Aim.”
I sent a handwritten appointment confirmation letter to one prospect, an emailed one to another, thank you cards to the people I met with today, emails to 2 people from the Toastmasters meeting, a personal email to the first person I met with today on the subject of one of her personal passions because by “chance” I met someone who might maybe have a way for her to do what she does better.
And that chance occurred because I was there and struck up a conversation with that person! For no other reason.
And isn’t that what business should be about? Helping people.
Back to my table topic speech evaluation. The evaluator said:
- Good opening
- Good eye contact
… and he also said I should:
- move around more because by coming forward, I include the audience in what I’m saying
I take that as a great improvement because I moved beyond the lecturn in my speech whereas on Monday I was “locked” behind it! Also, I left my pen behind and did not grasp it to distract people.
Yet my speech wasn’t near the best.
There were wonderful speeches about an Italian architect with revolutionary luxury futuristic environmentally friendly skyscraper designs; eliminating procrastination, having more joy through planning, and building life-changing self-confidence; and even some mathematically intensive and fascinating technical understanding of public-private key encryption.
That last one was better than it sounds, at least if you like to grasp how things work so you can explain the benefits in plain hard hitting language.
Toastmasters is an outstanding organization. You should come out as a guest sometime if you don’t already do so. And yep, you can keep your religion and politics out of it. It’s all about learning how to speak well, listen well, and gain the benefits of (personal and wider) leadership.
Except when it comes to women, where I have impeccable taste, Jacqui has better taste than I do.
For example, her Christmas present for me included a horizontally striped brown polo shirt, which goes against all of my internal “rules” on what I should wear: to wit, horizontally striped, brown.
Yet it looks great on me.
I spent the last few days designing a website header graphic and/or business logo. Whatever I liked, she didn’t like. Then I’d ask a friend. And she’d say, she doesn’t like it either.
Whatever I didn’t like much, Jacqui did. And her tastes forced me to create a new one I like even more!
For starters, here is my old business header graphic. I liked it, but very few other people did. Rob Neppell, founder of blogging and media consulting company Kithbridge, told me it was the least professional aspect of my site.
So… naturally… I developed this cartoonish logo with a child’s faux clock.
Then I remembered all the cheesiest self-made real estate salesperson websites and vacation time-share sites and said, “I can do that!” I really liked this one. Jacqui hated it and said it looked like something a flashy loud salesman would use. Oi!
I next returned to B&W simplicity. I thought the checkmark was so cool because you see I make bulleted lists and check them off when I’m done and… Jacqui said it isn’t cool.
She liked this one though. No checkmark. I liked the border especially and she said it didn’t work because of my photo to the left of it and another image to the right… so it broke everything up.
She really liked this one. I didn’t! So plain. I showed it to a friend of mine and she liked it too. She also hated the other ones I liked. I began to notice a pattern.
So why not take my favourite picture I’ve taken, a night shot of the ocean and Washington State near my home (click above image to see), and turn it into a website header graphic? This was MY favourite so far. Bear didn’t like it. Neither did my friend. ‘Cause it was dark. Dark! It suits the website. “But you can’t really read the text.” Hm. “And you can’t make out the background ’cause it’s so small while the original is big.” Ugh.
Then I hit upon a new approach and spent a significant amount of time on it. Since I use machine labeled manila file folders like there’s no tomorrow, why not go with a folder? And, better, I can colour code the top so when a person clicks on my coloured navigation tabs, the top changes colour. Sweet! I loved this. It was so cool. Jacqui didn’t like it, but oh well. Can’t please everyone. ‘Xcept my friend hated it too.
So I pushed forward and made this:
—
That’s by far my favourite one, and Jacqui likes it too. It also makes good letterhead:
I’ve been looking for a place for a while and finally found a good one… I’m very happy.
When I started, I told myself I would not settle for anyplace as I’ve made the mistake of doing before. It had to be:
- Walking distance to work downtown
- Near the ocean
- 1-bedroom so I can use the bedroom as a home office
- ≤ $800/month including heat, hot water, and electricity
What’s more, the landlord (whose name and address I will withhold as per LJ’s Privacy Policy) struck me as fair.
We used the standard government-recommended tenancy form designed to protect both landlord and tenant’s rights. Her other tenant seemed to think the world of her and she left a great impression. She was so kind that she navigated from my business website and read this one… even, unlike most people, figuring out that the flashing red light on the right, which says:
… really is the best place to start.
We agreed on terms for each of our protection and it was NOT one-sided as so many landlords, in my opinion, unfairly request.
Now the good companies like Brown Bros., where I recently rented for 13-months before going to Perth, Australia on vacation, aren’t like this. Their tenancy agreement is fair, balanced, and substantially the same as the government recommends.
Now I can turn my attention to back to health, fitness, generating a second source of business income in addition to my day job, as well as starting a modest investment program.
At least these are fun things to think about!
It’s true.
I’m having a fantastic time.
Bear (Jacqui) is the most wonderful woman I’ve ever met, except for my mom, and I’ve had the time of my life. That’s as that song goes, but I’ll be nonplussed if it ain’t so.
We’re now in Mandurah, a busy and friendly tourist town south of Perth. Bear’s in the apartment we’re staying at and I’m going for a “walk”.
I could talk about all the touristy things we did, but instead I’ll mention I accomplished some important personal things on this trip I’ve been meaning to do for ages, at last wrote and launched my business website, ChristophDollis.com, and learned who Bear is.
She is as magnificent as I had dreamed.
You know how when you have the “hots” for someone, you make them all perfect in your mind and then months or years later you discover to your chagrin that it was all in your head?
Well, through thick and thin, problem and pleasure, Bear has been her wonderful self, only surprising me by how she rises to the challenge, not that she does.
My grammar may not have been the best, but I hope you catch my meaning. And she’s fun.
During this trip I have stayed variously with her family, at a luxury eco-resort burried in the bush, at a caravan/trailer park, briefly with her husband and wife pastors (yes, it’s a fact), and now at a lovely split level apartment in Mandurah. Her family were especially gracious, the peaceful chalet awesome, the trailer park had a pool under the palm trees for my daily swims, her pastors and their family loving and close, the apartment ideal, and the ocean swimming, scenery, and wildlife, out of this world… yet the highlight has always been the same… the subject of this site.
I set out to find someone special; it wasn’t an accident. And such is the way with most great things.
ILY,B
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