Setting up TOS Charts Part 1

What do Mohammed Yunnus, Sarah Palin, Bill Gates and Rush Limbaugh have in common? All of them have endured stinging criticism, had obstacles put in their way by the powers that be and have achieved astounding success by beating back the “conventional wisdom”.

Sarah Palin is the latest victim of the conventional wisdom crowd that is seeking to define her as a quitter and unable to stand up to obstacles and difficulties. Although this story is still being played out in the Mainstream Media there are glimmers of greatness in her methods and genius in the delivery of her message. Many people see the future of the Conservative Republican movement in her message and are inspired by her life story and the direction she is now taking as she prepares to leave the position of Governor behind. Others can’t stand her and view her as a threat to the policies they hold sacred – namely abortion, feminism and equal rights; as well as their political power.

The political class and its followers cannot fathom her reasons for leaving, even as Gov. Palin laid them out in exacting detail: 1) I’m not running for re-election 2) I don’t want to be a lame duck governor wasting the taxpayers money; 3) I am transferring power to the Lt. Governor who will continue the agenda we started ; 4) As long as I am governor I will continue to be attacked by operatives who will raise dubious charges (like the 15 that were all dismissed) ; 5)Fighting these charges is costing the taxpayers money and wasting time; 6) Fighting these charges has also has impacted my family finances; 7) I can be more effective in spreading my message across America as well as defend my family as a private citizen instead of Governor.

If a non-political guy like me can figure it out, why can’t the polical savants in Washington DC and New York? Political conventional wisdom suggests you stay in office on the taxpayers dime as you seek higher office. Political conventional wisdom says you NEVER mean what you say and say what you mean or ever give a REAL reason why you are doing something. You ALWAYS say “it’s for the children” or “it’s for the poor”. Political conventional wisdom suggests that the most important thing is to get elected and STAY elected because of all the “good” you can do (for the previously mentioned children and poor). Political conventional wisdom says you NEVER give up power amd always seek to increase your power and influence (again for the children and the poor). Political conventional wisdom says you NEVER go outside the box that the mainstream media draws around you and when they say you are “finished” you might as well give up.

I believe Sarah cares more about her state and its taxpayers than her own personal ambition. I also believe she is freeing herself up for a major campaign to help Republican Conservatives spread a consistent message of low taxes, smaller government and more freedom. Time will tell whether Gov. Palin will succeed. However, the seeds of success are present in her actions, as her opposition keeps reporting on how she will fail because she is not following “conventional wisdom”.

Let us take a quick look at how conventional wisdom dealt with the others mentioned at the beginning of this post:

Mohammed Yunnis turned the entire concept of banking on its head by creating Grameen Bank which makes micro-loans (very small amounts) to the poorest of the poor. Starting first in his home country of Bangladesh in the 70’s, Yunnis discovered that the best way to help the poor help themselves is to provide small amounts of capital. These micro-loans (usually not more than $25 US) enable the poor (mostly women) to control the means of production of any number of small businesses from which they earn a profit.  They pay back the loans, sometimes a penny at a time, and the loan default rate is less than 5%.  The borrowers are organized into small groups to help each other and keep everyone accountable for the debt.

Previously the poor would have to work for a third party or borrow money at exhorbitant rates and generate barely enough to feed the family for a day. Yunnis ran smack into a wall of “conventional wisdom” when he tried to present his idea for helping the poor with micro-loans. “These amounts are too small for us to bother with” ; “The poor don’t pay money back”; “They are illiterate they can’t even write their name or fill out an application” were some of the responses he received when he took his idea to bankers.

Despite the opposition from local bankers, central bankers, government bureaucrats and even the World Bank, Yuniss built Grameen Bank into a global enterprise helping millions of poor through the simple idea of micro-loans. His story can be found in Banker To the Poor.  The idea of micro-capitalism is an idea that can revolutionize impoversished populations anywhere.

Bill Gates through his company Microsoft made computers more personal and fun. Once the domain of scientists and engineers, computers were reserved for air conditioned rooms with hordes of specialists to attend them. As the hardware became smaller and cheaper Gates had the vision of a computer in every home that was easy to use by anyone. Conventional Wisdom said that computers are too complicated for untrained people to use or that only a BIG company like IBM or DIGITAL can make it happen . But Gates achieved his vision and revolutionized the industry making the information age possible.

Rush Limbaugh has lost count of the number of times he was told “You can’t do that!” by conventional wisdom when he was building his talk radio career. When he makes the claim that “He is Talk Radio” it is not far from the truth. His syndicated show is broadcast on over 500 radio stations with a weekly audience approaching 20 million listeners. Whether you agree with his politics or not you cannot deny he knows how to hold an audience and charge “confiscatory advertising rates” to the benefit of himself, his advertisers and the industry.

The problem with conventional wisdom is that it is so….. conventional. It is the middle of the pack, the average, the majority, the fat part of the bell curve where most of us live. To be excellent means breaking out of the pack and exposing yourself to the mundane critics who are content in their mediocrity and attack anyone who thinks they are capable of being more then average.

As for Sarah? You go girl! I agree with your policies. I agree with your message. I also look forward to the first female president being a conservative. Now wouldn’t that just drive the liberals nuts!! Sorry Hillary.

Routine Success
Second of a Series

Ok. So you have your goals written down in a SMART manner(If not please review the post Where have you been? Where are you going?).  You know what you want to achieve (S-Specific).  You know when you achieve it (M-Measurable). You have a general idea what to do (A-Action Plan).  You know why you want to achieve it (R-Relevant).  You know the date when you want to achieve it (T-Time bound).   Now what??  All the goals, and may I also add, dreams, wants, desires, aspirations, hopes will NOT come into existence unless you begin to take action. 

Many goals never see reality because we are too busy.  Remember that a goal is a "planned conflict with the present".  Meaning that in order to achieve your goals you will need to insert the items of your action plan into your daily routine.  It is called a "conflict" because the goal action is going to collide with all the other things you want or need to do.  It is called "planned" because you decided to do it.  Every moment of every day is a decision point.  Do I work on a goal item or something else?  Whether you are conscious of it or not, you make a statement of what you value most, by what you get done.

Where most goals fail is in the execution of the action plan.  If we fail to take action on a goal it will begin to lose the urgency it had in the beginning. In addition all kinds of other feelings and emotions begin to pop into our daily thoughts.  Here are some common emotions and the thoughts that accompany them whenever we try to make meaningful change:
    1. Fear - "I never did this before"
    2. Impatience - "This is taking too long"
    3. Doubt - "I can't do this"
    4. Laziness - "This is too much work"
    5. Rationalization - "Why do I want to do that, everything is fine"

I am sure you can come up with your own list.  All of these whining voices have one thing in common.  They want you to stay in your comfort  zone.  Here is a little tip.  All meaningful change happens OUTSIDE your comfort zone.  Most of the time we are pulled out of our comfort zone by other people and events.  Isn't it time we planned our own change for a meaningful difference??

Remember that the 'A' in SMART stands for Action Plan.  The"action" part is going to be the most fluid part of your goal plan.  It will be the main focus of this article.  So how do we combat our natural tendency to stay in our comfort zone and effect some meaningful change in our lives by achieving our goals??  You need to make it a habit.

By "routine success" I mean you need a Success Routine.  Certain steps you take every day to insure you are moving in the direction you have decided.  People who consistently achieve success have mastered this very simple success routine that I am about to reveal.  In fact they have so mastered this technique that they don't even think about it, they do it.  In fact, you are doing it right now with all the results you are currently accomplishing.  The trick is to apply the same process to those things outside the norm.  Outside the comfort zone.

Step 1 Decide to act
Step 2 Take some action to achieve the result
Step 3 Evaluate whether the action brought you closer to achieving the desire
Step 4 If you haven't achieved the goal yet, change your approach and repeat the process.

With basic wants and needs it easy.  For example:
1. (Decision) I am hungry, i wanna eat
2. (Take action) you look around for something to eat and find a candy bar and eat it
3. (Evaluate) I'm still hungry
4. (Change approach and repeat) Probably need to go out for pizza or do some shopping

As the above example illustrates we are already using the 4 steps of the success routine to take care of our basic needs and mundane maintenance.  The challenge is to integrate these steps with the action plans of our Goals, and begin the process of achieving them.  This routine needs to become a habit. In the end we determine our priorities by what we DO, not by what we PLAN to do.

Step 1 Decide
Write down every task you either need to do(because of outside forces or situations) or want to do (goal actions or other desires).  This becomes your action list for the day.  Each task should be a single task that can reasonably be done within the daily time frame.  Large or complex tasks need to be broken down into smaller tasks and scheduled over several days.  Each item needs to be prioritized with an A, B or C.  The priority system uses A for vital tasks, B for Important tasks and C for "Would be nice to do tasks". Priority has nothing to do with the due date but with the relationship of that task to your goals and values. 

The next step is to sequence the tasks in order of priority.  Sowith all your A tasks which is the most important to you?  That is your A1 task.  By going through this process for the A's B's and C tasks you are creating the work plan for that day.  Now in the case of a task which is time sensitive you can mark those with an asterisk(*).  Those are the tasks of a work of maintenance nature which need to be done and have consequences if they are not completed today.

Step 2 Take Action
Start working the list and checking off the tasks as they are completed.  When is a task completed?  When you don't have to think about it anymore.  This is the reason to make your tasks simple and doable in a day.  Something magical begins to happen when you start to see your tasks checked off.  Whether its confidence or the feeling of accomplishment or something else, there is power in getting things done. 

As to the order of the tasks you work on, that is totally up to you. Your A level priorities may deal with your family which you can'taccomplish until you are home.  In addition, work related prioritiesmay change because of your boss or other reasons.  Either way, as youcontinue to review your list and check off the completed tasks you havea record of how you spent your time.  Which leads us to the nextstep....

Step 3 Evaluate Your Actions
So how did you do with your list?? I can almost guarantee you had more "tasks" than "day" to completethem.  If not, then you are under scheduling your day.  You need tomove out of your comfort zone and turn the heat up a little because youwill not accomplish more, until you push yourself to accomplish more. The best time to evaluate is either at the end of the day or when yourepeat the process at the start of the next day when you buildtomorrows list.

So what DID you accomplish??  Were the quick hit B and C taskstaken care of at the expense of the more important A tasks?  This dailyevaluation process is often skipped by many people.  This is because itshows what was actually done rather than what was planned.  Realitybites us sometimes, especially when we think we have it all undercontrol.  This evaluation process needs to motivate us to do somethingdifferent.  Which leads to....

Step 4 Change Approach and Do it all again, but differently!
Asthe saying goes "Tomorrow is another day" so what will you dodifferent?  First you will rewrite your daily list for today's tasks. Anything that wasn't done, gets moved to the next day unless you candelegate it to somebody else or just drop it entirely.  Now, justbecause something was an A task yesterday doesn't make it the sametoday.  All the tasks need to be prioritized again, but this time withthe self knowledge we acquired back in step 3 along with the newpriorities and mundane maintenance of today.

A wise man once said "Insanity is doing the same thing every day,and expecting a different result".  So STOP THE INSANITY!  Learn fromyour past actions ( I won't call them mistakes)  and start moving inthe direction of your goals.  You will be glad you did.

The song "Johnny One Note" is about a poor guy who can only sing one note.  But he can sing that one note so well as the song goes:

Cats and dogs stopped yapping
Lions in the zoo
All were jealous of Johnny's big trill
Thunder claps stopped clapping,
Traffic ceased its roar,
And they tell us Niagra stood still.
He stopped the train whistles,
Boat whistles,
steam whistles,
Cop whistles,
all whistles bowed to his skill

It's like the old saying.... 'When the only tool you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail'.

So why is the Obama Administration's only policy is to SPEND more money???

Financial Markets failing???   Spend more money!
Healthcare Crisis???   Spend more money!
Climate Crisis???  Spend more money!
Countries mad at us???   Apologize for "American Arrogance" and Spend more money!
Country headed towards recession?     Spend more money!
Unemployment heading for double digits?    Spend more money!
Foreclosures on homes people could not afford?    Spend more money!
States can't balance their budget shortfalls???    Spend more money!

Within the first 100 days of the Obama Administration more dollars have been committed and deficits created than ALL the previous 44 administrations combined!  I especially like it when congress allocates billions of dollars to be spend but then doesn't specify how the money will be allocated!  Yet the mainstream media hasn't uttered a word about the levels of record spending compared to the howls of indignation when Bush wanted 25 Billion to continue funding our troops in Iraq.

i cannot imagine 3 years and 256 more days of this.

In the 1975 movie "The Stepford Wives" a new couple moving into the town of Stepford, CT find all the women strangely "perfect".  It isn't until later we discover all the so called "perfect" wives are actually robots that have replaced the real women.  Sometimes I think that is what has happened to the majority of the voting population of the United States.  They have been replaced by robots who blindly choose the "D" or "R" candidates based on their party affiliation.  Don't get me started on the "I" voters who pride themselves on their commited, non-commitance.

What I want to know is where is the "P" candidate???   That's "P" as in Principles over Party or Personality or even Policies.  Principles resonate with people.  Mainly because principles describe reality... and reality, or at least a sense of reality, is something we all share.  That is where the challenge lies, for a "sense" of reality is not the same thing as reality itself.  For example:  the reality that is Barrack Obama may be a lot different from the sense of reality the voters had about him when then voted him into the office of the President of the United States. 

Getting back to principles.  Are the principles that Barrack Obama articulated and displayed during the campaign the same principles he  is articulating or displaying in his life?  Or even his Presidency??  The principled answer should be the same whether you consider yourself a "D" or a "R" or even an "I". 

So "Stepford Voters", enjoy yourself while you can.  But be carefull of wishing and voting for a candidate who will give you everything you want.  You just may get it.

Where are you been?  Where are you going?
First of a Series

Like the backward and forward looking Roman god Janus (for which the month January is named) this is a time of the year we review what we have accomplished and think about where we are going.  However,beyond a few spoken, half-hearted resolutions to family and friends about some kind of change we want to make, a majority of us let time and habits determine our destination.  Far too many  wind up in situations not of their choosing.  So the question to ask yourself is "If I don't know where I am going, how do I know when I get there?"

Everyone has goals.  What you think about or feel, you generallydo something about.  If you are hungry, you eat.  If you want money, you work.  If you are bored or lonely you fill your time and attention with people or distractions.   But what about the BIG stuff you want to Be, Do or Have??  For that kind of achievement you need Goals that cut through the day to day needs and distractions and half hearted resolutions of the New Year.

What kind of BIG stuff, you may ask??  Well that is for you to decide.  But it all starts with a pen, some paper and some dreams. Because a GOAL is nothing more than a DREAM with a DEADLINE!  Believe me it pays to write them down and review them EVERY day.  The only way to create the future you desire, is to take action in the present.  NOW is the moment of effectiveness where you are either moving towards your goals or not.  So instead of drifting around in the sea of life, why not set course for the destinations of YOUR choice. 

Here is a condensed version for how to do it. 
1. Write down your dreams, wants and desires in the following format:
    I must (be, do or have) [insert the situation, or object of desire here].  Notice the emphasis on the word "must".
   This is not the time to be wishy-washy.  Tell the universe what youwant and its already in the works.  Read up on "The Secret" or "The Law of Attraction".

2. Take each "I must" dream statement and make them SMART. There is a lot of info written about S.M.A.R.T. Goals here is a summary:
Goals Must Be:
S- Specific - The universe hates generalities.  The more detail you can write about your goal, the more real it is to you.  So use your imagination and describe it detail.One technique to to imagine yourself already having achieved the goal.  How does that feel?

M - Measurable - How many?, How Big? How Much??  Whether its a Cholesterol score or money in the bank... Whats the number?

A- Action List - What are the steps you need to take in order to achieve your dream?  This will change and might not be clear in the beginning. But as you start on the journey it will become clearer what you need to do.  The trick is to start.

R - Relevant - Do I really want to do this?  Does it conflict with my values and beliefs?  How is it related to my other dreams?  In other words -- What is your WHY for doing this??  Another hard question that needs to be answered.  If you don't believe in the dream, you won't want to work on it during the inevitable "down" times.

T - Time Bound - When do I want this goal?  What is the schedule of accomplishment.  If you don't have a deadline, all you haveis a wish.

3. Review these goals EVERY DAY!!!  Have them in your planner or in your pocket written on a card or someplace handy.  The "noise" and events of the day will distract and delay and push you off course.  Take some action on at least one of  your goals every day.  NOW is all the time you have to make some kind of change.

In closing remember:
Yesterday was History.  Tomorrow is a mystery.  But Today is a Gift.  That's why they call it the Present.

Now!! Go make something happen!!

Well I have broken my gamefast by continuing my new character in Mass Effect.  Though its after 1 in the morning I should be good until 3am slaughtering the Gek.  i have already decided on my next set of behaviors to modify and stuff to do without.  It's in the same entertainment genre as gaming and runs pretty close in its intensity of experience.  So goodbye behaviors and activities until February.

Watching the ball drop and seeing the Clinton's push the button really just turned the whole televised aspect of it sour.  Just what I want to see, Bill and Hillary dancing, like that time on the beach on vacation.  Puh-leese!  We all hugged, even the kids!  We toasted the New Year!  Even the kids!  Then we finished the game we were playing, ate some wings and said goodnight. 

Not me!  I  blog and now I will play.  This whole week in the stock market has been pathetic.  Most of our group is not even trading it.  Generally stocks have been going up but there is no volume.  I expect a big drop on Monday when everybody comes back to trade.  Very soon we will be starting to use Webex on our calls, courtesy of the Investools Community. It should make the trades and illustrations go faster.  I am considering starting a new investor call, since many of the new people have been getting lost on some of the trades we have been doing. 

Ok enough.  Cmdr Shepard is waiting for me to take the Normandy out and kick some Gek butt, so off I go.

Well the long, dark tea time of my soul (sorry Mr. Adams) will be ending soon.  My experiment is self control and will power ceases at the stroke of midnight.  It wasn't as bad as i thought it would be.  I just felt I missed out on some good entertainment experiences.  Tonight should go pretty fast.  Finish up work, grab a nap, some dinner.  Some friends are coming over to ring in the new year. Maybe I'll be too tired to play tonight??

I feel like a dieter deciding what food to break my fast with as I look over my game selection.  Should I jump back into Fallout 3, nah too dark and depressing.  Left 4 Dead??  Something about zombies and after midnight I am sure will keep me up.  I don't know I'll figure it out.  I just want to blow up some stuff.

So what will be my challenge for January now that I have my gaming habit under control?  Looks like I need to look over my goals for the  new year and see what other behaviors I should challenge.  

Pres. Elect Obama has asked Rick Warren, pastor of the Saddlebrook Church to give the invocation at the Presidential Inauguration.  If you follow politics you will remember that Pastor Warren grilled both candidates on National TV with the same questions.  It is obvious that the President-Elect is making a play for people who don't agree with him.  But I have to credit the pastor for having the guts to accept. 

The fact that Pastor Warren is catching heat from both sides indicates to me he is right where he needs to be.  First the left rails on the pastors stand on abortion, gay marriage and immigration calling him intolerant, homophobic, and close-minded.  Then the right attacks him for accepting as if by doing so he is giving Barrack "cover" and support and even approval on the issues. 

I think Rick Warren has the right idea.    Go where he will not be accepted.  Speak truth to those in power and let the left rant and rave and show their true nature.  The founder of Pastor Warren's  faith did just that over 2000 years ago.  He went to the poor, the indigent, the unwanted and unwashed masses, where the religious leaders of the day wouldn't be caught dead.  He preached about forgivness and mercy and justice and about how to truly worship God.  Jesus ticked off the religious (Pharisee's) and the civil (Roman) leaders at the time.  The rest as they say is history.

With apologies to Steely Dan.  What I miss most about gaming is the intellectual stimulation and interactive entertainment.  I am faced with another long weekend that needs to be filled with things other than what I crave the most about gaming.  Immersion into an alternate reality. 

There is also the variety of experiences I can choose.  From medieval combat to futuristic role playing, not to mention WWII and living through a zombie apocalypse.  I also think I might have fallen off the wagon by accident.  In early December the GWJ Podcast mentioned a new game called Auditorium which I innocently launched and played for a few minutes.  It is a flash based puzzle game where you redirect streams of sounds towards speakers to make music. 

I mention it now because it is most definitely a game, and I may have inadvertently invalidated the purpose of the whole will power exercise.  Come to think of it I wonder if playing break out on my Blackberry disqualifies me from my original purpose.  Here is the technicality.    Games are games whether browser or cell phone based.  But my original idea was to forgo the Wii and PC for pure gaming purposes, which I have done. 

Well 12 days to go.  You can bet on New Years I will be cranking out the Rock Band and Left 4 Dead as I engage in an orgy of virtual destruction, mayhem and Rock -n- Roll!!   Party On Dude!!  (Sorry I just finished watching Wayne's World last night).