Month: January 2023

How to win more by loading your dice before you roll them.

The most successful people I know have taken significant chances. The universe is willing to pay out great rewards. But it requires you to put something on the line to prove you deserve it.

I first learned this lesson from a piece of cross-stitch art in my childhood home that said The turtle only makes progress when it sticks its neck out. You can learn a lot from cross-stitch philosophy.

The great barrier to success is your willingness to take a risk. Most people simply aren’t willing to risk enough to earn a great reward. They play it too safe. But the safe harbor you think you are anchored in is not nearly as safe as you think. (And there is very little safety in safes as Geraldo Rivera showed us.)

The relative lack of safety everywhere means that you should risk it for the biscuit. Always bet on yourself. But it is easy to lower the risk in your risky endeavors. In fact, there is a maxim I adhere to every time I take my chances:

Load your dice before you roll them.

Whenever you take a chance, like ABBA, take as much chance out of the situation as possible. You can do this by taking on opportunities where you have the greatest chance of winning.

Remember, not all playing fields are even. Choose to play on fields that are tilted in your favor. And tilt every board you compete on in your direction by knowing and playing to your strengths.

Take on battles where you have advantages. Lean on your relationships. People advantages are often the greatest advantages of all. Choose opportunities where your proximity is a strength. Compete where your category knowledge is high. It’s what Alex Trebek would do.

Count the cards. Know the decision makers. Do your homework. Study patterns. Start a business in a space where you have great expertise. Then do what hedge funds do and create situations where you win no matter what happens.

Key Takeaway

Take the chance out of the chances you take. Know your strengths. Play to them. You will significantly increase your likelihood of success. Which will ensure that you win more than your fair share of victories.

*If you know someone who could benefit from this message, please share it with them.

+For more of the best life lessons I have learned check out my book, What Does Your Fortune Cookie Say? from Ripples Media.

The greatest teacher of all time doesn’t work at a school.

One of the great mistakes you can make in life is studying things to death. By this, I mean that you read and research the things you want to do. And then you die. Your life is full of studying, thinking and preparing. But never actually doing. This is a big mistake. Huge. Like Julia Roberts said.

Most people think they need to prepare to get started. But they are never prepared enough to go. If you subscribe to this philosophy you will never meet the greatest teacher of all. Because she isn’t in your books. And she isn’t part of the PTA in Harper Valley.

The best teacher in the history of the planet is action. Action provides immediate lessons, feedback and progress. You learn by doing. You do not really learn by not really doing. I think Dr. Doolittle said that.

You learn to play a game by actually playing the game. This was true on the playground. It’s true in board games, video games and head games. (Just ask Lou Gramm.) It is also true in the game of life and in the great game of business.

As an entrepreneur, I learned how to start and run a business by simply jumping in and doing it. I learned more in the first week I launched The Weaponry than I learned from all of the books, magazines and articles I ever read.

I’ve learned how to coach sports by jumping in and doing it, while I was still totally ignorant. (Now I am just 3/4 ignorant.) Each step you take teaches you what you should do next. It’s how Mark Zuckerberg invented Facebook. And why the Winklevosses did not.

Key Takeaway

If you really want to learn how to do something don’t study it. Do it. You will learn more and faster by taking action than you could through any other approach. The more action you take the more you will learn. You are already prepared enough. It’s go-time.

*If you know someone who could benefit from this message, please share it with them.

+For more of the best life lessons I have learned check out my book, What Does Your Fortune Cookie Say? from Ripples Media.

The best thing to do after you set your goals.

Like a soccer player, I am goal-oriented. I always have been. I set goals in all areas of my life. They challenge me. They motivate me. And they make it easy to track my big-picture progress.

However, I also recognize that my ultimate goals are really lag measures. They are results. Or outcomes. Or accumulated totals. And if all I ever did was focus on my lag measures, I would be unlikely to ever achieve them. Which would be laggravating

The secret to achieving your goals is to focus your attention on the lead measures.

The lead measures are the inputs that are likely to lead you to the results you want.

An Example We Can All Relate To

I have a big birthday coming up in May. So I set a goal of weighing 210 pounds by May 25th. I picked the number because it is what I consider to be my ideal weight, where I feel and look my best. For context, I weighed 215 lbs when I graduated from high school and 211 lbs when I graduated from college. But I have been as heavy as 224 lbs within the last 6 months.

But I don’t obsess over the number 210. And I am not dieting. Instead, I am focusing on the 2 lead measures that impact weight loss:

  1. Calories consumed
  2. Calories burned.

It’s that simple.

I weigh myself first thing every morning. That gives both a progress report and a baseline for the day. I write the number down every day to track progress over time. Because if I can measure it I can manage it. (Which I think was a quote from Stanley, the retractable tape measure guy.)

I eat every day. But I don’t eat beyond the just-full feeling. (Which is better than that not-so-fresh feeling.) This means I am eating what I need. But I’m not taking on excess food or calories. So my lead indicator is ‘Did I eat past just-full? If ‘no’, I have a positive meal experience, and I give myself a tally, Ali. I want to have 3 of those every day.

However, I also track my calorie burning. In fact, to improve my calorie-burning habit I bought cardio equipment for my home gym so that I can burn calories every day that I am home. Each day I track whether I burned calories through deliberate exercise of at least 30 minutes.

By focusing on my lead measures I am taking actions that are leading to predictable weight loss. Today I weigh 214 pounds. And I have 4 months to lose 4 pounds. Which is quite manageable. Or woman-ageable.

But Wait, There’s More!

On my quest for self-improvement and achievement, I track several other lead indicators:

  1. Hours of sleep at night: This is a great indicator of energy, mood, productivity and Zzzs caught.
  2. Books Read Per Month: This is my indicator of increased intelligence. I want to read at least 2 books per month. One of them can’t be a picture book.
  3. Hours spent writing per day. This is a great indicator of how many blog posts I will publish and pages I will write for my next book. If I write for 1-2 hours every day, my progress is steady and good. By doing so I can usually come up with one funny joke per day. (As judged by me, which is totally cheating.)
  4. Hours spent on business development per day. I am the Founder & CEO of the advertising and ideas agency The Weaponry. Which means that I am responsible for growing the business. The most important thing to know about business development is that you have to plant seeds in the spring if you want to harvest in the fall. So I track the time I spend planting. #WWJAD (What Would Johnny Appleseed Do?)
  5. Placing water on my vanity each night: Drinking water is a valuable part of my health plan. It helps with my mood, and alertness, and makes me feel full, which prevents overeating. I track whether or not I set a glass of water next to my sink each night. Because if I do that I drink water first thing in the morning.
  6. Dates with my wife per month. This year I want to have at least one date with my wife every month. It is an important investment in our relationship. You can’t just set the goal of having a happy marriage. You have to spend quality time together, talk, and focus on each other regularly to achieve the goal.
  7. Speaking events per month: Since publishing my book What Does Your Fortune Cookie Say? I have had a lot of speaking opportunities. These enable me to share more positivity, inspiration and valuable life lessons with the world. I can track my positive influence on others, in part, through the number of talks I give.

Key Takeaway

Set measurable goals. Then determine which lead indicators you can measure to track your effort toward achieving your goals. Your lead indicators are great predictors of success. Focus on the lead measures and they will lead you where you want to go.

*If you know someone who could benefit from this message, please share it with them.

+For more of the best life lessons I have learned check out my book, What Does Your Fortune Cookie Say? from Ripples Media.

If you want to be an entrepreneur the great limiter is you.

I thought about becoming an entrepreneur for a long time before I summoned my inner David Lee Roth and actually jumped. In fact, I thought about starting a business for nearly 2 decades before I launched the advertising and idea agency The Weaponry. Which means that, unlike Geddy Lee, I didn’t rush into anything.

Once I had my entrepreneurial awakening in the summer of 2015 I began generating income within just a few months. I officially legalized The Weaponry as an LLC (yeah, you know me) in the spring of 2016. And while I have physically looked back since then, I have had no regrets.

Over the past 7 years, I have learned a lifetime’s worth of lessons about entrepreneurship. (Starting with how to spell the word itself.) But the most important thing to know about entrepreneurship is this:

The entrepreneur is the great limiter of the business.

10 Ways Entrepreneurs Limit Their Business

  1. You will be limited by your energy and ability to work hard.

2. You will be limited by your network and willingness to reach out and connect.

3. You will be limited by your ability to recruit and hire. (Think about it. There must be hire love.)

4. You will be limited by your willingness to create standardized processes.

5. You will be limited by your ability to give up control to others.

6. You will be limited by the size and scope of your vision.

7. You will be limited by your ability to control your greed and keep your hands off the cash flow, Gordon Gekko.

8. You will be limited by your ability to grow sales to scale your operation into a more effective and efficient machine.

9. You will be limited by your creativity and willingness to innovate

10. You will be limited by your risk tolerance. If you are not willing to walk the tightrope to the promised land you will never get there.

Perhaps most importantly, there is no one else to blame if you don’t become an entrepreneur at all. And if you are an entrepreneur, there is no one else that will prevent you from growing your business’s annual revenue to $100,0000, $1,000,000, $100,000,000, or $1,000,000,000 per year. That’s on you.

As the entrepreneur, you are both the gas pedal and the brake. Most people are afraid to take their foot off the brake, and as a result, never get going. Which means they never see where their journey could have taken them. Don’t let that be you.

Key Takeaway

Find your entrepreneurial gas pedal. Get going. Keep going. Then go faster. It will be your willingness to go, grow, create, and accelerate that will determine how far your journey takes you. We all have a limited amount of time. So go while you can. Realize that you are the determining factor. So be determined to be more.

*If you know someone who could benefit from this message, please share it with them.

+For more of the best life lessons I have learned check out my new book, What Does Your Fortune Cookie Say? from Ripples Media.

Why it’s better to look for the truth than for someone to blame.

The world isn’t perfect. It isn’t always fair. And things go wrong all the time. This is well documented by Murphy’s Law, and in every episode of Seinfeld. Just ask Mulva.

Since you are technically part of the world, you are not perfect either. You sometimes do the wrong things. You make mistakes. You react too quickly and make poor decisions. You don’t always control your temper. Or your tongue. Or, your thumbs. (Which are like modern Jobsian tongues.)

When things go bad there is a natural tendency to blame. Humans have an innate ability to draw quick conclusions and simplistic explanations. Because it is much easier to judge than to seek understanding.

This is a massive mistake.

Blaming is a lazy response that prevents you from investigating and discovering the truth. Blaming discounts your own responsibility. And it discounts the complexity of the universe and human interactions. That’s why, as Phil Dunphy might say, when you blame, you be lame.

Key Takeaway

If you want to live a better life stop blaming others. Commit to discovering the truth. Look at the facts. Explore all sides of the story. Ask questions. Don’t make accusations. Consider your own role and your contribution to each situation. Truth seekers and blamers see the world differently. And only one of them gets it right.

*If you know someone who could benefit from this message, please share it with them.

+For more of the best life lessons I have learned check out my book, What Does Your Fortune Cookie Say? from Ripples Media.

One of the greatest pieces of advice I ever received was in French.

Several years ago while working in Montreal, I got a small piece of valuable advice. I was working with my good friend, director Guillaume de Fontenay. Guillaume is a French Canadian from Montreal. Guillaume is the french equivalent of the name William. So I assume that in french Billy the Kid is called Gilly L’enfant.

Guillaume and I playing Ebony and Ivory in Montreal.

One evening at dinner Guillaume shared a story about an interaction he once had that greatly angered him. He said his natural desire was to verbally lash out at the other person. But the point of the story was that he didn’t lash out. Instead, he replied with something smart and considered. Guillaume confided,

‘We have a little saying in French for when you are angry…’

Il faut tourner sa langue sept fois dans sa bouche avant de parler.“

-Smart French Saying

Guillaume translated this for me as: Twist your tongue seven times before you speak.

It is very good advice in any language.

Twisting

It is important to think before you speak. Since hearing this saying I have leaned on it countless times. And it has never failed me. It works at work and at home. It works with strangers and friends. It works like magic when you are seeing red and your blood is boiling. It works when you have something sharp on the tip of your tongue. It works when you feel salty, disappointed, or jealous. In fact, the only time I have found it doesn’t work well is when you are in the dentist’s chair. Because those people have work to do. (Sorry Faith and Dr. Tina.)

But This One Goes to 11

I can also say that in my anglophone mouth, it is often better to twist more than 7 times. When you are angry or emotional it is often best to hold off until the next day, or the next week before responding. Which can mean a lot of tongue-twisting. Like sister Susie sitting on a thistle as she sells sea shells at the seashore.

But perhaps the most important lesson I have discovered through the employment of this très bon advice is that after tiring your tongue out through the twisting there is no longer an urge to speak at all. And no response to the people who have angered, offended, or irritated you is often the best response of all.

Key Takeaway

Twist your tongue 7 times before you speak. More if necessary. It will give you time to think. It will give your tongue time to cool. And it will prevent you from saying things you later regret.

*If you know someone who could benefit from this message, please share it with them.

Note: In French, tourner actually means turn. But twist is what Guillaume said. And the saying sounds cuter that way.

+For more of the best life lessons I have learned check out my book, What Does Your Fortune Cookie Say? from Ripples Media.

The antidote to your ignorance is to keep an open mind.

It is easy to believe that your perspective is right. After all, your perspective is a product of the truth as you know it. But your perspective often has shortcomings. And blind spots. Which doesn’t mean that your spots can’t see. But that you don’t see parts of reality. Like Kanye.

Blind spots come from biases. They develop when you arrive at conclusions prematurely. And just as a premature baby is fragile, a premature conclusion is the most vulnerable of perspectives. Which makes them unlikely to survive outside the conclusion NICU.

If someone challenges your perspective, listen to them. They will often offer more information, which makes you better informed. Be willing to alter your ideas, stories, and opinions when new information is introduced. Adopt a growth mindset. Seek truth and understanding. It’s the wisest choice.

Key Takeaway

Assume there are things you don’t know. Recognize that you are drawing your conclusions based on limited or biased information. The antidote to your own ignorance is openmindedness. Invite new perspectives. Listen to dissenters. They offer you valuable gifts.

*If you know someone who could benefit from this message, please share it with them.

+For more of the best life lessons I have learned check out my book, What Does Your Fortune Cookie Say? from Ripples Media.

Breaking News! The world is much better than you think!

Things are good. And getting better.

That is the real headline for today. And every day. Consider yourself informed.

The news media is incentivized to bring you bad news. Never forget that. Because we are far less like to tune in to the good news than the bad and the ugly. As a result, the media aggregates all the bad, alarming, and attention-getting news they can scrounge.

Politicians, lobbyists, and documentary film directors serve up negatively distorted pictures because it serves their purposes. They are selling an angle. And it’s more likely to be obtuse or acute than right. #geometry

If you stopped taking in the news you would stop hearing about every bad thing that happened in far-flung places that will never impact you. Because things are generally good in your near-flung places.

There is a common belief that the world is falling apart. It is not. It is growing and improving year after year. Children are being educated and vaccinated. Life expectancy is going up all over the planet. Technology is making lives easier and better. Vehicles are safer. Quality of life standards are going up too.

Phones no longer have cords. They have cameras, calculators, calendars and Karma Chameleon anytime you want to hear it. Plus you have social apps that enable you to connect or reconnect with every friend you have ever had. That would have seemed unbelievable 20 years ago. But this much is true.

We don’t have everything solved. But we are collecting the knowledge, tools and technology to address every challenge we face. Like Andy Grammer said, It’s good to be alive right about now.

Key Takeaway

2023 could be the best year the people on our planet have ever experienced. Yes, bad things will happen. But recognize all the good things that are happening at all levels, around the world. Do your part to continue the progress. Recognize when others have an agenda to share a negatively distorted view of the world. And turn off the news. 99% of that stuff doesn’t impact you. Life is good. Enjoy your day.

*If you know someone who could benefit from this message, please share it with them.

+For more of the best life lessons I have learned check out my book, What Does Your Fortune Cookie Say? from Ripples Media.

How to share your best ideas all over the world.

In the fall of 2015, I decided to create a new blog. I had tried writing blogs several times before. Most of them didn’t go anywhere. I hoped that this new blog would be different. Like Nuprin. Or Zima.

Starting At Zero

I started at zero. Zero posts. Zero readers. Zero subscribers. Zero requests for me to write anything. It was just me and my computer, creating new blog posts out of cursors and keystrokes, the way Doogie Howzer used to do it before he met your mother.

I write to help readers learn a little, laugh a little and lift a little.

Adding Value

I just started writing lessons and learnings I found valuable and that I thought would be valuable to others. I shared what I was learning about entrepreneurship as I launched the advertising and ideas agency The Weaponry in 2016. I wrote about marketing and creativity. I wrote about positive thinking and self-improvement. And I wrote a story about a woman who tried to save me from salmonella poisoning and plane crashes at a Piggly Wiggly.

Developing The Habit

I felt like the Time-To-Make-The Donuts Guy from the Dunkin Donuts commercials of my youth. That guy got up every day, without fail, and would make donuts, day after day, because the world needed donuts. He had created a donut-making habit. I created a similar habit at 6 am every day. Only I was writing, not baking, glazing, sprinkling, and holing.

The Compounding Effect

The compounding effect of a habit repeated over time is remarkable. It often sneaks up on you, like the way you catch a unique rabbit. At the start of 2023, I looked at the statistics page on this little blog project and I noticed 3 things that surprised me.

Adam Albrecht Blog Surprises

  1. I have now been writing the Adam Albrecht Blog for 8 years. I determined this through rigorous data analytics where I took the current year (2023) and subtracted the original year of publication (2015).
  2. I have published 828 blog posts.
  3. I saw the world map of where my blog has been read.

Here’s the map.

By writing day after day for years the blog has been read around the world. In fact, it has been read in 170 Countries or territories. According to Google and The United Nations (of Benneton), there are 195 sovereign nations. (And one seven-nation army.) One of my favorite statistics is that there are 38 countries that have at least triple-digit reads.

Notable countries that are boycotting this boy’s blog:

  1. Iran (So far away)
  2. Cuba (Gooding Jr.)
  3. North Korea (De Janeiro)

I get that those countries don’t allow people like me to just wi-fi into their countries, spreading positivity and pop culture references. So I am not hurt.

But then there is Greenland. That large landmass in the north apparently wants nothing to do with me. This has been a source of frustration for me for years. I just can’t seem to crack the Greenland market.

French Guiana is the only other area in the Americas that is not down with the AAB (Adam Albrect Blog). I don’t know if it is their Frenchness or their Guiananess that is to blame.

The Lesson

I started this blog at zero. I have never done any paid promotion of this blog. Yet, the ideas I have shared here have been read by people all over the world, thanks to the power of the internet and the WordPress platform.

By writing at least 5 days each week for years I also developed habits, ideas, and stories that enabled me to write my first book, What Does Your Fortune Cookie Say? In the book, I shared 80 of the best life lessons I have learned. But it never would have happened if I hadn’t first started this blog.

I have now published 2 books, thanks to the writing and publishing habit I developed through this blog.

Key Takeaway

The key to long-term success is to get started. First comes the action. Then comes the accumulation. Studying doesn’t get you success. Planning doesn’t. Goals don’t. Actions do. Habits do. Simply not stopping does. So get started today. And just keep going.

*If you know someone who could benefit from this message, please share it with them.

+If you found value in this read, please subscribe to this blog to have new posts delivered fresh 3 times per week.

How taking action today can change your life forever.

Today you are going to do something good for yourself.

You will read. Or exercise. Or work on a big project. Or practice something you want to become great at. Maybe you will eat right. Or write. Or Orville Wright.

But one day is only one day. And if you stop there the progress and impact will be minimal.

Because one good day is just one good day, mate.

But if you can string 5 to 7 of them together you have a great week. (If you string 6 together I think you have a guitar.)

When you string 4 great weeks together you have a great month.

A few great months make a great season. Or a great year.

String together great years and you have a great career.

Or even better, you have a great life.

Great careers and great lives leave a legacy.

But it all starts with one good day of taking action.

Make that day today.

Key Takeaway

Do something good for yourself today. Then repeat it tomorrow. And the next day. Build good actions into habits. Your habits build momentum. And ultimately they create all of your successes, your life, and your legacy. It’s easier than you think. Just get started. And don’t stop.

*If you know someone who could benefit from this message, please share it with them.

+For more of the best life lessons I have learned check out my book, What Does Your Fortune Cookie Say? from Ripples Media.