Remember when we used to line up to pick teams on the playground? Did you love that? Did you hate that? Your response to this question is likely related to where you were typically picked. If you were picked early you probably loved that process. If you were frequently the last kid to be picked you are probably still suffering from PTSD, or Playground Team Selection Damning.
While you are no longer getting picked for Dodgeball, as an adult you are still being picked for teams. Yes, the adult world is full of teams. And they are always looking for strong new members. But we’re not talking about the NFL, MLB, NHL, or OPP.
The adult teams include employers like businesses and non-profits. They include governments, associations, bowling teams, and 80’s cover bands.
On most adult teams your physical advantages no longer matter. It is your mental advantages that get you noticed. And the number one way you get drafted by an adult team is to demonstrate that you get things done.
On the adult teams, the valuable positions go to people who do what they say they will do. You get recruited by delivering results. By being dependable. By always showing up on time, and by not leaving until the goods have been delivered.
Adult teams recruit and promote adaptability. If you are flexible and deliver under every condition and in every climate you will find yourself in demand.
We place a high value on resourcefulness. If you are a problem solver who can find a way to complete the mission in less-than-ideal situations you will have team leaders lining up at your door to add you to their team. And if those leaders didn’t select you for Red Rover back in the day, then it’s time for you to have the last laugh.
Key Takeaway
Do what you say you will do. Get things done, no matter what. Develop a reputation as a problem solver. And delivers results regardless of conditions. Because resourceful adults are a team’s most valuable resource. So focus on your own accountability. And the best opportunities will find you.
*If you know someone who could benefit from this message, please share it with them.
As humans, we lose perspective on just how lucky we really are on a daily basis. We think about the things that go wrong and the things we don’t have. We take all the great stuff we do have for granted. You know, things like oxygen, water, and Panera.
Here’s a little reminder that 99% of the world is nothingness. It’s just a vast empty space, called space. It’s a dark and nearly endless void between the very rare somethings.
It is a frick’n miracle that you are here, on Earth, with the best resources in the known universe. Including chocolate, Wi-Fi and Magic Erasers.
It’s time to put what you have into proper perspective. You have amazing opportunities and privileges. To complain about what you don’t have misses the point by a lightyear or two, Buzz.
Forget your FoMo. Earth is the only life-sustaining stage, show or opportunity that you could reach within your lifetime. And yet you were born here. You are one lucky dog, Dawg.
Key Takeaway
Appreciate your life. Even the smallest details. Embrace the opportunity you have been blessed with. See it for what it really is: A miracle. Enjoy it to the fullest extent allowed by law.
*If you know someone who could benefit from this message, please share it with them.
Every January we think about the year ahead. We set goals and resolutions and dream about how we are going to be different in 365 days. It’s a beautiful idea. But it doesn’t really work. Because while there is no shortage of goals, dreams or plans, results are harder to find than a squeezable pack of Charmin in 2020.
A major part of the problem is that a year is just too long. It gives you too much time to slack off. Think about the hare from the law firm of Tortoise & Hare. That bunny had too, too, too much time on his hands. In a one-minute race, the rabbit would have dominated. It was the perception that he had plenty of time for a comeback that ruined him.
The Solve
The best way to crush your goals like red pepper is to stop measuring your progress in years. Instead, focus on having great hours.
Start each day with your success list. Then block your activities on your calendar. Those time blocks are your building blocks for success. By stacking several great hours together daily, and doing that day after day, you will build great weeks, months, and years.
It all starts with the hour you are in right now. (Like Van Halen said.) Focus on making this hour great. Then, think about grading your hours every day. If you do what you intended to do with an hour, give it an excellent grade. If you didn’t do the work, workout, reading, rest, socializing, or play that you intended to do, that hour gets a poor grade.
The feedback is immediate. And motivating. Experiencing a bad hour will inspire you to respond with a much better next hour. Which means your comeback is always less than 60 minutes away. (Although L.L. Cool J won’t call it a comeback.)
There are 168 hours in every week. Which translates to a lot of opportunities for progress and happiness. Make them count. And you will turn your entire life into a success story.
Key Takeaway
Shorten your measurable units of success. The power in a great hour is instantly recognizable and controllable. An hour well spent provides a great return on your investment. Which has a compounding effect. Remember, great hours are the building blocks of a great life. And you will start to see the results in just 60 minutes.
*If you know someone who could benefit from this message, please share it with them.
I commit to reading at least 24 books every year. That’s 12 physical books and 12 audiobooks. If you are good at both math and calendars you’ll recognize that I am reading one of each type every month. If you are into donuts or eggs you may think they have been a big influence on my goal setting. And you would be right.
My physical book reading list for 2023. I am now reading my 3rd book and listening to my 3rd audiobook of the year.
This year I modified my plan a little. I gathered 12 physical books from my own library that I had not yet read to create my 2023 reading list.
As I sifted through my stack of books to determine which one to read first one of them grabbed my attention for several reasons. And while you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, if this book cover was a person it would be a hottie with a karate body.
Factfulness by Hans Rosling, with Ola Rosling and Anna Rosling Rohnnlund started with a strong first impression. Its cover was an excellent advertisement for the book itself. At the top of the cover is an attention-grabbing quote:
“One of the most important books I’ve ever read – an indisputable guide to thinking clearly about the world.”
-Bill Gates
Not only is Gates a fairly successful businessman who boasts an impressive money collection, he is also a voracious reader, who takes vacations alone every year simply to read and think. That is next-level nerdery. So when he drops such a strong endorsement I am picking it up.
But if I wasn’t already sold the subhead would have sealed the deal. It explained the book as ‘Ten reasons we’re wrong about the world- and why things are better than you think.’
Not only do I love a good you’re-thinking-about-this-all-wrong message, but I’m also an optimist. So to hear that the world is better than we think is totally up my alley. (I don’t actually have an alley. But nobody says ‘That is totally up my circle driveway.’)
There was also a New York Times Bestseller sunburst on the cover, which sealed the deal.
Wow!
I dug into the book and couldn’t have loved it more. The basic premise of Factfulness is that we need to look for the current facts about the world. And not just facts about the world as we think we know them, or as we used to know them. Because the world is improving at a rapid rate. And life on the planet is now better for nearly everyone on nearly every measure. Which makes this book like the Magic Eraser of gloom-and-doom.
The Roslings drop incredible amounts of data that prove their point. But it is presented in easy-to-digest charts. These charts include 16 Bad Things That Are Decreasing and 16 Good Things That Are Increasing. And even Alex Trebek would say these are no trivial things.
The book debunks the myth of the gap between the haves and have-nots. It provides a much more useful way to classify people into meaningful groups, and to see that all groups are not in permanent situations, but instead on a positive trajectory of improvement. Best of all, it shows how each group is likely to arrive at the next level sooner than you think.
Factfulness introduces 10 basic instincts that all humans naturally rely on to formulate their worldview. (This includes Sharon Stone.) But these instincts repeatedly lead to inaccurate conclusions. The book teaches you how to disarm those instincts to prevent conclusion-jumping and ultimately see the world as it really is.
Key Takeaway
If you are looking for a better outlook on the world and the human condition, pick up Factfulness. It provides a perspective-altering look at the world that will change the way you think about everything from the news to vaccinations, to gender equality and education. Gift this book to the most cynical people you know. Because the world is good and getting better. Because humans are making it happen. In fact, the only thing that is truly lagging behind is our ability to see the positive planetary change. And the Roslings are committed to changing that too.
*If you know someone who could benefit from this message, please share it with them.
Most people consider me a very happy person. I am lucky that my baseline is happier than most. I see the good in people and in situations. I find silver linings in setbacks. (I can also find a silver lining inside one of my favorite sportcoats.)
I study happiness like Tim McGraw. Because I like it. I love it. And I want more of it.
But I also embrace unhappiness. Because I have discovered that unhappiness in high enough doses leads to greater happiness.
Mild to moderate unhappiness, as they say in drug commercials, is fairly useless. It simply makes you feel bad.
But serious unhappiness is a gift. When you experience a significant level of unhappiness, whether acute or accumulated, it provides motivation for change.
Motivational unhappiness comes in several flavors, including sadness, frustration, anger, and disappointment. (But not dat-appointment.) You can use any of these forces to your benefit.
So when you feel unhappiness, don’t just feel sorry for yourself. Feel it until it fuels you to make a change. Those emotions are there to tell you to change directions. That’s why your response to unhappiness can save any day. And it can change your entire life for the better.
Key Takeaway
Happiness is the ultimate goal. But sometimes the path to happiness runs directly through unhappiness. Because in great enough doses, it provides the motivation you need to move forward. Recognize the gift. And use it to your advantage.
*If you know someone who could benefit from this message, please share it with them.
Over the weekend my daughter Ava and I went to a concert. As we left the venue and walked to our car, we couldn’t help but laugh at how good the whole experience was. Because despite long odds, lucky things kept happening to us. And we felt like we were Forrest Gumping.
Our string of good luck was especially evident because the Noah Kahan concert we attended had been sold out for months, and we didn’t have tickets. Then in a strange twist, the concert in Milwaukee switched venues, and a few extra tickets were available for a couple of hours. Not only did we snatch up 2 regularly priced tickets, we stumbled onto the last two special-access wristbands at the venue. Then, we got pictures with Noah and talked to him after the show.
Ava is in the front row in the green jacket. Noah Kahan is in the second-row middle. I am in the back row on the right side, wearing a hat and a smile.
As we reflected on our amazing experience at the end of the night, Ava noted how this type of thing always seems to happen to me. She looked at me as if I was Mr. Miyagi and asked,
‘What is your secret Dad? Why is it that things always seem to work out for you? Teach me your ways!’
-Ava Albrecht
I laughed. But I knew she was right. Things tend to work out well for me. After a moment I said, ‘There’s a lot to it. Let me think about how to share this with you.’
The next day, while we were driving from Milwaukee to Madison for some discus training I told her that I had an answer to her question about why things seem to work out well for me most of the time.
The 4 Ps of Good Fortune
There are 4 important factors that help create opportunity, positive outcomes and luck. And as luck would have it, they all start with the letter P.
People: People are your links to opportunities. Most people miss this. But the majority of your great opportunities will come from other humans. The more people you know, and the more people who like you, trust you, and want to spend time with you the more good things will come your way. People send invitations. People open doors. People re-write rules. So befriend people. Keep them close. Treat them well. It will lead to good things, just like the Fine Young Cannibals said.
Place: Opportunities happen at specific spots on the planet. Sometimes that means being in the right country, state or city. But it often means being at an event. It could mean you should position yourself within a few feet of a specific spot or a person. Because that is the place where an opportunity is going to appear. Recognize those spots and put yourself there. Remember that today, many of those places are digital. So be on LinkedIn. Engage in social media. And snatch up those opportunities that are only available online. I found the concert tickets online when Nohan Kahan announced there were a few new tix available on Instagram. I also found my 100-year-old typewriter on Facebook.
Ava put herself in a place where she would be noticed.
Preparation: Preparing yourself for opportunities is extremely important. If you know there is a chance to interact with a person in a specific place, you can prepare to have that interaction go well. Preparation means doing your homework.
It means wearing the right clothes. It means having the right question, request, or introduction ready. It means bringing your baseball glove to the ballgame so you can catch the homerun ball. It means having your eclipse glasses on you when the sun slips behind the moon. It means having money saved and ready to buy the priceless piece of art you find at the yard sale.
Noah Kahan literally called Ava out of the crowd for wearing her Dan & Whit’s shirt, from his home in Vermont. #preparartioon
Positive Energy This is one of the most valuable resources on the planet. Humans are drawn to it like gold, sunsets, and street performers. You have to learn to tap into your own positive energy. Let it flow from you.
In the same way that humans like to gather around the heat of a campfire, we enjoy standing near the glow of positive energy. It magnetizes you. Which attracts both people and opportunities. (According to Notorious B.I.G. it can also attract Mo Money n’ Mo Problems. But I haven’t reached that level yet.) To tap into the power of your positive energy simply smile more. That is where it all starts.
Key Takeaway
You have the ability to create your own great opportunities. Start by treating people well. Put yourself in the right places. Prepare to take advantage of the opportunities that come your way. And share as much positive energy with the world as you have to give. That is how good luck is made.
*If you know someone who could benefit from this message, please share it with them.
I love my work. I always have. When I was in college I drew out a chart that listed things I was good at and things that I thought I could get paid to do. My career treasure map pointed me towards becoming a creative person at an advertising agency. I had no idea what those people were really called. Turns out they are basically called creative people at advertising agencies.
I started my career as a young copywriter. I loved that I got paid to be creative. I loved writing. I loved making something out of nothing. I loved seeing my work on tv, on billboards, and in magazines. Perhaps most of all, I loved the dress code. You definitely had to wear clothes. But what kind and how much was totally up to you.
As my carer advanced I loved my work even more. I loved directing creative teams. I loved the strategic thinking and problem-solving that fed the process and drove client success. I loved traveling to amazing locations and developing deep new friendships with clients. I found they deepened quickly when you face life-threatening conditions together in a blizzard at 10,000 feet with no matches and no way to call for help. #BadSituationGoodStory
I loved pitching new business. I loved putting on a show and sharing my love for smart ideas that help develop brands and grow businesses. And I loved hearing, “Adam’s got a lot of energy!’
When I became a Chief Creative Officer I loved leading a creative team across multiple offices. I loved the opportunity to help create culture and processes and Weness. I loved digging into how the entire business worked and influencing major decisions and initiatives. #MoreCowbell
Then, when I became an entrepreneur I loved creating The Weaponry, an advertising and ideas agency. It has been the most exciting chapter of my career. I got to bring everything I had learned over the first 19 years of my career together, and create a new team without baggage or historical limitation. I loved creating The Weaponry brand and assembling a team of Weapons that clients love. I didn’t love the name The Weaponry while trying to enter India at 2 am and appearing to be a threat to their national security. #BadSituationGoodStory
I loved writing my first book, What Does Your Fortune Cookie Say?I loved the entire process and all that I learned. I have loved talking about the book and the lessons in it that have been so valuable to me. And I love signing copies for people with personal messages the way I used to sign high school yearbooks. Only with less, ‘Science class with you was hilarious!’
However, my absolute favorite day of my career came in the first week of June 2000. I got on the elevator at work that day and saw a beautiful woman on the right side of the packed elevator. When she smiled at me my whole life changed. Birds sang. Fireworks fired. And I forgot what floor I was going to. That new coworker, Dawn, and I began dating 6 weeks later. One week after that we told each other we were in love and started talking about marriage. Then came Ava, Johann and Magnus in a baby carriage.
Dawn and I have now been married for 20 amazing years. She inspires me to work hard. She has been my biggest cheerleader. (Measured in cheer, not in pounds.) And when I brought up the idea of launching The Weaponry she was fully supportive. Despite the fact that she had the most to lose. She could tell how much I love this stuff. And when you love your work this much, the work loves you back.
Key Takeaway
Find work you love. Find a place you love to do that work. Surround yourself with people you love and who love you. It’s a recipe for a life you’ll love. Happy Valentines Day!
*If you know someone who could benefit from this message, please share it with them.
Before I launched the advertising and ideas agency, The Weaponry, I read an article about Pharrell Williams in Fast Company. In the article, the famously happy singer, songwriter, and producer talked about his success and inspirations that have helped him along the way. He didn’t mention the Arby’s hat.
Williams raved about the book The Alchemistby Paulo Coelho. In fact, he claimed that this book was like his Bible. And since The Bible is my Bible, I figured The Alchemist was probably also worth reading. So I bought a used copy. And I devoured it. (In a literary way, not a digestive track-way.)
The book helped me think about the story of my life and my personal legend. It made me start paying attention to all the signs the universe was sending me, encouraging me to follow my own path. This was highly valuable because at the time the universe started putting up neon signs everywhere. Like Reno.
Those signs were telling me that I should launch a new ad agency. So I did, in part because The Alchemist helped me recognize the signs, and taught me that when you want something enough the whole universe conspires to help you get it. (Except maybe for short sellers. Those people love a good dumpster fire.)
Shortly after reading The Alchemist, I started my entrepreneurial adventure. That was 7 years ago. Entrepreneurship led me to blog. Which led me to write my first book, What Does Your Fortune Cookie Say? Which has led me to amazing speaking opportunities. Which has made me think a lot about what’s next for me and my personal story.
So I recently picked up The Alchemist again. I eagerly read through it in 3 days. But I also recently read a quote (or maybe it was a fortune cookie) that said You never read the same book twice. That was definitely true of my reread of The Alchemist.
This time around I didn’t feel like I was just starting my journey. I felt like I was in the thick of writing my story every day, with the universe as my co-author. And the story keeps getting better. Today I feel a little like Clark Kent or Bruce Banner must have felt once they began understanding their superpowers. Except my superpowers are more like smiling, offering encouragement, and dropping random pop culture references. But I’ll take what I can get, yes I’ll take what I can get. (And then she looked at me with big brown eyes and said…)
Key Takeaway:
Read The Alchemist. Or re-read it if you have read it before. You will find something new and inspiring. I am sure there are signs the universe is giving you right now that you don’t recognize. This book will help you see.
*If you know someone who could benefit from this message, please share it with them.
We always want the best for the people in our lives. But our people don’t always find the best. We’ve all seen friends or family members in less-than-ideal situations. It’s hard to watch. It’s even harder to bite your tongue and not say anything to them. (Or bite your thumbs if you are the texting type.)
Sometimes the less-than situation is a bad job that makes them miserable. Or at a minimum, it doesn’t enable them to utilize their full talents. Other times we see our people in bad relationships. It could be a romantic relationship that isn’t so romantic. Or peers who are putting the wrong kind of pressure on your person. Or any number of lesser situations that bring your peeps down rather than raise them up, like a good Josh Groban song.
What Would Scooby Do?
When you recognize that your people are in situations that are bringing them down, bring it up to them. Let them know how great and capable and worthy they are of more. Encourage them to find the right job, the right people, or the right situation for them.
Your people will know you are right. And they will want better for themselves too. But when you hear someone who cares about you tell you that you deserve more it carries more weight. And more urgency.
If you can help your person stack one more stone on the right side of the scale, you can help them tip their next decision in favor of a better future. Which means you have done your job as a valuable supporter. (Even if you’re not an athletic supporter.)
My Reminder
Last night I saw a good friend of mine at a school event. He is successful, well-liked, and well-respected. But a few years ago he found himself in a position where he wasn’t fully appreciated for his talents, vision and work ethic. His greatness had earned him a major opportunity. But the organization wasn’t worthy of my friend. I could see that he was wasting his time in what seemed like a great role. But it really wasn’t. And I told him so. Last night, he told me that my words to him encouraged him to make a change. Today he is in a job that is just as big, but way better, and far more supportive. Like Spanx.
Key Takeaway
Tell your people in lesser situations that they deserve better. They know it. Let them know you know it too. Show them you care. Add to their confidence. Give them the push they need. At a minimum, they will know how much you care for them. At a maximum, you will help change their life.
*If you know someone who could benefit from this message, please share it with them.
I have had numerous conversations lately with people who have told me they don’t understand marketing and don’t know how to market themselves. I find this more frightening than the twin girls from The Shining. Because if you don’t understand basic marketing, you will lose out to someone who does.
It’s important to know that sales don’t go to the best products or services. And opportunities don’t go to the most worthy candidates. They often go to those who market themselves best. Which is the only way to explain the success of Bobcat Goldthwait.
You have to be able to market yourself. Because you are constantly being evaluated as a more or less worthy candidate than another person. The opportunity at stake could be a job, a sale, a spot on a team, or a date. With 8 billion people on the planet, there are always other options to choose from. Which means that people are deciding to swipe right or swipe left on you every day. To be a successful contestant on The Swipe Is Right, here are some marketing basics.
5 things to know about marketing yourself.
It is not who you know, it is who knows you. It is important that you are both visible and discoverable. The first step to marketing is being findable. So make yourself easy to find. Be on social media. Especially LinkedIn. Show up at events. Join organizations. Participate. Don’t be Boo Radley. Or Sasquatch. Or translucent.
2. Share your successes. One of the best ways to market yourself is to share your successes. Share them as part of your social and professional profiles where appropriate. Make your successes part of your introduction to others, whether in person or via email or classic mail.
When people think of you, you want them to think of your successes. People have to know what you are good at. This makes you memorable for your strengths. Don’t be humble about your successes, or you are likely to lose out on opportunities to someone with lesser success. As Deion Sanders once said, ‘They don’t pay nobody to be humble.’ And Deion is the master of marketing. (He is also the master of having one too many vowels in his name.)
3. Gain Endorsements: Know which of your friends, family, or acquaintances have influence. Spend time with them. Highlight your relationship with them. Be seen with them. When people with influence endorse, support or choose you it carries weight with others. This is why celebrity spokespeople are valuable. They help drive sales of everything from peanut butter to hair replacement. You are known by the company you keep. And cool kids like to spend time with other cool kids. (And all the cool kids, they seem to fit in.)
4. Stand out. Have something in your style, dress, or language that makes you highly identifiable. You have to stand out from the crowd to be remembered. And you have to be remembered to have opportunities find you. The year that I first grew my hair longer, I was amazed at how much more people recognized and remembered me. I attribute much of that to the fact that I simply looked different from many of the people around me. My friend Tony Sharpe always wears black. T-Pain has AutoTune. Aaron Neville, Drew Brees, Post Malone, and Cindy Crawford are all known for things on their faces. Find your signature thang and leverage it.
5. Be the go-to for something. Great brands are synonymous with something specific. Think about what one valuable thing you stand for in the minds of others. It could be creativity or trustworthiness, hard work, problem-solving, willingness, funniness, or intelligence. Really it could be any single strength or positive trait that distinguishes you. Grab it. Own it. And anytime people feel they need that, they come to you. Because you’ve got the Motts.
Key Takeaway
The world is full of opportunities. To make sure you get your share of them it is important to learn basic marketing skills. Make yourself visible. Tout your wins. Associate with people that others know, like and respect. Develop an identifiable personal trademark. And develop your rare and valuable skills. You’ll be surprised how many good things start coming your way.
*If you know someone who could benefit from this message, please share it with them.
Adam Albrecht Blog 