Category: life lessons

Are you creating Onion Days?

I had a pretty bad day on Saturday. I coach 8th-grade football on Saturday mornings. And we lost. Like nothing-went-right lost. Like The-Bad-News-Packers lost. Like that-TV-show-about-the-plane- crash-on-that-island lost.

Then I couldn’t get myself motivated to do anything productive the rest of the day. By Saturday night I felt like I not only lost the football game, but I lost the rest of the day as well. Unfortunately, when you lose a day you never get it back, Jack.

But on Sunday, I bounced like Flubber. Before I went to bed Sunday night, I reflected on my day. And I realized that my Sunday was as good as my Saturday was bad. I had created an Onion Day. A day with layer after layer after layer of good stuff.

My Onion Day.

I woke up early to write and publish a blog post about the importance of planting yourself in soil that enables you to thrive.

Then my family and I went to the 9am church service. (God knows that service helps you get the most out of your morning.)

We took the slow Sunday drive home along Lake Michigan, avoiding the usual interstate route. It’s the automotive version of stopping to smell the roses. Although you can’t actually smell roses at 25 miles per hour.

I cleaned out a significant part of our basement that had become cluttered with random stuff during the renovation we did on our home over the past year.

I watched some of the Patriots -Bengals game, and watched my Pats look like a real team again for the first time since Tom Brady left to spend more time looking at himself in the mirror.

I helped my son Johann think through a writing and research project for an AP class he is taking.

I took a long walk with my wife Dawn, son Magnus and dog Lola along Lake Michigan. Which looks like an ocean, but is unsalted and shark-free.

I picked up fun food for dinner for the family, because I was too hungry to wait for the ribs Dawn was planning to make for our Sunday dinner. (And apparently, a commercial I watched during the football game worked on me.)

I broke down game footage from our team’s ugly loss so we could coach the team on how to do things better next time. (If they don’t do better I will cry myself to sleep every Saturday night until November.)

I talked to my daughter Ava on the phone on the last day of her 18th year and caught up on her day at college.

I worked out, like LFMAO would say.

The Reflection

I looked back at my day. And I realized that I had a near-perfect Onion Day.

  • I created
  • I churched
  • I meandered
  • I familied
  • I worked
  • I taught
  • I explored
  • I treated
  • I coached
  • I connected
  • I exercised

It was a great Onion Day, a great way to bounce, and a great example of time well spent.

Key Takeaway

The best days are Onion Days. Those are the days when you layer in as many of your favorite and most important activities. Know what your perfect Onion Day entails. Then work to create as many of them as you can. That’s how you build a great and rewarding life without regrets.

*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.

Are you in soil that supports your seed?

There are many types of soil.

And there are many types of seeds.

But not all seeds thrive in all soils.

In fact, some seeds get packaged in a bag and sent to a ballpark to be chewed up and spit out before they get their chance to blow, like Eminem said.

The key to growth, happiness and success is to plant your seed in soil that supports you.

Then sink your roots down deep, and bloom baby bloom!

So if you aren’t thriving and blooming, onion, it’s time to find new soil.

& This has been a 7 Sentence Sunday Post. Just 7 sentences. (At least just 7 sentences before the little 3-dot divider thingie.) These are quick thoughts before church. Or after church. Or before football if you don’t mark your Sundays with church. Or, if you don’t do church or football, it’s simply 7 sentences before Monday. (Plus this rambling descriptor of how simple the post was supposed to be before I overcomplicated it.)

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

The latest lesson I have learned as an entrepreneur is an expensive one.

Since I first launched The Weaponry, the advertising and idea agency I lead, I have learned a lot of interesting lessons. I didn’t become an entrepreneur for the life lessons. But entrepreneurship has a funny way of teaching you new things, whether you want to learn or not.

The Learnin’

Over the past few months, we have had to replace several computers. The Weaponry’s computers are not cheap. We are all Macs all the time. Like Roni and Cheese.

Many of our computers are supped-up machines built for high-end design, art, and video work. The kind of creative work we do requires serious machinery and significantly more storage than your garden-variety Apples. (Or would that be orchard-variety?)

But with all the computers we have had to replace lately I am not mad, frustrated, or worried. After all, this isn’t a quality problem. The computers were not stolen. And they did not run away to join the circus. (Do computers still do that?)

The reason we are replacing so many machines is the best reason of all.

We simply wore our computers out. We worked them hard. Our Weapons have kept our machines busy with demanding work for a long time. We have been slinging advertising, branding, videos, logos, design and illustration work for 8 years.

Many of our team members have been with us for 6 to 8 years now. All that work has been crushing our equipment. And like that popular TV show from the 70s with those classic hairstyles, it seems that when it comes to computer hardware and software, eight is enough.

Replacing our computers is a sign of success, demand and longevity.

And I am grateful for it all.

Key Takeaway

Businesses require investments in equipment and resources. One great reward of success is staying in business long enough to wear out your stuff. Don’t lament the new expenses. Recognize them as a sign of demand and longevity. You have earned the privilege of replacing your resources because you are still here. Still needed. Still sought after. The same is true in our personal lives. When you have to replace equipment it means you have outlived your stuff. That is a blessing not to be taken for granted.

*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 put Charlie’s Rule of opportunities to work for you.

Last week I was talking with my good friend Charlie Wills about business. Charlie and I met through The W-Club, the University of Wisconsin varsity athlete alumni group. Talking with Charlie is a pain in the neck. Literally. Because Charlie is really, really tall. He is a former University of Wisconsin standout basketball player, who played in the 2000 Final Four against the Flintstones. #IYKYK

Today, Charlie towers over the real estate world in Madison, Wisconsin where he has been putting people before profits for over 20 years. Not only is Charlie a close friend of mine, but he is also a client of The Weaponry, the advertising and ideas agency that I lead.

Charlie shared an interesting statistic with me about where his clients come from. He told me that 96% of his organization’s clients come from within their sphere. That includes current and past clients, recommendations, friends, family and acquaintances.

If you are good at math, you also realize that only 4% of opportunities came from outside their sphere. Which is a shockingly small number. In fact, if that number was 4 sizes smaller it would be nothing.

I love the fact that Charlie uses the term sphere instead of network or circle. It’s very basketbally of him. And it gives the group more dimension.

Charlie’s Rule: The vast majority of your opportunities in business and in life originate within your sphere.

This rule, while surprising, is also logical.

People in India whom you have never met and have no real connections to, are highly unlikely to come to you with a life-changing opportunity. (The same goes for the dude from the royal family in Nigeria.) But your past client, your cousin, and the person you know from that thing you do in your spare time are likely to think of you when they need a You-Like person to help solve the kind of problem you are great at solving.

Armed with the knowledge that we all benefit from some variation of Charlie’s Rule, what are you supposed to do about it?

1. Develop more relationships. Whenever you are dealing with success as a percentage game, and it always is, increase the base number. The more people you know the more opportunities will come your way. Because opportunities come to you through humans. Kinda like COVID-19 and invitations to Tupperware parties.

2. Maintain the relationships you have. Not all relationships are equal. The kid you knew from kindergarten who you haven’t spoken to since you stopped napping together in class is not very valuable. So stay in touch with your people. Reach out via phone, email, text, or social media to keep your relationship active. Write a newsletter, blog, or other way to share what’s happening in your life. Social media is great for maintaining relationships across a broad spectrum of familiarity. Use this amazing resource.

Key Takeaway

Your relationships are critical to your success. Remember, Charlie’s Rule says that the vast majority of your opportunities in business and in life originate within your sphere. So bring more people into your sphere. Keep the relationships in your sphere active by staying in touch through any appropriate means. As a result, more good opportunities will find their way to you. Just like Charlie said.

*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.

9 Random things I share about myself in a new podcast.

I love to share stories. That’s probably why I started blogging in the first place. Over the 1001 blog posts I have published, I have shared a small country library worth of stories. But recently I sat down for a fun podcast interview to share stories with Kory Dogs, of ActionCOACH. (I kept thinking he sounded like the action hero Kory whose superpower would be saving Corey Feldman and Corey Haim from themselves.)

Kory asked me questions I don’t often get asked. Which means you hear some little-known details about my life.

9 Things You Learn About Me In This Podcast

  1. The 5 States I lived in as a kid.
  2. My connection to the Shawshank Prison.
  3. My unique experience on a bull stud.
  4. The surprising comment my boss made 2 years into my career that inspired me to start my own advertising agency. (No, it was not You’re Fired!)
  5. How I describe my leadership style.
  6. What I would do differently if I could go back and do it all again. (Which sounds like a Garth Brooks song.)
  7. The new things I want to learn.
  8. The book I recommend to all entrepreneurs.
  9. Who I would give a shoutout to at the end of a podcast when surprised with the question, ‘Who would you like to give a shoutout to, right now?’

You can read or watch the interview here.

Why listen or read when you can watch?

The Book Recommendation

During the podcast I talked about a book I suggest every entrepreneur, or aspiring entrepreneur, or spiraling entrepreneur should read. Here’s the excerpt, in case you don’t have time to watch, read or listen to the full podcast:

Kory: What advice do you have for business owners trying to do everything on their own?

Adam: I often advise business owners and entrepreneurs to read The E-Myth by Michael Gerber. This book offers a fantastic framework for developing your business through systems and processes. It teaches you how to structure your business so that it can operate on a larger scale, similar to a franchise.

By thinking through your business in this way, you ensure that all aspects are well-organized. You create a mature system where you’re not overwhelmed by every detail. Instead, you take on specific responsibilities and avoid getting bogged down by tasks outside your main role.

For example, you don’t want to be the person who not only bakes pies but also handles HR, sales, and operations. The book helps you define your role clearly and understand what additional roles are needed in your organization.

I read The E-Myth before starting The Weaponry, and it provided a strong foundation for me. For any business owner feeling stuck in a cycle of chaos, I recommend this book to help you assess and address your challenges effectively.

For those who aren’t familiar, the book is called The E-Myth and its subtitle is “Why Most Small Businesses Fail and What to Do About It.” Essentially, it argues that if you don’t get the business fundamentals right, it won’t survive. But if you do, it can thrive. The E-Myth refers to the belief that only certain people are born to be entrepreneurs. Michael Gerber challenges this idea, asserting that anyone can be an entrepreneur. He presents a process and approach that can make entrepreneurship work for everyone.

Thank You!

Thanks to Kory Dogs of ActionCOACH for the interview. And for making me feel like I know a real-life action hero.

Thank you blog readers for reading this blog. It’s the only way to earn your title.

If you know someone who you thing could benefit from listening to this podcast, 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.

An open letter to junior employees who want to keep their new jobs.

Hey Junior Employees!*

Congratulations on landing that new job of yours! Finding the job may have seemed like the hard part. It is not. The hard part is not getting left behind.

Now that you have the job it’s frick’n go time! You have to start performing and competing like you did in your classes. Like you did in your athletic competitions or music competitions, or art competitions, or dance competitions or beer chugging competitions, or whatever you once did competitively.

As a new employee, you are a liability. You cost the company more than you make it. Because we have to train you to do your job in a way that adds value. You are not an asset to the company until you have learned enough to create more value than we pay you in salary or wages. For some employees, this never happens. And if it doesn’t happen quickly enough you can’t stay with the company.

Remember the line you heard at the bar at closing time in college:

‘You don’t have to go home, but you can’t stay here.’

The same applies to employees who don’t learn, contribute and start providing value that exceeds their wages.

You need to focus on transforming yourself into an asset employee. That means you should be pushing me, your supervisor, or boss, or business owner for more. For more work, for more opportunities for more access, for more teaching and exposure (work-appropriate exposure only.)

You have got to stand up and demand to be noticed. You’ve got to bring ideas to the table. Or wherever ideas should be brought if you work in a table-less organization.

Take initiative.

Ask questions. As many as you can.

Learn and grow faster than anyone else in the organization.

Soak it all up, like Sheryl Crow. (Ask your parents to explain what that means.)

You are starting at a low point. Growth should be evident quickly.

Create your own fast track to the top by moving fast. By learning fast. By growing fast. Like Luke Combs in that fast car he bought from Tracy Chapman.

Don’t wait for me. I may be too busy to help you move fast unless you are requesting it. Or forcing it.

Don’t allow yourself to be ignored for long stretches. (Think about it like developing real-life Snapstreaks with the senior people at work.)

Create stuff.

Add value in ways we never requested.

Because once you become an Asset Employee everything changes.

And your employer will do all they can to keep you.

That’s the goal.

Key Takeaway

New employees, both junior and senior, begin their jobs as liabilities, costing companies more than they earn. To develop job security you have to produce. That means action, initiative, learning and growth. Master the systems and processes. Bring new ideas. Outpace the expected learning curve. Make yourself indispensable and irreplaceable. This is how you transform yourself from a liability into one of the most profitable assets within your organization. It’s really up to you.

*I learned several years ago that you are supposed to call employees with little to no experience juniors. Not young. Or the old people will want to sue you for age discrimination.

**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.

Don’t waste a near-death experience.

By now we have all seen the assassination attempt on Donald Trump. As an optimist, I am hopeful that some very good things will come out of this very bad event. I hope it provides a perspective-altering experience for Trump, for politicians, for speech writers and for the American people.

There are simple facts about divisiveness. If you divide severely, make fun of people, belittle and laugh at people, or treat people as if they are dumb, or incompetent, you will eventually find a breaking point. We saw that clearly in the movie Billy Madison when we discovered that Steve Buscemi’s character Danny, who was bullied by Billy in school, had created a list of people to kill, which included Billy Madison.

Danny (Steve Buscemi) crosses Billy Madison’s name off of his list of people to kill after Billy apologizes for how he treated Danny in school. Then Danny put on some lipstick in a very strange and memorable ending to this scene.

I am hopeful that the assassination attempt has triggered a reset. I hope this serves as a reminder that there are limits to how far we can push. (Unless you are Salt n’ Peppa, who push it real good.) I hope that we start to realize that it is better to share your own positive plans and visions than it is to tear other people, parties and ideologies down.

I hope this serves as a reminder that the most powerful people in the world should be cautious about labeling others as threats to democracy. Because it has a very real chance of inciting others to take up arms to put down that threat in the name of preserving our great democracy.

The Gift of The Close Call

I have had some close calls in my life with what could have been very bad outcomes. We probably all have. For me, each of those situations served as an inflection point. I was different after the experiences than I was before. I had a better sense of the boundaries of safety. I developed a better understanding of cause and effect. I realized how lucky I was to be given more time and more chances to get things right. Which is the basic theme of 50% of country songs.

When you are faced with an abrupt ending, it shines a spotlight on how you want to spend your second chance. It forces you to reevaluate and recalibrate. And it makes you think about your legacy, and what people will say about you after you are gone. Which is the basic storyline of 50% of the movies made in Hollywood. That’s why there is that moment at the end of Home Alone when Buzz tells Kevin, ‘It’s pretty cool that you didn’t burn the place down.’

If someone shot at me it would force some self-reflection. I would question my words and my actions. I would recognize that I may be pushing people too far. And that I may not be exhibiting the kind of empathy and compassion that would have kept me out of the very real crosshairs. I am hopeful that this event has forced some valuable soul-searching, eye-opening, and dare I say, ear-opening that will lead to better actions by everyone involved.

Key Takeaway

Don’t waste a second chance. When you are faced with a premature ending to anything, let it be a positive force in your life that helps you rewrite a better ending. These moments are gifts. But you have to be ready to receive them. If you do, these experiences have the potential to help you change your life for the better, if not the course of history.

*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 way to respond to those who are better than you.

There’s a good chance that you are not the best at what you do. At least not the very best in the whole wide world. After all, there are 8 billion people squished on this planet. Which is why the line at the deli sometimes takes so long.

You will often find yourself surrounded by people who are better than you are at all kinds of things. Dancing, basketball, school, entrepreneurship, parenting, juggling, wearing clothes, or wearing no clothes.

When you find yourself surrounded by people who are better than you at something, use it as a source of inspiration, not intimidation.

Recognize how much more potential you have.

Study those who are better than you. They are an excellent resource. They are showing you what is possible. Borrow their approach. Steal their moves. Or be inspired by their originality.

You can be overt or covert in your approach. You can spy on them in secret. Or you can approach them and ask for their advice. Both work. I know. I’ve experimented. But if you get too close, the spying in secret is more likely to end with someone calling the cops. #thingsIlearnedthehardway

It is a gift to be exposed to those better than you. They force you to reevaluate and recalibrate. Allow yourself to be propelled by their positive peer pressure.

But to benefit from exposure to people who are better than you, you have to adopt a growth mindset. You have to believe that you are capable of more and better. When you do, the superior doesn’t make you feel inferior. It expands your mind and helps you see what you are capable of achieving.

Key Takeaway

Seek out other people who are better than you are. Surround yourself with them. They are a gift. They demonstrate what is possible. They provide a model for you to follow. It is your mindset that interprets the greatness in others as inspiration or intimidation. Always choose inspiration. It is the source from which all great improvement flows. Follow its path. And soon you will find others following you.

Writer’s Note:

At the Nike Outdoor National Track & Field Championships 2 weeks ago my daughter Ava threw against some of the best competition in the country. She had her second farthest throw ever in the discus. When I told her how proud I was of how she performed on the big stage she’s said. ‘When you find yourself surrounded by people who are better than you at something you have to use it as a source of inspiration, not intimidation.’ Which was the inspiration for this post.

+ In the cover photo for this post the man to the left of the podium is my legendary college track coach Ed Nuttycombe. It was a great full-circle moment for me to watch Nutty hand my daughter Ava her medal at the Myrhum Invite meet earlier this spring.

*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 nice surprise at the end of my long day of trains, planes and automobiles.

Recently I had a long day of travel to the West Coast. It started with a 1-hour round-trip drive to drop off our Border Collie Lola at her Pet Lodge. Then we had a 1.5-hour drive to Chicago. Followed by a train ride from the remote parking lot to the terminal at O’Hare International Airport.

My family and I arrived 1.5 hours before our flight was scheduled to take off. But then the flight was delayed by 3 hours. Finally, after a 4.5-hour flight, we landed in the Pacific Northwest. (Note how adding the word Northwest dramatically changed the meaning of that last sentence.)

After we landed we proceeded to the rental car counter, picked up our car (not literally), and drove 30 minutes to the hotel. It had been quite a day. When I walked into the hotel I approached the front desk with a big smile and enthusiasm, which is my default mode. Immediately the two staff members at reception lit up and commented on how they loved my energy. Especially since it was well after 10pm.

The person checking me into my room asked to see my ID. I enthusiastically handed him my new license, which I had just renewed the week before. He exclaimed that I really brought the energy in my license photo too. The other person behind the front desk chimed in about it and mentioned that her driver’s license was from Hawaii. Which allowed me to drop some McLovin references. And we all had a SuperGoood laugh.

As we finished the check-in process the clerk handed me my room keys. They were to an upgraded room on the top floor of the hotel. Then he handed me my parking pass and said, ‘No charge for the parking tonight. Thank you for bringing such great energy to our hotel tonight.’

Key Takeaway

Your personal energy is one of the most valuable assets you can share with other people. You don’t have to be a rockstar or a motivational speaker to make people feel good. Just share your energy and your good attitude. It elevates moods. It transforms situations. It reminds us all what life feels like at its best. When you share your energy with the people around you, it helps them do the same. And the ripple effect helps make the world a better place. Heck, you might just get a better room and free parking out of it.

*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.

My two-word formula for success at anything.

I have spent my whole life alphabetically advantaged. Adam Albrecht appears near the top of every list whether you decide to organize people by first name, last name, or the more rarely-used, 3rd letter of the first name.

I love my initials. AA. I sign my emails and notes with -AA. It’s symmetrical and primary. It would work well as a name for a ranch. (The kind with cattle, not the kind that Paul Newman makes.)

My favorite batteries are AA. My favorite company swag comes from American Airlines. And if I ever become ambitious enough to start drinking alcohol, and then ambitious enough to stop drinking alcohol, I am going to join AA, and wear all of their swag. I’ll be the most non-anonymous AA member of all time.

But AA is not just my initials. It is also shorthand for my formula for success.

That simple yet powerful formula is Action & Analysis.

To be successful you have to take Action. You have to verb. You have to do. You have to try. Action is the fuel that creates results.

But once you have taken Action, you have to perform an Analysis. You need to study the results. You need to evaluate the outcome. You need to learn what worked and what didn’t. You have to learn which jokes landed, and which ones were only funny in your head. (It was the 3rd- letter-of-the-first-name thing wasn’t it?)

Then you adjust your aim, reload, and fire more action at your target. Then analyze again. And repeat.

Action & Analysis is a simple formula for success. It has been proven in action, and through analysis. And it never fails.

Key Takeaway

To become the best version of yourself you need Action and Analysis. Do what you think you should do. Then analyze the outcome. Adjust according to your learnings. Then take action again. Success leaves clues. Failure steers us. Reflecting on experience leads to wisdom. Repeat the process over and over and over. All the way to success. -AA

*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.