Category: motivation

How to get a great book buzz from reading.

Earlier this week I started two new books. The physical book I cracked is Unreasonable Hospitality by Will Guidara. At The Weaponry, we know that excellent customer service is one of the 3 key ingredients of our success. (Along with great creative ideas and a fun experience for everyone involved.) So a book about the extremities of hospitality is a valuable, insightful and motivating read for me. Especially once I realized it wasn’t about being hospitalized for no reason.

The other book I began this week as an audiobook is The Obstacle Is The Way, by Ryan Holiday. The basic premise of this book is that the obstacles you face are the keys to your own greatness. They are motivating, instructional and strengthening stimuli. Like dumbells, barbells and unloading groceries from Costco.

My Book Buzz

With these two new books stimulating my brain this week, I found my internal fire burning hotter than usual. My energy and enthusiasm for my work, life and personal projects are elevated. Which is exciting for someone with a high baseline of enthusiasm.

Just as the world reaches for mugs of coffee, cups of tea and cans of Red Bull in the morning to kickstart the day, diving into a good book can elevate your energy for life. Reading the right books, articles and blog posts is like filling your car with fuel, charging your phone with electricity, and filling your body with good food. Reading can provide a great rush. Yet it’s much better for you than cocaine, heroin or ecstasy. Which is why librarians live so long.

Slam A Book When You Need A Boost

If you could use a kick of motivation, inspiration, or any other -ation, grab a book. It’s amazing how energizing they can be.

Biographies offer insights into the habits, actions and mindsets of highly successful people. They are like sitting down with successful people and having them share their secrets with you. What you’ll often find is that these people are much more like you than you thought. They just took more action, bigger risks or worked longer at their objective. Reading biographies inspires you to live a life that should be biographized. Or is it biographisized? (Or does that mean you are living a life that is the size of a bio graph?)

Business books offer insights into the processes, cultures, values and philosophies of great companies. These books are loaded with things you and your organization can adopt. Which is exciting and motivating. Because while it takes a lot of effort to be Apple, it’s easy to apply new ideas that help your business stop operating like a rotten tomato.

Self Improvement books share valuable techniques, mindsets and reminders that you can apply to your own life. Self-emprovement books are highly valuable because they help you become a better person today than you were yesterday. Which is the greatest aim in life. Plus, these books provide inspiring examples of those who have improved themselves and achieved great things using the golden advice found in the book. #Midas #Rumpelstiltskin #RayKroc

History books share the greatest success stories of humankind. They share how greatness was accomplished, how oppression was overcome, how ingenuity led to innovations and inventions that changed the world. Because humans are amazing creatures. So read your history. Or herstory. Or theirstory.

Fictional literature is full of inspirational stories of people who faced challenges, setbacks and difficult situations and overcame them. From boy wizards to old men and the sea, we can learn something empowering from them all. Plus, these books usually have a lot more dirty words and often contain descriptions of naughty acts. Both of which are more fun to read about than Six Sigma methodology.

Key Takeaway

Reading is a powerful and underrated source of inspiration, motivation and enthusiasm. Reading reminds you of the power of action. It reminds you that there are solutions to challenging problems. Books introduce you to mentors, coaches and cheerleaders in written form. So if you want to attack the day tomorrow with more zeal, read something great today.

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.

Happy Leap Day! Seize the bonus day by starting something new.

Happy Leap Day! February 29th is your lucky day. In fact, it’s luckier than a 5-leaf clover. And it’s rarer than a mooing steak. In fact, it is so rare that it only happens every 4 years. Like the Olympics, a Presidential election, or a J-Lo wedding.

Opportunity Day!

However, it is not the rarity of Leap Day that matters. It’s the opportunity. Today is a bonus day! Which means that today is the perfect day to do something extra. Like Michael Jackson said, today, ‘You got to be startin’ somethin. Or finishing somethin’. Or working hard on somethin’.

Take a few minutes to think about those things you can never seem to find the time to start, plan or complete. Take a leap and get rolling today.

Possible Leap Day Activities:

  • Exercise
  • Take a hike
  • Play a Game
  • Start a blog, vlog, slog, or drink Glogg
  • Start a business
  • Pick up a new hobby, or re-engage in an old hobby (like Holly)
  • Create a podcast
  • Play an instrument
  • Create a product
  • Start a book (reading or writing)
  • Paint
  • Marie Kondo your house
  • Volunteer, or sign up to volunteer
  • Go to church (or find a place of worship to go to this week)
  • Start a meetup
  • Join a club or worthy organization
  • Ask someone to be your mentor.
  • Call someone you haven’t talked to for too long
  • Find a Dentist
  • Find a Doctor
  • Find a nurse
  • Find a lady with an alligator purse
  • Start your taxes
  • Plan a vacation
  • Organize a girls’ night, or a guys’ night, or a Michael Knight
  • Make a career or life plan
  • Do something more you, because no one knows you better than you

Bonus Time Is Start Time

Me in my office. That leaf is what the original Adam was wearing when he got in trouble with God.

I started planning my own business, The Weaponry, during a little bonus time like you have today. Now we have been in business for nearly 8 years. We have 2 offices and clients from Quebec to California.

I started this blog during a little bit of free time. This is post number 966.

The pink and red countries are where my blog has been read. Crazy, right?

During the last leap year in 2020, I used the bonus free time provided by the COVID-19 lockdown to write my first book, What Does Your Fortune Cookie Say?

Today, will use some of my bonus time to work on my next book currently titled, Adam Albrecht’s Next Book. Catchy, I know.

The 3 Big Bs

My business, blog, and book represent the 3 biggest elective projects of my life. And they were all birthed during bonus time. It was time that I used wisely.

Now it’s your turn to do something meaningful. Don’t miss the opportunity today is offering You.

Key Takeaway

Time is your more precious resource. Use it wisely. Alchemize it into magic. And when you get a bonus day or a bonus hour, take advantage of it. Otherwise, when you come to the end of your time, you will wish you had.

Which begs the question: What will you do with your Leap Day?

Note: Happy Leap Day Birthday to my friend Jeff Hilimire, who turns 12 today.

IMG_20191105_143236
Jeff ‘The Leap Day’ Hilimire, shows us how big he was when he was born.

Do you have any idea what you are capable of?

There is nothing on earth more inspiring than an acorn.

The acorn appears small and benign.

Its little hat makes it seem pre-school cute.

Its marbley size makes the acorn look like a plaything.

Or squirrel food.

Or slingshot ammunition.

Or decorative bowl filler.  

It is easy to look at an acorn and assume that a cute little acorn is all it will ever be.

But don’t be fooled.

But the acorn has ambition.

And spirit.

And a master plan. Like Eric B. And Rakim

You see, the acorn doesn’t identify itself as an acorn.

It thinks bigger. Much bigger.

But the acorn is patient.

The acorn sits calm like a bomb. Waiting for the sun, water, and soil to create the right conditions to detonate.

Then, boom!

It explodes in every direction.

Up into the sky.

Down into the soil.

And radiating in 360 degrees.

It goes. And goes. And goes. And goes.

It transforms itself into an epic force of nature.

It becomes a machine.

A factory.

It creates air.

And food.

And shelter.

That cute little acorn becomes one of the biggest, strongest, most impactful forces on the planet.

Key Takeaway

Be an acorn.

Make your master plan come true.

*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.

I finally reached Greenland! Now things get harder.

When I first started this blog back in 2015 I was a writer with no readers. But I wrote anyway. I shared personal and professional lessons I was learning so that other people could learn them faster than I did. It was my way of paying it forward, even when I was getting things backward.

I slowly started accumulating readers. I would check my WordPress stats every day to see how many people read my posts. But I became even more fascinated with where the readers were. I soon noticed that this little publishing platform I wrote my posts on could deliver my thoughts all over the world. Like Santa.

I kept writing, and my WordPress world map began turning pink as I reached readers in more and more countries. I couldn’t believe how far the interwebs could fling my writings. I found that so much of my map had turned pink that I started focusing on the countries I hadn’t reached. I realize that I had a map-half-empty perspective. But those were my growth opportunities. Like you hear about in your performance reviews.

Greenland

For years, the biggest emptiest space on my readership map was Greenland. Cartographically speaking, Greenland looks more important than it is. It appears on most maps to be the size of South America or Africa. It looks much bigger than the United States. Which is why being rejected from Greenland was so hurtful. And because it is centrally located between North America and Europe on most of the maps we use in the US, an obviously empty Greenland on my map was like a big zit on the middle of my forehead. Pass the blog post Proactiv.

Look at Greenland now looking all like Pinkland on my readership map.

But 2023 was a milestone year for me. I finally did it. Like Erik The Red, I made it to Greenland! Not once, but twice. It felt like a major mapial accomplishment. Now my readership map looks much more impressive. But it took a lot of work. By the end of 2023, I had published 944 blog post malones.

In 2023 I also added Cuba. And not the Goodling Jr version. The real, cigar making, Elián Gonzálezy, Castro-y Cuba. While Cuba is not nearly as big as Greenland, it is just 90 miles from the United States. Since I felt as if I could kayak there with a printed copy of my blog posts, not reaching Cuba by internet felt like my Bay of Pigs moment.

What’s Next

Now I set new, harder goals. Next, I need to reach Iran and North Korea. Yikes… I also have yet to reach Haiti. Which I hatey. In Africa, I still have to crack Western Sahara and the croissant-looking area that includes Burkina Faso, Niger, Chad, Central African Republic, Congo and Equatorial Guinea. Then there is Eritrea, which sounds like a medication they advertise on TV.

I also need to add The Fualkan Islands (What the Fualk guys?) Plus, the ever-unpopular Tajikistan. Svalbard remains the white dandruff on the top of my map. It’s part of Norway. (Come on, Svalbard, I’m 25% Norwegian.) I also have yet to reach the Soloman Islands and New Caledonia, just east and northeast of Australia. So let’s make that happen in 2024 too.

Key Takeaway

Think big. But start small. Then just keep taking small steps. You accomplish your goals little by little. By plugging away every day it is amazing how much you can accomplish over time.

Some Greenland Perspective

While Greenland looks huge on most of our common maps, it is a maptical illusion. The United States is actually 4.5 times larger than Greenland. The total population of G-Land is 56,000 people. For a Green comparison, Lambeau Field, home of the Green Bay Packers, has a capacity of 81,000.

*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 new year is the perfect time for a clean new start.

On New Year’s Day, I cleaned out my stuff. 

I started by Marie Kondoing my dresser drawers. I removed things I don’t wear. Everything else got folded and fabric-filed in order of the colors of the rainbow. Which made me wonder, why are there so many songs about rainbows?

Then I went to my home office and emptied and organized my desk drawers. Everything that shouldn’t be in them is now gone like the wind.

On Tuesday, my first day of work in 2024, I cleaned off my desk at The Weaponry. Only the essentials remained. Which created a good operating space. (For doing advertising work, not actual operating-operating.)

I emptied my work bag. I replaced only the essentials. My computer, notebooks, pens and a set of earplugs, in case my work takes me to a NASCAR race, or I face a challenge so big that my brain suddenly starts leaking out of my ears.

I also cleaned out my gym bag.

The Result

The year feels new.

I am not carrying any unnecessary baggage from last year.

My drawers are neat and organized, not stuffed with disorganized things that become obstacles to overcome while searching for things I need. My drawers are now tools for me to use. They are ready to receive. There is room in the inn.

It creates a refreshing start to 2024. I walk to work lighter. I walk into the gym lighter. I am ready for new things. And I have space in my life for them. I wish the same for you.

Key Takeaway

Clean out the unnecessary, and start the year fresh. Don’t carry baggage from last year. The purging and organizing will make the new year feel new. It makes it easier to create new and better habits and processes. And a great year is simply a product of attitude, gratitude, habits and processes.

*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.

16 reasons why 2023 was my best year ever.

Happy New Year! Now that 2023 is in the proverbial books I have taken a moment to reflect. And I like what I see. 2023 may have been my best year ever. I don’t know if you can truly rank order your years. But I also don’t know if Georgia can have a fiddle-off between Johnny and the Devil, but according to Charlie Daniels, they did. And Johnny won. So here’s the supporting evidence from my 2023.

Why 2023 was my best year ever.

  1. I was healthy. No flu. No Covid. No broken parts. I got my first colonoscopy this year and they were amazed by what they saw. (Or didn’t see.) I was told to come back in 10 years. I also found that the prep work didn’t bother me. Which is a win. (Get yourself checked. It could save your life.)

2. I feel fit. I feel strong. And not just for being 50 years old. My good physical habits have been compounding. My body weight is under my high school graduation weight. And I think I would still be a valuable asset on a hay rack, bucket brigade, or trust fall.

3. My Happy Marriage. I celebrated my 21st wedding anniversary with my wonderful wife Dawn. She’s my best friend and I love her like crazy. A happy marriage makes you feel like you are winning at life. Which is a great consolation when the Patriots have a terrible year.

4. My Business Had A Record Year: The Weaponry, the advertising and idea agency I lead, recorded its best year ever in 2023. And we celebrated 7 years in business. I love my work. I am part of an amazing team. And we have really great clients. Plus I never have to wear a tie or a name badge.

5. Speaking Engagements: I had my biggest year of speaking engagements in 2023. I traveled all over the country sharing positive messages of self-improvement. Plus people paid me and bought copies of my book, What Does Your Fortune Cookie Say? And I met amazing new people. It was almost too good to be true. But I have pictures to prove it really happened.

6. Travel: I had a huge year of travel. My family and I went to London, Paris, Switzerland, Munich, Chicago, Boston, New Hampshire, Vermont, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, Tennesee, South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia and Alabama. For work, I added California, Florida, Texas, Colorado, Utah, Cape Cod, and Minnesota. For someone who loves to travel this year’s adventures were like a buffet of Buddy Elf’s 4 food groups.

7. Guys Weekend: I also traveled to Puerto Rico with my high school friends Matt Prince, James Colligan and Dan Richards to celebrate our 50th year. The trip was epic. In fact, this trip alone could have made 2023 the best year ever. Ask me about this in person if you want a great story. (And let me know if I still have mud in my teeth from the off-roading we did.)

8. Dudes Dinners: I do a regular thing called Dudes Dinner with a crew of impressive guys in Mequon, Wisconsin. It’s great quality guy time with food, laughs, great stories, togetherness, and book recommendations. All dudes should have a group of dudes like these dudes.

9. Track Season: My daughter Ava had a great track season in the spring of 2023. She throws the discus and had 6 first-place finishes, 2 second-places, and 1 third-place finish. She is now 2 feet off her school’s 44-year-old discus record, with her senior season coming up this spring. She has made huge improvements in technique and strength in the off-season. Did I mention that I am her coach? So I get both Dad-joy and Coach-joy out of her success.

10. Football Season: I also coach my son Magnus’s football team. We had our best season ever in 2023. After winning 1 game in 5th grade and 2 games in 6th grade, this year the 7th graders went 5-3. Magnus had about 25 tackles for losses, a blocked punt, a blocked kick and a safety. (Did I mention I am the defensive coordinator?) On offense, he scored a 72-yard touchdown. So I got the same kind of double Dad-joy/Coach-joy I enjoyed during the track season. The bonds that these boys create with each other through football are amazing. And the father-son bond is like Kragle.

11. Music Success: My son Johann is a talented musician. In the spring he won the Wisconsin State Federation Piano Competition. He also takes saxophone lessons from a very talented professor at UW Milwaukee. Our home is always full of Johann’s beautiful music. I often can’t tell whether the music in my house is the stereo or the sonny-o.

12. I read 41 books: I set a goal of reading 24 books this year and blew past it. I read a lot of books in 2023 that made me feel smarter and more insightful, like the Scarecrow at the end of The Wizard of Oz when he finally gets a brain.

13. My Home: 2 years ago we moved into our new home in Mequon. It’s the first home I have lived in as an adult that I didn’t consider temporary. We have been remodeling the attic above the garage into a guest suite and upgrading the workout room in the basement into an amazing home gym. Both projects are almost complete. In another month I may go J.D. Salinger-style and never leave my home again.

14. My Baby Sister’s Wedding: My youngest sister Donielle got married in December, which was amazing on many levels. It brought my whole family together for the first time in several years. We were all back home in New England for the first time since 1996. The wedding was fun and full of family and friends. Plus, the day before the wedding I had a very special lunch at Simon Pearce in Quechee, Vermont with my parents and my 3 sisters, just like when we were growing up, except nobody spewed milk out of the nose. It was wonderful and hilarious. Thanks to this wedding, my family now feels complete. Or at least until the next generation starts doubling up and multiplying.

15. UW Track & Field Reunion:  I got to see a lot of my college track teammates in October in Madison, Wisconsin. Many of them I hadn’t seen in 5, 10, or 20 years. Seeing your people in real life is always better than just connecting on Zoom, text, and social media. (Unless your people don’t shower or use deodorant.)

16. Life and Death: I had several close family friends pass away in 2023. While they were each very sad, they also made me value my life, health, and family even more.

Key Takeaway

You make great years through your actions, your good decisions and your relationships. You make great years through your hard work and your reputation. To make 2024 your best year yet, create great habits. Make time for friends and family. Plan adventures large and small. Read great books. And remember that life is short. So do the important things now.

*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 create your own best practice approach to practice.

My 13-year-old son Magnus plays the cello. He has been playing for 4 years and I can tell that he has a natural talent for it. But he doesn’t typically practice the way you need to to Rumplestilskin your raw straw talent into golden skill.

Last week, I tried a different approach to Magnus’ practice routine. I asked him to tell me what he thought an effective practice schedule looks like. He said, ‘I should play all 3 of my songs for the week twice every day. And I should listen to my songs once every day.’ Like everyday people.

While I thought playing the songs twice seemed too light, I wanted his practice plan to be driven by him. So I overruled my judgy internal objection and sustained his proposal.

Following our discussion, something interesting happened. Magnus followed his own prescription for a successful week of cello practice. While it was not Yo-Yo Ma level, The Yo-Yo Magnus approach got good results.

Last night Magnus had his cello lesson. He had the best lesson ever. It happened because he followed his own formula for success. And his formula was self-prescribed at a strength he felt he could sustain for a week. Which is the best way to start. Then, as you enjoy the return on your time invested you are more likely to increase the input to enjoy an even better output.

Key Takeaway

Practicing is the key to self-improvement. But the key to getting yourself to practice is spelling out what you think appropriate practice should look like in your world. Create a plan that works with your timing, your energy and your desired outcome. Once you have set your own plan based on those criteria, you are more likely to follow through and enjoy the return on your invested 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.

How to think about your future like a great new home.

I have bought 5 homes in the past 20 years. I know a lot about the process. After all, I do it every 4 years. Which means every time you watch the Summer Olympics, vote for president, or admit you were wrong, I am buying a house.

The critical first step to buying a home is considering how much you can afford. You start with a price range, that includes the minimum and the maximum amount you would spend. You know, like something between $200,000 and $300,000. Ish.

Then you shop for your home. The final price of the house you buy falls in one of two places:

  • A. At the top of your price range
  • B. Above the top of your price range. (Am I right?)

The challenge is that once you see how good the homes at the top of the range are it is hard to settle for anything less.

Applying this to the rest of your life.

To maximize your life, approach it the same way you approach purchasing a new home.

This means that you should have minimum expectations for your life. And you should have maximum expectations for your life. This includes relationships, careers, adventures, investments, health and anything else that leads to your happiness and sense of achievement, accomplishment and fulfillment. (Basically all the ments.)

Then, like with the home buying example, push yourself to the top of your range. Or beyond. Don’t settle for less. Always strive for the upper limit. Because when you do, you will often find yourself above it.

Key Takeaway

Imagine what you are capable of at your best. Then don’t settle for less.

*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.

Why you should focus more of your efforts on long term results.

I have always thought about the long term. I don’t focus on immediate gratification. Because long-term goals pack much more satisfaction than short-term rewards. One is like a king-sized candy bar. The other is like the mini version you eat in half a bite. (If it were possible to eat anything other than apple sauce in half a bite.)

One of my favorite examples of long-term thinking comes from famed landscape architect Fredrick Law Olmstead. Check out his quote below:

“I have all my life been considering distant effects and always sacrificing immediate success and applause to that of the future. In laying out Central Park we determined to think of no result to be realized in less than forty years.”

– Fredrick Law Olmstead

Olmstead wasn’t thinking about Central Park being finished in the year he began crafting it. He was thinking far into the future. He was focused on a time decades later when the trees would be fully mature. When Mother Nature would finish what he started. And when the park would be the inspiration for a coffee shop on the hit sitcom Friends.

What distant effects are you working on now? What investments are you making today in your personal or professional life that you expect to pay out years from now? If you don’t have any it’s time to think longer term.

Key Takeaway

You are building your future today. Ensure your long-term successes by establishing habits that will create a steady, positive, compounding effect. Make each day of your life add to your legacy. Remember, long term results take longer to achieve. But they offer the greatest return on your invested 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.

To create more great outcomes, first focus on your energy.

Do you ever think about what fuels your success? Is it your talent? Your skills? Your network? Your grit? Your actions? The fact that you are a hottie with a karate body? While all of those things are valuable, they are not fuel.

The fuel of your success, both personal and professional, is your personal energy.

It is your energy that fuels your actions. Your energy puts your skills and talent in motion. It is your energy that helps build and maintain your network. Your grit becomes gritless without the energy to hold on, or to plow through challenging times.

Your work ethic, will and determination all require energy to activate. When you run out of energy, you run out of all of the above. And when you are running on empty you simply stop running. Just ask Jackson Browne. Or Forrest Gump.

To create more great outcomes, first focus on your energy. That means knowing your energy sources.

Some are physical:

  • Exercise
  • Sleep
  • Nutrition

Some are psychological

  • Your mission
  • Your purpose
  • Your confidence
  • Your desire for revenge (which is negative, yet effective)

Some are individual:

  • Socializing (for extraverts)
  • Solitude (for intraverts)
  • Time with nature (for dirtverts)

Key Takeaway

Know where your energy comes from. Tap into those sources by creating energy-replenishing habits. Rest and renew your energy. Keep it flowing. It will keep all the other good things in your life going too.

*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.