Are you worried about your age? Are you concerned that you are too old for the types of opportunities that now interest you most? Do you feel that you are too old to learn the new thing that is transforming your industry? Do you feel like you are too old for the dream you have been dreaming your whole life? Do you think you are too old to cut the mustard and not realize that mustard no longer needs to be cut?
Or do you think you are too young? That you don’t know enough and that you are not ready for the opportunities that are at your doorstep? Do you feel too young for the next level of responsibility? Do you find yourself singing, I don’t wanta grow up. I’m a Toys R Us kid?
I am currently reading Curtis Jackson’s book Hustle Harder, Hustle Smarter. You may know Curtis better by his monetary name, 50 Cent. Fifty talks about how some people have a difficult time transitioning as times change. Then he dropped these 2 cents (which may mean he is now 48 Cents):
“Age isn’t about what year you were born in. It is about how you approach the year you are in right now. “
-Curtis ’50 Cent’ Jackson
This is a good reminder to face today as if you belong. As if the changes, advances and technologies are coming for your benefit. Not to leave you behind, like Nicolas Cage and Lea Thompson.
Approach this year and every year with a growth mindset. As a learner. As a Curious George, ready to get into new trouble. Or as a Sponge Bob, ready to soak up new ideas and new possibilities, instead of simply becoming a Krabby Patty.
Key Takeaway
Your mindset should be an asset, not a liability. Approach each year with a youthful spirit and you will learn, grow, explore, and take advantage of all the new opportunities available. Recognize the new roles and opportunities afforded to you. Don’t get stuck in the good old days mindset. There are great things in every day. You simply need to adapt to take advantage of them.
*If you know someone who could benefit from this message, please share it with them.
Sunday afternoon I told my 14-year-old son Magnus we were going for a drive. He looked both confused and curious as he followed me towards the garage, pulled on his shoes and hurried out the door behind me.
As we tore out of the driveway like Bo and Luke Duke in my White Ford Bronco Expedition I explained that I had just seen a brand new listing on Facebook Marketplace for 3 large boxes full of 1980s-era baseball cards. The woman selling them posted that she didn’t know what was in the boxes. She simply wanted them out of her house. $25 took all 3 boxes. And I was hyperventilating. (Well, I was actually just hyper while I was ventilating.)
I collected these baseball cards when I was a kid. And I knew this created an opportunity to teach Magnus a valuable lesson. As we sped down the rural Wisconsin highway I told Magnus that one of the most valuable skills you can develop is a sense for undervalued assets. Those assets could be baseball cards. But they could also be stocks, real estate, businesses, antiques, coins, stamps, equipment and countless other things. Including undervalued people. (Especially undervalued people.)
The other valuable skill I encouraged Magnus to develop is the ability to move quickly. You have to act on your detection of undervalued assets before other people do. Hence the quick reply on Facebook and the Smokey and The Bandit-style driving.
You can’t do what Warren Buffet calls thumbsucking, and lose time re-contemplating when you already know what the right action is. Because as you wait, other people are discovering the undervalued asset. And only one person will be able to grab that asset at that price. So you gotta act like Sir Mixalot when they toss it. And leave it. And pull up quick to retrieve it.
When we arrived at the seller’s home the couple selling the cards were already in the garage, ready to tote the large boxes of cards to my vehicle. After some quick pleasantries, the woman shared that right after I responded to her listing she was flooded with others who also wanted to buy the cards. This confirmed my suspicion of undervaluedness. And it underscored the importance of acting quickly. From the time I first spotted the baseball card listing to the time they were in the back of my vehicle was less than an hour. Boom.
When we returned home, we estimated that there were 9000 baseball cards in the collection we just bought. We began picking out a few random cards from one of the boxes and immediately discovered 3 Randy ‘The Big Unit’ Johnson rookie cards from 1989 that were rare and desirable because they were printed with his wrong birth year. (But his correct height of 6′ 10″!) One of those cards alone was worth more than we paid for the entire collection.
Key Takeaway
Develop a sense for undervalued assets. This comes from understanding markets just well enough to have an undervalued item ping on your radar. All you need is that ping. Because once you sense it, you can perform quick research online or by phoning a friend to get a better sense of the specific value and opportunity. As soon as you have a high degree of confidence that you have discovered a good deal that you can capitalize on, you have to act. Commit and complete the sale swiftly. Because gold doesn’t lie on the sidewalk for long.
*If you know someone who could benefit from this message, please share it with them.
I recently came across this classic photo from July of 20000. It was the first photograph ever taken of me and Dawn Zabel. This was long before she was my wife, and shortly before we started dating. And the photo itself was taken by a camera that wasn’t attached to a phone, social media or Wordle.
When I saw this photograph an interesting and profound thought popped into my hat holder. It wasn’t about how young Dawn and I looked, how short my hair was, or how Clorox-white our shirts were.
My immediate thought when I see this image is that we all need someone to take a chance on us. Because here’s what I see that goes beyond the obvious.
My First Job
This picture is from the Cramer Krasselt company picnic in 2000. CK was my first employer in advertising. They took a chance on me right out of college. I was an unproven commodity that had no track record of advertising success and no experience to draw on. I was just a recent graduate from the University of Wisconsin who came for an informational interview with an endorsement from one of my college professors. It was hard for them to know if I was just a talker or a Hershel Walker. But CK took a chance. And like dough, that was all I needed.
My Credit History
When I started my job at CK I made very little money. (It was actually the same size money that everyone else made, but I didn’t make much of it.) And I had to Stretch Armstrong that money to pay for rent, groceries and a $300 per month student loan payment. So when I applied for a credit card everyone Heismaned me, citing my high debt to income ratio that made me credit unworthy. For 2 years I experienced rejection after rejection by the credit cards who I asked out. Then 2 years into my career I flew to Los Angeles to shoot a commercial for Reddi-Wip whipped cream with my creative partner, Dan Koel and my creative director Mike Bednar.
After the filming was finished I stuck around LA and attended a college football game between USC and San Diego State, with my college friends Alex Mautz and Jaime Smith Mautz. On our way into the game I passed a tent that was giving away free USC t-shirts if you signed up for a USC credit card. I was excited to have a t-shirt to wear to the game, but I knew I wouldn’t actually get the credit card because of my preexisting credit condition. So I filled out the paperwork, took the shirt, and enjoyed the game.
Then, two weeks later, to my total surprise, I received a USC Visa credit card in the mail. Someone finally took a chance on me. I used that Trojan card for the next 6 years like I was the proudest USC grad on the planet. I paid off my entire balance every month. And I built my credit. My credit score passed Pat Robertson’s 700 Club and went to the 800s. All because USC Visa took a chance on me.
Look at this photograph. Every time I do it makes me laugh. I am wearing the T-shirt they gave me outside the LA Coliseum.
My Wife Dawn.
I first saw Dawn Zabel in the elevator on my way to work in early June of 2000. And my life has never been the same. I got off the elevator and immediately began a long and elaborate Dawn-stalking mission, which turned into the greatest adventure of my life.
But back then, I was just a 27-year-old copywriter with a high debt-to-income ratio and a shiny new USC Trojan visa. My career hadn’t had any major moments indicating future success. I didn’t have an impressive resume of enviable past relationships. I hadn’t been a good parent to a dog, cat or hedgehog. Heck, I didn’t have a fern that could vouch for my skills as a long-term provider.
Yet, Dawn still took a chance on me. A couple weeks after the company picnic we went on our first date to see the movie The Patriot, which to my surprise, didn’t feature Tom Brady or take place in Foxborough. And it didn’t really land with Dawn. But when I dropped Dawn off that night I did land a goodnight kiss. Two years later we got married. Then came 3 kids and 5 houses. We enjoyed moves and promotions. Adventures and opportunities. And we had credit cards that got paid off every month.
This week, Dawn and I celebrated our 22-year wedding anniversary. All because she took a chance on me.
Key Takeaway
All you ever need is a chance. When you find people willing to give you a try, prove them right. Have pride in your reputation and respect the trust others have offered you. Then knock it out of the park. Turn the promise of your potential into proof and performance. When you look back at your life you’ll be thankful to all those who gave you a shot. And it will make you want to do the same for others. Taking a chance on an unproven person is one of the greatest gifts you will ever give. And often times it is all that person will ever need.
*If you know someone who could benefit from this message, please share it with them.
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.
Jeff ‘The Leap Day’ Hilimire, shows us how big he was when he was born.
Great opportunities are created through your interactions with other people. This means that your engagement with other humans is core to your experience on the planet, and presumably on the international space station.
However, before you can develop new friends, partners, collaborators, employers, employees or supporters you need to be discoverable. Like a Bluetooth device. And the easier you are to be found the easier it is for opportunities to find you.
The best way to be found is to do the opposite of what you would do if you were on the FBI’s Most Wanted List. Or Sasquatch. Or Olivia Newton John’s ex-husband. Because to be discovered by others, you must do things that raise your profile so that you ping on other people’s radars.
You can be discovered in a few simple ways.
Show up. Be visible in the real world. Go to events. Be seen in public. Meeting people for meals or beverages isn’t just about showing up for the person you are meeting with. It is also about raising your visibility to everyone else at those establishments. This creates both a higher level of awareness and chance encounters. It increases your level of familiarity with others. That is where real relationships start. It’s also why the Loch Ness Monster never gets invited to birthday parties.
2. Share messages. Create and share your messages with the world. Make them easy to find. This includes blog posts, columns, letters to the editor, news releases, message board posts, podcasts, and video content. You can share social posts on any and all social media. Comments in those same places too. This makes it easier for people to see your name, your ideas and your personality. By sharing your messages you are reaching many people at the same time. This could be dozens, hundreds, thousands, or even millions of people simultaneously. Which is much easier and more scaleable than sharing your message one-on-one, like Hall and Oates.
3. Talk Value. This happens when you do something good, interesting, surprising, or noteworthy, and others start to talk about you when you are not around. This means that others are amplifying your message for you. When others share messages about you, recommend you, promote you, wonder about you, ask about you, or admire you aloud, your message spreads far beyond your ability to share on your own. This is how people like the Kardashians, Mother Teresa, and Santa got famous.
Key Takeaway
Great things happen as a result of awareness. Make sure you are being seen, heard, and talked about for the good things you do. That’s how great people and great opportunities discover you.
*If you know someone who could benefit from this message, please share it with them.
Opportunities are the seeds of success. Just as the acorn becomes an oak, opportunities can transform into happiness, wealth, fulfillment, or success. And like little pigs, musketeers, and Charlie’s Angels, they come in 3 types:
The opportunities that find you.
The opportunities that you find.
The opportunities that you create.
The first kind falls in your lap. The second kind you catch. The third kind you make.
If you wait around for the first type, you may wait forever, like an airline customer service representative.
The second type you need to look for. And you better be ready to compete for it when you find it. Kind of like parade candy. Or the t-shirt shot out of a cannon at a sporting event that isn’t even your size.
The third type will have no competition. Because without you it doesn’t exist. Like your next business, book or baby. This includes connections, creations, innovations and organizations of all types. Basically anything with a tion in it. Because the suffix tion turns a verb into a noun. Just like opportunities empower you to make things with your actions.
Key Takeaway
Keep your eyes open to find opportunities. But more importantly, keep your mind open to create your own. Because those are the most valuable and available variety of all.
*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.
Friday night my family and I had dinner in Las Vegas. It was the last night of our southwestern adventure, and we didn’t really plan our last meal. At least not the way Jesus did.
Through a strange confluence of forces, including a rare desert thunderstorm that created flash floods in Vegas, we ended up eating at Buddy V’s Ristorante.I realized once we reached the restaurant that it was named after Buddy Valastro.
Shortly after we sat down to eat I spotted Buddy V himself walking into the restaurant. A few minutes later Buddy stopped by our table to say hi, check on our experience, and thank us for coming to the restaurant that night. (I refrained from saying that I loved him in Elf.)
Buddy then greeted the table next to us. The family at that table asked if they could take a picture with Buddy. Which tipped off our kids that this guy was a celebrity. So they asked us why he was famous.
Dawn and I explained that Buddy V owned Carlo’s Bake Shop in Hoboken, New Jersey. (Fun Fact: Dawn lived in Hoboken right after graduating from college as she worked at Lifetime, Television For Women, in New York City.)
We told our kids that Buddy was so good at making cakes that he got his own show on TLC called Cake Boss. He has now starred on 5 other TV shows. He owns 18 bakeries. And he is currently launching other restaurants.
After explaining this to our kids, I said that the real lesson from Buddy V was that if you want to create a lot of opportunities for yourself you should first become really great at something. And that something could be anything.
Buddy V was so good at making cakes that the world took notice and wanted to see and know more about him and his work. His personality made him interesting to a broad crowd and the opportunities just keep coming.
But it all started because he became great at his craft.
And maybe because he has a sweet accent.
Key Takeaway
Become really great at what you do. Expertise opens doors to new opportunities. It offers you career capital. Which leads to social capital. And financial capital. Keep practicing and improving your skills and you will become sought after. And when you are sought after everything changes.
*If you know someone who could benefit from this message, please share it with them.
The world is full of possibilities. There is no shortage of problems to solve and great new things to introduce. If you have an entrepreneurial mind you will find a never-ending parade of opportunities to convert into businesses.
This is a problem.
The infinite opportunities you see distract you from the one business you should start. Or should continue building.
Ideally, you should look for opportunities until you find one great one that fits you. Then you should wear blinders and block out all other possibilities. The same way you should scout for a mate until you find one. Then you should NOT scout for a mate anymore.
If you want to grow a gigantic pumpkin you start with a gigantic seed. Then, when the plant starts to grow, you snip off all the blossoms but one. That way all of the energy, nutrients and focus of the plant go into growing one huge fruit. Although if you can find seeds to grow just the pumpkin spice, do that. Pumpkin spice is where the real money is.
When I started The Weaponry, my advertising and idea agency, I became obsessed with it. I put all my energy into it. Which forced the business to grow. I have had a million other business ideas since then. I detail the ideas in my notebooks. But my focus remains on the one business I am committed to growing.
You need to do the same thing.
Find your giant seed. Plant it in good soil. Fertilize it with your energy. Water it with enough cash to keep it hydrated. Shine your light on it. And make sure to snip off all but one blossom to maximize your focus and growth.
Key Takeaway
To maximize your chances of creating a wildly successful business, find one opportunity and go all in on it. Don’t dabble. Don’t sample. Don’t put 1% into 100 things. Put 100% into one thing. Until it soars. Then you can sell it, or have someone else run it for you. At that point, go find another opportunity to make fly.
*If you know someone who could benefit from this message, please share it with them.
All of the good things that have happened in my life have a common theme. They happened because I prepared to take advantage of an opportunity point. Which means I put in work or research before an important moment. Like a Boy Scout would do. Although I was never a Boy Scout. I heard the Be Prepared motto and felt I got the gist of it.
When my big moments came, I drew on the work or the research I had performed to maximize the opportunities. I performed impressively. I made a strong impression. I drove a result. I became memorable for being prepared, capable, smart, insightful, knowledgable, interesting, thoughtful, or resourceful. Then, I was able to cash in my preparation for rewards. Just like you cash in your tickets for prizes at Chuck E Cheese.
Opportunity Points
Make sure you know what your opportunity points are. Here are a few examples:
Competitions
Meetings
Job interviews
Sales calls
Tests
Dates
Sorority rush
Meetups
Performances
Parties
Introductions
Tradeshows
Seminars
Auditions
Conferences
Social media encounters
America’s Got Idols
Preparation allows you to convert an opportunity point into an inflection point. A point where things change for you. A new door opens. An angle of growth steepens. The trajectory of your life alters in a positive way. Suddenly, people want more of your time. Which means the value of your time goes up too.
How to capitalize on your opportunities.
To turn your opportunities into inflection points try the following approach:
Look at your calendar. (You do have a calendar, right?)
Identify the opportunity points. (They are everywhere.)
Determine what you could do today, and each day before the event to be best prepared to make that event a moment of inflection. (Start with researching all you can about the people and the topic you will encounter. Don’t be afraid to stalk. That’s how I found my wife. Training and practice are also important.)
Do the prep work you determined would be beneficial. (It is not enough to know what you should do. You gotsta do it for realzies.)
Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.
-Maybe Seneca (But maybe someone else. They can’t find any credible witnesses.)
Key Takeaway
Every week we encounter dozens of opportunity points. Once you recognize them you can prepare for them. That preparation allows you to capitalize on the opportunity. Sometimes the rewards are small and grow over time. Sometimes the rewards hit in major ways that alter your life path immediately. But if you don’t prepare it is as if the opportunity wasn’t even there. Don’t let that happen.
*If you know someone who could benefit from this message, please share it with them.
Adam Albrecht Blog 