Do You Give A Duck?

You’ve just had a major car accident and we need to hospitalize you for a week.  How much is your recovery worth?  You gotta pay if you wanna stay!

This is what happens everyday in our country.  Unfortunately many of us are in denial about the possibility of major unexpected events happening to us.  See how this recent study shows how optimistic people are:



Not to be morbid or a pessimist, but here’s the reality:

• In 2012, around 2.36 million people were injured in car accidents and 33, 561 died.¹
• Every 34 seconds someone suffers a heart attack and in 2010 1.9 million new cases of diabetes are diagnosed for people 20 and older (results are over 1,900 deaths a day).²
• 1 in 2 men as well as 1 in 3 women will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime (results are over 1,500 deaths a day).3
• Over 37 million Americans are classified as disabled; about 12% of the total population. More than 50% of those disabled Americans are in their working years, from 18-64.⁴
• The average length of a hospital stay is 4.8 days and it costs an about $10,000.⁵

Here’s the complimenting financial reality of this:



Now having the wool pulled off of you, what are you doing to prepare?

Unfortunately it is not a question of it things will happen, but when will they happen and how will you handle them.  It’s bad enough these events are physically, mentally, and emotionally straining, but adding the financial aspect is adding insult to injury (no pun intended). 

Quite simply, as I always say:

Have A Plan, Not A Plea.

Do something to help your employees prepare for this.  Undoubtedly if they work for you for some length of time, their families often expect owners to do something to help.  It’s the right thing to do, but do it the smart and fair way.

1. http://www.nhtsa.gov
2. http://www.heart.org , http://www.diabetes.org
3. http://www.cancer.org
4. U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey, 2011
5. The Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project, sponsored by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

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The Worst Thing About Ambition

The worst thing about ambition is that we don’t all have it.

I come from humble beginnings……… I don’t say that to be dramatic, but to add context to this and to maybe see why I’m wired oddly!

My father is a U.S. Army helicopter technician and has done that for the past 40+ years proudly.  My mother works at the base commissary (grocery store) and has for 30+ years.  Both of my parents showed me, taught me, and instilled in me the value of hard constant work.  They also scared me with it because I didn't want to have to do the exact same job that long! 

While they did this, at the same time my mother has this “everything will be all right” air about her.  She has this hopeless optimism.  No matter what was going on she was always optimistic.  I mean no matter what.  She especially did this when it came to my future.  I didn't quite know the value of it then and quite frankly it could be annoying at times!  That’s one of the very same characteristics of ambition!

See, I had the typical go to college ambition because that’s all my parents knew and I thank them for that.  I never had the entrepreneur ambition or at least I didn't know I did.  I didn't realize it till I was on a full scholarship studying computer engineering and it hit me that I don’t want to build machines or work on software my whole life! 

Long story short, I switched majors to accounting and took a long break in school, but had full time jobs selling in the process.  Enter ambition.  Sales and accounting showed me I can do or be what I want to really.  Problem is, a lot of adults don’t really feel that way about any adults.

The worst thing about ambition is that people who don’t have it don’t understand it.  They even shame it.  It’s so bad that somebody who wants to work hard enough to get a raise at a “job” bashes someone who has a business they are trying to grow.  Why is it we tell children they can be anything they want to but once they cross over the 18 year old line we way you have to get a respectable job, work hard, and maybe retire if you've climbed the ladder enough?

I respect everyone who can and has the desire to do that, but why do I get looked at like an alien for wanting to challenge myself to increase my business to what I want?  America was built on this but it is so watered down now that 1% of our population is the “upper echelon.” 

The worst thing about ambition is you don’t necessarily choose when it shows up.  Sure kids all have it, but somewhere around middle school we forget.  I didn't recapture mine until my 30’s.  This is after drifting through my 20’s having short fizzles of it, but since it arrives now people think I need to spend at least 15 years trying to get comfy!  Why can’t I want to spend 5 years pushing myself so the next 10 are cake?

The worst thing about ambition is it is not an accepted characteristic in all avenues and ages. If you accept mine now, great, if not then you will later.

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Chrome, An Essential Business Mineral

I LOVE GOOGLE CHROME!!!!

Did I come on a little strong…………………….?

I can’t talk enough about the productivity elements that Chrome offers to business people.  I've battled between Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Chrome for a while, but now I’m a heavy metal head!

Why you ask?  Let me tell you:

1.  Synchronization – I drive a lot for my work and I have an Android phone so it is great to have all of my contacts and prospective addresses synced to my phone and other devices.  Even if I’m just thinking about going to a place, if I searched it on my notebook it quickly pops up on my phone (huge time saver).

2.  Speed – I know Chrome does use a lot of resources on your computer, but when it’s going it’s very fast (I’m all about time saving).

3.  Extensions -  This is the number 1 reason why I love Chrome.  I've found some great extensions that make my work a lot more productive and insightful.  Here’s a section on those  (the bullet title links go to the Chrome Web Store):

1.  Stayfocused – do you ever find yourself just sitting in your email inbox or drifting around LinkedIn or Twitter because of one notification?  Stayfocused allows you to set a timer for websites you use and then when the time expires you cannot login to these sites until the next day.  I’ll tell you what, when you know you can’t get into your email until the next day you look at it with more focus, speed, and efficiency!

2.  PowerInbox – this one just allows you to see any social media emails more completely.  Follow people from your email and unsubscribe from a list right from the inbox without even opening the email!

3.  mxHero Toolbox - Best extension ever!  I send a lot of emails and the fact that this one sends the tracking response right to your email you can see if you have a response on your phone.  Even schedule emails for later and set the email to remind you if you don’t receive a reply by a certain time.  Huge email supercharger!!

There’s a few more, but I think these 3 will get you well on your way to web wizardry!

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