What Are You Waiting For?...

"I guess it comes down to a simple choice really... you can get busy living... or you can get busy dying"
                                    Andy Dufresne
                                    Shawshank Redemption

This last year was particularly sad for me in that several people I knew returned to the earth...

I suppose it’s an inevitable fact as I grow older... they say that there are only two certainties in life... and one of them is taxes.

In the United States, men and women live to the age of 76 and 81 respectively. 

When we think of averages, we might think back to that statistics class that we took in college and conger up images of a standardized bell-shaped curve in our heads; both sides of the curve being equally distributed on either side of the average.

Unfortunately that’s not the reality.  The truth is that there are very few people who pass on during their first 40 years on earth especially from natural causes.  But as we age beyond 40, the law of averages soon plays catch up.

Additionally, as we grow older, we have more time to meet and befriend more and more people.

Our circle of influence grows concentrically as we expand our pool of friends, relatives and acquaintances over the years.  It is completely predictable and expected that we tend to know several multiples of people more as a 50-year old as we did as a 10-year old.

Just by knowing more people, creates a greater probability that we’ll lose someone we know and/or love.

Some of the people I lost last year were older... my children lost their great-grandmother... who breathed her last breath at the extended age of 102.

Some of the people I lost last year were younger... my brother lost his wife to a sudden brain aneurysm at the early age of 46.

Others were valiant fighters to the end like my father-in-law, Jim or my fraternity brother, Rich...

Each of the people I lost each had their very own story to tell... they touched hundreds of people with their hearts and gentle spirits... and made the world a slightly better place.

The people who knew them are greatly saddened by their passing...

One of the great lessons I have learned from these losses is that life is indeed fleeting and that we need to live each day as though it could be our last... because in reality... it just could be.

In 2011, a group of friends and I all made it to the age of 50 years old.

We decided as a group to do something memorable to mark our silver anniversary of our birth.  So I led our small group on a 650 mile bicycle journey down the coast of California over the course of 9 days.

The ride was one for the ages as we checked yet another item off our bucket list.

Three weeks later we lost one member of our group, Lori Barney, also ironically to a brain aneurysm.  Proving the point made above that life is only temporary and we need to live each day as if it were our last.

In 2016, that same group will attempt to complete yet another feat of strength and endurance in pursuit of another bucket list item... although the exact details of that adventure are still in the planning stages.  

I recently saw a commercial archived on YouTube that has now become one of my all-time favorite spots.

IKEA - Start Something New

The advertisement was produced by IKEA but in reality... the viewer really has no idea that they are even watching a commercial until the very end.

The basic premise of the film is that we can get old, sit around on the same old park bench, feeding pigeons with our pals every day, waiting for our eventual end to arrive...

But we don’t have to follow this path... we can go out and transform our perspective... change our seat... move our stars...

We can learn to dance.  We can try new foods.  Ride trains to foreign lands.  Play new games. We can sign Karaoke. We can meet new people.  We can make friends wherever we go.

The story of our lives is still being written and we are the authors. 

Our lives still hold the promises of adventure... of learning new things... and most importantly sharing our stories with others... while we are still here on this side of the earth.

We want so badly to live life out loud... but sometimes we let our fears, biases and prejudices hold us back...

They stop us from dreaming... they stop us from believing... they stop us from acting.

This is especially true as we grow older... we feel as though we can not take the risk... because if we do fail, fall or stumble... there is not enough time in the race to make up the lost time...

We feel the need to play it safe... we simply have too much to lose at this point in our lives... so we wait on the sidelines instead of getting in the game...

We procrastinate until another day... that magic day in the future when we’ll get motivated to do something... but that day never seems to come...

Instead of doing the important... we do the urgent...

Instead of creating something new... we settle for maintaining what we have...

Instead of future adventures... we live in the past...

Instead of living... we look for ways to stave off death for yet one more day...

Growing old is a fact... acting old is an option.

Our fate is not cast until we breathe our last breath...

We have two choices... we can get busy living or we can get busy dying...

  

Thank you for your support of OptiFuse where we know that life is precious and should be lived to the fullest.   

Satisfied With Field Mice?...

"Here men from the planet Earth first set foot upon the moon, July 1969 AD.  We came in peace for all mankind"

~Inscription on a plaque left on the moon by the men of Apollo 11

Lions are well-known as the "kings of the jungle"... despite the fact that they live on the African savanna and not in the jungle.  

Also dwelling on the African grasslands can be found small field mice.

Lions, with their predator prowess, could easily catch hundreds of field mice each day if they so desired...

...but they don’t.

Instead, they instinctively know that they need to set their goals a bit higher and hunt bigger game animals such as antelope, gazelles, and zebra even though they have a significantly less probability of being successful than that of hunting field mice. 

Why?

Because, if they chose to eat strictly field mice, they would undoubtedly starve to death as field mice simply cannot feed the appetite of a hungry lion.  The lions know this so they set their sights on a more challenging goal of bigger yet more elusive prey in order to survive.

Most human beings have a somewhat different approach. 

We seem to always be looking for the easy way, a short cut, a secret formula or a magic pill that will immediately transform us.

We like to think that we work smarter rather than working harder.

The reality is however... that any type of real change requires discipline, hard work and effort.

We like to set goals... but generally the everyday type goals we set for ourselves are relatively easy to achieve or conversely we chose goals so lofty and so ill-defined that we have no real plan of action to achieve them.

In his book, Built to Last, author Jim Collins coined the phase - BHAG.  

A BHAG (bee-hag) is a Big, Hairy, and Audacious Goal.

A BHAG is clear and compelling, serves as a focal point of effort, and acts as a catalyst for action.  It has a definite time frame so there is a sense of urgency.  It has a clear finish line so you know exactly when the goal has to be accomplished.

The classic example of a BHAG was when President John F. Kennedy addressed congress on May 25, 1961, declaring to the world in no ambiguous language that America would be the first to put a man on the moon before the end of the decade.

This was by all definitions; a BHAG.  It was a big goal... something that had never been done before.  It was clear and compelling.  It had a definite time frame.  We would know without a doubt when we accomplished the goal.

The space race was on...

And on July 20, 1969, the lunar explorer module of Apollo 11 landed on the surface of the moon.  Soon after, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldridge became the first men to set foot on the moon fulfilling the BHAG set in motion some 9 years before.

It is important to have a BHAG goal in our lives.  It gives us something to strive for and gives our life some sense of meaning.  When completed, it gives us a great feeling of accomplishment.

My friend Jack Daly has several BHAGs, including playing the 100 top rated public golf courses in America, running a marathon in every state in the union, and to compete in the Ironman World Championship in Kona, Hawaii (which he finally accomplished in 2013).

BHAGs just don’t happen.  They are a culmination of several smaller goals that are accomplished along the way. 

For instance, Jack just can’t go out and tour the country playing the top 100 public golf courses every day.  He set his goal in playing 3-6 courses per year... time and finances permitting.

He has been working toward his goal now for approximately 15 years and is about 75% of the way there.

Invariably... if we set our goals high enough... we will find some failures and/or setbacks along the way.  There is nothing wrong with failure.

If you don’t fail... then you aren’t setting your sights high enough.

In December of 2013, I went to Utah to go skiing with my family.  I have been skiing since I was a young teenager, so it no longer presents a great challenge for me to ski down the side of a steep mountain without falling.

However up to then, I had never tried snowboarding.

So at the age of 52, I decided to push myself to learn how to snowboard.

After taking a few basic lessons from my brother-in-law Jeff, I rode the ski lift to the top of the bunny slopes to attempt to snowboard down.  After about 30 minutes, I finally finished my first run.

Along the way, I had fallen some 20 times... sometimes in spectacular fashion (I wish I actually had someone with a video camera when I did an impromptu cart-wheel on the side of the mountain stemming from a fall).

The next time I came down the bunny slopes on the snowboard, I only fell 12 times... and the time after that I fell only 6 times... and by the late afternoon, I was going up and down the mountain with relative ease.

The following day I could have stayed on the bunny slopes... but I decided that I needed a bigger challenge if I was to master my new sport... so I ventured off to bigger and bigger hills that entire next day... once again falling over and over.

However, over the course of a few days, I fell less and less by pushing myself to get better.

After two days, my body was black and blue and muscles that I didn’t even know I had, ached with pain.

Now I could have decided just to ski for a few days... I could have decided to continue snowboarding on the bunny slopes... but in doing so... I wouldn’t have challenged myself and by doing so... I wouldn’t have gotten better at something new.

Setting our sights on achieving big goals is not easy.  We all will undoubtedly fail at some point along the way... and if we don’t fail... then we aren’t stretching ourselves enough to get better.

We need to give ourselves BHAGs to work toward over several years... helping us to accomplish big things.

We need to set smaller goals along the way that will incrementally help us to our bigger goals...

We can’t be afraid of failures or setbacks as they will toughen us up and help us to get better...

Being satisfied with the mediocre is like the lion settling to eat field mice... it might be easy... but it won’t allow us to thrive...

Thank you for your support of OptiFuse as we strive to achieve our BHAG of becoming the very best circuit protection component manufacturer in the market.

Time To Take A Bow...

"We must change boys from a ’what can I take’ to ’what can I give’ attitude"

                                 Robert Baden-Powell
                                 Founder of the Boy Scouts 

As I mentioned in last week’s blog, one of my New Year’s resolutions has been to reach out to old friends that I haven’t seen in some time and to take the opportunity to meet some new people who can add a different perspective into my life.
 

So far... so good...

The reception that I’ve received when contacting good friends that I’ve been out of touch with has been overwhelmingly positive...

Generally over a meal, we tell stories... we laugh out loud... we share updates on our family and common friends... and we offer condolences upon the news of a departed loved one...

At the end of our get-together, there is often a note of regret for allowing the friendship to fade and make promises to one another that not as much time will be allowed to pass before we see each other again...

Of the many subjects that we talk about, there is none other more joyful as to hear my friends talk of their now-grown children. 

Their pride doesn’t seem to be derived from the individual achievements of their kids but rather as a way of saying to me, "I think I did a fairly good job as a parent... my children have turned into self-sufficient and productive adults... and I deserve a little recognition for a job well done".

As our children grow up and aspire to leave our homes... we no longer seem to be obsessed with whether or not they are in the top echelon in their chosen field... or which friends they’ve chosen to be close to... or what kind of relationship they have with their boss...

Over the course of some 18-20 years, we had the opportunity to prepare our kids for a successful life and now it’s our turn to sit back and admire our hard work in action.

Not too long ago, I was talking with my friend Ed about the attributes we had hoped to instill in our kids when they were young and how they have incorporated those qualities into their lives. 

We both were reciting several different characteristics that we hoped our children had grown to adopt when all of a sudden he exclaimed... "we just described the Boy Scout Oath and Scout Law"...

I had been a boy scout decades ago... but I still remember those words today...

"On my honor, I promise to do my best to God and my country and obey the Scout Law; to help other people at all times; to keep myself physically strong, mentally awake and morally straight"

The Scout Law referred to is as follows:

A Scout is:

• Trustworthy 
• Loyal
• Helpful
• Friendly
• Courteous
• Kind
• Obedient
• Cheerful
• Thrifty
• Brave
• Clean
• Reverent

Ed was right... these are exactly what traits we both wanted our grown children to possess...

I promise to do my best to God and my country...

To do their best... isn’t that what we all want from anyone?  We don’t want them to talk about doing their best... no... we want people to DO their best... no matter what endeavor they choose to do...

Giving a half-effort or worse not doing it at all is a far worse crime than trying something... giving it your all... but falling short in the end...

We want the determination to get something done and  not quit until the job is accomplished.

To help other people at all times...

We all have been helped in one way or another during the course of our lifetimes.  It might have been our parents, our teachers, a mentor, a colleague, a friend, or complete strangers.

No one can survive without the help of others... including all of the anonymous people, who build our roads, keep us safe, grow our food, or sew our clothes...

It is our duty in life to give back whenever possible.  Our ultimate goal should be to leave the planet in slightly better shape than when we entered it.

Helping others is a way to give back for everything that we have taken.

To keep myself physically strong...

We were all given just one body and we need to make it last a lifetime.  As I’ve gotten a bit older... I watched as so many of my peers defer the maintenance of their body to some undetermined future date...

Everyone wants to be healthy... but wanting something and doing something about it are two very different things.

A healthy lifestyle is a choice... but it takes a certain amount of discipline and effort.

It’s not easy... but the rewards are worth the effort.

...mentally awake...

Not only do we need to condition our bodies... but we also need to work out our brains...

The mind and the body go hand-in-hand.

For the first 25 years of our lives, we are engulfed in learning new things either in school or at home... but as we get older... our learning slows significantly.

It’s not as though we are incapable of learning new things... but we now fill our lives with other things such as work, family or entertainment...

As medical science allows our bodies to live longer, more now than ever, we need to work even harder to keep our minds fit and aware... stretching our cerebral capabilities by using our brains to think rather than to strictly process information.

...and morally straight.

Attempting to legislating morality is a recipe for failure... so I am not here to explain what is moral and what is not...

But with that said... I’m sure that we could all agree on certain basic tenets of a moral society...  

• Say what you’ll do and do what you say (the definition of integrity)...
• Don’t hurt people... physically or mentally
• Don’t take things belonging to other people
• Always tell the truth
• Exhibit kindness to others
• Don’t waste resources
• Be a friend to others in need

The Boy Scouts oath is 105 years old... but much of it still has relevance in today’s modern world.

These are many of the characteristics that I had hoped to teach my children so they were properly prepared to participate in the world as young adults.

There will be a day in the not-to-distant future when my generation will pass the torch to the younger generations just like our parents and grandparents did for us.

As I look around... I am pleased with the work of so many parents... raising fine young men and women to become the guardians of our future...

...who embody the high standards that we have set for ourselves and our children.

Thank you for your support of OptiFuse where we applaud those who work so hard to build a better future. 

Making it Personal...

"The currency of networking is not greed but generosity" 
                                  ~ Keith Ferrazzi

A few days ago I received a personal e-mail from a name I didn’t immediately recognize.

The e-mail caught my attention due to its opening line...

"Happy New Year’s Jim!  It’s been a long time and I hope you and the kids are well... "

The email went on to give a brief summary of what he’s been up to lately and then it asked me to do him a small personal favor.  Would I please be so kind as to cast a vote for his new product entered in some popularity contest connected with the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

He signed the e-mail - Michael Pressley, giving me his new mobile number (it was a local exchange giving me even more reason to believe that I knew him).

I carefully studied the name and it did sound familiar... but I truly didn’t remember where I knew him...

I quickly went to my phone to see if his name was in my contact database but it wasn’t there...

Immediately thereafter, I logged onto my LinkedIn account and discovered that he was indeed a first level contact of mine... as I read through his bio information, I saw that we had both been involved in the same entrepreneur organization, some 15 years ago, and that we had several common friends... but I still couldn’t place the name or face.

It was then that I decided to call the number that he had provided.  

Michael picked up the phone on the third ring and I introduced myself... telling him that I had received his e-mail and sheepishly asked him where we knew each other from.

It was then, he who had to apologize as he explained to me that he had sent out the email to his entire list of LinkedIn contacts with the exact same message... (thinking that most of his contacts actually had kids).

I felt somewhat deceived at that point...

I asked him point blank if he really knew several of our common contacts from LinkedIn. However he put my concerns to rest after reciting several personal pieces of information about several of them (information that wasn’t easily accessible from public sources).

We ended our conversation by saying that we were both surprised that our paths hadn’t met sooner based on our many common friends and interests (San Diego is a relatively small town) and decided to set up a meeting to formally meet and discuss how we might be able to help each other in the future.

This chain of events really got me thinking about social media, networking and how personal relationships have changed over the past 10-20 years.

I am embarrassed to say that I personally have over 2,000 LinkedIn contacts and about 500 Facebook friends... but only 200-300 of whom I actually might personally know...

And for those I do know personally, many of them I wouldn’t actually recognize, even if they were sitting right in front of me, due to the extended period of time since we’ve last seen each other.

These are people I grew up with... people I went to school with... people from organizations I used to belong to... and people I used to work with...

I have to admit that sometimes it’s nice to catch up with an old friend or acquaintance... at one time our lives intersected and made a mark or impression but over time, we have lost touch, and social media was the means for reconnecting.

At first I was quite selective as to whom I would add as contacts or friends... but over time... I will now pretty much accept anyone who asks... this is how I came to have so many people whom I am digitally connected to.

Networking is all about meeting and connecting with people... including a variety of people you don’t actually know personally... but who have a direct connection to someone you do know...

At least this is how networking should work...

With the advent of social media... it’s now quite possible to "connect" with literally millions of people with just a few clicks of a mouse...

The problem is that none of these people actually take the time to really get to know one another... it’s just a numbers game.

What good would it be for me to have President Obama, Bill Gates or Oprah as LinkedIn contacts if I really have no way to really personally connect with them?

I want people in my network that I actually know and trust... people who will take my phone calls... people who make time to see me from time to time... people who continue to create shared experiences with me...

These are the kind of relationships that I want in my life...

Real networking comes from putting the effort into forging relationships a long time before you actually need to ask for that favor.  Most importantly, it means that you are doing things for other people first.

But when do most people look to establish or expand their network... when they are job-searching?... when their kids can’t get into the college of their choice?... when there is a personal crisis in their lives?

Looking to establish a personal network only when you need something is short-sighted and somewhat selfish...

Now we all live busy lives... we barely have enough time for our own families... our work obligations... and our own hobbies and interests... sometimes there is simply not enough time to create or re-establish relationships...

There are a lot of networking books out in the market... but none better than Keith Ferrazzi’s classic book Never Eat Alone.

In his book, he explains that there are several different methods of reaching out to people you know, want to know, or want to know better.

One easy method is found in the title of his book... never eat alone.

Everyone needs to eat and sharing a meal is a great way to reach out to people... be it an early breakfast... a casual lunch... or an informal dinner party bringing several interesting people together to share in a rich experience...

Last week I wrote about New Year’s resolutions and goal setting... so one of my primary resolutions this year is to reconnect with as many old friends as possible.  Not because I want something... but because I simply want good friends back in my life whenever possible...

So don’t be surprised if you get a call from me asking you to lunch or an invitation to my next dinner party...

And if you happen to find yourself in San Diego... please don’t feel bashful about contacting me... I’d love the opportunity to meet... break bread... or have a drink... while we look for commonality...

Building a strong successful network is about adding one good friend at a time... and putting more into the network than you’re taking away...

Networking is more about farming than hunting...

It’s about people, connection and working toward a common goal...

...and like most things in life... you only get after you give..

Thank you for your support of OptiFuse where we want to know what we can do for you... not the other way around.

Why-Power Versus Will-Power...

"The question isn’t ’can you do it’... the question is ’will you do it’... "
                                          ~ Earl Nightingale

Another new year is upon us...  

I’m not sure about you, but it seems as though the years are flying by faster than ever.  Maybe it’s due to the fast-paced nature of the society that we live in or because I’m trying harder than ever to try and get everything crammed into 365 days.

Upon reflection, 2014 was a very good year on many different fronts.  Personally and professionally this last year felt fulfilling for me and for so many others that I know. 

But now the year is behind us and we begin looking forward to the new year and the challenges that it will bring us.

Many people look at the new year as a time of renewal and rebirth.  They will make resolutions and set goals for themselves.  

We feel confident that this is THE year that we will overcome the resistance and procrastination and actually achieve the success that has eluded us.

Unfortunately, within days or weeks, many of us will fall back into our old habits... abandoning our initiatives until next year or maybe the year after that...

Making a list of resolutions is easy... actually doing the things on the list is hard...

Over the years, I’ve found a few techniques that have allowed me to complete the goals I’ve set for myself.  No... these ideas are not a magic potion that somehow overcomes procrastination but they do help us to stay focused and determined to find the success that has eluded us.

Employing these three ideas will hopefully allow us to maintain our New Year’s resolutions all year long...

Focus on the "Why"

So often we make a list of resolutions and goals but we have no idea why we want to do these things in the first place.

I hear of people telling me that they want to read more... or watch less TV... or take a class... or run a marathon... or quit smoking... or lose weight...

My response to them is generally the same... why?

If you can’t articulate a good reason why you want to do something in the first place... then there is a really good chance that you won’t actually accomplish that goal. 

Every good goal has a strong "why" behind it and until you can answer the "why" that goal is in jeopardy of failing... the "why" causes us to believe. 

The "why" isn’t about trying to appease someone else or because it is something we think you ought to be doing... the "why" is a goal or resolution that we feel that we must do for ourselves... something that we simply cannot go on living without doing...

The "why" makes us committed... it causes us to believe... it gives us reason... it gives our goal a purpose...

When we want to quit... the "why" will keep us going... it will help us to overcome fear and resistance... it will allow us to picture success...

Each and every resolution or goal on our list must be written with corresponding "why am I doing this?" and "why is it important enough to be on my list in the first place?"...

Then and only then will the goal become a reality.

Space it out

January 1st rolls around and we compile a list of 20 or so resolutions... all the changes we want to make in our lives to supposedly make us a better person...

This is great... but completely unrealistic.

It is nearly impossible for most people to make wholesale changes in their lives all at once.  Remember... these are habits that have accumulated over the course of a lifetime... thinking that you can abruptly change your lifestyle overnight is a recipe for failure.

The best way to find success is to space out your resolutions throughout the entire year. 

Start with only 1 or 2 goals and then work on them steadfast for 60 days to accomplish those goals... it is far easier to work on a goal knowing that there is an end date of 60 days...

At the end of the 60 days... start 1-2 new and different resolutions... and then work hard to achieve those goals.

Committing to a goal for 60 days will also begin to make those goals new habits that have a strong possibility of staying with you for a longer period of time.

The other benefit of starting a new resolution each 60 days... is that if you failed the first time... you can restart again in 60 days rather than waiting an entire year to restart...

It’s hard to make (keep) a resolution for an indefinite period of time... but if you break it down into small increments you’ll have a much better chance for success.

Write it down

I know it sounds so cliché but it is absolutely essential that you actually write down your goals/resolutions and then keep track of your daily progress.

All truly successful people will tell you the same thing... you can’t manage what you don’t measure.

Writing down your goals helps you to define what it is you’re trying to do and accomplish. 

And just because your goals are written down... this doesn’t necessarily mean that they are chiseled in stone.  When we first created the goals, most likely we didn’t have all of the information needed or perhaps the situation has changed, so it’s fine to amend your goals over time.

Last year I hoped to ride my bike 5,000 miles over the course of a year, but due to weather conditions in the early spring, I knew that meeting my goal was no longer feasible so I modified my goal to meet a more realistic expectation.

Once you’ve written all your goals out (more detail the better)... then you need to start measuring the results each and every day.

There are several smart phone applications that can help you to track your progress... you might use a daily calendar... or simply write your daily results in a notebook.  I personally use an app called Lumen Trails but there are a variety of good tool that will help you to track your progress.

Whatever method you choose... it shouldn’t be elaborate or fancy... otherwise you won’t do it because it’s just too much of a hassle...

Each year I go on an annual diet to bring my weight back to an original starting point... during my diet (lasting about 10 weeks)... I track everything that I ingest in an app on my phone... including the vitamins and supplements I take each morning...

Doing this provides a great psychological crutch in helping me to limit my caloric intake... I know that if I choose to eat something... I’ll need to write it down... so I’ll usually end up not eating the snack just because I’m lazy and don’t want to write it down.

I am a big believer in goal setting... but I am also inherently lazy... so whatever system I chose to employ needs to be easy.

The above 3 techniques seem to work well in my life... but perhaps you have your own things that you do that allow you to achieve your own goals.

If so... I’d love for you to send me some of your own favorite methods so I can incorporate them into my own life and perhaps share them with others in a future blog. 

Making the effort to improve ourselves is a good thing... actually accomplishing what we set out to do is a better thing...

Accomplishment is inside each of us... we just need to find the right reasons... and those reasons will give us the power to succeed...

Thank you for your support of OptiFuse where we believe that it is our job to encourage the greatness that is dormant in each and every one of us.