Kevin Bales: How to combat modern slavery

Are we truly free?

We need to make information simple.

We need to listen and organize and purge.

We need to be patient with those around us who adapt at different rates.

We need to revisit our approach.

I just watched this “Web 2.0″ video again.  It is information overload.  Yet, it also is about managing external perception.  It is about social networking and Twitter and blogs and hyperlinks and sharing information.  (It’s also linked with several other FAQ related videos, right here on this blog.)

The Machine is Us/ing Us

We need to slow down.  We do not need to speed up.

We need to stop multi-tasking.  We need to say no.

We need to say less, spend more time being the expert, and less time marketing.

I’ve said “we” a lot here.  That’s because “I” think “I” have some ideas that “I” think will help make other people’s lives more enjoyable, more simple, more balanced, more about what “we” want our lives to be about.

Stay tuned!

Wisconsin is just another Midwest place.  –>  Wisconsin is cool for how loyal people are, how simple people are, how honest people are, and how good the beer is.    (Believe it or not, in MN, I was asked, “They still make that s&!t?” and told, “I’m surprised we had any of that stuff around.” (That’s in relation to PBR!)  That’s practical blasphemy in Sconnieland.

Maybe these are major transformations!?!?

WHAT’S NEXT?!

The summer weather.  The warm summer nights.  The history here, my history.  The lakes.  The water.  The lakes.  (Yes, I said “The lakes.” twice – - which is only two of well more than 10,000 like it says in the Minnesota state license plate.)  It’s good to be back in Minnesota.

Notice my URL… now.

I found this video via this post.

It’s particularly interesting to me because I just had a discussion with a good friend.  That discussion was directly about this topic and how we have different viewpoints and different aspects of this topic in our lives.

I’m listening.

I’m thinking.

http://waitingforfreefood.com/2008/04/03/intro/

Today is World Storytelling Day!

Today is the birthday of Frederick W. Taylor – an American efficiency expert.  We share the same bent towards that.  We share the same middle initial.  If he was alive today, he would be 152 years old today.  We don’t share that.

I am still around, and today is my birthday!  I’m 36 today. 

Here’s lookin’ at you, kid!  Cheers!

UPDATE: I think good things are going to happen this year.  To start off, I’m going to add, awesome ways to start 002.

“Ghost Rider, this is Strike. We have unknown aircraft inbound Mustang. Your vector zero-nine-zero for bogey.”

I’ve come to some conclusions.

I can change the world.

Everyone has the ability to change the world.

The difference is that I want to and I will.

There are some people that I can’t change.

There are most people that I can’t change.

There is nobody that I can change.

I don’t want to change people.  That’s up to the individual.

I can change the world.  That’s up to me.

This is important to realize.  This is a distinction between the emotional tug to argue and be right and to win a power struggle … and … the focus and drive and passion needed to facilitate change and positive growth.

So, what have I determined today?  I will not be a politician.  They spend too much time talking and not enough time doing.  I will not engage in debates and rhetoric that are not focused on solutions.  The kinds of debates and rhetoric that I am talking about avoiding are focused on being right, not focused on being better.  I want to focus on being better.

I will always have political issues to deal with.  That’s just the politics of life.  We can’t avoid that.  But, I will not make dealing with that be *my* focus.

With all that being said, people can and do change.  I have changed.

You may not care about those articles if:

• you are not a thinker
• you don’t care about how, and you just want “it” to work
• you think it’s someone else’s job
• you are not curious
• you do not believe that YOU can change the world
• you think change is bad and status quo is good, no matter what
• you forgot that you – - drive or ride in a car or bus, fly in an airplane, use a cellular phone, ship things overnight, send email, watch HD TV, use a microwave, use a refrigerator, talk on the telephone, send instant messages or text messages, watch a TV, etc.

There is a lot of stuff that happens around us.  We can do a lot to shape our own experiences.  We can do a lot more to shape the experiences of those that come after us.  I think that deeper thinking in different areas brings deeper rewards and in different ways than we are imagining now.  But, because we can’t imagine it right now, doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be thinking about it right now.  That’s why I keep learning, and I love it!

“Imagine life is a game in which you are juggling five balls. The balls are called work, family, health, friends, and integrity. And you’re keeping all of them in the air. But one day you finally come to understand that work is a rubber ball. If you drop it, it will bounce back. The other four balls – family, health, friends, integrity – are made of glass. If you drop one of these, it will be irrevocably scuffed, nicked, perhaps even shattered. And once you truly understand the lesson of the five balls, you will have the beginnings of balance in your life.” ~from “Suzanne’s Diary for Nicholas” a novel by James Patterson

“It must be remembered that there is nothing more difficult to plan, more doubtful of success, nor more dangerous to manage than the creation of a new system. For the initiator has the enmity of all who would profit by the preservation of the old institutions and merely lukewarm defenders in those who would gain by the new ones.” ~Niccolo Machiavelli 1513

“Ah consensus … the process of abandoning all beliefs, principles, values and policies in search of something in which no one believes, but to which no one objects; the process of avoiding the very issues that have to be solved, merely because you cannot get agreement on the way ahead. What great cause would have been fought and won under the banner ‘I stand for consensus’?” ~Margaret Thatcher

“Contentment isn’t a matter of having everything we want, but of not wanting everything we see.” ~from “Real Stories For The Soul” a book by Robert J. Morgan

The fun part was that on Wednesday afternoon my sister got married.  I got to see lots of family and friends back in Minnesota.  (If you didn’t know, that’s where I grew up.)

The feelings part comes in knowing that I am learning to set healthy boundaries regarding work and also in many other areas of my life.  Sometimes it’s hard to know where those boundaries should be.  Here are two examples.

I have several really good friends.  About five years ago, I moved from Minneapolis to Seattle.  I’ve had a bit of a roller coaster with relationships and life events since then.  I went through a divorce and have also had a steady progression of better jobs with learning new skills and definitely increasing my experience.  Lately I’ve come to clearly realize that Seattle is “home” and it’s where I feel most comfortable right now.  That may change, but that’s where it is for right now.  That changes some relationships from back in Minnesota.  It’s not possible to stay connected and maintain so many deep, long distance relationships.  Some of those are likely to fade.  That’s ok.  It’s a boundary thing that I must accept in order to stay healthy and not try to expend precious energy and time on things that are out of my control.  Even though I know this is healthy, right now I feel dry and calloused.  Those are more reactionary feelings and I’m sure I’ll get more root feelings in the future.  Right now I don’t feel very connected to MN or to my friends there.  It was very good to see them and to spend time there.  I just feel a big disconnect, because I live in a different culture and it’s harder to relate.

Another example is with work.  This vacation is the first one I’ve had in a while that I left my work laptop at home and did not monitor email or voicemail for the entire time that I’m away from the office.  We need to do that more often.  I need to to that more often.  I think my job is a really good fit for both me and my employer.  And, after vacation, I think that even more.  I feel comfortable and refreshed.  Those are two things that make employees be better people and two things that help job satisfaction and will definitely impact my own job satisfaction.  I am not my job.  It’s just what I do.  That’s something that I think a lot of other people could also benefit from learning.  Sometimes I wish I learned that many years ago.  Regardless, I’m glad that I know it now.

As I near the end of vacation, I’m going to continue to relax and to charge my batteries.  I started a new book.  I read four different magazines from cover to cover.  There’s a John Grisham book, a couple 4×4/Jeep magazines and a couple financial news magazines.  (I don’t have many investments and it was just something to check out on one of the flights.) None of those are related to work or to my professional development.  They are simply ways to keep my mind exercised and for my own enjoyment.

So, if you see me with a big smile on my face, all while life and work are happening all around me, I’m planning on keeping that pleasant demeanor.  I like to look on the bright side of things.  The smile is for real.  And, it’s ok if you smile back!