Bail Out Stress - Good Time To Reset

Shortly after President Bush spoke last night I received an email from my financial adviser Ed Valle. It was a personal message explaining exactly what the turbulent market might mean to our portfolio and a reassurance that we are in a position to weather the storm (though we have certainly lost some shingles along the way). It was good to hear from him, especially since my wife had just minutes earlier insisted I call him today to make sure I understand exactly what the ramifications of what is occurring ultimately will mean to us.

We aren't a big client by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, I am pretty sure that I am Ed's smallest client. It was through a strong relationship with a business colleague that I met Ed. I instantly liked him and we became friends - long before I invested a dime with him. I sold my business in 2004 and after I paid my former partner a strong return on his initial investment, satisfied a bank load, paid Uncle Sam his huge portion I was left with just enough return on all my blood sweat and many sleepless nights to have a small (very small) nest egg. Ed didn't care how big or small the amount was - he just wanted to help.

I had grand plans when I sold my company. I would write this book. People and companies would learn about it bring me in and pay me big bucks for me to profess the importance of incorporating the Ripple into their lives and business operations. I secretly hoped I would find overnight success and be the next "big thing." Well my friends the road to unlimited success has been slower going than I had hoped and it is often filled with the occasional unforeseen potholes and detours life feels obliged to throw at you.

But Ed never gave up on me. As I continue to make progress and yes there is no doubt the Ripple is progressing, Ed stands guard back at the old ranch cheering me on guarding my little nest egg. He proudly watches this little engine that could - slowly show why he can and will.

Ed didn't have to take the time to shoot me an email last night, surely he has bigger fish to fry, but he did. That simple communication put a lot of the stress and worries in the proper perspective for me. Today I feel a lot more confident about where I stand all because Ed took the time to reach out to me. Talk about making a huge deposit in the relationship category!

Today you have the ability to go out and do the exact same thing. Your customers, employees, coworkers and vendors are all feeling the pinch. They are worried about the uncertainty of the market and what it might mean to them personally and professionally. Reach out to them and let them know that your company, your friendship, your loyalty to them is going no where. Let them know that you have whatever part of their back that you can cover, covered.

It's during these times of struggle and uncertainty that the people who need us most need to hear from us. Just give it a try and see what profound Ripples your individual actions create!

Ripple On!!!

Practice Finding Happiness

Are you happy right now? I mean really happy?

Are you happy with your spouse or significant other and the life you live together?

Are you happy with your career?

Are you happy with your personal relationships?

Are you happy with the way you treat your kids or your parents?

Are you happy doing what it is you do with your "free" time?

Are you happy with the direction your life is headed right now in the foreseeable future?

Wow...lot of questions for a Tuesday morning eh? Some seriously heavy questions at that! Heavy but important questions I would submit.

Our own individual happiness is not something I think a lot of us spend time thinking about. I mean seriously, when was the last time you actually had a conscious thought about how happy you were at a particular moment. I suspect if you are like me, I have had those moments but they are few and far between.

Happiness is something in order to recognize it as it happens you have to dedicate conscious purposeful thought to recognizing it. It isn't hard but it is something you have to practice.

Last night my boys wanted to go fishing at the little pond by our house. I arrived home after a stressful day to see my littlest, Josh, already wearing his fishing vest and holding his tackle box. It was one of those moments that I let all of my stresses from my day simply wash away and I smiled.

As we prepared dinner you could see his excitement building. He had been thinking of going fishing all day - something I had promised him I would do. As I sat there and watched him consume his hot dog with urgent veracity, I could see how excited and happy he was that I was taking him to to go catch some fish. It was at that moment that I consciously realized I was happy. I was happy to let all the rest of the garbage of the day go and focus squarely on him and his brother.

He was happy and in seeing that, I recognized I was happy.

He caught 3 fish - his brother and I caught none.

Happiness isn't hard to find. It's in those moments that you stop and look that you will most find it. We all have countless opportunities throughout the day to find our happiness. It just takes effort, focus and the ability to warm the heart a bit to allow in those welcomed and needed moments.

At at the very minimum, answer the above questions. If you can't answer yes to any of them then ask yourself what changes you need to make in your life in order to get a different answer?

Try practicing today. Find what makes you happy.

Ripple On!!!

Hurricane Teacher Posts To The Web

Last week's impromptu series (Twitter Can Kill, Careful With The Web & More Fodder...) on how one needs to be careful with what they post on the web has sparked a whole lot of reaction and some very interesting conversations over the last several days. I want thank each of you who took the time to comment on the BLOG, drop me an email or those who went the extra mile and tracked me down for an actual live chat. It's certainly been an interesting few days of stories, debate and discussion on what is obviously a very important issue.

A client of mine took the time to share with me an article that she felt specifically illustrated why posting just anything to the web can be dangerous. It seems that her neighbor, a local school teacher, felt compelled to share her adventures of riding out Hurricane Ike on her BLOG. Though I wasn't able to see the BLOG myself, the article that was written up by the local news station KHOU provides a pretty detailed description of what it contained.

Read the article by clicking here.

Though I don't choose to share my personal judgments of what should be the consequences of this young teacher, I do appreciate the Ripple Effect it will have within her community, on her co-workers and the kids she is paid to teach. Aside from the public outrage over the story as evidenced by the string of comments attached to the article, the personal and professional damage that this young lady has done to her reputation is incalculable.

Maybe she never intended her comments to be viewed by anyone other than a few friends who would relish in her stories of riding out the hurricane, who knows. What I do know is that the things that one puts out there on the web can ring a bell that reverberates for a long, long time. Even though you may be just sharing a harmless story or picture with a friend, it could be and likely will be, seen by others who don't understand nor take the time to care about how you intended it to look. They will just see what they see and make up their own minds and that my friends is where the web can prove very, very dangerous.

Remember you are always on stage. Too bad this young teacher wasn't taught that lesson sooner.

Ripple On!!!