Signs of drowning

Apparently the signs of drowning are unlike what we saw on Baywatch (not that we ever watched Baywatch - but that's neither here nor there). There are no cries for help. There isn't a massive struggle with hands waving in the air.

Here's why.

They can't. Most drowning people are unable to speak because the natural response in a drowning situation is to breathe - not to talk. Breathing must be taken care of before before speech can occur. Kind of important that breathing...

Turns out they're also unable to wave for help. A drowning person is essentially programmed by nature to extend their arms and press down on the surface of the water to try and keep themselves from being submersed - not to wave them wildly above their heads. (info sourced from Lifehacker.com)

And so since the drowning victim doesn't display the expected "signs" of drowning we don't even pay attention.

It's so easy to go unnoticed. 

It's so easy to blend in.

It's so easy to make it look like nothing is wrong - even though we might be frantically sinking.

In other words, it's pretty easy to drown.

Luckily lifeguards are trained in this sort of thing and they can quickly identify the nuances of behavior that alert them to avert such crises. So if you begin drowning at the beach or in a pool, there's probably a fairly good chance you'll be rescued.

Life and business is another story. There's no one perched on a tall chair slathered with sunblock watching you intently for signs of trouble. You're on your own. You succeed, bravo! You fail, so sorry, we didn't even really notice you sinking.

Scary. Unless you have a plan that is. So here's the metaphorical plan I recommend: Wear a lifejacket and go into the water with friends that you can trust to watch out for you.

Be knowledgeable, seek and gain wisdom, don't be afraid to ask for help, recognize what you're good at and outsource what you're not. And above all, don't drown.

Manufactured vs. Organic

There's an amusing discussion taking place amongst my family at the moment. My wife is an evangelist of organic, whole foods that have not been processed or tainted by chemicals. She believes food in it's natural state is best for consumption. This explains why our refrigerator looks like a garden minus the dirt...

On the other side of this lively debate is my cousin who is a chemical engineer. His point of view is that processing is only done to provide an improvement of some kind. Chemicals aren't bad, rather they are the necessary components to making something better. He's not defending the over-consumption of Twinkies, but he also doesn't believe that processing equals bad.

Organic vs. Manufactured 

Now consider the same topic, but in a different context...

• Enthusiasm
• Sales
• Communication
• Motivation

If you really pay attention to the world around you, it quickly becomes apparent that we don't know how to grow anything. Ultimately we don't know how to be real so we're forced to manufacture - which is hard work.

Go pick up any sales book and you'll find the following commands:

• Be enthusiastic about your product or service
• Sell more by using these closing methods
• Communicate carefully so you can build rapport and create results
• Get motivated by talking to yourself in the mirror, verbalizing your goals, and jumping up and down 26 times!

And yet the question remains...How do you be or express what you're not??

Several years ago, when I was looking for a job, I interviewed at a lot of different places. I walked in with a suit on, resume in hand, and pre-programmed answers to the questions I thought would be asked. For the most part I believe I interviewed well. But I got very few offers.

Why?

I didn't want it. I guarantee it didn't show on the outside because I was saying all the right things, but I lacked convincability. I was communicating extremely well on a subconscious level to the interviewer that I didn't have belief in the company or the product. I didn't really want to work there. I was there because I needed a job and a paycheck - not because I believed in the company or the product.

Manufactured vs. Organic

I tried to manufacture belief but I couldn't and so ultimately I was ineffective. I was trying to produce something that hadn't actually been grown organically. So at the age of 33 I'm focusing on developing myself and designing a life and a business from an organic perspective. It's a longer road, it's frustrating, and I lose patience very easily with this process. But it's better. Much, much better.

The Edge

The Edge.

A scary, awesome place.

Rumor has it that people of long ago thought the world was flat. We've all heard this before. Everyone stayed in the safe middle because if you ventured too far you'd go over the edge. That was the prevailing philosophy of the day and it was truth. Until someone proved it false, that is.

Thinking outside the box.

A popular term meaning to do something unexpectedly brilliant that produces inspired innovation, heroic ideas, and celebratory parades. Or something like that. But can we really just think outside the box?

It didn't take thinking to discover that the world was round and not flat and that you would indeed live if you sailed past the horizon. Someone actually had to go discover it. They had to do something. They had to risk their very life and limb to sail right up to the edge and look into the supposed chasm of death.

Except that there wasn't any such chasm. There never was. And yet, from what we know, an entire global population was held captive to the middle, to what they knew. They were imprisoned by their own ideas.

And the same thing holds true today. We live in the middle because its safe. We dare not venture past where we can see because we assume there is a chasm of death eagerly waiting to swallow us up. We play it safe in our own backyards and so we ultimately play it small.

We risk nothing and gain the same. The people that you and I admire have stepped out of their own yards and are consciously and continuously moving toward the edge. This isn't to say that they don't have doubts and that sinking feeling in the pits of their stomachs at what could happen - but they don't stop.

Why then should we?