It started with lunch at Magnolia’s Chinese restaurant in Niagara Falls, followed by home made tuna casserole (homemade hummus was the substitute cream of mushroom soup) and salad in Toronto, a few pitchers of Amsterdam Amber beer, and to top it off the Kings Crown Nachos at Sneaky Dees in Toronto with more beer.  It was a day of catching up with friends and getting to know new ones.  It started off innocent enough – food, followed by beer followed by more food.  It took a while for the orgy to get into full swing but as I left Sneaky Dees, I knew that it was not going to be a normal night.

The worst part is the orgy is still in progress.  As I write this, 18,000 feet up in the air on my way to Chicago (flight UA 541), I’ve abused the toilet and the ear drums of fellow passengers twice.  Some of them look at me with shame, others take pity on me but all are grateful to not be in my shoes.

United Airlines – your toilet paper sucks.  Of all of the cost cutting measures, nothing engenders the scorn of your flying passengers more than knowing that you’ve cheaped out by utilizing wafer thin sand paper that tears when you grab at it and somehow manages to shred skin when using it.   Raise you prices by a few cents for each flight, we won’t mind.  Ask yourself UA, who really wants to poop in a tin can thousands of feet in the air surrounded by strangers?  I’ll tell you who, people who have no choice.

In all honesty, I ate way too much only because I was having a good time and it’s been a while since I had been out socializing and drinking.  However I blame the refried beans in the nachos for my current predicament.  Refried beans are now on my “I hate you for the rest of my life because of what you make my body do against itself” list – to be avoided at all costs.  I think I’m on my way to becoming a ‘picky’ eater like my friends who claim they can’t eat gluten or lactose.

On a side note, this is my 100^th post since I left for Sendai, Japan October 15, 2010.  It’s weird to think that in three weeks it will have been a year since Japan was rocked by an earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster.  My heart goes out to all of those whose lives were devastated by the tragedy and to those who are helping them to rebuild.

On a side note, I’ve found it particularly hard over the past few days to not go back to my old ways.  I found myself staring at the screen having already written two or three pages – realizing that I cannot push that button that would send it on it’s way (instead of deleting, I did save it in case at some point in the future it would be acceptable to push that button again).  I understand the reasoning and logic behind it; I’m sad nonetheless.

The trip that I’m taking this week is a little more of a gamble then last months jaunt to the US.  I don’t know what’s waiting for me when I step off of the plane and although the meetings have been setup, it’s what’s going on when there are no meetings that matters most to me.  In any case, I have a backup plan just in case plans A, B, or C don’t materialize for whatever reason – but it pales in comparison.

My sleeping patterns have fallen back to four hours max then wide awake – I was more than a little crusty this morning.  It will only get worse over the next few days.  I’ll probably end up sleeping at the airport, on the plane, in weird places (waiting for a ride), just before a meeting, etc.  I may as well be doing the Uberman.

More later…

Over the next few weeks I’m going to chronicle the process of shutting down a business, the decisions that were made and insights into the mind of one of the greatest businessmen that I know – that is if he’ll let me.  More on that in a few days.

A second blog update in a week is on the way.  Web update is done and facebook page is done as well.  I forgot how easy it can all be if I remember the process and system that I’ve put in place – before that it was a drag and a time vampire.

Another youngin’ is spreading her wings and spending 3 months helping at an orphanage for developmentally challenged girls in the Ukraine – more info here.  I wish that I could be at the fundraiser and wish her the best in her travels.  Good luck Stef!

I’ve found that doing a short workout before dinner has helped me the most over the past few weeks – not that I’ll be able to continue it, but just that it’s the only thing that I’ve been able to do more than once in the past few months and it’s kind of fun.

Ok, sleep beckons.  I know that I’m forgetting the whole reason for writing this but it’s late and tomorrow is a new day.  Remember if you’re not getting what you want, you need more hugs (either give them or ask for them).

I had used this blog originally to write about my experiences while living in Japan.  Now seeing that returning to Japan to live is not as much of an option as 18 months ago, I find myself unsure of what to write about.  I had dabbled in a bit of personal anecdotes, business topics, and a few other things but it just didn’t seem right.  So for the month of March, I’m going to search for a suitable topic / theme and stick with that for the next 12 months.

How are things currently?  I find myself unable to sleep for more than four hours at a time – nothing new – but some nights it’s as little as two hours.  I’ve put on a bit of weight and I’m slowly burning it off through exercise.

I worry about people whom I know can handle themselves and about situations where I have no right to stick my nose in.  I fret about the future, keep busy with the present and from time to time forget the hard learned lessons of the past.  I’ve dived into resources, experts and books – seeking answers to questions that I put off two weeks ago – and finding myself in the process of discovering things about myself.

I’m at that place in life where I’m walking down a path and up ahead I can see the crossroads.  I was given the option to get ‘out’ of the current path but find that I’ve chosen to stay the course and make the hard decisions when I get to the crossroads.

Overall I’m apprehensive about the next few weeks.  I have so much relying on too few pieces on the board and it keeps me up at night.  So much planning comes down to a few brief moments in time that have been made even briefer still by recent events.

That’s it for now.

Hold on, I’ll back things up a moment.  I tend to be the type of person who has a conversation with someone and if I see them next week will have no idea what I last said to them.  Hell most days I don’t remember what I had for breakfast, so I now have the same thing to keep things consistent and so I only have to remember one thing.  So when someone brings up a past conversation (could have been two days ago or two years ago) and that conversation came to a conclusion, I’ve forgotten about the details and only remember the conclusion – ‘ok got it no tickling’ or ‘ok got it interest only payments’.  The details are gone.

So when someone brings up a past conversation once I try to tell them – I have no idea what you’re talking about.  If it happens a second time, I try to sit them down and quietly explain “I have no freaking idea what your talking about.  If it’s in the past, it’s in the past.  It’s not that I don’t care, it’s not relevant to me today.”  If it happens a third time, I complain about it on my blog and send them an email.  If it happens a forth time, I try to limit the amount of time that I spend with that person as they’re just not getting it and we’re going to get into frustrating disagreements over who said what and the meaning of said discussion.  Too much drama.

I prefer to live my life this way – what has happened in the past is in the past.  I cannot change it, I try not to relive it, and if it’s really important I’ll take a picture or a video.  I live for today.  Chances are that today I’ll say something that contradicts what I said yesterday – or yesteryear – because I’m continuously growing and learning new things each day.  If it’s something that I care about and I’m putting a fair bit of time into thinking about it, I’ll probably change my mind in the future.   Concerning the future, I’ll do my best to influence it, avoid making the same mistakes as the past and try not to live in a fantasy world of make believe.

It’s not that I don’t like drama – love seeing it on tv – it’s just that I don’t have a lot of time for it right now.  Maybe people need to take a deep breath and ask themselves “would he intentionally go for the worst case scenario?” or “would he really do that – cause it really pisses me off?”  I try not to be a prick and chances are that there is something being misinterpreted and could be corrected by asking a few pointed questions.

Life is too short to be caught up in drama.  I plan on living each day like it’s my last and looking for the next big adventure.  Have fun!

Here’s how it started – a post on LinkedIn in regards to the amount of funding that actually goes to the Alumni Association (A.A.) at the University of Guelph.

The First Post

Of course, I was curious – just how much money goes to the University of Guelph Alumni Association?  The answer – a small fee.  Well that was obvious, but just how much?

Let’s do the math (rough numbers) – $110 for a print directory, $70 for a cd option 1, and $30 for cd option 2.

To date there have been approximately 20,000 people who have updated their contact information out of the supposed 100,000 active members.  Let’s assume that 20% bought cd option 1 – since it’s the middle option – 20,000 * 20% * $70 = $280,000 in revenue.  And the University of Guelph Alumni Association receives…..a small fee.

Hold on a second here…..you mean that there are cross selling opportunities for Harris Connect (the third party that is soliciting alumni info and selling the directory to said alumni)?  Oh wait an opportunity to sign up for People Magazine – see link here.  So let’s add in this additional revenue – 20,000 * 20% * $117 = $468,000 in revenue.  And the University of Guelph Alumni Association receives….a small fee.

Now let’s take a look at the cost to the University of Guelph Alumni Association in terms of actual cost and economical cost.

Upfront fee – $0

Subjugating their alumni to high pressured sales tactics to cover the cost of two post card mailings, a few unsolicited phone calls and acquiring alumni info from telemarketing companies – buying lists – (we know that at least 20,000 post cards went out)

(($1.50 * 2) + ($15/10)) * 20,000 = $90,000

(cost of post card and mailing) + (cost of call centre and staffing per hour/ calls per hour) * 20,000 alumni

I have to go now but I’ll finish this post later on and flesh out the argument.  In the mean time I have posted an Alumni Association rep and my comments below:

One Alumni Association reply

Scotch's Post

Stunned silence on my part.  I believe my mouth was hanging open as I stared at her, looking her up and down.  My first thought was – who the hell are you?  Honestly, I had never laid eyes on her in high school and I knew that I didn’t go to elementary school with her.  My second thought was – please god no, do not let her be pregnant!

The next words out of her mouth were, “In fact, we have shared a bed together on many occasions.”  My stance changed to the defensive, peering deep into her eyes and thinking “I have no clue who you are” then glaring at the few people who had gathered around us, seeing if I could garner any clues as to her identity.

Nothing.

A cold sweat permeated my body.  More people were looking over at our small group; pointing, whispering.  I fully expected someone to wheel in a baby carriage and for her to launch into the full blown antics that I had witnessed on Jerry Springer – only this time there was no Steve to break things up.  I knew I had to do it.  I never imagined that at the age of 17 I would be in this situation.

“I’m terribly sorry, we may have slept together, but I seem to have forgotten your name.”

Thank you Jennifer.  It turns out that we had slept together.   On many different occasions.  And we thoroughly enjoyed each other’s company and played with each other for hours.

As toddlers.  Over 15 years ago.

Jenn had just switched over to my high school and her mom had told her to look me up.  We had a few mutual friends that were in on it and from that point on I never looked at women and responsibility the same way again.  I figured that I had dodged one bullet, so let’s see how many others I can dodge.

It took me another 12 years to figure out that my behaviour was hurting not only myself, but those that I cared about as well.  I had created this wonderful behavioural pattern around shirking responsibility – being accountable to no one except myself (and I was not hard on myself either) and it was beginning to show to those around me.  I had started the 31 Day Sprint as a way to hold myself publicly accountable for my successes and failures and it was not until today when I fell back into my old habit that I realized that something more drastic had to be done (hence this post).

I’ll admit that right now I’m struggling with the shift in focus from marketing activities to sales activities.  I know that this week and next week I will overachieve on my daily numbers but it will be the weekly numbers that will hurt the most – units sold, sales volume (in terms of $$), and income (%age).  I will fail miserably at achieving a sustainable level of sales activities to translate into income.  I expect this failure knowing that I will use it to learn and adapt and figure out a way to turn it into a success.

I’ve been in business too long for myself without having to produce a weekly income that drastic measures have to be taken – I have no choice but to continue to break my behavioural pattern.  Wednesday morning when I wake up I will do the two things that I fear most – only because these two activities will help me become successful – workout for an hour and call my clients and business associates.  I’ve relied far too long on technology (email, social media, etc) and I’ve been content with the mediocre results for far too long.  Now is the time to overachieve.  Now is the time to get results.

Hard numbers for today – 67 (12 over daily average)

Marketing – 62
Sales – 3
FLH – 2 (0 fitness, 1 hobby, 1 life)

When I wake up, it will be a new day.  I relish the opportunity for another woman to give me the opportunity to dodge more bullets – just not when it comes to those that I care about most.

Today turned out to be a fun time of going through 250 emails (another 100 to go through tonight), returning phone calls, and getting back in touch with people.  I have a feeling that I will crash early tonight and pick everything back up tomorrow morning (no more burning the midnight oil – see below).

Points for today – 228

Marketing – 225
Sales – 0
FHL – 3  (2 fitness, 1 hobby)

Someone very near and dear to me has been constantly asking the same two questions:

1.  What is your plan for the next 12 months?

2.  Where do you want to be 5 years from now?

There are a few complications in my life right now that prevent me from seeing beyond the next 3 months.  I do know that in the next three months I will be launching stage two of Ten Million Entrepreneurs, have a better idea of where I will be living full time in 2012, have a steady form of personal income, and will have helped over 3,000 entrepreneurs since I launched Gobi (only 9,997,000 to go).  My plan for the next 12 months is the same as it has been for the past 12 months – build a business / an organization that helps entrepreneurs while allowing me to run it from anywhere in the world.  Five years from now, I imagine that I’ll still be doing the same thing except on an exotic beach or from a tree-house in a rain-forest.

It’s true – no more burning the midnight oil.  I’ve cut out coffee and most forms of caffeine with the exception of green tea and other low caffeine teas.  I realize that green tea is not that low in caffeine, however I use loose leaf green tea and fill the cup back up with hot water using the same leaves throughout the day.  Why would I bother to cut out something that I enjoy so much – I was using it as a crutch.  Feeling tired – pound back a double espresso.  Still feeling tired? Try a double double from Tim ‘Homophobe’ Hortons.  So the crutch is gone after four days of headaches and I’m substituting in decaf in the morning and green tea the rest of the day.

The only other thing I have to do is get a haircut and trim up the mustache before Wednesday.  I want to keep the handlebar mustache but it makes me look ugly – even uglier than I looked before.

• 1569 marketing points
• 22 fitness points
• 7 life / hobby points
• 1598 points!
• 5,927.27% productivity increase from the first week to the last week
• Weekly average points increased from 2.2 per day to 133

In case you didn’t take a look at the presentation, yes I’m doing another 31 days of excitement.  However, the focus this time around is not on marketing, but on sales.  I will be tracking marketing, FLH (fitness, life, hobbies), and sales, but the majority of my focus will gradually shift from marketing to sales.  The best part is, the next 31 Day Sprint (aka The 62 Day Sprint) starts today!

On that note, I will leave you with a quote:

“Every morning in Africa a gazelle wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the fastest lion or it will be killed. Every morning a lion wakes up. It knows it must outrun the slowest gazelle or it will starve to death. It doesn’t matter whether you are a lion or a gazelle – when the sun comes up, you’d better be running.”

-Unknown

Hasan Elahi’s bio

Hasan Elahi’s TED Talk

Hasan Elahi’s web site

I find the same thing is happening all around us – information has become a commodity.  The act of teaching information and the act of gathering information will eventually become obsolete and replaced with the act of teaching understanding.  I wonder if it’s possible to get a PhD in Understanding?

(A quick note on The 31 Day Sprint – no numbers will be posted for Day 30 and 31.  Instead a summary of The 31 Day Sprint will be posted on Day 32).

TED: TED is a nonprofit devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. It started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from three worlds: Technology, Entertainment, Design. Since then its scope has become ever broader. Along with two annual conferences — the TED Conference in Long Beach and Palm Springs each spring, and the TEDGlobal conference in Edinburgh UK each summer — TED includes the award-winning TEDTalks video site, the Open Translation Project and TED Conversations, the inspiring TED Fellows and TEDx programs, and the annual TED Prize.  More info here.