Becoming prepared to move on to new things in our lives seems to be accompanied by this wonderful crushing, pressing and waiting process. It’s not unlike grapes that are destined to become a fine wine. Here you are hanging around enjoying days in the sunshine and nights in the cool breeze with a bunch of your closest friends. Ah, life is great and it surely couldn’t get any better than this. BUT WAIT!!

One day without so much as a word of warning you are cut down, taken to a new place, thrown into a large vat then someone or something starts stomping the juice right out of you. What the…??? You end up a mashed, deflated mess and life as you know it is no more. The squeeze is put on you till there is nothing left in you. Your life’s blood is then filtered, fermented, bottled and set in a dark place for maybe years. The pulp from your former life is now chicken or pig feed or maybe it gets composted and used to nourish another bunch of grapes so that they may grow and enjoy the same fate as you. Either way…what was your life is now a load of leftovers fit to fertilize and little else.

A handful of grapes may sell for a few cents or in a tough economy maybe a dollar. However, a curious thing happens as a result of all this activity. The juice of these same grapes that has been extracted and fermented in the right conditions for a significant period of time becomes infinitely more valuable. A bottle of quality wine (not Three Buck Chuck) can cost hundreds of dollars, not just a few cents. What’s the difference? The processing and the passing of time in the proper conditions produce a precious product that can be savored in a way that the simple grape cannot.

It isn’t a lot of fun to have everything you are familiar with torn away, crushed and discarded. Nevertheless, it’s the eventual result that tells the true story of the pain and process that has prepared you for the coming season of your life.

Dean Blodgett

This from my good friend Dean Blodgett.

Becoming prepared to move on to new things in our lives seems to be accompanied by this wonderful crushing, pressing and waiting process. It’s not unlike grapes that are destined to become a fine wine. Here you are hanging around enjoying days in the sunshine and nights in the cool breeze with a bunch of your closest friends. Ah, life is great and it surely couldn’t get any better than this. BUT WAIT!!

One day without so much as a word of warning you are cut down, taken to a new place, thrown into a large vat then someone or something starts stomping the juice right out of you. What the…??? You end up a mashed, deflated mess and life as you know it is no more. The squeeze is put on you till there is nothing left in you. Your life’s blood is then filtered, fermented, bottled and set in a dark place for maybe years. The pulp from your former life is now chicken or pig feed or maybe it gets composted and used to nourish another bunch of grapes so that they may grow and enjoy the same fate as you. Either way…what was your life is now a load of leftovers fit to fertilize and little else.

A handful of grapes may sell for a few cents or in a tough economy maybe a dollar. However, a curious thing happens as a result of all this activity. The juice of these same grapes that has been extracted and fermented in the right conditions for a significant period of time becomes infinitely more valuable. A bottle of quality wine (not Three Buck Chuck) can cost hundreds of dollars, not just a few cents. What’s the difference? The processing and the passing of time in the proper conditions produce a precious product that can be savored in a way that the simple grape cannot.

It isn’t a lot of fun to have everything you are familiar with torn away, crushed and discarded. Nevertheless, it’s the eventual result that tells the true story of the pain and process that has prepared you for the coming season of your life.

Dean

Have you ever felt that sometimes you are your own worst enemy? We all have moments when, no matter how hard we try, things just don’t seem to work out right, when everything goes wrong, and we have no one to blame but ourselves. But, just as you may sometimes be your own worst enemy, you can also be your own best friend. The transition usually occurs when you realize that the only person on earth who can determine your failure or success is you yourself. You may discover your best friend when you develop the maturity and strength of character to accept yourself for the person you are and to take the actions necessary to become the person you wish to be. When you analyze yourself objectively, you can begin to build upon your strengths and compensate for your weaknesses. When you do, you will realize that the only person who stands in the way of your success is you.

Have you ever felt that sometimes you are your own worst enemy? We all have moments when, no matter how hard we try, things just don’t seem to work out right, when everything goes wrong, and we have no one to blame but ourselves. But, just as you may sometimes be your own worst enemy, you can also be your own best friend. The transition usually occurs when you realize that the only person on earth who can determine your failure or success is you yourself. You may discover your best friend is you when you develop the maturity and strength of character to accept yourself for the person you are and to take the actions necessary to become the person you wish to be. When you analyze yourself objectively, you can begin to build upon your strengths and compensate for your weaknesses. When you do, you will realize that the only person who stands in the way of your success is you.

Good living and never quit!!!

Ever watch those National Geographic specials about the African savanna?  They always show the lions in one of two postures.  They are lazily sleeping in a group under whatever shade they can find or they are tearing across the scrub brush in pursuit of a meal.

Lions know instinctively that hunting is an inherently risky business.  Every time they go out in pursuit of food there is risk.  They risk anything from needlessly burning up energy, should they fail to catch their quarry, even severe injury or even death when they commit to a hunt.  Lions do not hunt merely to hunt, they only hunt when they are hungry.  They do a simple calculation in their minds to determine if the hunger is bad enough to run the risk of being injured or killed.  At some point hunger wins out and they set off in search of a meal.

Lions also know that the larger the animal they are hunting, the higher the probability of being hurt.  Hunting a gazelle is fairly low risk.  It is also a relatively small reward for the effort.  Hunting a water buffalo or even an elephant is a much higher risk with an associated higher reward for the effort.  The hungrier they are, the larger risk they will take for their next meal.

A reasonable alternative for a lion is to simply lie in the shade and refuse to hunt, thereby eliminating the risk of being hurt at all.  This decision also leads to death by starvation, a slow and agonizing way to die.

Business owners are much like that lion.  We make calculations on how much risk to take based largely on how hungry we are.  The larger the hunger, the more risk we will take.  Sure, there is always the possibility we will fail.  The reality is that if we do not take certain calculated risks we will ultimately starve our business to death slowly and painfully. 

I have chosen to find hunger within, wherever I can, as a way to motivate myself to take those calculated risks, have you?

How hungry are you?  What will you risk to satisfy your hunger?

It was a cool September afternoon as I pulled the moving van into the parking lot of my new apartment in Brookdale.  The old clunker I drove all through college was on the dolly and the ink was still drying on my fresh Engineering diploma.  I was ready to set off for my next life adventure; and adventure I could never have planned nor anticipated.

The late 80’s was an interesting time of life.  The roof of an Aloha Airlines 737 ripped off in mid flight.  Michael Tyson was at the height of his boxing career.  Sonny Bono was elected mayor of Palm Springs, California.  Hair bands were all the rage.  The sky was a deep, crystal clear blue, a blue that defies description.  As I stared at the sky a familiar thought crossed my mind.  “Should I set up my new home or grab my fly rod and head for my secret spot in the river.”  As usual the decision was relatively simple; the river won out so I grabbed some gear and set off in search of the elusive Grayling.  The hours quickly passed as I fell into a quiet meditation, the swirling waters pressed hard on my legs reminding me yet again that there are more powerful forces in this world than I.  Throughout college I had always found solace in fly fishing.  It was one of the best ways to unwind and work through difficult issues.  I studied for many final exams in the river near my apartment in Michigan.  The rhythmic, almost hypnotic, motions required to properly cast my fly quieted my conscious mind and allowed my sub-conscious to do what it does best, think and reason. 

Brookdale seemed an ideal location for me as I had always loved the mountains and streams of the Rockies.  I could now build my career and satisfy my fishing habit all in one location.  It was as if I had been drawn back by an invisible cord ever since I had completed my internship here.  It really felt good to return on, what I hoped to be, a more permanent basis.  After a few hours of tranquil casting and retrieving it was time to go to work, the elusive Grayling would have to wait for another day.   Dinner tonight would be mac-n-cheese yet again.  One day I would have enough money to leave my college diet behind, but not today. 

Monday morning, with my fresh degree in hand and an intense natural curiosity, I enthusiastically headed for the Brookdale suburbs to start my first day of work.  It was my first “real” job and Maconlot Plastics was just a small plastics company with great potential to grow.  I might not be the CEO yet but it was a start!  Over the ensuing years I would hold a variety of positions within the company, eventually migrating to product development.  As I sat in my old car and stared at the front of the plant I could not help but wonder what my future would hold.  I do remember thinking, “alright buddy, you just bought your first job and you really know very little, your education is about to start.”  I turned off the car, hoping it would start again when I was ready to head home.  I walked up to the building with my heart pounding in my ears and my palms sweating.  Would I make a good impression?  Would I actually become a good Engineer?  What does an Engineer really do anyway?  Will I make friends?  What am I doing here?  The thoughts raced through my mind as I strode up to the front doors and paused.  I reached for the door on the right and gave it a tug.  It did not move.  At first I thought they were closed until I tugged at the other door.  It swung open easily and I walked through.  I remember Edith, the receptionist, from my interviews.

“Hi David,” she said brightly, “it is so good to see you again.  Congratulations on getting the job, I was pulling for you.” 

This was a good start.  As I waited in the reception area for human resources to get me it seemed like a perfect time of life and yet more questions were filling my mind.  Would I get the chance to further my education, to continue learning?  Would I make a contribution worthy of my education and hard work?  Did I make the right choice in moving 1500 miles from the only home I had known?  I soon confirmed that my education would continue, but not in the formal sense.  I would now learn through intense self study and exploration.  A famous quote from Mark Twain filled my head that whole day: “Never let schooling get in the way of your education.”  This sage wisdom had worked very well during my college years; I guessed it would work in my career as well.  Over the next 20 years my curiosity and intense drive to learn lead me to seek training from anyone and everyone that seemed qualified to teach.  Like a curious four year old I consistently, if not annoyingly, asked “why, why, why?” every single day.  As time passed my real world skills developed either by trial and error or through the short courses of study I signed up for at local community colleges and trade organizations.  Learning for me became like an addiction.  I could never get enough to satisfy my need, always looking for the next fix. 

Click Here Now Book Order Site

Ordering informaton:

To all who enjoy my writings and blog postings you should know that I am taking pre-orders for the paperback edition of “The Customer’s Way”.  Final editing is going on now and the book will begin shipping in early December.  If you would like to reserve your copy now let me know so I can be sure you get one. 

The response to the electronic edition was very positive.  A couple of months ago a publishing company in Plymouth contacted me about taking it to paperback.  A dream come true and you can share in the dream. 

The story of the novel is about a struggling Alumni Association and how they began to make changes to get better involvement of the graduates.  The characters are engaging, the story is fun and the business lessons are unmistakable.

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 I recently shared some information about my first wife and baby with my Facebook friends.  They died suddenly 20 years ago.  Based on the responses I got I shared some insights I have gained about dealing with personal tragedy.  You can apply it as you see fit.

First off, I assured one of my friends that, rather than dredging up past pain I actually love to tell the story.  It always reminds me of how blessed I am.  I shared with her that my grandson, Jake, will be 1 year old tomorrow.  I must thank Sandi for bringing me a wonderful family and I am blessed by them.  Here is the cool part of this story.  When I held 2 hour old Jakob in the hospital one year ago his aunt noticed tears streaming down my face.  She asked if I was OK and I told her that this was a significantly different outcome from the last time I was in that hospital.  You see, Jake was born in the same hospital where my family died 19 years before.  I wrote a poem about the experience with the last line reading “Life has a way of circling back around; if you wait long enough.” 

There is a tie in to a wonderful physical process, refining gold.  To get pure gold from the earth you must mine tons of rock and process it using large equipment and lots of heat to yield a few ounces of the precious metal.  The earth does not give up it’s precious metals easily.  It takes hard work and dedication to obtain it.  As you face difficult times in life follow this same principle of finding the precious in all tragedy.  You see, in all tragedy there is a nugget of good. Refine the tragedy enough and you will find the precious gold, it just takes work and time and commitment.

I recently completed a personal project that was a bit of a challenge.  A large part of the problem was that I did not know where to start so, like many of us, I did what came naturally, I started another project to avoid.  After weeks of masterfully putting it off, with the deadline looming, I set it in my mind to get this thing done once and for all.  Since I was not sure what to do I set the project in motion by beginning with what could best be described as a random place in the process.  Know what?  It got done.  What I discovered was that the pure act of starting somewhere, anywhere, gave me a clearer idea of how to get the job done. 

A couple of days later I thought about the first time I bought a hand held GPS unit, the old style that only tells you where you are on the planet and what direction you are headed.  Enthusiastically I started it up and watched as it establish a lock on the satellites.  Then I noticed that, though it could tell me where I was on the planet within 20 or 30 feet, it would not tell me what direction I as headed.   I was mildly frustrated at first till it dawned on me  that this machine could only tell me what direction I was headed if I was actually moving in a direction, any direction.  Only once I was actually moving could it detect if I was headed in the right direction.  It only took a couple of steps for it to register what direction I was going so I could correct my path.

Here is the connection.  When you are faced with indecision about how to move on a project, start with a small step in any direction to gage what direction you are going.  If you are headed in the right direction keep on going.  If you are off course, make a correction.  Soon you will be on the proper path make headway toward getting the project completed and completed well.

Enjoy the day!