I recently rented the movie, “Margin Call.”  The storyline, simply put, is about one investment firm’s decisions in the early stages of the 2008 financial crisis.

This is definitely one of those movies that kept me thinking long after it was over.

The how and why of what happened doesn’t seem to be as much about understanding the technical or financial details of the crisis as about understanding the motivations, circumstances, lifestyles, personalities, aspirations, and situations that the players found themselves in. 

While it can be said that the financial crisis was about greed, somehow this movie portrays something that is different from just greed. 

The character flaws spanned a range of personalities, pressures, situations, ages and experience levels.  The magnetic appeal of making large amounts of money quickly is hard for many to resist.  Even aside from material things, it can be surprising what money will buy, e.g., loyalty, a fall guy, a lifestyle, compliance, etc.  From that perspective, it’s not hard to see how this could easily happen again. 

It’s sad to see what people rationalize doing to sustain the money flow that they/we have grown to become dependent on or accustomed to. The common mantra is:  “You might as well take the money.  If you don’t, someone else will.”

It’s about sustaining a lifestyle that some have grown to expect or feel entitled to.  It is also about an economy that isn’t based on a real value exchange.

Rather than describing this self-described thriller as “frightening” or “sad”, it is actually “sobering”….”surprising, yet not”…”disturbing, but also the reality” of human nature. 

To me it is about Blood Money and what we sacrifice to get it.

This is definitely a movie that I would recommend seeing, though I think we will have to wait a very long time to see a satisfying resolving Sequel.  Would you agree?

It’s a New Year and it’s that time again to tackle the New Year’s Resolution question.  

As is now becoming The Chris Brogan Tradition, it’s time to pick three words that will represent your goals in the New Year.

The three words that I have chosen are based on what I want to change from last year, and what I think will be needed to make sure I accomplish meaningful personal objectives in 2012, and that I no longer feel like I’m just waiting as days get checked off the calendar like a prison sentence being served. The (perhaps trite) spirit of my three words is this:  No longer passive spectator for me; it is high time to be an active participant in living life.

My three words for 2012 are as follows:

Create.  As the quote on a magnet I recently bought states:  “Life is not about finding yourself.  Life is about creating yourself.”  I will no longer allow my creativity to take a back seat to blindly “going with the flow”.  Two accompanying words that didn’t make my Top 3 Word cut, but are soulfully implied to be a part of “Create”, are: “Inspire” and “Create Value”.

Focus.  Loosely tied to the “Expert Enough Manifesto”, I’ve come to realize that goals don’t need to take forever to get done; that there are ways to show results sooner rather than later, i.e.,  it just depends on the results being targeted.  It’s not always about being big either.  Along with focus is finding “Balance”, i.e. another word that didn’t make my Top 3 Word cut, mostly because it is assumed to be a part of focus.  Success in one area at the expense of another priority (particularly health and fitness) will not be an acceptable option for me.

Courage.  I found that when you are looking for that extra push (or kick) to take a scary action, reading the free ebook, “The Flinch,” is the best medicine.  In this new year, my plan is to take more leaps of faith than ever before.  In the spirit of Wayne Dyer’s “Excuses Begone”, the following question of his seems especially appropriate: “What would my life look like if I didn’t have these excuses?”  Along with courage, would go the implied word (which was also a Top 3 Word contentder): “Action”.

Create, Focus and Courage are my final three targets for 2012.  I believe that I’ve spent enough time learning, reading, planning, and waiting.  Now it’s time to start doing. I have a new appreciation for what the phrase: “Fail fast and often” really means.  Now it’s time to stop talking and to start showing a.k.a. proving what I can do. 

I’m looking forward to the new year.  How about you?  What are your Three Words for 2012?

When we express a thought/feeling/idea, we can express one that is originally our own or one that has already been recounted in some way by countless others before us. 

As a “wanna-be” artist myself (and maybe I’m not alone in this), I often believe that I need to always come up with something clever or new to be appreciated as a true artist.  But, I’m starting to realize that it isn’t the originality of the idea(s) alone that gets people to connect with artwork (in whichever form it manifests itself).

For example, when I first heard about the story-line behind the play and consequent movie, “War Horse“, I didn’t get it.  Since I’m not a big horse lover, I simply thought this movie/play just wasn’t for me. 

Luckily, not too long afterwards, I stumbled upon a TV program documenting the making of this “War Horse” movie (which is based on the play which is actually based on a children’s book). 

By hearing insights from the author, playwright, performers and producers, I quickly realized that this story (and the performers’ passion for it) was not primarily about sharing a common interest around horses at all.  Quoting Wikipedia, the story is actually about the “horrific conditions and loss of life, human and animal,” during World War I.

Still, I don’t think my first instinct was entirely wrong either, i.e., that a story simply about horses probably never would have made it very far.  But, now knowing that the surface plot, which can be over-simplified due to the story’s origin being a children’s story, actually has a much deeper meaning behind it.

Not dissimilar from how TV broadcasts of the Olympics in the U.S. are heavily peppered with backstories of the athletes, it is clear how hearing about someone’s struggles, accomplishments, and sacrifices helps us appreciate their story so much more than just seeing a fact-filled account of feats, scores, timelines, and results.

I’m becoming more and more aware of what makes a story or message come to life, i.e., effective delivery, passion, and confidence are clearly critical components.  What is on the surface only comes to life because on the real story driving an effective execution of the artwork and/or the performance.

Either way, this may not be anything new to you, and, if not, I thank you for your patience in indulging my sharing of these thoughts.  

Still, I’d love to hear about your experiences with this and which stories have touched you in unexpected ways.  Please feel free to share and discuss further below.  As always, thanks so much for stopping by!

I remember times while growing up when I’d ask my Mom if I could get a certain hairstyle or buy a certain type of clothes so that I could be more like the other kids in my classes.  

I also vividly remember my Mom’s response going something like this:  “Why, do you want to look like everyone else?”

I also remember desperately wanting to reply, that: “Yes, I’d love to fit in and to look like everyone else.” 

Strangely, as an adult (and quite similar to what most small business advice also suggests), I find that my response has clearly changed.  Now the desire, and the advice, is to find ways to stand out and be unique and to stand for something in a way that differentiates ourselves from everyone else.

Now the stakes seem so much higher, and more maturely, it is no longer about simply being noticed in superficially physical ways, but instead to stand out in “human” ways.

As inspired by “Personal Storytelling” exercises shared by Michael Margolis of GetStoried.com at a recent BlogWorldExpo workshop, I came to a realization that I thought would be worthwhile to share here. 

One exercise went something like this:  if I were given 90 seconds on a stage to say whatever I wanted, to send out one message that I believe was most important for the world to hear, and to say it in a way that showed why I cared about what I cared about in a way that would get others to care about it as well, what would I say?

While I strongly feel the need to be heard, to have a voice, I had to admit to myself that I also knew that if I were to be given my 90 seconds now, I would blow it and completely freeze.  And, I wouldn’t freeze because of stage fright.   

It would be that I have not yet formulated just one message to share with the world, at least not as a honed down, cleanly formulated, version of all the thoughts and feelings that seem to find themselves pushing for an outlet of expression.

At the same time, suprisingly, I’ve also found some peace believing that this is an okay place for me to be right now.  Letting those thoughts and feelings percolate and find their way to the surface so that they can find their way out in a meaningful way may just be what the journey is about for me.  Maybe that is my version of the age-old question: “What is the meaning of life?”… something that I started writing about in my recent “Finding Purpose” series.

I’m starting to realize that just because I don’t have that one message (yet), that doesn’t mean that there isn’t one there lurking somewhere just below the surface.    

Maybe that’s one reason why so many people have that unwritten book that they keep carrying around in their heads.  Perhaps this is not an uncommon human yearning or at least one that anyone who identifies themselves as being or wanting to be a writer can relate to. 

Strangely, the answer doesn’t seem to be to wait with writing, but instead to write in spite of that not knowing (yet) … to let those words have their opportunity to come together … to create that something out of nothing.

As an artist, just because you can’t reach something or don’t see something (yet), that doesn’t mean it isn’t there.  I’d say, keep reaching.  I know I will.

Can you relate? Have you had similar thoughts or yearnings?  I’d love to read your thoughts on this.  Feel free to share below.  And, thank you for stopping by. 

I am not a social person, yet I love social media.

I prefer email correspondence over phone conversations any day.

At my day job, I work with numbers, yet I would actually prefer working with words.

I truly admire people who are humbly confident.  I love Pink and Lady Gaga.  I yearn to express the inner artsy side of myself, yet I never seem to be able to act on that.

I want to be heard, though I’m a quiet reserved person.  

I’m a good listener and I love people watching, but I don’t like loud or noisy crowds.

I dread socializing at networking events, and I rarely network at conferences. 

I love problem solving challenges, but I don’t consider myself to be competitive.

I see life as complex, not simple; though the complexity is what I find truly intriguing.

I don’t believe in everything, but I believe that possibilities exist.

I love books, though I haven’t completed reading most of the books I own.

Focusing on generating income is not something that comes naturally to me.  If I could afford it, I would probably give it all away and never earn a cent and I would feel good about that.

Typically, the tendencies that I admit to above would indicate that I am probably not likely to succeed as an entrepreneur or business person.  So, why am I potentially committing career suicide with these public admissions here?  Why am I telling you all this?  Does this help anyone? 

I believe we all need to be who we are.  Being someone else and not being true to oneself isn’t going to generate long term success and happiness either. 

So, I embark with my individual style of problem-solving prowess and seek my unique inimitable direction down an entrepreneurial path that even those with a text-book skill-set often do not even dare to approach.

Is there only one personality type that’s suited to entrepreneurship?  Not necessarily so (in my opinion).

Here’s to you being uniquely you, too. 

At the recent Inbound Marketing Summit 2011 in Boston, I was impressed to hear the behind-the-scenes stories of author, Ben Mezrich, who is known for creating his own genre of nonfiction.  (Sidebar: other highlights from #IMS2011 were recorded by the Pulse Network.)

As a quick background for anyone who may not know Ben Mezrich, he is known for writing the true-to-life stories behind the MIT blackjack team and the rise of Facebook, The Social Network, i.e., stories, which his website describes as “chronicling the amazing stories of young geniuses making tons of money on the edge of impossibility, ethics, and morality.”  

About  his writing style: 

He explained how he uses the Method form of writing, which I never heard of for writing before.  It is, like in acting, where you “live it…and writing it is like re-living it.”

Among the many stories and learnings Ben shared (and, boy, can he talk, a mile a minute, though riveting all he way), I was most inspired by advice he gave on being confident in your writing. 

For anyone struggling to find their voice in writing, see if this advice rings true for you:

Inspiration for Writers:

To paraphrase, Ben shared:  “..it is okay to be really insecure everywhere else in your life, but as a writer, you need to really believe in your writing.”

But, like the saying goes…I believe he said this saying was from the movie Terminator, but since I never saw the movie and couldn’t find a direct quote in Google, I’ll just get to the essence of it…he goes on to state something like this:

“Write as if writing is ‘all you are and what you do’…feel strongly about what you do because it comes through in your writing.”  

Here is a quote most similar to the essence of what I believe he was trying to say:

“Be yourself. Above all, let who you are, what you are, what you believe, shine through every sentence you write, every piece you finish.” ~John Jakes quote.

Simple advice.  Maybe easier said that done. 

I can relate to how putting yourself out there is a scary thing to do, but I can see how it has worked for Ben.  He recounted collecting endless copies of rejection letters along the way.  But by keeping on doing what he does, he eventually found his place — an interesting example to follow.

Whose example of confidence do you follow?

The other day, I caught the end of a news report on Somalia, and then later in the day came across the same topic in an interview asking the following questions:  “Will giving money to Somalia really help? Or, is that just the easy way for us to wash our hands of the situation?”

Since I regrettably hadn’t been following the issues of the Somali Crisis, I decided it was time to do some link jumping to see what I could find out about this Crisis.

As usual the first headline I came across was criticism about how the crisis was being addressed.  The headline read:  ”Aid Groups are misleading the public on Somalia” along with a  later statement that  “greater honesty about human blame is slowing the response“.

I could have easily stopped there and been satisfied with that, but for some reason I dug deeper.  I do enjoy seeing where the clues unexpectedly take me sometimes.  Here, I wasn’t disappointed and I’m truly glad that I looked beyond the headlines.

In my sleuthing around, I finally starting catching up on what I should have already known,  that Somalia was just one part of the Famine in the Horn of Africa.  I also realized three things about the different articles and commentaries I found about the Crisis:

1. As much as the internet empowers and spreads messages quickly, we need for people to be listening and seeking out those messages.   What a helpless feeling it must be to be empowered, yet to still feel that your voice isn’t able to take flight.  We’ve got the humanitarian and superstar performer, Bono, of U2 fame, being interviewed by CNN’s Anderson Cooper.  Both are humanitarians of immense integrity and aren’t asking for money, but instead  merely requesting 180,000 signatures to petition World Leaders to act on creating a safe passageway for aid to reach those in need.  The Interview was posted on August 10^th, and as of Sept 11^th, the petition goal was still not not quite reached, though respectably at 98%. A sobering situation. (Update:  I see now that they keep up-ing the goal.)
2. Next I realized, that even when we do get that opportunity to communicate our message, what message will we choose to put out there? Are we informed enough to hit the right priorities?  Are we addressing the real problem(s) and solution(s)?  Are we debating the right issue(s)?  Are we helping or hurting the cause?  What point are we trying to make?  Can we effectively change the message as priorities evolve with the situation?
3. As I “googled” for more information on the Somalia Crisis, I started piecing together a more complete story.  It wasn’t hard to find, I just needed to make the effort to look for it.  I found that just as money is only part of the solution, I realized how soundbites and headlines only communicate certain part of the messages about a situation, too.  To see the entire picture, we need to assemble all of the puzzle’s pieces.

For those of you not in the know, here are some of the facts that give a more complete picture of the Famine and the needs:

• Somalia is essentially the epicenter of the Famine in the Horn of Africa, with Somolia representing about 3+ million people out of the 12+ million people in the region.
• While drought is a natural disaster, famine is man-made.  Not only is the drought exacerbating the food and water shortages, but the 20year civil war is preventing Humanitarian Aid, for which funding is available, to get through to those most in need.
• The crisis goes beyond simply providing food and water.  It also includes: providing  medical care for disease and malnutrition;  money to overcome unaffordable food price inflation; a means to earn a livelihood amid drought-stricken fields with crops and lifestock that need a season to regrow.
• The reality is that the solution isn’t based on money alone.  This has become a Humanitarian Crisis because there still isn’t a solution in place to create a safe passageway for aid to get to those most severly affected.
• The situation has gotten worse, thus increasing the need for additional aid. And, the situation will continue to worsen as time passes if left unaddressed.  Beyond addressing the immediate needs, there is also the longer term need of  risk reduction, recovery and resilience, as well as mitigation and response actions.

To briefly paraphrase the CNN Bono interview, in Bono’s words:  “We mustn’t let the complexity of the situation absolve us from responsibility to act. That’s really the message. … Create a safe passage for aid. … This is a defining moment for us and there’s lots to distract us. …”

Is there really one headline that can capture the whole picture?  Not really.  But, there is one headline that matters most.  It is the headline that catches your attention to hook you to the issue and to spur you to take action.  Above is the headline that did it for me.  Which will do it for you?

Life is short.  All lives matter.  How can I use what I have in me to do more?  That’s always the question for me.  What is it for you?

——————————————————————————————-

How to Take Action Now on the Horn of Africa Famine :

• Sign Act One Dot Org’s  Petition to World Leaders
• View Suggestions at World Humanitarian Day’s “Take Action on Horn of Africa”

Get Inspired by the following Videos:

• Watch: Anderson Cooper’s Interview with Bono and Kna’an
• View Official Video of: World Humanitarian Day 2011 – ‘If I Could Change’ ft. Ziggy Marley
• View or Download: Save The Children’s Urgent Appeal Exclusive Download of  ”I’m Gonna Be Your Friend” by Bob Marley

On this day of remembrance of the 9-11 attacks and the ensuring military actions that followed, I find myself reflecting on a number of other similarly tragic events (both man-made and naturally-occurring) that have also occurred in this last decade. 

In my thoughts are the many people that continue to perish and suffer in the ongoing tragedies of life.

As I reflect, I think of the common criticism that often accompanies these sorts of events: that the hardest/largest hit area gets the most attention (e.g., be it aid, or media coverage,  or whatever).  Attention lasts until the event quickly gets overshadowed then forgotten as the next tragedy strikes and takes its place in the queue.  It seems to be a never-ending line.

We see evidence of that in the stories of : the Last man killed on 9/11/2001, the victims and survivors of the Indian Ocean Tsumani of 2004, Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the Hiatian earthquake in 2010, along with today’s six month anniversary of the Japan earthquake and Tsunami of 2011. and currently the 2011 Famine in The Horn of Africa.

In some cases, memorials are built to commemorate those lost in the tragedy.  In other situations, lives lost are barely blips on the radar in the tallier’s attempt to quantify the magnitude of the event, with some counts becoming historical facts while other counts forever remaining an indeterminable mystery.

A life is a life.  A life lost is a lost potential.  A life lost unnecessarily and/or preventable often spurs additional regrets and desires to take action.  Yet, the final body counts never make the losses any more or less significant, as tragic as large-scale events rightfully are. 

Still inevitably, the reality of day-to-day life and our own “survival” finds its way back to the forefront of our attention.

When I think of those tragic situations, the one epitath that comes to mind for myself would be this:  

If I am to die, at least let my death not be in vain. 

To me, tragic events are reminders to appreciate life, and realize that life is way too short. 

So, I continue to reflect….

Is there anything that I can do to make sure that my experiencing of these tragedies is not in vain either?  Is there a way to give these lost souls a voice?  Or, maybe I can find a way to channel these lost souls to empower and inspire a new voice in myself.

I sure hope I can rightfully do my part somehow somewhere along the line.

Self expression isn’t always easy.  Maybe that’s why I admire those who openly exhibit an apparently unshakable confidence to be themselves. 

It’s easy not to realize that behind outwardly confident people there are probably many encounters with ignorant people than most people are even aware. 

It seems that in life, it’s almost impossible to escape criticism entirely.  The schoolyard “Sticks and Stones” saying and the online advice of “Don’t feed the trolls” is only a small part of the story.

Sometimes scarier that just the verbal assault of a bully or an online troll is the scarier form of this which is extremist ideologues, a.k.a. people that are on a mission to push their own agenda as being the only correct agenda and will use any means available to acheive their outcomes.

Granted, it is not easy for some people to be tolerant of points-of-view that are diametrically opposed to their own, especially when it comes to political, religious, economic ideologies, or any ideology for that matter.

Let me clarify that I’m not saying that all ideologues are bullies, because there is a huge difference between an ideologue who is mature and tolerant and one who is an irrational extremist.

Conventional wisdom is to not even bother fighting the sorts of battles that you’ll never win. It sucks to hear that sometimes the bad guys win, especially when things escalate beyond just name-calling.

Optimists may point out that losing the battle isn’t the same as losing the war.  But to those lost in the battle, unfortunately the outcome of the war does become rather irrelevant. 

Everyone has a right to choose where their loyalties lie. There will be people on both sides of almost every argument who will never give up their loyalties. 

And, different ideologues have different ideas about what they are fighting for.  Some simply seek support for their ideas, while others seek apologies, and others want you to join or leave their group, to just name a few.  But there are also those that seek more extreme outcomes as well.

There are tribes on all sides of every argument.  It’s great to have a tribe on your side.  But that’s where I see is an ugly side of tribes, too. It’s scary to know that the enemy has a tribe on his side, too.

New technologies allow for the easy expression of many different points of view, many that may not align with our own. 

People will believe who and what they want to believe.  Yet I feel that it is still important to get our unique stories out.  Giving both or all sides of the story allows people to decide for themselves who or what they want to believe, especially those people who want or need to understand others sides of an argument, too. 

Isn’t that how we work to encourage tolerance, e.g., how advocacy against bullying and acceptance is growing through movements like the “It Gets Better Project”?

It is unfortunate how it is often easier to find the negative one-sided stories than to find the  more balanced or first-hand accounts of a story.

But there are stories to be told about all sides of situations.  And, there are people that want to hear the other side of the story, too.

Maybe it’s easier to tell a story than to fight a fight?  Maybe story telling is how we fight some fights.  Maybe we can only know what value our stories provide by telling them? Maybe the recent movie, “The Help”, is one example of this? 

What other stories still need telling?  That’s something that I’m going to give some more thought to. What about you?

There is nothing new about the age-old debates around Free Speech and Free will.

Here is another example in the news recently:

Tobacco companies are challenging the federal government’s power (via the FDA) to regulate tobacco product advertising. 

The tobacco companies claim this violates their right to free speech, that the government doesn’t have the right to force them to display imagery which persuades the public not to purchase their product, which they point out is a lawful product.

The Court’s reply was that the tobacco industry’s imagery “seeks to distract potential users from the fact that tobacco products are lethal and addictive.”

Free speech and self expression are important vehicles to have.  They can be used for good or for bad, and for a wide range of things in between. 

Self expression, too, of which free speech is just one aspect, can be used: 

• To attract attention or to detract attention. 
• To support or to oppose something. 
• To express individuality or to express rebellious contempt. 
• To get something done, or to stop something from being done.
• To unite, or to polarize. 
• To be heard, or to drown out the voices of others.

Why waste free speech to defend tobacco product packaging?  Aren’t there more important things to dedicate our lives to achieving?

That gets me thinking; how will I use my right/privilege/ability to express myself?  How will you use yours?  And, for what purpose?  So many questions and so many options; but you’d probably agree that it’s better to have many options than to have none. 

Let’s defend our right to Free Speech, but use it for something worthwhile.   What worthwhile purpose would you use your right to Free Speech to express?