One of the great thinkers of the world was Plato. In describing his primary philosophy he compared people to prisoners chained in a cave. There is only a small fire illuminating our environment. The only reality we know is that tiny space in our cave. But every now and then some cave dweller breaks free from the chains, steps out of the cave and is immediately blinded by the light. He can only see a blurry version of the Truth because his eyes cannot adjust to what all he sees. Eventually though, he will see a new reality that his old comrades cannot. So the enlightened individual returns to the cave and tries to tell the others what they are missing. Now here’s where it gets interesting. Will he be welcomed with open arms? Will his old comrades thank him for sharing his new insights and opportunities? Not according to Plato. He suggests that the “prophet will be killed by his former colleagues — which history appears to confirm.
When Character meets Opportunity
I recently opened a new account at my bank. We are changing from an S corp to an LLC so I put $500 into that account just to allow us to begin the transfer process. This morning I looked at my accounts on line and noticed that this new account shows a balance of $50,350.84. Obviously a banking error of some kind.
Start 2008 With A Clean Slate
Management guru Peter Drucker always recommended that you examine every part of your business regularly to determine if there is anything you are doing now that you wouldn’t do again if you could start over.
What if you did this Zero-Based planning for your LIFE? If you could wipe the slate clean on January 1st, and look at your life in this way, what would you change? The real hallmark of truly successful people is not that they do more but that they can decide what they are going to stop doing. What are you going to Stop Doing on January 1st?
Must see Movie – August Rush
At the recommendation of our son Jared, Joanne and I went to see August Rush recently. Now — I’m not a movie fan – we go occasionally just for an evening activity. I never expect anything other than a two-hour diversion – time with Joanne and some greasy popcorn. And the movies I recommend you could count on one hand.
But August Rush is a must see movie if you have a creative bone in your body. Let me be quick to add that it has gotten horrible reviews. The “experts” say it’s “annoying, absurd, flawed, silly, soppy” and even “yucky.” But then I suspect most of these experts are looking for technical perfection, storyline logic and cinematic excellence. I know nothing about any of those things.
