Regain Your Life

"Tenacity is key because it keeps you going during tough times, but it must be tempered because sometimes you need to back down or walk away."
- John Stollenwerk

Many people including myself, become very wrapped up in our jobs. Our ability to take time away to relax has been usurped by technology. There are many types of mobile devices, cellphones, satellite and globalization of everything which make it difficult to 'not be available.'

Suddenly you realize it was "picture day" at school.

I call it this because your child had pictures taken at school today and you forgot about it. The pictures still got taken but likely they did not look very good. Or maybe you suddenly find that you missed planning an important birthday or other family event.

It could be time to look at the priorities in your life.

Family or personal events which get pushed to the bottom of the list happen when work becomes all consuming. And when it does happen, you need to realize it and then set some boundaries which will allow you to balance your life in a better manner.

A few rules to consider;

- Turn off technology whenever you can.
Even if you have to start slowly by blocking off Sunday morning as a 'no-cell-phone' or 'no-PC' time zone.

- Send less, get less.
It is said that if you send 20 percent less email, you'll receive 10 percent less. Cut out the quick thank you replies and don't hit "reply all" unless absolutely necessary.

- Make your boundaries known.
You have to be very clear in the workplace that 'no, you are not available on weekends.' When you do this in the beginning and you draw the line, expectations can be managed.

- Don't send email on weekends
Others are also trying to find their own balance. Be respectful of their weekend and others will begin to do the same of your weekend.

- Figure out your own rules, don't adopt somebody else's.
In example, if it is in the service of relaxation (taking electronics on vacation), it can actually help. You start to realize that "ok, I'm not missing anything critical."

The question becomes, what is going to make you more relaxed? Speculating about what might be piling up in your inbox or just doing some sort of check. You figure it out.

Start to regain some sort of balance in your life.

Only then will you regain your life.

Stay inspired my friends!

But What Of Tomorrow

“Worrying is carrying tomorrow's load with today's strength- carrying two days at once. It is moving into tomorrow ahead of time. Worrying doesn't empty tomorrow of its sorrow, it empties today of its strength.”
― Corrie ten Boom

Even after a huge tech deal in which Dell Corporation of Round Rock, Texas acquired Hopkinton, Massachusetts based EMC Corporation - the sun came up.

And it will continue to do so long after this deal completes.

Get on with the business of today and let tomorrow worry about itself.

Stay inspired my friends!

EMC and DELL - Change Happens

“You can't stop the future. You can't rewind the past. The only way to learn the secret ... is to press play.” ― Jay Asher

The financial news headlines shouted out this morning, "Dell to acquire EMC in $67 billion record tech deal." Yes, the very same company I work for will be acquired by Dell.

Change happens.

The last time I went through this was in 1999. In fact it was exactly the same day, October 12, 1999. Many of us did not know what the announcement back then would bring but we knew things would be different.

Change happens.

What I tell co-workers and anyone who asks, this is one of those things where the best thing you can do is continue to work and do your job to the best of your abilities. The business continues to run and we are all a part of that.

Change happens.

This merger will be a good one from my history with these two companies. It will mean new opportunities and greater strength in what our two companies together can and will deliver to our customers.

I am excited by what will happen ... even as change happens.

Stay inspired my friends.

Get Up And Do Life

"I remember growing up with television, from the time it was just a test pattern, with maybe a little bit of programming once in a while." - Francis Ford Coppola

There was a time in early television when broadcast were not on a twenty-four hour cycle. Programs were typically seen from 6:00 AM until sometimes midnight. The use of a test pattern mostly went away in the 1960's with the advent of color television. But I remember them clearly.

After signing off, a test pattern would be displayed. Many of the adopted test patterns contained the graphic of an Indian along with other patterns on the chart.

All of this served a purpose.

Broadcasting a test pattern daily and sometimes hourly, allowed people to make adjustments to their home television sets, TV repairmen and broadcast engineers to adjust cameras and other equipment. Everyone had an opportunity to adjust perspective, framing, linearity, contrast, brightness, etc., etc.

It is said "an experienced broadcast engineer could glance at the drawing of the Indian Chief and quickly know if everything was OK or if more careful adjustment was needed."

Then what?

Life is kind of like getting everything adjusted and perfectly set. We prepare ourselves, take all of the right courses, read the program guide and make sure everything is perfectly adjusted. We then sit there doing nothing.

Do we prepare only to sit and stare at a test pattern?

What we do is get up and start living our life. We do all of those things we were adjusting for and preparing to do. We live life, we sign-on and begin broadcasting our lives in full clarity, framing, linearity, contrast, brightness, etc., etc.

It would do television stations no good if all they did was broadcast a test pattern all day long. They prepare and then they broadcast their shows. The same goes for our lives. To prepare and do nothing gets us nowhere.

Get up and do life.

Stay inspired my friends!