Are you too old for this….

I often have people tell me they think they are “too old” to: learn another language, go back to school, rebuild broken relationships, follow their passions, start a business – and the list goes on and on.  Have you ever used that excuse for not doing something worthwhile?

Here’s a site where you can plug in any age and see some notable things done by others that same age.

Things Other People Accomplished When They Were Your Age:   You’re Not Too Old Just go here, put in your age and prepare to be encouraged – you can do more than you think!

• At age 99, Teiichi Igarashi climbed Mt. Fuji

• At age 62, J.R.R. Tolkien published the first volume of his fantasy series, Lord of the Rings.

• At age 46, Golfer Jack Nicklaus became the oldest man ever to win the Masters.

• At age 32, penniless and unemployed, Buckminster Fuller decided against suicide, resolving instead to live out the rest of his life as an experiment to see what one person could do to help humanity.

• At age 19, Henry David Thoreau delivered a Harvard commencement address. Expanding on Emerson’s 1836 essay on “Nature”, he proposed that man should work one day a week and leave six free for the “sublime revelations of nature.”

• At age 27, Fred Smith founded Federal Express.

• At age 12, Filmmaker Steven Spielberg got his first movie camera and spent hours writing scripts, drawing storyboards and making movies of subjects such as head-on miniature train crashes and an exploding pressure cooker full of cherries jubilee.

• At age 17, Artificial heart developer Robert Jarvik began working on his first invention, a surgical stapler.

• At 26, Napoleon Bonaparte conquered Italy

Okay, so maybe you won’t conquer any country this year, but I’ll bet you could do more than you have planned at this point.

So what have you done today??

“Successful Failure?”

Dan, I would like to hear more of your thoughts on failure.  Since most of us who are trying to live a life with “No More Mondays” are probably going to fail several times, what does a “successful failure” look like?  How much should we risk in pursuit of our dreams?  As you often say, we must not be paralyzed by our fear of failure but I doubt you would suggest that we risk our marriages, health, homes, etc. while seeking to reach our goals.  What do you think is the right balance in this area?  Thanks, Eric

Great question Eric.  And I believe there really are “successful failures” in business.  That is not an oxymoron. Napoleon Hill once said: “Failure seems to be nature’s plan for preparing us for great responsibilities.”

So part of the issue is – Do you want to do something great – in any area?  If you are content with mediocrity in your life, then you will try to protect yourself from any failure.   Just recognize the trade-off.  

But here’s an important distinction:  It’s not just what you do in a job or your business that will identify you as a success or a failure.

• Not having “date nights” or saying “I love you” daily will put your marriage at risk of failure.
• Spending 65 hours a week at your job will put your emotional well-being at risk of failure.
• Eating Twinkies and Big Macs and not exercising will put your health at risk of failure.
• Financing a car or paying more than the equivalent of one month’s income in cash will put your financial health at risk of failure.
• Spending less than an hour a day on spiritual and personal development sets you up for the risk of failure.
• Expecting a company to continue giving you a paycheck puts you at risk of failure.

These are ways people set themselves up for “failure” totally aside from whether they pursue a No More Mondays work option.  The counterpart to this is, if you are successful in all the areas mentioned above, then “failure” in a business venture is not crippling.  It is simply one area in which to readjust and start again.  I’ve heard that Richard Branson will not invest in any company unless the person in charge has failed at least twice.  I’m convinced that had I not had a major failure in business a few years ago – leaving me with a $430,000 loss – that I would have continued with an unrealistic view of my golden touch.  I think I needed that experience to open my eyes – not to make me cynical, but to help me create a more solid business structure going forward.

I’m also totally convinced that someone who commits suicide upon losing a job or business had neglected excellence and success in the more important areas of life.  Having rich deposits in relationships, spiritual well-being, health and social connections act as a buffer in carrying you through any temporary business failure.  Whether you have a job, volunteer your time or start the next Microsoft – none of these alone will determine the success of your life. 

So here’s what I recommend for risking in a No More Mondays work option:

• Take responsibility for where you are – whether good or bad.
• Continue making deposits of success in the physical, spiritual, personal development, and relationship areas of your life.
• Pursue work that engages your passions as well as your abilities.
• Weigh the financial requirements very carefully.  Personally, I have seven different areas of revenue generation in my small business.  That way if one “fails” it’s not devastating. 
• Recognize that a temporary financial loss does not need to be the end of your business venture. It’s probably just a wake-up call, helping you to readjust for bigger successes in the future. Make the adjustment and know that you are now closer to ultimate success.

So Eric, recognize that many people “risk failure in their marriages, health, homes, etc.” while desperately trying to hang on to a “real job.”  Identifying your passion, creating a careful plan of action, and moving into a No More Mondays work venture may be the very thing to reduce risk and increase your opportunity for true success.  Thanks for asking.

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“Far better is it to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs,

even though checkered by failure…than to rank with those poor

spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live

in a gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat.”

                                    –  Theodore Roosevelt

The Gift of Napping

I hate to be so late in notifying you that a couple weeks ago, March 12^th, was National Napping Day.  I was probably napping myself when the original notice arrived.  Just today, my accountant was here working on monthly reports.  I checked with her to be sure I would not be needed for 20 minutes and then disappeared into another room.  She was amazed that I just reappeared – all refreshed and ready to go.  I find that I function much better if I respond to being tired by taking a short nap – rather than just forcing myself to keep working.

National Napping Day was established “to overcome the prejudicial attitudes that many people have about napping, and to encourage everyone to see that napping as a no cost, no sweat way to improved mood and performance.”

Boston University professor William Anthony, co-author of “The Art of Napping at Work” is encouraging employers and employees to “promote a 20-minute workplace nap and experience the amazing effects it has on productivity, alertness and well being.”

Anthony says Brahms napped at the piano while he composed his famous lullaby. Napoleon napped between battles. Churchill maintained that he had to nap in order to cope with his wartime responsibilities. Geniuses such as Edison and Da Vinci napped. Obviously nappers are in good company.

He would like to see us stop using such phrases as stealing a nap, sneaking a nap, going down for a nap, and caught napping. Nappers have naps. They don’t take, steal, or sneak naps. Nappers don’t go down for a nap, they prepare for a nap. Nappers are never caught napping, because there is no crime to catch. Nappers are merely seen napping.

Do you have a napping story?