How long?

Things authors, quilters, artists, and salespeople share in common…  In these pursuits, and others, time impacts value (one way or another)… one way or another: 

Good pitching will always stop good hitting and visa versa. 

Casey Stengel 

Take quilting.  My wife invests hours, no, tens of hours to design, cut, sew-and-prep each component, color-match threads, layout and pattern-match the pieces, sew them all together, cut, fit, and sew on the backing, square the whole thing, then cut, fold and sew on the border, and finally quilt the entire, end product. 

She makes gifts for family and friends.  Were she to sell her quilts as some quilters do, and include the dollar value for her talented time, her masterpieces would be priced at hundreds of dollars, maybe even thousands. 

It’s like that with artists, too.  Harry Beckwith, author of Selling the Invisible ©, offered this story about Pablo Picasso’s value of time: 

A woman was strolling along a street in Paris when she spotted Picasso sketching at a sidewalk café.  Not so thrilled that she could not be slightly presumptuous, the woman asked Picasso if he might sketch her and charge accordingly. 

Picasso obliged. In just minutes, there she was: an original Picasso.

"And what do I owe you?" she asked.

"Five thousand francs," he answered.

"But it only took you three minutes," she politely reminded him.

"No," Picasso said.  "It took me all my life." 

Speaking of authors.  My readers often ask me, “How long did it take to write your book?”  They’re surprised when I say I collected the quips and quotes over the course of 25 years.  It took me 3 years to add my short stories, finalize, and copyright the manuscript.  Then I waited another 10 years for self-publishing to become user-friendly enough to match my (lack of) skills. 

Truthfully though, when it comes to the value of “How Long?”, it doesn’t matter in many cases.  The market for a book like mine, offered by an independent author like me, is less than $20 per copy regardless of how many years it took me to complete. 

Then there’s the B2B sales profession.  Time is our nemesis.  Every rep who has gone through a forecast review with their manager knows this.  When faced with the, “How long has this deal been on your forecast?”, we cringe.  Time doesn’t increase the value of our deal.  Just the opposite.  Or, has been said by every sales manager everywhere: 

Time kills deals! 

Which, of course, leads to the salesperson’s (over) reaction: 

When in doubt – discount!           

Especially when we have forecasted the deal to close this month. 

GAP 

When life gets tough we could get a helmet… or… we could leverage the peace and share the power of a positive perspective.

 

High School Sweethearts…

October; autumn … I love this time of the year.  I love the colors and smells.  It reminds me of high school, football, and dating.  Do you remember your high school sweetheart?  

High school is a special time for teenagers.  It certainly was for me.  It was a different time; an innocent time.  I always enjoyed the month of October when I was in high school – Homecoming; Halloween; dating; parties (many chaperoned, some not). 

Fifty-six years ago, this very time of the year, Glenn Vician held a party at his house.  His parents weren’t home.  I hung out with the prettiest girl in my high school at that party.  It was there that I asked her out on a first date.  I guess both events went well enough because here we are fifty-six years later and still together.  Even now I’m awe-struck by the glow of her beauty. 

I hope you enjoy this opening to Chapter XII True North of my book, The Peace & Power of a Positive Perspective © as much I enjoyed writing it and as much as I still enjoy re-reading it every October: 

Dedicated to… a crisp night in October; with a slight breeze blowing through bare trees – waiting for the coming winter.   Close your eyes.  Can you smell remnants of autumn leaves burning? 

To winning the homecoming football game.  To being carefree. To a Saturday night party at the teenager’s house whose parents are away.  Can you hear the kids having fun in the kitchen; the basement; and the backyard, all to the beat of the Rolling Stones? 

To couches, blue jeans and sweaters.  To the floor lamp reflecting on her blond hair making it shimmer with silvery streaks of light.  To the nervous small talk of a teenage boy in the presence of a varsity Pom-Pom Team member.  To the patience of the teenage girl sitting on the couch with the captain of the varsity basketball team.  Can you remember when you could actually hear your heart throbbing? 

To throw pillows, which come in handy when the small talk runs out – what else can a young boy do?  And to playful pillow fights; which lead to gentle wrestling and ultimately to that first kiss. Remember how delicate she felt in your arms – the hint of her perfume – the taste of her lips? 

To first dates – dinner and a movie.  To the movie Catch 22 and the Oriental Theatre in downtown Chicago.  To dating the prettiest girl in your high school; to falling in love; to asking her father’s permission for her hand in marriage.  Were you ever so nervous? 

To the tears welling up in my eyes even as I write this short memoir.  To all those emotions; all the happiness; all those hopes and all those dreams; some fulfilled, some yet to be; and all that I can remember today as if it just happened yesterday – that I will remember every day, as long as I live.  How can someone be so lucky? 

To 1970 - and that Saturday night in October in Elmhurst where I kissed Debbie for the very first time.  And to the friend’s house whose parents were out – to their couch, their floor lamp, to their throw pillows; and to the Rolling Stones music.  Can you imagine being so young, so infatuated, and so in love? 

I still am. 

GAP 

When life gets tough we could get a helmet… or… we could leverage the peace and share the power of a positive perspective.

Fear in the AI world…

It’s been over 2 decades since I ventured out into the ocean of social media for the very first time.  I know I wasn’t the original “explorer”, but it was a big move for me back then.  Here’s one of the first quotes I used in my first post: 

People told Columbus the world was flat.  He didn’t insist it was round.  He got in a boat.  

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How cool was that!  No debate; no headlines; no fear.  They said, “Impossible!” he said, “Get me to a boat!”  Then Columbus got in that boat (funded by an original venture capitalist); and proved his point.  

What a stellar example of overcoming fear and committing to success!  “Hey Chris, the world is flat you know.  If you go out there, you’ll sail right off the table into oblivion.”  “That’s OK”, he might have said, “I think it’ll be fine.”  He wasn't alone.

What about you?  What are “they” saying you cannot do?  Are you hesitating, fearing AI, listening to the naysayers?  Are you staying close to shore keeping land in sight to avoid the risk?  Are you afraid?  Or, are you looking out across the vast expanse of your future, seeing opportunity? 

The fishermen know that the sea is dangerous and the storm terrible, but they have never found these dangers sufficient reason for remaining ashore. 

Vincent van Gogh 

If you’re reading this, then you’re in my boat.  Welcome to The Peace & Power of a Positive Perspective©.  The next time you’re having one of “those days”, filled with too much negativity from “them”, come back aboard to settle your nerves and get a little positive reinforcement. 

I believe maintaining a positive perspective in the face of adversity has been a key to success for as long as there have been keys, don’t you? 

Our doubts are traitors, and make us lose the good we often might win, by fearing to attempt. 

William Shakespeare 

Now, technology is dominating our lives.  Scary.  Similar to Christopher Columbus, no one can predict how AI will impact the world; impact our future.  I’m not going to argue about it; deny it; fear it.  (Well OK, I might fear it a little bit, HaHa!)  Regardless, the future is upon us, machines and all.  I’ll continue to provide commentary. 

I hope you join me for the voyage and visit https://gpokorn.blogspot.com/ often.  Bring a friend!  After all: 

No sense in being pessimistic.  It wouldn’t work anyway.    

                        Unknown Sage 

Here’s to the next, New World.  Thanks again Chris! 

                                                            GAP 

When life gets tough we could get a helmet… or… we could leverage the peace and share the power of a positive perspective.