Seeking the Edge

iUniverse, Inc.

Contents

Dedication.............................................vPreface................................................xvAbout the Author.......................................xviiOpportunity............................................1Character..............................................11Worth..................................................31Experience.............................................43Negotiations...........................................61Preparedness...........................................71Thinking...............................................85On Happiness and Pleasant Thoughts.....................101Life Lessons...........................................109On Business Thoughts...................................133A Few Famous Quotations................................141A Few One-Liners.......................................147Epilogue...............................................153Bibliography...........................................155Recommended Reading....................................159Index..................................................161

Chapter One

The Pot of Gold at the End of the Rainbow

We must set our sights high, whether it be on education, athletics, a job, a work project, a research effort, or some life journey in general. We imagine those objectives and goals to be like seeking a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow. We start our journey through open fields, but all sorts of difficulties, challenges, and excitement are encountered as we move through the forests, following the rainbow to find that pot of gold. An important thing that we've learned over the years, however, is that we must keep our eyes and ears wide open and keep looking beyond and perhaps alongside the path to the rainbow. As we journey, we might miss the many small pots of gold along the way, but by looking carefully, we will see that a slight detour to pick up that small pot of gold could mean a breakthrough in our lives. After we take advantage of the small pot of gold, we can resume our journey to a bigger pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, still looking for other pots of gold on our way. The small pots of gold might be associated with new ideas, directions, new activities, new job opportunities, solutions, new research directions, or just overall improvement in our lifestyle and ambitions. We must keep our senses and imagination open constantly, even if we never reach the pot of gold that was the original object of our quest. Contents of the pot of gold can change as we grow. There might be many short detours along the journey that are worth taking. Then, regroup, take a look at the rainbow again, and travel toward the next objectives and goals, newly defined, towards the pot of gold. Keep in mind that the rainbow often changes positions and directions and we have to set our objectives and goals a little differently, but the key thing is that we keep our journey on track towards the end of the rainbow, with our eyes, ears, and minds clear along the journey. The edge leading to success is a constant awareness of what we can become, and, most importantly, it is taking advantage of the many opportunities as they arise.

Choose Opportunity Buckets Wisely

Opportunity buckets arise everyday, perhaps introducing a variety of different directions for you to take associated with different opportunities. Be ready to take advantage of the opportunities that appeal to you. Certain ones could even become your pot of gold at the end of the rainbow with perhaps opportunities to speed up or shorten your journey to success. Opportunity buckets could be in the newspapers, a message from a friend, an observation at a party, a sign while driving, a movie, etc. to try a new business, sport, city, adventure, idea or product, an opportunity to meet someone new, and so on. The opportunity buckets float by all the time. Try to see them, to evaluate them, and finally to take action.

Despite the many opportunities that come your way, spend your time wisely. You cannot do everything. Think smart. Anticipate success in the short run and estimate the additional long-term benefits of your possible short-term accomplishment. Select only those projects with the greatest potential for long-term growth and profit. You must recognize real opportunity. So many people are very busy, but still accomplish very little. It is often possible to do less work on a trivial or simple project with high impact and importance than on a very complex, tedious project that has low impact or little consequence. Choose wisely. Be smart! Recognize real opportunity around you, no matter if it means a detour from your current path. Think carefully and completely, but above all, think about what you are doing. What choices, hobbies, leisure activities, or daily decisions should you make and why? What product should be developed if you are an engineer in business? What services should be offered? What is next? Think about a payoff, a benefit, and the consequences of your choice. What trips should you take and why? Recognize the projects with the biggest opportunities. Be prepared to change your plans. Don't lose out on the potential for major success for the sake of completing minor, trivial, low impact, end of the road, or seemingly needed organization and restructuring programs. Be efficient and think big! The edge is associated with the willingness to change, to drop old work efforts, and to dream of tomorrow in order to move into new high impact directions. Choose opportunity buckets wisely.

Windows of Opportunity

We are always setting goals in our life and carrying out certain plans to acquire learning skills and education, with a hope that some day we will be able to obtain a job, for example, in a particular area. There are so many everyday things that occur that we might say, "Well, next year this might be perfect," or "Next week this might be suitable." But it turns out that there are always windows of opportunity available—but they may not always agree with our current planning. We must be ready, though, to be able to take advantage of the opportunities, whether we are completely prepared or not. Opportunities never come up exactly when you want them to.

Here's a perfect fictitious example. Jason, involved in baseball his entire life, was a pitcher in Little League, in high school, and through college; he always did extremely well. He was famous for throwing no-hitters and acquiring large numbers of strikeouts in a game. He, unfortunately, received a small injury in college and he decided perhaps that he could not carry out his baseball dream. He carried out other work, but he still always had that dream of playing for a Major League baseball team. One evening Jason was attending a Phillies-New York Mets game in Philadelphia. At this point, for some reason, the group of Philadelphia pitchers available were all hurt. After the third inning, the Phillies had no one to go in and pitch. The manager, George, looked through the stands and happened to see Jason sitting there. He knew about Jason.

The manager immediately ran over to Jason and said to him, "Jason, are you ready? Come on in. Could you pitch the next few innings and finish out this game? We'll give you a two-week contract to help us out. We need you desperately. We have to complete these games. I don't want to put any of my other players in the game at...