Santa Claus is coming to town

One of the best things about living in our community is the fun we have during the holidays.  This year was my turn to play Santa Claus at the community Christmas party.  Okay, barring the fact that I am half Asian and I have a perma-tan, I was a little stymied about how I would convince the little kids that I was the jolly old elf from the North Pole.  Luckily I had my Lars Umlaut fat suite from Halloween and some face paint.  Here is a photo, courtesy of Barb.  What do you think?

Ho ho ho, and a Merry Christmas to you!

My 5 Secrets to Happiness - Secret #5

My 5th secret to happiness (but certainly not my last) is this…

Whenever you approach a situation always start by asking “How can I help you?”

I find that no matter what situation you are in, if you approach the situation with an other’s first mentality then the experience will be a much more positive one.  This can be applied to everyday common courtesy such holding a door open for a stranger, giving up one’s seat on the bus (for those of us who take buses), letting someone merge into one’s lane (for those of us who drive), or saying please and thank you.  Being “other centric” as I like to call it also applies well in business because, as most business people know, business is all about relationships.  By focusing on the other person’s or organization’s needs, you can find new and creative ways to solve almost any business problem.  Most recently, this has resulted in some really powerful win-win scenarios like the Tips from the T-List and formation of North American Chapter of IFITT.  Both of these successful endeavours were the result of me asking the question “What can I do to help” rather than saying “What’s in it for me”.

For those of you who are sales people, let me stress the importance of this 5th rule of happiness.  Being “other centric” has the ability of building strong trusted relationships with clients and partners which can lead to strong long term sales relationships.  Approach each new customer as new opportunity to solve a business problem FIRST, the financial benefits will follow accordingly.

My 5 Secrets to Happiness - Secret #4

Each of us has the potential to effect others in our community in a positive way. Since I was in school I have always enjoyed volunteering with local community groups. Whether it was collecting cans for the annual hamper drive at my school or volunteering with the YMCA as a fitness instructor or Youth Leadership Facilitator, being an active community participant has always been a cornerstone of my life. There was a period of time when I was very focused on my career that I lost sight of this and I realized after I started volunteering again just how much I enjoyed the social aspects of being a volunteer. I’ve discovered that being an active volunteer and giving of my time is far more valuable and worthwhile then simply making a donation to an organization. My fourth secret to happiness is…

“Be Generous”

I don’t just mean with money, but rather with your time and your emotions. I believe the old saying “Give and Ye Shall Receive” has more impact now then ever. If you give your time to a worthy cause in your community you will gain so many intangible rewards including a sense of purpose, increased self esteem, and innumerable social benefits.

My 5 Secrets to Happiness - Secret #3

Karma is a powerful force in the universe whether you choose to believe in it or not. I’m a big believer in Karma because I believe that Karma is really all about the long term implications of decisions that are made in the present. In the same way ripples extend out from the point a pebble impacts the pond, the effect that a decision has on those around us extends outwards beyond our comprehension. I think this is the same reasoning that fueled the creation of the ethic of reciprocity or “The Golden Rule” which is a fundamental moral principle found in virtually all major religions and cultures. The “Golden Rule” simply means “treat others as you would like to be treated.” It is arguably the most essential basis for the modern concept of human rights. My number three rule, therefore, is really nothing new…

“Always treat others as you would want to be treated.”

This is also known as empathy or the ability to put oneself in another’s shoes. If you think first about how you would want to be treated in a situation and then apply that criteria to the other person or persons in the situation then you will find that the experience will most likely be a positive one.

My 5 Secrets to Happiness - Secret #2

My second secret to happiness is one that I learned while I was doing my flight training. I realized that there are a lot of things in one’s life that one can control, however, there are an equal if not greater number of elements that simply cannot be controlled; one of these elements is the weather. There were many days when I would get so anxious and, in some cases, angry at the fact that I couldn’t fly because of the weather. One of the courses that I took as part of my commercial pilot training was “Human Factors”. The course discussed the psychological factors that can effect a pilot prior to and during a flight. One of the key things I learned from that course is that flying is about mitigating risk and that taking chances can significantly increase many of the risk factors. Many elements like weather for example cannot be changed or effected by my very limited intervention. So, that said, my second secret to happiness is…

“Focus on those elements that YOU can effect. Avoid wasting time
trying to change things that you cannot.”

Simply put, if you cannot change something or have no effect on a situation then don’t waste your time and energy trying to change it. For example, you cannot change the weather, so if it rains there is no point getting upset, just grab your umbrella and enjoy it.

My 5 Secrets to Happiness - Secret #1

So you’re probably asking yourself how a 35 year old could possibly hold the five secrets to happiness. First of all let me qualify that these are MY secrets to happiness and may not work for everyone, but I’ve discovered I’m a pretty average guy so I figure what works for me probably works for a bunch of other people as well. Heck, one of my favorite sayings is…

“In China, if you are a one in million kind of guy, there’s still 1,800 of you!”

So, here we go… My first secret to happiness is… drum roll please…

“Let go of the past”

What do I mean by this? Simply that you cannot change what is done, so don’t dwell on it. If you can learn from the past, then do that and move on. I learned a long time ago that regret and dwelling on past failures is an energy suck. So, whenever I make a stupid decision or something goes wrong, I figure out what it was that went wrong, make a mental note not to do it again, and move on.

Keeping Those Idol Hands Busy

I was listening to the Bill Good show this morning on CKNW. It was titled “Street Recruits: Why Teens Turn to Crime”. It was a discussion with several experts about why teens join gangs and the techniques gangs use to attract vulnerable teens to a life of crime. There was a lot of discussion about teens needing to feel like they belong and that they are part of something greater. There was also discussion about some teens not getting the attention or interaction they need from their families in order to grow into confident well adjusted members of society. Those of you that know me know that I am a very big fan of youth programs. As a young person I was an active member of the Air Cadet program and after I graduated, I volunteered and later worked as a Leadership facilitator with the Youth Leadership programs at the YMCA. These were my gangs. They gave me meaning, structure, support, camaraderie, self-confidence, a sense of self, an appreciation for community, and a respect for law and authority. My gangs didn’t involve guns, drugs, fancy suvs, or sex. So how do I get more teens to join my gang? I’m not sure really. Do you think a future filled with fulfilling experiences, achievement, philanthropy, and community service can compare to a .45 and Cadillac Escalade. Personally I think so and I can only hope that only a very small minority think otherwise.

We need more programs for young people and we need more people in the community to step up and support them.

People still appreciate common courtesy

I was at my favorite salon the other day for my very overdue bi-weekly trimming. The waiting area consists of four seats and when I sat down there were two men waiting for haircuts already, so I occupied one of the remaining two seats. About ten minutes after I sat down, an elderly couple walked into the salon. The wife sat in the last available seat while the husband approached the counter to tell the girl that he had an appointment for a haircut. As he was on his way back to his wife I asked “Excuse me Sir, would you like to sit down?” and offered up my seat to him. He politely responded that he was fine and thanked me for the offer. I said “You’re welcome” and continued to wait for my turn. After the two men who were before me went in for their haircuts, the wife leaned towards me and thanked me again for offering my seat. She commented on her perception that common courtesies like opening doors, giving up seats, saying “Please” and “Thank you” have pretty much gone out the window. I don’t know if they’ve gone out the window necessarily or whether it is just not a generational imperative. I know my parents were very conscious of instilling the virtues of common courtesy on my siblings and me, and as a result I impress the importance of those things on my children as well. For some reason, the generation slightly younger than my parents seemed to miss this. Why, I don’t know, perhaps it was the chaos of the sixties, antidisestablishmentarianism, anti-authority, who knows, but their children who are slightly younger than me now also seem to have missed it and I fear their children will too.

Here’s to hoping that the virtues of common courtesy make a comeback in the New Year, one seat at a time.

Two Pomelos + US Customs = Missed Flight and a Bad Motel

The pomelo (or Chinese grapefruit, pummelo, pommelo, jabong, boongon, shaddock, jeruk Bali, or suha), Citrus maxima (Merr., Burm. f.), also Citrus grandis (L.), is a citrus fruit, usually a pale green to yellow when ripe, larger than a grapefruit, with sweet flesh and thick spongy rind.

Those who know me, know that I don’t often get pissed off. Sometimes however it is just inevitable. Most of the time I can forgive a person if they make an honest mistake, but when somebody purposely lies and as a result causes me to miss a very important flight, then I get angry. Forgive me while I vent, but here is what happened.

Phil and I were on our way down to Sea-Tac airport to catch our 11:16 flight from Seattle to Orlando. The Quick Shuttle left Vancouver at 5:30pm and was scheduled to arrive in Seattle at 9:30, giving us almost two hours to connect to our flight. Seemed like a pretty safe bet, except that we hadn’t included the unpredictable “Pomelo Factor”. That’s right, the Polemo Factor, is the effect of hiding pomelo in your luggage, declaring that you are not carrying said pomelo, and then being caught carrying said pomelo, thus resulting in fines, penalties, and the inevitable delay of your Quick Shuttle bus carrying forty fellow passengers. In the end, that passengers choice to carry fruit, lie to US Customs and get caught, resulted in Phil and me missing our flight to Orlando, paying over $250 more in hotel and airfare charges, and missing a whole day of the PhoCusWright conference.

I suppose I can take solace in the fact that I have a new story to tell, not to mention that I get to celebrate Phil’s birthday in a crappy motel room that stinks of cigarettes.

By the way, I updated the Wikipedia entry for Pomelo to include some helpful information about the importation of the delicious citrus fruit into the U.S. for all those of you who are considering sneaking it in your luggage.

(Update! The Wikipedia entry was updated and my entry was removed. Too bad, but it does show the self-monitoring capabilities of the crowd. So, good on Wikipedia for proving that there is wisdom in crowds)

A Marketing Culture Based on Helping

I’ve been learning recently that marketing isn’t just about getting people to recognize your brand, it is about feeling good about promoting your product. At the beginning of the year we were focused on a direct marketing strategy that involved sourcing and calling local tour operators in an effort to convert them into users. We found over a few months that the conversion ratio was very low and that the likelihood of the user to convert into a paid subscriber let alone use the system for its free services was very low. But the thing we noticed most about this strategy is that it just didn’t feel right. We weren’t a telemarketing company, we didn’t like companies that did direct marketing, and we did feel right doing ourselves. We contacted several consultants to see if they had any recommendations on how we could improve our phone conversions. In all cases, we didn’t really like the consultants. They were specialists at phone solicitation and professional telemarketers. Again, I don’t doubt that their strategies would have worked, but I didn’t like their methods and I didn’t want Sentias or Rezgo associated with that type of sales. It just didn’t feel right.

In May we started working with Tatsuya Nakagawa, from Atomica Creative. His philosophy was to take our culture and find a marketing strategy that fit with who we are as a company. What we came up with was a strategy based on helping others; our partners, vendors, customers, whoever. This strategy made sense to us and it felt right. The most important point is that the strategy worked for us. In five months we have managed to increase our Alexa ranking for 2,500,000 to 180,000, thereby surpassing most of our competition. We’ve focused all our marketing efforts so that our underlying mandate is to help as many people as possible. When we send out a newsletter, its not just a marketing piece, it is useful and helpful information that is pertinent to 500+ readers. As soon as you change your mindset about marketing, the opportunities for innovation and creativity increase.