Semi-Academic Eric > Recent Status Updates

Interesting book so far.

Fearless Inventory

Time... Sanity is doing only what I have time to do with serenity.

Glow Flowly... I'm taking my time and having a good time doing it.

Serenity Underneath: We try to live each moment with serenity, joy, and gratitude.

Space out activities to avoid becoming spaced out.

Loving Acceptance: ... I accept myself as I am and I grow...

Breaking Illusions: There will be enough time, love, and money...

Serving

Energy Engineering

"When that feeling of upset or irritation comes, or when fear begins..., see and hear a big Yes! flash in technicolor and quadriphonic sound... then a big Thank you for this opportunity."

The paragraph before:
Practice and repetition bring results. There are many opportunities to practice in our daily lives... You'll find it is impossible to be angry, fearful... in any way... and still be centered.

"Maybe we just need a date night? While I've been living in France, date nights have become the new penicillin for North American couples with kids. Hate your spouse? Have a date night! Want to strangle your kids? Go out to dinner! The Obamas go on date nights. Even social scientists now study them. A paper on middle-class Canadians found that when couples got leisure time alone together, it 'helped them...'"

“Realize the foolishness of angered response, keeping the mind one in tranquility with the simplicity of a child, conserving the spirit. [Tao Te Ching 28”

“Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that.”

Time to Cancel the Space Shuttle

I read that this book got published in 2007. Since then... they did cancel the Space Shuttle didn't they? As Seth Godin predicted, this did "create an urgent need for a replacement. The lack of a way to get to space would force us to invent a new, better, cheaper alternative."

It's 2020 and, among other options, we have SpaceX and rockets that land on landing pads.

Eight Dip Curves

Salt is not boring - eight more ways to bring the cow to work: No more Morton boring salt. Then other "interesting" salts entered the market. {There are some questions worth considering in this section.}

Here's a great Google story I heard from Mark Hurst: It turns out that the folks at Google are obsessed with the email they get criticizing the service. They take it very seriously.

Go take a design course. Send your designers to a marketing course. And both of you should spend a week in the factory.

May I let you know when we have another unique training launch?

To leverage links with "sneezers":
1. Get permission from people you impressed... not to spam or just to squeeze out extra margins "with leftovers." This is permission to alert them about the next Cow.
2. Give them the tools (and the story) they'll need to share your idea.
3. Once you've crossed the line from remarkable to profitable business, let a different team milk it.
4. Reinvest. Do it again. Launch another.

By making a tin that just begged to be shared, Altoids made it easy for early adopters to sneeze the product to the rest of the market. The result: one of the most profitable candy introductions ever.

Services that are worth talking about get talked about.

An ideavirus is an idea that spreads. A brand is an idea.

It's not an accident that some products catch on and some don't. When an ideavirus occurs, it's often because all the viral pieces work together. How smooth and easy is it to spread your idea? How often will people sneeze it to their friends? How tightly knit is the group you're targeting-do they talk much?...