Friday, April 30, 2010

GET THAT PAPER

Wall Paper of the Week "Gordon Gekko"
If you read this blog then you are going to appreciate the Gordon Gekko Wall Street 20th Anniversary
Wallpaper. Happy Friday
1. Double Click
2. Right Click
3. Save as Background
4. Enjoy!
-MJL
An FTB Blog




Wednesday, April 28, 2010

THE BIRTH OF PROJECT X

Now that I'm on the fast track to being debt free (14 months tops!), it's time to get my hands dirty again, and I figure this is the best time to chronicle the experience. This is.....as Fred Sanford would say, "the big one"
Let's recap my current endeavors
1. Owner of the FTB blog network and Affiliates
2. Owner of Wash and Roll Mobile Wash & Detailing divisions
3. Co-owner of Nuff Said Out fitters
4. Owner operator of Money Saving Mikes on-line gifts
5. Owner of FTB Vending
6. Middle Management (Some Place in Corporate America)

Now it's time to launch Project X. Project X has been in development for about five years and it's now or never. Ever since my layoff recovery I've become an advid reader of Fast Company and INC magazines, guys like Mark Zuckerberg, Mint.com's Aaron Patzer and on line marketing Guru Jeremy Schoemaker, make me want to resign and just hustle for myself full time...but I'm no dummy. 
So after the failure to launch Igarage (I ran out of money and repairpal.com beat us to market, read the post here), I'm throwing my hat into the software arena again. I've come up with another softwae idea and it's going to take me to the promiseland.

The first part of my execution is to partner up. I think I have found the right person and I have ptiched the idea. Preliminarily he is on board and as the vision becomes clear he will be just as excited as I am. 

Why a partner?
Just because. No really good reason, I would just like to share the experience with someone. Why not get rich together, it's fun and that's what life is all about. Another good reason is, you need someone that you respect to hold you accountable, to call you on your bullshzit and keep you motivated. That somone has to also have the balls to tell you that "Your baby is ugly". 
If my potential business partner wants in, if she shares this vision with me and understands how much work is involved,  and is willing to do it, you will be witnessing the birth of Project X .

My palms are itching just thinking about it. 
Let's Go!!
-MJL

Thursday, April 15, 2010

How to Get Paid What You Are Worth.

One of the hardest things to embrace is the fact that we get paid what we are worth; you are exactly where you are supposed to be.
That’s a rough thing to hear; depending on where you are in life. We hate hearing the truth. Like most things , there are exceptions but the majority of us are exactly where we are supposed to be in life. The salaries we make are what we deserve. This is a hard fact and when you forget this fact, you could be setting yourself back.
There are a lot of people who feel that they should be the
 CEO of the company they work for. They will tell you 100 times per day that they could run this place, or that they should be the boss; BUT THEY ARE NOT. The answer why is simple: They haven’t done enough to be the boss. Now the “enough” is the tricky part. The “enough” isn’t really quantifiable. It’s easy to simplify things and think that being the boss, or being wealthy, means knowing the most and working the hardest. That sounds nice, but look
 around you. How many people are making more money then you, working less hours then you and are about as smart as a box of rocks! The best example is your parents.
 Some of us had the smartest mom’s and dads around, and no one works harder then my pops, and he has about $20 G’s and an old ass Lincoln town car for his retirement.

ARE YOU FEELING HELPLESS AFTER READING THAT?
LET’S TALK ABOUT THE MISSING INGREDIENT SHALL WE?


DETERMINATION. Blind dumbfounding, insane in the membrane Determination.
This is a skill that really can’t be taught. It’s a skill that can be identified and
  hopefully you can hone in on your inner grit and tenacity to harness it in the right direction. The perfect example of this is Survivor. We can learn a lot from Mark Burnett shows. We are all familiar with Survivor. “The Tribe has Spoken” and all that jazz. When some of the contestant
s are voted off the show, they will often say, “I’m the best Survivor”. Really? They might be the most skilled athlete, the best puzzle solver, hardest working tribe member, but that doesn’t make them the best Survivor. As soon as you think it does, is when you go home. The game is to Survive so the best Survivor is the person who is there at the end. Get it? This person can be the laziest, un-athletic person in the world, but if he or she is there in the end, then they deserve to be. Your Manager co
uld make Homer Simpson look like Einstein but he managed to get to that position and that’s really all that matters. He is getting paid what he thinks, no….what he knows heis worth.

Maybe he knew somebody – does that make it wrong. No. They knew someone and you didn’t. Maybe someone got fired above them and they were at the right place at the right time. You have to play the game from all angles and that means playing your position well. If you get
out of position, you expose yourself and you could be fired. You have to play the game to get where you want to be. How you play the game is up to you, you just have to identify where you are, where you want to be, and start working to get there. Try not to screw anyone over in the process, but that doesn’t mean not to be relentless. I will guarantee, that if you don’t let anything get in your
way, then you won’t be stopped. ….That’s funny. Of course I can guarantee that, because if you overcome your obstacles you won’t be stopped anyway.
I hate to pick on former Govenor Rod Blagojevich but two weeks ago on Celebrity Apprentice, the former Governor of Chicago was crippled by his own ineptness. Not only could the man not turn on a laptop, but he couldn’t text on a cell phone or send digital pictures. After watching him struggle with the things that we do like breath, walk, and blink, I simply dismissed it to the fact that he’s been so busy and working so hard that he hasn’t had time t
o learn how to use these items. I figured, this man was Governor of our nation’s third largest city (2.8 Million People). He will show the world and more importantly Donald Trump how great he is by delegating and leading his team to victory. Well after spending valuable time napping on the plane he starts this victory march by putting Brett Michaels in charge. Really? Trump fired his ass faster then How can a man like this have run
Chicago you ask? How, because he knew what he was before he became governor, played his position and then didn’t stop until he got what he thought he was worth.

If someone is where you want to be, getting paid what you want to get paid then you can do it too! When it gets tough you have to ask yourself one question: “How bad do you want it”. If it’s bad enough then you will do everything in your power to make it happen.
-MJL


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Tuesday, April 06, 2010

Repost from 2006! Man, I knew what I was talkin' About!!

This week I am away on travel so I figured I would pull from my 4 years of posts to find something inspirational and appropriate.

Since things are sarting to pick up along witht he economy and it's spring....I bring to you the Post Entitled:

WHEN THE SUN IS SHINING PREPARE FOR THE RAIN

I know it sounds a little depressing but it's true. People definitely do not do this enough.

When faced with adversity, we dig in deep, kick ass, take names and prevail. Once we are in the winners circle we forget the things that got us there. We forget the dedication, the focus, the struggle. We get complacent and end up in the same situation we've just fought our way out of. When you are just winning the first battle of the war you must continue to fight just as hard until the battle is over.

Let’s look at two real life examples:

EXAMPLE ONE: PERSONAL LIFE
You get one credit card paid off and you’re feeling good. You find yourself at Border's bookstore buying a book, or magazine
(a budgeted expense) and you see a night light for sale. You think to yourself, “It's only $16.99, It's only a night light!"
ARE YOU NUTZ!
You shouldn’t even be considering that. Are all of your credit cards paid off? You have gone 20 something years without this dumb-ass night light, but yet all of a sudden you need it. STOP FOOLING YOURSELF. This is the trap that got you in debt to begin with. Get back on........