The Analogy of Leverage

Last night the Fulcrum Group met together and had a very productive session. At the beginning of the meeting, and after learning that Archimedes discovered the lever, I heard a quote by Archimedes which began a very thought-provoking discussion. The quote was,

“Give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum on which to place it, and I shall move the world.”

The question was then asked of the group at large,

“If this group is, in fact, a fulcrum - which represents motivation, accountability and resource - then what does the lever represent, and what does the object being lifted represent?”

After listening to the opinions of the others, I gave them mine. I told them I thought that the object being lifted represented each individual project that we’ve assigned to ourselves and that the lever represented the talents and/or abilities that we have. Our talents and abilities, alone, may reach and be applied to our projects, but without the motivation, accountability and additional resources of the fulcrum, we are left armed only with our own strength. The Fulcrum Group has provided me with the ability to multiply my own strength and give me the leverage over my own projects that I lack without it.

Stirring the Back-Burners

Well, along with my "front-burner" projects (namely, the illustrating of a children's book with an friend from the Fulcrum Group, writing, editing and illustrating my own Training Wheels series), I'm also trying to keep some of my other already-existing ventures fresh. Among other things, I'm currently designing a logo for a convenience store company in Florida which is always fun for me. Not only do I really enjoy designing logos themselves, but every once in a while, I find it refreshing and even creatively necessary to jump from one project to another. It allows me some much needed change of scenery and the switching of concepts.

Most recently, my LittleLDS brand has been getting some subconscious mental attention. I've discovered that while I work on one project, inspiration and motivation will often build and eventually crescendo into an outright epiphany at some point in favor of the projects that I've had simmering on my mental "back-burners" for a while. I think this is the responsible side of my brain's way of keeping things exciting and fresh for the childishly impatient attention-span’s side.

Anyway, while working on something completely unrelated the other day, I had an idea that would be a lot of fun to do with LittleLDS. Until now, the products that I sell with LittleLDS have been designed specifically for LDS (Latter-Day Saint) children. Of course, logically, the marketing of these products has been geared only towards young LDS parents (mostly mothers) because those children can’t buy for themselves. The other day, however, it finally hit me that I’ve been completely ignoring the parents themselves as direct consumers all along! Here I am, trying to get parents to buy stuff for their kids when I could have been simultaneously marketing different products to the parents themselves! Immediately after making this realization this weekend I went to work to expand the brand to include the new simple, consistent, and logical next step… BigLDS!

LittleLDS is all about using coloring pages to help LDS kids understand their faith better. So, what is BigLDS? Simply put, it’s the vehicle I’ll be using to package all my other LDS-related ideas into. All the ideas I’ve had that just don’t quite fit well into the LittleLDS brand. Things like the Latter-Day Side comic that I created months ago, which hasn’t had a logically place to be displayed. It’s also where I’m featuring the WMC stuff. The WMC was a gag-concept that, oddly enough, is morphing into a real thing right before my eyes (more on that later). Anyway, check it out. Go to the BigLDS store link (in the right column of this blog) to see what I’m building there. I’m still tweaking everything, so explore with the same restrained scrutiny that you would if you were walking around the construction site of a funhouse. Enjoy.

The Fulcrum Group (Part II)

This is the logo I designed for The Fulcrum Group. I'm a big fan of simplicity in my logo designing, and I think the light "F" and the dark "G" in this one are a good contrast to one another. The trick was coming up with a good balance of weight between the positive and negative spaces. My thanks to the Amazing Glennardo for helping me narrow down some of my concept's weaknesses and suggesting this version's +/- effect.

Meeting "Notes"

Reason #155 to NOT work for someone else;
"Holiday Meetings"




On Christmas Eve I had to work. It was a rediculous day to be at work from the get-go, but to make things worse, my boss actually scheduled a real meeting that day for the whole team. I'm not sure if he was trying to keep us focused or if he was just being mean. Either way, it was retarded. This image is the result of the "notes" I took during that meeting. I call it "Barbbed." I guess that is the way I was feeling about having to be in a meeting on Christmas Eve. Hhhh...

Taking Care of "Business"

The other day, while "seated" in the men's room I was looking at the randomly patterned marble tiled floor, as I always do during "business time", and found myself image-hunting. I've done this all my life. In the random designs of the floor, I see images and then I draw them. Faces, space ships, hands, animals, and creatures. Weird, I know, but I'm an artist, and inspiration has to come from somewhere. I don't pick the places where the muses choose to whisper to me. Pitty, though, that the muses feel it necessary to converse with me while "I'm taking care of business." This is the sketch that resulted from the image I saw last Friday. I call it "The Nukkelip"

The Fulcrum Group

Although I’ve always liked the idea of having a business partner, I’ve never been able to find a good match for myself. I like the idea of having someone else to bounce my ideas off of to give me feedback. I’m not talking about the, “Yeah, that looks nice,” type of stuff. You know, “real” feedback. The kind that you can’t get from your mom, and that is legal tender in the real world. I’m a big boy…I can take it. I like the idea of having someone pushing me for deadlines and helping me exercise accountability for my goals. I like the idea of having someone to consult with before making a big decision. I like the creative process of playing the devil’s advocate in conversation and brainstorming. Sure, working on your own has its benefits too, but still… having a partner would be fun.

I’ve never had a business partner, though. I’ve tried it before – a couple of times – but it’s never really worked out. It’s never seemed like a real partnership. It’s always been more like one person piggy-backing on the ideas of another. I don’t want to work on someone else’s project and I don’t want them taking equal credit or profits for something I did 90% of. Maybe I’m picky, but I’m also realistic. Still, I like the idea of a partnership. I think I like the idea of partnership more than the actual thing.

This is why I have some of the friends that I do. I like surrounding myself with motivated and like-minded people. And although this helps, even this sometimes doesn’t cut it. Recently I started my own little think tank. Once a week, a few of my like-minded friends and I get together to bounce ideas off one another, talk about trends, set written and verbal goals, and report on the progress of previously set goals. We have a written agenda with each meeting, some sort of dinner, and some great intellectual conversation. Really, our group is a smaller version of Benjamin Franklin’s “Junto” group, from which I got the idea.

We’ve called our little get-togethers “The Fulcrum Group” because of its roll in each of our respective projects. A fulcrum is a strong and steady object or pivot point which provides the leverage necessary to make lifting or moving possible where it might not otherwise be. Each of us has our own projects to work on and our own deadlines. The group provides the sounding board the motivation, and the brainstorming that we all respectively lack without it. It also provides a sense of accountability and camaraderie.

Too Young? I think not!

I think Whitney Houston said it best when she sang the words, “…I believe that children are our future. Teach them well, and let them lead the way…” A bit cheesy perhaps, but still true.

Ever since I started working on my Training Wheels series, I’ve been on the look-out for other sources of education for my kids in the areas of business & entrepreneurship. I’ve been looking for others who share with me the sense of urgency to give my kids a head start on a good foundation of financial concepts and education. After doing some research, I’ve discovered that apparently I’m not the only one who thinks it’s a great idea to start teaching kids early about “grown-up” concepts like the ones I teach in my Training Wheels stories. Check these out!!

Rich Kid, Smart Kid (Rich Dad, Poor Dad’s Robert Kiyosaki teaches kids about assets, liabilities, and how money works through the Cash Flow for Kids board game. We have this game, and my 6 year-old daughter LOVES it!!)

The BizWorld Foundation (business and entrepreneurial training & education for kids… also check out this video. This is an incredible program!!)

Give Me 20 (Helping kids learn about money & credit through allowance and other resources)

A Smart Kid (The Foundation for Change helps teach kids about financial literacy through the “Moolah Matters” program.)

Moonjar (Teaching kids about money through their “Save, Spend and Share” program & products)

Kids are a LOT smarter than we give them credit for. They pick up on things quickly, and are too naïve to believe in the “I can’t do it” logic that many adults have subscribed to. If kids can learn about weather and kinetic energy, they can certainly learn about the simplified concepts of economics and entrepreneurialism! This weekend I’m meeting with my programmer about the new Training Wheels interactive website that I’m building. He’s flying into town tomorrow and we should have a great company-funded weekend here in Vegas!!

A Timely Statement

The following statement was forwarded to me this morning by my grandad. It's succinct, profound, and I couldn't agree more with it:

"You cannot legislate the poor into freedom by legislating the wealthy out of freedom. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that, my dear friend, is about the end of any nation.You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it."

- The late Dr. Adrian Rogers

"That's work-related, right?

Reason #262 to not work for someone else;
"The Miromanager"

So, it’s Friday again. Another week has passed and it’s time to start winding down. I’ve got my typical Friday-friendly t-shirt and jeans with Hard Rock Café hat on. It wouldn’t be Friday otherwise. The anticipation of next week’s short 3-day pre-Thanksgiving work week hangs in the air and has everyone feeling pretty good. When I got to the office, I started out with my normal prepare-for-the-day, and more importantly, prepare-for-the-weekend routine. Styrofoam cup full of steaming no-name brand instant hot chocolate to warm me up…check. Boot-up the computer…check. Open work email and check for company notices…check. Layout my first project folder…check. Make my list of things to do today…check. Open my “Brain Vomit” spreadsheet so I can jot down any random epiphanies I might have during the workday…ch… Suddenly, my boss, “Poptart” is standing behind me staring at my screen with paycheck in hand and smugly says, “That’s work-related, right?”

Hhhhhh…… Seriously??

After a very awkward few seconds, as I alt-tabbed my way back to a work-related screen, Poptart left and I resumed my now-interrupted workday. Not even two minutes later, through my peripheral vision, I noticed him walking towards my cubical again, and this time I didn’t even look up at him. In knew exactly what he was doing, and it really rubbed me the wrong way. Without stopping, he nonchalantly circumvented my work area. When he was no longer within my peripheral vision I knew he had to be behind me. Without moving my head, I looked up over my computer monitor at his reflection in the class partition that divided my space and the next just in time to see him look ever his shoulder at my screen.

As if this wasn’t’ bad enough, he did exactly the same thing AGAIN just 4 or 5 minutes later!! What the crap?? Why is he busting my chops today??? Did he think I wouldn’t notice? Don’t managers, supervisors and bosses know that a happy employee is a productive employee? His obvious attempts to catch me off-task only fueled my desire to NOT be productive!!

You know, normally, I’m a great worker. I consistently have some of the best numbers in the department. I’m always on time, I meet deadlines, and get along well with my co-workers. And yet somehow this retard feels the need to micromanage me based one single out-of-context moment when I was not looking at a work-related screen. I would actually have understood his suspicions had he at least caught me on an offensive or distasteful website (which I don’t do either). That, at least would seem validated. But a spreadsheet of randomly jotted ideas??

Please!!! This is like when retarded cops pull people over and ticket them for having one headlight out. Seriously? There aren’t enough drug users and domestic violence cases out there to focus on? Ugh…

The Winning Edge

I heard two pretty awesome concepts today while listening to some audio books. The first concept was about what it takes to beat the competition in business. I thought this analogy was really brilliant;

“If a horse runs in a horse race and comes in first, by a nose, it wins ten times the prize money of the horse that comes in second…by a nose. Now does this mean that the horse that comes in first by a nose is ten times better than the horse that comes in second? Does it mean that it’s even twice as good? Does it mean that it’s fifty percent better or even ten percent better? The truth of the matter is that it’s only a “nose” better, but the difference in prize money is enormous.

The person who gets the sale for their company gets one hundred percent of the business and one hundred percent of the commission. The person who does not gets zero. This does not mean that the person who does not get the sale is only half as good as the person who gets the sale. It just means that they were slightly different while selling. The key to success is to develop that winning edge.”

The second one was about developing our intelligence. In this book, the author was expressing a belief that there are multiple facets of one’s intelligence. I like the breakdown and thought it even supported the first audio book’s point about developing the winning edge. The more of these areas of intelligence that we can develop, the better suited we can be to gain the winning edge in that area.

1- Lingual Intelligence – The ability to grasp vocabulary, grammar, and languages
2- Numerical Intelligence – The ability to understand numbers, mathematics and logic
3- Spatial Intelligence – The ability envision 3-dimensionally within the mind’s eye
4- Musical / Rhythmic Intelligence – The ability to read, write and play music and rhythm
5- Bodily Kinesthetic Intelligence – The ability to coordinate one’s physical activity at will
6- Interpersonal Intelligence – The ability to understand, communicate and relate to others
7- Intrapersonal Intelligence – The ability to understand and master one’s self
8- Naturalistic Intelligence – The ability to understand one’s environment and nature
9- Visionary Intelligence – The ability to foresee, predict, and anticipate trends and cycles

A Good Day

The last 24 hours have been really good. Despite what happens the rest of the day today, I've placed myself one step closer to two of my goals.

A few weeks ago I purchased 'Cashflow for Kids', a game created by Robert Kiyosaki to help teach kids all about fiscal responsibility. K and I played it by ourselves a few days ago to get a feel for it, and then last night, because she was just going off-track and didn't have any school this morning, K and I allowed my 6 year-old, M, to stay up late. Once the other two kids were in bed K and I decided to play the game with M. It turned out even better than I had hoped. Not only did M seem to grasp the game quickly (which I expected), but K seemed to really enjoy teaching it to her. I was very impressed. It was awesome watching my wife teach my daughter about concepts like assets vs. liabilities and income vs. expenses. K and I have never enjoyed conversing about that stuff to each other. Like every other married couple, finances have not always been the easiest thing to work with. We manage, but never easily. Seeing this game in action was much more than fun for me. It was so satisfying to watch M get excited by her good fortune as she passed paydays, collected money, made purchases and learned from sobering pseudo financial experiences. One step closer to seeing M succeed in life financially.


Today during breaks and lunch I finally finished my 6th Training Wheels story too! It's called "Dig Another Hole" and I'm really looking forward to reading to the M and E tonight at bedtime. I've already given them the title, and they've been asking about it. I do that on purpose so that I'll stay motivated to finish each one. I've already got my next topic picked out and will be starting it tomorrow. One step closer to publishing my Training Wheels stories!

It's been a good day.

"Pumpkin Face"

Prioritizing vs. Posteriorizing

A Tuesday Tip:

I learned something this morning that, for many, probably seems rather obvious. I’ve found that for me, however, some things just need to be SAID. Too often, things that are just assumed are consequently missed by simple people like me. I heard the following in one of my audio books this morning, and it really resonated with me.

"Sometimes, in the process of restructuring, reengineering, reinventing and reorganizing, you have to be prepared to completely change what you are doing. You have to be prepared to discontinue some activities so that you can spend more time on other higher-value activities. Since your most precious resource is your time, and the key to time management is your ability to set proper priorities, there is another concept that is invaluable to you; this is the idea of setting posteriorities as well.

A priority is something that you do more of, and sooner. A posteriority is something, on the other hand, that you do less of, and later… if at all. A priority is something that you move up on your list of activities and focus on getting done earlier and well. A posteriority is something that you decide to cut back on or discontinue altogether.

Here’s the secret… You can only get your life under control to the degree to which you STOP doing certain things of low value, in order to free up more time that you can then use to do things of higher value.” (Quote by Brian Tracy)

Until today, I’d never even heard of a posteriority. I’ve heard the word posterior, but never would have thought to link it to this context before. I like the concept, though, of not ONLY prioritizing but also posteriorizing. It makes EVERYTHING on your “to do” list more intentionally planned and organized. It also puts things on your list that should be done LESS. These things would never be on any of my lists otherwise!

Its true, for me anyway, that when I create my “to do” list each day, I usually prioritize those things that are most urgent to happen first. Then, I move on to the important things. By contrast, however, I’ve often heard that when most highly successful people plan the consumption of their time, they first distinguish between what is urgent and what is important. Then they do what is important FIRST. Easier said than done, I think, but a wise and valuable technique nonetheless.

Prioritizing alone, results in a process of elimination method, which leaves other things which are, by default, just not high priorities. This isn’t a very thorough way of planning with purpose. It leaves activities that are simply un-prioritized things to do. They are just things to be done…”sometime.” These are usually the things that carry over from one day to another, or in many cases, from one month or even year to another. The ironic part is that had those things NOT been added to the “to DO” list at all, they would still be undone. We put them on a list, but we don’t do them because they have not been prioritized highly enough. The day expires and we’re left with the list’s left-overs…again. And not too many people like left-overs. Occasionally, we need to just through left-overs out. Free up the space in the fridge for other things that need refrigeration. By posteriorizing, we can determine whether an activity even merits any place at all on our list. By this same technique, we can also determine which of the many activities consuming our time throughout the day needs to STOP consuming our time.

"Attributes"

This is my latest Tangle piece. Yes, it is meant to be busy... it's got all of my tangles in it; Love, Joy, Honor, Family Peace, and Amor. In order to fit them all into a nicely shaped rectangle, however, some have been cropped. Serendipitously, this gives the effect that the tangles are boundless and just keep going forever beyond what you can see in this frame. Their ignorance of the black borders accentuates this effect. I've place the Harmon tangle in the center (for those who have a hard time distinguishing the tangles).

We interrupt this blog...

On this blog I typically don't post about topics that don't relate to my interest in entrepreneurialism or about my business aspirations and observations. However, the following topic is SO important to me that it merits the interruption of my typical blogging theme. Please view this video, and check out the following links. I would STRONGLY encourage everyone reading this blog to do whatever you can to take a stand for what is right as it relates to the sanctity of marriage between one man and one woman:

http://www.protectmarriage.com/

http://www.whatisprop8.com/


... we now return to the regularly scheduled blog already in progress...

Project 10 to the 100th

A buddy of mine recently told me about a contest that the mega-company GOOGLE is doing. They’ve called this contest "Project Ten to the Hundredth” and it has captivated my interest. The winner(s) of the contest will be the one(s) who have the most broad-reaching idea. The idea is to help as many people as possible. The following are the areas which each idea should cover:

Community: How can we help connect people, build communities and protect unique cultures?
Opportunity: How can we help people better provide for themselves and their families?
Energy: How can we help move the world toward safe, clean, inexpensive energy?
Environment: How can we help promote a cleaner and more sustainable global ecosystem?
Health: How can we help individuals lead longer, healthier lives?
Education: How can we help more people get more access to better education?
Shelter: How can we help ensure that everyone has a safe place to live?
Everything else: Sometimes the best ideas don't fit into any category at all.

Now, normally, after hearing about a project like this, I would have wanted to come up with an idea. However, this time, it was quite different. This time, just such an idea already existed in my head. In fact, I had an idea several weeks ago that seemed too large for me. I wondered why it had been sent to me at all, until this contest came along. It’s almost as if the idea came in anticipation of the contest, or perhaps the contest came along to accommodate the idea.

So, when I heard about the contest, my recently conceived idea IMMEDIATELY came to the forefront of my mind. It was weird. Now, I’m not retarded…I don’t expect to place in the top 100 finalists, let alone win. The only reason I’m entering is only because the idea came to me and I have nothing else to do with it. Out of the context of this contest, my idea is too big for my otherwise incapable hands. So, I’m going to use this contest as a way to help the idea along to someone else who, if noticed, could get the attention and resources it would require. That isn't me.

So, today, I wrote it all out and entered. The idea is so grandiose that I'm embarrassed to even mention it here. It's sufficient to say that I've entered and my idea conduit is cleared again having had a movement and passed a rather large.... well, idea. I've entered the contest as myself, so on the 27th of January, my entry will be visible to the public with everyone else’s.

Now, with that idea out of the way, I can get back to writing my "Training Wheels" stories again. Whew!

Another One Down

My latest “SOP” Project is finally finished! For the past few weeks I’ve stolen a moment here and a few moments there while at work and in my home office late at night to work on my most recently finished “Training Wheels” story. This one (the longest one so far) is called ‘The Stilt Garage,’ a strange title, no doubt, until you’ve read the story. I debuted it officially the other night to my two daughters at bed time and was impressed (and a little surprised) at how much of it my 6-year-old understood. As she always does at the end, she eagerly repeated to me what she had understood to be the underlying plot, moral, and varying details of this new story. My 4-year-old, on the other hand, had fallen asleep during the reading. Nice. Ah, well….she is only 4.

I’ve already got an idea for the next two stories that I’ll be writing soon. In the meantime, as they develop, I think maybe I’ll start illustrating my first one now that I have several stories finished. Believe it or not, I think illustrating them will be the hard part for me – fun - but a bit of a challenge. I’ve flirted with the idea of hiring another artist to illustrate them simple to have them get done sooner. I’ve enjoyed writing them so much that illustrating them has seemed almost a chore. Last night, however, while discussing this point with my better half, I was reminded about dumb I would feel having a series of books on the market who’s cover said, “Written by Ty Harmon and illustrated by Mr. Some Other Dude.” A good point. She’s totally right. No matter how long it takes me to illustrate them, I NEED to be the one do it.

The Amazing Glennardo!

I just got off the phone with my kid-brother Glenn, who just happens to be one of my very favorite people. I look up to him a lot. He’s shown a lot of ambition in the last few years in chasing his dreams to become a big time animation artist, and this week, all his work has finally paid off! He just told me that he’s moving to L.A. to take a job as a Story Artist with Sony Pictures!!! I’m SOOO excited for him!!! Selfishly, I’m secretly excited, too, because he’ll only be 4 hours away from me now! Just a few days ago he was on the verge of accepting an offer to work for Blue Sky Animation in New York. That would have AWESOME for him, and really hard for us. L.A. will prove to be a GREAT opportunity for him too! Here is a link to a site that shows some of the TYPES of things he'll be working on. Oh, and did I mention that I taught him everything he knows about art??? (pshhhh, right. I wish....)

Congratulations Glenn!!!

Keeping the Bunny Energized

I’ve always been a very up-and-down kind of guy. I’m the type of person who wears his emotions on his sleeve for the entire world to see ALL the time. I have a really hard time concealing it. The change in my continence is not only obvious, but often. I’m like a roller coaster… up, down, up down, up, down… If I’m feeling disappointed or depressed, it’s obvious from my deflated posture and sullen facial expressions. When I’m successful or excited, there’s a noticeable spring in my step, a grin splitting my face in half and a palpable energy around me. I can barely contain myself with the need to share my glee! Mad, nervous, stressed, frustrated, confused… it’s all the same. Obvious, and…. up, down, up, down, up down. My face is like a billboard exclaiming to all passers by how my day is going. I don’t do any of this intentionally. I’m not sure how to NOT do it. Conversely, and inconceivably, I have friends who, upon winning the lottery, would react as though they had just heard the beep of a microwave telling them that their hot pocket lunch is ready. “Oh, that’s good.” That's it?? That kind of temperment and mentality baffles me to no end. No passion, no exageration, no zeal...

I’m also a very idea-infatuated person. I’ve got more ideas bouncing around in my little head than Las Vegas has hotel rooms! Some of them are even good ideas. With all of this neural activity, one tends to shift from inspiration to ambitition, then distraction, deflation, and finally frustration… all in short succession.

I’m no Energizer Bunny! The constant mixing of all that brain traffic and roller coaster mood-swinging can be exhausting. And being this way, my ABs (Ambition Batteries) often require recharging. Necessity, they say, is the mother of invention. I agree. And I’ve not only discovered the necessity to recharge my ambition batteries, but I’ve also invented several methods to do it. These work for me anyway…

Discover what inspires you, and inspire yourself with it regularly: For me, this means audio books, success stories on YouTube, and casual drives through rich neighborhoods. Although I’m always looking for new ones, I listen to the same 2 audio books over and over and over again. Each time, I get something totally new from them and ALWAYS a charge to my “ABs!” I love watching clips from interviews and documentaries on YouTube about successful people. There’s just something very inspiring about see “how they did it.” I love driving through neighborhoods of the wealthy. I like to see their lavish yards, fancy cars and amazing houses. It helps me to remember what’s possible with hard work, creativity, and innovative thinking.

Surround yourself with like-minded “birds of a feather”: You don’t play in the mud with pigs without getting dirty, and you don’t surround yourself with smokers without eventually smelling like one. The same can be said about cleanliness, education and success. Becoming what you want to be can be greatly accelerated by associating with those who are already living it.

Keep your eye on the prize through lists: Achieving many little goals leads to achieve the big ones. Slow-going or not, a step in the right direction every day will eventually result in arriving at the desired destination. I’m a total list-maker. Every day I create a new list, check things off when they’re done, and then start over again the next day. Writing things down not only frees up my mind for more active brain traffic, but it also helps me sleep more soundly, feel more accomplished, actually achieve more goals, and, in the end, keep my “ABs” charged.

Simple Words of Wisdom

“Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, magic and power in it. Begin it now.”

~ W. H. Murray