Category: politics

I’m Not for Everyone Here’s Why…

startup, startup, startup, startup, startup, startup

Do we trust people we like with less experience more than we trust people we don't like with more experience?

Yes and the reason comes from caveman times. If we felt that someone was going to be able to stick with the herd and provide consistently they were always the safer choice.

Times have changed though, and many build their entire careers from being immune to social niceties. Whether it's Gordon Ramsay  or Gary V these public figures have disregarded wanting to be liked. Or at least trying to sugar coat their social interaction skills and language.

There is a lot to be said for the walk-away feeling one gets after shopping at a store.
 Whether this is an online marketplace, or a retail establishment, we tend to remember the last thing more than the first thing.

On the opposite end, there are people who will say anything to get you to like them. Some have personalities that cannot stand to feel the disapproval of others. Crippling social shyness aside, there is a magnified effect of personal dishonesty that goes hand in hand with trying to please everyone.

How can a business please everyone, and still remain true to the core values that founded it? There are a few businesses that deliberately take confrontational stances on an issue to gain media attention and customers. The crazy thing is it works. (Look at whose president right now).

However, there's something to be said about caring for what kind of CX your company provides and the residual income that is purely from testimonials being shared. I think there is a balance between kowtowing to every little thing your client base needs and drawing the lines for ethical behavior.

One of my clients asked me to do work on making sure their client, who was running political ads on Facebook, was Facebook policy compliant.

I Had to Take a Step Back 

There are some crazy people out there right now that want to encourage unsafe behavior, and many are political. I had to do a gut check and ask myself,

"Can I live with myself, if my FB Policy Analysis helped a candidate get elected who endangered the lives of others?"

It wasn't easy. Times are hard, business is slow, and you take money from the money tree when you can grab it.
startup. startup, startup, business, business, business

I gave my client an ultimatum and said that I would need to review the goals of their political ads client and end game before I could say yes.

I wasn't going to walk into this with blind faith or just wanting to make a profit.

What I stand for, and the ripple effect of my business decisions matter.

I would rather starve than steal.

But that's just me. If I was having to feed a bunch of mouths at home, with mounting bills and little options, would I have chosen differently? I can't say as that's not the reality.

The reality is that I have to trust the people I work with to do business (and their clients) otherwise I won't sleep easy. In the last blog we discussed the power of showing up  and this counts for showing up for what your business stands for.

Profit Over Principles

This also made me realize that there are lot of businesses that don't factor ethics into their business decisions. Walmart has dumped tons of toxic waste into Texas tributaries and was almost sued by the EPA before they stopped.


There are plenty more examples of behavior like this that puts profits over principles. I think I learned something about myself through this last experience: I'm not for everyone.

I'm fine with that.

As an Entrepreneur I Get to Choose Who I Do Business With 

Abdicating that choice because I was being lazy, or too eager doesn't seem fair to the many people who don't get to choose who they work with. It also doesn't do justice to the hard work I had to put in to become a startup founder who has options I didn't have in my 9-5er past life.

What experiences have you had that made you question your business choices?

Comment below:

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If you want to hire me to freelance write for your blog email: [email protected]. Need FB Policy help? Book a time on my calendar here.

 

Glistening Panther Infinity Pool

 


August 14th, 2017

I Will Not Be Treated Like An Animal,

Unless It’s A Glistening Panther

Emerging From An Infinity Pool

It Was The Best of Times, It Was The Worst Of Times

Most people right now are going nuts emotionally about what’s going on in national politics. I expect to turn this political disillusionment into spiritual action, for ultimately it is the hearts of humankind we need to change.

Politics is mostly the practice of managing and regulating the limitations of humans. But if we were living up to our potential, and we should be, government could be a positive force that guides our priorities rather than doling out punishment and rewards in a futile attempt at creating equality from the outside in.

When we learn to accept the elements of existence moving with the flow of what IS and our place in it we can begin to grow as beings rather than be lost in a whirlpool of anger and frustration because of unrealistic expectations. It’s a good idea to…still GIVE a damn, but not become TOO emotionally invested.

What Should We Do?

Collectively each and every one of us shares this task and in the individual is where the task begins. No one is superior to another. Not the politician or CEO because of their greater responsibility or large sums of money. Nor the political activist because they tout noble ideals such as purity and justice.

We all share in the destruction or creation of this world and so respect must be given to all, by all as a starting point or no progress will be made. Mercy and understanding is the only path to a unified, stronger human race.

A government can punish those who have transgressed but unless we can understand what made them relinquish their good for bad, shining a light on the darkness, more bad will fester and grow from that darkness.

Revolution

A revolution in how we organize ourselves as social equitable beings relies on shared values inherent in how we live our lives. It’s a challenge when religion, and class amongst other things divide human beings from realizing that we must all compassionately build this world together as sustainably as possible.

If everyone in the world had these shared values, we would not have war, poverty, homelessness, starvation etc. As much as it may seem self evident not to kill what keeps us alive (ie the planet, plants and animals, natural resources, eachother etc) this is a truth often rationalized into irrelevance by many in and out of positions of power, as they service only themselves instead of understanding even they would benefit from this kind of honesty.

Simple Cause & Effect

Choosing to try a little harder as opposed to giving up, does not mean you don’t accept you are human, it is integral in realizing ourselves fully as a means to evolve perception and better our own capabilities to improve and enhance the quality of life we experience.

Applying a generic label to just finding positivity in everything, is much different than consciously shifting our inner attention and energy towards overcoming the easy way out, which will always be the negative self talk, and thoughts of helplessness. When you push past your comfort zone, and ask more of yourself; it is a worthy investment that yields a much greater return than justifying staying the same.

Be also careful about attachment, when you become so strongly attached to a goal or even your own perspective, it limits the sight, inner and outter sight, as well as potential for growth.  It is good to recharge, by pausing, stepping outside of emotional habits, and tuning in to the intuition inside, and letting go.  Sometimes to have something we have to let it go first.

We are always in the process of waking up to the next level of awareness.

What Kind of Awareness Is Good?

The self awareness to take a candid look at one’s perspective, without becoming so attached to it that growth atrophies, and see how one’s self can grow, evolve and have the humility to see beyond false attachments and appreciate the people in our lives not for the purpose they serve us, but for being themselves.

To not be confined to a rigid set of ideas or concepts, the consistency of compassion regardless of another person’s skin color, or political beliefs, to recognize eachother’s humanity not as a convenient tool of self congradulations, but as a method to bring peace to the world through leading by example. Just being a good person for the sake of being good.

Closing Thoughts To Open Minds

What if…we can draw from this infinite knowledge like a data base through wordless frequencies that we perceive unconsciously through light strands permeating our dna and by using our thoughts we can spur an exponential growth of awareness that both reunites us with the infinite perception of the all of everything while still maintaining individual receptors to function as gateways thru microscopic wormholes for others to #levelup to a new frequency capable of perpetual sustainability by virtue of intention ?