Quick post as Vox keeps going down while I try to post comments... And I need to get some sleep.
I'm off to France to visit my parents in about 6 hours. I haven't been there for over 8 months so it will be a treat to see the family, enjoy some great food and wine, and catch up on Mr Sarkozy's latest misbehavior.
Actually, forget that last one :-)
My parents live in the middle of nowhere. Only an hour away from Paris. But truly the middle of nowhere. I'll have the laptop with me but I have no idea if I'll be able to get a internet connection there. If I don't, I'll catch up with Operation Blog Post when I return on Tuesday.
Have a great weekend everyone!
Yann
I was doing some research to find a niche that may be worth getting
into... and came across these interesting figures about the most
frequently searched health conditions:
| Search Term |
US Searches |
| Pregnancy | 8,841,000 |
| Cancer | 7,718,000 |
| Flu | 1,824,000 |
| Depression | 1,807,000 |
| Diabetes | 1,758,000 |
| Addiction | 1,407,000 |
| Herpes | 1,340,000 |
| HIV | 976,000 |
| Anxiety | 910,000 |
| Stroke | 872,000 |
| HPV | 861,000 |
| Bipolar | 861,000 |
| Cholesterol | 816,000 |
| Headache | 763,000 |
| Menopause | 667,000 |
| Hepatitis | 614,000 |
| Arthritis | 600,000 |
| ADHD | 573,000 |
| Asthma | 569,000 |
| Fibromyalgia | 551,000 |
(Source: ComScore, Inc. February 2008)
I imagine a few people in our group may have the experience or expertise to
help people searching these terms.
For the rest of us, this can be useful to create long-tail themed sites with relevant
affiliate links to *reputable and reliable* health solutions providers (don't mess with
people's pain).
Back to work!
Yann
I haven't dropped out already...
I was held hostage by a mad contemporary artist.
Okay, okay. Maybe I was foolish enough to agree to help him in the first place... And ended up
spending *several* hours creating a website for him.
He's one of my close friends, a talented young artist from Hong Kong based in the UK. He has a
show coming up on June 6, so he wanted the site ready soon... Like tonight!
It's not perfect yet, and the html is a mess because he kept changing his mind... As you'd expect
from an artist I guess!
In fact, if you have any artistic friends... I strongly recommend you DON'T tell them you've designed
your site yourself.
You can check out the site here: Joe Joe Ngai
Let me know what you think.
I will resume regular postings and comments tomorrow... After a few hours sleep.
This is a true story.
It happened just this morning.
You'll find it familiar in some way, I suspect...
I get to the offfice bright and early. There's a note on my desk from
the security patrol:
"There's a puddle in the basement".
I rush down there... Water everywhere. Everywhere. Hmm... Need to check
"puddle" in the dictionary. Call to maintenance company.
Let's start work.
"What's this ringing noise?"
It's only 8:30am. The switchboard is ringing... I'm intrigued.
It's on a timer and normally only kicks in at 9:00am. No staff here
yet. Let's take the call... Click. Click. Click click clickclickclick.
The damn thing won't let me take the call. Hmm... Need to check "timer"
in the dictionary. Call to IT company.
Let's start work.
"Yann, can I have a quick word?"
My receptionist just walked in... In tears... We talk. Well... she
talks and I listen. And she cries. And talks... Tough personal
situation, so I listen. I would probably like someone to listen to me
if I were in her position... I send her home. Hmm... Need to check
"quick word" in the dictionary. Call to temporary staff agency.
Let's start work.
"It's really hot in here, isn't it?"
I hadn't really noticed. But yes, it is a little warm. Let's check...
Air conditioning out of action. Hmm... Need to check "fully serviced
[on May 19]" in the dictionary. Call to maintenance company.
Let's start work.
"There's been a call for you..."
Another staff member called. Her plane was "slightly delayed"... She
won't be in before 10:30am. Hmm... Need to check "slightly" in the
dictionary.
Let's start work.
"Oh my... What's this?"
The building shakes. Deafening drilling noise... They're
digging the road right outside the office...
I look out. An enormous green truck is parked outside my window. In large
bright yellow letters, it displays the contractor's name:
Just one word.
You guessed it...
Murphy
Choose how you look at Life. Tragedy? Or irony?
Yann Vernier - Personal Coach
"Consistently and constantly force yourself to focus on
the ‘critically
few’ proactive activities that produce
exponential results. Don’t get
caught up in minutia & bullshit."
Wow! This hit me right between the eyes.
Caught up in minutia and bull...? Me? Err... Never! <blush>
This neat reminder is one of the "34 rules for maverick
entrepreneurs" internet wonderboy Yanik Silver has just
posted on his blog - inspired by his recent trip to Richard
Branson's private island.
I guess we would all get some inspiration if we got to
hang out with billionaires. What do you think?
The other 33 points?
Check out Yanik's post:
http://www.internetlifestyle.com
Enjoy!
Thank you to those who commented on my previous post.
The responses pretty much matched what I had decided to do about
United's "gesture"...
Nothing!
But my train of thought was a little different.
I like to force myself to take the time to consider the "cost" of my
decisions and not just the direct consequences.
The first step is to let my initial conditioned reactions pass. Not easy
but not the end of the world either. It just takes a bit of self-awareness
and will power.
It would have been very easy to follow the initial "That's outrageous! Let
me check consumer rights on this"...
Incidentally, when I was younger, I used to think this type of reaction
was a French thing. How naive I was... This mentality is everywhere!
The fact is, I am the one who chose to assume this plane was going to
be on time. To ignore Mr Murphy. To ignore the hundreds of factors
involved in getting a plane off the ground and getting it "on time" on the
other side of the Atlantic. To ignore that there are bumps in every road.
Once the initial thoughts are out of the way, I run through 3 simple
questions:
- Is this worth the Time involved?
- Is this worth the Money involved?
- Is this worth the Energy involved?
Simple return on investment stuff!
Frankly, trying to get anything else out of United is *NOT* worth my time
or energy. Period.
Simple. Decision made. Voucher in a draw. Next!
A lot of people think I'm weird to go through this self-imposed process. They
prefer to be spontaneous and rely and their intuition.
I never argue with them...
Not worth the Time, Money, or Energy! :-)
Hmmm...
I don't know what to think.
After my recent $700 flight from London to San Francisco was delayed by 23 hours -- following 5 hours on the tarmac slowly roasting and starving... United sent me a generic apology letter and a $100 voucher as a "token of appreciation" for my business and for "my understanding and cooperation in this matter".
I've just received it.
As soon as I read it, a whole series of thoughts flashed through my mind like a fast and furious out-of-control rollercoaster ride:
"$100? That's outrageous! Let me check consumer rights on this."
"Whatever! I'll never use them again anyway."
"Cool, I'll get £100 off my flight to Kevin Hogan's workshop in October."
"Ha ha, you guys are heading for bankruptcy anyway."
"Well, what were you expecting? It's United after all!"
And many more inbetween...
After taking a few minutes to "digest" all these thoughts... I think I know what I'm going to do.
But first...
What's your opinion? What would you do?
What a feeling!
No. Not the song...
That sense of liberation I'm feeling right now.
My name is Yann. I am a recovering let's-keep-this-just-in-case-holic.
When you live in a city that constantly remains in the top 5 most expensive cities in the world... Space is a luxury.
You guys in the US have hummers the size of a London studio flat. (Well, almost...)
Since I've lived in London, I've had to learn how to make the most of every sq inch. And I've had to kick the habit of keeping all sorts of 'just-in-case' junk.
I always have a big clearout 3 times a year.
The next one isn't due yet. But when I got home and realized my main bookcase suddenly bore a striking resemblance to the Tower of Pisa, it was time for action.
An hour later, after ruthlessly getting rid of all the stuff I had kept because "I might need it one day if xyz breaks down"... I was taking three bags of trash to the recycling bins.
And that feels so good!
More space for my precious books. More organisation and harmony in my flat. And another kick in my good old let's-keep-this-just-in-case habit. Nice.
What about you? Do you have a err ... let's-keep-this-just-in-case problem? <it's ok, I won't tell anyone> ;-)
Yann
Personal Coach
Life Empowerment Mentor Sue Crutcher got it nearly right... I got crushed under my notes from the John Carlton workshop I recently attended.
The trouble is... I was so keen to capture all the ideas thrown around the room and popping into my head at the time... that my notes were far from legible.
How comes some Silicon Valley wizard hasn't yet come up with a wacky doctor's handwriting decrypting software? :-)
I always make a point to go through my notes shortly after this type of
events to help my brain assimilate all the key points properly.
The fact is I have a rather good memory. But I've learned - from bad experience, I might add - that trusting any human being's memory is delusive.
Don't *you* have stories about how you screwed something up because you trusted your memory?
Exactly.
I confess I’m a bit of a sucker for any information that might help me get more successful - preferably overnight of course. :-)
I could easily spend my evenings scanning dozens of ezines… attending teleseminars… looking for the lastest, trendiest online success technique… searching that elusive “missing piece of the puzzle”. And that’s not counting my “To read” pile of books…
But trying to do what I preach, I set my own rules to limit this self-inflicted information overload.
Each newsletter gets 3 chances before the ‘Unsubscribe’ button becomes the only option. Emails that pass the test but only get the “Useful in 3 months time but not relevant to my current projects” rating are automatically sorted into folders for future reference. And so on…
Internet marketing maven Rich Schefren recommends you change your perspective on information from “Just In Case Learning” to “Just In Time”.
Learn everything about the topics you need to master *right now* to be able to move forward.
I hated it when I started applying this... No more excuses to procrastinate!
But I definitely eliminated a lot of frustrations and became much more focused when I stopped seeking information I may or may not need… that would probably become outdated by the time I would need it, if ever.
What about you?
How do you deal with the ever curious child in you? The restless knowledge seeker? The gossip hunter?
Yann Vernier - Personal Coach
