This Thanksgiving morning Gorgeous and I were talking about how much we have to be thankful for.

The news is full of all kinds of horrible things going on in the world. In the headlines today is a terrible attack in India with over 100 tourists killed. Apparently a plan to bomb Penn Station in New York City was thwarted, thanks God.

And most of the news is about the struggling economy. Companies are going out of business. People are loosing their jobs. The government is passing out free money to major corporations to try and keep some of them afloat with the hope of preventing a full scale meltdown.

Even the tech sector has been affected. Just this week Technorati announced layoffs and pay cuts across the board.

Thankful

With all that mess going on in our world, Gorgeous and I are incredibly thankful that we are able to work for ourselves from home.

In the past year I’ve found out that being self employed can be a bit stressful. But on the good side I don’t have to worry about whether my employer is going to cut my job and leave me out on the street.

Been there. Done that.

Even when the economy is rolling loosing a job because a facility is closed or a company goes out of business (I’ve been through both) is tough. It is always easier to find a job when you already have one.

I feel for the folks who are struggling through that this holiday season.

My encouragement to them would be that I made it through so it can be done. The days won’t always look so dark. The sun will come out again come morning.

History of Thanksgiving

If you are interested in a little bit about the beginings of Thanksgiving, go check out my Thanksgiving history post from last year.

Those early early Americans were going through tougher economic times that any of us can imagine yet they were thankful just the same. We can learn something from that.

I hope you have a wonderful (and thankful) day today.

Two tons of potential stress just relaxing.

HighCallingBlogs.com and Robert Hruzek of MiddleZoneMusings.com are joining forces again to talk about what we’ve learned from stress. (The project is still open, just visit that link if you want to participate.)

The Reality of Stress

Stress is a core reality in this fallen world we live in. There is no such thing as a care free life, at least not one that’s firmly anchored in reality.

I think one key to happiness, or even survival then is to get a firm grasp of what really stresses you out. We’re all different and things affect us all differently.

An ordinary person spends his life avoiding tense situations. A repo man spends his life getting in to tense situations. — Bud in Repo Man

Throughout my career I’ve had what most folks would consider fairly stressful jobs. I prefer to think of them as high intensity jobs.

Stress from Physical Danger

I’ve worked in some physically dangerous environments. Whether it was the fight deck of an aircraft carrier or on the docks working cargo operations, I’ve seen a few men killed by work related accidents while I was on the job.

I’ve even been hurt myself. Loosing focus for even a fraction of a second can have disastrous consequences. My left index finger has a nice little scar to remind me how easily I could have lost a fingertip hooking up cargo to a ship’s crane one day.

And I watched in stunned horror one bright morning when a friend of mine ejected from his F/A-18 as it rolled over immediately after launching from the front of the carrier. He waited just a moment too long to pull the handle and ejected down into the water. His mistake was fatal.

But I boarded my plane just the same and rode down that same catapult into the sky, all kinds of questions swirling through my brain.

That stress of physical danger never seemed to bother me all that much. What it did was serve to keep me paying attention.

Unexpected Stress

It wasn’t until I became The Lonely Entrepreneur that I really had to deal with negative affects of stress. For me stress came from an unexpected direction.

Turns out I’m a little like Eddie, the dog from Frasier. The way the story goes, Moose, the Jack Russel Terrier that played Eddie was rescued. His original owners thought he was neurotic and unmanageable. However trainer, Matilde DeCagney, discovered that Moose just needed to work. When he was bored he got into trouble.

I guess I’m a little like Moose. I don’t do well when I’m bored.

No Stress More Stressful than Lots of Stress

It sounds weird, but I’ve got a medical bill, hundreds of dollars large, this year to prove that I get stressed out when my environment gets too low in intensity. Since my Lonely Entrepreneur experience earlier in the year I’ve learned how to manage the stress that lack of intensity gives me.

Working out has been a key factor in managing my stress. Exercise gives me an outlet to relieve the stress from too little stress in my life.

Ironically when I took my stress test a few months back the cardiologist ended up cutting it short. He gave up trying to get to my target heart rate after I’d been running on the treadmill twice as long as it usually takes to get people maxed out. Apparently there is nothing wrong with my cardio fitness!

So, to answer Robert’s original question of What I Learned From Stress – I learned that, for some of us, no stress can be more stressful than being in a high stress environment. I guess I’ve got a little repo man in me.

Here’s a little compilation video of Eddie stressing out Frasier I found. Enjoy!

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I’ve been a student of self improvement for nearly twenty years. I’ve read a library full of books on success. I’ve absorbed a ton of information on what it takes to be successful.

Yet here I sit at forty-one years old fairly mediocre. I’ve only sometimes achieved what I’d call success. And then only very modest success at that.

I’m a pretty smart guy. I already know what I need to do to succeed. Yet I routinely fail to do what I know I should do, what I know I could do if I just would do it.

Over the past couple months I have become acutely aware of the fact that even though it feel like something is holding me back from doing the things I know I need to do, in reality I am my own worst enemy. I am my problem. I just couldn’t figure out why I was so thoroughly and effectively sabotaging my own success.

Until last night.

Ah-Ha Moment

Last night I read something in yet another self improvement book, The Slight Edge: Secret to a Successful Life, on page 28, that was like a light bulb going off in my brain. For me it was one of those powerful “Ah, ha!” moments that comes along and can change the course of your life.

I’d figured out the first half of the equation on my own, even before reading those powerful words last night.

Easy To Do

I already knew that the deep down, core truth is this: everything that we need to do to become successful is relatively easy to do. And, for the most part they aren’t secrets either.

Do you want to lose weight and be healthier?

We all know that the surest way to lose weight is to eat smaller portions and increase physical activity by exercising regularly. And eating healthier foods will make our bodies healthier. These are all relatively easy things for most all of us to do. It’s just going to take a little time.

Do you want to improve your financial situation?

The basic steps involve reducing expenditures, paying off debt, increasing savings, investments and ultimately increasing income. While there are a number of strategies for accomplishing this, it really isn’t rocket science. But even following a good plan financial success isn’t going to happen overnight.

The way to succeed at most anything we want to achieve has already been mapped out by someone. Someone out there has done it and left a record for us to follow.

Often we find that road map with the things we need to do to achieve our desired goals laid out in easy to follow step by step fashion. We know how to follow directions, especially when the individual steps are so easy.

And yet in the overwhelming majority of the time we fail to follow the steps laid out for us and the weight doesn’t come off, the debt mounts and the years flow by while we plod along in the very mediocrity that sucks the life out of our spirits.

It’s like there is a huge mountain barrier that keeps us from following the steps so clearly laid out for us.

The mountain of a barrier blocking our success.

Easy Not To Do

Last night I discovered the reason I don’t do those things that I already know I could, should, and really need to do to become successful is because, not only are they easy to do, but they are easy not to do.

What do I mean?

Success and failure are both made up of the sum of thousands of tiny decisions, do this thing or don’t do this thing, that when compounded over time lead in one direction or the other. But each individual decision taken by itself is small enough that it won’t make or break you.

Just as it is fairly easy to choose to eat smaller portions, it’s easy to choose not to as well. I mean really, it’s not like you eat one fast food meal or skip one work out and you’ll have a near fatal heart attack that same day.

Truth is, if we don’t make that deposit in savings from this paycheck we won’t end up in bankruptcy court tomorrow.

Because the consequences of any one decision are incredibly small it is very easy to loose sight of the fact that they string together into a series of decisions, most of which we make out of habit, that march us down an unwavering path.

It is just as easy to choose not to do the things we know will lead to success as it is to choose to do them. We won’t see the effects of either choice until some time later down the road. Whether you eat a healthy meal or nothing but junk food today, you probably won’t see a difference in your weight today. Both meals are easy to choose.

Charge that next purchase or make one extra principle payment won’t have a dramatic influence on your portfolio either way today.

Because doing the right thing and not doing the right thing are both easy choices to make, all too often we find ourselves choosing poorly because it is just as easy & feels a little more comfortable. Well it’s more comfortable today anyway.

Eventually we’ll see the cumulative results of our daily choices. What we may not realize is that those results were inevitable because they naturally resulted from all those little, easy, choices we made along the way.

How To Make Better Choices

So then the key getting choosing to do those things that we know we should be doing is to put each and every decision, every little choice, into the larger context of where it will take us. We’ve got change our habits.

Instead of making the easy choices to not do those things we know we should, we’ll start making the equally easy choices to do those things.

To help keep this new insight in front of me I’m printing out a sign and posting it on my desk right in my face. Here is what it says:

Easy to do… Easy not to do…
You Decide!

Matt Damon was interviewed by the Associated Press recently and made some comments about the upcoming Presidential election here in the US that made some headlines.

Now I am a fan of Damon’s work. If you ever get a chance to hear him talk about what he put himself through to get ready for his break through role in Courage Under Fire it’s hard to deny the guy is seriously committed to excellence in his profession. And there is no doubt Damon is one of the most bankable actors around.

I like watching his movies.

Fear of the Unknown

In the interview Damon expresses concern about Vice Presidential nominee Sarah Palin because he “doesn’t know anything about her.” And it kind of freaks him out.

Were that really the case (the lack of knowledge, not the freaking out) I suppose I could see where he’s coming from. But with the intense media scrutiny that Palin (and her whole family) has been under these last couple of weeks it seems a little strange for him to say he doesn’t know anything about her.

I suspect he really means something more along the lines of “I don’t know anyone like her or who values the things she does.”

Take a look for yourself.

People Different From Us

Now I’ll be the first to admit that there’s no one quite like Matt Damon in my current circle. Sure I’m taking some acting lessons. I even auditioned for a very tiny part in a movie staring Dean Cain that is going to be filming this fall. (No telling at this point whether I earned the part or not.)

But actors at Damon’s level aren’t folks I associate with right now. Nor do I really know what types of people Damon hangs out with.

That being said, I have a hunch that Damon doesn’t associate with many people who think like me. If he did he wouldn’t be quite so freaked out by the whole Palin thing.

Think about it. With my personal history of going to a state school, six years in Naval Aviation, a decade and a half working on the docks in the maritime industry, and a business owner, which of the two sets of candidates do you think I’m more like and might relate to better?

Expanding Our Horizons

There was a time when I only knew people who were pretty much like me. I joke that my own personal views are slightly right of Attila the Hun. Most everyone in my circle of friends were folks I worked with or went to chruch with. Back then I’d rather be right (as in correct) than have friends.

All that’s changed. Being in the tech field, most of the people I associate with see the world very differently than I do. I’m OK with that.

And now I’m dabbling with the whole acting thing. That’s another demographic that doesn’t see the world through the same lens that’s in front of my vision.

Actually I think it’s been very good for me. I’ve come to realize that there are merits to other points of view. I can disagree with people without thinking they are stupid or ignorant.

Associating with people who are vastly different than me has helped me gain respect for those I disagree with.

Bottom line is, when I only hung out with people who were like me I was a little weird. Well, really I was kind of a jerk to people who were different. I tended to be condescending and talked like everyone with a different view was unworthy of consideration.

Because I’ve been there I think I can give Matt Damon some advice. Expand your horizons a bit. Then you won’t find folks those folks who are so different to be so terrifying.

“But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.”

Looking back through the lens of history over the 232 years since those 56 determined men chose to formally take a bold stand for the cause of liberty it is easy to loose sight of the fact that the outcome was far from determined. By defying the British crown they made themselves enemies of one of the most formidable military forces of the day.

In a land where nearly all the materials of war were of necessity imported via ship they were picking a fight with the world’s preeminent naval power controlled by a nation whose empire would continue to expand for another 160 years, right up to World War II.

To stand against this force they had an army which had been authorized less than three weeks before, effectively existing in name only, and a handful of smaller war ships, which were still largely under construction.

They knew the implications of the resolution they were adopting that sunny but cool July day in Philadelphia. A fleet of British ships transporting a sizable army with the express purpose of crushing the growing rebellion had landed in Boston just two days before. Years later one of the Declaration signers, Benjamin Rush recalled the seriousness of that occasion to his good friend, and fellow signer, John Adams.

Do you recollect the pensive and awful silence which pervaded the house when we were called up, one after another, to the table of the President of Congress to subscribe what was believed by many at that time to be our own death warrants?

Overpowering Belief

What they did have in abundance was an overpowering belief in the rightness of their cause. You see
these great minds had long debated the merits and meanings of such lofty terms as loyalty, independence, tyranny, liberty, taxation, and representation.

And they held fast to understanding that they would have, as stated in the last line of the Declaration, “a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence“.

It was an idea that was perhaps best stated by that masterful orator Patrick Henry in his famed “give me liberty or give me death” speech in which he said

“Besides, sir, we shall not fight our battles alone. There is a just God who presides over the destinies of nations, and who will raise up friends to fight our battles for us. The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave.”

Morality the Key

History clearly reveals that these fine men were in fact right. Circumstances did maneuver themselves in favor of the rebellion. Friends did rise up to join the fight, eventually. It would take 8 long uncertain years of hard fought war to get there. But eventually these brave men were vindicated.

In order to establish a government that would uphold liberty over tyranny and despotism the founding fathers placed their trust in the people, though they knew that trust could be a tenuous thing. Even 200+ years ago these great minds knew that the citizens of our nation could only be trusted to guard liberty and freedom as long as they remained a moral society.

When expressing his somewhat reluctant approval of the US Constitution, the great thinker Benjamin Franklin said that the proposed government

can only end in Despotism, as other forms have done before it, when the people shall become so corrupted as to need despotic government, being incapable of any other.

Invariably the founders tied the morality needed with religion, which in their understanding was inexorably tied to the teachings of Jesus Christ found in that ubiquitous book found in nearly all American households, the Bible. Some examples are

George Washington

Reason and experience both forbid us to expect that National morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle.

John Adams

Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.

Thomas Jefferson

Religion, morality, and knowledge being necessary to good governance and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged.

Our Responsibility

These statements give a person pause on this anniversary of the momentous chain of events that was formally set in motion that solemn July day. As Abraham Lincoln famously said we are still, “testing whether that nation, or any nation, so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure.”

The responsibility for safeguarding that very liberty these men were willing to fight to secure rests on each of us. Perhaps no one spelled this principle out as eloquently as that master of words Noah Webster.

Whether it is today or some other, the next time you see fireworks reflect on these words of his.

“When you become entitled to exercise the right of voting for public officers, let it be impressed on your mind that God commands you to choose for rulers, just men who will rule in the fear of God. The preservation of a republican government depends on the faithful discharge of this duty.

If the citizens neglect their duty, and place unprincipled men in office,

• the government will soon be corrupted;
• laws will be made, not for the public good, so much as for selfish and local purposes;
• corrupt or incompetent men will be appointed to execute the laws;
• the public revenues will be squandered on unworthy men;
• and the rights of the citizens will be violated or disregarded.

If a republican government fails to secure public prosperity and happiness, it must be because the citizens neglect the divine commands, and elect bad men to make and administer the laws. Intriguing men can never be safely trusted.”

Please have a wonderful holiday weekend.

This post is a little personal. And it’s been a little hard to write for a couple of reasons.

Starting your own business can be a bit of a lonely affair, as I’m finding out. Sure Gorgeous also works out of our house. I go out to meetings, do outside local networking and I am a social media guy so there are people around most times.

Even so, when push comes to shove it all rests on me. Unlike a traditional job, when you work for yourself  there is no one to pick up the ball if you should fumble.

And that loneliness can be insidious. It can sneak up on you when you lest expect it.

At least it did with me.

A Hidden Trap

A few weeks ago I was trucking along and things were going well. The self-employment thing is working out for us. It sure feels a lot less stressful than the jobs I’ve had over the last several years.

But I started having these weird sensations in my chest. It wasn’t really pain, per se. More like the feeling you get when you have a rush of adrenalin by being scared by something. Sorta like the thrill of a roller coaster. Or bungee jumping. Or something.

Only there wasn’t anything scary or thrilling happening. Just that tightness in my chest.

At first I pretty much ignored it. It was only happening a couple times a day in the beginning. And it never lasted more than about 10 seconds or so. Just enough to make me notice but not enough to get in the way.

I didn’t tell Gorgeous about it because I didn’t want to worry her.

The only real precaution I did take was I stopped working out. Rowing is the one form of regular exercise that really fits me and I had visions of my mother-in-law collapsing on a rowing machine with a heart attack several years ago. I am over 40 after all.

Ignoring it didn’t seem to work as eventually it got so it was happening several times an hour. That was the point where I finally broke down and told Gorgeous what was going on. She rightly insisted I head to the Doc the next morning after I refused her suggestion that we head to the emergency room.

Strange Correlation

But before I got into see the Doc I noticed something a little odd. You see Gorgeous and I have some things we want to achieve, not just with SuccessCREEations, but in other areas of our life as well. And we know that part of growing often involves changing the way you think.

So to help correct some of our faulty thought patterns that we felt were holding us back we both committed regularly reviewing some affirmations that are in line with where we want to be long term. But those statements are very much at odds with where we are right now.

And pretty much every time I read my own affirmations I would have that weird feeling in my chest. Sure it happened other times too for no apparent reason. However the only way I could seem to “make” it happen was by reading those affirmations.

Weird.

The Possibilities

So the way I see it there were a few things that could be going on.

Physical Problem

Obviously there was something physical going on. Now whether the cause was physical or not is something that can be determined. I don’t think that’s the case, but it makes sense to make sure. So I went to the Doc. She ordered some tests and has me heading to a cardiologist to make sure there’s nothing going on with my ticker.

Stress Induced

It’s possible that the whole thing was stress induced. I am probably under a whole lot more stress than I realized working for myself. Perhaps I didn’t realize it because it involves different stressors than when you work for someone else. If so, stopping my workout routine likely added my problem rather than helping things.

Psychological

Perhaps the whole thing is in my head. Maybe the disconnect between the affirmations and our current reality caused some physical reaction while my brain wraps itself around what it will take to move from here to there. If my problem is a head game I’m confident I can overcome that.

Spiritual

I don’t know what your spiritual inclination is but the Bible teaches that we are faced with a real enemy that actively works to destroy us. That enemy wants to keep us from achieving things and will use all those weapons above (and more) to keep us from moving forward and achieving our dreams. Fortunately that’s a battle I know how to fight too. The big trick here usually is simply realizing that the fight is on in the first place.

Negative Effects

The down side of having this going on is that it tends to isolate us. I realized that I was withdrawing and not writing. Since I originally started blogging because I wanted to write, stopping writing altogether was not a healthy move for me.

Nor was my backing away from my social media interaction. Fixating on activities that produce income but involve minimal social interaction such as building web sites for clients to the exclusion of social media activity was not a healthy move either.

Another negative effect of all this stuff going on is that I fumbled a couple balls I should have been carrying. As a solo entrepreneur the consequences of fumbling are yours alone. It’s good and bad at the same time.

Pulling Out

One of the things that is burned in my brain from my flying days in the Navy is our Out of Control Flight Procedures. Even the best pilot might one day find himself in a situation where his plane is spinning out of control.

Step 1 in our aircraft was to neutralize the flight controls.

The biggest danger is loosing altitude and impacting the ground. Knowing that the natural thing for pilots to do is to try fight the spin and force the plane to fly again. The trouble is, when you’re out of control, fighting can often make it worse and ultimately guarantee you crash.

By neutralizing the controls, bringing them back to center, the pilot can quickly evaluate what is really going wrong and take effective corrective action, stabilize the aircraft. If the plane is still in a dive after the spin stops, then he can pull back on the stick and pull out of the dive before he hits the ground.

I’ve learned that the same thing applies in life. When you realize things are getting out of control often the best thing to do is to take a step back and look at what you are doing. We naturally want to take immediate corrective action, but doing so without first “neutralizing the controls” in our lives can things spin even further out of hand.

Take stock. Only then should you make adjustments.

In my case I went to the doctor so we can hopefully rule out any physical causes. On my doctors advice I started working out again to help manage my stress levels.

I’m also getting my head back in the game by writing and re-engaging on the social media front. I’m doing those things I know I should be doing and facing the consequences for the fumbles along the way.

Finally I’m paying attention to the spiritual challenges that are facing me. I am equipping myself to resist that enemy so that I can move forward toward those things I believe I am called to do.

Even so, it can be lonely sometimes.

One of the people that Gorgeous and I connected with in Chicago this past weekend was Christine Kane. It probably didn’t hurt that the three of us were all seated in close proximity to a very wild and obnoxious three year old on the same flight into Chicago. That got diverted to Columbus for more fuel after holding too long for bad weather.

But that’s a story for another time.

I also had the pleasure of sitting at the same table as Christine at the conference. As speakers like Chris Brogan, Liz Strauss, and Terry Starbucker were talking about the people in the room who were using Twitter to communicate with one another (and with folks half a world away) during the conference, Christine would ask the rest of us questions on the side.

They ranged from the basic to the technical, for example…

• What’s the point? to interact with others
• Why would you bother? because I like people
• Can everyone see what I tweet @ someone? Oh, yeah
• How does the direct message thing work? “d your_friends_twittername” and they’ll get a private message

Prosteletizing

Now I’m a big fan of Twitter. But I don’t try “convince” people that they “have” to use it. Though I do confess to most folks that I was a Twitter skeptic for months. I only started using it after a heavy bout of peer pressure brought to a head by Jim Turner.

You know the kind I’m talking about. “All the cool kids are using it. There’s so much going on there. You’re missing out if you don’t join in.”

I caved over a year ago. It was as much to prove to myself that Jim and the others were wrong about Twitter as anything. Since then Twitter’s grown on me. I’m glad Jim persuaded me.

Pluses to Twitter

Yesterday Christine asked the question How do you use Twitter? It’s a good question which begs the follow on question, Is Twitter even useful?

One of the things I did this past weekend while I had some one on one time with so many prominent social media folks was ask them which social media sites they preferred. Twitter was one site that was mentioned every time.

Here are some of the advantages mentioned.

• Light Weight – works right in your web browser with a (most times) fast loading page
• Portable – Easy to use from your cell phone
• Broad Reach – With so many folks using Twitter you can reach a lot of people with it
• Diverse User Base – People with incredibly different backgrounds Twitter from all over the world
• Focused – With its 140 character limit Twitter forces people to get to the point
• Fast Response Time – People can get real time responses on Twitter

But is Twitter Useful?

Those are all good attributes, for sure. But do they translate into usefulness?

Or is Twitter just a colossal distraction and time waster?

I think the answer to these questions is different for everyone. Here are a few examples of how Twitter can be useful to individuals and businesses alike

Network Expansion

Twitter is an easy way to connect with a very large pool of people very quickly, many of whom would be unreachable through other means. For example I first met Joanna Young on Twitter and had the opportunity to meet her in person this past weekend when she flew to Chicago from Scottland.

Get Quick Answers

Some folks throw questions out on Twitter to get instant feedback. Sure the big names get tons of responses to their queries. But even those of us with more modest Twitter followings can get some light shed on a subject if they are willing to engage the community.

Insight Into Trends

There are so many thought leaders and influencers using Twitter that you can gain an insight into where various communities and technologies are heading just by following them on Twitter.

Increased Profile

With a steadily growing friends list on Twitter you can raise your own “brand awareness” by connecting with more people. The increased interaction can ead to increased visibility over time.

But What About Businesses?

Is there an possibility of a business seeing any value from a presence on Twitter? Absolutely!

Zappos

Just ask Zappos. Their CEO has a Twitter account where he’s actively engaging the Twitter community. But they’ve taken their community involvement a step further. They set up a Zappos Twitter page on their web site with it’s own RSS feed so anyone can track any mention of the name Zappos on Twitter. (Talk about your finger on the pulse of the conversation!)

But Twitter interaction isn’t just a top down thing with Zappos. They obviously encourage their employees to engage the Twitter community. There’s even a page on their site where they list every one of their 286 employees who have Twitter accounts. Note that only 20 of those accounts have more than 200 followers so we’re talking about many smaller circles of influence rather than a few massive ones. Seems like a sound strategy to me

JetBlue

Another corporate example is @JetBlue. JetBlue is an airline that has had customer service egg on its face in the past and has decided to address their issues head on in the effort to put those struggles behind them. Jonathan Fields has a great example of JetBlue’s Twitter Interaction that he posted the other day.

Suffice it to say the story Jonathan shares with us is a tremendous example of how a large corporation like Jet Blue can successfully engage the social media environment. Read his whole post and let us know what you think.

Bottom Line

In the end I have to say, “Yes, Christine. Twitter can be immensely useful, especially to businesses.”

Are their potential pitfalls? Of course.

But a sound social media strategy incorporating Twitter and executed well can be a very powerful force working in the favor of a business, regardless of size.

What are your thoughts on Twitter?

And if you want, go ahead and follow me while you’re at it.

Thank you.

In response to my Thanksgiving post this year Alex over at the Advice Network left a thought provoking comment. Here’s the comment:

It’s interesting that the European (illegal?) immigrants could not survive with a communal (communist?) economic system, considering the aboriginal neighbors who saved their lives by showing them what crops to plant DID have a communal economic system.

What do you think accounted for this difference?

I started a comment in reply but the question is interesting enough that I think it warrants a full post. So here it goes.

A Historical Perspective

Advice, I’m thinking history is pretty clear that the Native American communal system did not allow them to thrive. They could survive in the harsh climate, sure. And that was something the Europeans had to learn. But Native American system kept them at subsistence levels and allowed their culture to be swept aside by the European privatized system.

Perhaps I’m being naive, but I’m thinking that if the communal Native American system had been inherently better then they would have emerged as the dominant culture and America would be a vastly different place today.

The Reality

It’s a simple reality of human nature that folks will work much harder and be far more committed to that which they personally own and are permitted to profit directly from versus that which belongs to a group they are part of.

People are inherently selfish. If they see equal rewards for varying amounts of effort it isn’t long until nearly everyone is putting forth the least amount of effort possible. Productivity and efficiency rapidly fall way off.

Communism in Practice

On paper it makes a whole lot more sense to plan whole industries from one central location. With large scale coordination of resources inefficient redundancies can be eliminated and the economies of scale that an entire nation should be able to achieve are in theory huge.

Trouble is, in practice Communism runs smack into a Yogi Berra truth:

In theory there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice there is.

Unfortunately that communal system runs afoul of human nature.

It turns out the increased production people achieve when they are allowed to directly profit from their own hard work and ingenuity far more than compensates for the inefficiencies of redundant resource utilization and inefficiencies of smaller scales. The overwhelming majority of people, even very good people, will not work anywhere near their potential when they see someone else getting the same reward with much less effort.

In the end, because they go against the way people are naturally wired, communal systems eventually break down as people learn shortcuts and how to corrupt the system for their own personal gain. Instead of a system where increased production is inherently rewarded, a system set up so that everyone is rewarded equally regardless of effort creates a situation where the only personal pay off comes from doing less work. That causes productivity, quality control, and innovation all to fall way off.

The Missing Element of Hope

But I think there is an additional piece that has to be in place beyond just a systemic change. To my way of thinking that additional piece is the spiritual element of hope or belief that change is possible.

And I think that is the key ingredient which helped the European immigrants ultimately dominate in the Americas.

Unlike the Native Americans, the Europeans believed that things could be different. Then they set about to make that difference happen.

Without hope for a better future people waste away.

For example, here’s a heart wrenching article about how the Soviets destroyed a farm community from the New York Times back in 1991. (Free registration required.)

Change didn’t happen in this particular community even after the farming system was privatized. I think the big reason is that the people were truly hopeless.

Here’s an excerpt.

Ultimately, the Communist state succeeded in what it set out to do, to reduce peasants to tame workers in a system totally controlled from above. The cost was starkly illustrated in a local newspaper by a reporter who found cows bellowing in pain at one farm because they had not been milked for days. A single milkmaid was leaving for home. Where were the others? “I don’t know, they didn’t show up.” Why don’t you milk the cows? “I’ve finished my shift.”

Mrs. Dobritskaya, now close to tears, said, “I’d get out of here if there was somewhere to go.

“But where? Everywhere it’s the same mud, the same manure. Maybe they have glasnost somewhere, maybe they have democracy, but not here. We’re used to working under the old system — as it was, so it stays. What would happen if we go on strike? No, if this privatization comes, it’ll have to come from above, not from below. That’s how it’s always been. You know what we say: Fish begin to stink from the head down.”

They didn’t believe change was possible so they were unwilling to even try.

Hope is Spiritual

It takes a degree of faith, which is a spiritual thing, to have hope for change. In fact here is how the Bible says it:

Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see.

To answer your question, Advice, I think that ultimately the difference in success between the two systems in the end is that the European immigrants had hope that things could change. Once they changed their system to be in line with how people are wired they had the spiritual strength of hope to be successful.

In contrast the Native Americans were using a communal system that ran contrary to human nature. On top of that lacked any belief that they could change.

But that’s just the way I see it.

Today is a national holiday here in the US. It’s a day with many different traditions today, from big meals with family, turkey, pumpkin pie, to parades and Detroit Lions football.

Interestingly the Thanksgiving tradition goes back much further than the 1924 inception of the Macy’s parade in New York. In fact, it predates our young country by more than 150 years.

Early Thanksgiving

The first recorded Thanksgiving in North America was actually held up in Canada in 1587 in celebration of surviving an abortive attempt to find a Northwest passage to the orient. Chalk one up to our neighbors to the North.

In the US, the first formal community wide Thanksgiving celebration was held 32 years later in 1619 on the banks of the James River in Virginia to celebrate the completion of an arduous sea passage.

Interestingly, the early Thanksgiving celebration that is most often looked to as the example didn’t happen until nearly two years later.

The folks that came over on the Mayflower and settled in Plymouth Massachusetts had a rough first year. They landed off Cape Cod in November so they didn’t have much time to prepare for the severe New England winter that they were faced with. It’s likely they didn’t understand how bad it would get.

Nearly half the 102 people who made the voyage across the Atlantic were dead within 6 months after disembarking in 1620 including their first leader John Carver. Most died from starvation and disease, although there were many hazards which could kill a person. Carver apparently died from sunstroke.

By the time the survivors got to their first harvest, they were fired up that they looked to have enough to make it through the second winter. So the 53 Europeans who were left had a big old celebration. It went on for days.

They invited some of their Indian friends who had shown them how to grow some of the crops that did so well. And the Native Americans were so impressed with the feast that they sent some of their hunters into the woods to get some venison for the settlers.

Economic Challenges

Since SuccessCREEations is about business, let me share with you this lesson I learned today from those early settlements.

Reading though a bunch of stuff out there on the early settlements I found it interesting that those early settlers in Massachusetts and Virginia survived those early years in spite of the economic system they started with. Both Plymouth and Jamestown started with a communal system.

It seems to make sense on the face of it. No one owns anything because all is shared. Everything is done for the common good to ensure the maximum possibility of survival for all. The idea is that everyone puts in maximum effort and only takes out what they need for themselves.

Trouble is it didn’t work. In fact that system was literally killing people in both communities.

In Jamestown the overwhelming majority of the men wanted to spend their time looking for gold rather than doing the work needed to survive. It got so bad that John Smith had to formally issue a proclamation that anyone who did not work would not eat.

It sounds harsh. Interestingly enough the idea comes straight from the New Testament of the Bible. And the change made a difference too and the settlement which was in danger of collapse survived.

Even the devout people of Plymouth, who weren’t obsessed with gold had problems with the communal system they were first under. They were stealing from each other. Single men didn’t feel they should work to support other men’s wives and children. Men didn’t like their wives doing laundry and stuff for other men. It wasn’t going so well.

So, after much debate, John Carver’s replacement William Bradford and the leaders of Plymouth changed things around. They divided up the common farm land into parcels and gave them to each family based on family size.

The difference was dramatic. In Governor Bradford’s own words:

By this time harvest was come, and in stead of famine now God gave them plenty, and ye face of things was changed, to ye rejoicing of ye hearts of many, for which they blessed God. And ye effect of their particular planting was well seen, for all had, one way & other, pretty well to bring ye year about, and some of ye abler sort and more industrious had to spare, and sell to others, so as any general want or famine had not been amongst them since to this day.

So instead of not quite having enough under the communal system, the privatized system produced enough excess that folks were able to sell some to those who needed more and everyone had more than enough.

It wasn’t long before the folks in and around Plymouth were sending enough profits back to Europe to attract more settlers.

The American Tradition

Ultimately Thanksgiving is about expressing gratitude to a Divine Creator for giving us more than we need and allowing us the privilege of passing that blessing on to others.

Looking to our Creator for continued blessing is not a popular idea in our culture today. There is a strong movement to remove all references to anything remotely religious from our public discourse, especially where our government is concerned. The myth that the establishment clause of the first amendment prohibits any acknowledgment of the Divine that is taking hold today is totally at odds with what the founders of our nation believed and expressed in their public lives.

A great many of the men who suffered the most to bring our nation into being were deeply religious. The writings they left behind are full of references to the Almighty.

From the opening sentence of the Declaration of Independence on our nation’s leaders have long acknowledged and thanked God for the continued blessing and protection of our country.

As an example of this, let me leave you on this holiday with the words of the proclamation our first President George Washington issued in 1789 instructing our new nation why and how to celebrate the holiday that has become our Thanksgiving. Imagine how these same words might be received from a President today.

Whereas it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor; and Whereas both Houses of Congress have, by their joint committee, requested me to “recommend to the people of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness:”

Now, therefore, I do recommend and assign Thursday, the 26th day of November next, to be devoted by the people of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being who is the beneficent author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be; that we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for His kind care and protection of the people of this country previous to their becoming a nation; for the signal and manifold mercies and the favorable interpositions of His providence in the course and conclusion of the late war; for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty which we have since enjoyed; for the peaceable and rational manner in which we have been enable to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national one now lately instituted for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed, and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and, in general, for all the great and various favors which He has been pleased to confer upon us.

And also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech Him to pardon our national and other transgressions; to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually; to render our National Government a blessing to all the people by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed; to protect and guide all sovereigns and nations (especially such as have shown kindness to us), and to bless them with good governments, peace, and concord; to promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the increase of science among them and us; and, generally to grant unto all mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as He alone knows to be best.

Given under my hand, at the city of New York, the 3d day of October, A.D. 1789.

Please listen to Washington. Take a moment in reflection today and be genuinely grateful.

Enjoy!