Sticking To Your Guns

I’ve found that even over my short time, when you get away from what you do best, what you did best begins to get worse. As an avid Android supporter and owner of a Google phone, I have been following the antics of the internet giant in business more, much the way a Mac or iPod user follows Apple and Steve Jobs. Within the last few months I have seen some pretty large risks taken (Nexus One- google launch into hardware, Google vs. China- pulling out of the largest market in the world due to some privacy and pirating issues). Sure, risk + willingness can = change, and good change at that even. But at some point risks can be > the reward.  Their latest risk may affect one of their flagship tools, Gmail as they aim to pit it into direct competition with social media moguls Twitter and Facebook.

“This is just a first step in our ongoing effort to ensure that Google Web search is always as social as the Web itself,”

You can read the full article from CNN here.

While I agree that internet success can often be boiled down to ’simplified process= victory’, I don’t know if it will happen here. I wonder if changing one the most acclaimed internet email clients of all time wouldn’t actually loose faithfuls as opposed to gain them? If Facebook, the social giant itself can’t manage to change the format here and there without an outrage from users, what makes Google think they can?  If you’re focusing too much on things you’ve never done, is it possible you wont focus enough on what you did? This should be interesting to watch.

Before You Say Go

Before you say go, check your pre-launch list.

1. Do I really have something? (idea, product, service, etc…)

2. Do people really need it?

3. Do people really want it?

4. Is it accessible, easy (good U.I.), and understandable?

5. Can it truly make an impact?

6. Is it the best of everything you can offer?

I have been waiting a while to do this. In March of 2009 my life changed instantly when I was given the chance to pursue anything that God placed in front of me. I took some time to really evaluate what I had been doing, was I doing it well, as well as what I wanted to be doing, and could I do it better than before. I camE to the conclusion that God had given me an ability to contribute to his work in a unique way that most never get the blessing to do. After talking with some close friends I decided that it would be denying God of my gifts and contributions not to follow it. Who am I to tell ‘I AM’, no? I began putting together the vision and the concept for where I was to go and how I was to do. In the end I had a service that I felt hit my passions, utilized my talents, and offered a much needed service to those seeking to make an impact.  LOUD COW was it. A culmination of the best of everything I can offer, and I am extremely excited to say it’s officially open for business!

So, if you the loyal reader would be so kind as to do your part, and spread the word, share the news and join in support, I am confident that I will together be able to make an impact today, for your tomorrow!

Visit my ‘Design‘ page at the top of this page to find out more on LOUD COW.

No Is Not All Bad

 

Ford's new European Focus coming to U.S., in 2011

Is saying ‘no’ necessarily a bad thing?

If Ford had said ‘yes to recieving aid in bailout money, would they have recovered American loyalty so fast? Would they have been forced to make drastic changes at the CEO level and bring in an imaginitive leader like Alan Mulally? Would they have forced themselves to deviate from an established system of US focused production to a world focused production?

If Walt Disney had said ‘yes’ to his imagineers when they sought his approval over the completion of Disneyland, would he have ever challenged their dreams of what is possible by creating Disneyworld?  Would he have been able to lead a global media empire to the top if he didn’t challenge the definition of success?

  So again I ask, is saying ‘no’ necessarily always a bad thing? To that end, I say ‘no’.

I Make No Promises

Moving into the first week of another new year, I can say that this year I make no promises. Last year I went from being single to not, homeless to not, employed to unemployed and back to employed, 40 lb. lighter to 40 lb. heavier, under $10K of debt to over $150k (and this is only what I can think of). There’s more than anyone can ever foresee that changes with in a year, and despite time feeling shorter as I grow older, a year is still a year, and from what I know now, a year is still a long time ( 52 weeks or 365 days or 8,760 hrs or 525,600 minutes or 31,536,000 seconds) A lot can still happen in a year.

A promise is a promise and it’s not meant to be broken. But life itself is, and not to mention unpredictable, therefore making it an unsuitable place for promises to thrive. This doesn’t mean promises can’t be a good thing, but it doesn’t make them safe. And it doesn’t mean I intend to live without accountability, integrity, goals, or desires. But what it does mean is that I intend to live with no expectations of what God can and will do in my life or yours, this year I’m making room for the leading of the spirit. Which no doubt will lead to unpredictable circumstances yet again, but hopefully circumstances that God desires for me. And I can’t imagine a better place to be than that, at the start of a new year. Where will you start yours?