Don’t Quit Your Job. Fire Your Boss. (Instead)

I know you already don’t believe me.

DOWNLOAD FREE EBOOK HERE.

You could hardly read the entire title before you rolled your eyes and said yeah right.

What if it were possible?  Yes, to actually fire your boss.

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Coming Soon – January 2013

I’ve been toiling over this storyline for many years myself

And I believe I’ve found a crack in the foundation that exposed a weakness in the system.

My creative team and I are applying the final polish coat, but I want to squeak out a little teaser.

Don’t Quit Your Job. Fire Your Boss. is for you if…

  • You want to know how to enjoy going to work each day.
  • You feel confident that your career is too important to approach it with apathy.
  • You want to gain greater influence at work.
  • You’re ready to explore new alternatives for finding recognition for your contribution.

A couple of experts

Before you push the eject button, think of the hassle of brushing up your resume, looking for a new job, going through the interviews, evaluating benefits packages, and comparing compensation.

Let’s face it: The biggest gain in changing jobs is that you will restart the clock on a new set of challenges, a new pairing of relationships, and a new boss.

  • What if I told you that this is not the answer that you are really searching for?
  • What if the solution is that you actually need to fire your boss instead?

The unwritten contract

Most people sign an unwritten contract every day. They trade a paycheck for predictability.

Here is the trade most people make: Boss, you give me a predictable every-two-week paycheck, health insurance, projects to work on, lunch breaks, and a Christmas party, and I’ll give you my will, my dignity, my freedom of choice, my security, my sleep, and my future plans for my life.

I am looking forward to sharing the rest of Don’t Quit Your Job. Fire Your Boss. with you next month.

Any reactions would be helpful to hear.

Thanks-Aaron 

*Disclaimer-This is not a pitch for buying my (whatever) for three easy payments of $19.95.  

Plain and simply a helpful guide for everyman.  

Everyone is Waiting on You

Everyone is waiting on you to be the real you the best version of you.

You may not believe it nor even have evidence that other people would notice.

The truth is it is up to you.

Like Natalie we have to risk stepping into that place of being Anonymously Extraordinary.   

In 2011 seventeen year old Natalie Warne gave an inspirational talk at TEDxTeen.  I found her interview to be extremely wise.

Natalie Warne TedxTeen 2011

I had been extraordinary all along.

You can find more on Natalie at the above links and on twitter @nataliewarne.

Some of the highlights from her talk:

  • Living your passion

Not because of the fame or the fortune but because that is what makes your heart sing.  (Tweet this)

  • Be extraordinary

In the small monotonousness acts of every day I have to remind myself to be extraordinary.(Tweet this)

  • When I am seen

It was not just that one moment.  It was simply the moment when the rest of the world saw what I knew to be true. (Tweet this)

  • Run the risk

Dare to matter. Dare to hope.  (Tweet this)

  • Anonymous impact

Anonymous extra-ordinaries selfishly and vigorously fighting for what they believe in.  (Tweet this)

  • It is never too late

You can change the world today.  You’re never too young, never too old.  (Tweet this)

7 Reasons Why You Should Bet on Yourself?

Photo by Images_of_Money

Warren Buffett said
Invest in what you know.  

Buffett may have been speaking about investing money in markets that you know or understand.

The principle is the same for your career.

Bet on yourself.

What other investment do you know of that has as high a rate of return as investing in you?

Answer- None. 

You are the best investment there is.

Listen.

I am speaking to the deepest part of you,

that inner voice that knows a bet on you is better than

the wagon that you are currently hitched to.

  1. You are more powerful than you believe.
  2. You are more influential than you think.
  3. Invest a dollar, an hour, an ounce of emotional energy in yourself.
  4. You will never loose.
  5. Markets are volatile.  You are steady.
  6. Money is fleeting.  You are constant.
  7. Risk equals reward and sometimes just a good story.

How Much is a Good Name Worth?

Photo by yardenxanthe (creative commons)

There is an ancient saying; a good name is more desirable than great riches.

A good name is portable. 

A good name precedes you.

A good name takes years and years of consistency to build.

You cannot buy a good name.

But you can be paid well because of your good name.

A lifetime commitment to building a good name is the same as dollar cost averaging in investing.

Over time, you will win.

Your mom was right when she taught you.

Tell the truth, even when it hurts.

Be on time.

Smile.

Be kind to everyone.

Listen with your ears, not your mouth.

And the wealth of your life will exceed your expectations. 

To be esteemed is better than silver or gold. 

How Hours of Investment Improve Your Chance of Success?

Accelerated success

Have you read Outliers, by Malcolm Gladwell?

Malcolm’s research he found that by spending 10,000 hours in your craft, art, sport, profession or skill that investment can be a significant accelerator for success.

Translated that is equivalent to five years of a full-time forty hour work week.

We tend to say an Athlete or Artist or professional person makes it look easy.

Easy is very relative. 

Most people are never willing to invest the time it takes to arrive at that it looks easy point.

Showing up is not the same.

Doing the hard work is where the differentiation exists.

Am I willing, are you willing to invest the hours and do the work to become (fill in the blank)?

We tend to start with desires like I want to be a writer or I want to be wealthy or I want to be in a good shape.

The desire of obtaining the dream is too often far from the daily behavior.

Start today.

Put in the hours.

What are you going to start today?

Every day is not a harvest

Are you doing the work, but not seeing a return?

Not everyday is powerful or memorable.  Nor is everyday worth repeating.

Everyday is a strand in the DNA of our life.
Connected.  Inspired.  Necessary.

Every day is not a harvest.  Many days are simple.

Photo credit by Peter Kaminski
  • Dig the hole.
  • Plant the seed.
  • Water the seed.

You are doing the work but, there are no buds or spring time green of new life?

Then one day, when you wake

The daily grind of what was formerly fruitless now bears an abundant harvest.

Keep doing what seems ordinary.  Keep doing the extra-ordinary but is unseen.

Life, work, relationships, health and wellness are all subject to this master.

Faithfully do the work with the belief that one day the harvest will come.

And it will.

What are you working on that seems void of fruit?

In the Social Era, the Little Guy has a Powerful Vote

I had a recent interaction with my friend and fellow
Seth Godin Medicine Baller, @Nilofer.

She writes for the Harvard Business Review and recently wrote about
Rules For the Social Era (#SocialEra).

Nilofer Merchant

Big Brands Don’t Always Get It

In this article she talks us through the dichotomy of choices that the big brands of our lives are making.  From Bank of America and ING Direct to Blockbuster and Netflix she helps outline how the rules have changed.

She is kind to say that she has not lost hope in some of these powerhouse labels, I’m not willing to give up on these firms.  Referring to those brands that seem to have fallen asleep at the Social Economy wheel.

There was one key element that stuck out to me as I read about her take on the new Era of the Social Economy.

The Little Guy has a powerful vote.

Remember Netflix and Qwikster?

We are all familiar with the story of from a year ago where Netflix CEO, Reed Hastings, raises subscriber fees and their stock price falls 60% in two months.

Even with millions of subscribers they missed the simple fact that their Tribe was the reason for their success.  It was not their number of movie titles or their branding, it was the fact that people became believers in the little guy.

Little People Unite

Often over-throwing a government happens because an army of little people unite with purpose and passion.

After years of being stuck with late fees from Blockbuster, Netflix was able to harness the patriotism of anti-blockbuster sentiments.

They thought that because they had a great product that meant they could go act
like a big company and do anything they wanted.

In the Social Economy, the little guy has a powerful vote.

Insert VETO

The Little Guy, the Tribe, the people who put you on the map.
We vote, NO.  

In the financial markets they say Past performance does not guarantee future results.

But we know that history repeats itself as well.

So who is next?  

Who is the next Netflix?

Who has created a huge and loyal Tribe, but is already forgetting the army of little people that put them on the throne?

What arrogant CEO will be apologizing next?

You can find more information on Nilofer @ nilofermerchant.com
Join 18K others and follow her @Nilofer on Twitter.
Connect with her on LinkedIn.

Why All Work and No Play Makes You a Dull Boy: Learning to Play Again

You’ve read and heard that proverb all your life, All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. But we don’t believe it.  If we did we would not live like we do. Play to some seems like one of those words that disappeared with hopscotch, GI Joe action figures and tree houses.

I meet a lot of people who stopped playing twenty, thirty or forty years ago. And the result is our Life is overtaken by our Work. Balance in our life is evaluated when we renew our New Year’s Resolutions.

Running the Rock with smiles on in Kona, HI Photo Credit Anders Carlson

When was the last time you actually played?

Do you consider Play a regular and necessary part of your life? Let’s take a look at why so few of us still participate in Play today.

How am I defining Play?

I am defining play as sheer joy-filled, aimless enjoyment without a goal or competition or purpose. I believe the key element is aimless enjoyment. Am I saying you cannot have a goal or a conquest?  No.

Here is an example:

I learned to fly fish on the rivers of Colorado eight or nine years ago.  When I first started it was sheer conquest.

How many fish can I catch? was the primary mission of each assault on the water.

I thoroughly enjoyed being on the water, in nature, away from cell coverage, but I was not playing.

I was competing.

Today, I can go fishing for the sheer aimless enjoyment of it.  I often choose to sit on the bank of the river and take a nap when the fishing is slow.  I can take in the beauty and absorb the camaraderie in ways that the competition mindset never allowed.

Playing with your friends while you hold your breath running the rock across the ocean floor Photo Credits Anders Carlson

When we were young it was the norm.

When we are young it was expected that we Play.  But there enters a time in our lives when play becomes the past time of adolescence  we abandon the entire category of Play to move onto more seemingly important pursuits.

My kids when they were younger would have Play Days with their friends organized by the moms.  At those young ages it was expected that play consisted of everything from jungle gyms to imaginary games.

Sometime around middle school the vocabulary shifts.  It is no longer cool to use the word play when you are with your friends.  I noticed this with my son a number of years ago.

Sometimes my wife would accidentally slip in front of his friends and say, Why don’t you guys go play?  He was super unappreciative of her childlike choice of vocabulary for they hang out, they don’t play anymore.

So it begins, a transition away from Play being cool.  I can’t comment how prevalent this is for women as my daughter is still happy to call it Play.

I can say that beginning very young boys forget the value of aimless enjoyment.
And then they become men.  

The lava rock waiting for the next playmate to pick up and bounce across the ocean Photo Credit Anders Carlson

Sports become competition

Sports are obviously a significant part of many young men’s lives through their high-school and college years.  Football, soccer, baseball, hockey, track, cross country, swimming, golf, tennis, lacrosse, and the list keeps going.

During those glory years activity and motion takes on the form of practice and competition.

Do you remember this shift in your own life?

Do you remember when kicking the soccer ball around with your friends was just for fun?  I’m confident you remember when your sport or activity became a serious business.

Winning, competing, advancing, and striving each enter the scene of our youth and our play is consumed by these stronger forces.

Paddling for fun in HI Photo Credits Anders Carlson

What was lost?

I remember taking a friend backpacking on an overnight on Pikes Peak.  We were above tree line and gaining elevation with every step.  The clouds set in, the hail and snow starting coming down and visibility was down to a mere two feet.  We hunkered down and pitched our tent, piled in and starting warming up.

He was both unsettled and invigorated.

In the morning on our way out he commented on how in his adult life he had abandoned any activities for himself.

Over the course of fifteen years of work, family and mortgage payments he had lost his version of play.

He went on to explain how photography used to be one of his passions.  The best he could recall his equipment was sitting in a cardboard box in the top of a coat closet.

I believe this is the story of most men today.

Between raising a family and building a career it is explainable why Play gets neglected.  You can see how over the course of our lives the margin is so small and play simply gets left behind.

Of course it does right?

How many men do you know that actually participate in activities outside of work, family and church?

I don’t know many.

The team gets in on the game Photo Credits Anders Carlson

The consequence of abandoning play.

Without Play our lives begin to take on a shape of duties and responsibilities without an outlet for adventure.

If we are always tending to external needs we get lost.

It has great impact on both us and our families.

Who taught me to play?

I have a good friend in Hawaii, Sam, who is a master artist of play.  A number of years ago I was spending some time with he and his family and he posed this question to me When do you just play?  

Honestly at first I did not understand what he was talking about.

Sam on the right

For years I have been a very active triathlete, marathoner and adventurer.  As far as I was concerned going for a run or ride every day was play.

He corrected me.  I don’t mean training for your next race.  I mean play for the lone purpose of fun and joy.

Honestly his question really left me wobbly.

I really had no idea what he was talking about until I began to spend more time with him.

As I shadowed Sam those weeks under the Aloha sun, I began to detox from my striving, measuring, and constant drivenness.  Compared to the Master Artist, I seemed like a young grasshopper Padawan and yet he was so kind and patient with me.

The ocean is patient playtime begins anytime you choose to enter Photo Credits Anders Carlson

No Stopwatch Running

On Thursday’s we would meet at the ocean and paddle to a nearby beach and begin our ritual routine.

We would swim laps and run on the beach and work on balance and agility (picture a Crossfit workout) but it was different.

There was no competition between us.

There was not an ounce of comparison or a stopwatch running or conversation about last week’s accomplishments.  It was simply for the joy of movement and brotherhood.

One of my favorite playful activities that we would do was called Run the Rock.

It is a training routine that lifeguards use to train their lungs to tolerate less oxygen for longer periods of time.

Going for it on a big bold push Run the Rock HI Photo Credits Anders Carlson

Run the Rock-The Drill

  • Find a medium size lava rock underwater.
  • Dive down, pick it up and start running across the bottom of the ocean floor.
  • When your lungs are on fire and your lizard brain tells you go up.
  • Resurface on top and then your buddy goes down and repeats the above.
  • Each time the rock gets advanced across the ocean floor from point A to point B.

To some this may seem like the furthest thing from Play.  That’s OK.

Your version of Play should be your own personal recipe for aimless enjoyment. 

All work and no play will make you a dull boy (or girl).

We are so skilled at building empires, platforms and long resume’s of accomplishments.

And for so many of us our lives become dull routines of obligations.

I’d love to invite you into the world of Play again.

What does Play look like for you?

*Photography by Anders Carlson.  Visit andersimagery.com   for more information on his work.
More Running the Rock images by Anders Carlson.   

Why you should stop remembering passwords?

 

How many passwords do try to remember each day?

How many ways have you tried to manage them?

The madness can be managed better through software than by using your memory, sticky notes, or excel files.

LastPass is my preferred freemium software solution.

Allow me to give you a tour of this better option.

Stop the Madness with LastPass

For a long time I used an excel spreadsheet to manage my passwords.  Then I moved to a free download application that ran on my machine where I could hand key in each password.

It still required me to have it open while I would simultaneously hand key in the password into a browser.  Example your credit card login.

Look up password, type in password, when required, change password, type in new password change in software for storage.  

Why LastPass?

LastPass is a Cloud based web browser application.  What does that mean?  No software actually runs on your machine.

Why is that important?  No passwords are actually ever stored on your machine.

Why does that matter?  

Your passwords cannot be stolen by someone logging into your machine, virus, etc.

All passwords are stored with LastPass in the Cloud instead of on your local PC.

LastPass plugin running in browser

How does LastPass works

You want to pay your bills and you log into your bank.

  • LastPass recognizes that you are at WellsFargo.com.
  • LastPass auto-populates your username and password.
  • In a similar manner when your browser asks you Do you want me to remember this site?  

The difference is that when you clean your machine of all of the cookies the Remember part of your browser gets a lobotomy.

With LastPass there is no memory lapse each time you clean up.

Auto populates username and password

When a password or user name change is required

LastPass recognizes there is a change and asks update now?

You can then choose to allow LP to update the information automatically or you can login directly to Lastpass.com and manage your accounts there.

I have found LP to be highly accurate and reliable with detecting when a username or password change is occurring.

As a result I am no longer messing around trying to remember what I changed and when.

AutoLogin

Complexity of Password Requirements

I continue to find that different institutions are each requiring a different password security structure.  For example:

  • My bank-Username/Password minimum of 8 characters but requires Alpha and Numeric combination.
  • 401K-Username/Password/Unique PIN
  • WordPress-Username/Password very forgiving and does not require password resets
  • Company Credit Card-MASSIVE PAIN. Username/Password/Keyword that is scrambled and requires forced change every 90 days
  • SalesForce.com -Username/Password with automatic resets required every 90/120 days and you are unable to use the previous two passwords
Master Console Password Management

Use Modern Technology Instead

You too have a similar story of Madness.

It is time to use modern technology to manage a problem that will only continue to get worse.

The more your life is digitized the more complex this hassle will become.

Make the leap and download a solution that can fix it today.

Setup is a breeze

Once you download the browser plugin, LP will go through your machine and say Hey I found these passwords for these websites, do you want me to remember these?  

And would you like me to erase these off your machine so hackers can’t get to them?   

I was shocked at how much was on my local PC.  It was a bit scary actually.

Once installed the plugin simply runs in your browser and engages you when login to a new site.

LastPass can give you a better sales pitch than I but let me give you a quick overview of why you should stop trying to remember any passwords.

Safari Browser Plugin

View LastPass Screencast of how it works and why.

Good luck and feel free to post your favorite password manager in the comments section.

Alternative to LastPass-1Password

I learned of another option 1Password.  Their claim to fame is only needing to remember one password for all of your websites.

Check them out as well and decide which you prefer.

*I am not an affiliate or receive any reward or compensation for this pitch.

How Much Does Gasoline Actually Cost?

Who Makes All the Money On Selling Gas?

How Much Does Gasoline Actually Cost?

I’ve worked in the convenience retail industry now for over ten years. Everyone wants to know who makes all of the profits from the gasoline that we purchase as consumers.

When we fill up our cars and pay $3.99 a gallon it feels like someone must be getting rich.

It seems like the convenience store owner selling the gasoline must be making $3.88 a gallon.

It turns out that this is entirely incorrect.

Here is the truth.

The 5th grade-friendly explanation of the lifecycle of gasoline

  • Dinosaur dies
  • Two Billions years go by
  • Big Oil company sucks the fossil fuel out of the earth
  • Big smoke-stack-puffing refinery converts the dead dinosaur into crude oil
  • Crude oil is used to make gasoline
  • Gasoline is transported to a terminal for pickup
  • A big eighteen-wheeler fills their tanker truck and delivers it to the convenience store
  • We buy the gasoline

How does a barrel of crude oil influence the price of Gasoline?

Crude oil is the major ingredient required for processing and creating a gallon of gasoline.

The news media have conditioned us to tune our ears to reports about fluctuations in the price of crude oil. However, we don’t really understand the correlation to the price of gasoline. As consumers we are conditioned to listen selfishly asking ourselves the question, “How does this impact my wallet?”

After reading this article you will be able to interpret the impact on your wallet when you hear,

Today crude is trading at $96 per barrel.

Emotions drive decisions

Gasoline markets are influenced by emotions, speculation, and forecasting. People get uneasy when wars break out,  pipeline distribution is disrupted, or foreign governments change their policies. The result is that emotions like fear and anxiety enter the minds of the people in charge of pulling the pricing levers that drive the daily price of crude oil.

Crude oil price changes foreshadow upcoming gasoline price changes

Crude oil price changes serve as an early detection system for where the price of a gallon of gasoline may be headed next.  Sometimes when crude oil prices increase, convenience retailers will preemptively raise their retail gasoline prices in anticipation of their future wholesale cost increasing.

They are proactively changing their retail price of gasoline in advance of their costs actually changing.

How much is Crude trading at today?  See NYMEX current trading value of a barrel of Crude Oil.

A finished gallon of Gasoline (RBOB)

Before a gallon of Gasoline makes it into your car, it has to be picked up and then transported from a Terminal.  Picture in your mind the Alaskan pipeline, big giant storage tanks like you see near airports and eighteen-wheelers filling up their 8000-gallon tanks.

When the trucking or hauling company picks up this load the product cost contains a couple of key elements:

  • Finished product cost (all of the costs thus far in the lifecycle)
  • Pipeline transportation fees
  • Terminal fees (the giant storage tanks, taxes, fees, etc.)

See NYMEX current pricing for a gallon of finished Gasoline (RBOB).

Cost of Gallon of Gasoline when it leaves the terminal: $3.309.

Gasoline delivery fees

Once the hauling provider (trucking delivery company) picks up the load of gasoline to be delivered to the convenience store, the meter starts ticking. The transportation cost is calculated based on the number of miles it has to be driven or transported for delivery. Therefore, the longer the distance the gasoline has to be driven, the more delivery charges impact the price of a gallon of gasoline.

Estimate $.003 per gallon added to the price.

Delivery charges are a major reason that gasoline will cost more in a small town far away from a big city center. Terminal locations tend to be near larger population centers. As a result, small towns in rural Iowa maybe receiving supply from a bigger city like Des Moines, IA. The result to our wallet is we will pay more for a gallon of gasoline in a small rural town than in a big city.

Cost of Gallon of Gasoline with delivery fees added $3.312

Convenience retailers choose which terminal they buy from

It is very common for convenience retailers to purchase from multiple terminal suppliers. We as consumers might buy a gallon of milk from our favorite grocery store every week, but if a competing grocery store offers a discount, we happily buy from them. The same rings true for convenience retailers when they are shopping from which terminal supplier to buy gasoline. The caveat to this fair market system is that if you operate a Shell-branded or BP-branded convenience retail store, you have to buy your supply from Shell or BP. Part of their franchise arrangement is they are obligated to buy Shell gasoline if they are going to fly a Shell logo on their canopy.

Figuring out actual selling cost is tough

Retail Gasoline is priced in real-time based on the most amount of information available.

It is rare that a convenience retailer has real-time actual product cost. Do you remember those word problems from middle school where you had to determine the answer to a question like “How many cookies does Johnny still have?”

Johnny had three cookies. Sarah had four. Sam ate two. Pedro borrowed two from Sarah.  

It may be a bad example, but a convenience retailer has to solve a riddle like this every day to determine their true product cost. The reason it is a riddle is because their technology systems are not sophisticated enough to track every single gallon.

Here is an example:

6,000 gallons were delivered on Monday. Your estimated total cost is $3.867 x gallon. You had 2,000 gallons already in the tank that you bought last Monday @$3.657 x gallon. You sold 1,200 gallons since last Monday. Today, you have 6,800 gallons.

Wild Cards

You sell Premium at $.38 x gallon higher profit, Mid-grade is $.18 x gallon higher profit and you give $.10 away on every gallon if someone buys a car wash.

Hopefully, my imperfect examples give you insight into the types of challenges that complicate a convenience retailer’s ability to have real-time cost calculations. Generally, they reconcile these challenges with a blended average cost and call that “good enough”. At the end of the week or month, their account departments provide a settlement statement reconciling costs and profits on gallons sold. Detailed financial reconciliation requires register transactions, invoices from suppliers, and loyalty discounts.

Taxes

Taxes are fixed fees based on the county, state, and township where the convenience retail store is located. Both Federal and State taxes are contained within tax charges.

Estimate $.219 per gallon added for taxes.

Cost of Gallon of Gasoline with taxes added $3.531

Surcharges and Credit Card Fees

Some companies add additional charges to their estimated product cost. For instance, a trucking company may add a fuel surcharge on top of their already existing delivery charge.

As the cost of fuel rises, some companies will add variable charges to help compensate for their own rising cost of business.

Example $.0109 per gallon added for surcharges

Credit Card companies charge retailers for the processing of each transaction.

When you and I use our credit card, the convenience store operator has to pay a percentage of the transaction to the Credit Card Company. Credit Card companies often make much more money than the Convenience Store operator.

3.5% is an approximate amount that a Retailer may be accustomed to paying in Credit Card fees.

Translated, that is approximately $.14 per gallon of Gasoline sold ($3.99 per gallon).

Example $.14 per gallon added for Credit Card Fees

Cost of Gallon of Gasoline with surcharges and Credit Card fees added is $3.6819

Total Cost of a Gallon of Gasoline

Base + Transport 3.309
Delivery 0.030
Taxes 0.219
Surcharges 0.109
Additions 0.140
 Total costs 3.6819
 Price x Gallon 3.999

Gross Margin Profit

All of that to make $.32 cents per gallon sold.

Most industries would never tolerate a less than 8% return on investment on a Gross Margin basis.

By the time they pay for the facility, the labor, the upkeep and marketing, it results in a skinny Net Profit.

Conclusion

As you fill up your car and see the total cost per fill-up increase, remember that at best the only entity that is getting rich, if anyone, is the Federal and State government combined with the Credit Card companies.

The average convenience store operator is making less than $4.76 on a $60 fill up.