Success

5 Steps to the Best Idea You Have Ever Had

Posted by kurttime on at

ideas sm 5 Steps to the Best Idea You Have Ever HadI love to get movie DVDs that have an additional disc of just special features! Last night I watched all the documentaries about Howard Hughes, from the DVD “The Aviator”. The special features almost always contain tidbits of this idea or that idea that went into making the film. So often these features are inspiring and are just one place to trigger ideas of my own.

The 6 “Must Know” Steps to Lifetime Success and Abundance

Posted by kurttime on at

abundance golden eggs2 The 6 “Must Know” Steps to Lifetime Success and AbundanceSo much has been written about success. So many success programs, books, CDs, and other media exist on the subject. A Google search (06.29.10) on the keyword “success” returns over 335-million results.

The term is like one tiny star in the cosmos.

I think it’s safe to say that ‘success’ is/has been an over-used word throughout our human world and throughout (recorded) history.

It’s also fair to say that success means something different for each and every person, and yet most would agree that a simple and accurate definition might be: to obtain a desired result (or set of results).

Success and Assertiveness / Aggression

Posted by kurttime on at

assertivethumb Success and Assertiveness / Aggression


Some twenty years ago I received a poignant letter from my father that described his “mid-life crisis” and his final acceptance of his lot in life. The content of the letter did not surprise me, but did confirm ponderings I had considered many times. I’ll come back to this letter later.

My father is by no means an aggressive or assertive person; humility, selflessness, and altruistic diligence seem to be his mantra. I have the deepest respect for his talent, his principles, and his integrity. First and foremost, he is an abstract acrylic artist, professionally practicing his craft at least 50 years (to view his work click here). Aside from that, his distinguished career has been teaching Fine Art on the college level since before I was born (I think his first teaching position was officially in 1960 or 61). I can absolutely attest with confidence that anyone who knows my father would agree that he is not an aggressive and assertive individual.

Enjoying The Process

Posted by kurttime on at

enjoying2 Enjoying The Process


Our world is complicated which tends to complicate our individual lives. For millions of us the daily stresses of career, family, and life in general are incredible. An alarm clock wakes us before we’re ready and we’re off to the races! We rush to get the kids ready and off to school, or dash to get off to work, or scurry to meet the obligations of the morning. Our day is filled with the redundant pressures of routine. Evenings are too short. We work towards a weekend for a break in the grind. The months and years fly by as we are so busy and caught up in our chaotic lives.

Citizens the world over – for the most part – spend so much time “doing” that there is not sufficient time built in for “enjoying” (life). I know, it is not as if there were many choices in the matter; we all must do what is necessary to survive (and perhaps prosper?). At some point, however, there must be a compromise between “building a quality life” and “enjoying a quality of life”.

The Sex of Success

Posted by kurttime on at

sex21 The Sex of Success
Human beings are historically mixed-up, embarrassed, ignorant, and hypocritical about sexuality. So many people have noted, for example, on national network television that we will show much more graphic violence than we will graphic sex, although the boundaries are continually more and more blurred. The taboos, customs, and traditions surrounding sexual matters have evolved and changed drastically from culture to culture and millennia to millennia. What was against the rules at one time is no longer.

Is “Failure” Useful?

Posted by kurttime on at

failure2 Is Failure Useful?


Clearly there are many more ways to fail than there are ways to succeed! Failure is easy, whereas success takes work. The “easy way out” invariably leads to failure. Sometimes the most creative people are steeped in failure; they find ever more creative ways – elaborate ways – to fail. Failure often begets more failure, and the vicious cycle self-perpetuates.

Many of the most successful people were at the absolute bottom of the failure funnel before turning their life around. I was one of those creative people who seemed to invent new twists to the art of non-success. I hit bottom, then I hit another even lower bottom, and finally an abysmal bottom…dark, bleak, empty nothingness. Of course there are hundreds of thousands – if not millions – just like me: for some unknown reason they simply must explore the bottom of life. But some will never reach despondence and utter despair. As long as you cling to an inner self-worth, an inner light or pride, you can exceed all expectations for success!

Motivation and Education

Posted by kurttime on at

education21 Motivation and Education


As a teen, my parents made it clear to my sister, brother, and me that successful people attend college and obtain a degree. By implication, it was also clear that those who have no college education are something less than successful. I do not fully agree. Certainly I would agree that higher education equals higher income perhaps ninety percent of the time. The other ten percent or so, who are financially prosperous without college academics, make their fortunes through experience in a lucrative field, and/or good fortune.

As an employer, I have learned that very many employers regard 2- and 4-year degree programs as evidence that a person can complete goals. Beyond that, most companies would agree that education promotes critical thought, refines communication and complexity of expression and reasoning. I enjoy the Albert Einstein quote: “Education is what remains after one has forgotten everything he learned in school.” It is advanced education – specialized post-graduate degrees – that are the extreme value and prepare most effectively for success. Medical school, law school, masters and doctoral certifications absolutely translate to higher incomes. Such people have made a lifelong commitment to education.

Always build with footings and a foundation

Posted by kurttime on at

footings2 Always build with footings and a foundation
When I was 13, my family built a home in the mountains of Idaho. My father always referred to it as my mother’s “dream home” (which was his way of saying that it cost a bloody fortune!). I remember watching the big yellow backhoe dig out a hole in the hillside upon which the house would perch. Just inside the entire outer edge of the excavation was an even deeper, three-foot trench. I asked my father: “Why is there a deep trench all the way around where the house will stand?” He explained that any structure is only as strong and stable as the footings and foundation upon which it stands. “In that trench,” he said, “a reinforced cement footing will be poured. The cement walls of the house foundation will be sealed to that footing,” he continued, “and this will firmly anchor the house to the hillside.” He added a little metaphor about the footings of marriage being true love, and that upon that footing is the foundation for building a strong family. This simple tidbit stuck with me.