A New Title for What I Am

I just learned what I am...

While reading Escape From Cubicle Nation I found out about Anywired and read the post Become a Lifestyle Entrepreneur: Complete Guide and 40+ Resources.

I'm a Lifestyle Entrepreneur! What does that mean you ask? You really should read the post, but here is a great description from Skellie over at Anywired.

"If you are — or would like to be — an entrepreneur, yet you’d be happy to earn enough to live the life you want rather than becoming filthy rich, lifestyle entrepreneurship might be a good fit for you.

Lifestyle entrepreneurs will generally base their ventures around time minimalism, or something they love, even if there are more profitable (but more time-consuming, or less interesting) options available.

The goal of a lifestyle entrepreneur is not to amass a huge fortune, but instead, to achieve certain definable goals and, beyond that point, to ensure business does not interfere too much with the enjoyment of those goals."

Now don't get my wrong, I think it would be cool to be filthy rich. But not at the expense of the relationships with my wife, kids, or current freedom. I spent 9 years climbing the corporate ladder and had a good position with a good salary. The next step in my plan was a VP position which would lead to a C-level position. But ultimately what I found is the stress of those positions, the time requirement, and the sacrifices I was going to make just weren't worth it.

I quit my job and started my own consulting firm to create freedom in my life. Here is my current daily schedule - which I adjust daily as I need to fit into my lifestyle.

7:15 am - Wake up to alarm clock of "DAAAAADAAAA IT'S LIIIIGHT TIIIIIME!"
7:45 am - Get breakfast for the alarm clock and take a shower
8:15 am - Make coffee and lunch for Bubba
8:30 am - Catch up on my favorite blogs or take Bubba to preschool
9:15 am - Blog (I have two others here and here)
10:00 am - Work on client projects (yes I start "work" about 10:00 am)
12:00 pm - Lunch or go pick up Bubba from preschool
1:00 pm - Work on client projects
4:00 pm - Stop work to alarm clock of "DAAAADAAAA I HAVE TO GO POOOOTYYYYY"
4:05 pm - Play with Bubba, Chrystal, and Mianna for the rest of the day.

I say this not to brag or gloat but to say it's possible. We are not getting rich and sometimes money issues are stressful, but we (my family and I) live a comfortable life and love it. We have more freedom (though not necessarily financial) than we have ever had. Join what Tim Ferris calls the NR and break the chain!

Photo by Dazzie D'

"Ya-ttitude" - A Great New Blog

For those of you that have not found it yet, "Ya-ttitude" by Benny Greenberg is one of the best new blogs on the web. If you are interested in joining the allied forcies against the Procrasti-NATION read his blog and join the fight.
Thanks Benny for the insightful wisdom and witty rhetoric!

Ideas Excite Me!

I just had coffee with my friend Carter Crockett, a business professor at Westmont College. If you have read my LinkedIn profile you know talking about new ideas is one of my favorite things to do. Carter and I had this great conversation about a new business idea and I can hardly get my brain to stop working out the details so I can focus and do work for kevin sturm Consulting clients.

One of the biggest changes in my life since quitting my job has been how I think differently. Versus being mired in all the "things" and "problems" that dominated my day and my brain, I am free to dream about new and fun ideas. Your brain really can do amazing things when you stop trying to force it to do something it doesn't want to.

If you have a new business idea you want to talk about, invite me to coffee. I love hashing it out even if it never happens! I'll even buy!

Doing Well Just Isn't Enough

In college I was part of a group of guys that met regularly to keep each other accountable in our lives, our relationship, and our walk with God. One of our goals, or mottos if you will, was "To Be Good Men Speaking Well." I was reminded of that motto today when I read this speech given Anna Quindlen at an American University graduation ceremony. For a while I lost track of my priorities and mixed up what was really important in my life. The desire to do well surpassed the desire to do good. Looking around it is easy to see how doing well can take precedence over doing good. We put our faith and happiness in the next promotion, the bigger house, the nicer cloths, and the newer car.

But the promotion, house, cloths and car can't give back. They just lead to the newer car, bigger house, and next promotion. Today reflect on what you are known for. Are you known for doing well or doing good? I'm not against doing well. I want to do well, but when all is said and done doing good will create more happiness and a longer legacy for you and those you are good to.

Speech by Anna Quindlen:
"I'm a novelist. My work is human nature. Real life is all I know. Don't ever confuse the two, your life and your work. You will walk out of here this afternoon with only one thing that no one else has. There will be hundreds of people out there with your same degree: there will be thousands of people doing what you want to do for a living. But you will be the only person alive who has sole custody of your life. Your particular life. Your entire life. Not just your life at a desk, or your life on a bus, or in a car, or at the computer. Not just the life of your mind, but the life of your heart. Not just your bank accounts but also your soul.

People don't talk about the soul very much anymore. It's so much easier to write a resume than to craft a spirit. But a resume is cold comfort on a winter's night, or when you're sad, or broke, or lonely, or when you've received your test results and they're not so good.

Here is my resume: I am a good mother to three children. I have tried never to let my work stand in the way of being a good parent. I no longer consider myself the centre of the universe. I show up. I listen. I try to laugh. I am a good friend to my husband. I have tried to make marriage vows mean what they say. I am a good friend to my friends and they to me. Without them, there would be nothing to say to you today, because I would be a cardboard cut out. But I call them on the phone, and I meet them for lunch. I would be rotten, at best mediocre at my job if those other things were not true.

You cannot be really first rate at your work if your work is all you are. So here's what I wanted to tell you today: Get a life. A real life, not a manic pursuit of the next promotion, the bigger pay cheque, the larger house. Do you think you'd care so very much about those things if you blew an aneurysm one afternoon, or found a lump in your breast?

Get a life in which you notice the smell of salt water pushing itself on a breeze at the seaside, a life in which you stop and watch how a red-tailed hawk circles over the water, or the way a baby scowls with concentration when she tries to pick up a sweet with her thumb and first finger.

Get a life in which you are not alone. Find people you love, and who love you. And remember that love is not leisure, it is work. Pick up the phone. Send an email. Write a letter. Get a life in which you are generous. And realize that life is the best thing ever, and that you have no business taking it for granted. Care so deeply about its goodness that you want to spread it around. Take money you would have spent on beer and give it to charity. Work in a soup kitchen. Be a big brother or sister. All of you want to do well. But if you do not do good too, then doing well will never be enough.

It is so easy to waste our lives, our days, our hours, and our minutes. It is so easy to take for granted the color of our kids' eyes, the way the melody in a symphony rises and falls and disappears and rises again. It is so easy to exist instead of to live.

I learned to live many years ago. I learned to love the journey, not the destination. I learned that it is not a dress rehearsal, and that today is the only guarantee you get. I learned to look at all the good in the world and try to give some of it back because I believed in it, completely and utterly. And I tried to do that, in part, by telling others what I had learned. By telling them this: Consider the lilies of the field. Look at the fuzz on a baby's ear. Read in the back yard with the sun on your face. Learn to be happy. And think of life as a terminal illness, because if you do, you will live it with joy and passion as it ought to be lived".

Set Goals Instead of Resolutions

I've been meaning to do this post for a while, but have been lazy on the post front. It's now almost February, but my post for the 2008 new year is don't set resolutions. In stead set goals. Not widely outrageous goals, but goals that are achievable and broken down into increments. They should be challenging, but also attainable.

On September 26, 2007 on a flight from DFW to Charlotte I made a list of my two year goals. I was reviewing it this week. I've done well in some areas and not so well in others.

Q4 2007
Professional

• Establish my niche in consulting where ever it may be, hotel ideally
  
• Bill 20 hours per week
  
• Start posting meaningful content on hospitality technology made simple every two weeks

Personal

• Read my bible every morning for at least 15 minutes - have not done
  
• Get out of the rat race and keeping up with what we think is the requirements of success
• Run every 3 days at least - sometimes yes, right now no
  
• Read one book per month on something and keep doing it
  
• Finish house - not even close
  
• Post to k.sturm blog at least every 3 days - not quite there

Q1 2008
Professional

• Bill 20 hours per week
• Post meaningful content on hospitality technology made simple every two weeks
• Speak in some capacity at an industry conference
• Have business plan for new company idea complete with market analysis, 1 year, 3 year, 5 year revenue forecast, and mocked up design

Personal

• Have a plan to live “below” our means allowing us the financial freedom to take trips and live free
• Begin taking a one week trip per quarter with Chrystal and Brody somewhere fun where we don’t work at all

Q2 2008
Professional

• Bill 16 hours per week and increase hourly rate
  
• Hire first employee/subcontractor for kevin sturm Consulting billing 20 hrs/week
• Speak in some capacity at major industry conference
• Have a second draft of business plan in place and start moving forward
  
• Find a developer that will “drink the cool-aid” or get venture capital funding…drink the cool-aid is way better

Personal

• Go on Potter’s Clay construction team (not sure if this will be possible with baby due)
• Be training for Marathon or Triathlon

Q3 2008
Professional

• Give Keynote Session presentation at industry conference
  
• Be at least one quarter into v1.0 of new business
  

Personal

• Visit Opportunity International bank in Mexico or Africa
• Run a Marathon or do a Triathlon

Q4 2008
Professional

• Hire second employee/subcontractor for kevin sturm Consulting billing 20 hrs/week
• Speak at hospitality technology industry conference
• Sign up early adopter customers for v1.0 release

Q1 2009
Professional

• Speak at hospitality technology industry conference
  
• Release v1.0 of new business venture
  
• Attend industry conference on new business venture
  

Q2 2009
Professional

• Speak at hospitality technology industry conference
• Release v2.0 of software
• Speak at industry conference on new company venture
  

Personal

• Attend TED Conference in San Francisco Long Beach with two friends

I Love My Job

I flew down to San Antonio today for a consulting gig at the Westin La Cantera. I have a really bad cold so flying was brutal. My ears are still plugged up. This place is uber nice and I got a sweet room with a view of the property and surrounding hills (photos below). It was really nice to relax for a bit in a nice room with a spectacular view. How great is it that get to come stay at a nice hotel for work! I love my job!Now I'm off to have dinner with my father-in-law.

Importance of Fellowship

One of my favorite things about being self employed is getting to fellowship with friends in the morning over coffee. This morning I got hang with DJ at his SWEET pad in Santa Barbara. This place is seriously amazing because it has a view that is unique even in Santa Barbara. You can see Ventura and north Goleta practically. DJ and I were going to meet at Whales Tail downtown but we decided to have breakfast at the Freedom House instead. Crystal cooked us an amazing breakfast of French toast coated with corn flakes and almonds. It was 5-star style eating, plus we ate on the patio (which DJ had never done!) and had an amazing view to go with the amazing meal. Thanks Crystal! We also had mimosas with Dom Perignon that was left over from a get together the previous night...livin' the high life!DJ and I talked about how much fun it was to be able to just hang out in the morning to do what we felt was important (which may be to work, read, or fellowship) versus rush to be at work at 8:00 am. I really feel so blessed to have the freedom to do this and have friends like DJ to hang with and enjoy time together.

The view from DJ's patio as displayed by my iPhone!

"Seven Steps to Success"

My friend Nazia sent me a "Tip of the Day" email with some wise words from Dr. Mark Goulston (author of Get Out of Your Own Way at Work) on things you should know the answers to when starting your own business. If you want to start you own business make sure you have an answer to these questions.

1. What do you love making (product) or doing (service) that has enough value that other people would be willing and want to pay for (your DREAM)?

2. What desire or problem is your product (what you make) or service (what you do) the best answer or solution to (your VISION and MISSION)?

3. What people or what company has a desire or problem that most urgently needs your product or service, i.e. who are the ones that "Gotta have you!" (your MARKETING)?

4. How do you get those people or that company to be aware of their urgent need for your product or service (your ADVERTISING)?

5. How do you convince those people to buy that service or product that they "gotta have?" (your SALES)

6. How do you get your product or service to those people or that company (your PRODUCTION and DELIVERY)?

7. How do you continue to increase the satisfaction and enthusiasm for your product or service, so they'll tell others (your CUSTOMER SERVICE)?

Your Job Description Isn't "Mail Manager"

I had a pretty crummy travel experience on my trip this week in missed flights and too little sleep, but I had an interesting conversation that prompted this post. I had a partner in my travel woes that was sharing with me how she often spent her evenings reading and responding to emails creating a 60 hour work week (thanks for the post idea travel partner).
For a long period in my career I received sometimes 200+ emails per day. I’d spend hours every night reading them all and responding appropriately. After about three years of this I decided there had to be a better way. Below is a combination of my and others tips in how to spend less time on email. They are in no particular order.

The Carbon Copy Rule
Build email rules that help you prioritize what to read. Create a folder called “cc mail” and create a rule that moves any message where you are in the cc: field to this folder. Never read them, they are saved for reference only. You may need to create exceptions for certain people or groups which most email engines allow. If you are nervous about this try it for two weeks. I was nervous about it at first but this single rule cut my email volume by two thirds. I’ve now been doing it for three years and have been asked less than a dozen times if I got an email. Most people cc you on message to feel important or CTA (cover their arse), so not reading it is usually no big deal.

I had a co-worker that joked delete every email you get and if it’s important they’ll send it again. If someone cc’s you on an email and needs a response they will most likely send it again directly to you.

It’s All About Me
Build another email rule that flags any email where you are the only person on the To: field in a specific color (my preference is red). This way you can immediately know which email you probably must read and respond to.

It’s All About Them
If you have certain people that you must read their email set them as an exception to The Carbon Copy Rule and build a rule that flags their email in a specific color so you can see them easily (my preference is green).

The Conversation Stopper
Use email as a method of communication not conversation. Request this of co-workers, employees, and clients. If you need to have conversations pick up the phone and talk to the person.

If you receive a reply email (RE:) quickly scan to see if there are multiple of them with the same subject. Sort your email by subject, select the most recent, and read the entire train starting from the top down. I suggest from the top because you may find quickly that you don’t need to do anything and just delete it. If you make it all the way to the bottom you are reading just to read or you’ll find you need to respond in some way. If it is going to take more than one email pick up the phone. You can most likely then delete the emails with the same subject line. If you follow the next rule all questions in the email will probably have gotten resolved and you won't have to respond at all.

e-mail Is Not On Your Task List (a slight variation on a Tim Ferris rule)
If you don’t have a daily task list before the day, start doing it today. Have three important things you must accomplish that day, and one before 10:00 am. Email should never be on that list. Look at email at 10:00 am, not before. After 10:00 am respond to email that requires immediate response, flag what requires follow-up, file or delete the rest. Schedule times to check and respond to email or you’ll spend 4 hours of every day getting nothing accomplished. Try to read email at 10:00 am, 1:00 pm, and 4:00pm. The 4:00 pm slot lets you respond to any requiring it that day.

Spending one full weekend emptying your email box is not actually accomplishing anything, except maybe generating more email. Avoid this really stupid way to spend your weekend.

Don’t Respond to e-mail on the Weekend (a tip from Tim Sanders)
This is one of the hardest things to do and I know from personal experience. But it is vital to managing your email volume. It is also a good habit if you are a manager because your employees will emulate your behavior. Sending email on the weekend sets the expectation that you’ll read and respond to email on the weekend. If someone really needs to get in touch with you they will find a way other than email.

The next step is to apply this rule to responding to email after hours. I promise, if someone really needs to get in touch with you they will find a way.

If you have other tricks and tips on managing the email nightmare post it for the world to benefit from your wisdom.

My Office Today

I spent today writing performance reviews, which is probably the thing I like the very least about management. Every year for review writing I go to Coffee Cat because I can focus without interruption, drink good coffee, have a yummy crepe lunch, and think about things.

Picture taken with my Cingular 8525.

I also got about 95% of the transition plan in place for my successor at Agilysys, which felt really good!