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People who have been to my home/office in Brookside, NJ: Are surprised they are in New Jersey They think they’ve gone back in time Can’t believe they are only 38 miles from New York City I live in a small semi-rural town in Morris County, NJ. There were more people living there in the 18 th century than there are now. We don’t get mail delivery, but we (about 120 homes/addresses) have our own zip code, 07926 . Our big event of the year is our 4 th of July parade. On a good day, I’m 40 minutes to EWR and 75 minutes from Manhattan. If it weren’t so expensive to live in New Jersey, I’d be here forever. I came across an old blog I wrote in 2006 about my town. Written July 5, 2006 I live in Brookside, New Jersey 07926. Brookside is a small town of about 1100 people located approximately 35 miles due west of New York City – or as some may say “the greater New York area”. But when you’re in my town, you not only feel like you...

People who have been to my home/office in Brookside, NJ: Are surprised they are in New Jersey They think they’ve gone back in time Can’t believe they are only 38 miles from New York City I live in a small semi-rural town in Morris County, NJ. There were more people living there in the 18 th century than there are now. We don’t get mail delivery, but we (about 120 homes/addresses) have our own zip code, 07926 . Our big event of the year is our 4 th of July parade. On a good day, I’m 40 minutes to EWR and 75 minutes from Manhattan. If it weren’t so expensive to live in New Jersey, I’d be here forever. I came across an old blog I wrote in 2006 about my town. Written July 5, 2006 I live in Brookside, New Jersey 07926. Brookside is a small town of about 1100 people located approximately 35 miles due west of New York City – or as some may say “the greater New York area”. But when you’re in my town, you not only feel like you’...

There’s always more you can do. There’s always more focus you can bring to managing your priorities. More effort you can bring to getting things done. More money you can invest in realizing your dream. More ways to win. More urgency. More intensity. You have it. It’s inside you. And all around you. You just don’t know how to get to it. Until something bad happens — then you somehow find a way to tap into the extra reserve. You find a way when the stakes are high enough. You get more creative. More inspired. More purposeful. Somehow, against the odds, you get better when things get really, really bad. You don’t give up and fall apart. You find a way through the obstacles standing in your way. The bigger the challenge, the better you get at figuring it out. But that only happens a few times in your life. Most of the time you just let life take you where it wants to go. You make excuses. Blame other people. Whine. Whimper. Wish things were different. All...

If you want to be the best, you have to be better than the best. But how do you get better when you’re already doing your best right now and there are other people better than you? You’re already telling people that you’re giving 110%. That you are “all in” all the way. You’re committed, driven, and willing to do whatever it takes to achieve your goals and improve. Usually those are just words. Empty words. Nice aspirations. And fanciful devotion. But usually just words. You aren’t really willing to do what it takes to be the best. You just want to look respectable. Being the best looks quite a bit different than giving a lot, doing a lot, and hoping a lot. It demands that you put yourself in the horribly uncomfortable position of losing to other people. Being the best demands that you deliberately seek out competitors who are already better than you. No one wants to do that. Especially when you have already worked brutally hard to ac...

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Don’t whine about it. Don’t cry about it. Figure it out. Just because you have a big problem doesn’t mean that it’s the end of the world. Everybody has problems. Everybody you meet today in every place you go has problems that are just as scary to them as your problems are to you. The hard truth about tough problem is that there aren’t any easy answers. There isn’t one thing you can do to magically make your problems go away. You have to figure it out. And figuring it out takes time. And focus. Emotional courage too. And while it’s scary to not know what you want to know right away, you have more chances to figure it out now than ever before in the history of problems. Access to answers has never been more readily available than right now. Access to experts that can solve your specific problem can be found more easily than ever before. Figuring it out though is something you have to do. It’s your commitment that makes the difference. How c...

I have written many blog posts on depression and mental health. I am going to move away from that in this post and focus on another aspect of life that many of us shun, which is death. Many of us have a difficult time accepting death, however, it does not have to be difficult. The acceptance of death is easier than you may think. After all, who doesn’t realize they are eventually going to die? The problem lies in fully accepting death and in being comfortable in talking about dying with those we love. When you are approaching the sensitive issues surrounding death with family members and loved ones can be a loving way to help everyone prepare for the eventual death of a loved one. Most of the time, families may have a hard time accepting death. They tend to avoid discussing medical problems and chronic illnesses until they are forced, by circumstances, to face up to it. However, it is much healthier to talk about the family’s feelings about the illness or eventual death of...

I have written many blog posts on depression and mental health. I am going to move away from that in this post and focus on another aspect of life that many of us shun, which is death. Many of us have a difficult time accepting death, however, it does not have to be difficult. The acceptance of death is easier than you may think. After all, who doesn’t realize they are eventually going to die? The problem lies in fully accepting death and in being comfortable in talking about dying with those we love. When you are approaching the sensitive issues surrounding death with family members and loved ones can be a loving way to help everyone prepare for the eventual death of a loved one. Most of the time, families may have a hard time accepting death. They tend to avoid discussing medical problems and chronic illnesses until they are forced, by circumstances, to face up to it. However, it is much healthier to talk about the family’s feelings about the illness or eventual death of s...

Success isn’t a moment in time. It’s a process. It doesn’t matter what you’re trying to achieve — being successful takes focus, planning, and commitment. Along the way to succeeding you’re going to fail. You’re going to fail a lot. You’re going to try to accomplish you goal and come short. It’s not life ending, career ending, or goal ending. Just a part of your evolution from where you are now to where you need to be. It’s why we call it a journey. Not a destination. Which is why your mindset matters. It matters more than anything. How you look at temporary failure is a good indication of how likely you are to be massively successful. Or not. If you’re more concerned about saving face then pushing yourself beyond what is comfortable, you’ll never achieve the level of success that’s possible for you. If you view failure as an opportunity to test yourself against better competition or a chance to learn what area...

The use of social media can be useful when it comes to reaching out to others, making new discoveries and building strong networks. It can be advantageous for your business, as well as connecting with new and old friends. I have talked about the advantages of social media in many previous blog posts. However, if not used properly, it can lead to danger. Unfortunately, many people who are not being treated for mental illness are prone to misusing social media. They can end up falling into dangerous traps as a result. I will list some of the dangers. 1. The Risk of Isolation is Higher . If you are dealing with mental illnesses such as depression, you will have a tendency to withdraw. When you isolate yourself from others, you will likely use Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc as a substitute for human contact. Excessive use of social media for this purpose especially can create further isolation and can worsen depression. 2. Increases Avoidance and Procrastination . There are always tas...

The use of social media can be useful when it comes to reaching out to others, making new discoveries and building strong networks. It can be advantageous for your business, as well as connecting with new and old friends. I have talked about the advantages of social media in many previous blog posts. However, if not used properly, it can lead to danger. Unfortunately, many people who are not being treated for mental illness are prone to misusing social media. They can end up falling into dangerous traps as a result. I will list some of the dangers. 1. The Risk of Isolation is Higher . If you are dealing with mental illnesses such as depression, you will have a tendency to withdraw. When you isolate yourself from others, you will likely use Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc as a substitute for human contact. Excessive use of social media for this purpose especially can create further isolation and can worsen depression. 2. Increases Avoidance and Procrastination . There are always tasks...

That other person that looks successful and is telling you they have all the answers probably can’t help you the way you think they can. They don’t have the answers to your problems. They might have a answer to a problem that they solved for themselves or someone else — but there’s no guarantee that your problem is something that they can fix. It’s important you realize that as soon as possible. Just because you feel more stuck than they appear to be doesn’t mean that you need their help. Or that you can unstick yourself by paying them for their help. That’s the irony of other people’s success. It all looks better in hindsight. Your situation always feels worse than it actually is. What makes your situation truly bad is when you panic and foolishly pay other people to do what only you can do for yourself. It’s going to take some time to fix your situation. It’s not going to be easy, cheap, or pretty. It’s going to take yo...

I’m an organized person. I need to be organized otherwise I feel that my life is in chaos. I’ve always been able to define an end goal and break down the tasks that need to be completed in order to attain that goal. I am able to prioritize tasks and assign deadline dates. I’ve always been pretty good at getting things done. I have to be – I’m an independent entrepreneur. My business is visual communications . I create storytelling images and films for corporations and non-profits. I market myself to buyers who commission still photography and video production for that market. These buyers work for ad agencies, in-house corporate agencies, non-profits or publishing companies. My business has changed dramatically since I opened shop over 3 decades ago. The possibilities and tools that are available to small independent entrepreneurs to use in their marketing strategies are endless. The problem is the vast amounts of opportunities ends up being a double...

I’m an organized person. I need to be organized otherwise I feel that my life is in chaos. I’ve always been able to define an end goal and break down the tasks that need to be completed in order to attain that goal. I am able to prioritize tasks and assign deadline dates. I’ve always been pretty good at getting things done. I have to be – I’m an independent entrepreneur. My business is visual communications . I create storytelling images and films for corporations and non-profits. I market myself to buyers who commission still photography and video production for that market. These buyers work for ad agencies, in-house corporate agencies, non-profits or publishing companies. My business has changed dramatically since I opened shop over 3 decades ago. The possibilities and tools that are available to small independent entrepreneurs to use in their marketing strategies are endless. The problem is the vast amounts of opportunities ends up being a double-e...

If you can’t manage to get the details right you will never end up achieving the level of success you think you deserve. Big picture thinking is important. So is small picture doing. It’s easy to brush away the details as something that you’ll figure out later. Something that isn’t a priority right now. You’re told by gurus and experts to just get your idea out there. Ship it to the world. You can fix it later. Or can you? You’re not guaranteed a second chance at a first impression. You’re not even guaranteed a second chance at all. Value your idea enough to invest in doing it right. Think through the angles longer than you think is necessary. Plan and prepare and debate the seemingly insignificant elements of your idea. Take time to do things right. You can’t deliver a magical experience on a conveyor belt of mediocrity. That means that sometimes being awesome is a slow, grinding process. It’s not easy emotionally or intellectually....

Today is Mental Health Awareness Day. Mental illness and depression are misunderstood and heavily stigmatized by society. Mental illness is no different than a physical illness. You know this, everyone knows this! However the stigma has prevented many people from taking this illness very seriously. What I did is I created an Aha Book on mental illness and depression called Time to End the Stigma of Mental Challenges Like Depression . This book has 140 Ahas of tips and tweets that state facts about depression that I had written up, as well as information on how to help yourself while recovering from mental illness. Of course writing these quotes and tips required me to do some research on self help tips for depression, as well as studying statistics. Some of these tips I found to be useful for myself too. In other words, this research was for my benefit too. None of these tips are meant to cure depression or mental illness. However, for those who are suffering from it need to find way...

Today is Mental Health Awareness Day. Mental illness and depression are misunderstood and heavily stigmatized by society. Mental illness is no different than a physical illness. You know this, everyone knows this! However the stigma has prevented many people from taking this illness very seriously. What I did is I created an Aha Book on mental illness and depression called Time to End the Stigma of Mental Challenges Like Depression . This book has 140 Ahas of tips and tweets that state facts about depression that I had written up, as well as information on how to help yourself while recovering from mental illness. Of course writing these quotes and tips required me to do some research on self help tips for depression, as well as studying statistics. Some of these tips I found to be useful for myself too. In other words, this research was for my benefit too. None of these tips are meant to cure depression or mental illness. However, for those who are suffering from it need to find ways ...

Practice doesn’t make you perfect. It makes what you’re practicing permanent. Working out doesn’t automatically make you fit. It just means you’ve been working up a sweat. Practice is the performance. You need to read more. You need to make more time for learning. You need to hire a coach to push you beyond your limits. But most importantly, you need to practice being successful. That’s why you aren’t winning more. You aren’t practicing like it really matters. That means you can’t just go through the motions, you do those motions with purpose and intensity. You do it right. You correct yourself when your practice is sloppy or slow.You do it again until you get it right. That’s the essence of steady improvement. That’s the only guarantee you have of being better. A relentlessly deliberate rehearsal of success. No matter what type of outcome you’re looking for in business, sports, politics, or life in general, you improve...

It had been far too long since we did a redesign of our website – more than 5 years. Not only the industry (visual communications) has changed in the past 5 years, but so has our business. More and more, clients are asking us to provide visual solutions in mixed mediums for a variety of uses – print, the web and social media. That’s been true especially with our editorial and corporate clients. It’s rare when a client comes to us for just one photograph for one usage. With that said, we wanted a new website that would demonstrate the scope of our business. The first thing I did was to define the look and functionality of the website as well as what I wanted the website to communicate to potential buyers. We knew that a template site with just our still images no longer represented our business. We also knew that we wanted a website that would speak to our client’s needs and the services we provide that meet those needs. My list of must haves for our we...

It had been far too long since we did a redesign of our website – more than 5 years. Not only the industry (visual communications) has changed in the past 5 years, but so has our business. More and more, clients are asking us to provide visual solutions in mixed mediums for a variety of uses – print, the web and social media. That’s been true especially with our editorial and corporate clients. It’s rare when a client comes to us for just one photograph for one usage. With that said, we wanted a new website that would demonstrate the scope of our business. The first thing I did was to define the look and functionality of the website as well as what I wanted the website to communicate to potential buyers. We knew that a template site with just our still images no longer represented our business. We also knew that we wanted a website that would speak to our client’s needs and the services we provide that meet those needs. My list of must haves for our webs...