What Really Matters? Advice For Someone Smart Enough To Understand

What really matters? Below is a reminder from a couple of people who have been here before. Hopefully there is a lesson or two for you.  

If you take a moment from being busy & productive and just look up, maybe you too will see what is really important in life.

Bobby

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"I’m 76. My high school and college classmates are dropping like flies.  My time is coming fairly soon. I’ve had a varied and active life from stealing food from hotel corridors to survive to owning 4 successful companies and retiring at 49 to backpack the world with my kids. 35 was my best year. I was young enough to do it all and smart enough to see the traps ahead of me. 

One thing I wish I knew back then, not just philosophically, but at the basic level of my soul: It doesn’t matter. Nothing really matters. There is no point to all of the pain, stress, arguments, hassles, and the rest. 

I can buy a Lambo for cash and have my clothes custom-made, but I drive a 2,000 Toyota 4Runner with 242,000 miles on it, my pants are almost as old as my sons, I wear shoes I bought in 1999 that still have miles on them, my favorite food is spaghetti, and I tossed my smartphone six year ago. It drives my sons nuts. They want my wife to buy me a new Toyota Sequoia, a smartphone, and something other than the $9 tee shirts I get off Amazon.

But I learned something years ago, long after my 30s: It doesn’t matter. None of that stuff made me happy. It gave me pleasure, but pleasure fades and the darkness falls unless you are happy at your core. I am. So, I’d have liked to know not to take life so seriously. It cost me my first marriage and bad relationships all over the place because I tried to grind my way up the “ladder of success”. And it didn’t mean a thing."

Source: Marlon Brandy on Quora

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"100% true and profound based on my own life experiences. I worked for a man who is swimming in money and sinking deeper and deeper into unhappiness.

I have been in third world countries where there was no money, and there was pure heartfelt happiness. I have been betrayed by FALSE friends, used financially and emotionally, stolen from, manipulated, deceived and left for dead.

I interview people and ask them to define "success", it is as if I asked them to define the "atom", the only answer they have is "money". People have made character , ethics, integrity and honesty an under valued waste of their time.

It reminds me of the 5 Life Regrets published by "Hospice International", these are the regrets of people who are in the last hours of theirs precious lives, they are poor, middle class and mega rich, they all have the same regrets, if you take nothing of value from this post, TAKE THIS.
#1 I wish I would have had the courage to share my true feelings with people.
#2 I wish I would have been true to myself, rather than everyone else.
#3 I wish I would have spent more QUALITY time with my family and friends.
#4 I wish I would NOT have worked so long and so hard, especially doing things I did NOT want to do.
#5 I WISH I WOULD HAVE GIVEN MYSELF PERMISSION TO BE HAPPY.
You notice there is NOTHING about success, money, materialism and soul mates. When it comes to climbing the success ladder of LIFE, you better make damn sure you are not really climbing DOWN."
Source: Gary King

Theresa May -v- Jeremy Corbyn Popularity Rating

Find out how many of your friends like May -v- Corbyn below.

It will only show who is more popular on FB but it still comes down to voters and the voting machines.

63 May -v- 148 Corbyn for my friends.
(390k May -v- 991k Corbyn Likes)

Note: This is just a Facebook rating and you know how much opinion & crap is on the TV, Newspapers & internet.

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Theresa May

Jeremy Corbyn

Do you want to build and grow your network or community?

6 years ago Simon Zutshi asked me to work with him to create and grow the online media presence of property investors network ‘pin’.

He’d seen me online and knew I was active within various online communities, as well as hosting my own events - in Property, Business and Internet Marketing.

I’d been doing online marketing for a long time and active on Facebook using paid Advertising (since 2008) before a lot of the big corporates were even aware of online marketing.

I’d also helped at and supported many personal development events, from local YES Groups to bigger Tony Robbins UPW events and similar.

As well as booking speakers for events, it was important for me to provide outstanding customer service to attendees as well, as I’d been to too many events where the organisers lacked integrity and each person was just a 'lead'. Things sometimes do go wrong and we all make mistakes - but when no-one takes actual responsibility for actions, service suffers and so does ‘word of mouth’ (and now social media posts) about your company.

People will remember how you make them feel and if you care enough to provide excellent service, which is more than just ‘good enough’. (Thanks to Graham Hill, Regional Director – Buckinghamshire & Bedfordshire of Shopper Anonymous for that reminder yesterday #FSB)

People are the most important part of any community or business.

Working with pin was a good fit, as one of my biggest values is that people should have a good time and feel valued. I would be able to help create that community online.

When I started with ‘pin’, I took on the task of creating and building the online presence of the property investors network across various online platforms and company websites. This grew from a few meetings to 50+ meetings and I was responsible for maintaining their online presence. Once I’d systemised all this, it became easier to scale and grow the online exposure.
The online marketing was all bootstrapped but has grown to a successful and large presence, had I bigger budget to work with I’d have done an even better job.

I also provided training & support to pin meeting Hosts on how to best use social media effectively, to connect with people and increase exposure for the meetings they ran in their local areas. Another task I took on was to keep on eye on the online reputation of Simon Zutshi, the company and the meetings.

As well as the online social media presence, I supported the Mastermind community by making sure information was easy to find on the forum and help them out with any queries they had, whether it was my ‘department’ or not. Either I’d sort it out myself or find the best person to help them.

All your clients (and team) are important, especially those that have paid for first class support.
This belief is what enabled me to provide the best service I could whilst at pin for many years.

In my spare time (Entrepreneurs don’t take evenings or weekends off, unless they want to take a holiday) I would also support on other events and help other Property education providers, as long as there was no conflict of interest.

After being there for over 5 years, it was time to move on.
So I have now moved to Milton Keynes. Why you ask? Why not?
It is closer and easily accessible to all the places I usually visit, from Birmingham & London being within 1 hour or so drive.  It was also good for a fresh start and to work on some new projects.

I’m now looking for a new challenge.  
Are you in property, personal development or a business related field and want to improve your service and/or reach? 
Or maybe you just want to create a community to share your love or hobby? 
Even if your idea is to start a Nicolas Cage Appreciation Society, get in touch.

If you have a business and no time to do it yourself, then why not give me a call and see how I can help.  My past experience and long-term view will help save you and your team many hours and tens of thousands by setting up things right to start with.
As I did when I advised a new property education startup earlier this month on the best way to set up and move forward.
The digital landscape has changed a lot in the last few years again, so don't think that trying to copy someone else will help you remain ahead anymore.   It's not just what you see at the front end that counts but how it is managed in the background that matters.

You can find out more and contact me on Facebook , Twitter and LinkedIn

I also prefer to work with people I know, so if this is of interest to you, read the mini-CV below and get back to me if I can help you in any way 😀 👍

[full CV available on request]

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Solutions focused Systems & Operations Freelancer looking to contribute extensive experience towards supporting progressive organisations in optimising their performance. Through increased efficiency by systemising, making things simpler by automating frequent processes, serving clients and having happier customers by meeting their needs and over-delivering on expectations.

My background is in Engineering, Property, Systems, Networking and Training Events and Social Media/Digital Marketing.

Engineering has given me an analytical background and project management skills which come in useful with jobs that require attention to detail and planning.

I have been involved in property investment and education since 2001, learning valuable lessons through boom and bust, and know many of the experts and trainers in the UK.

Attended a lot of personal development, business and entrepreneur seminars and paid for high-end coaching over the last 10 years.

As well as attending these events, I've also set-up, organised and hosted networking events, as well as helping out and crewing for many training courses.

Extensive background in social media and online marketing, website design from SEO to funnel creation, including paid marketing and CRM.

I'm more than competent in a lot of fields, although not a self-proclaimed expert or goo-roo. I realise I can always learn more and be better at everything. I'm a polymath (Renaissance man) with curiosity and many hobbies, talents and areas of interest and expertise, therefore I have a wide knowledge base that I can draw on and use in other areas to solve problems and for success.  I can explain what needs to be done in simple language, by removing fluff that some experts use to complicate things to justify their position.  I will listen to your ideas and recommend creative solutions & improvements.  I offer highly professional consulting and honest opinions and feedback, always acting in the client's best interest.

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So if any of that is of interest, contact me today on Facebook , Twitter  and LinkedIn or call if you've got my number and not rung me for a long time anyway. Always happy to meet up and have a chat.

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