An Entry Without a Subject (yet!)

But I have two things going for me tonight.

1. I’ve got the headphones on and am listening to Pandora (www.pandora.com). If you

haven’t used it before, you’ve gotta try it. Their stated mission is to “only play the music you love.”

It’s customized Web-based radio that’s free based on the genres, songs, or artists that you love. I’ve mentioned it before but it’s simply

amazing. I’ve found that music helps me focus and remove distractions. I need white or background noise at times to keep my mind from jumping to “the next thing”. My various music selections on Pandora are a haven where I can escape life for a few moments and immerse myself into writing. There’s also a free iPhone app for Pandora which is fantastic. No, I’m not trying to sell iPhones. But the app features are amazing.

2. I feel like writing. At times writing can feel a tad of a burden, at others it’s an incredible form of stress relief or simple enjoyment. It’s probably a bit like working out or any other project, where a lot of the times the toughest part is simply starting. But once you get going something transforms. I think it’s why the TV can be such an evil force against greatness. During that moment of “should I go workout, file, read, write…whatever” the TV is such a quick and seemingly gratifying temptation that can suck the time out of you. Like those chocolate chip cookies looking at me from our kitchen counter. I will resist both the TV and the cookies at this very moment, but it’s a bit easier because I desire to resist them.

As I write, two stories come to mind–probably related to some thoughts I’ve had throughout the day.

Victor Frankl’s book, “Mans Search for Meaning” tells the story of having lived through the Nazi concentration camps. I haven’t read the book for over a decade, but I remember a fascinating story about the importance of meaning of even remedial work–moving rocks. And how the meaning impacted the work and the simple sanity, ultimately the purpose and the

health, of their everyday lives. It’s a great book with the underlying premise that meaning is tied to motivation.

Related to motivation yet on a totally different basis I recently read a fascinating article in a magazine called “The Week” (www.theweek.com). Which is a fantastic news resoures that hails itself as “All you need to know about everything that matters.” A bit of a stretch, but it’s an incredible magazine. I can’t recommend it enough, in an hours worth of reading you can be fairly well versed on a lot of current events with a variety of opinions and perspectives on a multitude of matters.

So last week there was an interesting story in “The Week” about people who survive calamities. Airplane crashes. Boating disasters. Fires in buildings. In short, there are a few categories of people and how the behave. The point of the story is that the ones who often survive are the ones who don’t quit. It’s the ones that simply refuse to resign themselves to fate. Fodder for another blog entry, I can attest to seeing the amazing differences of human behavior fairly closely on 9/11 when we lived downtown during the days events.

The leadership lesson is a simple one that works in any difficult situation, including economic.

I think this one is really simple. Do what you’re supposed to be doing. And then keep doing it.

Great leaders are tenacious and dig in when things get tough.

Some will always be on the lookout for excuses or justification to simply “give up” and accept their fate in a situation of disaster. But not great leaders, and not people who want to win. Or, in the case of this article, simply live.

The people (leaders) who keep looking for ways to figure it out are the ones with the greatest success–in situations of crisis or otherwise. And if you can tie that to having a purpose or meaning in life, all the more powerful. Though the reality is, that with some things in our life it simply requires a grind–there’s probably nothing noble or even mission-worthy about it. The very basic premise at times can be survival, which is why both stories–Frankl’s and the recent article in “The Week” came to mind today.

By the way, on a very unrelated matter to leadership…This weekend Univera launched it’s second amazing Immune stimulating product of the year (yes, two products already in ’09!) called Solanyx. It’s a seven day course of botanical immune-boosting greatness that’s in a handy system comprised of morning and evening doses. Check it out on www.univera.com.