Experimenting. A Solution to Analysis Paralysis

May 10, 2012 by Raul Colon

I love taking experimenting with new things and taking risks. Like every other person when I take a risk of doing something new, I know there is a probability of failing. However that does not stop me from trying out new things.

The older I get the more I realize that to achieve results you have to attempt things and get them running. On some occasions given lack of resources you might not have an option but too attempt it yourself. The reality is that taken this attitude will also bring many failures that will eventually take you to bigger and successful projects.

Analysis Paralysis

I see many people like you and me that could accomplish great things if they at least started things and later tweaked it along the way. A mistake I made when I set up my first project, as a small business owner in 2008 was the excessive planning I did without finding the proper balance on the execution side. I attempted to run my small company as the companies I consulted and worked for. I analyzed deeply every possibly situation which resulted in delaying the process where I could start recovering the resources I had invested.

Identifying Opportunities

Once I see an opportunity I go after it. Now research and analysis consists of trying to see how I can get to where I need to be with the least resources so I can start a project.

My Latest Experiments

Photography

About a month ago I had the opportunity to spend time with Alan Weinkrantz. While he was taking Pictures in Old San Juan he gave shared some great advice on why I should take my own pictures and not use Creative Commons.

For the past month I have spend a considerable amount of time using Instagram and my Point and Shoot Camera (Ricoh CX2 ← Affiliate Link) capturing images which I can use in my blog posts, presentation, and other projects. Alan helped me understand that capturing images enhances the experience of sharing my story.

Creating Video

The other day I had the privilege to learn a few things from Bianca Estrada (@biancaest) who creates some really neat videos for Payasa Agapita. Bianca and her husband Fernando took their time and drove for 2+ hours to my house. We quickly setup a green screen to create a tutorial on how easy it could be done if you just wanted to have fun. It was a neat learning experience because when we saw the end product we realized we have many things we need to improve upon.

For me it was a win situation because I saw the unique creative process Bianca and her husband Fernando use to create a videos like the one below.

Don’t Let the Experts Say You can’t do it.

I can sit here and de-construct the many glitches I found on the video I did with Bianca and Fernando and worry about how we did not get the results we expected. I rather take a different approach and look at what I gained when I published the video below when others might think we should have not shared it.

Listen to Experts that Encourage You

When it comes to video I love listening and learning from my friend Steve Garfield back in 2010 he convinced me that to create video all I needed to do was have a device that could capture video. He also wrote Get Seen: Online Video Secrets to Building Your Business ( ← Amazon Affiliate Link), I consider it a manual towards creating online video. Overall Steve does a great job at sharing his knowledge on creating videos with others.

Thanks to the glitches the video above had we received constructive criticism from someone who had some great suggestions on how we could improve our Green Screen effects video. He also accepted to create a more advanced tutorial which will be publishing as a guest post in a day or two so feel free to subscribe to my blog and receive it directly via email.

Use the Experts when You Can

My previous message of not listening to the experts does not mean you should not use them. I am a fan of hiring experts for more professional matters and things I don’t feel capable of doing. To create my logos and creative images on my website I use Rick Lipsett. When I wanted to get a new Avatar I hired my high school friend and professional photographer Cesar Santiago. Even to Cut the Grass I hire landscapers because they do a better and quicker job at it.

Maybe one day I might be able to hire the expertise of Tommy Walker from Inside the Mind to create the storyline and edit my videos or my friend Alfredo Richner from Puerto Rico Indie to shoot the video locally. Until I can afford it I will have to give it a try on my own.

I believe success is doing the things you like to do and staying away from having to do those that you don’t like.

I rather try something and fail. By not trying it you keep yourself away from the experience or opportunity to learn and improve it.

So do me a favor try something new this week?

Do something that might be out of your comfort zone?

Once you accomplish it share with those around you and listen to their feedback?

Are you up for the challenge?

Too Much Fun Not Enough Work

August 31, 2011 by Raul Colon

I live on an island where fun is priority #1 for many. Given how Puerto Rico has been a colony for centuries many individuals have thrown in the towel in helping Puerto Rico progress towards a better future and have decided that they need to have fun and forget about the rest. Many people consider that every day you should have fun by:

Going out for Drinks
Going to the Beach
Having a Day off
Being Able to Relax

Don’t get me wrong who does not like to have fun and the items on the list above I like to do occasionally. I personally love having fun and that is why I have made huge sacrifices to make sure I have fun at everything I do. To many of you some of the things I do might not be fun because I am more focused on learning, growing as a person, and building something that can sustain my family long term.

Being a small business owner sometimes keeps you away from doing any of the above-mentioned items for long periods of time. Given that I hardly go out for drinks because I want to have my mind as effective as possible without slowing it down, I hardly have time to go to the beach, and I hardly take days off or relax because business is not where I like it to be I look for things that make me enjoy my day.

I try to reach certain goals every day like writing at least 3 blog post drafts a day, two proposals a week, learning something new every day, trying to do a better job at managing my time, and making sure I spend quality time with my 7 month old daughter by feeding her and being their for her. Overall I have to say I really enjoy when I accomplish something and get to do something to make my self a better person.

Working hard opens doors

By working hard I have had the opportunity to do many fun things like being able to sit down with the people I admire and communicate online and have a lunch while being paid for the experience, I get to read books on my favorite business subjects that I received from the authors so I can review without having to pay for them. I have gotten to meet a lot of interesting people who have seen the efforts I run online and are there to support me in difficult times. There are many other factors where my hard work has translated into fun.

A Huge Disconnection

I see many people complaining on how bad they have it and things are not working well. But on the other side there priorities are having fun before trying to fix the problems. They find it easier to ignore the issues that need to be fixed and drink or party there days away.

In my case I battle against time and try to make the most out of it. I can’t have fun if I know I have responsibilities that need to be met. Before I became a business owner I use to have a better balance on having more fun which I am working towards in the future by working harder now.

As of the moment I love what I do at CIMA IT Solutions I like creating websites, being part of creations of new images for companies and brands, and most importantly helping them get closer to their communities in a positive and friendly way. Many just see when I get a privilege to enjoy myself every once in a while but it takes a lot of discipline to reach many of those neat perks I receive.

How do you balance making sure you are exceeding your goals while having fun?

photo credit by puer.aeternus

Number One Dime

June 26, 2011 by Raul Colon

We all have something we value and cherish. It can be something of sentimental value that can get us thinking of a neat experience in the past. Many business remember the first dollar they made and will frame it as a momento for their clients to see. This act is similar to Uncle Scrooge’s Number One Dime in the 90s cartoon series Duck Tales. But Uncle Scrooge’s Number One dime was placed inside a vault and highly protected. .

I remember as a kid wanting to swim in Money like Uncle Scrooge. I was always worried when the bad guys (the Beagle Boys and Magica De Spell) got close to Uncle Scrooge’s Number One Dime. Years later I kind of kept focusing on making money and climbing the corporate ladder. Yes I would say I was making a bit more than most of my peers. Working for KPMG I did get many perks from moving around in car services in New York City, eating and drinking in some awesome restaurants, interacting with key players of large companies, and many other things that I thought had me on track to being Uncle Scrooge one day.

I was already looking for a location to keep my stash. Then I got tired of all the sacrifices I was making. I looked around me and I clearly saw many individuals focused on making money and doing almost anything towards reaching the top level. I caught myself waking up at 430 am to make it into the office at 7am with a 2+ hour commute one way and then leaving the office at 12am sleeping on the train or car service to get some rest so I could go at it the next day. Yes I did a lot of sleeping on the train like many. I have to say I was very privileged to working at KPMG and I had great people around me which made the experience a more pleasant one. My turning point was when I read Gene O’Kelley’s book Chasing Daylight: How My Forthcoming Death Transformed My Life (Amazon Affiliate Link). He really made me focus on enjoying life and keeping a balance in between reaching your professional goals and meeting personal goals. Gene left us at an early age and he clearly impacted many of us including me.

Although changing my lifestyle took some time I have to say I am extremely happy to be working on my dreams with the privilege of being able to wake up in morning and plan my day out with a lot of control on my life. I make sure I meet my commitments and I work harder than ever because I love what I do. In most occasions some of the projects I do are not even compensated with money (Papaheroes.com & Veglatino.com) but the fact that I am creating something that is useful for someone else is the best compensation I can get.

I work every day towards having people understand and protect what they most love. I work with small businesses which are struggling and do my best to help them keep afloat.

Projects that make it easy for me to be successful are those where management or owners are focused on giving good customer service, great quality products, unique services, and for them making money is not a priority. For many there Number One Dime is their house (which I lost last year given Banco Popular’s shady loss mitigation practices. I am cooking up a post on that) in my case, my house was a place to live. That is why I easily handed it over to Banco Popular they seemed to want the house more than I did. My biggest challenge is with people that don’t want to lose something material to gain more important things. Many of those people I will not change and I work on those that are interested in working alongside me so we can all grow.

The biggest perk KPMG gave me was not wanting to go after the stash of cash. I have to say that for me my Number One Dime is not focusing on material things and following my dreams. I won’t let anyone take that away from me.

What is your number one dime? Are you willing to sacrifice your material things to find happiness long term?

Popularity Vs. Success! Do they go Together?

May 13, 2011 by Raul Colon

We had a great opportunity on Kitchen Table Companies (affiliate link) to talk to @ChrisBrogan and ask questions via Ustream a few days ago as part of the #KTCOH (Kitchen Table Companies Office Hours).

One of the things @chrisbrogan touched upon was the difference in trying to be popular and being succesful. I have been trying to look for ways to make this blog and some of my other efforts more successful. For me being popular is not an objective neither do I care. I have never been a fan of winning popularity contests. I rather share my values and thoughts and get disagreement than have everyone agree with me when I compromise my own value system.

Short Dictionary Definitions of Success and Popularity

Popularity – Well Liked with High Social Status.

Success – Accomplishing an aim or Purpose.

Why Nerds are not Popular?

One of the best examples I read online was “Why Nerds are Not Popular?“. This post written a while back got me thinking on some reasons why being popular and succesful can be two different things. I enjoyed the post so much I summarized it in the following lines.

Being Smart

Being Smart is one of the reasons that can steer you away from popularity (It also has a strong bond with being a nerd). It can complicate your life from a social standpoint since it makes you really focus on things that are important instead of making people do things to make others happy.

What motivates a Nerd?

A nerd can be motivated by doing well in school, building an awesome computer software, enhancing their writing skills, and overall creating things that can make other people say WOW!

Learning and wanting to be popular

Most nerds don’t get the part of wanting to be popular and that there is a learning process to become popular. At the end of the day they are more focused on beings successful and meeting there goals than wanting people to be happy around them.

My Definition and interpretation of success and Popularity from my point of view.

Overall I see how many in the corporate world end up getting promoted because they are playing the popularity game. Just a few weeks I lost a client because she did not want to hear the honest reason why I thought there effort was failing. She would have preferred me telling her to take the wrong route just to make her happy. I lost my client but I earned the respect of many at the client that agreed with me and long term there might be the possibility that this person realizes that I clearly wanted the best for her effort.

I strive to be successful although for me Success Is not having to cut the grass. I make sure that whatever I do I am completely committed. I am continously trying to reach a peak but as my online friend @margieclayman has taught me I start looking for a new one to climb once I reached the one I had in mind.

I see many people using twitter or facebook just worried about the count of followers or likes instead of actually extending themselves to serve a purpose. I am a firm believer that many of them think that success is winning a popularity contest. The main rason why this happnes is because there ego’s are more important than building a community.

I know many nerds that have taken play key parts in the global economy and they sure where not popular just browser over Warren Buffet’s biography The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life (amazon affiliate link) and you can see how difficult it was for him to become one of the richest men in the world.

To all of you going after the numbers or are you winning a Popularity Contest? Can you go for being Mr. Popular and being successful at the same time?

Success is Not having to Cut the Grass!

December 22, 2010 by Raul Colon

Every day I see so many people that have a different perspective on what it means to be successful. Most of them are pretty consistent on tying success to making more money. Some of them even worry me because they are willing to do things that go against their own values to achieve those goals.

What is Success?

Since I started my own business CIMA IT Solutions in 2008 I have had my ups and downs (like every small business owner has, its part of the learning process). The only thing that has gone up is the level of commitment (work load) and time I dedicate to my clients (I am very grateful that I have a more clients than when I started), projects, and the community around my business. I am very passionate of what I do and how I interact with my clients and my community. In able to make my business survive I have been obligated to cut back on many things I thought where necessary but where real luxuries.

I strive every day to be successful, but in a different way. Years ago I met John, he had lived in Puerto Rico for more than a decade and had set up a very profitable business, he was from Oklahoma and was older than my dad. I would meet with John to talk about the local economy and little by little I realized that his tid bits of information where very practical and with a lot of wisdom. John worked himself up from being a construction worker to owning a pretty large construction company and to my understanding only finished high school. His character was very aggressive when he did not agree but he was always extremely loyal protecting those who where part of his small community.

John gave me a few phrases which I have used every day since he spoke them to me. I remember one of his phrases was regarding success.

“Success is doing the things you are passionate about, and not having to be part or execute things you don’t like.”

Ever since that moment I have used very simple metrics to measure my success and I will share the key ones with you:

I don’t cut the Grass – If I don’t have enough money to pay someone else to Cut the Grass I consider myself not having such a good month . I always try to improve upon my work and the time it would take me to get the grass and my yard looking like I want it to look would be longer than it should. I rather focus on taking care of my clients and building my business than what spot I need to trim or cut next.

I don’t wash my car – It takes me so long to make my car look right and I really don’t enjoy washing my car that I make sure someone else does it. With this one if I am having a bad month economically the car does not get washed my grass keeps on growing so I guess I have no way around cutting the grass if I have a bad month.

I am still working on making enough money to have someone come by the house and help me clean as of right now I work with a terrific team which I have depicted one of the members in the picture below.

One thing I really enjoy doing is grooming my Dog Juanga this is something that although I know I can take him to a Groomer I rather do myself. It brings me memories of my first business RJ Pet Service in which I started grooming dogs at the age of 15. So taking the time to groom Juanga brings me back good memories of when I started working to build my 1st business. (Let me not forget that is also gives me quality time with Juanga).

As I prepare for 2011 I had the opportunity to read a great post THAT SENSE OF OVERNIGHT SUCCESS and watch this awesome video from @chrisbrogan which gives the reality of what success behind the scenes really is:

So to all of you as my 2011 goal I don’t plan to have to cut the grass or wash my car. Let’s see if we can get some assistance on other house chores during the year.

How do you measure success?

What things would you like to do more and does you want to do less?