Quixoting™ - A Quest for New Ideas

Quick Tip - Read this: New business ideas for entrepreneurs

One of the blogs I enjoy reading is called Escape from Cubicle Nation.  The blog is written by Pamela Slim.  Her tagline?  "How to go from corporate prisoner to thriving entrepreneur".  That is a dream that I know many people have for themselves.  What about you?

In a recent post titled "5 business ideas just waiting for an entrepreneur ... like you?" Pamela offers some compelling new business ideas.  If you like some of mine, you will love Pamela's because she presents them in a way that helps you see yourself in that business . . . tomorrow!

You can find Pamela's post here.  And you can download a regular feed from her blog by clicking on her site in my blogroll.

As a relatively new blogger, Pamela's site is one that I have followed and looked to model.  Please take a look - I think you will like what you see!

You can also follow Pamela on twitter @ http://twitter.com/pamslim

Your idea. Is it time to throw the baby out with the bath water?

So a couple of years ago you chose an idea.  It was one you thought really made sense to launch. You asked a few friends and they didn't protest much.  So you invested a few bucks and got it started. Maybe it wasn't your only gig, but it was your idea.

Now here we are a few years later and things are pretty slow.  Your idea is still out there for people to buy or use.  You've tried to make a few changes here and a few tweaks there but things haven't progressed.  You certainly can't quit, right?

When is it time to throw the baby out with the bath water?

The old saying implies that you should not blame the baby for the dirty appearance of the water.  But it was the baby that got it dirty in the first place, right?  So if you've cleaned the tub a number of times and the water keeps getting dirty, maybe it IS the baby's fault.

What if you let it all go down the drain?  Quietly, in the middle of the night, so no one can witness your act of treason?  Sometimes it's just the right thing to do. 

If you believe in the premise of Quixoting - that your ideas deserve a public audience - and you decide to launch it in some fashion, how do you know when it is time to give up?  Some might say that you should never give up.  That those who give up leave opportunities for those still pushing hard.  

I believe that there is an end date for some ideas.  As painful as it sounds, you need to recognize when perhaps you've created something that others don't want.  That your idea, it turns out, was fascinating to you at one time, but did not have the appeal to deliver real value in this cluttered world.

But, you know what?  You launched it.  You gave it a shot.  There is always some level of risk with new ideas.  That's what makes it exciting.

So, here's what you need to do.  Think it through and decide.

1. Have you tried every reasonable angle to gain customers?
2. Did you give it enough time to succeed (at least a year)? 
3. Are people around you hinting that maybe you should take a break?
4. Are you lacking 3rd party endorsements (people telling other people about your idea)?  

If all answers to the questions above are yes, perhaps its time to pull the plug.  Welcome to the world of inventors and idea people.  Where failure is an expected part of the process.

https://twitter.com/Quixoting

Help! I miss my reading time.

Blogging has been a great blessing for me.  It has ignited a long lost passion for writing and has released a tremendous amount of pent up creative pressure.  By acting on my ideas, I am no longer repressing them and myself (for having them and leaving them unshared). 

I am also using my computer time for something productive.  Can you relate?  Before, I spent way too much time using the internet surveying news stories about people in other cities doing outlandish or provocative deeds - things that would stimulate the brain.  Now I am writing two blogs and I've created a website for Spin Strategy.  I am also reading blogs - something I did only occasionally in the past - more when I needed help with a technical question.

Now I read blogs like Illuminated Mind.  Written by Jonathan Mead (a self described husband, proud father of a two year old Shih Tzu, vegetarian, graphic designer, musician, seeker of truth, and basic dork), this blog is one that speaks to me.  While the purpose of Jonathan's blog is personal development, his scope is broader.  According to Jonathan: "The purpose of Illuminated Mind is to bring clarity. When your mind is illuminated you are able to pull the weeds from your mental garden."  If you've enjoyed my posts that lean more philosophical, you will love Illuminated Mind. 

But it's not all wine and roses.  Yep, there are sacrifices to being a blogger.  They include family time, ESPN time and sleep.

Another sacrifice that I recently discovered was that I am not reading many book chapters anymore. You see, I absolutely love to read books.  Classics like Don Quixote, biographies like Ty Cobb and short inspirational novels like Siddhartha. 

You see, I was complaining to my wife the other night.  I said, "I feel like I have been reading this book for seven months!".  She said:  "That's because you aren't reading anymore".  She was right, but I hadn't noticed it yet.  I'd only seen the symptom.

So I ask you.  What's the proper balance out there?  What if I stopped reading all together?  If I were a producer not a consumer.  What would happen to my brain?

Would the ideas still come?  Would I still have a meandering mind?  I would be very bummed if my balance of reading, having shifted, left me without the same curiosity for life.  

Or is that something you are born with?

 

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from Quixoting™

I hope this finds you surrounded by family and enjoying a great holiday.  Best wishes to you and yours!

Looking forward to January, I have plans to make this blog smarter and better for 2009.  I am working on a logo and a new design for the site.  I am also working to better explain its role in the world.  You see, in my "true to Don Quixote" impulsive nature, this site was launched in September with an idea book full of ideas and the inspiration from an errant knight.  The site's purpose would come naturally. That was the plan.

Quixoting will always be about ideas.  Ideas and the philosophy or psychology behind them.  It is also about the inspiration and encouragement to act on them.  This site is the celebration of a man more known for failure than success.  Does that seem strange to you?  For me though?  I'd rather be tilting at windmills than sitting on my rear end without a reason to move!  I see so much more in his story and will work to share that aspect of him with you.

So as I head into 2009, will you continue to read along?  Would any of you be willing to share your thoughts on Quixoting so far?  What has been the most interesting or helpful?  And, importantly, what has been less inspiring?

All the best to you!

Tim

Dueling brain cells

I was working on a few things via the Mac tonight and listening to iTunes as I usually do.  When up popped a song I hadn't heard in many years.  Many of us first heard this song in the movie Deliverance (very disturbing scenes forgotten).  It is called dueling banjos and it has great back and forth energy.  In college, it often got mixed in by the DJ (bless his heart) in between Gun N Roses and Depeche Mode.  Either way it left the crowd stunned.  Stunned at the scene of a banjo led mosh pit where 25 guys headed to the dance floor alone (without a female partner) to sizzle and pop like drops of water on a hot pan.

So as this song started up, I got inspired.  I stopped so I could write this intro.  You see, I wasn't going to post anything here tonight.  Now my plan is to write with this song blaring (as best it can) in my ear buds and see what comes out on paper.

This version is by the Wood Brothers and it is 3:18.  If I can write the way I used to dance, this could be scary.  Believe me, I'll understand your struggling to picture someone (a college kid) dancing to this song.  You'd have to know me back then and the guys I hung with!  Here goes . . .

"So it starts out kind of slow.  The battle slowly edging forward and I'm thinking about how a civil war soldier must have felt as he walked uneasily toward his death.   A cold gun in his hand.  The music also reminds me of the guitar in the Good, The Bad and The Ugly.  As Clint Eastwood's character stares down the other two - each looking to take home the gold.

Now the song jostles forward and gets fast and fun.  People loved dancing to this part.  Now it's like the music is climbing and jumping, scooping up dirt along the way as it runs down a dusty path.  Now it is running crazy like being chased by something or someone. .  It stops and shakes its head, spit flies.  Heavy breathing, looking side to side for an attacker.  None found, it collapses, rolls over and sighs."

OK, that's all I got.  Not very many words for 3:18.  Only 140 words.  Boy, that went by fast.  I actually felt the music pushing me along.  Impatient.  Like "C'mon, boy!  Is that all you got!"

What do you think about this little experiment?  It is a great example of Quixoting.  Taking action an idea that just hits you.

What's hitting you?

What to do if your car breaks down? I have an idea.

On Friday I was driving home from work and I had this weird feeling that the car was about to die on me. This is probably because a week earlier I ran out of gas and had to coast to a parking lot near my house. You're probably thinking to yourself that I am somewhat irresponsible to run out of gas - people don't do that anymore do they?  All the newfangled digital readouts in today's cars should help us avoid all that, right?

Well, I have a 2000 Jeep and, yes, it tells me when to get gas.  Unfortunately, on the day I ran out of gas, the fancy computer told me I had 42 miles left in the tank.  What's a guy to do?

So, that lingering feeling on Friday reminded me of my own past break downs (high school and college when I had absolutely no money) and the break downs of others (when a number of nice people hop out and help push the car to safety).  And, as you might, expect an idea popped into the noggin.  As you may know, this is my affliction.  Ideas, brilliant or pedestrian, drop like acorns in my head.

So, here's the idea.  Yell at me if you've heard of it already or if, whoops, it already exists!

Let's say I am driving along listening to the Eagles "Hotel California" and KACHUNK, the car stops dead. Let's also say its 10:00 at night and you are a few blocks from a gas station.  Can you really push the car that far?  Even with help, that's a lot of pushing.

In my mind, the solution is a small, battery or solar powered motor that safely propels you out of traffic and into a friendly neighborhood station.  It also has to be independent of the car's system so as to not be afflicted by the same disease that stopped the car in the first place.  This motor could be installed by the auto companies, but would more likely be an aftermarket device (auto companies may not want to admit the possibility of a breakdown, right?).

Would you buy an aftermarket motor for the rare moment when you breakdown?  How often has this happened to you?

How would this work?  Originally I had a vision of someone still having to get out of the car and pushing with one hand on the wheel and one on the door jam (old school).  In this case, the motor would only gently help the car move, removing the bulk of the burden for a single pusher.  But then I thought that this idea is silly.  If you are going to add a motor, shouldn't it at least allow you to stay in the car and drive like normal? Even if you could only go 5 mph?

Don't sail boats have these?

So here's a problem.  Sometimes, without the motor running, the steering seizes up.  This is what happened when I ran out of gas.  What do you do then?

What's your solution?

If anyone calls into Car Talk next week, will you ask Tom and Ray what they think?  

P.S.  Yes, that is my actual plate pictured above - if you live in Southern California and see me on the road, please say hello - especially if I am broken down.  :-)

 

In case you are wondering what I'd like for Christmas

Oh sure, you've got a lot of people on your shopping list.  I've heard it all before.  No time, no money, no way.

But this year I'm not asking for much.

You see, there's a hot new toy out this year.  It's based on one of the most famous toys of all time.  And I want it.

Will you give it to me?

I hate to do it since it is kind of selfish.  Oh, OK, I'll ask already.

I would like Stumble Me Elmo

You tickle its tummy and it tells a lot of other people about this blog.  By the way, you can also do this by clicking on the STUMBLE IT button on the top right of this blog.  How convenient, right?

If you are not a Stumbleupon user, you can buy me the new Delicious Barbie or the  Ma.gnolia Motorcyle.  If you have no clue what I'm talking about, you could always just Share This with a friend.

I'm still thinking about what I'll be getting for you . . .

Welcome to the wrestling room

As a dad with three kids, I have my share of bumps and bruises. They are not from kicking a chair or impaling my thigh on the corner of an end table (although I've done that a number of times). If only that was the source of my pain. No, my scars come directly as a result of wrestling with my kids. 

If you don't have kids, I'm sure you have nephews and nieces. If you don't have boys, your scars might be a little less noticeable. But the scars are there (my daughter has provided plenty). 

Today's idea has to do with providing a safe place to wrestle with your kids. You see, on a safety scale (10 being very safe and 1 being flat out dangerous), my house is a 2. We have lots of pointy corners, hardwood floors and plenty of table with glass vases on them. Not exactly a place where you can throw a pillow from one corner of the room to the other. Living in Southern California, you don't tend to get the "great room" or basement that is common in the midwest. 

What we do have is one long hallway upstairs - and that's where the action gets out of control. Kids running from one end to the other doing bombing runs on dad or just curious fly-by's. Every once in a while two planes (kids) will collide in mid-flight and that usually stops that part of the festivities. 

The favorite game for my kids, however, is something we call "The Masked Avenger". I have an old snow ski cap that I pull down over my eyes and yell "No one can stop the masked avenger". Of course this challenge will never be left unanswered by a child. They proceed to knock me down and try to steal the mask for a game of keep away. It is a blast! 

The problem is two-fold. As I've said. The house isn't safe enough and, invariably, someone gets hurt. Usually too early for the other two kids who aren't done yet. Second, the house isn't big enough anymore for the full run and tackle for which my kids are famous. 

So I'd like to create a place for dads (or moms) to wrestle with the kids. I'll call it "Tim's Wrestling Room". Or maybe "Castle of the Masked Avenger". Everything there would need to be very soft and "cushiony" (as in a place with many cushions) with lots of places to hide. Surprise attacks are key to a good wrestling session. 

Of course, there's something special about the unplanned wrestling that breaks out after dinner, but I think I'd like it scheduled too. 

That way kids can run at me full speed, bowl me over and not break anything in our nice house. Any Masked Avengers out there? Maybe Evil Sorcerers? What do you think? Would you go? 

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Are you grateful? Need a reminder to remember why?

There are times in life.  We've all had them.  Despite so many things to be thankful for, we can easily find dumb little other pains to worry about.  We forget about just how lucky we were to be born.  After all, just think of the odds!  Especially here in the U.S. we have riches and a cultural structure that generally allows us tremendous freedom and opportunity.  Yet somehow it is often not enough.

Well, what if I told you I had a way to, like a rush of steam, to remind you of all the wonderful things that you've forgotten to focus on while wallowing in the muck.  Using input from you and readily available public data, I can do this.  But I haven't done it yet.

Now, let's be honest.  There's an awful lot of talk out there about being grateful.  It is/was a big part of "The Secret" and is a regular topic for Oprah, Dr. Phil and the like.  But you simply cannot tell someone what to be grateful for, can you?  Isn't that like telling someone they "don't look fat in those jeans"?  Even if it is incredibly obvious to you, it has to be apparent to them. 

So, enter idea from idea book (right below). 

I'm not sure if you can read all that so I will read it for you.  OK there.  Got it?

Basically this is a website that starts with a list of 100 questions.  Simple enough, right?  These 100 questions are specially crafted to learn your complete life situation.  Once you have completed your answers and the machine whirrs and lights flash, a report is generated that identifies 10 things that separate you from others in your community, state, country and in the world.  This executive summary is followed by a very detailed report about your comparative results.

How does it work?  Well, I have absolutely no idea.  But what I like is the ability of this report to not only identify all the facts that make up your life but to begin comparing them to those also living on this planet.  I know what you are thinking.  How despicable that I resort to comparisons with those less fortunate to make myself feel better.  It doesn't sound very Christian to do that and it doesn't feel very in tune with Buddhism to need to do so.  We should all just "be".  I get it.  And you are right.

Continuing with the idea.  Each participant would have the option of updating a portion of the test (those areas that are more likely to change like health) on a monthly or quarterly basis.  But most would do it annually.  Once a year (Thanksgiving Day) you would get a report that reminds you of your relative position in life.

For a few simple examples: 

Q: How many kids do you have?  A: 4

DATA:  The average family in the U.S. has 2.5 kids.  The average family in China has 1.

Q: Does anyone in your family get sick on a regular basis or have a disease?  A:  No.

DATA:  The average family in the U.S. has .4 sick or diseased family members.  In Africa the number is three times the U.S. average.

So, the things I like about this idea:

1. Everyone gets a tangible reminder on a key day of thanks
2. There is an education angle here (for parents and kids) 
3. The education could lead to a bit more humility and understanding of this world. 
4. Who wouldn't want to see if next year they aren't relatively more better off than in prior years?(kind of like a life version of the stock market - scary that I even said that . . .)   

That's it - what do you think?

My expanding view of Quixoting™

So in a recent post I told you that I have these life fantasies.  One of them I already told you about was my fantasy of being able to draw.  Another thing I always wanted to do was to write songs, play the guitar and serenade girls.  Well, I did that but the fantasy usually involves me being good.  And that I haven't been able to do.

Fantasies are nice in that they give you a hope and a possibility that maybe you really do have a special talent.  Something that makes people stop on the street and stare, mouth open in awe.  I've often wondered whether these fantasies are healthy and hopeful things or impediments to really living - right- this - minute.

OK, so in the spirit of Quixoting, we are supposed to share our work with others (that's you).

Here goes.  Right after college (1990 or so), I was living with a couple of my fraternity brothers in Manhattan Beach, CA.  We had a place on the main drag heading down to the shore.  Good times, right?  Well, I was not always the life of the party then as I was trying to figure out life on a few levels.  Part of that included a Birkenstocks phase, a poetry phase and a guitar phase (feel free to create your own larger category).  I guess you could say I was expressing.  Very painful for my buddies to watch, I'm sure.

I had never played the guitar much before but I did take a class at San Diego State.  I could strum a mean Puff the Magic Dragon.  Anyway, I wrote six songs including lyrics and some very rough strumming chords.  I recorded them on a lousy boom box and still have the tape.  Someday I will memorialize them digitally. Instead of boring you with the voice or the poor strumming, I'll share the lyrics of a few songs over the coming weeks and months.

But before I do, let me say a few words about my expanding view of Quixoting.  I've said that Quixoting is about ideas (new and old) as well as the inspiration to act on them.  It is about sharing them or launching them.  Well there are many categories of ideas that can feel the shade of this blog's umbrella.  Over the coming months, I will look to share a wider variety of my creative output.  Some recent and some dating back to my teens.  Why, you ask?  Simply, to thank myself for coming up with them.  After years of disparaging them and leaving them to languish in a dark corner, they will now see the light of day.  You just may need to cover your eyes as I cannot promise their ability to stun you with pride.  Longer term, I would like to create a platform where others can do the same.  Interested?

Here's the song.

In the World

(V1)

i watch the world

that's watchin' me

who's the teacher 

teachin' me?

i play the game

with regret

knowin' that

i'll soon forget

someday I'll know

and clearly see

the doors were never

closed to me

explore my eyes

they cast a doubt

what the hell

am I worried about?

i am free

to believe

walk with me

but don't deceive

(V2)

i see the sky

turnin' red

all the clouds

surround my head

when darkness comes

crawlin' down

all my feelin's

tumble round

the pleasing sounds

of ocean walls

don't forgive

my heart that crawls

but in my mind

a quiet voice

tells me that

i've got a choice

i am free

to believe

walk with me

but don't deceive

i watch the world

that's watchin' me

who's the teacher

teachin' me?

Now if the song seems dark, it really isn't (or at least I wasn't feeling that way).  But i was questioning a lot at the time.  

Of course, all of this is copyrighted work by me (because saying so fulfills part of the fantasy that others may see my work and alert a number of struggling songwriters).

So, there you have it.  The official unleashing of a song-writing juggernaut.  Let me know if you want the chords so you can hum it during your commute to work this week.