Lorne Caleb Loraas November 29 1930 – April 19 2011

Lorne Caleb Loraas <- click to download video. Double click the video above to maximize the video on your monitor.

Behind the Man

He was a great grandfather, a grandfather, a father, a brother, and a best friend. To me he was both a grandfather and a best friend. He taught me to ride a bike, to drive,  to fish, the significance of family, and helped me to be where I am in my career today. I always knew he did a lot for people but never really knew how much until after he passed. People started talking about him and all the great things he did throughout his life.

I will miss his genuine smile, his warm approach to every day, and his sense of humor. He was a very smart, well educated, and well spoken with an answer for my every question. His sacrifice definitely showed as he often would tell me about the plants and work he did throughout his life. He was one of the youngest 1st Class engineers in BC in his time going through school while working, and raising his two young daughters at the time. I can’t even imagine how hard it would of been to study with two little girls running around plus the common stresses of work. This is a time where people had to do all their calculations on paper without calculators.

His work ethic was pretty sound taking everything from a job as a pearl diver (dish washer) for a camp to shoveling tons of frozen coal to work his way up to trouble shooting power plants across North America. I learned from my family that he once worked 2 weeks of his vacation for a local construction company just so he could afford to take his family on vacation. Hard work was never something he was afraid of. Even during his last days I found him outside working on the electronics of shower cleaner outside. I was told months earlier he was outside pulling on a rope to help fall a tree despite his health.

Most of the time when I’d visit he’d be watching the BC Lions, the Vancouver Canucks, or a curling bonspiel. He never missed a Canucks game, and I think my sister would be right in calling him their biggest fan. He was an accomplished curler, and outdoors man.  We’d often go walk across the train tressel or by the river near by. Whether anyone was around or not he’d be outside doing something.

If he wasn’t watching one of the games he’d be out doing carpentry, gardening, visiting with the neighbors or off on a walk. I was always impressed by how he knew every person for miles which is something not too common these days. When he said hello to people he said it with warmth and genuinely meant it.  He often talked about Royston, BC as God’s country and tease me on the phone about it knowing that it was often -21c or colder in Alberta while they were mowing their lawns out there.

I often found him watching western films when I visited, and he’d talk about the places he’d lived like Wyoming. He’d often be seen wearing one of his belt buckles and on special occasions a bolo made for him. He’d talk of how he lived on the prairies as a boy and how the dog would  run down coyotes. I think he missed it but that sure didn’t stop him from being outside. He would often talk about a trip where my family went riding and would laugh when talking about my cousin who was at the time a toddler having to frequently get off the horse to pee but never actually going.

He’d tell me about going out with his brother and his first truck a Ford which he purchased for $16.  He’d tell me about how heavy his bike was and riding it up the hill in Kimberly, BC. I’d often hear about stories about the power plants he worked in and the crazy things that would happen. How he would leave a plant after troubleshooting it for GE only to have to come back days later when the plant managers would mess it up again. In those times in the US the plants didn’t have the training that they do today and they’d call on his expertise and experience to work things out. I remember him telling me that he saved a company $1o million  dollars and all they gave him was a stereo for it. That stereo was found blaring for years and  was definitely made good use of.

He was a pretty innovative guy and loved to make stuff. I recall them complaining about the deer constantly eating their roses. So one day when I was visiting I found him outside attaching a motion sensor light to the sprinkler so that any time the deer would try to eat the roses they would get nailed with the sprinkler. This worked out great for a while until delivery people started getting it and the sprinkler system was retired.

I often remember going out to his shop and seeing him working on some wood project. He’d be working on the lathe and often covered in wood dust. I was impressed by the cars, chairs, and ornate wood chests he made for the family. If he wasn’t there he would be  just out back chopping wood from the giant wood shed just in case they needed some wood. It was always fully loaded and then some. He often told me about how he used to go out and chop wood for fun.

I remember being up on the roof one time and being lowered down by a rope to clean out the eaves troffs. There was a lot of moss up there and it was rather slippery that day. We were rather lucky because as we were heading towards the edge of the roof he slipped stopping  just before the edge. He was always a man to take care of things. I really learned a lot about odd jobs from him like soldering the pipes below the four plex. I remember we didn’t quite get it right and him yelling to turn it off because the water was spraying in the dirt crawl space. That was a really gross job but it taught me  a lot about the sacrifices it takes to own something.

One time I went over and he decided he was going to do some work on his old blue Pontiac. The side had been pushed in and he was going to do the auto body work himself.  We were shocked to find the pushed in side popped out after just one hit with a rubber mallet. Shortly after we repainted the car with spray paint and sold the car. He always loved his cars and in all his years of driving never got a single ticket except when his daughters got one for him while he was in respite care after massive heart surgery. He quietly went out and paid for it not telling them because that was the kind of man he was.

He once went with my sister in the middle of the night to Future Shop on boxing day to help her buy her video camera. That video camera became the start of my sister Maureen’s career in the film industry in Vancouver.  Most of my family can tell you similar stories like this myself included.

These are just a few things about a great man. He was my grandfather and I’ll really miss him,

“It is not strength but the duration of great sentiments that makes great men.”
- Friedrich Nietzsche

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A great many young Canadians today calling for electoral reform and I couldn’t disagree entirely. The only  issue is it would be a little too one sided based on the most sporadically placed nation per capita in the world with random heavily populated areas ending up with too much influence over other areas of  Canada . It’s an unusual issue that can hardly be done on a per capita basis because of the shear magnitude of the regional differences and the unique fiscal needs of each area. It would be the equivalent of Bubba (Quebec) coming over and raping the prairie regions. Since there’s no way that will ever be accepted we have to accept alternative methods of progress as the government becomes the true voice of Canadians.

The only resolve for electoral reform is to give Canadians more of a voice with open data and operate with more government transparency.  A system needs to be implemented to give Canadians informed  propaganda-free, educated, and comprehensive data that’s actionable and real time through information technology. Most Canadians agree that waiting four years in between elections to buy into propaganda and outright lies is not only very wrong, it’s criminal. We’re not only frustrated with the lies that are allowed during campaign time but the misinformation presented to us in between. It seems like politics is one of the few systems where it’s acceptable for people to lie on the job, not come to work, and not be accountable without being fired. In fact, when government officials slash budgets and save money that’s often injected into their bonuses as being more effective when that’s not necessarily the case at all. The current accountability system simply isn’t working. Elected officials for accountability had their budgets slashed and in many cases not even doing their jobs. If you want change talk to your local elected official about their progress towards open data and accountable transparent Canadian Government.

Accountability starts with us and without addressing the issues we’ll never have change.

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It looks like the Conservative Party of Canada – Parti conservateur du Canada of Canada won a majority government and as predicted the NDP (New Democratic Party) took a strong place in the new federal election. Congratulations to local representative Laurie Hawn on being re-elected. It looks like we’re going to have a strong economically driven government into the bull market ahead of the rest of the world to help drive our top trade partners back into the green. This is good as our banks will not be tampered with, and businesses will have the flexibility to do more in a time that’s especially vital to our lead in the global market. The Conservative Party especially pro business and has done a lot to remove red tape making it much easier to do trade with Canada. Businesses the world around can rest assured Canada will be a great place to invest in over the next 4 years as the Conservative Government takes a majority continuing their role as the voice of Canada.

The Bloc Quebecois Separatists lost their place in government to actual federal parties and that’s something we can all be proud of. I believe Quebecers recognized that in order to have a voice in Canada they needed to be part of a federal party that thinks about what’s good for everybody instead of what’s just good for them. While I appreciate my French heritage blocking out the world is not the way you get the respect of the world as respect is earned. Quebec’s new party would be much better off embracing new people than attacking them for their differences as that’s what makes Canada great.

I am especially thankful that the Liberal Party didn’t get into office because they were against corporations and that’s the last thing we climb out of a global recession. The 3% corporate increase to businesses would of been passed onto consumers and ultimately driven business in some cases as inflation is already especially high as government stimulus has been injected into the economy. It’s a very delicate economic cycle and while 3% doesn’t sound like much the trade off’s/opportunity costs the Liberals were offering was too far for Canada to accept. Fortunately, the differences in education spend between the Liberals and Conservatives is very small despite no tax increases by the Conservatives.

Now it’s up to Canadians to be accountable by participating in the Canadian Government and use our voice to shift change in the right direction when people the world around fight to have the liberties we so often take for granted. I couldn’t be prouder of being a Canadian today, and if you’re Canadian I’m really glad you voted.

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Adolf Hitler was suggested to have committed suicide on April 30, 1945. Osama Bin Laden is suggested to be dead again and yet like 1945 we’re ignoring the root of the problem which is not so much the acts of one man but the people behind him. This is not the end of terrorism nor is it the end of the problem just like after Sudam Hussein was removed. Tomorrow is Canadian Federal Election Day. Don’t just vote to vote.. vote to be accountable. Be the change you want to see in the world. Fight the wars on terrorism in the classroom and at the borders. Change starts with us.

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Canadian Government 2011 Education Budget

The Liberal Party lead the investment for post secondary education with $1 billion.
The NDP has committed $700 million to post secondary education.
The Conservatives have also committed $700 million to post secondary education.

So at what cost to Canadians does this come at?

The Liberal Party

The Liberals want to increase corporate taxes by 3% above the proposed conservative corporate tax rate of 15% which essentially means the equivalent of a hidden 3% HST for Canadians.

The NDP Party

The NDP party wants to reduce small business taxes, and increase spend on most social programs which many see as too extravagant in the spending for a recessionary period. Looking at the NDP’s financial history they certainly haven’t demonstrated the ability to balance the economy.

The Conservative Party

The Conservatives are able to still commit $700 million new tax dollars towards post secondary education while being committed to reducing the national debt and leading the world economically. With their $13 billion committed towards jails I think we need to make them shift tax dollars towards education instead.

Questions We Need to be Asking

Just like any credit card company or bank we need to be asking at what cost these budgets are coming. Lets face it if every Canadian gets $1k a year for a 3% hike on prices for everything that’s probably not going to be worth it especially if there’s the potential those tax dollars are being taken away from the schools. The Family Pack proposed by the Liberals seems great but it’s going to come with a real cost that most people don’t see.

It seems very clear we need to make the current government more accountable to more spending on education and less on jails. When has any nation ever prevailed from putting people in jail? While I agree we need to be more strict on jail sentences I think we can all agree it’s time we recognize the significance of investing in education. Canada currently depends far too much on natural resources and commodity exports. In a time when 75% of our exports are going to the US it’s a clear sign we need to diversify our markets into more of a service oriented market by increasing education budgets, and investing in business. This should be a top priority for Canada as we all know the real wars are not fought on the field anymore… they’re fought in the classroom.

Make Your Vote Count in 2011

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It’s more important now than ever for Canadians to vote. We’re in the middle of a global recession and climbing our way out. While it’s unfortunate that there’s a costly election many of the points the opposing parties have to offer are quite valid. If you’re not watching this election you really should because your health, earnings, and education greatly depend on it. This is where we make or break Canada in a vital stage of growth.

Canadian Federal Election Debate 2011

Breakdown of Debate by Topic:

Canadian Healthcare:

Conservative Party:

The Harper Government has consistently honored the 6% increase in healthcare budgets every year and is especially committed to getting more out of the existing money by alternative medicine which is federally covered. He made it very clear that he wanted to maintain privatized healthcare which is available to all families including his family.

New Democratic Party NDP

Jack Layton made it very clear that he wanted there to be more aggressive spending to employ an additional 2500 doctors required for the current 5 million Canadians without a doctor due. He emphasized the draw backs of the programs currently in place that only displace doctors from one region to the next.

Liberals Party

Ignatief said he wanted to increase budgets for home care so family members could be compensated for taking time off to take care of family members. The benefits of this are obvious when it comes to the contrast between a person staying in a hospital vs at home.

Party Bloc Quebecois:

As per usual the self serving agenda of the Quebecois wasn’t for Canada it was a provincial considerations. They wanted more control over finances at a provincial level more so than control at the federal level as the federal government doesn’t run any hospitals other than the first nations and veterans which they suggested to be poorly managed.

Canadian Business & Economics:

Conservative Party:

PM. Harper was overly emphatic about the significance of allowing the Conservative party to finish the job they started which is recovering the economy and building jobs as they continue to lead ahead of the rest of the world as an economic leader. He maintained the importance of keeping taxes low for business growth, and keeping taxes for businesses equal.

New Democratic Party NDP

The NDP wants to reduce the small business tax from 11% to 9% and take credit card rates down to 5%. They wanted to stop giving tax breaks to the oil sands projects and big businesses.

Liberals Party

The Liberals want to raise the tax rate back up to 18% of which Stephen Harper said experts expect 200,000 jobs would be lost as a result. It’s also noted that the costs would be passed back onto Canadians. Expect to pay 2-3% more on everything as corporations will inevitably pass the costs to Canadians driving inflation. The 2012 corporate tax rate by the Conservatives was set to be 15% which means we’d all be paying 3% more on everything. Think of it as a hidden HST by the Liberals. Hopefully, most Canadians know it’s not just the corporations that will pay for this.

Education:

Conservative Party:

Stephen Harper seemed to deviate from any discussions on education resorting to economic recovery as a primary focus.

Liberals Party

Ignatief wants to implement the Learning Passport which equates to $4000 over 4 years or $6500 for students with a lower income background for post secondary. He did not specify as to whether it would be taken out of the usual budgets for universities

Canadian Immigration:

Conservative Party:

The Harper government emphasized how they greatly reduced wait times and increased immigration numbers.

New Democratic Party NDP

Jack Layton made it very clear that the immigration policies for bringing families over is extremely tough and that waiting up to 10 years is not excusable.

Party Bloc Quebecois:

The Quebecois made it clear they wanted everyone who comes over to speak French. He stated that the Quebecois don’t accept multiculturalism and you’re either a Quebecer or you’re  not. He presumed that all immigrants should integrate well otherwise it would end up like the ghettos of the UK.

Canadian Long Gun Registry:

Conservative Party:

The conservatives want to remove the long gun registry as they don’t see any effects of it lowering crime rates and that it’s an unnecessary expenditure for tax payers.

Liberals Party

Michael Ignatief was set on the usefulness of the Long Gun Registry. He made it clear that many police use the registry information before even sending anyone into a house. He suggested that if they protect us we should protect them.

New Democratic Party NDP

Jack Layton was for the gun registry.

Party Bloc Quebecois:

The Quebecois are for the gun registry suggesting it’s been useful

Canadian Jails and F35 Fighter Jets:

Conservative Party:

The Conservatives want to spend 13 billion on jails for unreported offenses. They also want to stiffen penalties and make punishments stick.  There’s no clear budget yet but Stephen Harper made it very clear that the payment for the jets wouldn’t go through for quite some time but setting aside money now for it was important with the current F18′s being retired. Last year 2 of the current F18′s literally fell out of the sky. I think most would agree it’s time to upgrade the fleet with the F18′s current state and Russia threatening our soveriegnty over Canada’s north.

Liberals Party

Michael Ignatief seemed set on having the planes up for open tender to reduce costs of the jets. They want to bring troops home from Afghanistan soon.

New Democratic Party NDP

Jack Layton doesn’t want to spend any money on the fighter jets in a time when there’s no budget for it. He was more for social programs than  lengthy jail terms.

Party Bloc Quebecois:

The Quebecois want to keep rehabilitation programs similar to young offenders that are currently quite successful.

Canadian 2011 Federal Election Debate Summary:

Liberals Party

While the Liberals have some good ideas their tax increase to 18% is just going to hurt everyone. For the amount of tax increases proposed the Liberals didn’t offer many solutions. Worthy of consideration other than the university increase and putting the fighter jet bid up for tender.

New Democratic Party NDP

The NDP party while offering many rewarding social programs thinks that cutting business taxes to 9% is going to be a success. In a country where 75% of the businesses are small this is going to be cutting tax revenue to substantially to adequately deal with the deficit. As part of Canada’s commitment to paying back the debt this plan of Jack’s doesn’t make that possible by removing tax revenue. Jack Layton wants to tamper with banks but as we’ve seen recently this results in investors putting their money elsewhere.  Offering tax reductions to small businesses and not big would result in big business leaving the country. While the NDP has a lot of great social ideas and programs the reality is they’ve got no way to pay for them. We’ve already got enough debt for now.

Party Bloc Quebecois:

The Quebecois while serving the French Canadian history push napoleon syndrome to the extremes. I’ve heard things from the Quebecois such as banning American TV and forcing everyone that moves to Quebec to be Quebecers. While I am a direct descendant of the first French Canadians landed in Canada I find this behavior disgusting. This is exactly why I left Quebec.

The questions offered were good enough to keep the rest accountable but the policies were too self serving and not for the better good of the country as a whole. The Quebecois are at best a provincial party and while they help bring the government to be accountable they don’t get votes because they don’t care about the rest of the country. They could do a lot more for French history and provincial government by considering that while Canada appreciates their history this is a federal election not provincial.

Conservative Party:

The Conservatives seem to be the only clear choice at this time. While I whole heartedly don’t agree with their $13B on jails they seem to be a logical choice with focus on the economy, and a relatively strong track record considering the state of the economy currently worldwide. We all know that it was not the Harper Government’s fault for the current recession but the Liberals like to suggest it is. It’s simply outright ignorance and insulting to the intelligence of Canadians.

Solutions not considered:

Education Accountability:

The Canadian government currently allows student loans to private institutions that don’t offer accredited courses recognized by most employers. When students get out of these schools they’re immediately forced to repay their debt and taken to collections when they can’t pay it. There is no place in the current government to make these schools accountable or appeal. This forces new and young Canadians into debt and causes more problems by far than it solves. I’d encourage the new government to fix this as it’s one of the worst issues facing our country to date.

Increasing Post Secondary Spending:

Post secondary education under the Conservatives doesn’t seem to be a priority and that’s a huge issue coming from a government run by an economist. However, the NDP and conservative budget for education is only 300 million short of the Liberals without increasing taxes which drive the cost of everything. The returns from education are phenomenal and if anything we don’t need a brain drain. Instead of putting massive amounts of people into a jail a societal deficit lets put more people into social programs and classes. Jails cost Canadians 100k per inmate and usually create more problems than they solve. The wars of today are fought on the stock trading floor, and in the class room. If we’re to preserve and enhance Canada’s economy we’re going to have to recognize education as a top priority. This is not the time to be reducing education budgets in a time when the baby boomers are all retiring.

Education and rehabilitation programs reduce crime dramatically by offering solutions to those that don’t otherwise have them. The economic action plan was great for trades but weak on post secondary education spending driving up education costs which is simply not acceptable. Social programs and the like are the fabric of a successful country. Jail leaves no options for people to turn their lives around and they have no choice but to repeat the cycle in most cases. When we look to the US it’s very clear their judicial system is not working and I think we can all agree we don’t need a police state. While I can appreciate we need tougher penalties we need to look at the circumstances of these crimes a little better. If we can remove motive and enforce it better we stand to correct what is a laughable system.

Coalition Government

A healthy balance between the NDP for social/education programs and the Conservatives would be ideal. It takes a healthy balance between humanitarian and business to run a country. However, I think we can all agree the last thing we need right now is red tape and more bureaucracy. The Liberals and NDP can’t balance the books and they’ve demonstrated that in the past. Hopefully, we can bring the Conservative government to the table and help them recognize that some of their spending habits need adjustment. Harper made very valid points that all these re-elections and bickering fests are accomplishing nothing democracy or not.

Open Data and Accountability

In order to reduce red tape into Canada we need to put more of the control back into Canadians hands with sound Open Data initiatives and budget releases that are comprehensive to all Canadians. The current openly televised lies by the representatives of Canada is not only insulting it’s flat out embarrassing. There’s no other job in the world where people can not show up to work, openly lie, and not be made accountable to their promises. I encourage the new government of Canada to become accountable and make policies to enforce this. Debates should not be formed around opinions or name calling. They should be formed around facts that can be referenced during the debate. If this means allowing them to pre-prepare for the questions then so be it but don’t lie in front of Canadians we’ve heard enough.

Healthcare Accountability:

The Canadian healthcare system needs a country wide electronic data program for records and quick referencing. This would dramatically decrease hospital wait times, expenditures on unnecessary tests, and save many lives. The Canadian government is way behind on this and it’s time we implemented the system as the Conservative government especially said they wanted to make the existing system more accountable. Every Canadian nurse and doctor I’ve talked to said they wanted the same. The average Canadian medical spends over 10k on software and then is forced to painstakingly fax the forms. With all the time lost Canada could be saving billions with electronic record system that works across the country and makes health care providers more effective. It would not only make health care more efficient but it would also make tracking health issues easier. By implementing the electronics records we could control outbreaks, and isolate health issues to regions thus preventing outbreaks. I think we can all agree it’s time for a nation wide system for electronic medical records. Our lives depend on it.

Trade and Certification Recognition Nation Wide

Doctors and trades people are currently not recognized in neighboring provinces for many of their accredited courses. It should be a major initiative by the new Canadian government to break down trade and occupational barriers impairing the growth of our nation. The country that plays together stays together.

Enhanced Occupational Integration for New Canadians

New Canadians and immigrants should be able to access a more streamlined process tailored to their academic history to expedite the integration into our accredited occupational/trade programs. This greatly reduces debt, increases economic growth, and gives talented, well educated people a good reason to move to this great country of ours. This was addressed by the NDP but I don’t think they took it far enough.

Vote For Change

The bottom line is we’ve got some tough decisions to make and if you don’t vote there could be some horrible repercussions for using your democratic right as a Canadian. Change starts with you.

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Life starts when you do, or as one of my favorite bands Mobile says, “Tomorrow Starts Today.” Once in a while I hear people asking themselves why they can’t have stuff. Why don’t I have that exotic car, why don’t I have that house, why can’t I do that? People pray for answers, they hope for things to come to them. The reality however is that we were given the ability to do whatever we want and it’s really just a question of making a decision to do it. Why can’t you or haven’t you have accomplished your goals? Chances are it’s because you either don’t want to or you’re not prepared to make the sacrifices to get there. It all starts with a choice.

So next time you find yourself wanting something make a  realistic plan and do something about it. If you can’t do it yourself then get someone to help you, ask questions, and remember pride before the fall. Ask yourself if you had one day to live and today was it did you live it to the fullest? Did you accomplish everything you wanted to? Why not? Chances are it’s because life starts when you do.

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The wars of yesterday are all but gone. Today, a new war is being fought and a silent enemy sneaks between the lines with great stealth. As of the past two years most are still at surrender. Laziness, ignorance, and greed plague our society. The few that recognize it exploit it to no end as a capitalist will always do.  Mankind’s innate need to consume blinds the realities of an imminent and ever present future. The ten year recessionary cycles are ever more predictable as corporations are allowed to repeat the same insanity that continues to drag the economies further into an artificial debt of infinite servitude. The brain drain is fulfilled overseas by more inclined and willing talent. The jobs of yesterday are gone, and with it are the imaginations of the once ambitious visionaries. A sold out market, and a blind eye is turned to the realities of the new art of war.

There is hope in North America. We live in a region of the world where commodities save our ignorance, and our few economic limitations allow us to recover with limited effort. This plan is not sustainable, and it’s most certainly not as strong as it once was. Now in a global economy the jobs and commodities of North America are especially being competed with in other regions of the world at much more affordable prices. It’s bad enough that we’re dependent on commodities but the reality is that most of those resources are being refined and productized in other parts of the world to be resold back to us by our own companies. In short, we’ve been sold out.

In the new economy the art of war battles are fought in the classroom, at the border, in the office, and on the floors of Wall Street. In place of the old monotonous jobs of days past now replaced by automation and service industry to facilitate the change. The tech industry and engineers focus on not rebuilding the wheel but making it more efficient. Governments are forced to become accountable and data-warehouses make open data a part of government transparency so that a true economic society can make sound choices based on the transparencies. The politicians the world around recognize the cycles of debt as unrealistic and ever constricting on our way of life. When a government realizes it has more debt than the world has money in circulation it’s evident it’s time for a change in plan. Credit is tightened to make both lenders and borrowers more accountable.

The government recognizes the economic benefits of education in the trillions and finally sees education as an investment every bit as much as an asset instead of a financial burden. Further stimulus is injected into not just education but financial education as well. As a result of the education stimulus more jobs are created and trillions of dollars in revenue becomes of the investment. People recognize wealth is a mind set every bit as much as it is a set of habits to go with it. Leverage overcomes speculation and projected revenues are increased by productivity rather than false values and gambles.

The reality is the terrorist today is the ignorant, the lazy, and the greed that plagues mankind. Without a change in mindset and habits we’re only going to spiral deeper into the abyss that is our ignorance. We don’t need to carry the cross of ignorance. So arm your teacher with books, your voter with open-data, and enforce accountability with positive change. Pay it forward as in a sold out economy, we owe it to ourselves to succeed.

A man is but the product of his thoughts. What he thinks, he becomes. - Mohandas K. Gandhi

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Well 2010 has been a great year. I learned a lot, failed forward, and met a lot of great people. In 2011 here are some of my new years resolutions.

• Get out and network more. I’ve spent a lot of time working but forgot about how much fun it is to actually network with like minded people. There’s no such thing as a self made millionaire. That is with great certainty the biggest insider joke ever. We are all under servitude in one way or another. Smart people hire smarter people than themselves. Successful people surround themselves with smart, driven, and motivated people. This is not only the people we work with or socialize it’s even our clients. I started this group which is a good start http://www.meetup.com/Search-Engine-Optimization-Edmonton/
• Travel the world more. I absolutely love to travel and this year I’ve got to do a little more. I’d like to go somewhere new every two to three months.
• Keep increasing my education. Those that are successful do more. Particular interests include: SEO, web analytics, business analysis, finance, economics, real estate, and forex.
• Work towards my goal of developing a fund for charitable organizations. One focus in particular includes drilling a well for clean drinking water $6000 in a foreign country.
• Build a house or renovate one somewhere on a decent piece of land here in Alberta. I’ve put this off for far too long.
• Increase my physical work outs and be more consistent in them regardless of where I am.
• Build the movie review site I’ve wanted to for the last year. This could very well fall into another site architecture I’m building.
• Carry out the social networking site I put together a web architecture for a few years ago. I gave the plans to Google but if they don’t act on it I’ll just do it myself. The plans I gave them alone at their scale is worth a billion alone. I don’t see Facebook acting on it. If they’re not going to do it I might as well do it myself and make some money.
• Visit family more often. Being 300+ kms from everyone doesn’t make it easy to visit very often.
• Scale my company to six people, work with larger companies, and work more in foreign markets. Venture marketing is a new initiative Making 8 will be moving into in 2011.
• Get more involved with the government and open data initiatives. It’s disappointing to see Canada so far behind when it comes to such valuable data and metrics for data mining. Just think of the diseases that could possibly be cured by finding the commonalities, and relevance between data mined from medical records. I talked with the APC here in Edmonton earlier this year and I’m informed it’s nothing but bureaucracy slowing the advance dramatically.
• Help educate more people about search engine optimization, web analytics, internet marketing and advance businesses through technology while increasing their bottom line.
• Change the CSS on this theme.. I mean really it’s almost impossible to read this!
• Write in here more often. I used to write daily. It’s a good measure of progress.
• Try to be more patient, considerate, humble, generous, and a better listener.
• Pay it forward

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“Do not confuse motion and progress. A rocking horse keeps moving but does not make any progress.” – Alfred A. Montapert

I often hear people telling me how hard they’re working, and I ask them what kind of results they’ve had. Sometimes they’re good, and sometimes they’re bad. The point is that we often tell ourselves we’re working hard but at the end of the day we can’t confuse trying with results. If you find yourself not making any progress get help. People often make the mistake of treating their business like their baby by isolating themselves from help. This is a bad practice, and doesn’t leave much opportunity for growth. If you’re stuck in analysis paralysis you’re wasting time which is money that someone else could be saving you by helping you move ahead. Business is not measured in days or hours but seconds (just look at the stock market). The same goes for all things in life. If you’re not moving ahead, it’s time to assess the situation, and make a plan to see the reality. “Dream, think, be, do.”

“Smart people hire smarter people than themselves” Rich Dad Poor Dad

It’s important to surround ourselves with smart, driven, talent with the positive attitudes to reflect that balance back into us. I always try to surround myself with people around me that are either more talented than myself or people I aspire to learn from. Looking at Richard Branson we see that much of his success is attributed to his employees. Similar results can be found from Bill Gates, and all other successful people. We can’t move ahead if we’re surrounded by people who hold us back.

“In life it’s not the track we’re on it’s the direction we’re pointing.”

Success is a direction not a one way track

Most people throughout their life will change jobs, and businesses at least a few times. During the course of our lifetime we will fail, and some of us will learn from it. Fail, and fail forward by learning from your experiences. Two thirds of new businesses fail in their first two years, and the average entrepreneur fails three times before becoming successful. Try to avoid these mistakes by learning from other successful entrepreneurs in the industry before jumping in the deep end. The same goes for anything. There are no accidents as there’s order even in chaos. Most successful people owe their success to analysts, advisors, and other professionals to advance their life into success. If what you’re doing is not working then change the course or get help to make it work.

“Failing to plan, is planning to fail.”

The biggest lessons from the literally dozens of jobs I had over the years is that consistency is often the best way to move ahead. One step at a time, one foot after the other. If we make a plan, and stick to it inevitably we should accomplish our goals if we set the right plan in place to get to it. From all the successful people I’ve met they’ve literally all met failure in their field at some point or another. The one thing that all these successful people share in common is that they remained dedicated to their goals. Their success was met by adjusting the track they were on to get to where they wanted to go. Even people working their way up to managing a Mcdonalds can earn upwards of 50k a year, and a manager at Futureshop can make upwards of 100k. Even if you’re in the most humblest of positions like a bolt maker think about the changes you’re making with what you’re doing. After all wealth isn’t measured by how much you make, it’s measured by how much you keep, and the life you live. I often see people dropping out of school after being nearly done their education. Even if a person doesn’t use their education they need to understand that people don’t judge us by what we think we can do, they judge us by what we’ve done. Finish what you started, and when something better comes along advance to that.  I was fortunate enough to identify that the college I was going to wasn’t the right one right away saving myself a fortune in debt, but if you’re almost done stay the path. A sure way to failure is to be inconsistent in life, and I learned this the hard way. If we never grab the ladder we’ll never make it to the top. Fortunately I failed forward, and learned to plan my goals by creating realistic steps to get to where I wanted to be. I now run a successful company from my home, and work my own hours. I can have vacations when I want, and get more work when I want. While I’m always advancing I recognize the significance of making a plan, and sticking to it. Each goal is treated like triage, and executed in the most effecient effective way possible. I have a whiteboard, a schedule, and people surrounding me to make sure I’m accomplishing my goals. Time is money, and in life we only have so much of that.

“Doing the same thing, over, and over again while expecting different results is insanity.” Albert Einstein

A friend once told me that if someone tells you that you can’t do something they either think it’s a good idea or scared to try it themselves. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had people tell me I couldn’t be successful at many things, and despite all odds I usually accomplish my goals. Don’t get me wrong I’ve failed, but I’ve also failed forward. If we assess the situation, and things look right after doing the right research then take a chance. The worst thing that can happen is you fail or hear the word, “No.” With out forward motion we can not advance toward our goals. There’s a big difference between making an uneducated risk, and an educated risk. If you don’t know the answers find the people that who can get them for you.

To get up the ladder of success one must grab it first

“Imagination is more important than knowledge.” – Albert Einstein

In order to build a solid foundation one has to reinforce it. People that are successful do more than their competitors, and often this comes through innovation. If we look at we look at most successful, and famous people they’ve all done something unique that stands out from all others. This often comes with education, and especially with innovation. When we look at Einstein he was most definitely a product of his environment working in a patent office. If we situate ourselves in a place of success, the rewards are sure to follow. My financial IQ, comes from school, experience, and especially the positive, smart, driven, people around me. I try to follow the kaisen philosophy which is continuous learning because the only difference between you, and the next person is how fast you can learn. Even today at the age of 28 I’m still attending university, and hope to continue for as long as I can afford. Not only do these institutions offer great learning value but the positive people there build on the foundations of success as new innovation is created. Success can be met any where there’s synergy, education, and productivity combine.

“FEAR = False Evidence Appearing Real”

Take a chance on success it could be the opportunity to transform your life, and the lives around you. Just remember respect is earned not given. Pride often comes before the fall, but it’s ok to fall so long as we learn to stand. As long as you’re thinking what can you do for us instead of what you can do for you, then you’ll be on the right track regardless.

Fail with confidence, win with out question, never give up. – Adam J. Humphreys

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