Party On
Mar 09, 2010
Last week I wrote about everyone’s RAS (Reticular Activating System). I explained how RAS works. For those of you who didn’t read it, I’ll catch you up real quick. If you’re walking through an airport, there’s lots of noise: people talking at ticket counters, people talking on cell phones, people buying things, people making announcements over the loudspeaker…it goes on and on and on. But all of a sudden you subconsciously activate your RAS. You activate it to listen only if you hear your own name or flight number being called. You’re able to block out everything else.
Lucky for you, the principles of RAS can help you achieve goals beyond your wildest dreams.
I want to give you another example. Gerry Rittenberg is the Chairman and CEO of the great company, Party City. And Gerry has used his RAS successfully for his entire career. What makes Gerry different is his ability to activate the system in order to achieve wholesale, retail and vertical integration. He is a visionary. But he also realizes that if he can dream it, it can happen. As a result, he has built the most amazing party superstore in the world. Party City has over 800 stores throughout the United States and Puerto Rico. It sells anything and everything you need for a party. It is THE destination for all your celebrations.
So when you dream about building something, look at guys like Gerry and me. We come from two different worlds but have similar visions that have allowed us to accomplish similar things.
Anything is possible if you dream it and activate your RAS.
JZ, I find your blogs very informative and thank you for taking questions. My challenge is that I have tons on my “To Do” list – so much that everyday I find it overwhelming. So, I find myself using time that I SHOULD be tackling the list , doing other things like, browsing Twitter (following you), chatting on Facebook, even keeping up my “so yesterday” MySpace page. How do I re-shift my focus – spend less time (but constructive) time on social networking sites and start tackling that monstrous To Do list? Thank you.
No problem – thanks for following! There never seems to be enough time in the day to get everything done. That’s why my motto is, “You sleep when you die!!” Life is for the living – there’s plenty of time to sleep after you’re dead. That’s probably not what you want to hear. But the truth is, the only solution I’ve found to this dilemma is to work, work, work!! You can try to prioritize things to some extent, but at the end of the day, it all comes down to how much you want it and how much you’re willing to work for it.
Very informative and motivating- I hope more people get access to this article.
S.C.,
You might check out a book called the 4 hour work week by Timothy Ferris. Their is a chapter in their that deals explicitly with what you are talking about and it is an overall great book on life/work management.
I am officially a fan of your blogs and teaching. Very informative and inspiring.
Thanks for being there to share.