You Sleep When You Die

Have you watched the new TV show, Undercover Boss? The new CBS reality series follows high-level chief executives as they go ‘undercover’ in their own companies. These execs get an up-close-and-personal look at the inner workings of their organizations, including the good, the bad, and the ugly. Waste Management, 7-Eleven and Hooters have already been featured.

You’ve got to be freakin’ kidding me! How do these employees not know they’re working hand-in-hand with their company’s own CEO??

Based on the number of responses I’ve received, yesterday’s post about making your first million clearly got in your head. That’s a good first step toward your fortune.

But be honest: How many of you actually committed to changing even one thing about your life? If you did, read on. If not, I would suggest you immediately unsubscribe from this blog, because nothing from here on out will be of any use to you.

Growing up in Old Bridge, New Jersey, I noticed a couple of things at a very young age. One: every one of my parent’s friends hated what they did for a living. And two: every one of my friend’s parents hated what they did for a living. So I decided early on that I wanted and HAD to find something I would love to do.

I have made a career out of speaking my mind – and saying things that are not always viewed as popular. I’ve never done it simply to hear myself speak. Rather, my hope is to always trigger and provoke other peoples’ points of view, especially if they differ from my own. I never run from challenge. Instead I run to it. Why? I have always believed that the best business ideas and solutions come from working through points of conflict, not simply finding the greatest common point of agreement.

The 2010 Winter Games began last week in Vancouver. The media has been inundating us with stories of ‘Olympic’ proportions for months: which athletes have suffered setbacks during their training, which athletes are the best hopes for the U.S. to medal, what conditions are like on the mountains in Vancouver. The problem is that hardly anyone remembers why the Olympics were created in the first place.