I once heard a joke about how Hallmark Cards invented various occasions simply to sell more cards so when I heard about World Back Up Day I immediately thought that the people at Amazon Web Services or Google Cloud are having a joke on us. But it's true, it exists and let's face it, if you care about it, you probably should back it up.
You learn a lot about yourself (and others) during a slow news day. You know the sort of days I am talking about. The days when there's no big problem to solve, fewer than normal new business enquiries, no dramatics on the business front.
So what do you do? Do you get to grips with all that "should have/could have" admin that's built up? Do you check over those long term ventures you are working on (the ones that could potentially expose you to failure but you're prepared to take the risk)? Do you start calling around those clients you promised yourself you'd chase up? Or do you do nothing?
Obviously I love my phone - who doesn't? That's my life right there in my pocket. But everyone knows that if you want to do the proper work you need to be sat at your desk in front of your screen (if you're like me in front of your two screens), trawling through the project details and dotting the I's and crossing the T's. Phones are obviously great, and we couldn't like without them, but we don't do our best work on them.
It's not the same as stealing and you will probably find that you and everyone around you benefits.
If something doesn't have a limit then the answer is infinity but in reality it probably means that the limit has not been defined. So the question is, who is defining the limit and are they mathematically capable of doing so? Maybe the limiter has good intentions for us i.e. trying to save us from doing something stupid, or maybe we ourselves are the limiter because we believe we can never be good enough. No matter what the limit appears to say, the mathematical problem should be frequently revisited and the approach continually revised.
Isn't this the ultimate in everything?
Stronger than those around you - so you can protect and serve and deliver what you said you would.
Faster than the rest - fast to do things, to respond, to get up and go, to succeed.
And more - more options (but not too many, because too many is confusing), more care, more love, more everything.
A great supplier will point out to the client possible pitfalls and problems with the project before beginning the work and immediately put in place contingency plans in order to look out for the best interest of the client and ultimately the success of the project. When the planned for problem strikes the great supplier can take care of the issue seamlessly and immediately for the client, thus truly looking out for their best interests. It's the opposite of short changing a client or trying to do as little as possible for the most revenue or trying to squeeze efficiencies out of your already streamlines processes. Are we out of our minds? Probably.
I remember hearing the story about how it was theoretically impossible for bumble bees to fly because their little wings could not possibly generate the lift required to get them off the ground. Obviously bumble bees know absolutely nothing about fluid dynamics and just continued flying around until some researcher discovered that bumble bee wings generate tiny air vortexes that increase airflow and allow them to fly. Sometimes theories are wrong and sometimes all things are possible - nothing is ever settled (in theory).
It's quite easy to be original - you just need to follow your passions and grab all the opportunities you are presented with and have the ideas that no one else has. It is about understanding what makes you different and challenging yourself every day to add something new to world (whenever you can - these things can take a while!).
Get totally organised.
Keep detailed records of everything.
Be creative all the time.
Stay focused on your objectives.
Provide a great service for your clients.