Yes, about the only thing you can hope for from this holiday is the possibility that a rodent will tell you it’s going to warm up soon and maybe a movie night with Bill Murray. Even then, who wants to see Bill Murray replay the same scene fourteen times in a row (it’s actually not that bad of a movie… #imjustsayin)?

Not only is this a rip off of a holiday, it’s just weird that we use a groundhog as the iconic figure of the day. How doe’s a flippin rodent seeing his shadow have anything to do with whether or not Spring will come one month earlier than it usually does. Last time I checked, there were set days that mark the ends and beginnings of each season.

Can’t we come up with a better way to determine if it’s cold outside? A thermometer? Maybe even just go outside and see if it’s cold? If we’re going to use a groundhog, why not take to a pile of wood and let it live up to it’s name as a “woodchuck?” If the wood pieces are frozen together and the woodchuck can’t chuck the wood… might be a good indication that winter is going to last as long as it usually does.

I don’t know… what do you think?

The post Why the Groundhog? first appeared on Joe Mangum.

This time, however, I’m going to review a sports drink. I feel like 24+years of playing sports establishes me as somewhat of a knowledgeable figure on the subject. While I was working for Anasazi (a wilderness survival program for troubled youth) we had a saying that was used to the point of exhaustion. “Hydration is happiness!!” In writing though, I’m going to now change that to “Hydr8tion is happiness.”

It’s probably been around a long time but last night was the first time I had tried QT’s Hydr8. I was super skeptical because I’m always disappointed in new sports drinks. I always go in expecting it to taste like Gatorade or Powerade. When it doesn’t, I deem it as a “medicine” taste and usually end up not even drinking half of it.

To be fair, I approached this drink the same way. Consequently, I WAS disappointed at first sip. I did sort of like the taste after a few gulps though the first contact was too strong in my opinion. Again, because I was expecting Gatorade. Then my wife tried it and said, “it’s not bad. You just can’t think of it as a sports drink. Imagine you’re drinking juice. You have to go in with no expectations.”

When I did that, I’m not kidding there was a world of difference. I LOVED it!! I had the Mango flavor and it sort of tasted like Snapple’s Mango Madness.

Then I started thinking about what Kylie had said. I think we can apply her advice in many things in life, especially things we haven’t tried before. When you go to Thailand, you can’t expect it to be like America. You’ll be sadly disappointed and your trip will be a complete bust. I know missionaries from my church that have spent two years in Thailand (one of the most exotic and beautiful places on earth) but were miserable the whole time they were there JUST because they were expecting something different than what it was.

Cultures are different, people are different, sports drinks are different, schools are different, families and personalities are different. By approaching each one without expectations, we can usually find something about every one of them that is unique and likable.

How do YOU approach the unknown?

The post Expectations | Approaching the Unknown first appeared on Joe Mangum.

Notice I didn’t say that, “they are now in a situation where they CAN’T.” I didn’t say this because it is not true. This should never be true if a person is fit physically and mentally to work. Physically able is a no brainer. I think most can decide whether they are physically able to work. However, the “mental” part of it is the most important. It’s easy to do things that will make a person mentally unable or unstable to work. This is not going to be a guide on what TO DO if you lose your job. This is going to be a guide on what to do if you want to lose your job, or if you don’t want to find another job. By following these steps, you’ll know exactly how to make yourself mentally unstable and/or unable to work or find a job. You can then use the opposite of these suggestions if you’re looking for the alternative result.

Don’t Work

This is probably the easiest way to lose your job. It is also the easiest way to not find a job if you’ve already lost it. A job is work. It means you actually do something. There is a saying in Thai that I like. It says, “tham dii dai dii tham chua dai chua.” Literally translated it means, “do good get good do bad get bad.” If money is good (in this case it is because it helps you provide for your family) and your boss has money, you need to do what your boss thinks is good. This usually means you do what he tells you. It’s quite simple really. If you do what you’re expected to do and you do it better than expected, you’re not going to be the first on the chopping block

Don’t Care

It’s easy to not work if you don’t care. So if you want to kill two birds with one stone, first don’t care, then you won’t work. If you do work, you won’t work better than expected because you’re heart’s not into it. This is a great “one-two punch” for losing your job and/or not finding one

Don’t Be Punctual

If you want to be able to say, “Lost job. What to do,” you’ll need a good steady dose of showing up late to important things. You can get a good start at being “unpunctual” by not caring. See how it all fits in together? Usually, people who aren’t punctual don’t start off at work. They start off with showing up a few minutes after curfew. Then, they don’t show up for dinner. Then, baseball practice. Eventually, everything and everyone else’s time takes a backseat to theirs and they can’t be relied upon for almost anything. Again, great way to lose a job.

Complain

I want to use this as more of a means of not finding a job once it’s already been lost. It is the one that I see the most and, to be completely honest, I think we all are guilty of this at times. Complaining gets us no where! Complaining waists time and energy. These are two things you can’t afford to waist when you’re out of a job. The more time we spend thinking of everything that’s gone wrong and finding people to tell about it, the less time we spend actually caring, working, and doing good.

Moping and Feeling Sorry

My friend that just got laid off said that the second he suspected that their might be tough times ahead at work, he put in three applications to different job offerings. This didn’t give him any time to mope or feel sorry for himself. I realize that sometimes losing a job can come as a shock and it is always going to leave a knot in your side. However, the perfect formula for keeping you in the “jobless” situation that you’ve been placed in is to think about how bad it is and how much life is unfair. It IS unfair, that’s a fact. Getting over that and getting to work is the formula to overcome unfairness.

So let’s review, if you want to say, “Lost job. What to do,” you’ll need to do a total of 5 things. You’ll need to not care about much. Because you don’t care, you’ll stop doing your best work and maybe even stop working altogether. Though you may show up for work, you will want to be late everyday and tell the boss to shove it. You’ll definitely lose your job after this and as a result, you need to mope around for at least and few weeks and then complain to everyone you come in contact with about the situation.

And that, my friends, is my, “Lost job… What to do” guide. Also, I deeply apologize if I have offended anyone or hurt anyone’s feelings.

The post “Lost Job… What to Do” Guide first appeared on Joe Mangum.

How Did Apple Do It?

What I did want to talk about is the fact that Apple KNOWS that they’ve made. It’s not because they brought in $3.25 billion in Q3 alone last year. It’s not because they sold over 300K ipads the day it opened on the market. It’s also not because a youtube spoof of Steve Jobs and the made up product the Apple I-Rack has over 5,000,000 views. No, the real reason has nothing to do with any of these.

So what is it? How can you tell when a company has reached market nirvana (dominance)? The reason I know Apple has done it is because no matter who you are, if you have the new Macbook air, the number of different people you’re likely to spark up a conversation with in a given day literally doubles. It’s the same story for those who had an iPhone in 2007. And for those who got an iPad early last year. When you can take a dorky, 119 pound 19 year old with glasses the most popular guy in school in just one day, THAT is when you know you’ve made it.

#imjustsayin

The post When You Know You’ve Made It first appeared on Joe Mangum.

In 2002, I was entering my senior year of high school. At pole vaulting camp over the summer, I met Justin Smith from Peoria. This guy was an athlete in every way shape and form. 6’3”, built, chiseled, fast as lightening, and could run you into the ground in the mile. He was the #2 dec-athlete in the entire Southwest. However, for Justin, #2 was not in his vocabulary.

We were roommates at camp and each night we would lie in our bunk beds before going to sleep and just talk. We talked about everything, life, sports, girls, careers, religion, and anything else that goes across a 17 year old’s mind. One night, as we were talking, he told me a story of when he was in kindergarten that helped me put “success” in a new light.

His teacher told the class to write down on a piece of paper what they wanted to “be” when they grew up. Everyone wrote down their dreams of either becoming an astronaut, a pilot, a fireman, a lawyer etc. The teacher then read through the answers each student had put. When she got to Justin’s, she came over to him and said, “Justin, you didn’t finish yours. You said that you wanted to be “The best.” Well, what do you want to be the best at?” Justin calmly answered, “I don’t know… just the best.” He’s lived by that motto his entire life. He told me that no matter what challenge or obstacle he faces, he challenges himself to be the very best he can be in overcoming it.

Since that night, I’ve thought back often on the story and what it means to me to be “the best.” Being the best means we try our hardest at everything we believe to be right and we try our hardest to block out anything we believe to be wrong in our lives. I didn’t realize it then, but being the best really has nothing to do with your position in life compared to another’s. It does, however, have everything to do with what you’ve managed to accomplish with what you’ve been dealt.

If, at the end of each, you can look at yourself and say, “I’ve done all I could today to be who I know I should be… me” then that is what matters. At the beginning of this year, I hope we can all make a renewed effort to be the best. If we will, I can see the year of #1 being “the best” year ever!

The post The #1 Year first appeared on Joe Mangum.

The post Defining Moments first appeared on Joe Mangum.

I understand your confusion but you see, despite the seemingly undying trials and setbacks coming our way on a day to day basis, there are those moments when, for some bewildering reason, “everything is right with the world.” You’ve achieved some goals, you’ve experienced some success, you have a plan for the future (if only for the very near future), and you’re all-in-all happy with the way things are going.

It’s times like these that need to be cherished. Don’t let them pass you or your business by. Share your success and happiness with those who have helped make things the way they are today. I’m speaking of family members, friends, partners, and employees. Also, don’t forget yourself. You’ve had a lot of help along the way, but without you, the feeling you’re experiencing doesn’t exist.

Appreciate the feeling, but also remember that it will soon dissipate if you are not prepared for the next twist that life is going to throw you. You may think that diving into a pool of pudding is refreshing and tasty at first. However, without a disciplined plan to return to normal circumstances, you may end up trying to eat your way out of the muck.

The post Swimming in Chocolate Pudding first appeared on Joe Mangum.