There’s so much talk out there today about being positive that people forget that being sad and despondent is okay and a part of life. Modern society has glossed over and hidden a lot of what used to be dealt with upfront; for example, the dying did so at home while the family gathered around supporting and caring, not leaving the final rite of passage to a disconnected staff at some foreign location with just a job to do.

But how do you handle difficult times? Finding out how to do so is certainly a critical part of everyone’s life-education or soft skills that few if any ever even begin to understand never mind master. An oft neglected skill that all cannot afford to go without.

So you’ve been doing everything in your power over an extended period of time to find a job, get your business off the ground, get that lost child back on track, or to aid a dying relative but you just can’t go on, so what do you do? Here’s some suggestions:

1. First, stop struggling. Yes, give up and let go. If you just keep forging ahead, at a certain point you’re just spinning your wheels. You need to stop, take a break, take some time off, get away or whatever you feel is necessary but you do need to first and foremost stop.’ Since you’re not getting anywhere, you certainly need to forge a new perspective or understanding or at least rest for a while. Also, how do you expect to get any help if you keep flapping about? There could be rescue or relief just out of reach that can give you a hand, maybe even save your life.

2. Second, get quiet. Of course, just like stopping during times of struggle, getting quite is just as challenging. But it is strictly at these times when it is most important to listen for a solution. In one case, a woman struggling with her child’s medical problem just couldn’t find help anywhere: family, friends, counselors, or physicians. So she turned to her non-judgmental paper and pen and turned to her wisdom within. She said that it was the only place she was able to find the insight and solution to her problem. But the key is that she remained calm enough to seek a solution. Once again, tough to do, but the point is that you don’t have a choice.

3. Third, get it out. At some point you’re just going to have to let it out: a good shout, scream, cry, kick, whatever you need. Just make sure the kids aren’t home and the neighbor’s don’t overhear the commotion and call the cops. You’ll probably need to vent, but don’t let it go too far. At some point the venting merely turns on itself and feeds the misery. Get it out and then let it pass. As the old saying goes, for every dark cloud there’s a silver lining. We all have to go through trials, and the more you understand and go through them successfully the more you strengthen the spirit to overcome the weaker body / mind.

4. Fourth, keep it to yourself. Don’t go sharing your misery with every person who comes along. Best to keep it amongst an intimate few. Even the most giving people feel helpless and will attempt to avoid you more out of a sense of helplessness than merely to avoid seeing you suffer.

5. Fifth, sit back and do nothing. It is critical at this juncture to allow the dust to settle. You’ve been struggling for so long putting forth a great effort without moving forward it has become critical to allow the solution to come to you. It’s there, you just have to listen. You’ve already practiced getting quiet; now is the time to use that quite to let the solution come to you. You will never find it railing against the ‘bad spirits’ who put you there, so allowing the calm to filter in enables intuitive understanding and insight or solution’s only wellspring to flow forth-that which comes from the inner you. In forcing yourself to calm, you strengthen the spirit while at the same time calling forth understanding, solution, and perspective to come from that same source. If you go long and deep enough, you will find not only clarity but the energy and determination to act, to act in a direction previously not seen amongst the tumult of your initial anguish.

Now how do I come to this understanding? Not from books but hard-earned personal experience. I’ve overcome depression, hopelessness, anger, debilitating anxiety, severe shyness, cancer, near homelessness, several trying failed engagements, losing jobs on several occasions, moving from Boston to Los Angeles without a dime, family member or friend, and spending years trying to get a business going with little success. But I would have it no other way. What I’ve learned and the strength, insight, and ability to aid others in their time of need is priceless.

Everyone can love those who love them, but to love those who despise and use that takes character. Just like everyone knows how to thrive in good times, but during difficult times she who has substance floats to the top passing those merely surviving on image. You need the tough times to prove the spirit to let it strengthen you as it triumphs over the weaker body / mind.

Here’s to your greater depth and strength of character as you build the most successful you. Here’s to your success.

If you said yes, think again.

“Plans are only good intentions unless they immediately degenerate into hard work” Peter Drucker, management expert

“It’s not so much how busy you are, but why you are busy. The bee is praised; the mosquito swatted” Marie O’Conner

You’re starting to get the message, aren’t you?

Yes, above we’re talking about motivation and the why of it all, but there’s even more. So let’s get into it.

Activity is not directly related to accomplishment. You’ve seen those people who run around with a lot of energy, like they’re afraid that if they slow down someone will scold them, “Hey! You aren’t working. Get moving!” Work for them simply means activity, usually at very high speed. But sometimes in order to do a job well one needs to slow down, way down.

In teaching critical thinking to students and clients, I often tell them that they need to use their gear box, say five gears. When reading, researching, problem solving, one first must know what to look for-the why. It’s putting questions to the problem at hand. You look for key points expressed in key words and phrases and when you hit them, down shift. It’s not so much about speed but results.

Results count. Just being busy does not directly equate with success. In my college classes, I’ve had students say, “But professor, I’ve worked real hard.” I tell them that effort may be rewarded in school but in the real world it’s results. Have you met the requirements? Beethoven had to work much harder than Mozart to get to a finished product. If success and achievement were merely based on effort there would be a lot of people listening to Beethoven’s incomplete scores to great applause.

But there’s more. You’ve got to manage your thinking, energy, behavior, and attitudes. Let’s deal with the last two.

School is basically about knowledge found in two key intelligences: logic / math and linguistics. But what about attitudes and skills? They often get ignored to the detriment of many students who graduate lacking critically in areas they’ll need in order to optimize success. Here we’re just going to focus on attitude or how to deal with one’s emotions or behavior. It’s been revealed time and again that controlling one’s behavior via proper attitude awareness is the cornerstone of success. Knowledge is a tool, but it fails without the ability to handle emotions during trying times: stress, anger, fear and so on. What’s a tool without being able to wield it with accuracy and strength on a consistent basis?

So you may have had a nice schedule going there, your day, days, weeks planed out in advance, but, as is said, life happens. What about all those days you didn’t get enough sleep? Or all the times you felt uninspired? Or dealing with issues related to spouse, children, friends? Financial issues? Or what about when your day doesn’t go as planned because of delays, technical issues, people not showing up? On and on it goes. Being able to get through these times is what the successful are all about.

Here’s an example to help clarify the point I’m trying to make. 450 men from Somerville, Massachusetts were followed over a 40-year period. Two-thirds had learning deficiencies. One-third were considered deficient in IQ. However, the majority were successful because of their superior EI or emotional intelligence-ability to control the self.

Here’s a more famous, if you will, example. Consider the pressure Abraham Lincoln was under during the Civil War. He was not well liked by many and received a lot of flack, to say the least. Some wanted him not only out of office but dead. So what did he do? This man who was not well versed in war worked sixteen hour days seven days a week studying, under great pressure, anxiety, and little sleep. But he pulled through, didn’t he? He was certainly motivated, no problem there. Maintaining a scheduling was the least of his worries. And even though he did not have a deficient IQ, it was his really his EI that saw him through the difficult times.

Now, you may not be saving a country, but what do you do if, say for instance, you want to write a book because by doing so it will get your business off the ground positioning you as an expert in your field. But you have a family, business to build, and you need time to eat and sleep. Well, here is not only where time management comes into play but self-control, most importantly.

Now, I can drive the point home more deeply by stating that the above it’s not simply some arbitrary, made-up example. It comes from a real life situation. Mine. But I was not only able to write the one book mentioned above, but four books in a little under three years while teaching three college classes, building a business, and running a family of five. Well I don’t run it, the family that is, my wife does, but I need to do my share. So it really comes down to much more than mere time management. Yes, certainly I had the nice schedule and mental acuity but there was more to it. Let me digress for a moment to drive the point home.

According to Donald Trump (even though you might not like him, you can’t deny his success), he advises that to be successful one needs to be focused and work fast. Now, I know I mentioned above that it’s not all about speed, but when speed is needed you’ve got to have it at hand. My wife often marvels at how quick I get things done around the house. How can I get something done in an hour that takes her all day? (her words, here) Truthfully, I hate cleaning the house. There are a thousand other things I’d rather be doing. Like sleeping. But my motivation to do other enjoyable things is just what I need to move and move fast.

But that’s cleaning the house, not my vocation. Regarding vocation, or something that you’d like to make your vocation, if you aren’t motivated, if you don’t burn with passion like a house-on-fire, then your chance of having the energy to work fast and well-focused is not there. My burning passion to write, get my business going, get my message out is a five-alarm fire. Therein you will find not only speed, but razor-sharp focus, and everything else needed to get the job done quickly and efficiently.

So now that you’ve got that schedule in place, attitude adjusted, and you’re motivated, what else is there?

How about your health? Got milk?

OK, actually you may want to avoid milk, for many reasons I won’t go into here. But you do need to take care of your physical being, for sure. You need regular exercise, your vegetables, fruits, vitamins and minerals, sleep and such. Personally, I don’t drink coffee, alcohol, soda, sport drinks, milk (there it is), but I do drink oxidized, high ph water, hit the gym and walk regularly, so forth and so on. I’m not so great on the sleep, but when I need to I catch up. Remember, not enough sleep on a regular basis can kill you. A friend of mine, a former model / actress turned reporter, was told by her doctor that if she didn’t get more sleep during one particularly busy reporting schedule it would eventually kill her. Advice well taken; she’s alive and well to prove it.

It’s also critical to have people who support you, who you can emotionally unwind with: spouse, friends, children, etc. Having such people around are great renew -ers. Find out what recharges your battery. You may have to go on long, quite walks, dance, get away for a while, whatever it takes.

Now I could have made this a standard time management article, but you don’t need me to tell you to invest in a planner, set intermediate dates, check for schedule conflicts, schedule flextime, group items together for better execution, shift priorities, and so on. No, you can get that 20%. I’ll deal with the 80% that matters.

Here’s to your well managed, impassioned, fast moving success.

The real problem lies in the economy. What with a marked rise in the cost of living, an alarming increase in divorce creating the need for dual-household income, outsourcing, multinationals that are richer than most countries creating CEOs that earn 1500% more than their generational predecessors, and so on. It’s just gotten downright ugly.

It used to be that with one job you could buy a house, a couple cars, and provide the essentials for your family. Now with both parents working in 70% of U.S. homes, it still doesn’t provide financial security. Like the get-a-college-degree-job-security myth that many still feed in to, even with both parents working the safety-in-numbers myth provides little security as well.

Why?

Consider this, the top three reasons why there are over two million foreclosures in the U.S. are divorce, job loss, and illness. Regardless that it was a 40-year low in interest rates that got most there, outside of this there lies another, more deep-seeded problem. One income cannot do it anymore. Even two are struggling to get by. Here’s a sobering report from Elizabeth Warren, author of “The Middle Class on the Precipice” (Harvard Magazine, Jan. / Feb 2006).

“By 2004, the family budget looks very different. As noted earlier, although a man is making nearly $800 less than his counterpart a generation ago, his wife’s paycheck brings the family to a combined income that is $73,770-a 75 percent increase. But higher expenses have more than eroded that apparent financial advantage. Their annual mortgage payments are more than $10,500. If they have a child in elementary school who goes to daycare after school and in the summers, the family will spend $5,660. If their second child is a preschooler, the cost is even higher-$6,920 a year. With both people in the workforce, the family spends more than $8,000 a year on its two vehicles. Health insurance costs the family $1,970, and taxes now take 30 percent [ it's actually 42 to 50%] of its money. The bottom line: today’s median-earning, median-spending middle-class family sends two people into the workforce, but at the end of the day they have about $1,500 less for discretionary spending than their one-income counterparts of a generation ago.”

More and more middle-class citizens are falling into the lower class, many by way of foreclosure. I was watching the news last night with my wife at a friend’s house. A man and woman had just lost their home and were sitting outside their new trailer home with transplanted lawn jockey, pots, and planters. Through teared-up sobs, the man explained how disheartening it was to work so hard for a dream only to see it lost with little chance of recovery.

What is the solution? Well, instead of going to a job factory (university / college) to learn a craft or skill only to end up working for the government (40 to 50% taken in taxes), banks, and credit card companies (average American owes $10,000) our students should be learning about finances, more specifically, how to own a business and invest.

Time and time and time again, I have gone to wealth seminars and heard former mortgage brokers, insurance agents, Kentucky Fried Chicken managers, teachers, the homeless (sometime the same–I know!), talk about dire times, skimming for nickels and dimes in the change jar to pay for groceries. It is a sad state of affairs, and some, like Hillary, feel that the government needs to do something about it. Well, if you know how the government moves, I’m not waiting. So what do we do?

Instead of working for a company, one which tells you when to come, when to go, how much your worth, and whether or not you’ll be working; instead of never even seeing 45% of your income; instead of being caught in the education matrix; instead of relying on the pain of scrimp and save to no safe solution; the only alternative is to let your money and the government work for you. Here’s how.

Consider the following trend. Most micro-business owners represent:

99% of all employers

50% of all employees

44% of all payroll dollars

70% of all net new jobs

Today, one out of six people that you meet are taking matters into their own hands and have joined the ranks of the “better-off,” if not secure.

If you want to get your taxes down to single digits, start a business. It can even be a part-time online business selling knitting techniques. Really! The tax write offs alone are worth it. Here’s a few examples:

Home Office Deduction: You no longer have any non-deductible commute. All of your mileage is now business related.

Pay your child up to $5000 to help you run your business and pay no taxes (fica, fed., state) and get $2500 back from Uncle Sam.

Convert other medical expenses from itemized deductions to business expenses. Convert limited health insurance deductions into fully deductible business expenses. You save not only on federal income taxes but reduce self employment taxes as well. Save up to 45% by deducting payments that you are already making.

For retirement, up to $45,000 / year can be deferred. Invest in your future and the IRS will reward you with lower taxes.

Why let your Bad Uncle take your money when your Good Uncle is only a business idea away?

How else can you win the money game? Real estate . The government wants you to do two things: start a business to create jobs and feed the economy and to provide affordable housing. And you don’t have to be “The Don” when it comes to real estate. But keep in mind that 7 out of 10 millionaires own real estate. It’s the safest and most profitable way to make passive or leveraged income. And by the way, the government is dying to give away money, provide the down payment, even forgive loans (yes, there are forgivable loans that don’t have to be paid back; hell, they’re forgiven!).

Need a home? Here’s a possibility. Try the 203 (b). It’s the purchase of a four-plex, where you move in to manage for a year before selling or keeping as an investment. And the good part? You live for free as you build equity.

Bottom line, the government wants you to help out, and if you do, they’ll help you, in a big way . There’s many ways of getting ahead. The limit is only in your ability to imagine.

So even though there’s a lot of bad news out there (foreclosures, job loss, cost of living increase), if you keep your eyes open there’s always a way out. With a little shift in thinking, a willingness to change, you can not only get back on top but rise higher than before. Good luck and God bless.

How long has this been going on? Much longer than the title of this article implies.

Let’s go back to 1870 when Rockefeller’s Standard Oil was established. As many know, he dominated the oil refinery business for kerosene in the later part of the 19 th century. However, with the invention of the light bulb and its mass distribution within a decade Rockefeller saw his business almost become obsolete. If it wasn’t for the mass distribution of cars in the later portion of the 19 th century, Rockefeller, our first billionaire, could have gone the way of the kerosene lamp.

And this is the nature of capitalism. So if you are ever shocked or surprised by a company, industry, or economic sector disappearing, and in the process you lose a job or career, it is time to wake up and smell the creative capitalism in the air.

According to Allan Greenspan, author of The Age of Turbulence (2008), things have only gotten worse in regards to lack of job or career security, but at the same time this “new world” holds great promise and hope: “We are living in a new world-the world of a global capitalist economy that is vastly more flexible, resilient, open, self-correcting, and fast-changing than it was even a quarter of a century earlier.”

With the fall of communism in East Germany and Russia, along with the slow eroding of the same in such countries as China, we certainly live in a new age, one that we would be remiss in ignoring as regards our financial well-being. Never before has it been so important to be critically aware of the need to not only educate but re-educate or continue to educate oneself for as long as the need to create income survives.

The very nature of capitalism requires destruction of the status quo. But with more and more players coming into the game the field has grown considerably in size. And it is critical to not only keep abreast of what is happening in the outside world but the inside as well. Never before has it been so important to know of what one’s abilities, desires, talents, and gifts are so that they may be exploited to optimum utility.

But it’s also more than that. One must also consider the field one is getting into and its potential longevity. If you’re in the computer field, you better be nimble and quick to learn and upgrade your skills on a yearly if not monthly basis, as ridiculous as that seams. However, there are fields that are more stable.

Take for instance mortician, doctor, coach, or psychiatrist. These are fields that may change in their technology used or techniques acquired, but people will always be in need of these professionals.

Another thing to consider is that in today’s rapid changing world a single source of income, or job, may be suicidal. With such rapid change occurring it is becoming critical, essential that everyone has multiple sources of income.

What does that mean?

It means that you need to diversify: business and investing. Today with the Internet and its ease of use, low overhead, and ability to reach around the world, more and more people are becoming business owners in some capacity, even part time. There are some who use it to bring in a couple hundred to a couple thousand a month, all the way up to those who are achieving six- and seven figure incomes. Today, one out of six people are business owners. And considering that upwards of 70% of jobs come from small business, you can see that a great number have come to the realization that they can’t rely on a job, a limited income, a company, or even the government to provide for basic living into retirement needs.

Another way to provide for oneself is through investing. This is a topic that is diverse, complex, and far reaching, but needs to be looked in to by everybody in the workforce today. And I’m not talking about 401k’s or CD’s. A couple of the lowest yielding and unstable forms of investment going. But all this is for another article.

Bottom line, you need to know yourself, first and foremost, and then take action so that your future is on much more stable ground.

Today, coaching in the areas of success and career are no longer for the privileged. And with affordable payment plans and relatively low costs most programs are more than reasonable. But even more important is how the few dollars you invest today will compensate 100′s of times over for less stress and strain in your life as well as a razor sharp understanding of not only who you are but an ability to put into place a plan that will enable achievement at its highest level. In today’s competitive, quickly shifting world having such is critical.

First, to set the stage, let’s start by saying that most believe education to be critical. Education here meaning high school since it is compulsory and everyone is required to attend. But specifically the content of the “education” spoken to by the majority is quite different from what is essential to survive in today’s competitive world. (More on this later.) Nevertheless, the popular content of the general high school curriculum those in the media, political and public arenas speak of entails arithmetic, science, language, phys ed, history, and English.

And most have been conditioned to believe that this type of education is necessary or critical or that a child without a high school education and, in most cases today, a college education limits the average child’s chance for success in the job market. And this is true to a degree but less so than most believe. But to continue our definition, it should be pointed out here that education gained usually translates to “job,” meaning that the belief is that high school and / or college are preparing the student for her life’s work. But this is not true and our youth are being shortchanged. For after twelve maybe sixteen years of education, then what? Education stops because institutional education is complete?

Today such thinking is disastrous, for with the opening of the global job market and greater competition–therefore the greater creative destruction of capitalism–one needs to be on the ball and constantly updating skills, even deleting and re-learning new skills, a situation that requires less of educational standards and a greater understanding of the critical need for developing one’s self-education skills that readies one for the great changes ahead–not only numerous jobs but careers that are sure to come. Never before has it been more critical for students and workers to understand the need to keep one’s skills, attitudes, and knowledge in tip-top shape, up to date and forever expanding.

And of course, as I’ve mentioned before numerous times-but bears repeating-high school grads and even college grads are lacking fundamental skills, knowledge, and attitudes that are more critical today than ever before: self-educating skills (as mentioned), critical and intuitive thinking, financial IQ, honesty, integrity, work ethic, success principles (upwards of 64 of them!), ability to work well with others, public speaking / leadership skills, and so much more.

Why are these intangibles, these often over looked skills, knowledge, and attitudes so important? Well, it is just the foundation of these very intangibles-which are rarely addressed in education-that will keep the average graduate on solid footing in regards to the many career changes guaranteed to come. After all this is, as Allen Greenspan states, the age of turbulence. The new grad must be adaptive, focused, work ready, and basically a company of one, ready and able to adapt as change occurs on the job, in the world national and international, and in ever changing career shifts. How market ready are you? How valuable and adaptive are your insights, skills, and attitudes? No longer can one rely on just one degree, skill, or job to see them through to retirement and its pension (by the way, pensions will have nearly evaporated by the time those who are just entering the work force have retired if current trends continue–they already are weakened and dissappearing).

This now brings us to the current state of education and belief that a standard high school education is necessary. Let’s bear down on the point at hand.

We often hear that schools are doing poorly or doing well in regards to testing and grades in the standard disciplines mentioned above–math, science, English, etc.. And it is generally taken for granted that we need these courses and that our children will benefit by taking them. However, how do we know this? What tangible evidence, research and verification tells us that what our children study is benefiting them five, ten, twenty years down the road?

As far as I know, there is none. To ensure that an education is critical it first must have value for the consumer, for if it holds none its hold on the consumer will be short lived. If we looked at the truth, we will find that not only are most not using that which they’ve learned in school and even college but they have little to no desire to retain it in the first place. Here are a few direct quotes from current and former students of mine.

“Got labs today. Can’t wait to purge this junk once the test is over.”

“Dude, that class is a joke. Do what we all do. Get the grade, dump the junk, and get on with your life.”

“Whoever thought we needed half this crap [knowledge gained from classes taken] should be shot, run over, then shot again.”

Some of these statements I’ve overheard or seen posted on various social media. (I’ve left out  the numerous comments that have an “R” rating or higher.) The point being that there’s a lot of precious “knowledge” out there that has little value for many in high school and college.

Why is this allowed to happen in the first place?

Well, most education is not for profit, meaning that if it were there would be a lot of asking of the customer what she likes and doesn’t like, as well as what is useful and not useful to not only retain  customers but to encourage them to come back. There’s little if any of that concern in education at any level. For emphasis, just consider where you get optimum service, at the DMV, US Post Office, or INS? Or maybe more so at Blockbusters, Wells Fargo, or Vons Supermarket? Yes, where the customer is king, in the private sector.

Most education is run by states and, therefore, talked about by those governing the country–those with short-term agendas to get elected or re-elected–not with the long-term picture in mind. And this bears out the point that most have little interest in or concern for what happens to grads after they’re gone and whether or not what they’ve studied is needed or necessary. Even schools and colleges are guilty of this offense. Have you ever been approached by your school or college with a survey to discern your consumer satisfaction? Then my question is, how do they have any idea that what they are doing is right? Good? Of merit or quality? Of need, even?
On top of it all, students attending school and college and their parents just take it for granted that authorities and governing bodies (regional accreditors that are academically oriented and not tied into the realities of the private sector) have selected curriculum that is appropriate for ever child’s needs, a ridiculous proposal at best. Does anyone ever question what they or their child is taking in school and / or college and how it specifically applies to them, their abilities, talents, character, skills, and desires? Trusting so much in governing bodies that do little to no checking to see if that which they are requiring students in schools and college is beneficial years later? If private companies were run like this they’d be out of business quicker than you could say “failed thinking.”

It is critical today more than ever before that consumers-students-understand thoroughly not only what education means, and its limitations, but what they need to ensure success not only in the workforce, but in their families, society, and spiritual life. There is so much that so many are missing out on with the current state of the education nation. It is in a sad state indeed and only its privatization or the seeking of a proper, thorough and adequate education by individuals in the know of what is needed will truly reform education. As consumers of education, we certainly need to be better trained in what we are receiving, what we need, and how to go about getting it.

Going with our original example, now flash forward a couple decades or more, what do you see? Around the age of thirty, maybe thirty-five your words and phrases, and mannerisms become familiar, and for good reason. Why it takes so long for us to realize (or are these things time released?) that who we are hearing and seeing is our parents I don’t know. It is our mom or dad or both. We may hear them when we get mad at our kids, run into frustration at work, or even in the joy we express; it is our parents coming alive in our own words and actions.

Now let’s get to the issue at hand: best teacher ever, greatest influence in our lives.

Well, of all the dozens of teachers I’ve had through elementary, high school, college, into grad school, who do I remember? Who stands out in my mind? Some teacher I think of now and again as I learn and move forward in life? Not one of them. But there is one teacher who comes back to me time and again through the good and the bad and the ugly, for our relationship as student / teacher was never a smooth one, yet one of the most personal teacher / student relationships I’ve ever had.

It is funny to me all the praise and great value we place on school teachers, as if their influence and words will be remembered through the years. It is like a great conqueror who desires to be remembered through the ages when he is lucky if people give him a few thoughts a few times a year for all his bloodshed and efforts. Greatness is fleeting if it is sought after without the focus being on the giving not the taking. And the best school teacher is one who works in the shadows to the betterment of the student.

“A teacher is one who makes himself progressively unnecessary.” ~~ Thomas Carruthers

“The kids in our classroom are infinitely more significant than the subject matter we teach.” ~~ Meladee McCarty

“The teacher is but the catalyst, the poker and prodder, the tweeker standing quite in the shadows, a magician casting spells, the child thinking she has done it all herself.” ~~ Jeff Brown

“Instruction begins when you, the teacher, learn from the learner; put yourself in his place so that you may understand what he learns and the way he understands it.” ~~ Soren Kierkegaard

But my teacher is one I remember, my father, for he was with me always. Little did he leave my mind when I was younger, and little does he leave my mind now as I achieve, as I come to understand it was the curiosity and imagination he instilled in me; the discipline he formed; the tenacity laid in foundation; the honor and honesty that keep me at my best; responsibility and sticking to the task at hand, all that he taught me, my greatest, my only teacher, that has enabled me to succeed at work, in public, and at home. For what school teacher is close enough to teach the essentials, the critical lessons of life, love, and home to make the better man the best-of-all men?

“The one real object of education is to have a man in the condition of continually asking questions.” ~~ Bishop Mandell Creighton

“He who has imagination without learning has wings but no feet.” ~~ Joseph Joubert

“You can teach a student a lesson for a day; but if you can teach him to learn by creating curiosity, he will continue the learning process as long as he lives.” ~~ Clay P. Bedford

My father taught me those things no teacher can, things of the heart that are not, unfortunately, fiscally in demand but oh so much more important.

“Education without values, as useful as it is, seems rather to make man a more clever devil.” ~~ C. S. Lewis

As the years go by, school teachers we’ve had over the years will fade in our minds, few if any ever coming to the forefront again. So if you want your child to succeed, if you want the best education your child can have to come to light, teach him all that you know and everything will turn out alright in your imperfect educational role, a parental delight.

“Spoon feeding, in the long run teaches us nothing but the shape of the spoon.” ~~ E.M. Forster

“Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all.” ~~ Aristotle

“Children learn to smile from their parents.” ~~ Shinichi Suzuki

“It is the responsibility of every adult to make sure that children hear what we have learned from the lessons of life and to hear over and over that we love them.” ~~ Marian W. Edelman

If we desire our children to get the best education, then we must desire the best from us and to pass it on, to encourage and instill in the child a solid sense of self, character, responsibility, work ethic, honesty, honor, accountability, tenacity, discipline, focus and all that goes along with success, for if we don’t prepare the vessel and prepare it adequately regardless of what we put in it, that which is so secondary, it will not matter. For the vessel will spill over all that it has taken in and never achieve regardless of all the knowledge, ability, skill, gifts and desire.

It is time for parents to take responsibility for teaching their children and teaching them well all that they need to know to prosper them to the end of their time.

Teach your children well,

Their father’s hell did slowly go by,

And feed them on your dreams

The one they picked, the one you’ll know by.

Don’t you ever ask them why, if they told you, you would cry,

So just look at them and sigh and know they love you.

Crosby Stills Nash Young — “Teach Your Children

Teachers . . .

If you listen without judgment and with your child’s best interest in mind, they can tell you a lot. And remember, they are not the enemy. What? You think they went into teaching for the power, fame, glory, and prestige of it all? No. They do it because they love teaching and they love your children. Help them by listening to what they have to say below. This is a compilation of thought from experienced teachers from several states.

But if we really want to improve education, we may turn to another source . . .

Students.

What’s wrong with the system? Since they are on the receiving end, you’d be amazed what they can tell you. Maybe adults too far removed from the process in experience and in mind (PhDs over-thinking with impractical theory) don’t really get it.

Why we’ve stopped listening and supporting teachers and never really gone to the source in asking students what’s wrong may just be two of the most important steps we can take in improving education.

So take a listen at this juncture to at least hear what one half of the solution has to say, won’t you?

What Your Child’s Teacher Won’t Tell You

1. My first year of teaching, a fifth-grader actually threw a chair at me. I saw him recently, and he told me he just graduated from college. That’s what makes it all worthwhile.

2. I have parents who are CEOs of their own companies come in and tell me how to run my classroom. I would never think to go to their office and tell them how to do their jobs.

3. We don’t arrive at school 10 minutes before your child does. And we don’t leave the minute they get back on the bus. Many of us put in extra hours before and after school.

4. We are not the enemy. Parents and teachers really are on the same side.

5. The truth is simple: Your kid will lie to get out of trouble.

6. Encourage your child to keep reading. That’s key to success in the classroom at any age.

7. We can tell the difference between a parent helping their child with homework and doing it for them (especially when they’re clueless in class the next day).

8. Teaching is a calling. There’s not a teacher alive who will say she went into this for the money.

9. Just because your child says he did his homework doesn’t mean it’s true. You must check. Every night.

10. Teaching is not as joyful as it once was for many of us; we get jaded too. Disrespectful students and belligerent parents take a toll on us.

11. Parents give their kids the pricey gadgets and labels, but what kids really crave is for you to talk to them. They want to know you are interested in their lives.

12. We spend money out of our own pockets to buy things our students need, such as school supplies and even shoes.

13. Supportive, involved parents are crucial. But some are “helicopter parents”–they hover too much.

14. Having the summer off is great, but many of us have to take on extra jobs–teaching summer school, tutoring–to make ends meet.

15. Success is not achieved by just making kids memorize flash cards and prepping them for an Ivy League school. Sensible parents know there is a college for every kid, and that responsibility and good citizenship are what really drive success.

16. Nobody says “the dog ate my homework” anymore, but we hear a lot of “I left it on the kitchen table.” And then Mom will send in a note to back up the story.

17. We wish parents would make their kids own up to their actions instead of pressuring us to bend the rules.

18. Please stop doing everything for your child and allow them to make mistakes. How else will they learn? Kids are not motivated to succeed because they feel their parents will bail them out every time.

19. There are days when I just want to quit, but then that one smile from that one kid, changes it all.

Sources: American Federation of Teachers; interviews with elementary and middle school teachers in California, Connecticut, Georgia, Iowa, Minnesota, New York, and Texas. Adapted from interviews with teachers by Neena Samuel

The questioning should then follow “Well, who made a particular person, group, or system of beliefs the only option?” Such as in the case of degree accreditation which supposedly ensures an institution’s educational quality, accountability, and public confidence in said institution. Unfortunately, there are 6 private regional accreditors (academically oriented, non-profit) and 52 private National accreditors that are not beholden to any government agency and produce thousands of “graduates” that are still poorly educated and little prepared for the harsh realities of not only the work world but the challenges of life to come.

“It is a known fact that the graduates of many “accredited” universities in the USA are semi-literate students who have studied irrelevant out-dated curriculum. There is awareness by employers and the public of the failure of many accredited universities to live up to their promise” (informed mind dot com).

Here’s another example to support the point I’m making.

In the September 2009 Bill Glazer & Dan Kennedy NO B.S. Marketing Letter , a question is asked by a dentist “How did a bartender become a dental consultant?” Dan Kennedy’s response is “The way a former bartender becomes a dental marketing and business consultant is the same way a high school grad with zero experience becomes owner of an ad agency and goes on to become the highest paid direct-response copywriter in America, as well as a consultant to all kinds of businesses including dental practices and, at one time, a consultant to thousands of chiropractors without ever having been a chiropractor, or a consultant to Fortune 500 companies without ever having been a CEO.”

Personally, I am self-taught and have taught myself to write, play guitar, do standup comedy, teach at the college level, and build products and services for my business venture all with little to no outside help. I’ve read and researched a lot and got a lot of advice and inspiration from those better than me in the various endeavors I’ve taken on, but no degree or certification gave me anything close to what I needed to be successful in any of the above.

There are a lot of misnomers about success and popular thought.

There are often perceived popular notions about how certain sectors of society get along-entertainment, business, academia, and so on-that are not accurate. For instance, in business most not involved think that one must wear a suit, be a type “A” personality, conservative, and formal. Yet there are many successful people in business who who are not what many would perceive to be of the “norm.”

For example, I went to a publishing seminar and listened to one of the most successful publishers who happens to be one of the laziest people I’ve ever met. He doesn’t get up before 10:00 a.m. “Ever,” as he says, and likes to spend the majority of his time, “Just hanging around.”

A couple more examples consist of an Internet Marketer by the name of Frank Kern who likes to wear a Viking helmet and cuss up a storm at seminars. The second is Dan Kennedy who gives “no holds barred” advise, such as he gave to the dentist in the story above who asked the question “How did a bartender become a dental consultant.” Kennedy scolded the dentist by stating “Don’t be a snob. At least bartenders have personalities,” but goes on to give advice and insight that has made him tops in his field of information marketing second to none.

Inaccurate, lazy, sloppy thinking has killed off more careers than any gift or talent can make up for, regardless of how that knowledge was dispensed-even if it was with a large, lumpy grain of salt.

Another factor that kills is the closing of the mind.

If one does not remain open to possibilities and allows the negatives of the world to infect, that person will be fighting the negative influence so much so often that there will be no time for the good or positive he or she needs to become infected with to not only succeed but to be happy and content in life.

I once encountered a woman on a social media site who had stored up considerable negativity and was simply looking for a place to unload. I made a statement that was in no way inflammatory, but she took it the wrong way (her way) and found me at fault. I quickly apologized in an attempt to unruffled her feathers, but to no avail. She ended up deleting me from her communication stream and that was that.

But something she mentioned made me think.

She told me at one point that “You’re full of yourself.” Let me use this as a phrase to support another aspect of failed or faulty thinking.

After hearing this, most would get upset. I did slightly, but did not let it linger, a learned response. Instead I thought, “Well, aren’t most full of themselves’?” And in itself, that’s not a bad thing. Keep in mind that it’s not necessarily a cold world; it’s just that people are feeling the heat to survive and your survival happens to be a distant second to theirs.

To support, consider that when a person gets cut off in traffic the normal response is “Jerk” “Idiot” or some other despairing remark. We are offended. Most rarely think, “Well, he’s having a bad day”–loss of loved one, a job, divorce, dozens of possibilities. But even if the person is just a “Jerk,” what of it? If we get upset at him, it does us no good, for anger is a passion that feeds on itself only worsening in the process. And we are not able to control those around us, so what is the point?

I speak from personal experience as one who’s had to overcome anger, one who used to push people over with my car to jump out and confront the driver. I have learned, once again, how to overcome poor thinking or emotion based response behavior.

We all need to be more aware and realistic of that which goes on around us.

If I was to think being “full of myself” as bad and only took in the criticism at an emotional response level, I would soon be doing so for all slights coming my way, holding onto them never to advance.

Besides, I am “full of myself” and glad for it. I used to be full of others’ opinions, poor thinking, criticism, and such only to end up depressed, suicidal, angry, and unable to do little for myself or live in any considerable positive light. I spent decades believing I was nothing as the darkness enveloped my life. Now that I am “full of myself” (understanding based on constructive, progressive, active thinking), I am the happier for it. And because of this able to be of great benefit to my family, friends, and potentially to the thousands or more I will someday encounter.

Here’s to ignoring the loud and oft wrong majority to discovering the joy of the unexpected and un-ordinary. And here’s to the woman at the seminar who said that making lots of money for little work (working smart not hard) is not “normal,” I say bring it on sister, bring it on.

“There’s always room for improvement, you know–it’s the biggest room in the house.”– Louise Heath Leber

Everyone has to overcome shortcomings or weaknesses to achieve greater happiness. Maybe you’re too easily angered; an excessive procrastinator; you don’t follow through on commitments; are socially inept or can’t relate to people well enough to maintain relationships, a job, or family; can’t commit; can’t finish what you started; you have addictions to alcohol, drugs, video games, collecting, sports, pornography, or any avoidance behavior, on and on and on.

But to overcome weaknesses is difficult. It’s much easier to ignore them or say “Well, that’s just me. That’s who I am.” You can overcome the majority of your major weaknesses or character flaws, but it takes a lot of work and honesty.

“How desperately difficult it is to be honest with oneself. It is much easier to be honest with other people.”– Edward White Benson

“I count him braver who overcomes his desires than him who conquers his enemies; for the hardest victory is the victory over self.”- Aristotle

“Everyone needs to twelve-step their lives. Don’t simply wait until you’ve got an addiction.” Anonymous

“Procrastination is the fear of success. People procrastinate because they are afraid of the success that they know will result if they move ahead now. Because success is heavy, carries a responsibility with it, it is much easier to procrastinate and live on the “someday I’ll” philosophy.”– Denis Waitley

It is too easy to stay with the status quo. Too easy to put off for tomorrow what will never happen today or ever. But weaknesses must be addressed, for many if not all of these weaknesses are life killers. Life killers in the sense that you deny yourself a greater happiness and joy by not fixing or working on them enough to make significant inroads. Life killers in the sense that you are not only denying yourself but others the benefit of what you have to offer. Bottom line, the more you fix you weaknesses the greater happiness, confidence, and peace of mind you achieve. The greater you achieve in these areas the greater you will achieve in the areas of financial gain, personal satisfaction, and desire to reach out to others. But there is a lot of sacrifice and effort involved. No fast-food, get-rich, learn-it-in-one-day schemes here.

“In order to live free and happily you must sacrifice boredom. It is not always an easy sacrifice.”– Richard Bach

“Self-esteem must be earned! When you dare to dream, dare to follow that dream, dare to suffer through the pain, sacrifice, self-doubts, and friction from the world, you will genuinely impress yourself.”– Dr. Laura Schlessinger

But growth requires getting out of one’s comfort zone and to not only do the difficult but to do the unimaginable. If you are poor of spirit, poor of mind, poor of soul, poor of influence, poor in pocket and poor of experience, you are the only one to blame. Time and time and time and time again I have heard directly and indirectly of the uber-successful their failures: Tony Robbins eating once a day and washing his dishes in the bathtub; Og Mandino, the greatest salesman on earth, losing his family, turning to drink and living on the streets; Dr. Joe Vital living in poverty for over a decade in Dallas, Texas. The many billionaires, millionaires, and lesser-aires all coming from less-than-nothing to rise through the refining fire of dire straits and circumstance having their mortal coil of clay shaped, strengthened and sanctified to not only the betterment of self but to the betterment of the hundreds, thousands, millions they’ve touched.

How many do you want to touch?

If you think you can’t touch many, think again, for in desiring a lesser life, you snuff out the God-given potential to rise and affect the masses, the many, the always and many who need you to overcome yourself for their betterment, a hand lent, a hand reaching down to lift up, only up.

“Great minds have purposes; little minds have wishes. Little minds are subdued by misfortunes; great minds rise above them.”– Washington Irving

“Your work is to discover your world and then with all your heart give yourself to it.”– The Buddha

“As you grow older, you’ll discover that you have two hands: One for helping yourself, the second for helping others.”- Unknown

But you need to address fear, overcome the self, the self-limiting desire to be comfortable and remain. Only in the remaining do we find despair and lack of hope. It is in the quick not the dead that we find purpose, hope, joy, and desire to touch the masses. The dynamic is in action, growth, it is where life is sanctified and made of great purpose, indeed.

“Only when you’ve worked on yourself long enough can you be of great worth to others. Don’t be selfish by doing nothing, build yourself to the benefit of others.”– Jeffrey P. Brown

“Our lives improve only when we take chances — and the first and most difficult risk we can take is to be honest with ourselves.”– Walter Anderson

“If you stand up and be counted, from time to time you may get yourself knocked down. But remember this: A man flattened by an opponent can get up again. A man flattened by conformity stays down for good.”– Thomas J. Watson, Jr.

“It all comes down to one very simple choice… Get busy livin’ or get busy dyin’.”– Andy Dufrain, “The Shawshank Redemption”

“Far better to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in the gray twilight that knows not victory, nor defeat.”– Theodore Roosevelt

“Take chances, make mistakes. That’s how you grow. Pain nourishes your courage. You have to fail in order to practice being brave.”– Mary Tyler Moore

“Why not go out on a limb? Isn’t that where the fruit is?”– Frank Scully

“A ship in harbor is safe, But that is not what ships are built for.”- unknown

“Behold the turtle. He makes progress only when he sticks his neck out.”– James B. Conant

“If everything seems under control, you’re just not going fast enough.”– Mario Andretti

But in order to do well, in order to find your dream, lock your hands about its neck so it doesn’t slip away, focus and dedication is required. You need to be ruthless in taking massive action on a consistent, persistent basis, with your eyes on the prize which resides above the horizon within the great heights of the stars. Work, sacrifice, and boldness of action are not only those things that success are made of but happiness, greatest fulfillment, and joy. Do this and leave mediocrity and your half-empty life behind for those of a lesser heart. You, my friend, have great things to do.

“Don’t ask yourself what the world needs; ask yourself what makes you come alive. And then go and do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”– Harold Whitman

“Most people are so busy knocking themselves out trying to do everything they think they should do, they never get around to what they want to do.”– Kathleen Winsor

“You’ve achieved success in your field when you don’t know whether what you are doing is work or play.”– Warren Beatty

“Lack of will power has caused more failure than lack of intelligence or ability.”– Flower A. Newhouse

“I never could have done what I have done without the habits of punctuality, order, and diligence, without the determination to concentrate myself on one subject at a time.”– Charles Dickens

“We don’t know who we are until we see what we can do.”– Martha Grimes

“The minute you settle for less than you deserve, you get even less than you settled for.”– Maureen Dowd

You need to build yourself, build your character by not only overcoming weaknesses but finding you strength. For in the monetized world, business coaches speak to building one’s strengths for greater success. Michael Jordan succeeded in basketball and failed at baseball. Einstein succeeded as a theoretical physicist not as a salesman, which he almost became. Certainly to monetize one needs to focus on strengths. But the underlying weaknesses-the many I mentioned above and more-will tear at the foundation of one’s being, and ultimately success, faster than anything else.

“Whenever anyone has offended me, I try to raise my soul so high that the offense cannot reach it.”– Rene Descartes

“How do you know when you’ve built great character? When you can no longer be offended.” Jeffrey P. Brown

“When there is no enemy within, the enemies outside cannot hurt you.”– African proverb

“With confidence you can reach truly amazing heights; without confidence, even the simplest accomplishments are beyond your grasp.”– Jim Loehr

“Talk to yourself every morning. By looking into those eyes, she or he will tell you everything you need to know. That is, if you’re brave enough to go there.” Jeffrey P. Brown

“The willingness to accept responsibility for one’s own life is the source from which self-respect springs.”– Joan Didion

“Success is not to be pursued; it is to be attracted by the person we become.”– Jim Rohn

This is the age of the entrepreneur, not only for the sake of independence but out of economic necessity. The standard job (just beyond broke) no longer provides for the American dream. Many are losing their homes and their lives along with it. With the death of pensions, social security, and job security (experts estimate employees entering the job market will have upwards of ten career changes before retirement), people as never before are reliant upon themselves to not only provide for the here and now but the retirement of later. And the majority are woefully ill-prepared for the after-job life, most not waking to the calamity of the lack of preparation well into retirement when it is way too late.

Therefore, since so much is reliant upon the individual, it has never been more important to make that individual strong-and that’s YOU. You must overcome your fear of failure, procrastination, being embarrassed, hurt, risk, of even happiness-yes, the fear of success itself-to obtain your ultimate goal. The you you will discover and become as you chip away at the old you to find the wonder, purpose, and potential that lives deep within us all.

God bless.

“Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful.”– Herman Cain

“To live a creative life, we must lose our fear of being wrong.”– Joseph Chilton Pearce

“If you’re not failing every now and again, it’s a sign you’re not doing anything very innovative.”– Woody Allen

“However well organized the foundations of life may be, life must always be full of risks.”– Havelock Ellis

“If you’re not making mistakes, you’re not taking risks, and that means you’re not going anywhere. The key is to make mistakes faster than the competition, so you have more changes to learn and win.”– John W. Holt, Jr.

“If you are never scared, embarrassed, or hurt, it means you never take chances.”– Julia Soul

“Progress always involves risk; you can’t steal second base and keep your foot on first.”– Frederick Wilcox

“A failure is like fertilizer; it stinks to be sure, but it makes things grow faster in the future.”– Dennis Waitley

What does that mean?

For a few examples, let’s go back in time.

At the founding of this country, certain groups of people were seen as savage, weak, untrustworthy, childish, and so forth. And they were relegated to second class status or lower. Just as in some cultures, Hindu for example, certain worth is arbitrarily assigned. If you were born to a wealthy mother and father, you were seen superior to everyone else, even if you were the nastiest person on earth. Conversely, you could be a virtual saint, the nicest person ever to live, but if you were poor your life was seen as holding little value.

And at times, these arbitrary standards or beliefs can be seen getting shot out of the water by great events, maybe a lesson from a greater power? For example, as I alluded to above, during the early years of this country, people felt blacks we’re inferior, for all the reasons mentioned above. And that’s why when they finally we’re able to fight in the Civil War, more officers we’re assigned to black regiments than to white. White officers felt that the black soldiers needed more supervision because they were more like children than men.

However, a strange thing happened and actually contributed to the war coming to an end. As black soldiers fought, white soldiers stood in amazement-especially Southern whites-as blacks not only fought with intelligence but bravery and honor. Southern whites began to see their “arbitrary” perception of blacks come crumbling down about their collective heads. Many Southerners began to loose faith in the cause. It was their fear and weakness that caused them to perceive blacks incorrectly that which could no longer stand in the light of the reality of war.

For another example, consider that prior to the late 1800s in the United States, women were seen as chattel or property of the man. There was even one case where a woman shot a policeman who came to her door and the husband took the blame because women weren’t seen as creatures that could think for themselves. Since the husband told his wife to shoot anyone who came to the door while he was away, her shooting the policeman was found not to be her fault. Besides, at that time women we’re not asked to make any decisions beyond that of what to cook and clean on any given day. Once again, “arbitrary” standards put forth by a group that merely magnifies weakness and fear.

Little has changed today. The issues may have changed, but to a great degree, arbitrary opinion and mores rule the day.

Case in point, a phrase from yesteryear that is still thrown around today: “a penny saved is a penny earned.” Is it? Should we all be saving? Today, some say savers are losers because the gold standard hasn’t been used since 1971, thus, the value of the dollar has declined considerably. If you look at what it takes to afford the essentials today (home, car(s), insurances, etc.) the truth of this point becomes evident. Also consider that the savings rate

has dropped from as high as 11 to 12 percent in the mid-eighties to an average of 1 percent since 2000.

Then there’s the myth of education, my last example. Here we hear such phrases as “No child left behind,” “Education leads to a better world,” “Education provides the American dream.” And so forth and so on. But an education does not ensure employment, a sufficient wage to capture the American dream, guarantee intelligence, or an individual who thinks logically, critically, moral, or just. Many an educated person has proven to be unjust and poor in his / her thinking. But there’s more.

Today, what is not being told to our incoming college freshmen is that there’s a change in the weather. Along with the economic changes mentioned above, companies outsourcing, downsizing, the greater globalization of world markets–as well as other factors–are not being explained to college students who seek careers, careers that many believe will provide more for them than just the great struggle that is certainly ahead.

But these lies or mis-truths and omissions are being perpetuated by the few who benefit, those who are not adversely affected, so why should they care? Because of this they are not talking and too many students, young people, walk into traps that take them years if not a decade or more to recover from.

But bottom line is that in order to be successful, first, you have to go deep to see what is really there. Do your homework. Don’t rely on existing popular notions, especially in rapidly changing world.

Many may say about education “If it ain’t broke, why fix it?” But that’s not the issue. What they mean to say is “Why fix it if in revealing the truth it will not line my pockets?” In most cases, if it’s not a money maker there’s no impetus for change. And education is not a big money maker. It’s more of a money drainer. Even though many pay lip service to it, going back 20 years of more (Bush Sr. the “education president”), if America wants to get it done, it gets it done. Little has been done regarding education reform.

So what are the issues that may not be fixed or spoken of that will trip you up? Here’s a few.

Few speak to the outmoded nature of colleges and universities-cumbersome vehicles that aren’t designed to keep up with the need to rapidly train a workforce made of individuals who may have three to five and as many as ten career changes; or to the misguided notion that teachers are greatly responsible for educating our youth while the brunt of the work should fall on the parent’s shoulders (specifically in secondary schools); that very few students entering colleges or job factories understand the dire need to think as entrepreneurs in a day n age of downsizing, outsourcing, temps and contractors, and a rapidly changing global job market; that once enough experience is gained our college grads must increase their financial IQ to move into being business owners (1 in 6 Americans now are) and active investors as insurance against dying pensions and social security fund. And so much more.

These are only a few issues that are not being taught, that is not common knowledge that could result in years of lost time and money left on the table. Many of the establishment have opinions about these issues that no longer hold true, not updating notions that may have been valid twenty years ago or more, but do not hold true today. They hold onto failed thinking like a child to his mother his first day at school.

More than ever before, we as individuals are responsible for ensuring that we are adaptable, flexible, and informed when it come to our educational, financial, social and political welfare. No longer can we rely on institutions-schools, colleges, government, employers-to provide. As the title of Alan Greenspan’s new book states, we are in The Age of Turbulence. And there is much work to be done.