Thoughts From David Paladino, Owner/Landmark Group

I have had a lot of time to reflect lately and here are some random thoughts on my mind.

1. Madison Ave is out to destroy the values of America. If you have an IPad do you really need the IPad2? Apparently a lot of people think they do (for sure Apple does). I challenge you to go two weeks without watching any TV, reading some random website, or listening to the radio. Buy a good book to read at home (on your Ipad2) and a book on tape to listen to in the car instead. Do you really need a Nook and a Kindle and an iPod and an iPhone? I have found amazing results from disconnecting myself from advertising. I even gave up my Wall Street Journal and now I am knocking out two books a month
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2. There is so much pressure to NOT eat healthy in America. It's no wonder we have an obesity epidemic. What would it be like if there were a couple of dozen good healthy choices on the menu. Corporate America says they want you to be healthy but how many bread sticks do you need to stuff yourself before it becomes a bad idea? The whole problem is the incentives are all wrong. Health care cost do not directly correlate with what we eat (again blame Madison Ave). On top of that, the remarks you get from friends and family when you are trying to eat healthy are not exactly what I would call "loving". They all ask, "Are you dieting?" I have to bite my tongue on what I want to say. I think America deserves what it gets when it struggles with spiraling health care costs.

3. Kids coming out of college want to do everything possible to avoid risk. They all want to work for a company with 20 weeks of paid vacation where they can spend all day working on their status updates on Facebook. They want a job where no real work is done. Little do they know, ten years from now that  their company is going to lay them off and they are going to have hard time finding a job making what corporate America paid. And they do not have the traits valuable to small companies They will ultimately come to the realization that they should work for themselves. Except now it is hard because they have three kids and a $3000 house payment and two SUV's sitting in the garage What America really needs is kids that want to take a lot of risk and are confident in themselves.

4. Nothing happens till someone sells something. I have spent a lot of time prospecting for new clients lately. I am amazed by the positive reception I get from people. I even go as far to say, "This is a cold call. Do you have a few minutes to talk about "XYZ" problem?" I read some where that businesses lose 20% of their customers every ever. This means in five years, your business will be dead if you do nothing.

5. We have been talking a lot about what it takes for a company to be successful. I really think it comes down to one thing...the ability for the leaders in an organization to develop the people around them. I read  that your employees are your most valuable asset so long as you invest in them.

6. Dwight Eisenhower once said,  "I never saw a pessimistic general win a battle." If you read this blog often, you know I am an avid athlete. I have done virtually every distance of triathlon including Louisville Ironman in 12:34. I really love all sports. One of the sports that I have developed a passion for is Ultimate Frisbee. I have noticed that my performance changes based on what I think of how good of a player I am. The games where I envision myself as an amazing athlete is where I think some of the footage of me should be on wide world of sports. The exact opposite is true on the days that I have a poor attitude. I cannot encourage you enough to have a positive attitude about yourself and your performance, no matter if it is for work or for sport.

7. How many bad habits have you created? I just finished a nutrition challenge at my gym where we challenged one another to eat healthy, eat balanced meals, get enough sleep, and drink enough water. During this challenge I realized how many bad habits I had developed. Think about your performance in what is important to you. What things are you doing that are preventing your from achieving your goals?

8. I don't think any of us, including me, takes what is written in the Bible seriously enough. We have been working on this project in church where we read the entire bible in a year. In Genesis, the Bible talks about we will all have to give an account of everything we ever did to GOD. EVERYTHING? If we really believed that we would all(including me) act a little differently.