Full Moon Rising - Made In The USA

Who's the REAL Shareholder?

In remarks on the breakdown in the Swiss Bank UBS's risk management plan to the Swiss Federal Banking Commission, CEO Marcel Rohner said, “The problem was not a failure to appreciate complexity, but rather the opposite. It was a lack of simplicity and critical perspective, which prevented the right questions from being asked while there was still time.”

Excellent point, Mr. Rohner.  Here's another simple, yet critical question - for industry and government leaders alike:  Who's the REAL shareholder?

Here's a little illustration to help you think about that one...

Contracts Can’t Be Broken—Unless They Involve Union Workers

The outrage over the AIG bonuses are beginning to die down, at least in the media.  But the bigger backlash - one that politician's will ignore at their own peril - is coming from the grassroots, who see the gross discrepancies in the way things are handled for the rich as compared to the way they're handled for the "working poor" (by which I mean the average hourly-wage employee).  The issue that's smoldering throughout the middle class isn't the bonuses themselves - it's the excuse that's being chanted by politicians like a mantra: the "sanctity of contract" language.  I highly doubt that there's a working man or women in the U.S. who's buying this, because most of us have been on the wrong end of an employment contract of some sort, whether it's being screwed out of legally required overtime pay (i.e., working beyond normal duty hours without compensation), not receiving contractually agreed upon benefits, or even being wrongly dismissed.  And don't even get me started on how pregnant women are treated in the workplace. 

The following is an excellent article written for the AFL-CIO's News Blog.  See if you don't agree with its author.

======================================================

Contracts Can’t Be Broken—Unless They Involve Union Workers

by Tula Connell, Mar 18, 2009

Contracts can’t be broken. We learned that lesson well over the past few days when AIG honchos swore that despite being bailed out by $173 billion in taxpayer funds, they couldn’t break the sacrosanct contractual bond that guaranteed billions in bonuses to the same top executives who brought the insurance giant to its knees.

But we also were taught another lesson in these months of financial chaos: Contacts can’t be changed—unless they involve unionized autoworkers.

Tim Rutten at the Los Angeles Times really hits the mark today when he writes:

What we’re essentially being asked to believe is that employment contracts involving hardworking men and women on Detroit’s assembly lines are somehow less legally binding—less “sacred” in the current rhetorical argot—than those protecting a bunch of cowboy securities traders living in Connecticut. [snip]

For years, the smart guys on Wall Street have convinced a growing number of Americans that organized labor is an impediment to economic progress, an unacceptable “cost” in a globalized system of production, a quaint social fossil from the era of mills and smokestacks. If there’s a lesson to be gleaned from the current crisis, however, it’s that when the chips are down, organized labor is a far more responsible social actor than the snatch-and-run characters who fancy themselves financiers.

Who re-negotiated their contracts in the face of a taxpayer bailout? Not AIG CEOs. It was the autoworkers who agreed to put their middle-class wages on the line to help out the struggling industry. So far, not one AIG CEO has stepped up to the plate to return that $1 million or so bonus. (AIG bigwigs aren’t alone in soaking up taxpayer money for personal fun—a video clip here by Brave New Films lists more CEOs on the taxpayer dole and urges people to take action on March 19.)

When General Motors (GM) and Chrysler asked for government support in December, Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) pushed a pay cut amendment in the Senate that called for slicing the autoworkers’ wages to those paid to nonunionized workers. So, Bob, your fans are waiting breathlessly to hear you call for AIG billionaires to give back their bonuses. Or, as a columnist in Corker’s home state puts it:

Paging Bob Corker! Explanation please! [snip]

So, to make sure I have this right, we can give $185 billion to AIG and we have to uphold their employment contracts with 80 people, but we can’t give 1/5th that amount to General Motors unless they abrogate their employment contracts with 100,000 workers.

Yes, taxpayers own 80 percent of AIG. But we can’t seem to stop AIG execs from getting bonuses. After all, AIG CEO Edward Liddy and the company’s apologists argue, AIG knew it needed to keep its people. The implication here is that financial wizards who run a global company into the ground are more valuable than the blue-collar men and women who aren’t paid seven-figure salaries and whose jobs involve creating tangible products like, say, automobiles. Meanwhile, AIG bonus information so far includes:

• $200 million in bonuses.
• 73 AIG employees receiving bonuses of $1 million each, almost all of the employees…responsible for creating the exotic derivatives that caused AIG’s near collapse.
• Some of those receiving the bonuses are not U.S. citizens.

A CNN poll released today shows the American public increasingly fearful that the nation’s economic downturn will mirror the Depression. Asked whether Depression-era circumstances could reign in the next 12 months, 45 percent of those polled reported that was likely. That’s an increase from 38 percent who responded in the same fashion in December.

As AFL-CIO President John Sweeney says, “These outrageous bonuses are yet another example of an economy that has become fundamentally imbalanced.”

All of the power is concentrated in the hands of the very few at the very top and the gap between CEOs’ and  workers’ pay continues to grow. That is why we need to pass the Employee Free Choice Act.

Passing the Employee Free Choice Act will allow workers to have a voice at work, lift their standard of living and build stronger communities as well as stronger families.

A Gallup poll released in recent days found 53 percent of the U.S. public supports the Employee Free Choice Act, which was reintroduced in the U.S. Congress last week. Why? Because we need a stronger middle class. One with contracts that are sacrosanct.

American Federation of Labor - Congress of Industrial Organizations Copyright © 2009 AFL-CIO.  All Rights Reserved.

======================================================

Have you been on the wrong end of a employment contract dispute?  Let us know about it!

Brian Fallon

John Mellencamp muses on the business of music

As the saying goes, music soothes the savage beast.  But apparently not when the beast resides on Wall Street, according to superstar John Mellencamp.  In a recent blog post on the Huffington Post, Mellencamp details his perceptions of The Way Things Were, and the systemic problems wrought upon the industry because of short-sighted "profit before prose" mentality.  

The following is a condensed version of Mellencamp's post.  For the full article, just click on the title.

=============================================

On My Mind: The State of the Music Business

John Mellencamp

Posted March 22, 2009 | 08:18 PM (EST) on The Huffington Post

Over the last few years, we have all witnessed the decline of the music business. We've read and heard about the "good old days" and how things used to be. People remember when music existed as an art that motivated social movements. Artists and their music flourished in back alleys, taverns and barns until, in some cases, a popular groundswell propelled it far and wide. These days, that possibility no longer seems to exist. Had the industry not been decimated by a lack of vision caused by corporate bean counters obsessed with the bottom line, musicians would have been able to stick with creating music rather than trying to market it as well.

Reagan's much-vaunted trickle-down theory said that wealth tricked down to the masses from the elite at the top. Now we've found out that this is patently untrue -- the current economic collapse reflects this self-serving folly. The same holds for music. It doesn't trickle down; it percolates up from the artists, from word of mouth, from the streets and rises up to the general populace. Constrained by the workings of SoundScan/BDS (Broadcast Data Systems), music now came from the top and was rammed down people's throats.

By 1997, consumers, now long uninvolved, grew passive, radio stations had to change formats. Creative artistry and the artists, themselves, were now of secondary importance, taking a back seat to Wall Street as the record companies were going public. The artists were being sold out by the record companies and forced to figuratively kiss the asses of their corporate overlords at the time these record companies went public. In essence, the artists were no longer the primary concern; only keeping their stockholders fat and happy and "making the quarterly numbers" mattered; the music was an afterthought.

Long-tenured employees of these companies were sacrificed in the name of profitability and the culture of greed was burned into the brains of even the most serious music lovers. It seemed that paying attention sales, who had the #1 record from one week to next, and who fell or rose on the charts was all that validated music.

While all this was going on, technology, just as it always does, progressed. That which, by all rights, should have had a positive impact for all of us -- better sound quality, accessibility, and portability -- is now being blamed for many of the ills that beset the music business. The captains of the industry it seemed, proved themselves incapable of having a broader, more long-range view of what this new technology offered. Not understanding the possibilities, they ignorantly turned it into a nightmarish situation. The nightmare is the fact that they simply didn't know how to make it work for us.

The CD, it should be noted, was born out of greed. It was devised to prop up record sales on the expectation of people replenishing their record collections with CDs of albums they had already purchased. They used to call this "planned obsolesce" in the car business. Sound quality was supposed to be one of the big selling points for CDs but, as we know, it wasn't very good at all. It was just another con, a get-rich-quick scheme, a monumental hoax perpetrated on the music consuming public.

Now that the carnage in this industry is so deep you can hardly wade through it, it's open season for criticizing artists, present company included, for making a misstep or trying to create new opportunities to reach an audience, i.e., Springsteen releasing an album at Wal-Mart and, yes, we all know what Wal-Mart is about. The old rules and constraints that had governed what was once considered a legitimate artist are no longer valid. When you think about it, you must conclude that there really is no legitimate business; there is no game left.

If we have any hope for survival of the music that we all love, compassion must replace name-calling, fairness must replace greed and we need to come together as a musical community and try to understand each other's problems. So let's try to put our best foot forward and remember that anyone can stand in the back of a dark hall and yell obscenities but if you want a better world it starts with you and the things you say and do.

Copyright © 2009 HuffingtonPost.com, Inc.  All Rights Reserved. 

=============================================

Why is AIG being treated differently?

Our friend Roger Simmermaker, author of the book, How Americans Can Buy American was on the Fox Business Network (FBN) recently discussing the un-equal treatment of the insurance conglomerate AIG and the U.S. Auto industry with regards to the federal bailout efforts.

Roger, who writes "Buy American Mention of the Week" articles for WorldNetDaily.com and his website HowToBuyAmerican.com, is a member of the Machinists Union and National Writers Union, and no stranger to TV news.  

Roger does a great job pointing out some of the decades-old underlying problems that U.S. manufacturers have to face...and the staggering toll that the loss of U.S. manufacturing capability would mean to this country.

Here's a transcript of his interview with David Asman and Liz Clayman on FBN's "Bulls & Bears" segment, aired March 18, 2009.  

Note: Any errors in the transcript are mine (Brian Fallon). 

=============================================

AIG, Take a Page From UAW

David Asman:  What with all the talk of AIG and it's bonus contract obligation, we can look at the auto makers example, who were pressured to renegotiate union contracts in order to survive.

Liz Clayman:  So I'm sorry, but why couldn't AIG executives do the same?  Re-negotiate their bogus contracts before they paid out these large sums?  Let's bring in Roger Simmermaker, author of How Americans Can Buy American.  Roger, from the start, we have seen the US auto worker eviscerated for making seventy grand - if that's what it even is - and here these guys are getting millions in bonus payments and everybody's taking it to Congress, but how is it that they were able to force auto workers and frankly white collar workers in the auto industry to take all kinds of changes in their worker contracts, yet this involves so much push-back?

Roger Simmermaker:  Well this is indicative of the treatment that we, uh, the way that we treat the U.S. auto makers compared to somebody like AIG, and it's the same kind of unequal treatment the US auto makers get with the foreign automakers.  I mean, we allow South Korea and Japan to import unlimited cars into the US; we're locked out of their market.  GM and Ford routinely have to pay billions of dollars in health care for their workers and retirees, whereas the Japanese [government] pick that up for their auto makers, so it's unequal treatment, and this is just another example where we rake the US auto makers over the coals for every penny we propose to give to them, but we treat AIG - as everybody has seen - quite differently.  

David Asman:  Why?  Why do you think that is?  

Roger Simmermaker:  I don't know why it is.  It seems like we have this disdain for manufacturing in this country, and if it's...if there's any term that the American public has become very familiar with lately, it's the Ripple Effect...

David Asman:  But Roger, let me just... let me just press you on that for a second.  Roger, do you think that there might be...I mean, we know that, uh, you know, Wall Street was well represented in the last treasury, it's well represented in this treasury.  Do you think there's some kind of conspiracy among bankers here to...to help out each other and...and ignore the car companies? 

Roger Simmermaker:  I don't know if it's a conspiracy, but I...I just think we've turned to a more service oriented economy.  We've turn our backs on manufacturing, and the fact is for every manufacturing job we have, it supports four other jobs.  In the service industry you only have a ripple effect between one and two jobs.  You know, we have to have a US auto industry in this...in this country.  We have to have an American company in every category of industry in the United States.  If GM, Ford and Chrysler fail, we don't have an auto industry anymore.  But if AIG fails, we will still have a US based insurance industry...

Liz Clayman:  You're right! 

Roger Simmermaker:  ...because there are a lot of other insurance companies out there."

Liz Clayman:  You're right!  I'm just wondering, you know, we keep hearing, Roger, we keep hearing, "Oh, unskilled auto workers."  You know, last I checked, they actually can make hybrid complicated engines that are worth something, versus these credit default swaps.  How much anger is out there, on behalf of the auto workers right now, that they're looking at this?

Roger Simmermaker:  Well, I'm sure there's a lot of anger, because there's a lot of instability about their jobs.  They don't know what's gonna happen.  There...they've seen their reduced, uh, seen their pay cut.  I mean, Sully, the pilot who landed his airplane on the Hudson, you know, he said, 'Look, my pay has been cut 40% my pension's been eliminated,' and we look at pensions for stability, but yet we're willing to cut them and throw them into an unstable stock market...

Copyright (c) FBN 2009.  All Rights Reserved. 

=============================================

Shift Happens

Here's a fascinating video that'll really make you think about things.

This video (to the best of my knowledge) is called "Globalization & The Information Age."  It was researched and original design credits are given to Karl Fisch, Scott McLeod and Jeff Brenman (Copyright 2008, All Rights Reserved).  Allegedly, it was adapted by Sony BMG at an executive meeting they held in Rome last year.

If anyone has better information about its origins and the data presented, we'd love to hear from you!

A Community of One

I've been reading a lot of things about a lot of things the last few days, very little of it related, but in my mind, it's all inter-related.

Of course, I've been reading a lot about the economy (or lack thereof, as it sometimes seems).  One of the things I read that I thought was very good was a blog post from Copyblogger, a blog which is, as the site itself says, "all about words that get people to take some form of action."  They had a very nice post the other day entitled, "Four Old-School Reasons Why You Can Thrive in this Recession.

Listed as Reason Number One is "Self Reliance.  This Emersonian term has been bandied about a lot lately, especially by certain over-sized media personalities who presume to expound on the failures of others while conveniently ignoring their own short-comings, not to mention the fallacies of their irrational pontifications.  But those annoying noise-makers aside, this issue of 'self reliance' - especially within the context of the larger global economic crisis we're all having to deal with - is something upon which I've been ruminating, too.

Which brings me to something else I've been reading, which is a wonderful book my fiance gave me, called Spark Your Dream.  It's a true story of an Argentinean couple, Herman and Candelaria Zapp, who embark on a journey from their home in Buenos Aires to travel 43,000 miles to Prudhoe Bay, Alaska in an antique 1928 Graham-Paige Model 610 Touring car.  Their original plans of arriving in Alaska in six months turns into a 4 year epic.  Rather than being n ordeal, it's an inspirational story of discovery, adventure and insight which they chronicle with passion.

One of the passages that really sparked my fancy was one where Herman is marveling at the rich diversity of humanity that they'd encountered, having  at this point traveling the length of South America and up through Central America.  In the course of experiencing so many strange, new cultures and making many new friends along the way, he was struck by how he and his wife had been transformed.  "If you portray yourself as something you're not," he writes, "it's impossible to enjoy the essence of the moment.  I remember that before the trip, sometimes I showed myself differently from who I really was, just to please others.  So what was happening was that I created a situation that in the end I didn't enjoy because I wasn't myself.  One's value is in who one is, not in what one appears to be.  Now that we are more transparent, I can verify that the relationships are stronger and clearer.

I believe that the human truth that Herman has discovered is true for business as well.  I think that the multiple exposures of failures, scandals, and mind-boggling frauds that have been dominating the headlines of late are the painfully necessary astringents required for the healing process to begin.  Sunshine is, after all, the best disinfectant.  But learning from mistakes is the hallmark of maturity.  But more than just exposing the wrong doers, as professionals I think we all need to look around at our own business arrangements.  Transparency of the books is of course crucially important, but self-transparency in corporate culture - the willingness to walk the walk, as it were - is also vital.

Those companies who embrace openness, diversity and value their employees ideas as well as their labors will, I believe, be the ones who succeed.  Those that look to minimize such intangibles in the blind pursuit of maximizing profits for the elite few will be the ones who ultimately fail.  A company that can recognize the wealth of its people's ambitions, that reaches inward to nurture and reward new ideas, and seeks to forge strong partnerships with its employees and business contacts is, in my opinion, the kind of company that embraces the best aspects of Self Reliance: independent; assured; enterprising; resolute; capable.  Woven throughout the  inter-dependent web of producers, suppliers, logistics and marketing, companies which aim to be working cooperatively with each other (as opposed to a few massive companies trying to subjugate smaller businesses to their Big Box demands), balanced with fair rules and reasonable oversight to ensure a level playing field, such companies can create the kind of business community which promotes healthy competition.

Former Labor Secretary Robert Reich made an interesting point along these lines a few weeks ago. Noting that the Powers That Be (across two Administrations) had been claiming that there were large financial and industrial corporations which were "too big to [allow to] fail."  "Pardon me for asking," Reich writes in his blog, "but if a company is too big to fail, maybe – just maybe – it’s too big, period.  We used to have public policies to prevent companies from getting too big. Does anyone remember antitrust laws?"  This is - again, my own personal opinion - a long over-due discussion for American society. 

I think that the time has come for Americans to embrace the idea that the global marketplace is not territory for which a few gargantuan corporate predators need to dominate and possess, but one in which the rich tapestry of "Self Reliant" businesses come together to create the communal environment in which all who are willing to play by the rules are welcome to come and share their talents.  Allow for talent, innovation and creativity to thrive and grow, but grow proportionally to its market, and with the understanding that we're all passengers on this beautiful Big Blue Marble of ours, and we'd better keep our gardens clean.  Think of it this way - which tastes better, a local sustainably-organic farm's heirloom tomatoes, or a 5 pound hot-house chemically manufactured tomato?  Bigger is not always better.

So what is "The Little Guy" to do in these tumultuous economic times?  "Embrace the entrepreneurship that’s in your DNA," cheers Copyblogger.  "Keep your eyes open for problems to solve and markets to serve. And buckle up. Like every exciting ride, this one’s got a few hairpin curves."  

So don't be afraid to get into your garden and get a little dirty.  We here at Full Moon Rising, Inc. are ready to start tilling, and we've got our American-made boots on.

Steps Towards a More Sustainable Life of Less

I know this sounds like I have lost my mind, since we as a company make money selling things, but our philosophy has always been to only sell what is needed and to make the best recommendations possible.

It is also the reason we focus on USA Made products and Eco-Friendly products and solutions to marketing. By helping you to make good choices about clothing and promotional marketing items, you will increase your ROI (Return On Investment) and overall cost.

This article is from Zen Habits and I think is very appropriate for the times we live in.

Personally I have been moving away from having more things. I find the more clutter and things I never use that I get rid of the happier I am. I find joy in knowing that many of the items are used and needed by others. Some just end up in the recycling bin.

I'd like to hear what you think of this article and concept. 

Bryan

Steps Towards a More Sustainable Life of Less

Posted: 09 Mar 2009 04:07 PM PDT

Post written by Leo Babauta. Follow me on Twitter.

When my grandparents were young, none of the appliances (let alone hi-tech gadgets) in our homes were in common use — not the refrigerator, electric stove, dishwasher, washing machine, dryer, toaster, television, computer, air-conditioner, microwave, etc.

None of it. They had cars, but they walked far more often than we do today. They had telephones, but not cell phones or Blackberries or iPhones, and they weren’t using phones all the time. They had stores, but they didn’t order things online and they didn’t buy all the time. In fact, during their Great Depression childhood, they bought very little and used very, very little technology.

And while the last 70-80 years have advanced our lives in amazing ways, and there’s no doubt that the comfort and convenience of our lives have improved tremendously … we rarely stop to consider whether technology and consumerism have always changed our lives for the better.

I mean, I am as big a proponent of the miracles of the Internet as anyone, but have we given up too much of our lives that used to exist offline and outdoors? It’s great that we have such comfortable cars that can drive incredibly fast and take us anywhere we want to go in minutes … but have we thrown away the joy and the health benefits of walking places?

It’s great that we can communicate instantly from anywhere with our mobile devices, but have we given up personal face-to-face conversations and the pleasure of being outdoors, disconnected from the world?

It’s great that food is so convenient these days, but have we given up the pleasures of slow eating for fast food, the joys of cooking for microwaving, the wonders of real food for processed food?

It’s great that we can buy pretty much anything we want these days (and often do), but have we allowed the abundance of cash we’ve had (until recently, but even now we’re still pretty rich) to force us to have bigger houses just to store all our stuff?

I propose a life of less. A life that’s more sustainable.

And yes, some will wonder if that will hurt the economy even more — buying and consuming less will mean people will lose jobs, no? Not necessarily. Scaling back our lives means we need to find jobs for people that are based not on producing more goods, but on producing more value — valuable information, valuable inventions that require fewer resources, valuable contributions to the community. But how will all of this be paid for if no one is buying stuff? There will be less wealth produced because less is being consumed … but if we consume less then we actually need less wealth. We just need to get off the escalating cycle of consuming and producing more.

We work more than ever before, despite advances in labor-saving technology that mean we should be able to work less. We do so to support a lifestyle that has become more expensive than ever, because of the new levels of convenience and abundant consumer goods that we’ve become accustomed to. We can break out of this trap, by consuming less and then needing to work less.

I’ve thought these things for awhile now, but it struck me most as I was walking to a meeting with a friend and business partner. Most people where I live don’t walk — cars are used all the time, even if the destination is just a few blocks away. I’ve been getting into the habit of walking places — for traveling, not exercise — but I’m a weirdo for doing so. And it struck me that only 50 years ago, I would have been normal — everyone walked back then.

And I wondered how we lost this valuable activity — walking to get places.

We lost it because convenience and speed have become more valuable to us than health and frugality and the enjoyment of the world around us.

I propose a life of less. A life that is more leisurely, a little more spartan, a little less expensive, a little less heavy on consuming the Earth’s resources.

I don’t think we can change the economy overnight. We can’t even change our lives overnight. But we can make a gradual change in that direction, with small steps.

Here are but a few ideas — I’m sure you could contribute some of your own:

• Can we walk to more places and drive less? We’d get fitter and use less fossil fuel. We’d have to loosen up our schedules to do this, but I think that’s a good change anyway.
• Can we start building more livable communities, where things are less spread out, so that we can walk more instead of driving everywhere? Where everything we need is a 10-20 minute walk away, or at least reachable by bike or public transportation? You might already live in a place like that, but not where I live, and not in lots of places. Even work should be close by. Again, this is a long-term change, but I think a good one.
• Can we start living in smaller houses, so that we need less heating and cooling and land and maintenance and cleaning? We can if we buy less stuff, which leads to …
• Can we start buying less stuff? We don’t need all the stuff we buy.
• Can we start celebrating things like birthdays and Christmas without spending sprees? We could do nice things for each other instead, or make things, or bake something.
• Can we start buying locally more? I know a lot of people already do this, but it would be great if this trend continued. It supports local farmers and drastically reduces the amount of resources needed to get food to our homes.
• Can we start packaging food less? Even non-food items (like toys) come with ridiculous amounts of packaging these days. I’d like to see a return to olden ways, when you scooped flour out of a huge bin into a container or something like that. Packaging we throw away (or even recycle) is so wasteful.
• Can we stop buying so much processed food? Real food is so much healthier, requires fewer chemicals and resources, and tastes better once you wean yourself from the addiction to processed foods.
• Can we eat slower, and enjoy the food more, instead of rushing through meals?
• Can we stop our addiction to mobile devices and being connected all the time, so that we can enjoy the pleasure of other people’s company without interruptions, or enjoy solitude or a nice quiet walk without being connected?
• Can we design cities and towns so that they aren’t based on the automobile, so that perhaps private vehicles parked at the outside of cities, and then people used public transportation or walked within the cities? We’d reclaim the streets for the pedestrian, make them alive once again with street markets, cafes, parks, children running around without fear of death, people exercising and doing tai chi and jogging and walking and enjoying a fume-free outdoors.

Again, these are just a few ideas. There are thousands more.

And I’m not saying we should give up techonology. I love connecting with people from around the world! I love being able to access information instantly that I would never have had access to just 15-20 years ago! I love the ability to express myself online that is unprecedented in human history!

But I also think we need to keep the good things that have come with the advances in technology, and throw out the bad, the things that have made our lives worse.
—
Read more about simplifying your life in my book, The Power of Less.

The Number One Dream Killer: Doing What Works

I follow a blog called Zen Habits, and today I discovered an article entitled, "The Number One Dream Killer: Doing What Works."  This in turn led me to a new blog that I really like, called The Illuminated Mind.  Both have some very thoughtful posts and, for me at least, provide food for thought and reflection.

I found this "Dream Killer" post and another one entitled "Why Being Productive is a Huge Waste of Time" to be very interesting.  I find it hard to break out of the mold and do things different.  I have tons of ideas, but occasionally find myself mired down in the minutiae of day-to-day work.  Being an Air Traffic Controller at O'Hare and running Full Moon Rising, Inc. when I am not there keeps me hopping.  The Air Traffic thing has trained me to be decisive and expect immediate compliance, something that is not necessarily the best way to be in business, especially when collaboration is required.

These articles are refreshing as they remind me to think outside of the box and keep trying to do things I would not normally do.  I think as a company we do think creatively and attempt do things differently, but of course it is you who would be the real judge of that.

I would love to hear what you are doing to break out of your box!

Bryan Thompson

Air-Traffic Controller Turned Distributor

I was featured in this profile from the February issue of Counselor magazine. I feel that they over simplified or glossed over some things I wish they would have focused on concerning our company. I hope it allows you to see a little more into my life, assuming you were interested to begin with.

PDF version also available,

Bryan

Air-Traffic Controller Turned Distributor

By Dave Vagnoni

It’s 9:00 on a Wednesday night and Bryan Thompson’s day is far from over. At arguably the busiest airport in the country, Thompson is working as an air traffic controller, nearly finished his shift. About eight hours earlier, he arrived in the tower, after working all morning at his “day job.” And he still has energy left to burn. “Usually, after work I go to the gym for a while,” he says.
It was almost 30 years ago when Thompson enrolled in the United States Marine Corps. At the time, he was a professional photographer, but opted for a change. “The $5,000 bonus helped convince me to sign up,” Thompson admits.

While he came close to choosing a path as a pilot, he decided instead to pursue a different type of career in aviation. Before he left for boot camp, he had never been on an airplane. Today, after stops in places like Tennessee, South Carolina and Louisiana, Thompson works six days a week at O’Hare Airport in Chicago.

“Sometimes it’s stressful, sure,” he says. “I used to love getting up and going to work. I got paid well. More recently, things have changed a bit and it’s more about procedures. But it’s still a good challenge.”

Thompson concedes he’s looking forward to retirement. He actually has a retirement countdown clock ticking on his computer. With his future in mind, he’s started to pour his heart into his promotional products business, Full Moon Rising Inc. (asi/199736). Along with two partners, who are also air traffic controllers, Thompson generates annual revenues of over $400,000.
“We started as basically a non-profit,” he says. “We would sell embroidered items at conventions for the National Air Traffic Controllers Association. People wanted jackets, shirts, belt buckles and key tags. A few years ago, we decided to incorporate.”

While Thompson sold logoed products, he also made time to design the first ever Web site for the NATCA. Plus, he served as an editor for the quarterly, 48-page union newsletter. “My friends are used to the fact I’m always busy,” he says.

Busy, but happy. Thompson is also an avid musician. He plays the saxophone, trumpet and piano and recently he bought an electric guitar. But he’s not a guitar expert just yet. “I’m trying to find time to learn it,” he says. Working through the office of Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley, Thompson also shoots photographs of the city’s annual Jazz Fest and Blues Fest. The photos are often used on brochures. “I work pro bono, in exchange for access to the shows,” he says.

And there’s more. Thompson enjoys riding motorcycles as well. He’s ridden cross-country to honor prisoners of war. Despite his growing interests, Thompson is committed to his company. He feels his business is doing well, despite the economic slump. “I take time to talk to people,” he explains. “Sometimes I’m on the phone for 20 or 30 minutes with a customer getting to know them. We send ‘thank you’ cards to everyone who places an order. And we send Christmas cards out, too. I think it makes a difference.”

Thompson says he’s creating more profits by adding more customers and focusing on marketing USA-made apparel to clients. He uses social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook to promote his work. “Recently, the orders haven’t been as big, but we’re getting more of them and that’s helping,” he says. “If you don’t try new things, you’ll never know what works.”

How to Create the Abundance Mindset

I found this on a blog called Zen Habits. It will take some time for me to go through all of the information on the blog, but I can tell right off this is a site I need to read.

One of the first things I noticed was he has released all of his posts for others to post, no copyright. This ties right into this first post. I will be reposting some of his articles here, and giving credit in the hopes it will bring more people to his site so they may share and learn from what he has to say.

I hope you find it illuminating and informative.

How to Create the Abundance Mindset

Editor’s note: This is a guest post from Steve of Freedom Education.

Give away what you got.

It’s not that complicated, really.

But let’s think for a minute; what do a great number of people do instead?

When someone has a great idea, they hoard that idea.  They don’t give it away.  They shelter and protect it.  They keep it to themselves in fear that someone else might take it.  They think, “I better save that idea for later.”  They don’t share their ideas or give them away - they keep them.

Well, let’s think - why would you do that?

The problem isn’t that your ideas aren’t any good.  It’s not even because your ideas aren’t worthy or that you aren’t worthy - because you are.  The problem is your thinking.  You think that if you give one idea away that you won’t come up with more great ideas.  And that fear has got you living in the lake of lack.

Instead, you could start by giving what you got.

Let’s look at Bloggers

Why do a lot of bloggers fail to be successful online?  Bloggers don’t fail because they’re terrible writers (although there are some).  And they don’t fail because they don’t have something valuable to say; they all do - they fail because they stop writing; they stopped giving and providing valuable ideas to others.

To create the abundance mindset, be willing to give.

It’s no different than with money.

Are you Mr El-Cheap-O?

Maybe you’re one of those people who holds onto every penny you’ve got - save money for a rainy day sort of thinking.  I know because I used to be that person.  Maybe you’re really frugal with your money or what I like to call Mr El-Cheap-O.

There’s nothing wrong with being frugal.  What I’m talking about is something completely different.  I’m talking about the hoarders, the real savers - the people who are scared to spend their money.

Just remember that holding onto your money doesn’t bring more of it to you.  It does just the opposite.  Holding onto or hoarding your money (in fear) is evidence enough that you don’t think there is enough.  And when you don’t think you have enough, you’re projecting the scarcity mindset or what my friend Julia calls the “scare-city” mindset.  This mindset is based in fear.

Are you short on time?

Some people are always running out of time - like it was cash or some commodity.  They’re always in a panic to get stuff done.  They’re time vampires.  They literally devour their time and suck the life out of themselves - until there is no time left.

These time vampires live in the lake of lack.  The don’t give away their time because they don’t think there is “enough time” to give.  And when you don’t think there is enough, you’re coming from scarcity or lack.

The way you do anything is the way you do everything.  If there is lack in one area, then there is lack in all areas of your life.  It really comes down to your mindset.

So, how do you break the pattern?

You’ve got to be willing to give from where you are.

Give what you got because giving signals “more-than-enoughness.”  It signals abundance.  When you’re in a state of giving, and giving willingly you’re telling others (and yourself) that there is plenty.  That there is more than enough for everyone.

“You receive through the same doorway through which you give.  The way to receive freely is to give freely. Quality is more important than quantity, since the universe amplifies thought into circumstance.  Begin giving, and let God perfect your giving.” ~ Brad Jensen

Here are 6 ways to give and create the abundance mindset:

• Are you short on time? If that’s the case, give away some of your time. Take time to give to others. You don’t have to dedicate 90% of your day to serving others - that’s not what I’m saying. Just find that balance between giving and receiving. Find an organization or a person that you really love and volunteer some of your time. Give your time away.
• Don’t feel loved? You’ve got to give some before you get some. Give away some hugs. Go out right now and give 5 people you know a big hug. I guarantee right after you do this, you’ll feel great. You’ll feel like a million bucks! Why? Because you feel loved. And you can only feel loved when you give that love to others. Go out right now and hug 5 people!
• Short on Cash? Give some away. Yes, you heard me right. I’m not saying you should sell the farm, far from it. But you may consider giving money to a charity, giving money to a friend who needs it, or even giving money to a panhandler in the street.  Givers gain.
• Are you stuck? Do you want to get unstuck?  Help others first. Think of someone you know that is having a similar problem. And think of a way that you could help them based on what you know.  Write down what you plan to do to help this person and then go out and do it. I’m telling you this works!  When you help others wholeheartedly, help will always come back to you.
• Lacking self-belief? Yup, you know it. You’ve got to give it away! If you lack self-belief, then give away that belief to others.  What do I mean?  Find someone you know who is lacking in self-confidence or in self-belief and give them a boost.  Spend some time with this person and feed their mind.  Tell them how much you believe in them.  Tell them how successful you see them becoming; how you always knew they could make it. Tell them how proud you are of them. Fill their mind with positive ideas.   Instill belief in others and belief will come flowing abundantly to you.
• Short on ideas? This is my favorite. If you’re short on creative ideas, give them away! Give others creative ways to increase business, find a new stimulating career or improve their health.  Give ideas away and ideas will flood right back to you.

With all of these tips, you have to start with where you are.  You can’t give what you don’t have.  Be willing to give what you got from where you are and I promise you - abundance will flow into your life.  You will be actively creating the abundance mindset.

Steve is a Life Coach and the creator of Freedom Education - Mind Power for Your Personal Growth.  He is also the author of the ebook, The Genius Within YOU. You can download his ebook here.