Blog Archives - Shepard Humphries

Trying is All That Matters – Did You Try Your Best?

How many times have you heard this swill?

“Sorry, but I tried.”
“Trying is All That Matters”
“At least he tried.”
“Doing your best is what matters.”

I call BS! The amount of “try” that someone has is rarely relevant. If you try really really hard not to punch me in the nose, but you do – I don’t care how hard you tried.

If you tried to keep your word on a commitment you made to me, but you lack integrity and go back on your word, I really don’t care how hard you tried.

If you tried to find a job, but didn’t get a job or find another method of getting income, you failed and the amount of ‘try” is not relevant.

How sweet, you tried not to cheat on your spouse? So you tried not to molest any children? You tried to get in touch with someone on the phone to get some information for me? Trying is all that matters. How cute.

If I need some bricks loaded onto a wagon, and I hire two men to do so, and one man loads the bricks quickly and with seeming ease, while the other man tries really hard, but only loads a couple, which man should I respect the most? Who is useful, who has the most worth? I don’t care one bit if the loser who “tried” tried hard or not. He did not produce.

Life is made good by producers. Some producers try hard and some don’t. In the cold hard real world, new-age cute crap like excuses are of no worth. Some people don’t have to try hard and they create excellence. Others try very hard but fail repeatedly. It doesn’t matter if the person is a surgeon or a French fry shaker, I want excellence, not substandard junk that had a bunch of wasted effort put into it.

Are there any exceptions?

Maybe. If you suffer a stroke and lose your muscle memory and find walking very difficult, and you walk 10 feet after weeks of therapy, I will be very proud of your success. Might you then argue that I am a hypocrite because the PT walked more than 20 feet effortlessly and with a better gait, therefore according to my logic the patient is a loser?

No, the goal was different. If I was hiring a person to stack bricks and my goal was to get the bricks stacked quickly and well, and the professional of able body was available, as was the stroke patient, guess who I would hire? Of course. On the other hand, there is nothing wrong with setting achievable goals, and making small goals that are stepping stones along the way.

Whether you are a lazy and formerly materially worthless hunk of flesh, or if you are a recovering patient with huge challenges, I DO want you to achieve great things, I DO want you to win! If the goal is personal development, the measure can be different that if the goal is cold, hard sterile “production.”

If you have failed in diet control, and you weigh 500 pounds, and you try hard and maintain a 1200 calorie per day diet for a year and as a result get down to 350 pounds, I will be very proud of you. If on the other hand, you “try” to stick to the diet, but you fail and frequently eat more that your goal, and as a result you have worse outcomes, I am not as proud of you. I don’t care that you suffer from depression, had bad experiences as a child, broke your ankle or lost your enabler’s love.

Achieving great things matters. How much “try” you used to get them done is not important.

How to Excel As An Employee

So, you accidentally landed or you have contemplated the cash flow quadrant and have selected E (employee) as your preferred vocational style. This E option has many benefits and many downsides as well, just as do the S, B and I quadrants. I would like to offer you some guidelines on How to Excel As An Employee.

Be Reliable.

Show up early by at least 15 minutes every day. This includes days when you are sick, when your babysitter cancels, when your car breaks down, when you are in jail etc. All of us have personal problems from time to time, and these are none of your manager’s business and to even tell your manager about them is an insulting waste of their time.

Be Positive

Your attitude REALLY matters. Even when you are frustrated, stressed, angry, sad or are experiencing some other emotion, never let anyone see you display this attitude. If you are grumpy and unhappy about your job, negotiate a solution with the manager, perhaps quitting. If you choose to stay, be cheerful and work hard.

Learn Everything

Ok, this one is a big deal. Even if you were hired as a janitor, learn everything you can about other aspects of the business, and do most of this while you are NOT on the clock. For example, if you see the receptionist answering the phone and directing calls, why not ask her if you may watch her and maybe even help? If you see the maintenance man changing light bulbs, offer to help. It is wise to plan to invest at least an hour a day to continuing education, and again, do NOT do this while you are on the clock. Once you have been at a job for 6 months, you should know YOUR job well and at least two other jobs fairly well.

If the above paragraph is “not relevant” to you, then spend that hour learning in some other way. YouTube, Google, Khan and many other sources of FREE information await you! As long as a topic is somewhat useful and you are interested in it, go for it! Could it hurt to learn to tie 10 cool new knots? How about how to install a lift-kit on a truck? How about learning to understand P&Ls, Balance Sheets and the difference between net profit and profit margin? SEO is a great skill to learn, as is sharpening metal blades. Learn about propaganda, metallurgy, woodworking, typing, how to connect 50 different Bluetooth devices, how to make printers actually work and how to juggle.

Promote Your Company

Learn what the corporate goals are, and help with promoting what will accomplish them. For example, start a Facebook page called, “Awesome Employees, Partners & Clients of Acme Company.” Make a daily post of something positive, inspirational and that promotes your company. An example for a motel maid could be a pic of her room check supervisor with a clipboard, “Trinna is looking cheerful and sassy today as she makes sure every single detail is perfect here at Motel 7 here in Springfield. Ever wonder why our rooms always look so great? Two words; “Wonderwoman Trinna!”

If your company does not provide business cards for you, grab the CEO’s card and have some similar ones made for yourself. Be proud of your company and hand cards out when you meet folks. Don’t ask the company to pay for these cards, they are an investment in YOU!

Attitude of Gratitude

Every single day, make a grateful comment to your manager. An example could be, “Thanks for the opportunity today.” Every single day, express your gratitude to a co-worker. If you are allowed to have client or vendor contact, thank them every chance you get. All of this gratitude needs to be genuine. If you are not grateful and if you are unhappy and don’t like it where you are, PLEASE stop sabotaging the company by being mediocre and move on to a better opportunity!

Pick up Trash & Clean Up

OK, so at the beginning I suggested that you arrive 15 minutes early every day. There you are in the parking lot, and you are not allowed to clock in for 10 more minutes. What to do? Walk the parking lot with a bag picking up cigarette butts, trash etc. If everything looks good, use the broom you brought from your house to sweep the sidewalk and parking lot near the entrance. When was the last time the sign by the road was cleaned? Do any branches from the bushes block the sign? Is there a stack of “stuff” by the side of the building that looks unsightly? Re-stack it neatly.

Oh yeah, and if the janitor ever calls in sick, guess what you should spend all but 5 minutes of your breaks and lunch doing? Yep, even if you are “clocked out” for lunch. If you have already learned other people’s jobs, and someone calls in sick, offer to help with that job that day!

Be Excellent at Your Job

Oh yeah, let’s chat about why you are there. You are a human part of a bigger system that includes people and tools. The management humans set the course for the company, and are responsible for getting and keeping good people and and helping them be super-efficient using good machines. They are responsible for setting the retail prices of the service or product your firm specializes in and for crunching the numbers to determine how much should be spent on tools, human labor, marketing etc.

The managers have decided that your position will help the company achieve more productivity than your cost of being there. They have decided what tasks and tools you should use to accomplish certain tasks. Part of being in the E quadrant is being supervised and managed by other folks. If you don’t like it, change quadrants like I have done.

If you decide to stay, do what you have been told to do, and think creatively. What does the company REALLY want you to achieve? If you are in the sales dept and your tasks include making at least 10 calls per hour to acheive 10% closes equaling 8 closes each day, does the company REALLY care if you make 10 calls per hour? NO! Set your own goal of 10 closes per day, and contemplate how you will achieve it. You just might think of a new technique that gets you 40% closes, which means you will likely be the highest producer in your division!

If you are a janitor, contemplate why the company chooses to spend mone on your salary rather than pocketing it. Is it for the sake of the other employees? Is it for the clients? Maybe both? What does the company REALLY want? Chances are, they want a clean & safe place that is appealing to the senses. They have decided that the tasks you are assigned to do will achieve this. Do those tasks better than anyone has ever done them, and do them quickly. Then, think about what else you could do to create a clean & safe place that is appealing to the senses. How about printing off a cute motivational saying, using a photo editing program (that you taught yourself to use on YouTube) to make a funny and positive meme with a picture you took there at the workplace? Put it on the wall in the break-room each week.

How to Excel As An Employee?

Be awesome, cheerful, work hard, be timely and reliable, be creative, always learn and go WAY above and beyond! If you know how to do half of the jobs in the company, are known as the most cheerful person on campus, have never been late or called in sick and have given the company more value than you promised or they expected, guess who is likely to have that job for a long time or be promoted?

Oh yeah, I trust that you are motivated enough that if you were not familiar with the Cash Flow Quadrant, that you already did a search for the term and learned about it? THAT is what an excellent employee would be creative and motivated enough to do.

Shepard Humphries is an entrepreneur in the luxury entertainment shooting experience industry and other sectors. Reared in poverty in a Mennonite community in Tennessee, Shepard has organized his life to become a successful husband, father, businessperson and innovator. Shepard is active as a principal in numerous ventures, serves as a consultant, serves on the board of several non-profits and writes about a variety of topics including shooting instruction, entrepreneurship, economics, philosophy and propaganda.

Best Indian Buffets in the West

Greetings friends of curries and Indian buffets. TripAdvisor and non social-media-savvy restaurant owners have not provided me with a good resource as I travel, and somebody needs to do it, so I will step up and rate the Best Indian Buffets in the West.

First, let me explain my reasoning and methodology. The “buffet” industry is a tough business. A restaurant must have a big variety of flavors and colors while keeping costs low. Potatoes, spinach, cream and chicken are less expensive than beef, lamb and goat. This is why 95% of Indian buffets have a bunch of vegetarian dishes and 1 or 2 chicken dishes, but rarely have red meats. I get it. The Indian culture is professional, and most restaurant employees see themselves as servants, and as such should be straight-faced, not smile, not acknowledge my friendliness etc. It is a cultural thing, and I get it.

I like goat and lamb and beef. I like flavorful curries with low to medium heat. I like a friendly atmosphere. If a restaurant does not offer these things, they will not get a good mention from me. If, like Saffron Valley in Salt Lake City, a restaurant stops serving red meats, I will have to drop them from my list of Best Indian Buffets in the West.

#1 Indian Buffet in the West is Guru Palace in Mesa, AZ.

Guru Palace has a mid-sized seating area, with all the tables close to the buffet. The buffet typically has salad, a number of very good chicken and vegan offerings and my favorite; goat curry! The staff is generally not overly friendly, but a couple of them have broken down over the years and smiled back at me. The naan is excellent, the Lassi is excellent and did I mention the goat curry?

Best Indian Buffets in the West As with Jamaican goat curry, Indian goat curry is traditionally served on the bone. This makes for a wonderfully messy meal, and is the best way to go! Be careful as you eat it, there are many sharp bones, which are fun to gnaw on when you get used to it. I prefer to get some of the curry sauce from the chicken dishes and pour it over my rice, then put the goat curry on top. With some of the creamy spinach on the side, some naan, I am in heaven!

#2 is still Saffron Valley in SLC, despite not having lamb, goat or beef

To be continued… if you know of buffets I should check out, please let me know!

Shepard Humphries enjoyed home cooked food with his middle eastern friends while an under-graduate in Wyoming. This sparked his interest in curries and other foods of that region. While he finds Pakistani and other middle-eastern curries to be better than Indian curries, Indian restaurants are much more popular. It takes a big man to be the multi-state expert in Indian food, and Shepard is that big man. As a big man that likes variety, he prefers buffets. Shepard travels Wyoming, Utah Western Colorado and Arizona, always seeking out new and better Indian Buffets.

End Gun Violence Event in Jackson Hole

Our children are counting on us to do what we can to make the world a safer place for them to grow and blossom into productive people. Take action and join us for our End Gun Violence Event in Jackson Hole.

Please make sure they respect human life, know how guns work and appreciate the responsibility of firearms ownership!

End Gun Violence Event in Jackson Hole

The Training of Dogs, Horses and Humans

by Shepard Humphries

Critters like dogs, horses, mice and humans are constantly learning and adapting their behavior. I contemplated the question, Why Do Poor Folks Not Just Get a Job? I believe that a primary factor in poverty is the training provided by others.

Earth Day Science Propaganda

As most of my friends know, one of my areas of interest is propaganda. It is time for the Best Propaganda Event of April 2017 winner to be unveiled, drum roll please… and the winner is, the United Nations Sustainable Development Programme and their Earth Day Science Propaganda campaign! This “Science” media stunt might even get them the annual award, it was VERY well played. They did a great example of the famous “war is peace” and “slavery is freedom” theme.

Many years ago a goal was set to move most people into urban centers, and the UN was selected as the vehicle to achieve this goal. It was decided that one tactic would be public fear, and that the “environment” would be used as one of the elements to achieve this “fear.” This programme is officially named Agenda 21. UN WEBSITE. Rosa Knori is a whistle-blower, and some of her talks are on YouTube. She also authored, Behind the Green Mask.

For more than 30 years, the good work started by Green Peace and similar organizations has been hijacked by the UN and those assisting them, many of whom are useful idiots. Combined, this Major Group, which is comprised of governments, non-profits, churches, individuals, the press and special agencies is known as the Sustainability Movement.

The Earth Day campaign has been a successful tactic, as was the fake news documentary “An Inconvenient Truth.” Even though this documentary has been proven to be a farce and an insult to science, it remains in most simpleton’s memories a valid “proof” that mother earth is dying and if they don’t send their flowerpot soil to a government contracted chemical plant to recycle the dirt, they are in essence killing our mother.

The issue of “science” has been an ongoing theme. The SM has successfully made sure that “studies” that examine things like, “The Dramatic Warming of the Earth” will be funded heavily. The results and authors will receive great acclaim and these “experts” will then go on to write papers and books as well as “best practice” advice for the rest of us to follow.

The scientist seeking a grant for a study that examines, “Climate Fluctuations Remaining Normal for the Last 1,000 years” will not be funded. These actual scientists will be mocked by the pseudo-scientists that are funded by grand universities and government agencies. The press will jump in to mock and silence these “deniers” that are so obviously opposed to all that is holy and good. The climate scientist community is funded primarily by tax dollars, and without the special privilege of “free money’ these scientists would not be needed. Is is like the emperor with new clothes, if an industry formed around “experts” commenting on the fashion of his new suit, the people in this industry would do everything in their power to silence the little boy that honestly observed that the emperor was in fact nude. Thus the Major Group wins again.

The website Climate Depot is worth examining. Do you think maybe the pseudo-scientists has besmirched this site and the authors and scientists that are involved? You betcha. Any scientist that wants to be funded knows that there is only one direction to take regarding climate change hysteria, and that is the political direction of climate change being imminently dangerous and action being needed. A scientist that observes that climate is changing, has always changed and that it is not a problem that can be or needs to be fixed by humans, will be shunned from the “scientific community” faster than a wacko talking about the earth being spherical 3,000 years ago.

Anyway, the information necessary to make a reasonable and fair examination of the issue is available online. Know that many skilled web geeks working with the Major Groups have teamed with their “pseudo-science” brethren to search engine optimize the ridicule of any “deniers” of the impending climate calamity. The gullible masses, especially in wealthy countries eat it up and believe every word. The Earth Day Science Propaganda campaign is a brilliant action to achieve their goals.

So, the award for awesome propaganda definitely goes the United Nations, Division of Sustainability! Well done ya’ll! The new wire was buzzing in late April 2017 with headlines and stories all proclaiming the wonderfulness of the campaign. Google Earth Day Science Campaign under “news” and check out there mighty success!!!

Learn more about the Earth Day Science Propaganda campaign HERE.

Please Don’t Look Like Crap – Look Sharp

I have been involved in business as well as political and later philosophic activism. Throughout my journeys I have observed many men that look like crap. Sometimes I look like crap.

I am not arguing that looking like a piece of crap is morally wrong or that one is stupid or “bad” when they choose to look like crap, I am suggesting that to achieve most goals, one is wise to look and behave like they have their shit together. A friend of mine started businesses, acquired a small pile of money and at 40 retired to a remote area of Mexico. He is not trying to get converts to his ideals or trying to make or keep business relationships. It is OK that he wears a ratty t-shirt and is unshaven with uncombed hair.

My argument is that if a man “wants something” from other people, they will be more effective if they don’t look like a crap sandwich. Most of us want something from others. My brothers in the voluntaryist movement are a prime example. Many discuss excellent intellectual ideas, which they back up with rational argument. If a secretary was dictating, all would be well, however because of the way in which the person is perceived, the message is greatly weakened and they therefore do not get what they want; converts.

What do YOU want?

Do you want a potential employer to buy your labor?
Do you want a good looking person to date you?
Do you have some ideas you would like to persuade others to believe?
Do you want to be liked?
Do you want to be respected?
Do you want to be looked upon favorably by your in-laws?
Do you want investors for your business?

If you like having a scruffy half-beard, long hair, tattoos, more jewelry than one ring on one finger or if you like wearing wrinkled clothing and T-Shirts that say stuff that you and your in-group agree is clever, fine. If you want to use poor grammar, curse a lot use the word “like” or use a groovy-dude-peace-brah marijuana voice, fine. You absolutely have that right. Just know that looking lousy will probably decrease your effectiveness in getting what you want. The people that already love you will probably still love you, and your choir will still listen to your preaching.

“I wear T-Shirts or have scruffy facial hair and I do fine” you might argue. I challenge you this, “Compared to what?” If you had dressed sharply in public for the last 5 years, would you not have had a broader appeal? Would “most folks” not think more highly of you? Dispense with the tough guy bravado about “I don’t care what people think of me” or “I am not trying to impress anyone.” i bet you DO care what people think of you, and regardless of how you choose to present yourself, you ARE impressing them either positively or negatively.

There are a couple men that can “pull off” wearing a T-Shirt and still command respect better than most. Two that come to mind are Mark Cuban and Larken Rose. Both are leaders in their respective areas of expertise and have, “reached the top of the pile.” Cuban is a billionaire businessman and can wear whatever he wants because his power lies with his capital and Rose can wear whatever he wants when presenting to his fans because his power lies in his ideas. Even these two men would do better if they “looked sharper.” One does not have to look as metropolitan as famous published Jeffery Tucker, something as simple as a nice crisp dress shirt and a sports coat go a long way.

“I am too poor” is a common objection, “I can’t afford nice clothes.” I call BS and I further suggest that if this is your argument, and you allow it to be your excuse, your financial condition will not improve much. Visit thrift stores and make it happen. Not that easy? Read this and This.

Beards? Don’t. If you simply must, be sure that it is full and well trimmed. Patchy and scruffy don’t work. Ever. If your face can’t grow a full, strong beard please just skip it until you retire to Mexico.

Say Yes!

I heard a concept many years ago that the guy was saying that he was a “Yes man.” Whenever any circumstance or opportunity presented itself, he would almost always say, “Yes!” I realized that I had done that on may occasions in my life, and my wife and I agreed that we should do this even more! As I pondered the many forks in the road that is my life, I realized that many of the “unique” twists and turns were the ones that made be better or otherwise improved my condition.

I thought of this again last night when my wife looked at me and yelled over the loud music, “I can’t believe my life!” We were of course at the First annual Acapulco Biker Week at the heavy metal concert. We were seated in the VIP section on a raised platform near the stage with friends from Chicago, London and Sweden.

The friend that brought us had the VIP invitation extended by a friend of his, who has managed and owned various bars and restaurants around Mexico and has strong ties to Hollywood’s A-list. We came to the concert after having some of the best Chinese food I have ever had with a dozen friends. This dinner was after the first Non-Violent Communication (NVC) workshop I had ever attended.

After the concert, as our friend’s driver drove us back to the luxury resort in the Diamanté District where we had a room overlooking the ocean and pools, we learned from him of the cartel’s inner workings and the history of violence in Acapulco due to the US “War on Drugs.” In less than 24 hours, I had all the above experiences, along with many others. How did this happen to a boy reared in a Mennonite community in the back hills of Tennessee that then served the State as an armed agent for 10 years?

It occurs to me that my rise from poverty is in large part due to the “yeses” that I said. At age 16 when I was a dishwasher, I could have stayed in the restaurant industry and could today be a cook at a greasy spoon. I could have stuck with my taxidermist-assistant job and today could be a taxidermist. I chose instead to say “yes” to many opportunities and as a result, my life has expanded and been much happier and more fulfilling!

A week later? We enjoyed a party hosted by our good friend Michael Ninmitz, an Acapulco business & community leader. Two ladies in feathers and bikinis were standing at the door, with their only job being to greet the incoming guests. In attendance? Mear One (whom I have become friends with, along with his lady Janice), Jeffrey Tucker (My long-time hero, (who had joined us the night before at our table for dinner and fun conversations about his horse-riding exploits in Jackson Hole), and Vit, the president of Liberland.

I rode beside Luke Radowski on the way to and from this party. Also at this party is Rick Falkvinge, who founded the Swedish pirate party which then prompted many other countries to also establish a Pirate Party. Yes, of course, Tone Vays is here and the event that ended just before I came involved me taking the microphone from Roger Ver’s hand and handing it to Jim Bell, the guy that wrote the essay on assassination politics.

So, why am I name-dropping all the “fringe” folks I have been hanging around? I disagree with many of them on many points as I do with some dear friends that are in the top 1/10th of the top 1% wealthiest in the world. I have never asked any of my contacts for anything for free nor will I. We exchange value, either time, money, instruction, consultation etc because we both get value from it. I said yes to opportunities which led to other opportunities which lead to many future opportunities. Who knows how I might someday be able to help one of my friends? I say YES as much as possible, and it rarely hurts.

I suggest you say “yes” to more stuff. On my list of “to-do” new experiences are, learning to fly a tail-dragger, getting arrested and spending a day or two in a jail, learning to weld, trying medicinal plants, starting a business from scratch and selling it within 5 years for $5mil, inventing something and going through the patent process, getting a professional espresso machine installed within 30 steps of my home office desk and much more. These things could also kind of be considered goals, however with them in mind, my “Yes” responses are most likely to take me in the right direction.

Q: Will I accomplish this sampling of goals and much more?

A: ______!

Increase Your Skills & Value With OJT

In a free market, people exchange things of value. A person that has $1 and is thirsty meets a person with extra water that wants $1. Each of these people wants what they other one has, and they agree to make the exchange. Both walk away feeling that they are better off. This is how a free market works.This also holds true with the production of labor, both skilled and low-skilled. Those that have very little productive “value” to exchange with employers or clients for money wind up not getting paid much. I suggest that being low-skilled should be a temporary time in one’s life and that we are wise to look at ourselves as an investment, much like a machine.

The great news is that we can all change ourselves each minute of the day to become a better ‘machine’ and thereby of more value to others. This, in turn, means they are willing to exchange more of their money for more of our productive efforts. Being paid a low wage should be a very temporary thing and I suggest that you should quickly increase your skills and value with OJT. (On the Job Training) Tom Wood’s humorous “Minimum Wage Argument Translation.”

Most of us have the ability to grow and learn, and traditional schooling is rarely the best method. One of the coaches that works with us is a very “handy” guy. Andy has the following general skills, some perhaps not at an “expert” level, and others to a pretty darn capable degree… without any “degrees.”

Welding
Retail sales
Inventory management
Gunsmithing
Automotive & small engine repair
Woodworking
Blade sharpening
Promatic machine repair & maintenance
Cutting down trees, cutting and splitting firewood
Electrical
Dog training
Painting & Cerakoting
Excavation
Hunting
Cartridge reloading

Because Andy has an inquisitive mind and a mechanical aptitude, when he observes a challenge, he jumps in and learns what is necessary to succeed. A gun we wanted to purchase for the business was a fully automatic MP-5 machine gun. The price is approximately $32,000 for this gun, which was more than we could invest. “No problem, let’s get a manufacturing license.” said Andy, “I will see if I can make one.”

Andy had never built a machine gun, however just a couple years later, by reading manuals, watching YouTube videos, talking to machinists and learning in other ways, Andy has now built not only the MP5, but several other machine guns including a Tommy Gun and an AK-47. Andy studied on the job and invested many hours of his own time to learn a new skill. Andy will never have a problem finding someone to exchange their money for what he produces. Do you think maybe Andy’s skills are of great value to us?

YouTube is a wonderful resource for our generation! Almost everything is available on YouTube and other video sites, from learning how to write a blog to welding, building a machine gun, suturing a gash on your arm, fixing a vacuum cleaner and just about everything else. Access? If you don’t have a computer or smart phone, you can use a government library or if your morals don’t allow you to accept this “stolen loot” I would suggest that many entrepreneurs in your area would allow you to use theirs!

Another person on our team just sent an email to me. This email prompted me to write this long-overdue article. Ashleigh got a piece of paper from government-approved college, but we don’t care, and it has nothing to do with what she produces for us. Ashleigh is our lead Guest Care Guru. Her primary job is to speak with potential clients and booking agents and to prepare perfect shooting experience events for them. By working with us, she has learned several employee-scheduling software systems, more about serving high net worth clients, about advertising, marketing, time & task management, relationship building, and more.

This spring, we purchased SalesForce and had it customized for our business. This was a very frustrating and complicated process that our CEO/CFO Lynn Sherwood went through. Ashleigh came on board again this summer and studied how Salesforce works, delving far beyond what was necessary for day-to-day operations, as set up. She has learned about additional features that she can now teach to other Guest Care Gurus and to Lynn. Do you think maybe Ashleigh skills are of great value to us?

During the slower times of our seasonal business, Ashleigh has taken on other projects, including publishing a booklet cataloging about 100 guns, with descriptions and pictures for each. She now has a working knowledge of MS Publisher and, through trial and error, has learned how to publish!

What about the recent email I spoke of? Ashleigh is helping with our firm’s social media, and as such has had to self-teach herself new skills. Recently, she did the research and found a free photo editing program that she was comfortable with for basic editing. Her recent email was “showing off” her latest photo touch-up & watermarking with our logo.

Ashleigh “took it upon herself” to select this photo and make it “social media ready.” We paid her while she learned this new skill, and now we value her productive capabilities even more!

Take a look at your own life and consider Andy & Ashleigh. Are YOU spending your own time and money to improve yourself? Are you spending your time “on the clock” to produce extra value for your team while also improving your value? Are you investing unpaid time as well? Are you making yourself a more competent person?

I suggest that you look for problems around your workplace in areas for which are outside of your “job description”. Figure out how to solve them while learning new skills in the process. I know of a cleaning lady at a hotel that was frustrated that all 5 of the vacuum cleaners were frequently out of service, and that the maintenance staff was not repairing them in a timely manner. Imagine if she spent her breaks watching YouTube videos on vacuum cleaner repair. What if she downloaded the free online owner’s manuals and really studied them to learn all about them? If she invested even 20 minutes each day in learning, and 30 minutes each week working on the vacuum cleaners, within 90 days she would likely be better at vacuum cleaner repair than the maintenance crew.

What if she also fixed her uncle’s vacuum cleaner, then spoke to a different local hotel and offered to fix theirs at no cost? How much more valuable would this make her to current employers? How much better would it make her as a human being?

Imagine the new opportunities, now she no longer has only the option of the minimum wage maid marketplace, now she could perhaps get a job at a vacuum repair shop, a handyman service, or start her own mobile vacuum cleaner repair service! If she continues her studies and this “habit” of being curious, learning and going above & beyond, do you think maybe her skills are of great value to the world? She should not expect her current employer to pay for her to better herself.

What problems exist in YOUR workplace? What opportunities do they present for you? You do not need a college degree to be of value to others. Be systematic and disciplined while creating your own awesome machine, YOU!

Why Do Poor Folks Not Just Get a Job?

A friend with whom I am often in philosophic disagreement with posted the following response to my infamous article; “Harsh Advice for the Unemployed Folks.” I have contemplated the question, “Why Do Poor Folks Not Just Get a Job?” I think my friend’s comments deserve some attention!

Though your suggestion are practical it does not apply to a significant population of urban/rural poor and uneducated…many city/rural dwellers are captured by birth into an environment that cannot provide simple things like how to speak in complete sentences, read or fill out an application, lack clean clothes, hot water or have something as simple as a hair brush, toothpaste and a tooth brush. Many of poor must use all the resources they have to find food and shelter for the day…yes, there are those unemployed who are fortunate to find themselves driven and become more empowered to apply some of the practicum you suggest…from my perspective the question remains: how can we help those who cannot help themselves due to poverty, ignorance, drugs, violence, lack of shelter, clothing or other basic resources?…This quagmire is a very long standing problem with solutions that require significant resources and time…I often find myself at a loss when working in the belly of the city’s poor…where does one start? What will take to help them help themselves?..I often hear negative criticism about those who are born into such dire situations “why don’t they just go get a job”…To this group I recommend they broaden their understanding by personal investment, roll up their sleeves and reach out to touch the down caste. Once they have done this they will come to see the complexity of the problem and find the solutions very hard to find…I appreciate your effort to stimulate thinking and encourage you to continue to do so…I do ask that those who criticize the poor do not be so quick to condemn them until they have been in their shoes…It is heart breaking to see the perpetuation of poverty and the solution to be a complex cycle to stop and reverse…Here are some obvious solutions to this issue of unemployed and poverty stricken..we need to reach out and provide resources like education, a place to clean up, a safe place to get a good nights sleep…this process is slow but effective…the world we live in is unfair, some of us are lucky to have been born into a more affluent situation while others unlucky to be born into abject poverty. The underprivileged need our resources to help and a warm amount of sympathy.

I do not agree in entirety with the above opinion, however I agree with much of it. I will not dwell much on that with which I agree, but will instead investigate our differences. I will liberally use terms like “rich” and “poor” and unless otherwise stated, my intended meaning is to explain a level of financial net worth. I recognize and appreciate that some are “rich in love” but that is not the thrust of this piece. This piece assumes that the reader values financial means highly.

This brings to mind a question I would like to pose for our contemplation. Is it “better” to be rich than to be poor? When neighbor children play in a dirt lot collecting pieces of broken glass and stacking them as high as possible, those with means observe them with sympathy, noting their dirty little hands and poor verbal skills. Other children the same age, across town in the big homes, likely have clean hands and are “gaming” alone in front of their large television screen. Which is ‘better?”

I am convinced that poor kids that have ambition and drive can take themselves out of poverty and become “successful” adults. I am at the top of the political spectrum, and I think that those in the other three corners as well as the middle mostly agree with me. There are numerous examples of children working odd jobs, dropping out of the lousy Prussian “public” school system, and building businesses to become affluent. If one really really wants it; they can do it!

I want those I love and those I contemplate to have the things they dream of, including nice safe homes, fun vehicles and “financial security.” I seem to want that for them more than they want it. One could suggest that I should not interfere with their choice by attempting to help the poor become rich. This is a good point, and if I flip things around, I wonder if some folks exist who value poverty but lots of time with their children as a higher value than wealth, and wonder what I would think of them if they came into MY world to “help” me break the chains of wealth and enter into the bliss of poverty. I realize that I am arrogant in assuming that the things I value should be of value to others. Why Do Poor Folks Not Just Get a Job? Maybe some would prefer to spend time with their family sorting through trash piles like folks in other poorer lands?

What gives me and other do-gooders the moral right to judge other folks? Tens of thousands of dollars each year are stolen from me to “help” the poor have more fruits of other’s labor. I don’t agree to have the money stolen, and I don’t agree with how it is spent. Since I am being victimized and am footing the bill, I have the absolute right to weigh in. Additionally, what I advocate is voluntary, I never initiate force to “help” others. Much like offering a drowning person a flotation device, I am simply offering and while I am disappointed when my offer is refused, I accept it.

So, to address my friend’s points. Some folks:

Don’t know how to speak in complete sentences or how to read or fill out an application.
Lack clean clothes, hot water or have something as simple as a hair brush, toothpaste and a tooth brush. Many of poor must use all the resources they have to find food and shelter for the day.

As for point 1, I agree that this is a challenge. Their family and friends have placed higher values on other things, and have set a bad example. They have attended government schools, which are designed to dumb down folks so that they will be “employees” and not free thinking entrepreneurs. They are conditioned to obey authority and to effect change through voting or other force. They are not forced into exposures of poetry or intellectual thought.

My response is that it is still possible for them to make choices that will be misunderstood by their peers, choices like reading difficult books, watching videos on YouTube about philosophy etc. Few people that are born into the cycle of poverty break free, and that is sad.

As for point 2, I don’t buy it. Begging on a street corner for 1 hour would surely yield $5, which is enough to buy a toothbrush, toothpaste, a hairbrush. A visit to McDonald’s restroom during slow times can be the source of hot water for a face wash. Of the millions of “poor” people who might complain of #2, I really doubt very many face that issue. Those that do are likely mentally ill and are not capable of being anything other than deadwood. Harsh? Yep. Would I donate some money to help them have bare necessities? Yes. give me 5 minutes on the phone with a “typical” unemployed poor person in a bad neighborhood in a bad situation, and I can give solid advice on how to fix the problem.

“I appreciate your effort to stimulate thinking and encourage you to continue to do so…I do ask that those who criticize the poor do not be so quick to condemn them until they have been in their shoes.”

I do not think that one must “be in someone’s shoes” to understand their perspective or engage in meaningful discourse. For example, I do not need to spend time as a battle-weary soldier to discuss the appropriateness of burning down a village filled with children.

In this situation however, I HAVE been in those shoes. My mother reared me on government welfare, which was in truth, money stolen from producers. I have taken many sponge baths with water boiled on a stove, I have lived with only basic food, and by age 18 I had never been to high school. My mother and I moved to a new state with NO contacts with a $1200 car and $700 in savings from our combined work at Dollywood over a summer. Mom worked as a maid at Motel 6 and I got a job as a dishwasher. 20 years later I am a millionaire. I am a success story, and other folks can be as well. I do not condemn those that will make continued efforts to learn and grow.

Here are some obvious solutions to this issue of unemployed and poverty stricken..we need to reach out and provide resources like education, a place to clean up, a safe place to get a good nights sleep…this process is slow but effective…the world we live in is unfair, some of us are lucky to have been born into a more affluent situation while others unlucky to be born into abject poverty. The underprivileged need our resources to help and a warm amount of sympathy.

I must first clarify a few basic words, “We” and “must.” If by “we” my friend was referring to “individuals who take interest in this topic” then I agree. If by “must” my friend meant “a good option if one chooses” then I agree. If he instead meant that the collective is morally required to take actions they do not already voluntarily take, then I disagree. I would also like to make clear that I think these poor youth are better off dropping out of “public” schools and would be better off with useful education rather than schooling.

As a person that wants to help, I am horrified by the programs currently being used by “government” and some “do-gooder” organizations. The parable, “Give a man a fish; feed him for a day, but teach a man to fish and he will be fed for a lifetime” is an economic truth. I am not sure HOW to help. I think the best way might be to do what is necessary to stop the continued gifting of fish, but the government is too large for me to stop.

Solutions? Why Do Poor Folks Not Just Get a Job?

I would love to discover a voluntary solution, that unlike government solutions, does not require the initiation of force. I would love to discover or create a process whereby producers would voluntarily help non-producers launch themselves toward success. The scope of my interest is not to help everyone, primarily because that is another problem for another person and day. Some people are in such a sad mental condition that they don’t care enough to allow helpful folks to lead them to water. These people are not my project’s concern, though I do pity them. The people I care about are those that are in a tough place, lack the knowledge to make opportunities bloom and that are open to improving their lives.

I think millions of entrepreneurs and other financially successful people would be very happy to provide quality education through mentoring to these young poor folks. Some of the obstacles that I see are that most of the poor folks would not do the hard work required to become successful so long as welfare is such an easy and readily accessible option. Those of us that value our time highly do not want it wasted on folks that are not willing to follow through with our recommendations.

What about this idea for a Program to Help the Poor Become Rich?

There are other worthwhile things to consider, like the state of disabled homeless people, the mentally ill and how to make airplanes fly faster and safer. I can’t fix everything. 😉

Shepard Humphries on “Giving Back to the Community”

Giving as used in the term “giving back” is typically meant as giving a gift that is not obligated by contract, written or otherwise. This term has for many years disturbed me, and I offer to share with you my feelings on this subject. My reason for examining what at first might appear to be only an issue of semantics is that I fear the acceptance of this term and the philosophy behind it is damaging to human’s intellectual welfare.

Give is defined as, “freely transfer the possession of (something) to (someone); hand over to” and “cause or allow (someone or something) to have (something, esp. something abstract); provide or supply with.”

Back is defined in this context as, “expressing a return to an earlier or normal condition.”

Community is defined as, “a group of people living in the same place or having a particular characteristic in common.”

“Community” is an abstraction, and should be recognized as appropriate in some contexts while not in others. In August of 2005 four men sexually assaulted a couple ladies in Jackson, Wyoming. That same month, there were surely four people that donated to a young lady’s scholarship fund. One of these ladies will credit individuals with their action and one will credit her educational success with being helped by her “community.” Is it fair to say that the young women who were sexually assaulted were “raped by the community?” Of course not! Individuals do things to and for individuals, and the collectivist notion of “community” is very destructive.

This fallacy of removing personal responsibility is widespread, and in my opinion very harmful. We don’t blame individuals for criminally wasteful spending but rather the “City Council” or “Congress” or “County Commissioners.” While these abstractions are useful linguistically for expediency in referring to groups of individuals, they remove personal responsibility.

Each spring in Jackson Hole there is a Community Cleanup in which a few hundred individual volunteers clean the debris from the roadways in our area. Comments and accolades about our “community coming together” are extolled. In fact, our government jurisdiction of Teton County has a population of 21,000 individuals. Can we REALLY congratulate the collective when only 1 out of 70 individuals among them perform a deed? Of course not!

Understanding that there is a decisive difference between community and individuals that make up a community is very important. So that one does not have to say they live near John & Sue & Tina & Hank & Terri & 17,000 other names; it is certainly fine to say that one lives in the Jackson Hole community. To say that the community cleans roadways, rapes or gives to those in need it not true. Individuals do all of these things, but again, “community” is simply an abstraction.

To illustrate this concept, let’s use Joe as an example. Joe was born in Mytowne to a poor family. He began shoveling dog poop at age 12 for extra money, and this led him to lawn mowing jobs as well. Several of his clients, A & B, recognized his work ethic and sponsored him on a high school ski trip. Another client C paid for him to attend a small business development seminar in Nearbytowne when he was 16. Meanwhile, 28 local hunters donated money to a shooting sports program that Joe participated in as a young adult. These benefits that Joe received were based partially on merit and some were simply because of some individuals’ good will.

At age 17, Joe got a job repairing windshields and later quit and opened up his own windshield repair business, which his retired neighbor D helped teach him to run. Joe began hiring employees and by age 25 had opened three branches of his windshield repair business. By age 30 he had built 12 other branches and had added oil changes and windshield replacements to the offerings. Joe now cleared over $400k each year. Joe donated $10k to the shooting program he had been a part of for the purchase of new guns, but took pause when a neighbor mentioned that he was, “Giving back to the community.”

In fact, Joe was not “giving back” to anyone. He was simply appreciative of the personal growth and joy he had experienced through shooting and wanted other youth to enjoy similar feelings. He knew that each time he drove by the shooting range on a Tuesday evening and heard shots being fired, that he would feel happiness knowing it was likely one of the guns he donated that was bringing someone else joy. This new generation of youth included Tommy.

Because Tommy had never “given” anything to Joe, it would be impossible for Joe to “give back” to Tommy. Joe considered that since Tommy was part of his community, maybe from a collectivist standpoint Joe WAS “giving back” but if fact this was not the case.

In our parable, Joe had received gifts from clients A, B, C & D and 28 hunters. If Joe gave a gift to any of those 32 people, he could be “giving back.” Anything Joe gives to people other than those 32 is NOT “giving back” but instead is “giving.”

So, why do I take such great offense to this “little linguistic error?” Participating in this specious language strengthens the untrue notion of community being separate from or greater than the sum of its parts. Because many have allowed this and many other manipulations to be spoken without challenge, now the curious thinker that points out the error in thinking is labeled a curmudgeon. As people of new generations accepted these notions, they were more likely to expand the thinking to “community service” or “community organizer” or “community values.”

The problem here is that we are again removing individuality from the scenario. Rather that teaching our children that the non-theist gay man down the street has his own set of values as does the Baptist straight man the next door down, and that every person gets to choose their own values, we instead begin to extol the “community values” based on the most vocal and powerful 51% individual’s preferences, often the result of mindless absorption of “news” from a subject entertainment company like CNN, FOX or NPR. This demagoguery is commonly accepted today and is manipulated by people on different sides of an issue.

Should we stop using the term “community?” No, we should simply understand that it is only an abstraction.

Should we stop “giving” to causes we like? No, we should simply understand that in almost all cases, we are not giving “back” and that we are not morally superior for giving.

So, when I hear my neighbors say, “That is great that the Waltons are giving back to the community” they can expect that I will engage them in conversation. Well, that is me, Shepard Humphries on “Giving Back to the Community”

Shepard Humphries on Giving Back to the Community

Harsh Advice For Unemployed Guys

There are many “producers” that desperately need workers, but the only people that seem to apply for the positions are people that want jobs. Here is some Harsh Advice For Unemployed Guys.If you are looking for a job to satisfy the State Unemployment Insurance Welfare requirements of “job-seeking” then you are likely not of the character that most producers need. If this describes you and you are not willing to work hard and go through some mental and physical pain facing facts and fixing yourself; read no further. You are worthless in the marketplace, pray for local, state, federal and international governments to speed up the socialization of our planet. If you have not traded your labor, skills or knowledge for something of value to you for more than 7 days; YOU are the problem.

If you are still reading, I will assume that you truly want to voluntarily exchange value with others in your community. The thing of value that you have to offer is your time, talent, skills, mental & physical elbow grease, personality, ethics, etc… The value that producers have to offer YOU is money, career growth, education in the production of whatever product or service they provide and a sense of pride of you being a producer.

It is the producer’s “duty” to negotiate as much value from you while exchanging the lease value that (s)he currently has. This is exactly what happens in the voluntary exchange between the producer and their clients. Your “duty” is to negotiate as much of the producer’s value for as little of your own value as possible.

All parties in voluntary transactions go above their above “duty” to compete with others who also want the same exchange. This is why producers offer more than their duty, for example, paid time off, a fun work environment, free coffee from the pot, etc. This is why workers offer more than their duty, for example, a friendly attitude, extra work, more efficient work, etc…

So, as a person that truly wants to work, what can you do to compete with others seeking money from producers? Many of the things I will suggest are illegal for producers to ask for or demand from their employees, but are nonetheless important. Most items on this list apply to both white collar and blue collar jobs.

~Good personality. People with weird or unfriendly personalities don’t get hired. I know YOU think you are normal, but maybe you are not? If you don’t smile frequently, if you speak too much, if you “don’t get” jokes, if you are perceived as a geek, hillbilly, wacko etc… employers will not want you. You can change what people see. Ask your friends to write down for you the three best aspects of your personality and the three areas that they think you could improve upon. Allow them the excuse of saying that THEY “don’t have a problem with your personality, but that they think others might incorrectly perceive you as being: 1_____ 2 _______ & 3______.” Let them do it anonymously.

~Clean, well groomed, conservative, clean and pressed clothing. Men; cut your hair. Never wear shorts to a job interview or on-the-job unless and until the employer suggests it. Wear a button-up shirt to your interview, not a t-shirt. Either hide your tattoos beneath clothing or have them removed. Wash your hair and body every morning and shave every morning… ALL of your facial hair. Do not text message, answer your cell phone or even look at it while in view of your employer or their clients, vendors or others. Think of your cell phone like farting or picking your nose, don’t do it where others can see.

~Care about your service or product and show your excitement. How many clerks have you heard say they are glad that they are almost done for the day. These whiners should be showing excitement that they get to help a great producer provide a great service or great products to great clients. Never grumble about long hours, being tired, your personal problems, etc. This is for your friend’s or therapist’s ears, not for the ears of anyone in the workplace.

~Be in good physical condition. If you are chubby or fat, this shows that you have a lack of personal discipline in diet and that you “don’t care” enough to invest 30 minutes a day (4% of the minutes in a day) jumping rope in your living room or back yard. Get yourself into average or better condition. You can safely lose 2 pounds per week.

Do you have a bad ankle or back or neck? Tell your prospective employer in writing that it is your problem, not theirs. Let them know that it is a preexisting injury and that you intend to work through the pain and NOT claim worker’s comp and thereby raise the employer’s rates with the government. Same with “unemployment welfare.” Let your employer know that you have too much pride to accept welfare through the government’s unemployment insurance welfare program. Be honest.

~Have a good work ethic. While learning the new business, plan to study or practice the skills on your own time without pay. After that, plan to start 15 minutes to 1 hour early every day and not ask to be paid for it. Plan to work hard all day long. Plan to stay after quitting time without pay in order to get the job done. Learn the duties (on your own time) of others at your workplace, perhaps if you are a janitor you could help the bookkeeper with filing? Learn all about all aspects of the business with excitement.

The US government came up with an arbitrary number of hours that consist of a “workweek.” 40 hours is not enough to get the job done. Most self-employed people work at least 60 hours and many work over 90. They can not afford to pay you time & ½ to work beyond 40 hours, but you should try to sneak behind the government’s back to get at least 50 hours in every week, even though you are officially paid for 40. This is not legal for employers to ask of you, but people that do this are not unemployed … savvy? Pick up at least 3 pieces of trash every day at your job-site.

~Be on time. If you are not 10 minutes early; you are late. Do not create extra work for your employer. Life happens, kids get sick, great snow lands on the mountain, cars break down, alarms mess up etc… people that have and keep great jobs are always at work when they are scheduled to be.

So, until you find someone to pay you for what you produce, what can you do?

~Plan to “produce” 10 hours a day, whether you have a “job” or not. This can include work-seeking, volunteer work, educating yourself with the reading list below, etc.

~Idea: $2.12 buys you paper towels and Glass Cleaner at the Dollar Tree. A broom costs $1.06. Now, go to a public place and start cleaning stuff. People will ask you what you are doing, which gives you the opportunity to hand them your resume and tell them that your work ethic requires that you work 10 hours a day every day, but that you don’t have an employer.

~ Don’t have a resume? Find a libertarian-leaning business owner or an accomplished entrepreneur and respectfully ask them to help you make one. Heck, write to me and I will help you. It should not take more than 2 to 4 hours to make a great one. Don’t have a computer or a printer and don’t have money for paper? Ask 5 local above described business-folks if you may use theirs in exchange for sweeping their parking lot. I bet 4 will say yes.

~Idea: Set up a large cardboard sign along a highway with letters that are readable at 55MPH that says, “I like to Work, but am not employed. Resume here.” Put a stack of resumes in a plastic bag under a rock by the sign. Now, walk along the highway quickly picking up trash. What better way to demonstrate your work ethic?

~Take 3 hours and read “Rich Dad Poor Dad” by Robert Kiyosaki
~Take 4 hours and read “High Trust Selling” by Todd Duncan
~Take 4 hours and read “The Millionaire Next Door”
~Take 5 hours and read “Economics In One Lesson” by Henry Hazlitt
~The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Personal Finance in your 20’s and 30’s
~Watch some Mark Cuban and Guy Kawasaki YouTube videos
~Watch some Tony Robbins YouTube videos

Care about not only your work performance but the performance of the company. If the company (yes, that nasty rich owner) excels, so do you. If he fails, guess what. So do you. Even when you are not officially working, think about ways you can increase business and help market your employer’s business.

Separate work from personal. Leave family affairs, kid or wife troubles, or anything that doesn’t have to do with work at home. It is unprofessional to combine the two unless it is over a couple beers (after work).

Find a mentor. Don’t make repeated bad decisions and keep wasting your mentor’s time, in other words, don’t complain that you are “broke” and then eat at McDonald’s. Your mentor will immediately know that you are full of it. A can of tuna and an apple are quite sufficient for a meal, and can be had for less than $2.

So, what if you were born without all of the “advantages” I was? (I was reared in a single-parent home, often without running water or electricity. my mother took welfare and I was never hungry, but we were VERY poor. At age 18, I had only completed 8th grade, and growing up I did not have a father-figure role model to teach me about worth ethic, business and how to be successful.) What if you don’t speak well, know how to shave, are busy just surviving, etc? Contact me. If I determine you are “serious” and are ready to get things done, I will help you find a mentor in your area.

I absolutely believe that some people are born into such crappy homes that they never realize that they can be successful and self-sufficient. I recognize that the inner city sucks. I am sorry that your government has created that environment for you. There are groups of caring people that seek to help you, contact me and I will put them in touch with you.

“It is your duty as a man to work. You must be industrious, or useless. It has been this way through out history. If you are chipping rock, dividing papers, repairing machines, or directing engineers, you are fulfilling one of your basic duties. Also, You cannot support your family meagerly. ‘You cannot wish for success, you must only earn it.'” -Nicholas De Laat, Esq.

If you spend 7 days doing the above well, and you still don’t have a job; YOU are the problem. This is harsh, but true. You might be well advised to go back on the government dole with Unemployment Welfare. You are deadwood.Do what is necessary to be a producer, not a leech on producers.