Cut me, Mick

// April 8th, 2009 // No Comments » // Economy, Success

Rocky couldn’t see anymore.  He’s in the corner blinded by the swelling from the beating he was taking from Apollo Creed. He says to Mick, his trainer,

My eye… Cut me, Mick… Cut me… Cut me.

After a bit of hesitation, Mick tells his assistant to do it. This is hollywood of course, but what a great picture of a desire to win.  Rocky got his sight back and thus a renewed vision for victory.

We need that sometimes when our focus becomes narrow or when everything just seems dark and hopeless.  I had several comments yesterday after posting my short tweet about the availability of work in today’s “weak” economy.  My quote was something like “It’s out there if you want it.”  I know that is hard to hear when you are losing your home and I”m not suggesting a quick fix.  But I believe this particular bit of advice is apropos to our times.  I stated five things that help me stay on task as I navigate the economic times in business.

1. Avoid Naysayers - Consider the sources where you get your economic outlook.  You’ve probably heard it from some media outlets that subtly or with intention are hoping you’ll buy into the doom and gloom.  Or maybe its a “friend” that likes misery in mixed company. This is caustic if listened to regularly because it is a hope killer.  You don’t know how many people I talk to who run their own businesses that say “Boy, the economy hasn’t hit my industry yet.  I wish things would slow down a bit.”  If you look, you’ll find opportunities for beginning a business or employment opportunities if starting a business is not your thing. It’s out there.

2. Stay Hungry - Why are these small business owners, the ones that are having market success, actually having success? I think it is a combination of things.  Good products, smart business practices, customers who love them, steady growth, being experts at what they do, balanced life, the list goes on… But I believe there is a deeper desire within each: an unstoppable personal drive.  Not sitting back on past successes.  Not resting on ones laurels, so to speak.

3. Take Risks - This doesn’t mean throw your brain out the window, blindfold yourself, and play pin the tail on the donkey with your life. It does mean conquer the fear that keeps you from going after something. From experience, I think fear kept me from achieving the dreams I’d visualized earlier in life. It wasn’t until the fear was gone that I could make those cold calls and build those relationships, required for success in building a business.

4. Don’t go it alone - When you are an island, you are a target.  The bullseye on your back has the crosshairs of a force much greater than you focused on it.  And you can’t handle it alone.  There is an enemy out there that is willing to let you go it alone and will even provide you all the success you want: at a price! At the expense of your family, your relationship with God, and in some cases at the expense of your own soul. It is a series of turns you make when you come to forks in the road that appear harmless on the outset, but will allow you to be isolated from others over time. It can turn you upside down and in the end make you wish you’d never gone down that road to begin with.  I’ve seen it.  It is not good.  A husband can’t expect to spend every waking minute through a decade of marriage working to grow a business while neglecting his wife and not expect something to break. It’s preventable.  Surround yourself with like-minded and successful people.

5. Give Thanks - To whom you might ask?  God, your wife, your kids, mentors, pastors, parents, business partners, teachers.  More than likely there are many people who have added to or assisted with your success. Either through giving you time to succeed or advice on how to do it.  Don’t forget to remember them.

So don’t be afraid to get a little dirty, a little bruised, perhaps even needing to do some minor surgery on your sight. There is victory ahead.

One minute 30 seconds

// April 2nd, 2009 // No Comments » // time

The average red light time is one minute 30 seconds.  At least that’s what I’ve been finding around my neck of the woods (I’ve actually been timing them recently out of curiosity). One minute 30 seconds.  When you’re late it seems like an eternity.  When you’re angry late, it’s eternity squared. If you consider all the minute and 30 seconds available on any given day, it’s amazing how this one little ole minute and 30 seconds wields so much power and control over us.

A whole new industry has sprouted up almost overnight because one minute and 30 seconds is just too confining for the demanding schedules of us humans. And for all its trappings, beating the red light to the punch, getting your picture taken, and paying a hefty fine pales in comparison to the humiliation of realizing you’ve lost to a machine.  You cower in your seat, banging your fist against the steering wheel as the brilliant red globe stares back with a smile, knowing it has your attention for at least another one minute and 30 seconds.

The new and improved TheronHatch.com

// March 29th, 2009 // 1 Comment » // Blog

Boy this has been a long time in the making. But I finally finished it. I’d like to know what you think.

Don’t just stare at it, climb it

// March 1st, 2009 // 2 Comments » // Beauty, Mind

Ken Davis gave me some good advice recently.  He said that many of us look at the mountain summit, admiring it’s beauty, all the while thinking that one day we’ll climb it.  Few ever do.  I was telling my dad about a new idea I’ve got brewing.  He shared with me this quote.

The heights by great men reached and kept were not attained by sudden flight, but they while their companions slept, were toiling upward in the night.  - - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807 - 1882)

My dad is pretty smart.  It’s funny… he just became smart recently.  You see, I was always way smarter growing up.  But now I can see that maybe it was the other way around.  Anyway, I’m going to take his advice through this quote and toil upward in the night.

Stimulus Watch: Keeping an Eye on Economic Recovery Spending

// February 17th, 2009 // No Comments » // Blog

Stimulus Watch: Keeping an Eye on Economic Recovery Spending

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Mysterious ways

// February 16th, 2009 // No Comments » // Art, Beauty, Fun, Mind, Nature

The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and all science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead: his eyes are closed. - Albert Einstein

Patriot Idol 2 at Page High School tonight

// February 9th, 2009 // No Comments » // Media, Music

I have the privilege of playing bass for some very talented high schoolers tonight at Page High School in Franklin TN.  These students wrote and will perform songs in front of their parents, teachers, and peers.  Industry pros will be judging the performers, and 3 winners will play at the Blue Bird with the top performer getting a day in the studio.  As part of the production, the entire music and arts department will take part in putting on the show to a live audience but also to the web through live streaming video.  The performers will be seen, but many back stage hands including lights, audio, video, web, and production crews will have just as important roles, all part of the learning process.  You are sure to hear about some of these folks in years to come.  Pros in the making for sure.

The live weblink is http://video.wcs.edu/phs-tv. Check it out at 7 pm Central time.  Or if you are in the area and want to see it live, you can visit

Do you have any Jackson Pollock in you?

// January 28th, 2009 // No Comments » // Art, Beauty

You’ll be an abstract artist in minutes after visiting this site.  Try it out for yourself.  Perhaps its a second calling. Click your mouse to change color and press any key to stop the brush.

ShareThis Named AlwaysOn OnMedia 100 Winner

// January 23rd, 2009 // No Comments » // Blog

ShareThis Named AlwaysOn OnMedia 100 Winner

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Civics 101 - Answers from Yesterday

// January 13th, 2009 // No Comments » // Economy, History, Mind

These are the answers to the Civics quiz from yesterday. So how’d you do?

1. a

2. a

3. a

4. d

5. d

6. b

7. d

8. d

9. c

10. a