An Interesting Thought on the Value of a Dollar

I'm back! It was a nice a little break in the action but I'd be lying if I didn't say I am happy to be back into the swing of things. One morning over the weekend I was up before everybody else so I decided to catch up on some blog's I was behind on. I came across an interesting thought by our friend Seth Godin on the value of a dollar.

A dollar more (vs. a dollar less)

He uses the price war between Uber and Lyft to illustrate an interesting point about pricing. Asking us, "what kind of person buys the cheap ride, the ride with the angry-stressed out drivers?" Is there more value than you think in a dollar more? Some people always want the cheapest despite any sacrifice. Perhaps we shouldn't always be blinded by bottom line cost.

Crush the day!

DV

 

 

The DV Weekend Pickup #16

This will be my last post until after the holiday so everyone have a happy and safe 4th of July weekend! In honor, this weeks book review might come in handy for you. You'll also notice I subbed out best quote with best suggestion - just for this week!

Oldman's Guide to Outsmarting Wine by Mark Oldman

What I like best:  First, this book came highly recommended from a friend of mine who is a retired wine sommelier - naturally his opinion I respect a great deal. So I must admit this is the only wine book I've ever read so I don't have much to compare it to in that regard. However there is a lot of things to like about the book. For starters don't mistake this book as a "wine snob" book, it's great for beginners. Additionally Oldman give's you tons of excellent wine suggestions in EVERY price range.

It's super easy to read because Oldman uses 108 mini segments to layout the book. He uses quick lists, quotes, and illustrations to really "dumb" down an otherwise challenging topic - especially for wine novices. He discusses the important differences of grape variations, region differences, and vineyard nuances.  Lastly, he takes you around the globe touching down in - France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Argentina, and Chile - discussing everything you need to know about their respective wine game!

Best Suggestion: I am slowly falling in love with Beaujolais, a wine region in central-east of France (located just south of Burgundy and north of Rhone.)  Beaujolais is made with the grape variety Gamay. It is the PERFECT summertime red wine - light, slightly sweet, fruity, with low tannins - it's delicious! Give it a go this weekend and let me know what you think!

DV

A Thought On Time

Time is the most valuable thing in life, right? Wait...but why? Common thread would seem to suggest because it's definite and we never get more it. Doesn't that also suggest we are forfeiting control of our most valuable thing in life.

Surely, I never get today back but what about tomorrow, it's a brand new 24 hours to do whatever I want. Time is not a variable, it is a constant. Is that why it's so valuable? Or wait does that make it less valuable? I mean after all it is what it is.

Here's an interesting thought to consider. Place higher value on what you can control, the variable. Variable by you, ha. Consider the constant to make sense of it but don't worry about it. Like the amount of action you take, how happy or positive you are, etc. Looking at it this way may indicate that the variable is actually MORE valuable to the equation, right?

Which could also be a reminder not to take things out of context BUT that's whole 'nother thought! Haha.

Crush the day!

DV

What About The Giants?

As of yesterday I took the giant leap...I cancelled my cable, ha. I know it might not seem like a big deal and it probably isn't. If you've always had cable though, it's a weird feeling releasing control of the option. I am choosing the unknown as opposed to the known.

The benefit of ridding myself with time wasting, low value TV watching was just too great to ignore. Yes I still place high value on the entertainment I get from HBO/Showtime series but with modern technology you can still watch through a variety of different streaming options. 

And what about the Giant games this year? Interestingly when I stopped looking at this as a problem, I saw it more as a solution. Although I can't watch the Giant games at home it forces me to go watch them somewhere, engage with like minded fans, and enhance my enjoyment. Prior I would take the easy road, well because it was easier. 

Force your own hand. Remove temptation. Reduce options. Create a breakthrough.

DV

5 Women Who Are Crushing It

Wow! Game of Thrones Season 6 finale last night was quite the episode. It surely is a woman's world now! In honor I made a short list of my favorite women who are taking massive action in real life as well. 

*Holmes has had a rough year but her action is undeniable! I still say she's Daenerys-like, ha.

Crush the day!

DV

The DV Weekend Pickup #15

The 4-Hour Workweek by Timothy Ferriss

What I like best: Tim Ferriss is a human guineas pig and quite possibly the most interesting man in the world, ha. New York Times has been cited as calling him a cross between Jack Welch and a Buddhist monk - hmm. It's also worth noting that Ferriss believes highly in the 80/20 principle, which happens to be a groundupSALES stalwart! This book has done extremely well since it's release in 2007 with over 1.3 million copies sold. Interestingly it was denied by 27 publishers making it a great example of perseverance - oops, missed that one. Ferriss also hosts the # 1 iTunes business podcast The Tim Ferriss Experience which as of 2015 had over 70 million downloads - yup, you read that right. 

Anyway, back to the book. Ferriss uses a 4 step process to free your life from the norm. If you've got the guts, give it go, the process is laid out well in the book, but if not that's okay too. Either way it's an extremely enjoyable read. He takes you step by step on how he went from $40,000 a year in a 9-5 to $40,000+ a month with a sports nutrition start up. He puts a high focus on being productive rather than simply busy. He contends all you need to do is DEAL - Define, Eliminate, Automate, and Liberate. He gets granular with his methods. Ferriss is a real wealth of knowledge if your willing to let your mind consider possibilities outside your normal thought patterns. Sure, 4 hours seems like a farce and it probably is BUT that's okay it's the ideas that matter, they're invaluable. 

Best quote: "What we fear doing most is usually what we need to do...people will choose unhappiness over uncertainty."

DV

groundupSALES TV - The Pilot - Ep.01

groundupSALES TV - The Pilot - Ep.01

groundupSALES TV is officially launched! I am having a lot fun making these videos. I will be releasing a new episode every few weeks - for now! The pilot is just a warm up so stay tuned. In the episode I will briefly answer the following questions.

  • What is groundupSALES?
  • Why did I start it?
  • What is groundupSALES TV?
  • What to expect moving forward?

Go check it out today and don't forget to subscribe to channel on your way out the door. Thank you for the continued support!

DV

Congratulations to King James

Congratulations to "King" Lebron James on finally bringing a world championship to the city of Cleveland. I have not been the biggest Lebron supporter throughout the years but he played like a true champion in this entire series, I applaud him. He capped it off with a triple-double last night which is only the 3rd ever in the history of NBA Finals Game 7's. Truly admirable.

Had he not accomplished this achievement, successfully winning a championship in Cleveland he probably would have considered his career a failure, which is ludicrous.  Even being one of the top 10 basketball players to ever live, potential billionaire career, 4 time MVP, and all the accolades that come with it - simply his ultimate goal was not met. What this does though is give you a look into mind of a champion - determination, grit, and confidence. His goal was precise, absolute, and big. He was hyper focused even if it took him 13 years, a terrible "decision", two teams, multiple Finals appearances, build you up to tear you down media efforts, and the inevitable champion mindset internal pressures.

"A smooth sea never made a skillful sailor." - Anonymous

Let this be a stark reminder that often times our journey is not smooth, guaranteed, or written in stone. It's in that triumph where we experience life's greatest victory's. We become "King" of our castle.

Stay persistent, stay consistent, and crush the day!

DV

The DV Weekend Pickup #14

DRIVE by Daniel Pink

What I like best: There's a lot to like about this book. You know a book is impactful when you haven't read it or even flipped through it in over 2 years but you still remember it so vividly. DRIVE is centered around challenging one major question, what is actually motivating us? Contending that carrot and stick motivation is dead and that humans actually have three major motivators - autonomy, mastery, and purpose. Pink does a great job providing real world examples as well as science to back his claims. My personal favorite is when Pink shows the example of Encarta, c'mon you remember Encarta, that software based encyclopedia that was vastly popular in the mid 90's. Asking us which encyclopedia we thought would have survived if asked then, Encarta or Wikipedia? It's obvious what happened in that dog fight. Autonomy, mastery, and purpose won out. That was just one example of a slew that Pink uses to illustrate his points. I will say that in the 6 years since this book hit the shelves I personally have seen or read about companies changing their culture to a more Motivation 3.0 mindset, which is inspiring for the future. Bottom line this book ranks high on my list of must read business books as it demystifies modern day motivation. 

Best Quote: "Control leads to compliance; autonomy leads to engagement."

Happy Father's Day to all the dad's out there. It suppose to be gorgeous weekend - at least here in the Northeast, ha. Get outside, be a kid, and enjoy it!

DV