If you’ve worked in the corporate world for any length of time, I’m sure you’ve heard your share of complaining. So many people are quick to point out the negative side of things and just straight up complain about how things are operating. I often wonder what progress people hope to make through all of this complaining, and the best I can figure out is that it’s an outlet for their complacency and lack of drive to change.

I have also seen this type of attitude in many people’s personal lives. It doesn’t matter what situation this type of person finds himself in, he can find something to complain about.

I have noticed that this type of behaviour is very contagious as well. All it takes is one person to get the ball rolling and soon everyone is complaining because no matter how “bad” it may be for someone, it’s always worse for someone else. I’m sure you’ve all heard these types of conversations. They perpetuate with phrases such as, “…at least it’s not [insert next complaint here]”, and “if you think you’ve got it bad, [again insert another complaint]”.

It takes a conscious effort not to join in with the masses when it comes to complaining. We definitely don’t need to be the ones to start complaining, but we also need to be aware enough not to continue down that path with others. It has to stop somewhere, and it might as well be with us.

So instead of focusing on the negative side of things, you’re energy would be better spent on finding solutions. Finding a solution presupposes that there is an existing problem, but it’s a vastly different approach to the problem than complaining. It’s also worthwhile to note that successful people are that way because they find solutions to problems and implement them instead of just providing useless verbal commentary on the flaws of the current reality.

How many times in your life have you accomplished something that others have told you wasn’t possible? Perhaps you had even told yourself at one time that it was impossible. If you can say that you’ve accomplished such a thing at least once, when was the last time that you’ve done something extraordinary? If you haven’t yet had such an experience, you’ve got to ask yourself why not?

What Makes Something Impossible

I believe that every person has a different view of what is impossible. If you were to ask one of your co-workers what their view of the impossible is, it would most definitely be a drastically different answer from what someone like Donald Trump would say. Trump has already created an empire and developed high rise buildings as well as his own golf courses. Your co-worker may not have done anything more than work for a company for the last so many years. I’m not going to say that either of these experiences is inherently bad, but they provide a very different frame reference when one thinks of the impossible.

Varying Degrees of Impossible

As you look back on some of the things you’ve done in your life, there are probably some things that your younger self might have thought was impossible. As you progress through life, you’ll naturally develop various aptitudes and skills, and do things that you wouldn’t have ever thought you’d do. It probably doesn’t seem like much since it’s been very gradual over time.

The point I’m getting at is that our view of what’s impossible will inevitably change over time. Things will become easier and we’ll have more experiences to draw from as time marches on. Thus, our view of the impossible will be an ever changing boundary.

Managing the Impossible

We shouldn’t just accept our current view of the impossible. In order to become a greater and greater success we need to continually challenge our current view of the impossible. We need to keep pushing the boundaries and keep trying to improve everything we do. If we don’t ever challenge our current thinking we’ll never end up far from where we currently are. To put it succinctly, we need to manage our view of the impossible.

For a while now it’s been possible to buy visa gift cards, but you can now purchase them and customize them as you wish. They would be great for a small business to use as promotional items or as some sort of employee incentive. And you don’t have to buy in bulk quantity in order to be able to customize it with your own image like you had to in the past.

As I was looking around Gift Card Lab’s website I found that it costs $5.95 to order one of these custom gift cards, but the cost can definitely be worth it if you expect to increase your business’ sales and revenue through some associated promotion. So check out their site and see what you can come up with. Such a thing might even make a good blog contest in the future.

This last week was a little more difficult than usual to be at work after spending last weekend in Arizona previewing the MBA program. Nothing was out of the ordinary at work; it was just a little tough mentally. A buddy of mine at work did manage to procure me a few bottles of Coke and Pepsi though, and it’s amazing how they somehow manage to help be get through the work day. Anyway, here’s what’s on tap for this weekend:

1. This article at Yahoo Finance really seems to tell it like it is when it comes to the real estate crisis. When it comes to real estate prices, people really need to have their sanity returned. A house is only worth what a buyer is willing to pay for it. Plain and simple.

2. When the Clintons reported their income, it came out that they’ve made almost 109 million dollars since 2000. You can read the linked article, but let’s just say that I really need to start writing a book.

3. Here’s an interesting article from Guy Kawasaki called The Art of Sucking Up. There are actually quite a few tips to be learned here, even if the title doesn’t necessarily suggest it. And if you haven’t heard of Guy, you really ought to check out his website.

Fiscal Musings Throwback: About a year ago I took a look at stocks, and in particular the market capitalization and the P/E ratio. These are just a few things that you ought to know about when you begin to look into stock investing.

For those of you running websites out there who are looking to increase your traffic, revenue, and overall return on investment (ROI), you might want to check out the services offered by Pepperjam. They’re a full service internet marketing agency providing SEO Services as well as assistance with affiliate marketing and online media planning. And in case you’re wondering, SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization.

Pepperjam has been recognized and profiled by Inc. Magazine for two years now as one of the fastest growing private companies and they boast such clients as Countrywide, New Line Cinema, and the Washington Redskins.

I’ve also heard a lot of buzz about them from some professional bloggers as well as many other bloggers out there. So if you’re looking to take your site to the next level, or you have a project idea that you want to get started right from the beginning, you may want to look into the services that Pepperjam has to offer.

As you may know, over this past weekend I visited the Arizona State University campus and in particular the W.P. Carey School of Business. This post isn’t going to serve as a recap of the weekend, but it was during this time that a single concept was driven home to me. The Dean of the MBA program was giving a quick overview of the core curriculum and what stuck out to me was when he mentioned what the purpose of a business is and how it is measured.

The Purpose of a Business

In short, it can be said that the purpose of any business is to provide value. Value to the customers, employees, shareholders, and even the community in which it does business. A successful business purchases materials or labor and turns them into a product or service that is valued higher than the original expenses. How one goes about doing this and the specifics of any business is another matter, but I believe it’s an important concept to realize that you’re in it to provide value.

I see so many people that are “in business”, and their primary goal is to make money. Interestingly enough, customers aren’t just going to buy something so the owners can make money (exceptions include kids fundraisers and lemonade stands). Whether we own and run our own business, or sell our services to a business as an employee, we need to remember that the most important thing is to provide value to the other party. If you can do this, the money will be sure to follow.

The Measure of a Business

Now that we’ve talked about the purpose of business being to provide value, it can then be said that the measure of a business is how much value it provides, and this is measured in dollars. It’s no secret that people are in business to make a profit, but this profit is only a measure of the increased value that a business is able to provide in excess of it’s original costs.

This goes hand in hand with the purpose of a business because it again drives home the point that money is secondary to value. It’s an interesting concept to think about in conjunction with any business. For those of you who run blogs and attempt to “make money” from them, ask yourselves what value your providing. Why should someone visit your site over another, what’s the added value? This is a question I ask myself all the time, and it can often be tough to answer. So in whatever you do, ask yourself what value you’re providing and how you can increase it in the future.

With all of the uncertainty in the markets currently and in the recent past, it can be tough to be an investor. It’s important to remember though, that there are other types of investments than just what’s in the stock and bond markets. Another avenue to pursue may be to invest in real estate trust deeds.

I’ll probably share more about this type of investing in the future, but here’s a basic rundown. You are making loans on real property that pay higher rates of interest, typically upwards of ten percent. The rates on these loans are higher since they’re not the conventional types of loans, and they’re oftentimes referred to as hard money loans. The amount loaned is also usually held to some maximum loan to value (LTV) so there’s some sort of equity cushion.

Diamond Bay Investments is one such company through which you can invest in these types of products or loans. You can check out their website to learn a little more about them, but their services are only offered to qualified investors residing in Nevada.