Just another The Spurlocks… weblog

Today I had the privilege of listening to Robert Pedersen, CEO of ZAGG, about his career paths. It was really captivating. I tried to take good notes, but I was taking pictures of the lecture at the same time.

One of the things that he stressed at the beginning was to “Be True To Yourself.” That sounds quite simple, but it got me thinking. I started to think about how at the end of my life, who is going to be by my side? What is my legacy going to be? What impression will I have made? I don’t get to take much with me when I die, but I will sure leave a lot. Namely, I will leave an impression. Is it going to be a good one?

Another point was to “Do Something Better Than the Other Person.” Meaning just because their is a product or service already out there that does not necessarily mean that you cannot make money doing it too. Recognize an opportunity and seek after it.

All in all, it was hard not to get excited about the oppurtunities that are out there. It is just going to take some elbow grease and teamwork.

My wife and I recently went to the Utah State vs. Utah volleyball game. It was really fun to see a lot of people there supporting the Aggies. To our disappointment, and others I am sure, the Aggies were defeated. As I sat there though, I noticed the sponsors that had painted their logos’ at very distinct places.

I think that sponsoring your local schools is a very noble thing to do. On top of that however, you need to make the most of your money. It became some what of an eyesore to see that some of our local (very prominent) businesses had very outdated logos or signage.

What is the message that they are trying to send to future job seekers? Are those businesses really sure that they will attract business as well as job-seekers? Do they really think that the same tactics that got them to this point will carry them for the next 10-40 years?

What I know is very little, but I do tend to have fairly accurate instincts. I really think that companies big or small, new or established need to constantly be updating their image. It is not enough to throw your name on something. You have to make it look appealing.

I dunno, just a thought.

Just read this very interesting post about conformity.

Check it out here.

A little story for you.

So yesterday I had pushed off studying for my Math final. When it finally came down to it, with some persuasion I finally started chipping away at it. The head of this section of Math posted a lot of his previous exams to look over. I went through all of them, and it seemed that I had just lost everything from early on this semester. I was getting pretty down on my self for how poor my results were. I kept going through them, and doing my best. Finally at two this morning, I decided I should go to bed if I am going to make it on time to my 7:30am final.

When I got up, I showered and headed out. I got there a little early hoping that I could secure a good seat, that would not have a lot of traffic. I was so nervous in my mind. When I sat down I got right into it. I did not notice, but I was completely calm. A feeling that I never have taking tests. I went through the test answered everything the best that I could, then went over the test a couple times to make sure that I answered everything right.

I left the auditorium not feeling that confident. I could only think about studying earlier that morning. I felt that at best I would probably earn a “C.” All day I was doing some mental calculations to see if by any chance I would maybe still have an “A.”

Well I went around town doing some Christmas shopping. I tried to keep my mind occupied among other things. Finally I came home, opened my email and there was the results sitting there in my inbox. I opened the email scanned the contents finding that surely I had some wrong answers. Then I found the overall. Well, that’s not so bad. Third highest out of 144.

My excitement comes from just earning the best grades of my life. It is really from a sense that I just did it, so why not do it again? At the beginning of the semester I set the goal to get a 4.0. I honestly did not believe that I could do it. It had never been done before. I had tried many times, but I usually lost motivation through the semester.

Any who, I feel like I am giving an acceptance speech.

In an article about President elect Barack Obama has committed to a fiscal package that focuses on transportation, energy solutions, broadband access, among other things.

In recent reports it was announced that the unemployment rates had risen to 6.7%. While this number is concerning, it was brought to my attention that within that statistic the percentage of unemployment among college graduates remained relatively stagnant. Unemployment for those with only a high school diploma 0.5% and percentage of high school dropouts rose 2.9%. While this seems mundane, I believe that it should be addressed within a stimulus.

We received a stimulus last year that solved nothing. It was poorly planned and researched. If the Government was to issue another it should be focused on this group of people, the unskilled workers. Investing in skills will do a lot in the long run.

The author of the article threw out some ideas that to address this group we could institute a sort of pell grant voucher. This may not be the answer, but something to bring the unskilled workers and invest to their futures.