Interview with Dave Vescio

Interview with Dave Vescio, the ultimate “Bad Guy” actor.

“I found out that I finally got accepted into his acting conservatory, and then the following summer, I moved to NYC and started training at his school”…

Read the whole thing HERE

Dick Zimmerman interview

Interview with Dick Zimmerman, the man behind the camera of the iconic “Thriller” cover shot of Michael Jackson.

Q: Tell me concerning the morning you photographed Michael Jackson’s Bad cover.
A: Near to the morning using the shoot, he arrived alone. No entourage.

Continue reading here

Working Smart vs. Working Hard

by Brig Hart, Entrepreneur and CEO of R3Global, a sales and marketing company offering support to distribution and author of the book Why Not You? Why Not Now?.

On a quest for personal health Brig discovered a little known fruit and berry beverage manufactured in Utah named MonaVie. In just over three years the Harts built one of the largest organizations in direct sales history. They recruited over 1 million distributors and created over 1 Billion in sales.

Coming from a scholastically-challenged background, we first have to start with how you define smart. In the traditional sense, I just don’t qualify. I was a “C” Student in school; I just tried to see my way through. I looked at things from a common sense perspective because I had to. It was called survival. Since I am an ambitiously lazy person, I had to learn to work smart, not hard.

I haven’t had the luxury of being able to make many or any major mistakes in the start-up and development of any of my business ventures. I had to do what made sense or else it meant disaster. With little to no start-off capital, I had to develop the quality of discernment: determining what was “right” or “wrong” about the decisions and direction I had to go. This keeps you on your game and sharp. Thinking for yourself and learning to process is a wonderful yet rare quality these days.

Experience is the best teacher in life, as long as it is someone else’s experience –then it is wisdom. Wisdom is the principle thing, according to the #1 bestseller of all time. I value good information so I can make good decisions that translates into being productive and effective, versus just being busy. Working smart means being humble enough to realize you don’t have to be the source of all new ideas and information. You just have to realize that there is nothing new under the sun. Borrow and adapt the things that work for others and give them the credit for it. You keep the money.

Working smart means I don’t have to re-think things that have already proven themselves to produce the positive results that I seek. I call it “follow the leaders.” Do what they have done, adapt that information to your own field of work and watch it work for you in turn. This is nothing new: it’s called “duplicate, don’t innovate.”

I am on a constant search to improve the way I do things on a daily basis. If it ain’t broke, break it and make it better. A little improvement implemented over time will always increase productivity and profits. Don’t be afraid of change, so long as it is for the better.

Focus and singleness of purpose is key to working smart also. Doing the things you do, and doing them well is key to keeping a business healthy and prospering. Don’t play the other man’s game; create and follow systematic ways that will replicate the desired results you want.

SYSTEM: Save Yourself Stress Time Energy and Money by adapting and replicating a system that works. Now you can be assured of consistent and positive results. Implementing this reliable information will permit progress. Now a business can gain a life of its own by replicating itself.

Invest, don’t spend. Invest in the most valuable commodity we all have: people. Invest your time and resources in people who can buy into your vision and processes so that they can in a sense take some ownership – and so you can gain their loyalty. Now you have less energy being spent so you can see a return on your investment long-term. Making folks feel good about themselves is key to locking in good folks and developing a healthy work environment in which they can prosper and thrive – in sum, smart investment for smart returns. Building synergy into your team will bring powerful results with the least amount of effort. Empower the people with great incentives to foster an atmosphere of pride in ownership.

A thimble full of common sense is worth more than all the intellect of many these days. Over-thinking simple processes brings stagnation in growth: it’s called the paralysis of analysis. To work smart, one must avoid overly analytical people and process. Keep things simple so the masses can understand and replicate the goals you want to achieve. That’s working smart, not hard.

 

DICK ZIMMERMAN ON MY FOX ALABAMA TALKING ABOUT THE STORM DAMAGE

To access to the video, click here.

Award-winning Film About Menopause Opens In Naperville TODAY!

Hot Flash Havoc Movie Premiere In Naperville Today!!!

A new documentary titled “Hot Flash Havoc,” premiering in Naperville this week, tackles what every woman, and her man, needs to know about menopause, while also entertaining its audience. | Submitted

What: “Hot Flash Havoc” movie premiere

When: Thursday, May 12, doors open at 6 p.m., screening begins 6:30 p.m., question-and-answer and reception follow

Where: Wentz Concert Hall at North Central College, 171 E. Chicago Ave., Naperville

Cost: $30

On the Web: http://www.hotflashhavoc.com

To read the article about the film on NapervilleSun, click here.

PAUL STANLEY OF KISS LIVE IN LOS ANGELES TODAY!

Paul Stanley of the legendary rock band KISS is headlining a “Sound Rules! A Sound & Hearing Celebration” TODAY at 3:30 pm at the Director’s Guild of America (DGA) Theatre in Los Angeles at 7920 Sunset Boulevard.

 

Paul, who was born deaf in his right ear, has teamed with the House Research Institute for “Sound Rules!”, a FREE hearing loss prevention education and entertainment event for teens that will feature the legendary lead singer and guitarist from KISS and hearing health experts from the House Research Institute along with valuable contest prizes and giveaways.

 

A limited number of tickets will be made available on a first–come, first–serve basis.

 

Space is limited.  Reservations are required. For more information and registration, visit http://soundrules.org.

 

 

WHAT: Sound Rules! A Sound & Hearing Celebration headlined by Paul Stanley

WHEN: Thursday, May 12 at 3:30 p.m.  

WHERE: Directors Guild of America, Theater One, 7920 Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles

ADMISSSION: Free, but reservations are required

RSVP: Liam Collopy: Lcollopy@lcoonline.com or lrunchie@lcoonline.com

MORE INFORMATION: www.soundrules.org

86,400 Seconds to Change Your Life on AOL Jobs

We all want to feel successful and accomplished in our lives so we often focus on being efficient, crossing off our daily “to-do” lists and managing our time well so that we can squeeze 36 hours worth of work into a 24-hour day. But no matter what we do or how much we plan, there is only so much time in a given day — 86,400 seconds to be exact.

While everyone is given the exact same amount of time each day, it seems that some people use it more productively than others. Why is that? What are those efficient people doing that the rest of us are not, and what do they know that we don’t?

In her debut book, 86,400: Manage Your Purpose to Make Every Second of Each Day Count, author Lavaille Lavette, exposes why the rat race is no longer working. “Managing your time is useless unless you manage your purpose.”

 

A Gradual Epiphany

Lavaille had what she calls a “gradual” epiphany. The first time she ever thought about a day being comprised of 86,400 seconds was in Church when her minister stressed the importance of being careful about how you spent each day. Four days later she heard Kris Allen’s pop single Live Like We’re Dying, which includes the lyrics “only 86,400 seconds in a day.” Two days later an e-mail in Lavaille’s inbox had the subject line “86,400.” Convinced that the number 86,400 was suddenly rearing its head in all aspects of her life, Lavaille chose to stand up and take notice. “I saw it as a sign to dig into how I was spending my time.”

Time Management vs. Purpose Management

With a master’s degree in education and a background as a school teacher, school administrator and time management specialist, Lavaille set about examining how she spent her own 86,400 seconds each day and found that she wasn’t “maximizing my effectiveness.” Lavaille explains, “I was only concerned about the tasks I had to do and crossing things off my list.”

Committed to being more conscious of how she spent each day, Lavaille focused on her purpose, instead of her time and schedule, and broke her purpose into three distinct areas: 1) Purpose within her family; 2) purpose within her career/vocation; and 3) purpose as it relates to being of service to others and giving back in some way. “Education is what I have always been most passionate about and once I re-focused my energy on that area and devoted myself to my purpose, my world really opened up.”

Based on her own self-awakening process, Lavaille outlines how to rearrange your life around the concept of purpose management, instead of time management. Her method utilizes the ten tools of: forgiveness, wisdom, dedication, balance, imagination, thankfulness, patience, faithfulness, generosity and courage, to create this purpose-based order. Lavaille believes anyone can find their passion and learn to value their 86,400 seconds, instead of constantly racing against the clock.

“I think readers can gain inspiration and motivation from my story,” says Lavaille. All people have the same amount of seconds in a given day to be successful. It takes hard work, but you can make U-turns in life.”

The three most valuable lessons in Lavaille’s opinion are:

1. Wake up your consciousness. Be aware of your time and how you use it, but also know that every 86,400 seconds presents new opportunities.

2. Don’t take time for granted. No one has unlimited time and it’s important to realize that time is special. Once you treat time as a precious commodity, you will be more intentional with your actions.

3. Worry about your purpose, not your time. Finding your passion is the key to both your success and happiness. “The fruits of your labor will benefit you greatly if it is something that you are passionate about and something that you really believe in.”

 

Next Steps

“This book is just the start,” says Lavaille. Next up for this purpose-driven author and workshop leader, are another two books and more workshops about how to develop an 86,400 mindset.

“I want this [concept] to be a sustainable, natural way of life and not a fad or something that people try to do one or two times.”