Busy Week

This past week has been very eventful! My brother Tim was in town from Wyoming and we had a lot of fun together. I golfed for the first time in a great while and we ate a lot of good food. Our entire family was together for the first time in a very long time.
Simon had his first professional photographs taken. Most of them turned out great and I'm especially partial to the black and white ones. See Ami's blog for a glimpse.
I applied to be a merit badge councilor for 7 different badges. I would have applied for them all if they would allow it. Since I work with the young men in my church this will help facilitate their work toward the rank of Eagle Scout.
I taught two concealed carry classes. I think people are worried that Obama will take away a lot of gun rights and that is increasing the enrollments in my classes.
Ami made really good chocolate chip cookies!
My T-shirt, Promotional Apparel business made some big deals this week. We have super cool silicon wristbands that we are handing out. If you want one let me know!

First Time Boating

So yeah this isn't a great picture but yesterday was my first time ever in a boat that was in the water. I know this is a little embarrassing at age 25 but I had a great time. Ami and I live about 3 minutes from Utah lake so I suppose this was bound to happen. Lots of fun, but admittedly I'm super sore today from the experience.

Worthless Posts

So I've noticed that when I blog about something serious or thoughtful I don't get any comments. I'm not upset or anything, I'm just starting to notice the pattern. So today I'm going to write something less complex.

I was reading a book last week called "Good to Great" and it tells you to decide what you are an expert in. What could you be the very best in the world at? So it got me thinking... what am I really good at? Like a lot of people I'm ok at a lot of stuff but I can't think of anything that I could compete at. So here is my 5 best options of things I could be best at:

1. Finding justifiable ways to waste time online
2. Loading cool software onto Windows Mobile Devices
3. Listening to AudioBooks, I'm really good at that.
4. Giving talks, presentations, etc with little to no preparation (Wingin It)
5. Getting along with Dogs
   

What do you think you could compete at? What could you do better than anyone else?

Jacob Paulsen
www.ageljacob.com
business.jacobspaulsen.com

Become More to Receive More

Most of you are probably unaware but I have a second blog called the Paulsen Marketing & Personal Development Blog. Today I wrote the following post and normally I don't like to double dip my posting but I thought I would show everyone the type of thing I right in my other blog. To see other posts visit http://mblog.jacobspaulsen.com

Ultimately you must become more if you want to earn more. In the insurance industry there is a term called "Human Life Value." It seems almost wrong that anyone can assign an actual dollar value to our lives but this is necessary in when determining what kind of life insurance policies you can buy.

For purposes of this article when I refer to your "Human Life Value" I'm not talking about your insurance life value, but instead how much value you create for the world. As you work hard to become more, you in turn are able if you chose to contribute more to the world. As you actively create value for those around you, your true Human Life Value increases. Your human life value is tied directly to your wealth. As your Human life value increases your wealth must also increase. Understand that the term wealth doesn't always apply to money. Wealth can be a great number of things including strong & fulfilling relationships, inner peace & satisfaction, etc.

There are three distinct lessons we must take from this truth:

1. Our skills and knowledge alone do not create value for anyone. Only the application of skills and knowledge with correct direction can begin to create value for those around us. Therefore our Human Life Value only increases when we create value for others.

2. It is only in creating value for others that we can increase our own wealth. Since all our wealth is a direct reflection of what we receive from others and from society it is only in creating value for others that we can experience an increase.

3. Only through exchange can value be created. When you sell a good or service both parties become wealthier for having made the exchange even though the amount of goods or services exchanged remained the same. If you hug your 2 year old child both of you are wealthier for the exchange even though the hug was constant.

Understanding these principles, we can begin a discussion about how your Human Life Value affects you in Marketing. The first applied lesson to learn is that if you want to sell more goods or services you must become more. This is true both because your overall attractiveness affects your ability to sell and because your ability to create value in the life of your client is increased. Of course when speaking of attractiveness we aren't referring to your physical attraction, but the overall impression that you carry with you everywhere you go.

How do we become more? Allow us to separate your person into 4 common categories. Physical, Mental, Emotional, & Spiritual. To become more physically we must exercise and eat well. To become more mentally we must expose ourselves to new ideas and concepts. We must study and strive to learn more about more. To become more emotionally we must interact with people. We must understand people. To become more spiritually we connect with an inner purpose and divine potential ever striving to follow our creator.

All four of these categories are inseparably connected. As you grow in one you must grow in the other. This isn't to say that we are all balanced all the time but simply put they are connected and how you grow or don't grow in one area will have an impact on the other four.

Becoming more is the end purpose of everything we do. As you increase your ability to serve your fellow man, or put differently create more value for society you in turn increase your own wealth. Ironically it is the only way to do so!

Jacob Paulsen
www.ageljacob.com
business.jacobspaulsen.com
skype: jacob.paulsen

Dark Knight Inspired Thoughts

On Friday of last week Ami and I went to see the newest Batman movie, Dark Knight. To read my movie review please visit my Flixster profile. The point of this post however is not to talk about the movie but the thoughts it inspired in me.

When I was young I watched heroic movies and dreamed that one day I could be a hero like that.
When I got older I realized that heroic movies are entertainment and nothing more.
Now I'm beginning to think that heroic movies while entertaining do, and should inspire us to be heroes.

Each of us has a little hero in us. A desire to be a cause for good in society, and a means to ending evil and inspiring love and kindness. Little heroic inspirations are necessary to bring out the hero in each of us and movies do a great job of that.

You see I believe that each of us has a calling on this earth. A purpose, which in its own right is a form of fighting evil and inspiring good. Everyone from school teachers, artists, doctors, professionals, business owners, mothers, computer programs, salesman, and even lawyers in their own way have an opportunity to make a difference. It is in this pursuit of creating greater value in the lives of others that we ourselves can be blessed, and in a literal sense become more powerful. That is what makes a Hero. Many of us have heroes in our lives to which we look up to.

Just like Harry Potter taught us that ultimate power comes from strong, loyal, and sincere relationships, the hero in each of us strives to become an asset to those he/she cares about. Most unfortunately the villain in each of us fights this cause. The villain doesn't want to care about those around us and all his thoughts are self-centered and selfish. The villain in us inspires us to take from others and society creating value for ourselves only. The villain encourages us that our only purpose is to serve ourselves and those who rely on us. The villain feels no need to create strong relationships except out of a selfish need to leech off of others.

I am grateful for the heroes in cinema, literature, and real life all around us that inspire me to strenghten the hero inside of me by serving others, and becoming stronger myself only in turn to be a greater asset to all those for whom I care.

Feel free to share your favorite heroes and what you have learned from them.

Jacob S Paulsen
801-494-3672