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My Thanks to You Thanksgiving 2021

Life swirls on all about us unrelentingly.  Perhaps it is the ceaseless exposure to television dramas, novels, and cinema that have us viewing our lives in a series of episodes.  Events hurtle upon us – we struggle – face down the challenges, then it is over.  Behind us.  We move expectantly to a new chapter.  But Life with Covid refuses to wrap up so neatly.  In the fugue of our lives, this plague storms on as a dark, dominant theme, then gets pushed into the background as other dramas unfold and take center stage, capturing our attention.  Couples unite, love triumphs, man’s inevitable inhumanity rages against our compassion…the layers of life pile on.  Yet the plague keeps re-emerging, varying, but it never quite resolves.  It remains one of several stubborn scowling characters, spurning all calls to exit, that we must push to the fringe of our thought.  And, marvelously, we do just that!

This November 2021, I stand struck by the resiliency of the people around me.  Be the gathering real or virtual, after a quick news swap of booster benefits and fears, the mood invariably shifts.  Folks bubble with that verve of celebration.  Hope is joyfully expressed to me constantly from masked mouths; and for the first time in too darn long, I listen to words of gratitude. Last year, I recall penning a post comparing our times with the Pilgims’ example of hopeful thanksgiving as they entered harsh winter with more than half of their numbers lost.  It was meant as a plea to seek out whatever reeds of hope we each could muster.  This year, I find that message as obsolete as diesel fuel for a Tesla.

With so many expectations shattered, we seem to be gathering up shiny realizations of thankfulness from the pieces.  And that feeling of gratitude, I truly believe, is not limited to this man’s narrow experience.  I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised.  Humankind’s unquenchable quest to celebrate with joyous thanksgiving defies circumstance, and is as innate and natural as any of our “inevitable” sins.

So this Thanksgiving, allow me to raise my glass to all of you harboring hope and gratitude.  You raise our spirits as we face the next chapter, and we will pass it on.

Wishing you Every Success,

 – Bart Jackson

 

 

 

The Pandemic Push Towards Self-Mastery – Ceo Of Yourself 2nd Edition

So now what?  If any slender silver lining may be scrapped from the belly of this global pandemic cloud that has robbed us of so many loved ones and torn apart our lives, it the constant presentation of this question thrust upon us.  The Corona virus has laid bare our own individual characters and set us on a pathless plateau inviting us to take any direction we select – or, for once, to sit down and reflect before charging anywhere at all.

All those tightly knit highways that lured us along toward goals that charmed us most, got washed away and locked down.  (The school that would catapult you into that prestigious business suddenly closed its doors.  So, in fact, did the business.)   Our best laid entertainments and distractions dropped away like autumn leaves from our screens and minds.  With all the old props kicked out from under us, self-mastery has become our default mentor system.  Fate has invited you to be Chief Executive Officer of Yourself.

Amid the frenzy of our pre-pandemic routines, most of us did not see our lives as a succession of choices; or if we did, we did not see them as ours to make.  It was this unfortunate lack of discernment that inspired me three years ago to pen the first edition of CEO of Yourself.  But now the choices stand painfully evident.  The reset button has been hit.  The barnacles of fully packed schedules have been cut away from our days, and the governance of our own precious time dropped suddenly into our own surprised hands.

So Now What? is the decision that is truly yours – alone to make. Today.

New Dialogues

Perhaps the second-most most gratifying sound to ring in any author’s ears is to hear the words of his own message shared in the discussions of others.  So it has been with CEO of Yourself.  I keep catching snatches of chatter from individuals who are finding new visions and drawing up solid plans for personal fulfillment.  As we wrestle with the plague, a fresh spirit of self-mastery is entering our minds and conversations:

– “What I want is not what I’ve been taught to want…I am laying out a new course, with me at the helm.”

You are the expert at what you want.  And yes, there are beggars at your door – those desperately seeking everything from your patriotic or spiritual allegiance, to your dollars for their brand of sexy sports socks.  But you’ve learned who’s really in charge.  They come soliciting.  You, at your leisure, may select whatever pieces of their creed or product will serve you best.  Or you may send them on their way.

And by the way, ever notice how you are piloting your course along the stream toward new opportunities, rather than just avoiding old obstacles?

– “I’m beginning to suspect that I am absolutely marvelous.” 

People are stepping out from under the shadows of others and searching every room in their inner warehouse.  They are calling up new and neglected assets – personal skills, spiritual energies, and powerful emotions they can bring to bear.  (Emotions add muscle to our goal engines.  While it may serve others to have you repress them, if you’re taking aim, you’ll need your explosive passions to seize that opportunity.)  And yes, you are marvelous.  You simply have to find a good way to prove it to yourself.

– “This new freedom is easy, but making a success of it – really getting the maximum advantage – takes some real planning and work.”

‘Tis high time to take on the mantle of CEO of the Enterprise of You.  Time to assess your circumstances, create your personal vision, lay out your product plan, gather the resources, advisors, and agents, then launch into the wild entrepreneurial ride of making it so.  Oh good Ganesh, your spirit is prepped for this journey.

Also, you may try sharpening you executive experience.  Granted the best wine in the world is the wine you like the best, but if you’ve only savored two vintages in your life, a little experimenting may help you select more wisely.  Ever consider fishing in Mongolia or hunting for wisdom in ancient mythology?  I’ve found both are well stocked.

– “Life is messy.  I’m assaulted by offerings, decisions, demands.  This last year has set me thinking and hammering out some personal principles to guide my actions.”

Now that you’re not following other folks’ road maps, you will need to set down your honest, individual, deep-core beliefs.  Summon your spiritual energy and blend in your experience.  These will provide sensible, shortcut guide to your actions.  And amid your vital molding of these thoughts, you have probably realized that any principle you hold must include some personal joy and benefit to you.

Having watched those medical first responders and nonprofit food-pantry entrepreneurs, it is obvious they are acting out of a strong personal reverence for life.  But a quick glance into their eyes smiling above the mask shows they have also discovered a joyful benefit in this belief and the resulting action.

– “Covid-19 has laid bare all those institutions seeking to rule and direct our lives – and they have not delivered.”

Like the pretentiously naked emperor, we have found our institutions really aren’t clothed in such sacrosanct authority after all.  Major businesses, our religions, our supply lines of endless stuff, our governments with their bunches of systems sworn to serve and protect – our grandest institutions have all faltered during the pandemic.   The infallibility cloaks are off.   And the salvations each has so richly held out have failed to appear.  From toilet paper and bicycles, to peace of mind and soul, to compassionate patriotism, to wealth-gushing promotions, our yearnings have, for once, outstripped the promises of limitless supply.  And, well, somehow they seem to have dwindled in importance.  (‘Tis remarkable how small run the ripples of concern over the scarcity of the almighty computer chip.)

This plague has pulled back the veil of veneration with which we’ve invested these movements and organizations.  We see them more clearly as mere clusters of folks gathered together with the intention of serving themselves or some interest they deem worth serving.  Now it’s your call.  How much allegiance are you willing to invest?  How much guidance will you take from their pre-fixed menu of beliefs?  They are directors no longer – they are only advisors bearing suggestions.

CEO of Yourself – second edition

As Fate and the spirits that forever prod my soul would have it, the second edition of CEO of Yourself was reworked during the pandemic.  My first edition was sparked from my radio show, The Art of the CEO, in which I routinely mentioned that “the Good Lord has gifted you with the title and privileges of CEO of yourself, and since that is the most important position you will ever hold in your career, allow me to ask will this be the day that you….” say, “dust of your dreams?”  Somehow it took hold.  Folks loved this as a discussion point.  Right alongside, within the same weekly programs, our audiences kept hearing the tales of our guest business leaders retelling their own version of the business process.  The elements made sense, and made success:  enter your workplace with a solid vision – scrutinize each situation – assess all those assets – see all the decisions, and hunt up the opportunities – then they select a path and enlist all the right people to bring that opportunity to fruition.  In short, these leaders were acting as the chief executing officer within their realm.

All of this begged the obvious questions: Well, if it works so well for business, why not my own life?  Who says I have to dump this powerful self-mastery model in the drawer at workday’s end and head for home with no vision beyond a wishful fantasy?  Thus, employing a template of chief executive planning, along with techniques garnered from all aspects of the human experience, the concept of CEO of Yourself entered book form.

Our second edition of CEO of Yourself  takes aim at helping you forge your answer to So Now What? As we emerge from the initial onslaught of the worldwide pandemic, more decisions, opportunities, and, frankly, a lot more chaos will be filling our days.  Hopefully we will each be able to rise from the ashes with a more enlightened vision and a stronger plan for our fulfillment journey.

At the urging of readers, we’ve made a few improvements, including some room for personal notes and more thought-sparking questions.

In keeping with these career-disruptive times, we have also added a final section: The Entrepreneurial Employee.  It includes the tales and lessons learned of several salaried employees who carried the entrepreneur’s vision and venture-launching mindset to into their workplaces.  They prove that self-mastery is not a matter of who signs your paycheck, and earning a wage need not make you a wage salve.

The first edition of CEO of Yourself is currently available on BartsBooks.com.   The second CEO of Yourself edition is underway and will be available in November.  Either way, we hope to add some practical guidance, with touches of lighted hearted humor, as you square off and discover the solutions to the question conf ronting us all: So Now What?

Oh, as a final bon mot, earlier I mentioned “the second-most most gratifying sound to ring in any author’s ears.” And the first?  Well naturally, it is the sound of a spouse reading every author’s five favorite words from a royalty check:  “pay to the order of…”

CEOofYou2.entrepren.1

I Choose to Laugh

Recently, America has replaced Humor with Hate as its emotion of choice.  We hate immigrants or those who hate immigrants.  We pour forth our ire on anyone who offends feminists, or those who loathe feminists. Every new word or deed sets our wrath on edge, and ignites our short fuse to a tirade against “the other side.”  With teeth clenched, we rant against a mindless virus – those setting up vaccines to fight the virus – and those not responding to the virus exactly as we know they should.  (You know, those irresponsible/paranoid idiots.)

Disrespect has blossomed from an occasional noun to a frequent, very active verb.  You’ve got to be ever on the watch against those who describe our race or one of those races we favor. They are most likely denigrating bigots – all of them.

And the media loves it.  They fuel our rage and titillate our hate with tales of president past or current – and we angry supporters, in turn, fuel their circulation numbers.  And when we lapse exhausted from disrespecting all of the above, we hunt in search of new targets worthy of our juggernauting enmity.

Now, I could give you my own rant about the danger of spewing venom within and without – how increase of destruction grows with what it feeds on, but you already know that.   The addictive quick high of rage crashes the spirit into ruin – you don’t need me to tell you.

So why revel in this Hades of Hate?  And no.  Don’t you dare tell me that the devil (in the guise of divisive media or politicians or plague) makes us do it.  Frankly, Scarlet, that just ain’t so.  Their acts and words may instinctively prick your spirit and even spark some brief anger, but the choice to harden your heart and carry the scowl of hostility on into the day…That is your choice alone to make – and dispense with.

And the good news?  More and more folks seem to be joining me in opting for humor.  When my wife inspired me to pen & publish the joke-laden “Vax Envy Fight Song” about the Covid-19 inoculation process, and when my second-wisest counselor, Carol, asked me to make a series of laughable quips about our current circumstances, all of you greeted them with refreshing enthusiasm.  And I will bet ten cents of my own money that America will rapidly turn the corner, nix the hate, and re-turn to our romance with humor.  So allow me to invite you all to join me in this joyful trend.  Set your search engine for something funny, some common, laughable point of humanity, and take it to heart.  Then share it with a friend and watch her smile.

Wishing you every success,

Bart Jackson

 

 

 

Bart’s Vaccine Ballad

Doctor, Doctor won’t you please save me first and get me to the front of the line?




The Hopeful Generation

“We could could put seed packets in books and distribute them to school children and families…We could connect with universities… employ environmental groups…gain business sponsorships…”

That is the sound of Fairleigh Dickinson University students brainstorming how to re-forest our planet with one trillion (yes, trillion) more trees.

I know it’s traditional to look at the upcoming generation and fear for the future of our world.  But let me assure you there seethes an energy, idealism, and creativity in today’s college students unequaled in many decades.  Yesterday, FDU professor Gerard Farias invited me to speak to his “Managing Enterprise and Organizations” class.  As part of the course, the students select some social need and create an enterprise aimed at fulfilling that need.  These students have begun engineering a venture that will provide computers to computer-less young people so they may attend schools online.  I challenged them with trillion-tree project, which is currently being undertaken and by social entrepreneur Roland Schatz (with astounding success.) These students’ enthusiasm and depth of thought, along with their unabashed optimism struck me forcefully.  Having sat through many a “creative” session with businessfolks twice their age, I have seldom felt such positive hope.  ‘Twould not surprise me to come across some of these individuals in the future as candidates for the Prometheus Social Enterprise Awards.  So allow me this simple observation: whatever our generations have done to bring us to our present condition, we need not worry.  Hot on our heels is coming a horde of freshly inspired successors dedicated to making things a lot better.