The Mini Bucket List

The bucket list—

What one thing would you rather be doing right now?

Anything in the world? …

If you could go there and do it right now, what would that one thing be?

Talk of the bucket list has to do with the need for fun, risk, pleasure, midlife crisis and to do what right now is not doable… the concept of the bucket list assumes plenty of resources and time and money and the ability to execute them and implement one’s bucket list.

Not so fast…. Most of us don’t have the time or money or resources to go around the globe and to see the Kilimanjaro in Africa or to go check out the Pyramids of Egypt. Most of us are lucky to get a vacation once a year and perhaps go camping or stay at a Holiday Inn.

Hawaii might be a possibility for some of us, a very few, but for most of us were a bit stuck.

This being stuck is far more than just a lack of resources— it’s a lack of imagination and thinking out of the box. When you really take the time to think about what is possible and doable within your resources and means some really cool example start to emerge…. I call this the mini bucket list.

There are several Mini Bucket List things that we can get done on a local or regional basis. We still have the physical ability to set do some. The idea of something fun and risky and pleasurable before we die is a good idea. The physical decay of our bodies preclude us from doing many of the things that we’d really like to do that are very real radical…. But it still leaves us with many things that become extremely doable.

Here are some of the aspects of a many bucket list….

1. Affordability

2. Realistic

3. Pleasurable

4. Satisfying

5. Risk/perceived risk

6. Exhilarating

7. Local or regional

8. Ability to execute and implement

9. Legal moral and ethical

10. Out-of-the-box…

If you take the time and sit and think you can come up with at least 10 things you like to do before you pass, which are local and affordable and doable. Some of these might include:

1. Lunch or dinner out at the best place in town

2. A golf weekend, the best place available

3. Afternoon movies

4. Hike & picnic

5. River rafting

6. Two hour massage

7. Full Spa makeover

8. Kayaking

9. Fly to Vegas on a deal

10. Rent a cabin in the woods…. Much, much more.

The idea becomes obvious and the execution becomes painfully necessary for those of us who’ve created and lived in routines for years. The Mini Bucket List becomes therapeutic, in that it gives you some empowerment still have a little fun and a conservative and realistic way and still break the bonds of routine and rut. This becomes therapeutic in that it is risk-taking, and yet the perceived versus actual risk is actually pretty safe.

It fills the need for fun, risk and enjoyment.

Write your list.

Book the trip.

Surprise your spouse.

And get out of here!

Really, Get out of here!

Sales Dad….Introduction

Everyone said, “You need to write a book”.

The thought that “the book just wrote itself” is a lot of malarkey.

I’m finding there’s a whole lot of prep time, content development, procrastination, and research that goes into writing a book.

I know I have never procrastinated more in my life…

I think the best thing I can do is just to go ahead and get started.

What I found in developing the material for this book is that my life as a father and an advertising salesman truly intersect.

All the teaching I’ve had on marketing, leadership, mediation, goal development, and more, will have an impact on my parenting.

That is to say that you could replace the words “parenting” or “effective fathering” over much of what we do in sales and management training and it would work in terms of them being being parallel worlds.

The tools are all the same: effective communication, relationship building, compelling goal-setting and attainment, compassionate leadership, time management, organization, and effective execution.

Business, selling, and management truly do parallel effective parenting.

The measurements and outcomes are different but the tools are very similar:

An effective leader, whether at home or work, truly does leave a legacy and a heritage.

This leader creates a positive culture which permeates that home, business, or venue.

It’s doing this with intentionality, and knowing what you want going in, that makes the difference between being a lousy leader or parent, versus an effective one.

We have a long way to go, and it’s my hope that this book will give you the tools to move the needle, to make the change, and to make a difference in your world, whether at home or at work.

At the end of the day it’s up to you as to what you’ll take action on.

My father used to say”It takes money to buy whiskey…”

I never knew what that meant until a few years ago. It has to do with being a person of action who takes the initiative and is willing to  pay the price for what he really wants.

My hope is that you will be that person who perseveres, who is courageous, and who won’t stop until the dream is fulfilled.

Here’s to the dream of leaving a positive legacy…

Scott Hammond

McKinleyville California

Easter Sunday

March 23, 2008