Moments — Dwell on the beauty...

“Dwell on the beauty of Life. Watch the stars, and see yourself running with them.”

If the Internet is to be believed this quote and insight is from Marcus Aurelius who was one of the better Roman Emperors that I’ve read about (he was the last of what is known as the Five Good Emperors). When I first read this quote I simply assumed its author was a contemporary “new age philosopher” using memes to develop a following. I was taken aback a little by the fact that it originated on the streets of Rome eighteen hundred years ago.

A modern day bias to be sure, or maybe something that has always come with those generations that happen to occupy the top of the food chain at that moment in time — “we are the most civilized, most knowledgeable, and the most enlightened… ever!” I will also admit hearing the name Marcus Aurelius doesn’t conjure up images of a man who pursued philosophical or motivational musings — another obvious bias on my part. It leaves me humbled to know I’m biased and misinformed, with just a little splash of arrogance for taste — although I am hoping there is some redemption that comes with this recognition. As emperor of what was arguably the largest empire in the known world at the time, and with a devastating war machine at his disposal, I wonder if Marcus Aurelius suffered from this same bias.

“Life is harshly beautiful” is something very meme worthy that a couple of “new age philosophy students"* came up with a while ago and something I think a man like Marcus Aurelius would understand intimately — at one moment embracing the love of his family and in another unleashing the dogs of war. There is little doubt he was intimate with what the four horsemen of the apocalypse can accomplish, and with it, a deep understanding of life’s beauty needed to balance the scales.

The more I think about it, it makes sense this quote came from Marcus Aurelius — he would have been in a very good position to offer insights into what’s important in life and what real beauty is.

iamgpe

* we still haven’t gotten around to creating any memes.

A moment in time...

As the languishing effects of COVID -19 continue, one of the habits I had fallen into was not blogging on a regular basis. The excuses, and there are many, would come easily but none would serve any real purpose if I wanted to change the situation. So my plan is to go into my file of half finished blogs and thoughts, figuratively dust them off, and change the habit from not blogging to blogging. I found this start to a blog from October 2020

Well here we are — Halloween. Or was that a month ago.

And then just a push to the middle of November, and as they say it will be a hop skip and a jump to Christmas; then ringing in the New Year — 2021. Spring is just a heart beat away (crocuses in the lawn); I believe it’s then the celebration of the Queen’s birthday* and couple of birthdays to celebrate the formation of sovereign states. And then, wait for it… tic toc… wait for it…. the availability of a COVID-19 vaccine — a logistical nightmare unto itself; but everything is then, finally back to normal.

Tic toc; tic toc.

I look back on what I do and it’s been months since I have written anything for myself — buried in work is my excuse and of course a pandemic; damn that SARS-CoV-2. A convenient excuse I suppose. What I call the sameness of the COVID-19. Was that yesterday or last month?

…

Six months later I still remember starting this commentary on COVID-19 and why I abandoned it. I was concerned that my previous blogs had been on the same topic and I was moving away from the tenets that ground what I write about. It is also quite possible I never meant to publish this and it was simply cathartic writing to help on my journey through the pandemic (although in the end it doesn’t really matter). I don’t have any interest in unpacking what I thought six months ago. What’s important to realize at this point is that, although we are far from having this pandemic under control, we do have vaccines, effective treatments and a global community that continues to work hard to put this behind us.

Tic toc; tic toc

This pandemic will come to an end, and if you listen to the pundits, there will be an over zealous desire to celebrate like they did in the roaring 20’s. Whether you raise a glass or review the history books, this pandemic will be a moment in time to seriously reflect on and ask yourself what you learned and what you would have done differently. Everything is a learning opportunity and knowledge does make everything a little easier — particularly in the tough times.

I’m not sure if this has satisfied anything other than me being able to say I wrote a blog (which is definitely better than saying I did not write a blog). What it has reinforced though is that action is better than non-action, and that definitely satisfies one of my tenets.

Because remember, and COVID has confused this concept, there is only so much time to get things done.

Tic toc; tic toc

iamgpe

*in Canada on May 24th we celebrate Queen Victoria’s Birthday (most likely pandemic style)

Striving for commercial excellence

Recently I listened to a marketing professional who offered a perspective on striving for marketing excellence (and I suppose commercial excellence by extension). I found it inspirational enough that I had this overwhelming desire to offer up a blog (something I haven’t been doing much of lately but in my defence I’ve been busy… I digress).

The proposed formula for marketing (and commercial) excellence came in the form of not one C, or even two, but 3 Cs.

Customer, Competitor and Craft

Customer — know who your customers are, know how they think, know what’s important to them, how to find them, and the best way to connect with them.

Competitor — know who your competitors are, what their value proposition is (particularly how it competes with yours), watch what they are doing, and identify how you can engage with your customers better.

Craft — identify those skills that are unique to you, your strengths, and get really, really good at them; develop and practice always.

This resonated with me, and although I really liked these core drivers, I kept thinking there was something missing. After a while it finally struck me — my issue wasn’t with the drivers themselves but with what actually fuelled them. Turns out there’s a fourth “C” and it fuels everything:

Curiosity [ˌkyo͝orēˈäsədē] NOUN — a strong desire to know or learn something.

So humbly, I would like to refine the three drivers slightly:

A strong desire to know or learn about your Customer

A strong desire to know or learn about your Competitors

A strong desire to know or learn about your Craft

So there you have it, another list to make you successful, and not even one I came up with myself — just something I “tinkered with”. This of course doesn’t diminish the importance of the three “C”s (or maybe four) but maybe “striving for excellence” also includes searching out smart people, listening to what they have to say, thinking about what they’ve said, and taking action.

After all, I wouldn’t have written this blog and “tinkered a little bit” if it wasn’t for someone who knows quite a bit about marketing.

iamgpe