Jonathan Vaudreuil

No matter how big, powerful, and invincible you think you are, there is always something out there which could ruin the party real quick. Be curious, not cocky.

Note: the above transcript is false. It's actually an updated version of an old Navy joke. Hope you laughed!

In a radio interview with the legendary rock band AC/DC one listener called in just to say, “You guys have put out 12 albums and they all sound the same!”

The band’s lead guitarist, Angus Young, replied with, “Actually, we’ve put out 13.”

When you’ve sold over 200 million albums worldwide it’s easy to answer questions that way. The band doesn’t care if you think they’re a one-trick pony: they set out to write the music they wanted to, never changed their style, and it worked better than most bands could ever dream of.

Then again, AC/DC were far from being an overnight success anywhere outside of their home country, Australia. Their first international album flopped when it came out. So did their second album, which the label didn’t even bother releasing in the USA (until 1981 – five years later). With their third album they cracked the top-40 in a few European countries. When AC/DC released Highway to Hell they had their first hit album across Europe and in the USA.

International success came with their fifth album, 5 years after their first single in Australia which (I bet you can guess it…) failed to chart.Read more

This is part of my weekly series on how philosophy (personal beliefs) affect people’s perspective, and how you can this knowledge in life.

The engineer and the artist have the same mission.

Both are working to build something, whether it’s physical or a blueprint. What’s the difference? How each goes about their work.

Approaching the task from a pure technology standpoint, the engineer believes in doing things a specific way, which is the best way he knows. His strength is in understanding the best way of doing things. His opinion seems to be a fact at this point. At the same time, his weakness is being unable to look away from the path he believes is the best one. He does not want to try a different way of doing things.Read more

This is a fundamental piece of my personal philosophy, one I hope you'll embrace yourself.

Ask questions. Ask more questions. Ask deeper questions. Ask hard questions. Ask "why" a lot. Ask "how" a lot. When you're done, ask one more tough question and see if you still think you're done.

I could give you answers all day. The problem? All I'm giving you are my answers to my life. This is another fundamental piece of my personal philosophy: find your own way. Let me explain.

Ever try to follow in someone's footsteps and do what they did, only to not have it work out the same? That's because you're removing yourself from the equation. It worked for them, not you. Some of what they did will work or you, and some of it won't. If you had questioned each of their steps for yourself you would have discovered your own way.Read more

Has something unexpected ever oh-so rudely interrupted your life and caused you to fall behind on less important tasks?

Last Tuesday I stayed home from work with a cold. I’ve noticed a lot people have been sick already this year, and I tend to catch something when it starts to get cold in November and December. Today is the first day I’m feeling around 100% again. I have energy, I am smiling, I feel focused… and I am way behind on e-mail, reading blogs, going through mail, and doing all the little things I tend to stay on top of.

I have a hunch you’ve been there yourself.

What happened? My balanced life got tipped over in a way. I go through most of my e-mail and blog subscriptions in the morning and when I take mental breaks during the work day. I take part of an evening every week to stay on top of mail. On top of that it was my birthday so friends and family wanted to see me. Making sure I’m on top of work and cooking dinner are much higher priorities, so that’s what I focus on.Read more

This is part of my weekly series on how philosophy (personal beliefs) affect people’s perspective, and how you can this knowledge in life.

Friday the 13th is the most ridiculous superstition, ever.

According to the Wikipedia entry, the idea of Friday the 13th being an unlucky day is rather new. The first mention of it was 150 years ago in Gioachino Rossini’s 1869 biography. Many Italians feared both the day and the number, and Rossini happened to die on Friday, November 13, 1868. Of all the reasons listed for Friday the 13th being unlucky, none

Today is my birthday, on a Friday the 13th. I turned 1 on Friday the 13th. Among my friends I’m known as the guy with luck on his side. I’m not lucky in everything, but it seems if you involve me in a plan that needs a little extra luck, your odds just got a whole lot better.

In fact, I view 13 as a lucky number. Am I superstitious at all? Yes, and I think we all are in some way.

If we define superstitions as beliefs as ones not based on facts, rationality, or experience, what superstitious beliefs do you hold? Why do you hold them?Read more

Have you ever given a little extra push when preparing and had it pay off?

Lots of successful people talk about working hard. Most of them talk about working smart, too. Yet I’m sure you know someone who is a hard worker, or someone who comes up with lots of fantastic solutions, and neither seems to ever get ahead even though they want to. How do we work hard and smart AND get ahead?

The key is not in the hard, or the smart - it’s in why you’re doing what you do.

I want to make it clear that you do need to work hard and smart if you want to get ahead. There is no way around those two. Keep that in mind.

Take working hard and smart and add a why. I’m talking about a purpose here, not some mere goal. People who have purpose get more accomplished, as in things they want to do, for two reasons.Read more

I'm participating in a webinar on social media, and the first thing the presenter does is rattle off a list of different social media outlets.

I think I know where this is going.

Slides fly by on how most people value peer recommendations. They show statistics, they bring up the Domino's "crisis" (their word), and they seem to be trying to strike fear into the hearts of those who do not tweet and blog and Facebook. It takes these two guys 13 minutes to put up a slide on the VALUE of social media. I'm ready, let's talk strategy!

On the next slide they throw out their first sales pitch.

They follow this up with the stats from a small customer survey they did, all marketing departments. Just as they talk about companies having a lack of strategy, they lead into what social media tools their customers are using. The presentation skims every area: tools, tracking, the process, and so on. They even point out how few companies create a plan for social media.

Guys, why aren't you going into how to create that plan if it's the biggest thing you keep talking about?Read more

This is part of my weekly series on how philosophy (personal beliefs) affect people’s perspective, and how you can this knowledge in life.

The world would be black and white without quality.

According to Pirsig, author of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, quality is the grey scale in our lives, and without it we could not notice anything. In this instance, quality refers to the aspects of something which allow you to analyze, categorize, and form an opinion. Without quality, there is no beginning or end, there are no edges or soft spots, no color, and thus you would not have any thoughts or emotions about the world around you.

Think about it for a moment. If there was no way of determining how good, bad, attractive, ugly, pleasing, or revolting something was, would you ever notice it? Without quality, the world does not exist.Read more

If people were rational, change would be easy.

Logic states we should eat healthy, exercise, stimulate our brains, act positive yet realistic, share, learn, treat others with respect, and accept change with a smile on our faces. Right, and the last time I did all of that well for an entire month was never. Not a chance. Emotions come running in at some point and spoil the moment.

It’s one thing to slip up. It’s another to ignore harsh facts staring you down, especially when they squash something you believe in.

I once analyzed a customer’s annual sales data. They manufacture a high-end line of products in their industry. Ever hear of the 80/20 rule? It states 80% of a company’s business comes from 20% of its customers. Well, this company was even more extreme: almost 90% of their business came from 15% of their customers. I pointed out they should focus on companies similar to their best customers, demand a higher minimum order, and help their small customers get products through a local distributor (thereby helping out larger customers, distributors, get more business).Read more