This weekend, I tackled the book, The Algebra of Happiness by Prof Scott Galloway. As always, I think it’s helpful to notice how I arrived at the book. I definitely had seen it recommended a couple of times by some of the writers that I follow on Twitter. My guess is that it worked its way into my subconscious. More recently, Prof Galloway showed up on some popular podcasts, which I’ve noticed is the new book tour. I think some of these authors still do a physical tour, but what better way to reach a few million targeted folks than podcasts.

Biggest takeaways:

Love, affection, relationships are all that matter. He writes freely about regret that he carries from being selfish. He also writes about how much his parents’ divorce impacted his life. “When someone dies, no one ever says, “he was too kind. too loving. NO ONE.”

This reading prompted me to reach out to a few of my close buddies. Another thing that I noticed was how I consumed this book. Combo of kindle and audible. Prob 65 percent on kindle and the other two batches were in the car and running with headphones. Overall a good way to get this one done.

Highly recommend for folks who are starting to look inward and contemplate life.

I’ve been trying to hire a landscaper for a couple of years now. I’ve used some “one-man” show style operations in the past but am looking for a professional outfit. I wonder if others have followed the same customer journey as me.

I am in my mid-30s, have the disposable income, am physically and technically capable, and even have the appropriate equipment in the shed. I have fought a sense of guilt for the past 5 years about hiring someone to take care of our yard. I also feel a lot of anxiety about our yard. I am not proud of it. Sometimes it is the first thing that I think about when I wake up. I am really paying someone to fix that. I don’t have the time to devote to the yard to come up with the result that I am after.

Like other old-school style “trades” businesses, it is not that easy to buy this service. It requires getting in touch with someone (no easy task in our area), having someone come out to price it, maybe getting a second and third number to make sure you are getting an honest look, and eventually hiring someone. Maybe they cut the lawn 2 weeks from today? To some of these folks, you can be made to feel like a bother (even though you are trying to give them your hard fought dollars to provide a service that they advertise). These are fixable problems.

1. Pay someone (maybe a spouse) to respond to inquiries in 5 minutes or less on the preferred channel of the customer. Use a chat tool on your website.
2. Be able to estimate to +- 5% during the first chat. Ask for pictures and measurements, and offer a price NOW.
3. Read a couple articles about selling so that you can close someone on the first call.

People like me are waiting to be closed.

For anyone who takes the commuter boat from Hingham, they will know who Woody is. Woody parks his canteen style truck on the sidewalk squarely between the parking lot and the dock. You can’t miss him. He serves breakfast sandwiches and coffee to folks who are headed to the city via Hingham Shipyard.

Here’s what I’ve noticed about Woody. He makes great eye contact with customers. His work pace fluctuates in intensity depending on the schedule. If you have 12 minutes until the next boat, he will ask you about the Bruins power play struggles as he fixes your coffee. If you have 2 minutes to the next boat he is extremely friendly, but he’s fuckin buzzing to get you on the boat in time. He gets it.

He remembers people’s names.

When you ask how he’s doing, he never says “hanging in there” or “I’m ok”. He always says great, or better. He knows that he is part of setting the tone for your day. He gets it.

Woody serves a group of people who come from an affluent town who could easily choose a nearby starbucks or panera, but he’s got a line everyday. I love these kinds of folks and hope that he’s got a pile of cash in the bank.

Are you a former collegiate athlete?

There may be no more meaningful way to repay a positive playing experience than by helping graduating seniors find jobs. It will take a decade to build your network where you can make valuable introductions, but think of the value to the program. Helping a graduating senior find a job is way better than writing a shitty little check at the yearly golf tourney.

I just finished buying some printer ink (for 120 bucks) for my printer at home. Couple observations…

First, companies like HP, always seem to sneak in a little pre-checked box that says, “I would like to receive emails about special offers and news.” No one wants emails from HP every single day. No one. Maybe they should consider dumping that little checkbox for the benefit of their customer.

After I clicked order, I was bombed by a deluge of special offers from their trusted partners. I had to click “no thanks” four times on offers for credit cards, from Blue Apron, and others. Is that a good use of Blue Aprons marketing spend? How often does that convert?

I was also hit with the luxury of completing two different surveys about my experience. Just seems fucking lazy. Maybe somebody like https://vaynermedia.com/ could win the HP account and divert some dollars to shit that matters.

I like to look at homes on Zillow. Sometimes I will look close by where I live today, but other times I will let my mind run away.

Why couldn’t I live in Bozeman, Montana? What about Boulder, CO? Newport Beach?

I like to think about the hikes that I could take with the dog. I like to think about what activities I could do with my kids. I think about what professional changes I would need to make. What about my wife? What would she do?

What new things could we take on? New chapters and adventures to start. I feel this in my bones.

Live where they live. What makes someone stick around? There are so many nooks and crannies in each state. Don’t folks want to see them? If you live in San Diego, I get it.

For me, I think it is the guilt I would feel to move away from family. I hope I can get over that someday. I’d love a chance to set up shop somewhere else and breathe in a new place.

Seasonal businesses are fascinating to me. The first one that comes to mind is this little ice cream shop (that is dynamite) that is a short drive from my house. They roll down one of those metal gates and lock-down the small building for 5 months a year.

Do they make enough in 7 months to pay rent for 5 months with no sales? What does the owner and staff do for those 5 months? Could they serve hot cocoa during those months or some other warming treat? Would they even want the trouble of opening for those months? What if they moved their operation to a place that has “ice cream weather” for a couple more months?

Did they have the foresight to sign a lease that has a sliding scale so that they don’t owe any money in December? The have been open for years, so it must be working.

Hop in your car in the middle of the day to go stare at the ocean? I do.

I feel called to the ocean when I am looking for answers to life’s questions. Writing this, I am sitting in my car looking out at the ocean. I am pondering some painful questions. I don’t know that I can answer them, but I felt compelled to watch the ocean move toward the beach.

Finding a new song or band on Spotify that grabs you? Is there a more satisfying feeling of discovery? And what is it about a song that can crack your heart open?

This week, while doing some paperwork, I opened up spotify and worked my way through some of the “Because you liked…..” section. I stumbled upon the band “Pressing Strings”. Two of their songs rocked me. Maybe you can guess which ones.

What’s even more interesting from a marketing perspective is that I somehow got to a spot that let me search for live shows by the band. I saw that they were coming to Cambridge and bought two tickets. The show is on a Friday at 10pm. I am usually in bed at 10pm on Fridays. In one week, I went from not knowing that this band existed, to a couple of car rides with tears in my eyes, to a date to go see them live. I wonder if they know that this happens. What a world…