Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness

OK, so we get the first one by birth. We are lucky to be born in the US, so we get the second one by default. That third one, is an inalienable right, according to the United States Declaration of Independence. However, sometimes I’ve forgotten to take advantage of this freedom.

Lately, I’ve focused some attention on this task, primarily in response to this video from YouTube, where Shawn Achor explains, through humor and story telling, that happiness should be put first. In other words, instead of thinking that achieving some arbitrary goal is going to make you happy, being happy will actually improve your chances of success in striving to achieve any goal. 

He says our system is design to always keep happiness just out of reach. As in, if you attain some goal, you don’t stop there to say, “I’m happy now.” You simply raise the bar, set a new goal and continue your quest. Again, you’ll be happy when…. Whatever fills that blank for you matters very little. If you continually move the target, you will never be happy.

So, put the odds of success in your favor by choosing to be happy first. If you do watch the video, watch as this man captures the audience immediately, gets them laughing and notice how fast he talks. It’s pretty impressive stuff, an example any public speaker might use to model his next presentation.

I’ll let you know how that goes, right after my next Toastmasters meeting. I intend to happily present.

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Mousehelp.com is a Rouzell Enterprises owned business. Mousehelp.com is a Palm Desert based company providing compassionate care to people who use computers. This includes computer repair and computer support, computer training and network support, and social media training and support. We are diligently working toward becoming your Palm Desert SEO Expert. If you have any need regarding computers, networks, SEO expertise or help with social media, one call to Brian Rouley at Rouzell Enterprises is all it takes to get the help you need.

Twitter Condense

Rouzell Enterprises is a Palm Desert based company providing compassionate care to people who use computers. This includes computer repair and computer support, also computer training and network support, and social media training and support. We are diligently working toward becoming your Palm Desert SEO Expert. If you have any need regarding computers, networks, or social media, one call to Brian Rouley at Rouzell Enterprises is all it takes to get the help you need.

If you can accept Twitter as an adverb in this context, that title makes sense.

At exactly 20 minutes and 47 seconds into a half-hour presentation, Jay Abraham says this: “And you should live for making people’s lives better because you’re in it.”

Forgiving the grammar error there, I found that one statement to be the core of his message.

There’s a whole lot more to it, about responsibility and your duty to your clients. I found it well worth the listen - time well spent.

http://sangevents.com/the-advanced-strategy-of-pre-eminence-by-sang-vi-speaker-and-marketing-legend-jay-abraham/

I had not heard of Sang Events, until I stumbled upon Sally Hogshead on Twitter.

@SallyHogshead

Rewarding Childish Behavior

Today’s post in “thechangeblog” was all about what we can learn from a toddler. There’s a link for you at the end of this article.

I’ve often said that if you want to learn computers, you may do so more quickly, if you behave like a child. Watch a kid run into a computer store and just start clicking the mouse and pushing the keys; “to see what happens!” You can do the same thing. When you get results you like, take notes. It really can be that easy.

http://www.thechangeblog.com/lessons-learned-from-a-toddler/

Have a great day!

Rouzell Enterprises is a Palm Desert based company providing compassionate care to people who use computers. This includes computer repair and computer support, also computer training and network support, and social media training and support. We are diligently working toward becoming your Palm Desert SEO Expert. If you have any need regarding computers, networks, or social media, one call to Brian Rouley at Rouzell Enterprises is all it takes to get the help you need.

Unstuck Ringtone Production

It seems like forever since I’ve posted anything. Perhaps this is a result of “analysis paralysis”, a condition common to traders, but also one likely to afflict writers. This is to say, I just don’t know where to begin with so many choices of subject matter. Because there are times when making the decision on what to do next eludes me, those moments present an opportunity to go find some old classic rock and roll, or even something more current, and listen for a particular passage that would make a nice ringtone for my phone. This eats up anywhere from half to a full hour, and usually costs me a buck or two for the download from Amazon’s MP3 catalog. So, maybe my next tutorial video will demonstrate the steps necessary to take some favorite music from its original form to an MP3 downloadable ringtone. Here, for your reading pleasure, are those steps.

Step one - obviously, the first step is to get the music on your computer. You can rip from a CD, or take the lazy way out and jump on Amazon and search for your song there. Expect to pay ninety-nine cents or something less than two bucks for a longer selection. Of course, if you really like the material, you can download the whole album, or CD, or whatever it is.

Step two - download and install Audacity, you’ll use this software to produce your ringtone.

Now the fun begins.

Step three – open your music file with Audacity. Right click on the file and choose Open with from the menu, then choose Audacity from the list of choices. You may have to search for the file – it’s in Program Files or Program Files (x86), depending on your version of windows.

Step four – select some segment of music up to about 30 seconds long and export selection under file menu. If you choose, Export, you’ll get a list of file types and you can choose whatever works for your phone – MP3 works for Droid users.

Undoubtedly, once you’ve extracted the segment of music you want, you’ll run into the error that reports missing LAME MP3 encoding software. So, go to your help menu in Audacity and search out this question: How do I download and install the LAME MP3 encoder?

Download and install that software package and you are ready for the next step.

OK, so after you get through that extraction process, you now have to find a way to move the file from your computer to your smart phone. There are a few ways to do this. You can FTP the file to your website and download it to your phone from there. You might also simply plug your phone into your computer and move the file into your phone’s music folder. This author uses WiFi and a file utility on the smart phone to connect to a shared folder on his computer. Move your ringtone any way you like!

By the way, I’ll be producing a video on how to do this. So, you can print these instructions, then watch the video and see if I follow the steps outlined here!

BR

Rouzell Enterprises is a Palm Desert based company providing compassionate care to people who use computers. This includes computer repair and computer support, also computer training and network support, and social media training and support. We are diligently working toward becoming your Palm Desert SEO Expert. If you have any need regarding computers, networks, or social media, one call to Brian Rouley at Rouzell Enterprises is all it takes to get the help you need.

To Skip this Greeting, Press the Pound Key

One of my clients was expressing her creative concern about outgoing messages. Especially those that proclaim how important your call is to them, and the nonsense that sometimes follows; they remind her of the message from the Borg. “You will be assimilated” is one of the few on-screen phrases employed by the Borg when communicating with other species. “Resistance is futile” was even more popular. 

In an earlier post, I discussed a time saver, whereby a caller would simply skip leaving a message at all, if he or she enjoyed a position of prominence with the receiver of the call. Given that any call I miss from someone who is in my contact database will almost always get a call back, unless the message is one of urgency and filled with detail, there is no need to leave a message. This applies mostly to my wife and people I work with closely, as we both save time in the process. The call I have to make to pick up voicemail prior to making that return phone call actually delays the result.

Back to the subject of this post, when I listen to the outgoing message prior to leaving a message, anything more than a very terse invitation to leave message results in my working to find the “after the” tone I’m waiting to hear. Bottom line, if you haven’t answered the phone and I do want to leave a message, don’t tell me how important my call is to you, don’t sell your business to me, don’t tell me how sorry you are, or what else you must be doing that made you unavailable to me. Simply tell me something that about who you are, or thank me for calling, and then say, “leave a message”, and be done - beep! I’m looking for the beep and I want to get to it as quickly as possible.

That’s all I’m going to say, except, thank you to my creative client. Some things need to be said!

Rouzell Enterprises is a Palm Desert based company providing compassionate care to people who use computers. This includes computer repair and computer support, also computer training and network support, and social media training and support. We are diligently working toward becoming your Palm Desert SEO Expert. If you have any need regarding computers, networks, or social media, one call to Brian Rouley at Rouzell Enterprises is all it takes to get the help you need.

Safety Not Guaranteed

OK, I don’t often do this. However, this movie deserves a review. If you are going to see a movie and want something that will lead you through a sweet and kind of sad journey of eventual triumph, Safety Not Guaranteed is an excellent choice.

The lead female role reminded me of Juno, where she has kind of a sarcastic, brilliant observational wit. The two male leads are both idealists, who are disappointed and fully realized in the end. You’ll have to see it to believe it. Maybe the only weakness in the story is the “men in black” guys who are supposed to be investigating the crime. Otherwise, it all ties together nicely and the ending is a pleasant surprise.

This is very much a patchwork of emotional turmoil, suffered through by characters who have loved and lost and are learning to love. You’ll enjoy it, I think. Drop me a line if you do decide to go. 

Thank you.

BR

Rouzell Enterprises is a Palm Desert based company providing compassionate care to people who use computers. This includes computer repair and computer support, also computer training and network support, and social media training and support. We are diligently working toward becoming your Palm Desert SEO Expert. If you have any need regarding computers, networks, or social media, one call to Brian Rouley at Rouzell Enterprises is all it takes to get the help you need.

Old Fashioned Marketing

Going to a meeting this morning at 7:30 AM (in a minute…), then working like crazy for several hours, then sitting in on a webinar, then teaching Twitter and HootSuite later this evening. When will I ever find time for Social Media?

Just like this - 2 minutes from leaving to meet my networking group. I can type a few lines, tell you what’s up, click Save & Close. Then HootSuite this to my Fb, Tw, other blog, etc. And, down the road I go!

Rouzell Enterprises is a Palm Desert based company providing compassionate care to people who use computers. This includes computer repair and computer support, also computer training and network support, and social media training and support. We are diligently working toward becoming your Palm Desert SEO Expert. If you have any need regarding computers, networks, or social media, one call to Brian Rouley at Rouzell Enterprises is all it takes to get the help you need.