Beyond the Rhetoric

First, let’s address the elephant in the room. You’re probably anxious to see who won my $200 solopreneur prize pack giveaway. As you may recall, the prize package includes Adwords credit, a domain registration, and some other goodies. I used a number generator to select the winner at random and…

Congratulations goes out to Jon Strocel! You are the winner. Please use the contact form to send me your mailing address and I’ll ship it out right away. Thanks again to everyone who entered.

Next, it’s time to acknowledge some of the people who make the Beyond the Rhetoric community what it is. These are the top thinkers who left the most comments over the course of August 2010. Without their active participation in the discussions, this blog might feel like I’m screaming into a vacuum (and that can’t be good). The top five commentators are linked below, as well as blog posts from their respective sites.

Ray Ebersole has been very busy with the beginning of the school year and understandably hasn’t had the time to update his blog lately. That doesn’t mean that you can’t keep up with what’s doing. That’s why you should follow him on Twitter and, well, read his comments on Beyond the Rhetoric too.

D3so is very interested in the world of Internet marketing, so you’ll learn that his blog has a lot to do with that realm. Recently, he discusses how you can create a squeeze page in just minutes. The guys at Unique Blog Designs have a lot to do with this ease of use, but it’s up to you to capitalize on it.

Betshopboy is a pretty big fan of soccer (which everyone else in the world calls football), so it’s not at all surprising that he wants to meet Wayne Rooney. He’s been invited to participate in the Tiger Beer regional online influencer challenge and part of the prize is traveling to England to meet the Manchester United striker.

Ekaterina has a blog for the women of Vancouver, addressing many of the issues that may surround their lives. For instance, she recently discussed how it is very possible to care too much and how you can go about overcoming this “self-insecurity.”

AOA, who I think is named Chang Guohua based on the domain name, looks like a professional translator. The website is completely in Chinese and I am nowhere near fluent in the written language. I can’t read the title or the content, but the URL leads me to believe that the most recent post is about English verbs and conjunctions. Am I right?

I’ll admit it. I’ve used the word “workaholic” on more than one occasion, both spoken and written, but I also recognize that the term is technically incorrect and inaccurate to use. It’s one of those neologisms that was created at some point along the development of the English language, but its origin really doesn’t make any sense.

Basically, workaholic is a portmanteau, combining the words “work” and “alcoholic” to mean someone who is addicted to working. Even if the work itself no longer provides the same kind of satisfaction or pleasure that it may have provided in the past, the person persists and works well into the night. This is not unlike the phenomenon experienced by alcoholics.

However, the coining of the term “workaholic” is inaccurate. The “holic” portion of “alcoholic” does not indicate an addiction. There is also no such thing as “workahol,” so to speak, so the combination doesn’t work for that reason either. Other -holics have been coined over the years too, like footballholic and chocoholic.

Does that mean that you should avoid using the term “workaholic” altogether?

No, not necessarily. While it really bugs me when people say “PIN number” or utter other errors, “workaholic” has become an accepted word in today’s society and it is used so widely that the incorrectness of its origin no longer matters.

Do you have a future topic for Grammar 101 to suggest? Feel free to let me know through the comment form in this post.

Reminder: My $200 Solopreneur Prize Pack Giveaway ends tonight! Make sure you get in your entries before midnight.

A couple of years ago (has it really been that long?), I wrote a blog post about what freelancers can learn from the Dog Whisperer. It really is amazing how certain dog training mantras can apply to the life of the work-from-home professional. Well, inspired by yesterday’s Dog Whisperer marathon on the National Geographic Channel, I’m coming back with a few more lessons that freelancers can learn from Cesar Millan.

If you have not read my original article on the matter, I suggest you do so. You need to establish yourself as the pack leader. You should set rules, boundaries and limitations. And perhaps most importantly of all, it’s paramount that you maintain a calm and assertive energy about you. What else can we learn from the Dog Whisperer?

The Importance of the Walk

A large number of the behavioral issues that Cesar Millan approaches on his show stem from a very common theme: the owners are not taking their dogs for walks often enough. The walk isn’t just about the exercise that the dog receives, though that’s a part of it. Another part of it is the dog psychology. You walk as a pack to establish unity and structure.

Just as it’s not healthy for a dog to be cooped up in the same house all day long every day, the same can be said about freelance writers and other work-at-home professionals. That’s why I’ve made a promise to myself to get out of the house every day. If nothing else, it’ll help to save my sanity.

Appearances Can Be Deceiving

Some breeds have unfortunately bad reputations and it’s difficult for people to get past these pre-conceived notions. They see a pitbull and automatically assume that it’s going to be aggressive and violent. In one of the episodes, a woman was running a pitbull rescue center and all the dogs there were perfectly balanced and friendly… except one. The kicker is that the one “bully” in the pack was a chihuahua, not a pitbull.

From both the client’s and the freelancer’s perspective, it’s important to get past your initial pre-conceived notions about people, because appearances can be very deceiving. Just because they’re young doesn’t necessitate that they lack the experience to do the job. Just because they appear to be of modest means does not mean that they can’t afford to pay your standard rates.

Snap Out of Negative Mindsets

On the Dog Whisperer, Cesar Millan reminds us of the importance of the physical touch. You’re not “hitting” your dog; you’re helping him or her snap out of a negative mindset. You’re helping to discipline against negative behaviors. In nature, the dogs would snap at each other to keep the pack in line. As a dog owner, you do the same. It’s not about inflicting pain; it’s about “resetting” the brain.

Working from home, you may find yourself engaging in some negative self-talk. Perhaps you start to develop some bad habits. Just as the walk can help to establish order, sometimes you need to snap out of it too. Break the pattern and get out of the rut.

Discipline Before Affection

Many dog owners shower their pooches with love, even when Fluffy is engaging in negative behavior. That’s not how it should work, according to the Dog Whisperer. Discipline must come before affection, because you want to encourage a calm and submission frame of mind in your dog. Only when they are acting as they should that you provide the affection.

And you can exercise the same kind of philosophy on how you treat yourself. It’s not right to be constantly rewarding yourself before you exercise discipline. You get to have the treat after you’ve finished the job. Acknowledge your success and the behavior will be reinforced.

Do you watch the Dog Whisperer with Cesar Millan? What other lessons do you think freelancers, online entrepreneurs, and other professionals can learn from the man who “trains” people and “rehabilitates” dogs?

“I don’t believe you have to be better than everybody else. I believe you have to be better than you ever thought you could be.”

You may or may not be all that familiar with Ken Venturi. He isn’t quite as household a name as Jack Nicklaus or Tiger Woods, but Venturi was a very successful professional golf player in his own right.

Born in San Francisco, Kenneth Venturi rocketed onto the golf scene in 1956 when he finished second in the Masters tournament after leading from the first round. Keeping in mind that he was still an amateur at the time. He went on to gain 14 victories on the PGA Tour and the crown of PGA Player of Year in 1964, the same year where he was named as the Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year. After retiring in 1967, Venturi went on to a very successful 35-year career as a color commentator for CBS Sports.

You can take the time to read Getting Up & Down to get a better sense of his over 50-year career in golf, but the quote above really captures his philosophy both on and off the course. It really is important to wake up each morning with the goal of being a better version of yourself than you were yesterday.

Yes, professional sports is an inherently competitive endeavor and you will be necessarily comparing yourself to your contemporaries. At the same time, you have to recognize the quandary of comparing yourself to others and transcend it. You don’t necessarily have to be better than all your peers; you just have to be the best you that you can be. Even Kurt Cobain of Nirvana knew that.

For those of you who are interested in avoiding slices and bogeys, you may want to check out Stroke Savers. Ken Venturi authored that book, collecting a number of valuable golf tips from his popular “Stroke Saver” feature from CBS Sports’ golf telecasts. From more distance to getting around the greens, he’s got some advice to shave a few strokes off your game.

Now get out there and beat your personal best. Again and again.

After getting my ducks in a row a few days prior, I decided to take a day off earlier this week to take in the festivities at the PNE. The Pacific National Exhibition is currently celebrating its 100th anniversary here in Vancouver and, while I don’t think it’s quite as epic as it may have been during my childhood, it’s still very much worthwhile to see.

The PNE, for those of you who don’t know, is an annual fair where you can find an assortment of live entertainment, midway games, thrill rides, and other attractions. There’s also a small casino on site if you want to try your luck with the money wheel or a game of blackjack. Just like the Summer Night Market, the PNE is just one of those things that you have to do if you happen to be in Vancouver when it’s happening.

Each day of the Pacific National Exhibition, there is a free concert with a big name. Among the artists are Cyndi Lauper, Spirit of the West, and Joan Jett. On the night that I happened to be there, the headlining act was Michael Bolton. While it wasn’t nearly as big a production as a real concert, you do have to realize that the concert is free with fair admission. Sure beats paying the usual $100 for a concert these days.

I took several photos while there, just as I did when I visited the Calgary Stampede during the Nokia N97 mini tour last month. You can find more pictures in my Flickr photostream, should you feel so inclined.

Check out the video below for some quick highlights, including the Superdogs, Michael Bolton, and the Peking Acrobats. Not depicted are those delectable mini donuts. No visit to PNE is complete without a tummy full of mini donuts.