edboothman

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Posts by Ed Boothman:

Dealing with stress

edboothman March 23, 2022 0 comments Uncategorized

Stress encourages your body to release the hormone cortisol.

This all comes back to our natural evolution. When our caveman ancestors encountered a threat, it was fight or flight and our body evolved to generate the needed hormones. We are a product of that evolution but now need to deal with different threats. Our body still reacts the same way but the fight or flight response no longer applies.

This is not good for your general health and can shorten your life. It is important you develop strategies to deal with the inevitable stress you will have.

I can remember a time in life when I was trying to quit smoking and decided it would be best to wait until I did not have any stress going on. To my surprise, that day never came.

We all have stress in various forms and we all have our ways of dealing with it. Exercise is by far the best and I found walking worked for me. When I was going through exceptional stressful times I found walking would burn away the tension and the further I walked the better I felt. However, this may not be the solution for everyone. Some may join clubs or organizations that take them away from their day-to-day problems. Some may even turn to the bottle or drugs but this will do little to get rid of those bad hormones and will probably shorten your life in the long run.

Dealing with Depression

edboothman March 21, 2022 0 comments Blog

It is said that a chemical imbalance in your brain can result in depression which might relate to diet or medications. But this is not always the case.

Too often I have seen family members complaining about depression while they are focusing on everything that is negative in their life. I will then remind them of everything that is positive and this is often uplifting.

I have sometimes said to myself and others that things are never so bad that they couldn’t be ten times worse.

Without exception, life is full of fantastic highs and crushing lows. Many of us can reflect on this.

Whenever you find yourself in that hole you must draw on the highs you have had in the past and anticipate the highs that will for sure come in your future.

As bad as the problems may seem, they always fade away sooner or later.
You must try to focus on the positive things in your life and you will always be happy.

Money has little to do with happiness and it is not a ticket to a happy life.

It is never the measure of the worth or happiness of a person. Life is what you make it.
Sometimes the respect or friendship of others is all you need.

Throughout life we make some good decisions and some bad, we sometimes have good luck and we sometimes have bad.

Where ever life has taken you always try to focus on the positives and you will be happy.

Space Travel

edboothman March 21, 2022 0 comments Blog

if you ever want to understand our place in the universe you need to follow Steven Hawking. Among other things, he has created several documentaries on the vastness of outer space.

It is absolutely amazing. We are a tiny spec in a galaxy that is a tiny speck in the vastness of space including many millions of galaxies.

I have often thought of mankind finding that Earth-like planet and migrating to it like a new world. Because we are the product of our environment, we may have some surprises moving into an environment we have not evolved in. It has taken us thousands of years to become the species we are today. There may be gasses, bugs, or viruses that we have no resistance to, not to mention other species that may not welcome us.

The solution might be technology. Technology has exploded over the last twenty years. You can now, put on a headset and tour a building or play an interactive game. Imagine where that will be in another ten or twenty years. How about going anywhere in the world from your living room with a headset that gives you a 360 view of everything including smell. This leads me to my hypothesis on aliens.

I have no doubt there are aliens out there and their technology could be thousands of years ahead of us. Like us, they will be a product of their environment and have no need to risk their lives traveling to other worlds. With technology thousands of years ahead of us, they would simply develop androids to look after the needed exploration ensuring minimal risk to themselves.

I am not sure we should believe every book we read on alien encounters.

However, there was a story I read about an alien autopsy that suggested they had no digestive or reproductive organs. That would fall into an android category for me.

Imagine where the technology could be a thousand years from now.
How about a space probe that is the size of a golf ball with the ability to make itself invisible.
It might even have the ability to travel faster than the speed of light.

It could travel to other worlds and we can watch from our living rooms.

Yes I know this sounds ridiculous, however, I am sure if someone told Christopher Columbus, man would someday walk on the moon he would’ve laughed at them.

Sometimes an understanding of the past will give you a window into the future.

Starting a Business

edboothman March 21, 2022 0 comments Blog

This is not for everyone. If you are not the kind of person that will work through your lunch hour to get the job done, you probably do not have the drive to make a business successful. There are lots of jobs out there that will pay you a good living salary with a nice retirement package and that will work for many.

Never work at a job where you hate going to work every day. If you do not enjoy your work it is time to consider your options. Life is too short. If you do decide to start a business the following may help.

By my mid-20s I had moved from an executive sales position to the regional manager for an international scale company. This soon evolved into starting my first business. A sign manufacturing company. After several years I sold the company as a going concern and worked in the print industry for a number of years. As the Internet started to evolve I recognized its potential and started one of the first website design companies in Alberta. I soon had a staff of six and my company was generating almost all of the websites for the provincial government as well as many other companies and organizations.

With my fifty years of experience in sales and marketing, I think I am in a position to offer some advice to anyone who is considering starting a business.

The business name:
Your business name is by far the most important marketing tool you have.
Your business name must be something people hear once and never forget. Too often I see people trying to name their business after the product they sell or after something related to the product. Your company name does not need to relate to what you are offering. Your company name must be unique.

For example Apple, Google. Try to pick an animal or a bug. For example Rooster XXX or BumbleBee XXX. Then make sure the domain name is available.

Your Logo:
The logo is an important part of a business. It helps to make you look professional and becomes part of your marketing. Please try to avoid what is often referred to as kitchen table logos. That is a situation where the business owner with no graphic design experience or training sits down at the kitchen table and designs the logo for his or her new company. Try to enroll the experience of a professional graphic designer. Using an animal or a bug for your company name opens up many possibilities for a unique and smart-looking logo. It even gives you the option of developing a cartoon character.

First Impression:
Having our unique name and a professionally designed logo can all be part of that very important first impression. If you are in a situation where you need to go out and meet clients whenever possible wear a suit. The suit is a sign of respect for your client and it also generates credibility and respect for you.

Marketing:
Having a better mousetrap or supplying a better product means nothing without marketing.
Do not think that building a website will be your ticket to success. I’ve watched people spend multi-thousands of dollars on a website and it just lays there because nobody comes to it. Yes, you can pay professional search engine optimization companies to bring you to the first page on a search but that can get very expensive, especially if you are in a competitive industry. Yes, you need a website but there are other ways to bring people to it. Try to think out of the box. Why not posters on all of the free bulletin boards you see throughout your community. Any place you can get your company name to pop up will help. The more shocking the name the better.

How about a newspaper ad that is mostly white space with only a web link to your new domain name https://pinkbuffalo.com
You can bet they will click on it because they are curious and you have just made someone click on your website.
That is thinking out of the box.

I could go on and on but I think this will give you a good start.

Politics

edboothman March 21, 2022 0 comments Blog

This story is an expansion of what I put in the book.
Giving it further thought I felt I have much more to say on the subject.

The democratic system of government has proven to be the best for the world’s successful countries. However, it does not always result in the best possible leaders.

There’s always pressure on the public to make sure that they vote however I do not agree with this school of thought.

You should not be voting unless you have a clear and informed understanding of who the candidates are, their qualifications and their policies.

I have often said you should need to write an exam to qualify to vote. However, that day will never come.

Too often I see voting decisions made based on political party affiliations or a candidate’s charisma which is basically tribal instincts.

Choosing a candidate was easier in the 1950s and 1960s when news and journalism were grounded in the truth and most voters could make a semi-informed decision.

That has all changed:
Social media is now allowing opinionated yet uninformed individuals, to influence the decision of many.
Once you have linked to that post the social media profit-driven algorithms will direct additional related content to you reinforcing that individual’s political agenda.

This is especially a problem in the current US politically divided system. It is almost turned into a tribal society.

We spent several winters living in the Phoenix Arizona area. While there we became very good friends with several senior families. Almost all of them watched Fox News from morning tonight. I asked them why and they explained they were Republicans. They told me that Barack Obama had a prayer rug in the Oval Office and he was responsible for every problem the country had. When I suggested they should watch something other than Fox if they wanted to understand what was going on in the world. I was told that was fake news.

It is a shame that intelligent people can be so badly misinformed however I think it boils down to the profit-driven Fox News media feeding people what they want to hear.

It scares the hell out of me to think that a vindictive draft dodger with the vocabulary of a ten-year-old who announced there were airfields during the American Civil War could become the president of the United States.

He is perceived as a successful businessman when most of his businesses were failures and he inherited his fortune.

I am among many Canadians who follow American politics and I see value in the policies of both the left and the right however it disappoints me that the truth is no longer part of the decision-making process for most Americans.

In both the American and Canadian systems religious beliefs tend to influence candidates’ thinking. I am not comfortable with an individual representing me, making decisions for me, influenced by their religious beliefs. Religion should never be part of any political agenda.

Making Friends

edboothman March 21, 2022 Blog

If you meet someone new remember their name. I know this is not always easy to do but they will be impressed if you greet them by their name the next time you meet. People like to talk about themselves. It is just human nature, so be a good listener and they will think you are great.

Throughout my life, I have occasionally run into people that everyone seems to like.
To be that person that everyone likes there is one golden rule, “Never say anything bad about anyone.

This is very difficult to do as it is just human nature to talk about others. Always remember when you are saying something bad about a friend, the person you are talking to will be wondering what you say about them.

Never be afraid to offer a complement.
Often I see something that someone is wearing or something they’ve accomplished that I admire.
A compliment will often make someone’s day and we always like to get a complement.

It is always interesting to watch the different personalities. Some people are interesting to listen to and others not so much so. This often relates to their level of intellect.

It is always interesting to watch leaders emerge. Whenever you join a new group or become part of a group there always tends to be a leader whether it’s intentional or not it is just part of human nature to be drawn to a leader. This is even true in the animal world whether it’s horses or cattle or any other species as soon as you put a few individuals together a leader will emerge.

It is human nature to want to show your friends or neighbour that new car or toy you just bought.
In most cases they will politely appear interested and happy for you but with the exception of your Mom and Dad they are probably resentful and jealous.

Understanding how others think will help you through your decisions in life.

edboothman

About edboothman

Posts by Ed Boothman:

Dealing with stress

Dealing with Depression￼

Space Travel

Starting a Business

Politics

Making Friends

Dealing with Depression