Sunday, April 17, 2016

Tribute to Zafer Estill

It is with great difficulty, I share this post about the passing of my 19 year old nephew Zafer Estill.

Thursday night after midnight I was called my my distraught brother, Lyle who shared the terrible news that his son was dead.  I could hardly understand what he was saying.  I did not want to understand it.

His obituary is here.

A promising young man whose life was cut short.

He was polite, kind and interested in life.  Because he knew I liked business, when we were together, he talked about business.  I thought he had potential to be a great business person because of his natural interest.

I recall once he did a run of tshirts and sold them for $20 US each.  Even for uncle Jim, this margin seemed a bit much.  But I was visiting and he was away.  I took one from his stash and left a $20 bill.  How better to support a budding business person than buying their product.

I remember him reading Business Week magazine that my father had on his coffee table.

The photo is from a few years ago but of course I remember him as a child.

Now to cry...


Sunday, April 10, 2016

Happy Birthday Big Plans

I had a birthday this week and my brother asked me if I had big plans.  The reply was "of course I have big plans - I always have big plans regardless of whether it is my birthday or not."

Reflecting on how often those big plans come to fruition, I note that they often don't.  But because I have plans, I get closer to them than not having big plans.  Big plans inspire.  Big plans create drive.  And as the word plan says - it implies defining the goal.  The clearer the definition, the greater the likelihood of success.

The challenge with big plans or goals is they can be daunting so the trick I find that works is breaking them down into smaller steps.  How do you climb a mountain?  One step at a time.

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I have rarely had an article go viral.  I republished one that I wrote many years ago on my linkedin that did.  Over 1,000,000 views.  "How to write an article in 20 minutes".
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A friend is solving the Guelph housing problem and needs tenants.  Website gives details.

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The ice is gone but it is still not spring.

 Note the wind turbine.