Normally installing a baby gate would not be a big deal. Certainly not something that should take all weekend. Those who know me understand that this is not something out of the ordinary.

This is not because I'm unskilled or generally don't know what I'm doing, I just have a knack for finding some, shall we say, "convoluted" ways of getting things done?

Checking out Dad's Handywork

 I defend my track record by pointing out that it takes me a little longer to get things done sometimes just because I want things "just so". Sure, I could have gone out and bought the cheapest gate available, propped in the space, and been done with it. But I'm not about "cheap" and I care about function and aesthetics.

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For anyone who has spent any time with people on their way to success, the idea of visualizing a goal is nothing new. In fact those who have reached the higher levels of what we consider successful would tell you that it's mandatory.

Some people will think that visualization, "positive thinking", and other tools of thought are just a bunch of hooey made up to sell books and seminars. That's an impression based in ignorance.

Coaches in many different disciplines, ranging through business, sports, family and more understand that proper visualization will produce the desired outcome much more quickly than not using this tool. For example there is a fairly well known study that took three groups of basketball players and had them practice free throws for a week. After that week one group was told not to practice for the following week and not think about shooting free throws. The second group was told to continue practicing free throws as they had been. The third was told not to practice basketball, but given instructions on how to visualize taking free throws.

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The whole question of "where to start" when starting an online business of any kind can freeze many people in their tracks.

This is really sad, considering that a person has already mapped out (at least in their head) their dreams, aspirations and lifestyle they want to get from this new venture. They can already see the new cars, the nice house, and other rewards from having a thriving business.

But when it comes down to nuts and bolts, the reality of the moment sets in when they realize they don't know what they want to sell. This is more of a challenge outside of network marketing because decisions have to be made not only on what kind of product to sell, but how to source it, how much and what kind of inventory to carry, how to ship in a timely manner, handle returns and customer service, etc.

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Watching my son grow up I get to see all kinds of parallels between his development and marketing on the internet.

If we had to learn how to walk all over again it would be a tough job. Somehow as adults we have learned how to quit. An infant hasn't learned that yet (and hopefully I can delay that lesson as long as possible). From what I have observed in working with a lot of people over the years, most adults would lay on the floor and complain about not being able to walk.

I can imagine people saying things like, "I should be getting paid to learn how to walk like those guys", "it's not my fault I can't walk, it's too hard", "there should be a government program that will get me up and walking", "there's a secret that the people who can walk aren't telling me".

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Yesterday we had a chance to walk with some friends through a local park.

Like us they are new parents "a little later in life" - that being early 30's. We all have careers in progress, under us or behind us. As we walked and talked it got me to thinking about what each of us can do to give as much advantage as possible to these new people in our lives.

Of course, there's the good home life - that's definitely a priority. It's one of the big reasons that I've left the engineering career behind and my wife and I chose for me to work as a stay-at-home dad. Not everyone has this option and making these kinds of choices just makes life a little more interesting. One of the things that our friends are going to do is that dad is going to take his son into work with him while he is still an infant. It is so important to them that they raise their son themselves that they are going to make it work.

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Here's the first week's video recap.

As I mention in the video, this is actually my second shot at this week's video. The first one was bad (not that this one is great - but it's better) as it was shot outside with the sun halfway in my face and the sound was bad.

In this one, the lighting's a little better, the sound's a little better, and I actually get to talk about internet and network marketing. Leave some comments and let me know what you think should be done better for next time.

Even though one of the foundations of this site is to stay positive, I can't ignore some of the ugly things that happen in society. As much as we try to affect the world in a positive way, sometime it seems like the world is pushing back.

Of course, that's not really the case. I believe that most people do want peace and prosperity, but the overwhelming violence caused by individuals can shake that perception sometimes.

The recent violence and death on the campus of Virginia Tech by what appears to be a lone shooter is a senseless act that many people are trying to make sense of. Something like this is so far outside the realm of what is acceptable human behavior that no sense can be made of it. Different segments of society will try to blame guns, blame social stress, blame who-knows-what.

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My wife and I are in the process of teaching our son (who is almost 10 months old now) "baby sign". This is a modified version of American Sign Language (ASL) and the concept is that a baby actually has things to communicate at a very young age.

These can be things as mundane as "eat", but can get to the point where a child under a year old can tell you he wants medicine because his mouth huts (teething). Even though we have been teaching him some of the signs (like "eat", "more", "milk") I had not yet gotten around to reading the booklet that came with the "Baby Sign" program.

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