Photo Credit: Jonathan L D Bennett

Sigmund Freud is the world famous psychoanalyst that has been parodied in a variety of ways. From “Start Trek: The Next Generation” to “Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure” there is something about the man that popular culture has been fascinated with for a long time.

One of the most common known facts about him was his pre-occupation with sex and its effects on a person’s decision making processes. He was of the belief that sex was the primary motivational force of human life. It is easy to laugh and then change the subject to avoid the idea that many of our decisions are based on sex. You do not have to look far to figure out that Freud had a better handle on the human thought process than he has been given credit for, in many circles.

Now that we live in the digital age we see how powerful it can be if you integrate sex into your marketing and sales strategy. My wife and I are very protective of the material that we allow into our home. I do not want my daughters getting the idea they are supposed to be using their bodies to get ahead in life. As I heard Andy Stanley say recently, “If you use your body to get men you will likely end up getting body snatchers.” There is a world of truth in that quote. Sex does sell but the question I want to ask is, “Do you want the type of customers that selling sex will bring to your front door?” When it comes to relationships the answer is no.
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Photo Credit: Oude School

Who has not entertained the idea of running your own little experiment on a group of people? I think we all have our own pre-conveived ideas on people groups and behaviors. Most people find stories of controlled studies entertaining. The success of reality TV is probably as much proof as anyone needs. Most people enjoy reality TV because they have the perception that they are getting an authentic look into the lives of other humans. Most people also know that producers and writers do everything they can to drive the shows into curious and sometimes outrageous situations just for the sole purpose of causing a response from the participants. Simply, humans are entertained by the actions of other humans and the weirder the situation the more entertained we become.

This last week in my Psych class we were separated into teams and asked to come up with our own experiment. Much to my dismay my group chose something tried and old and boring. Do not get me wrong. I like my group. We always have engaging conversation when we are together. In this instance I think we took a dry idea. We decided that our experiment would attempt to determine if men or women were better drivers. That is an age old question that just sounds dull to me.

I have decided to share my idea with you because I think it would be a lot more entertaining and it is also a lot more doable in real life because it would not be very expensive or complicated.

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Photo Credit: Do u remember

Last night Carl and I went to see Cowboys & Aliens. Being the sci-fi nut that I am it was very enjoyable.

There was one major distraction I had to hurdle during the first few minutes of the film. The screen that we were viewing had more than one defect in it. During the daytime scenes it was was extremely noticeable and I found myself looking at the actual screen and missing some of the dialog.

While getting used to this problem (which I did) I thought to myself, “I can’t imagine the general manager of this theatre watches movies on his own screens or this would be fixed”.
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Photo Credit: h.koppdelaney

“This is where I am”

“This is what I’m going through”

Can you hear the subtle difference between those two phrases? One seems to have a certain finality assigned to it. It’s an air of defeat.

Many are truly experiencing hard times right now. How well we fare will determine largely on our mindset.

Do we see our current circumstances as temporary or permanent?
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“I’m bored”

“There’s Nothing To Do”

Photo Credit: plasticrevolver

There isn’t a parent in America that hasn’t heard those words. Julie and I are starting to hear them a lot. Our oldest daughter is thirteen and it’s getting harder and harder to keep her occupied during the summer. We don’t do a lot of TV and video games around our house. We have those things but we do a pretty good job of keeping them down to a minimum. Besides, our thirteen-year-old has never been very entertained by TV and video games anyway. We don’t let her wander around town all day long with her friends.

We’ve put out the word that she’s available for baby sitting but I’ll admit that we are kind of strict as to whos house she is going to hang out at for an entire day. This keeps the baby sitting gigs down pretty low.

The sad thing is that she is ready to get some kind of a job and she can’t. When I was thirteen and fourteen I was already working for my dad building cabinets. It was perfectly legal at the time and perfectly healthy for me. It was safe too. I didn’t use any dangerous equipment. I just assembled drawers and sanded cabinets.
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As promised here is the drawing for the book give away for participating in the survey!

 


If you don’t see the video in your RSS reader click here!

Photo Credit: Valerie Everett

As I mentioned on this week’s episode of the Blue Collar Business Podcast I am holding a survey of all my podcast listeners and blog readers.

I’m looking to get at least 50 responders and could really use your help.

I am also holding a give away if you complete the survey. The winner will be chosen (from a hat of course) on Friday the 20th and notified via email. I will be giving away a free copy of one of the following books.

Andy Andrews – The Traveler’s Gift
Daniel Lapin – Thou Shall Prosper: 10 Commandments For Making Money
Seth Godin – Purple Cow
John Jantsch – The Referral Engine

Don’t forget to include your email below so I can notify you if you win!

[If you don't see the survey in your RSS reader click HERE]