Inspiration

Stop Saying I Wish and Start Saying I Will

March 7, 2019 by Johnny Russo Leave a Comment

I wish I could get in shape. I wish I could take a vacation. I wish I could be happier. I wish I had time to read more. I wish I could eat healthier. I wish, I wish, I wish.

We hear this often, don’t we?

I’m guilty of this too.

I wish I had more time…but to do what? If you have 100 priorities to get done in 1 week, sure, you may need more time (unless you can hire some good minions to do all the things you want). But realistically, you have the time to accomplish the priorities you set, or the activities you want to accomplish. Your issues may be with conflicting priorities and in the belief that they are all the same weight of importance, rather than time itself. In the last few months, I’ve consciously practiced setting my main priorities for the week, and not let other ones in if I can’t complete my main ones. To date, I’m at a 90% success completion rate for those priorities. And that’s just one example for the “I wish I had more time” argument.

“I Will” Can Be More Powerful Than “I Wish”

But the “I wish” versus “I will” mindset is key. And some things may always be a wish, and that’s ok (I wish I could be the General Manager of the New Jersey Devils, or the greatest sommelier the world has ever known). But honestly, that’s more of a big dream, rather than a realistic goal. And I have many goals I want to achieve way before those.

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Better Late Than Never – My 2019 New Year’s Resolutions

March 1, 2019 by Johnny Russo Leave a Comment

It’s the beginning of March, and I’m sharing my 2019 New Year’s resolutions, i.e. improvements. Wait, why am I sharing this 2 months late?

Well, for essentially all of January, I was sick. I had a fever, the flu, bronchitis, dizziness, and constant headaches. And towards the end of January, I was feeling a bit healthier, before the common cold took a hold of me. I guess when your son starts daycare a few months prior, this is all expected in the “new parent handbook” I keep hearing about. That handbook reads: child in daycare, YOU WILL GET SICK. There’s no avoiding it.

My little Luca had a high fever over New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. The next day, my wife and I started having the chills. And the day after that, Luca, my wife and I had to fly back to work from Montreal to Calgary. That certainly didn’t help. And that was the start of me being down for the count for what felt like forever.

So now you know why it’s March 1 and I’m writing out my 2019 resolutions. Point is, it’s never too late to change. And selfishly, I know if I write this, and you read this, then I have to hold myself accountable, don’t I? Oh, and I plan on doing this mostly over the next 10 months (remember, I lost over a month to illness). So here is my somewhat filtered 2019 resolutions, out in the open, for you to see, and for me to achieve. These are in absolutely no particular order.

My 2019 Resolutions

Call or text family more often (being away in Calgary with a 2-hour time difference, when most family is back East – well let’s just say I could do a better job)
Hug and kiss Luca every single day, (when I travel for work, FaceTime will have to do)
Pet Diego (our pet bunny) at least 5 mornings every week
Run a 10km race (did one in 2018, want to do another one)
Train for and run a 21km race, my first one ever.
Read 20+ books
Visit 5 new places
Visit 1 new vineyard (perhaps in Oregon?)
Visit the Okanagan, again (spent Father’s Day 2018 there, and it was instantly one of my fave new spots, both for the wine and the pristine scenery)
Communicate with friends more often
Get a super cut, lean, muscular body (195 pounds-ish. I lost some weight and muscle from being sick, so time to hit the gym again)
Write 20+ blog posts (have some catching up to do, as this is post 1 for the year)
Visit 1 new province
Hire an executive leadership coach
Go on a spiritual retreat with my wife (went to Sedona in 2018 and it changed aspects of my life)
Do meditation and yoga or pilates at least 4-5 days per week
Help someone or an organization in need (kids, pets, etc) and/or get involved with a social or community initiative

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Why Today’s Education Curriculum is Failing Us

April 29, 2018 by Johnny Russo 1 Comment

I am frustrated by the education system. The reason so many people want to be entrepreneurs right now, is because our education system is failing us. And I don’t mean primary school. But EVERYTHING after it. I look back to what I was taught in the late 1990s and early 2000s, and not much has changed. Math is still held in such a high regard, but they are teaching stuff 99% of students will never use in their work career, or in life for that matter. Geometry, trigonometry, linear algebra… really? What about teaching high schoolers how to read a financial statement? Or managing finances? Or opening up a savings account? Why not teach real world math? If you want to learn geometry, well then do it, but do you need a teacher for that, in today’s digital age? Go to YouTube, Udemy, or ask away on LinkedIn.

At the World Economic Forum in January 2018, Jack Ma, founder of Alibaba, said “If we do not change the way we teach, 30 years from now, we will be in trouble. The way we teach, the things we teach our kids, are the things from the past 200 years. It is knowledge based. And we cannot teach our kids to compete with machines … We have to teach them something unique, so that a machine can never catch up with us.”

Robots Will Keep Replacing Jobs. How Can We Compete Tomorrow?

Ma also believes that robots will replace 800 million jobs by 2020. With Amazon around, does anyone doubt this?

So how can humans gain an upper hand on machines? Where are all the communication courses? And I don’t mean how to read great works like Shakespeare or Hemingway, or how to write poems, but how to communicate with people? How to take criticism, and how to give it? How to better read social cues. How to conquer the job interview process. How to become self aware. How to get more out of your team, whether you’re leading it or a part of it. Why aren’t these tools and techniques being practiced when we’re 15, 20, 25 years of age?

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My Blog Is Changing, Because I Have Changed – My Blog Manifesto

March 24, 2018 by Johnny Russo 3 Comments

More than 3 years ago, I started a blog. I have a Journalism degree, so it was not that hard. I probably should have started one 10 years earlier, but I guess I thought I didn’t have anything interesting to say, which is kind of odd for a marketer, right? As I developed my career – and more importantly, gained new life experiences that have helped me grow – I started gaining a voice. And I wanted an outlet to share that voice. And over the years, that voice has grown and continues to grow. And since I advocate strongly against the status quo, I thought it was time I changed this blog and what it will stand for.

Currently (or at least in the recent past), my blog is/was focused on writing about Ecommerce, Digital Marketing and Social Media. I currently publish about once per month. Posts range from 1,500-2,500 words. Many posts have a lot of research attached to them. But I read a lot of books, blogs, and articles, network a ton, learn from mentors and mentees, and have opinions I’d like to share, more often. However, in the current context of my blog, it does not necessarily fit with the 3 main pillars of Ecommerce, Digital Marketing, and Social Media – though it usually does tie back to them in one way or another for sure.

Helping People Has Become A Passion

I also have a love of helping people, and topics surrounding leadership, inspiration, motivation, transformation, and retail that I have trouble intertwining within my blog as it currently lives. Also, I would rather share my experience and thoughts and feelings, than spend so much time researching posts to write about.

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The Parallels Between Leading and Hiking Alone – My Trip to Sedona

March 11, 2018 by Johnny Russo Leave a Comment

“For each of us there is a special place in this world…A place where beauty, adventure and majesty capture the soul…Discover your place and discover your soul.” Author Unknown.

In early March, I took a trip to Sedona. Now this was not just any trip. I had Sedona on my list of places to visit. You know, that list you make and then visit every other place on it. Not me. Not anymore. My lists are my bond. If I put it on there, I will do it. Sedona, which is 2 hours north of Phoenix in the state of Arizona, was a place that I’ve been drawn to for a few years now. In January, I got an email from WestJet saying if I booked in the next 24 hours, I would get to use $225 WestJet dollars. I booked within minutes of opening the email. Oh, and did I mention I was going to visit Sedona all alone? Yes, all alone.

So I booked this trip on a whim (didn’t ask my wife, but she was there when I booked it). And now I had to plan it. (Usually, my wife does this stuff). So January and most of February happened, and I hadn’t planned a thing. With 7 days left before takeoff, I finally got to it. I booked my hotel (the Matterhorn Inn) and got a car rental from the Phoenix Airport (GMC Terrain from Avis). And then I planned my days, which involved tons of hiking. I researched which trails to go on, and how to get there, and where to park. My wife told me of a Reiki session I should do. I hold no clue what that was. But I booked it. Let me rewind for a second.

Reconnecting The Heart, Mind, and Spirit

The reason I was going on this trip was to connect again – with spirituality, my heart, and well, my life again. I had lost myself a bit in the last couple of years. My son Luca has certainly helped me regain much of that and fill my heart. Luca was turning 7 months around the time of this trip. He is my heart. He is my life. But you can always improve in life, right? This was by no means a mid-life crisis. I turned 36 a few weeks before this trip. And I still feel young. This trip was more about soul searching and opening myself up to new experiences, and trying to find some spirituality. I am Catholic. I believe in God. But at times, like anyone, I question things. Why did this happen? Why did this not happen? How can I get over this? How can I fulfill my full potential? What is my life purpose? Where is God when I or others get hurt? What is my meaning? I was not expecting my Sedona trip to solve all this, but I was open to it, whatever it was.

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Stop Saying I Wish and Start Saying I Will

“I Will” Can Be More Powerful Than “I Wish”

Better Late Than Never – My 2019 New Year’s Resolutions

My 2019 Resolutions

Why Today’s Education Curriculum is Failing Us

Robots Will Keep Replacing Jobs. How Can We Compete Tomorrow?

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