Ted Tuesday: Dr. Dan Gilbert— The Surprising Science of Happiness

"Gilbert's elbow-in-the-ribs social-science humor is actually funny. ... But underneath the goofball brilliance, he has a serious argument to make about why human beings are forever wrongly predicting what will make them happy." 

~~ New York Times Book Review

Good Morning Folks,

I woke up this beautiful morning I wanted to share an inspirational Ted Talk with all of you. When you watch it you may wonder why you hadn't heard of this before, or better yet be surprised that over a million people have already watched it (between YouTube and Ted postings alone). That's the power of Ted.

Dan Gilbert, author of Stumbling on Happiness, challenges the idea that we'll be miserable if we don't get what we want. Our "psychological immune system" lets us feel truly happy even when things don't go as planned.

Gilbert believes that, in our ardent, lifelong pursuit of happiness, most of us have the wrong map. In the same way that optical illusions fool our eyes -- and fool everyone's eyes in the same way -- Gilbert argues that our brains systematically misjudge what will make us happy. And these quirks in our cognition make humans very poor predictors of our own bliss.

The premise of his current research -- that our assumptions about what will make us happy are often wrong -- is supported with clinical research drawn from psychology and neuroscience. But his delivery is what sets him apart. His engaging -- and often hilarious -- style pokes fun at typical human behavior and invokes pop-culture references everyone can relate to. This winning style translates also to Gilbert's writing, which is lucid, approachable and laugh-out-loud funny. The immensely readable Stumbling on Happiness, published in 2006, became a New York Times bestseller and has been translated into 20 languages.

Dr. Gilbert asks us to imagine two different futures ... One, winning the lottery (yes, I like this ... I will buy a plane, and maybe an island suitable for the construction of a landing strip ... and definitely a sail boat, a small one ... I will recreate the Corona ad and learn to enjoy beer or at least ice cold limeade ... ). The other is become paraplegic.  (No thanks.)

He informs us that "Happiness" data has been collected on these two different groups.

"Because the fact is that a year after losing the use of their legs, and a year after winning the lotto, lottery winners and paraplegics are equally happy with their lives."



The lesson I want to leave you with from these talk is that our longings and our worries are both to some degree overblown, because we have within us the capacity to manufacture the very commodity we seek.

What an inspiration Gilbert is to the very core and spirit of FSO's brand. 

We are pumped, super excited and ready to rock.

Love Life,

Mitchell D. Weiner

Chief Happiness Officer  

Ideas are not set in stone. When exposed to thoughtful people, they morph and adapt into their most potent form.TED Tuesdays on MitchWeiner.com highlights some of today's most intriguing ideas. Look for more talks on Technology, Entertainment and Design -- plus science, business, global issues, the arts and much more— HERE. 

Ted Tuesday: Diana Nyad- "Never Give Up"

"Everyday of our lives is epic....Never ever give up...You can chase your dreams at any age...It looks like the most solitary endeavor in the world and in many ways it is, and in other ways and the most important ways it's a team...When you achieve your dreams, it is not so much what you get, but who you have become..."

Good Morning Folks.

A record-setting long-distance swimmer, Diana Nyad writes and thinks deeply about motivation. If you have a dream, and you have obstacles in front of you, believe in perseverance and find a way!

In the pitch-black night, stung by jellyfish, choking on salt water, singing to herself, hallucinating … Diana Nyad just kept on swimming. And that's how she finally achieved her lifetime goal as an athlete: an extreme 100-mile swim from Cuba to Florida — at age 64. Hear her story.

For ten years (1969-1979), Diana Nyad was known as the greatest long-distance swimmer in the world. In 1979, she stroked the then-longest swim in history, making the 102.5-mile journey from the island of Bimini (Bahamas) to Florida. She also broke numerous world records, including what had been a 50-year mark for circling Manhattan Island, setting the new time of 7 hrs 57 min. She is a member of the National Women’s Hall of Fame and the International Swimming Hall of Fame.

At age 60, having not swum a stroke in decades, she began planning for her white whale of distance swims: the 110-mile ocean crossing between Cuba and Florida. She'd tried it once, in her 20s, and severe jellyfish attacks had defeated her then. But now, with a strong team and a new commitment to her vision, she stepped back into the salt. She spoke about this second attempt at TEDMED 2011. And at TEDWomen 2013, in December, she talks about how it feels to have finally done it.

“It's the fifth time I stand on this shore, the Cuban shore, looking out at that distant horizon, believing, again, that I'm going to make it all the way across that vast, dangerous wilderness of an ocean. Not only have I tried four times, but the greatest swimmers in the world have been trying since 1950, and it's still never been done.”

Within the first few seconds, and with these few words, Diana Nyad has painted a picture and set a mood about her challenge; to swim from Cuba to Florida. She has also established herself as someone you want to listen to, to trust that she is telling the truth, and to find out what happened. What a powerful start.
Motivation aside, so what can you learn and apply about presentations from Diana Nyad’s TED talk?

==> Show passion.
You can instantly hear the passion in Diane’s voice. As you listen, look away from the screen and just listen for a few moments. You can clearly hear the passion in her cadence, and in her vocal inflections. Notice that she is telling you a story, not reciting a stream of facts or numbers. You hear how meaningful and emotional this journey was. Now think of your own presentations; are you focused on the story, the meaning, or the facts and figures? What would happen if you let a little more passion into these talks?

==> Make it real.
Did you see the sharks? Did you feel the frigid water and experience the solitude of the pitch dark? Did you hear her singing John Lennon's "Imagine" – 200 times? These are not mere details. This is the concrete description that makes her story so tangible. You can't fake this, at least most of us can't. What you can do is go to that place where what you are talking about is real and immediate, and then describe what you are seeing and feeling. (If this is difficult for you, contact me about learning the skills of being in the moment and completely focused.)

==> It's not about your slides.
Did you miss seeing bullet points, charts and graphs, or photos? I don't think you did. In fact, I didn't notice until the end that there nothing but Diana and the world she created verbally. Slides would have been so distracting and even irritating as you wanted to hear this story from her lips. Now, if you don’t want to go completely without slides, at least try to cut back and see what happens. Then cut back some more. Use fewer slides, and put less and less on each one. Or start and end you next talk without slides, using them only as needed.

==> Keep it short.
This talk is about fifteen minutes. She could surely have talked for an hour, or many hours, but she told her story in a compelling way in a fairly short timeframe. Your audience is probably too polite to tell you, but they wish you would be a little more concise. Take out unnecessary "padding." Strip the story down to its basics. Tell enough to make your point. Then end it well.

Make it into a story. Note that Diana takes you from standing on the shore ready to set forth at the beginning, and ends with the crowd cheering and her speaking with reporters at the end. This is classic story style. As a bonus, she added three big takeaways as the final thoughts. Use storytelling structure to make your talks more memorable. And make sure you don't blow off your beginning and endings; these are key targets you must hit.

Take a few pointers from Diana Nyad. Never ever give up. Keep working to make your presentations, speeches and informal talks more concise, compelling and genuine. And, once you get to TED.com, look around. There are many speeches you can learn from, and I will be continuing to write about the ones I think have lessons for us all.

Thanks to Applause Inc for leading me to this which delivered it to you.

Thanks to you for listening.

Have a GREAT Day,



Mitchell D. Weiner
Chief Happiness Officer  

Ideas are not set in stone. When exposed to thoughtful people, they morph and adapt into their most potent form. TED Tuesdays on MitchWeiner.com highlights some of today's most intriguing ideas. Look for more talks on Technology, Entertainment and Design -- plus science, business, global issues, the arts and much more— HERE.  

About FSO Onsite Outsourcing
Recognized on the Inc. 5000 list of the nation's fastest growing companies for the third consecutive year, and lead by industry pioneer, Mitch Weiner, FSO's growth and success can be attributed to making a positive and powerful impact on their clients' bottom lines, as well as their employees' careers and lives.

Ted Tuesday: Sir Ken Robinson— How to Discover Your Talents and Passions and Transform Your Life

“If you're not prepared to be wrong, you'll never come up with anything original.” 

Good Morning Folks,

As I woke up this morning I wanted to share another inspiring @Ted talk with you.

The Sir Ken Robinson @Ted talk that follows is one of my all time favorites. It reminds me of a book which I also highly recommend called "Finding Your Element: "How to Discover Your Talents and Passions and Transform Your Life" which you can find at Amazon.

Sir Ken Robinson’s TED talk video and groundbreaking book introduced readers to a new concept of self-fulfillment through the convergence of natural talents and personal passions. The book has inspired readers all over the world and has created for Robinson an intensely devoted following. Among the questions that this new book answers are:

• How do I find out what my talents and passions are?
• What if I love something I’m not good at?
• What if I’m good at something I don’t love?
• What if I can’t make a living from my Element?
• How do I do help my children find their Element?

Here are some of my favorite quotes from Sir Ken Robinson:

“If you're not prepared to be wrong, you'll never come up with anything original.” 

“Creativity is as important as literacy”

“Imagination is the source of every form of human achievement. And it's the one thing that I believe we are systematically jeopardizing in the way we educate our children and ourselves.” 

 “We have sold ourselves into a fast food model of education, and it's impoverishing our spirit and our energies as much as fast food is depleting our physical bodies.” 

“Human communities depend upon a diversity of talent not a singular conception of ability. and at the heart of the challenge is to reconstitute our sense of ability and intelligence” 

In his talk that follows which counts 26 million views on Ted.com alone, Sir Ken Robinson makes an entertaining and profoundly moving case for creating an education system that nurtures (rather than undermines) creativity.



What an inspiration Sir Ken is to the very core and spirit of FSO's brand. 

I could not help to be completely Inspired by the great teams and clients we have - so much passion and commitment to greatness and so much opportunity for all.

Nobody and I mean nobody will take CARE of the their customers or employees like FSO USA. 

So good morning. Get those inspiration hats on, put those smiles on, and lets rock the world together. 

Love Life,

Mitchell D. Weiner

Chief Happiness Officer  

Ideas are not set in stone. When exposed to thoughtful people, they morph and adapt into their most potent form.TED Tuesdays on MitchWeiner.com highlights some of today's most intriguing ideas. Look for more talks on Technology, Entertainment and Design -- plus science, business, global issues, the arts and much more— HERE. 

TED Tuesday: Lorrie Faith Cranor- What’s wrong with your pa$$w0rd?

"So passwords are something that I hear a lot about. A lot of people are frustrated with passwords, and it's bad enough when you have to have one really good password that you can remember but nobody else is going to be able to guess. But what do you do when you have accounts on a hundred different systems and you're supposed to have a unique password for each of these systems? It's tough."

Good Morning Folks,

Abner Goodwin's job title is Systems Specialist so like most IT people he should know best about security right? We'll even some folks in IT can procrastinate changing their passwords longer than filing their income tax. So don't feel bad, but use today's talk to set your browsing on a more secure path.

Abner blogs, "I’ve been an Internet user for about half my life now. That’s been enough time to collect many, many accounts. I have at least 3 email accounts, accounts on the usual social networking sites, and a slew of random accounts for online stores and services. I figure that I have somewhere around 30 personal accounts that I’ve set up over the years. There are many others that I’ve lost track of, consigned to the briny depths of the web to be forever forgotten."

"It’s time for a confession dear readers: I have committed a grievous evil. I have re-used passwords for multiple personal accounts with wild abandon. On top of that, before this article, I had not changed passwords on some accounts for years. What’s worse is I know better than this; I follow best practices for passwords in my professional life obsessively. Seriously, there was an intervention and everything. I guess it would be at this point where I’d say something about the cobbler’s son having no shoes."

"This was pretty much the extent of my super sophisticated personal password scheme. Luckily, I kept the post-it note under my keyboard where no one would ever find it."

"Continuing down this cliche’d path, I’ve heard that people don’t change until the pain of staying the same is greater than the pain of changing. For me, the pain came just a few days ago when I received an email from a forum that I belong to. The email stated that they’d been compromised and that the attacker had gained access to their database of usernames and encrypted passwords."

Lorrie Faith Cranor is a Professor of Computer Science and of Engineering and Public Policy at Carnegie Mellon University where she is director of the CyLab Usable Privacy and Security Laboratory (CUPS) and co-director of the MSIT-Privacy Engineering masters program. She is also a co-founder of Wombat Security Technologies, Inc. She has authored over 100 research papers on online privacy, usable security, and other topics

Lorrie Faith Cranor studied thousands of real passwords to figure out the surprising, very common mistakes that users — and secured sites — make to compromise security. And how, you may ask, did she study thousands of real passwords without compromising the security of any users? That's a story in itself. It's secret data worth knowing, especially if your password is 123456 ...

I found this video on some research Lorrie is doing on the subject very interesting and insightful

Says Lorrie:

 "I always cringe whenever people talk about choosing passwords, but this has some interesting insights into the strengths and weaknesses of various techniques, and it even mentions some I've not heard of before." 

e’ve all heard the common password advice: Choose a random password with a lot of characters, include digits and symbols, don’t use a dictionary word, don’t write it down and change it often. While some of this advice is useful, some of it is counterproductive and probably even harmful. 

Next Friday I will be giving a Game Changer talk at the IAPP Global Privacy Summit in which I will discuss research results—from my own research group at Carnegie Mellon University as well as from others—that demonstrates that what most people thought they knew about passwords is wrong. 

Most humans are not very good at memorizing random things, and they don’t enjoy doing it. While we are impressed by the talent of spelling bee champions, most of us would rather not spend our time on rote memorization. 

It turns out we’re also not very good at coming up with random things, let alone memorizing them. We like to think of ourselves as unique, but we actually think alike more than we want to admit, and we tend to be rather predictable. 

So, when we’re asked to come up with a random password, we do something that seems random to us but is actually what a lot of other people do. We think of some song lyrics, the name of our pet, a cartoon character, a TV show, a sports team or even the name of a friend or family member. Or maybe we trace our fingers on a keyboard and type in a sequence of keys that appear next to each other—maybe diagonally down one column and then up the next, because that seems more random than just going left to right across. If we have to add a symbol, we type an exclamation point at the end. If we have to add a number, it is most likely a 1. And if a capital letter is needed, it goes at the beginning. 

And because this was so much work to not only choose, but to remember, and because we know we’re not supposed to write our passwords down, the next time we have to create a password, we just use the same one we already created.
But what happens when you log in and are told that your password has expired and you have to choose a new one? Chances are you increment the 1 to a 2 or add another exclamation point to the end."

Research shows that forcing users to change their password on a regular basis does not actually increase security. In fact, it encourages users to create weaker passwords and increment them according to a predictable scheme. So, not only does password expiration annoy users, it likely makes their passwords more vulnerable to attack. Have a look:



Here are a few highlights of Lorrie's talk:

• Long passwords with simple requirements can be easier to use and just as strong as shorter passwords with complex requirements.
• Password meters can encourage users to create stronger passwords, but most password meters used on websites today provide positive feedback prematurely.
• Passphrases seem like a good idea, but users don’t find random passphrases more usable than passwords.
• Monkey is the most popular animal to include in a password and among the most popular words to include in a password.

So it seems that at the end of the day, when we make passwords, we either make something that's really easy to type, a common pattern, or things that remind us of the word password or the account that we've created the password for, or whatever. Or we think about things that make us happy, and we create our password based on things that make us happy. And while this makes typing and remembering your password more fun, it also makes it a lot easier to guess your password. So I know a lot of these TED Talks are inspirational and they make you think about nice, happy things, but when you're creating your password, try to think about something else.

Have a GREAT Day,

Mitchell D. Weiner
Chief Happiness Officer  

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"The privilege of a lifetime is to become who you truly are."
 ~ Carl Jung

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Ideas are not set in stone. When exposed to thoughtful people, they morph and adapt into their most potent form. TED Tuesdays on MitchWeiner.com highlights some of today's most intriguing ideas. Look for more talks on Technology, Entertainment and Design -- plus science, business, global issues, the arts and much more— HERE.  

About FSO Onsite Outsourcing
Recognized on the Inc. 5000 list of the nation's fastest growing companies for the third consecutive year, and lead by industry pioneer, Mitch Weiner, FSO's growth and success can be attributed to making a positive and powerful impact on their clients' bottom lines, as well as their employees' careers and lives.

About Lorrie Faith Cranor

Lorrie Faith Cranor is a Professor of Computer Science and of Engineering and Public Policy at Carnegie Mellon University where she is director of the CyLab Usable Privacy and Security Laboratory (CUPS) and co-director of the MSIT-Privacy Engineering masters program. She is also a co-founder of Wombat Security Technologies, Inc. She has authored over 100 research papers on online privacy, usable security, and other topics. She has played a key role in building the usable privacy and security research community, having co-edited the seminal book Security and Usability (O'Reilly 2005) and founded the Symposium On Usable Privacy and Security (SOUPS). She also chaired the Platform for Privacy Preferences Project (P3P) Specification Working Group at the W3C and authored the book Web Privacy with P3P (O'Reilly 2002). She has served on a number of boards, including the Electronic Frontier Foundation Board of Directors, and on the editorial boards of several journals. In 2003 she was named one of the top 100 innovators 35 or younger by Technology Review magazine. She was previously a researcher at AT&T-Labs Research and taught in the Stern School of Business at New York University. In 2012-13 she spent her sabbatical year as a fellow in the Frank-Ratchye STUDIO for Creative Inquiry at Carnegie Mellon University where she worked on fiber arts projects that combined her interests in privacy and security, quilting, computers, and technology. She practices yoga, plays soccer, and runs after her three children.

Ted Tuesday: Bel Pesce— 5 ways to kill your dreams

"If you have dreams, it's your responsibility to make them happen."

Good Morning Folks,

All of us want to invent that game-changing product, launch that successful company, write that best-selling book. And yet so few of us actually do it. Brazilian entrepreneur Bel Pesce breaks down five easy-to-believe myths that ensure your dream projects will never come to fruition

What do you suppose they are? Those things that’ll kill your dreams?

You can’t believe they can be yours?  Your dreams that is.

What about I don’t believe I can be that person.

Or there’s always I‘m not good enough to have my dreams come true?

These come under the category of doubt and yep that’ll do it. Doubt is a great way to repel anything that might otherwise be drawn to us.  All those beautiful desires, burned out by the flame of doubt.  

So sad.

When we join the Doubting Thomas crew you can be sure we’re uncertain and distrusting.  Uncertain of what?  Distrusting of what?  Us?  The creative laws of the universe that are ours to operate to our heart’s content?  What the heck’s with that?  What are we focused on here…certainly not the fulfillment of our desires.  Once again we’re back on that old arguing for our limitations bandwagon.

But really, one of the biggest killer of our dreams is inertia.  Join it with fear and you have an awesome twosome, in the worst sense of the phrase.  The terrible twos.

Our challenge is that there are times when the status quo is too damned comfortable.  We don’t want to rock the boat, no, not even to experience our greatest dream, because what if….

It doesn’t work out…

I can’t do what I need to do to have what I want…

I might actually succeed and then what?

The best way to kill your dreams? Listen to the advice of others, rather than following your own best instincts.

Often, our goals in life can only be reached with the cooperation of others. Lacking that cooperation, goals may not be met because they cannot be achieved alone.

Tells Bel, "I myself have a story in Brazil that people think is an overnight success. I come from a humble family, and two weeks before the deadline to apply to MIT, I started the application process. And, voila! I got in. People may think it's an overnight success, but that only worked because for the 17 years prior to that, I took life and education seriously. Your overnight success story is always a result of everything you've done in your life through that moment."

Here's Bel....

Wise words Bel. I'm a big fan of yours :) What a great talk Bel Pesce, very motivating and inspiring.

It really gives people courages as well as telling things are not easy in real life. Love all the points especially No 1 about overnight success and no 5 about the journey. We are all waiting for that magic moment but actually success comes when we actually enjoy the journey. This is powerful. I hope more and more young people can come to understand life in their own positive way.Taking hard work as one of very fabulous success for us to persuit in our life

So, believe in overnight success, believe someone else has the answers for you, believe that when growth is guaranteed, you should settle down, believe the fault is someone else's, and believe that only the goals themselves matter. Believe me, if you do that, you will destroy your dreams.

Have a GREAT Day,



Mitchell D. Weiner
Chief Happiness Officer  

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"Destiny is not for waiting. Destiny is for achieving."

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Ideas are not set in stone. When exposed to thoughtful people, they morph and adapt into their most potent form. TED Tuesdays on MitchWeiner.com highlights some of today's most intriguing ideas. Look for more talks on Technology, Entertainment and Design -- plus science, business, global issues, the arts and much more— HERE.  

About FSO Onsite Outsourcing
Recognized on the Inc. 5000 list of the nation's fastest growing companies for the third consecutive year, and lead by industry pioneer, Mitch Weiner, FSO's growth and success can be attributed to making a positive and powerful impact on their clients' bottom lines, as well as their employees' careers and lives.

Ted Tuesday: Stanley McChrystal: Listen, learn ... then lead

“One of America’s greatest warriors.” — Secretary of Defense Robert Gates

Good Morning Folks,

If you want to be a better leader, today's Ted talk is going to be quite remarkable for you. This is a good speech on leadership from one of the finest Generals of our time, General Stanley McChrystal.

General Stanley McChrystal is the former commander of U.S. and International forces in Afghanistan. A four-star general, he is credited for creating a revolution in warfare that fuses intelligence and operations.

Four-star general Stanley McChrystal shares what he learned about leadership over his decades in the military. How can you build a sense of shared purpose among people of many ages and skill sets? By listening and learning — and addressing the possibility of failure.

Says McChrystal, "I was raised with traditional stories of leadership: Robert E. Lee, John Buford at Gettysburg. And I also was raised with personal examples of leadership. This was my father in Vietnam. And I was raised to believe that soldiers were strong and wise and brave and faithful; they didn't lie, cheat, steal or abandon their comrades. And I still believe real leaders are like that. But in my first 25 years of career, I had a bunch of different experiences."

"And I learned personal relationships were more important than ever. We were in a difficult operation in Afghanistan in 2007, and an old friend of mine, that I had spent many years at various points of my career with -- godfather to one of their kids -- he sent me a note, just in an envelope, that had a quote from Sherman to Grant that said, "I knew if I ever got in a tight spot, that you would come, if alive." And having that kind of relationship, for me, turned out to be critical at many points in my career."

"I stood in front of a screen one night in Iraq with one of my senior officers and we watched a firefight from one of our forces. And I remembered his son was in our force. And I said, "John, where's your son? And how is he?" And he said, "Sir, he's fine. Thanks for asking." I said, "Where is he now?" And he pointed at the screen, he said, "He's in that firefight." Think about watching your brother, father, daughter, son, wife in a firefight in real time and you can't do anything about it. Think about knowing that over time. And it's a new cumulative pressure on leaders."

Have a look:

Concludes McCrystal: "That was my journey. I hope it’s not over. I came to believe that a leader isn’t good because they’re right; they’re good because they’re willing to learn and to trust.

This isn’t easy stuff. It’s not like that electronic abs machine where, 15 minutes a month, you get washboard abs.

And it isn’t always fair. You can get knocked down, and it hurts and it leaves scars.

But if you’re a leader, the people you’ve counted on will help you up. And if you’re a leader, the people who count on you need you on your feet."

Thank you General. Any day our Future Leaders need more inspiration I encourage them to watch this and then watch it again.

Good leaders are able to get others to buy into a common cause and to give others a sense of purpose, which is what this talk was about. Leadership is needed to communicate. He says that they must build trust and confidence in order to communicate with the people. I think that a true leader is trying to fit the characteristics. Thanks for listening.

Have a GREAT Day,



Mitchell D. Weiner
Chief Happiness Officer  

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"Leaders can let you fail and yet not let you be a failure."

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Ideas are not set in stone. When exposed to thoughtful people, they morph and adapt into their most potent form. TED Tuesdays on MitchWeiner.com highlights some of today's most intriguing ideas. Look for more talks on Technology, Entertainment and Design -- plus science, business, global issues, the arts and much more— HERE.  

About FSO Onsite Outsourcing
Recognized on the Inc. 5000 list of the nation's fastest growing companies for the third consecutive year, and lead by industry pioneer, Mitch Weiner, FSO's growth and success can be attributed to making a positive and powerful impact on their clients' bottom lines, as well as their employees' careers and lives.

Ted Tuesday: The Talks Everyone Talks About

"Google was not the first search engine and Facebook was not the first online social community. Very few TED Talks are about original ideas. Simon Sinek was not the first person to talk about identifying the purpose for your life and work, nor was Amy Cuddy the first person to talk about how your body language and posture shape your self-confidence."

Good Morning Folks,

The TED platform is about “ideas worth spreading.” Watch any TED Talk and you can observe that everything a speaker says is in service of advancing one key idea, and making audience members so passionate about the idea that they want to spread it as well. This is why so many TED Talks go viral. The speaker does not just successfully convey an idea — they make everyone watching excited to share it too.

If you look at any TED Talk, you will discover that the thought leader’s delivery style can be categorized in one of the following five ways. The speaker is either a:

==> Change agent: 
Uses language, stories, and pictures that show what is possible when the change being shared happens

==> Scientific expert: 
Relies on logic and evidence to present an idea

==> Performer: 
Incorporates theatricality into the delivery of a message

==> Vulnerable expert: 
Connects life experience and stories to a message

==>  Inventor: 
Discusses an original idea, product or service and breaks it down into easy to understand, digestible parts

When you look at the most successful companies — such as Google and Facebook, or popular TED and TEDx Talks by Simon Sinek and Amy Cuddy — most are not household names because they came up with something original. Google was not the first search engine and Facebook was not the first online social community. Very few TED Talks are about original ideas. Simon Sinek was not the first person to talk about identifying the purpose for your life and work, nor was Amy Cuddy the first person to talk about how your body language and posture shape your self-confidence.

What each company or person did, however, was improve upon an existing idea. That should be the goal of entrepreneurs. While being first to market is nice, it’s rarely possible. If an idea can be monetized, it likely already has been. Plus, the first incarnation of a product or service often has significant flaws in its design or user experience. Entrepreneurs can and should focus their attention and strategizing on advancing business ideas that already exist by improving upon problems or frustrations for its customers and clients.

Check out our extensive library of Ted Tuesday Talks featuring Simon Sinek and Amy Cuddy and others on life, love and happiness, HERE (scroll backwards).

Thanks to Forbes for today's message and to you for listening.

Have a GREAT day and…. Love Life,

Mitchell D. Weiner

Chief Happiness Officer  

Ideas are not set in stone. When exposed to thoughtful people, they morph and adapt into their most potent form. TED Tuesdays on MitchWeiner.com highlights some of today's most intriguing ideas. Look for more talks on Technology, Entertainment and Design -- plus science, business, global issues, the arts and much more— HERE. 

Ted Tuesday: Ruth Chang- How To Make Hard Choices

"Imagine a world in which every choice you face is an easy choice, that is, there's always a best alternative. If there's a best alternative, then that's the one you should choose, because part of being rational is doing the better thing rather than the worse thing, choosing what you have most reason to choose."

Good Morning,

Here's a talk that could literally change your life. Which career should I pursue? Should I break up — or get married?! Where should I live? Big decisions like these can be agonizingly difficult. But that's because we think about them the wrong way, says philosopher Ruth Chang. She offers a powerful new framework for shaping who we truly are.

Chances are, the hard choice you thought of was something big, something momentous, something that matters to you. Hard choices seem to be occasions for agonizing, hand-wringing, the gnashing of teeth. But I think we've misunderstood hard choices and the role they play in our lives. Understanding hard choices uncovers a hidden power each of us possesses.

Far from being sources of agony and dread, hard choices are precious opportunities for us to celebrate what is special about the human condition, that the reasons that govern our choices as correct or incorrect sometimes run out, and it is here, in the space of hard choices, that we have the power to create reasons for ourselves to become the distinctive people that we are. And that's why hard choices are not a curse but a godsend.

Enjoy the program that over a million people have already seen:

Remember as Ruth says, happiness is a choice. So be happy!

After watching this, how can one not be pumped, super excited and ready to rock.

Have a GREAT day and…. Love Life,

Mitchell D. Weiner

Chief Happiness Officer  

Ideas are not set in stone. When exposed to thoughtful people, they morph and adapt into their most potent form. TED Tuesdays on MitchWeiner.com highlights some of today's most intriguing ideas. Look for more talks on Technology, Entertainment and Design -- plus science, business, global issues, the arts and much more— HERE. 

About FSO Onsite Outsourcing
Recognized on the Inc. 5000 list of the nation's fastest growing companies for the second consecutive year, and lead by industry pioneer, Mitch Weiner, FSO's growth and success can be attributed to making a positive and powerful impact on their clients' bottom lines, as well as their employees' careers and lives.

See a brief video portrait of who we are and what can can do for you, HERE

Throwing It Forward With Exciting Appointments, Promotions, New Roles and Certifications

At FSO I’ve always promised you all a career opportunity with our company and not a just job. FSO is the place where dreams come true. In this spirit it’s with great joy that another dream comes true today as I announce yet another promotion from within.

Good Morning Folks,

Rather then "throw back" this Thursday, I am going to "throw it forward" in celebration of exciting announcements that will drive a better, stronger foundation for future success.

R to L: Peter Stone, Missy Adriazola and Donna Schacter

First, I am extremely pleased to welcome and introduce Peter Stone – our new Chief Financial Officer to the FSO family.  

Peter will report directly to me and be responsible for providing the highest expert level of strategic financial advice and assistance for FSO and our clients – resulting in one of our company’s top goals for 2014 – Profitable revenue and hyper-growth. 

Since 2007, Mr. Stone has been the CFO of New York City based White Cliff Holdings and affiliated investment funds, where he oversaw $250 million in invested capital and fund operations.  Prior to White Cliff, Peter was the Chief Financial Officer, Treasurer and Secretary of Guideline, Inc., a $50 million publicly-traded research and consulting firm which was successfully sold to InfoUSA.  

Mr. Stone is a graduate of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. In his spare time, Peter enjoys running, having ran the NYC Marathon, numerous half marathons and many other adventure races and road races!

But there's more…..

At FSO I’ve always promised you all a career opportunity with our company and not a just job.

FSO is the place where dreams come true. 

In this spirit it’s with great joy that another dream comes true today as I announce yet another promotion from within.

It’s the well-deserved promotion of Missy Adriazola to the position of National Director of Training and Hospitality Development. Missy brings an amazing touch of care, knowledge, and desire to formalize a marathon program for training. Missy and I have spoken in great detail about the needs, expectations and most important the urgency to get field input to help us help you invest your career in the HAPPIEST PLACE ON THE EARTH TO WORK.

Missy has 20+ years coming from the restaurant and hospitality industry and is true subject matter expert within this field. With this White Glove experience, she will bring new levels of customer service and excellence in leadership with our training programs like FSO has never seen before!  

Last but not least, I am proud to announce that Danna Schacter, Business (re)IMAGINATION Analyst and one of FSO’s Subject Matter Experts, was awarded the ARMA International’s Information Governance Professional certification on May 31st, 2014. Industry professionals that have earned the IGP certification have demonstrated that they have the requisite knowledge and strategic perspective to govern an organization’s information assets with maximum ROI while reducing costs and mitigating risks.

We could not be more proud of the dedication and hard work, that Danna has shown in achieving this important accomplishment. The pressure is on the legal industry to reduce expenses, digitize paper and get more productivity from labor. Danna’s certification is further proof of FSO’s commitment to providing our client’s with world class expertise to help solve their most difficult outsourcing challenges.

Congratulations to Peter, Mizzy and Danna. Feel free to drop them a line to welcome them to their new roles and wish them an exciting and successful future with the FSO family!

Cheers to GREATNESS,

Mitchell D. Weiner

Chief Happiness Officer  

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“Individuals play the game, but teams beat the odds." 

~~ SEAL Team Saying

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Recognized on the Inc. 5000 list of the nation’s fastest growing companies for the second consecutive year, FSO’s growth and success can be attributed to making a positive and powerful impact on their clients’ bottom lines, as well as their employees’ careers and lives. See us in action HERE