Office Away From Office

August 29th, 2010 claudio alegre

I find myself doing more and more work away from the traditional work setting … and liking it!

I think a requirement to finding “escape velocity” is workshifting. The reason is that today’s biz needs are not only gelatinous but also mobile. True work can be accomplished from anywhere nowadays. Every building, cafe, airport, lobby, restaurant, resort, pool side, hotel room, park or picnic … a place to strategize , engage and create!

One thing to keep straight in your mind though … workshifting should provide you with more freedom, not servitude. When I’m at the park with my kids or driving them to school my time belongs them … same at dinner with my wife or time with extended family or beer with friends.

This past week I had 2 client meetings and 3 working sessions away from the office … looking to keep the momentum!

The Economies Of Aging

August 25th, 2010 claudio alegre

Everyone’s circumstances are different, especially when it comes to needs regarding Healthcare finances.

Healthcare, no matter how you feel about it, boils down to Money. Medicine is a business, and that’s the bottom line. Now this doesn’t mean that we should be cynical about it, or that there aren’t ways to better plan for your future. My point, which is central to all things healthcare that I write about, is that education and participation are key to better it!

So, is there anyone out there that doesn’t think that your health and your finances are intimately related, and that such relationship grows more and more symbiotic after you turn 40?

Most people would agree.

So let’s explore some area topics that should be part of your tool box in preparing for the inevitable age-health growing relationship.

Since money is a big part of this equation let’s start with:

Retirement Savings

Over the past 30 years or so personal retirement accounts such as 401K and IRA’s have slowly replaced Defined Pension Plans as the primary source of retirement income and contributions.

According to David A. Wise from the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), “the average value of 401(k) assets of families at retirement will grow from about $44,000 in 2000 to $575,000 in 2040 assuming historical rates of return…”

On the surface, this is great news, but also remember that 401k’s investments are also allocated throughout equity based assets that have also lost an enormous amount of value and are constantly subject to market fluctuations.

Why is this important to know? Because you don’t want those assets to diminish in value just as you need them for retirement or what could most likely be the case, healthcare expenses.

Tool(s): A well allocated, low risk, highly liquid investment portfolio, and a trusted financial advisor that specializes in retirement planning. If he/she can’t articulate the difference between Medicare and Medicaid, dump him/her and find someone else. But most importantly, be aware of the overall cost and financial impact that aging in general will bring about. Our parents will be the first ones to clash with the Healthcare system, assuming no one gets sick prematurely. If they are not prepared or informed, we better be!

Insurance(s)

Can you do without it?

Nope, I wouldn’t recommend it. What you can do now is to learn and understand the basics of Medicare, Medicaid and Private Insurance, in order to craft the best coverage for yourself and your loved ones. The system won’t get simpler and the process will continue to be cumbersome, but those who are better informed, prepared and involved will definitely fare better. And most definitely, do not count on the Government to watch your back on this one!

Tool(s): Transitional Care specialists, Homecare and Home Health personnel, CMS website, Medicare and You – 2010 Handbook, AARP and other consumer oriented publications as such.

Estate Planning

If you own anything, the older you get the more planning you’ll have to do. In this case I hate to be a cliche but   “if you fail to plan, you plan to fail” . The cost is too great and the burden you leave behind, too heavy.

I’m 41 y/o, in another 10-15 years I’ll be a proud member of the Sandwich Club, meaning that I’ll be gushing out cash like the gulf oil spill from possibly both ends, my 3 kids going to college and my parents in the 75-85 age group getting older and sicker and more likely than not, under-insured!

So, what can I do today to prepare for “Not the possibility” but the very “High Probability” that I’ll get sandwiched between generations?

Tool(s): Estate planning attorney with a specialty in Geriatric Services and with a good background in healthcare issues and how they affect money & finances.

Stressing the importance of understanding or at least being familiar with these topics and their variations as they’ll apply at some point in the future is no easy task. But we can stay informed and closed to the action by being active and participating in the conversation, the stories, and the experiences we encounter that hit close to home.

This post was originally published  on The Daily Pill Blog

Be a Human Widget

August 20th, 2010 claudio alegre

Widgets & Plugins serve specific needs. They are designed to facilitate purpose in design via functionality, So should we!

How much simpler would the description and raison d’etre of you or your business would be if it was as specific and simple to use as a widget or plugin?

I realize that many people operate brilliantly across multiple domains, but at the point of contact I don’t need to know this … all I need is a very simple and effective description of how you can help me to solve a particular problem!

As soon as I find out what you do and if I’m interested then I’ll  reach out. So in every digital platform that you inhabit simply and humanly state what you do and provide access to a hub where I can now find out more.

If you read the basic info provided for plugins just before you download them, you’d notice right away that in less that 50 words you’ll know whether you need it or not!  We should be as succinct as that!

I guess my point is, be specific, solve a problem, dig for solutions!

Two Word Taglines

August 19th, 2010 claudio alegre

I noticed recently how catchy and easy to remember two word Taglines are. Maybe it’s a trend that speaks to simplicity of concept, meaning and action … for me it was just an observation.

Notice,

USA Network – Characters Welcome

Syfy Channel – Imagine Greater

AT&T – Rethink Possible

Then I did a bit more digging and found these here,

  • Live United – United Way
  • Live Strong – Lance Armstrong Foundation
  • Eat Fresh – Subway Restaurant
  • Do more – American Express
  • Think Different – Apple Computer
  • Intel Inside – Intel
  • Magically Delicious – Lucky Charms
  • Chime In – NBC
  • Start Here – ABC
  • Only CBS – CBS
  • So FOX – FOX
  • Join in – Verizon

Almost 2 word slogans:

  • Live Solid. Bank Solid. – Suntrust Bank
  • Save Money. Live Better. – Walmart
  • Right Store. Right Price. – Kroger Grocery
  • Your Potential. Our Passion. – Microsoft

I may not be changing my tagline anytime soon, but this exercise made me think in simple terms in order to be more effective, less is more and all that!

Now let’s not fool ourselves, simple is not synonymous with easy and to achieve efficiency or effectiveness in this case via simplicity, does take work, lots of it, the creative kind of work!

What do you think, easy or hard to achieve the right kind of simplicity?

Creativity and The Media We Use

August 6th, 2010 claudio alegre

I read this quote recently,

You can think of creativity as a conversation between what we’re trying to figure out and the media we are using.

That’s a pretty profound statement. I read it in Sir Ken Robinson’s book, “The Element“, great read!

I guess our creativity is a meshed combination of what comes from inspiration and the medium we have an affinity for in order to express our personal brands of creativity. I had never actually looked at it that way.

There is a certain intelligence that follows our creative instincts. This intelligence is as diverse as there are individuals on this planet.

The way we express ourselves is as much a part of the creative process as the very thing we are creating. Who was more creative, Michelangelo or Davinci, Andy Warhol or Howling Wolf?

An impossible question to answer since creativity can’t be measured, it can only be expressed, and that expression is unique in every instance.

So how do you express your creativity, what’s your favorite medium?

Has The Internet Changed The Way We Make Decisions?

August 5th, 2010 claudio alegre

I believe it has, and it has done so across multiple industry sectors.

According to a study published by Pew Research in Media Consumption since 2000,  consumers are in charge and want to be active participants in the consumption and distribution process.

Particularly in the Healthcare Industry, the internet’s role has had an impact in the outcome of certain conditions, especially chronic conditions.

This relationship between internet access and chronic conditions was put into perspective also by Pew Research in a published study in March 2010 … Here’s an overview of that study and here’s where you can get it,

U.S. adults living with chronic disease are significantly less likely than healthy adults to have access to the internet (62% vs. 81%). The internet access gap creates an online health information gap. However, lack of internet access, not lack of interest in the topic, is the primary reason for the difference. Once online, having a chronic disease increases the probability that someone will take advantage of social media to share what they know and learn from their peers.

Our ability to share, research and access health information on the internet has shifted or should I say “balanced” the once unilateral and paternalistic relationship between healthcare consumers and providers.

With that balance in power, also comes a balance in responsibility and knowledge. Patient-centered care or participatory medicine isn’t necessarily something that a provider “gives”, but more so what a patient or consumer conscientiously claims not as a right, but as a responsibility to get what they need and deserve.

Has the internet made a difference in the way you or a loved one has approached a particular disease or condition?

Sometimes We Have To Turn It All Off

July 23rd, 2010 claudio alegre

I was just watching an old Star Trek episode where the Enterprise gets stuck in an asteroid field that emanated high levels of radiation and threatened to destroy the ship and everyone on it.

Captain Picard’s and Geordi’s first instinct was to overpower the radiation field. This didn’t work because the radiation field matched in equal and opposite degree any of the ship’s power bursts. In fact it just consumed the ship’s power source faster.

The second option was to have their advanced computer calculate millions of simulations per second in order to navigate out of the asteroid field unscathed, but the computer couldn’t compensate for small variations in navigation and showed inconsistent results, in the meantime they were running out of time as the radiation levels reached life threatening levels and the ship’s power source continue to diminish.

The were faced with two choices, turn the ship over to the computer and take their chances, or shot down everything and use the remaining energy source to power the thrusters and manually navigate their way out of the asteroid field.

So what to do?  Bet on the computer and it’s flawless calculating precision or take your chances with human ingenuity.

So you can guess what Captain Picard did … he took the controls, maneuvered through the smaller asteroids, headed straight for the biggest one and used its gravitational pull to slingshot around and get clear. Was there ever any doubt?

This kind of got me thinking about technology and about us …

Two points of views came to mind in particular. The first is in relation to the still pervading mentality that social technology or technology in general makes human relationships less personal.

Anyone that has ever met, collaborated, or created scaled efficiencies online can attest to actually the opposite. The evolution in communication technology has actually enhanced our social ecologies in just about every area of human endeavor. This trend with its imperfections, granted, will continue to increase and benefit those who craft at it.

The second is actually the exacerbated version of the first.

Some extreme sects of  our society promiscuously believe and amplify the religion of let’s call it, Technologism. This dogma preaches technology as the salvation of humanity, in addition to selling us the idea that quality of life is synonymous to technological progress. I think this particular way of looking at technology actually enslaves us, as in fact any blind faith in anything would.

We must be extremely vigilant of any technology(ies) that in the name of itself offers an unparalleled an unique way of life. The moment that we replace human creativity and ingenuity with precision, calculation, logic, reason and even some forms of truth, we are in the verge of becoming slaves of the very things that claim to liberate us.

It’s obvious I don’t place a lot of stock in technological advances as the main barometer for success and accomplishments as a species. But if technological evolution meant human evolution we would be in a very different place right now! … I do believe however that in the search for that balance is where our true growth and maturity lies.

What’s your take on this …  Do you believe our technological level has surpassed our capacity to be better human beings?

Living in Terms of If(s) and When(s)

July 16th, 2010 claudio alegre

We are all subject to the  if(s) and when(s) of life, no doubt. In fact, we should plan and be ready for both. Obviously one  is slightly less certain than the other, but to the point of total absolutes (except for natural and inevitable occurrences like death) it’s probably not wise to say anything’s for sure.

It seems to me that the people that live by an “if” mentality are always waiting for something to happen. In contrast, I’ve noticed that  people that live by a “when” mentality don’t wait for much, they make things happen and are less afraid of failing and taking chances.

“If” people kind of coast along, and to a great degree bet on “when” people to get things done. When you think in if terms you spend a life wondering about the past, the present, and the future. Nothing wrong with reminiscing and reflecting about -if I’d done this or done that- the problem is that you run the risk or never committing to much and always falling back to “if I were …” rationalizations.

“If I were rich, handsome, skinny, smart, not an orphan, white, black, yellow, a man, a woman, not handicapped… then my life would be different.” Not really, if would be the same. The power its in our will to say “When I do this…” instead of  “If I do this…”

“When” people have a different outlook, they usually take ownership of their tasks, regardless of whether they work for someone or not. They are assertive in their approach, make quick decisions, experiment often, and fail fast. Also, they seldom care about the PR fallout that unpopular but must-make decisions will inevitably bring about.

If you were making an investment in human capital in your business, which frame of mind would you like that person to operate from?  If they already work for you, which mentality would you like them to apply or develop?

Top WordPress Plugins 2009

July 14th, 2010 claudio alegre

I thought this list was awesome, here’s the original link to the post.

Top WordPress Plugins 2009 | Business 2.0 Press.

In addition here are some other very useful plugins I think can make the cut …

-Word Press video plugin

-Facebook Like box

-C-forms

-WPtouch iphone theme

I must warn you though, you can spend hours collecting, testing and looking into plugins, trust me your productivity will suffer :) On the other hand, you’ll be slightly ahead as far as which new and not so new of these crafty tools can max out your blogs’ or sites’ functionality … Enjoy!

The Thought Of Independence

July 4th, 2010 claudio alegre

One man with courage is a majority – Thomas Jefferson

I was watching the HBO original series replay  “John Adams”,  I had already seen it, but I just get caught in the drama and needs of the times.

Do you know what I find remarkable?  The fact that it all started with a thought of something better … whether the motive was financial, political or based on the principle of freedom from tyranny, it all started with a seemingly insignificant group of citizens who wanted something better for themselves.

That’s right! In any endeavor the first thought usually is  – Let’s do this, What if, What would happen …

In business many a times as it was in the case of our country’s history, you will be pushed or pulled into a situation that forces you to have that first thought … nevertheless, it will all start with that first idea and possibility.

So whenever you have that first thought, nurture it, embrace it, talk it over with your peers … You never know when you may be starting a revolution.

Happy 4th Everybody & be safe!

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