(Not) Everybody Was Kung Fu Fighting

My spiritual little brother, Rhoderick, called me yesterday and told me that he was starting his own business. Even though he’s taller, stronger and is a harder worker than I am, I get to call him my little brother because he’s younger.

Initially I had trouble understanding him because we were both on wireless lines and the phone reception was bad. When I asked for the umpteenth time what he was aiming to do, he said, "I WANT TO DO WHAT YOU’RE ALREADY DOING!"

What he was talking about was owning his own business, just like I've been doing for more than 10 years now. Good for the both of us! I thought. The only thing I could say at that point was, “Welcome to your new freedom!” It took another couple seconds for everything to sink in, and then Rhoderick continued to tell me about his new project/adventure and I immediately offered to help him with whatever he needed.

During the conversation, we started brainstorming, and the flow of ideas reached the point where I told him, “If you’re going to beat the competition, you must bring 100% of your Rhoderick-ness into your business.” He already knew exactly what I was talking about because HIS KUNG FU IS STRONG.

What the hell am I talking about? I’m talking about the skills that a person has, many of which are inherent. Skills that cannot be learned or taught, only honed and cultivated. Rhoderick’s Kung Fu is a combination of his adaptability, his work ethic, his communicaton skills, his research savvy, and his jump shot from the top of the key.

But enough about him, I want to talk about me. What is my Kung Fu?

To put it simply, I am good with creating ideas that work. I am good with getting ideas understood. I am good at doing this quickly, simply, and with great impact.

Which is why I love making web sites. They are much faster to produce than printed material, can be adjusted within seconds, and can be understood by millions of people around the world.

Most important for me is that making a web site allows me to get my idea across RIGHT NOW (just like I’m doing right now) so I can go on to another idea, and another idea, and another.

And I am a good enough writer to where I can call myself a DAMN good writer. If I weren’t, I wouldn’t have been able to get my points across in the first place.

My clients pay for my ideas, and make money from my ideas. Back in 1999, I’d suggested to my healthcare clients that they create a set of web pages specifically for their patients. I worked with them to rewrite their medical-speak, by simplifying medical terms and creating simple diagrams on how medical things worked. Since 2001, their Patient’s Guide web pages have been ranked #1 in Google, Yahoo and AOL and are the most visited pages on their sites.

Just recently, my business partner and I were asked to figure out a way to promote the idea of ordering products on our client web site. We added a huge ORDER button right in the middle of the home page. That did the trick. Simple.

During the filming of Raiders of the Lost Ark, Harrison Ford was asked how he thought they should kill off one of the formidable bad guys. Ford said, “Why don’t we just shoot the fucker?”

Too often, maybe because we have the technology to complicate things in the 21st century, the simple things are the most overlooked. Too often a person’s Kung Fu is forgotten.

I’m lucky that I haven’t forgotten my Kung Fu. I’m looking forward to using more Kung Fu in 2007. I want to make sure that my Gerardo-ness is alive, strong and kicking.


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Kung Fu on Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kung_fu_(term)#Philosophy

From the above link, I especially like this passage:

Motivation is the basic driving force, and without it, kung fu can never be reached. It means both interest and the will to do something; a person who is forced to do something is not truly motivated. A motivated person, on the other hand, has interest in learning: they have a goal.

How to Pretend During Christmas

For the last eight years, I have been pretending.

To fool my clients and friends into thinking I was philanthropic, in December 1998 I donated one hundred dollars to the Red Cross on behalf of them and all my friends and family, a Christmas present to help whatever crisis the Red Cross was facing at that time. Of course I announced to the world that I did this. I pretended that I was a giving person, hoping that my clients will prefer to give me work instead of someone else because they know that part of their money will go to future charity donations.

To continue the charade, in 2002 I decided to sponsor a child in Egypt through Save the Children Organization. The monthly donation goes to help the children in her village with food, clothing, medicine and education. My sponsored child wants to become a doctor. Even though I will probably never meet her and I have no direct ties to her, I pretend that I care for her, so I continue to send money every month. Even when business isn’t going so good, and my credit card bills continue to pile up, I pretend that I have enough money to sponsor her.

In 2003, I formed a partnership with a designer who also gives to charity, but in her case it isn’t pretending. She has given and continues to give time, talent and money to St. Jude Research Foundation, the Heart Association, One.org, the Humane Society and every other animal rights organization in existence. She helps take care and adopts stray cats in her neighborhood, marches for animal rights, and helps organize animal rights fundraisers.

Since I was on a roll, I decided to pretend that I cared for animals as well. So I’ve adopted two rescue dogs and three turtles who were illegally being sold in Chinatown. One turtle died, but the other two are still alive and kicking. The dogs and turtles are expensive to feed and keep healthy, but if I am to keep the charade intact, I must continue to give them my time, affection, and money.

Now I’m addicted to pretending. Notice that I have the One.org banner on every page of this web site. I wear a white wristband sometimes, and a blue and brown one sometimes. Every time there’s a crisis somewhere around the world, like the Indonesian Tsunami, or Hurricane Katrina, or the Philippine mudslide, instinctively I send a hundred bucks to the Red Cross, or whatever charity is closest to that emergency. Whenever I run into a Salvation Army worker in front of the post office, I drop a bill into the bucket.

Whenever I want to fool the world into thinking that I actually give a damn, I pretend that I care about the world and do something about what’s wrong with the world. If I continue to pretend long enough, something right may just happen accidentally.

If you want to pretend to care, play some U2 music and give to these charities:

One.org – http://www.one.org

Save the Children – http://www.savethechildren.org

UNICEF – http://www.unicef.org

Human Rights First – http://www.humanrightsfirst.org

Charity.org – http://www.charity.org/

Network for Good – http://www.networkforgood.org/

The Humane Society – http://www.hsus.org

International Red Cross – http://www.icrc.org

Feed the Children – http://www.feedthechildren.org/

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital – http://www.stjude.org/

Toys for Tots – http://www.toysfortots.org

If you want to know which charities are doing what, go here:

Charity Navigator – http://www.charitynavigator.org/